Heart Sutra cum

Meditation Classes

Short Notes

Compiled from the weekly Sunday Heart Sutra cum Meditation

Classes conducted by: Bro. Teoh Kian Koon

At Wu Pin Chen Seah, Mahayana vihara.

(Address: No. 4, Jalan 8/11,

Petaling Jaya, Selangor)

For free distribution (to non-Muslim only).

Donated by:

Kalyanamitta funds of Bro. Teoh Kian Koon

Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Biodata of Bro. Teoh Kian Koon

Bro. Teoh graduated from University of Malaya in Civil Engineering in 1979. He has been a spiritual practitioner cum ‘Meditator’ since 1971. Since his retirement in 2001 from his Engineering career, he has been sharing his understanding and experiences with those who are keen in their search for true happiness, peace and liberation from birth and death and all mental suffering so that they can be more virtuous, nobler and wiser human beings. He gives Dharma talks and holds meditation classes & retreats and weekly Dharma classes at various meditation centers, Buddhist society and places that invite him.

For more details of Bro. Teoh’s dharma activities and his Kalyāṇamittaship grouping please login to his dharma website at: http://broteoh.com

PDF version : https://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/Heart-Sutra-Short-Notes-2nd-Edition-2020.pdf

Introduction

1st Edition dated: Feb 2012

Sister Lee Siew Gaik had in the year January 2012 invited Brother Teoh to visit Wu Pin Chen Seah (WPCS) vihāra and it was during this visit that Sister Lee had requested Brother Teoh to conduct this weekly Heart Sutra cum Meditation class at WPCS vihāra. The 1st Heart Sutracum Meditation class commences on the 12th Feb 2012 and it continues till the 19th May 2013 for a period of about 15 months. This was then followed by the weekly Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta cum Meditation classes.

Initially short notes were taken by Sister Lee and forwarded to Bro. Teoh for editing before using it for sharing at the next Heart Sutta cum Meditation class and this was how the ‘HeartSutra cum Meditation classes’short notes comes about. Many kalyāṇamittas who had attended the classes had found the short notes to be very beneficial and rather useful hence the reason why they had suggested that it be compiled into a book so that it can also benefit others who had the affinity to receive it later.

These short notes can also help those of the Theravāda tradition to have a better understanding of the Heart Sutra teaching of the Mahāyāna tradition because Bro. Teoh had managed to link the Heart Sutra teaching to all the various essential dhamma of the Buddha as recorded in the Theravāda tradition so that dhamma practitioners and cultivators can have a much better understanding of both traditions teachings and see clearly how they are related to each other. Bro. Teoh had also managed to link and explained clearly how all the essential dhamma of the Buddha as recorded in the Theravāda tradition comes about and how they are connected to each other thereby making it much easier to understand. In fact, the essence of the Buddha’s teaching is just the Four Noble Truths and all the other teachings (the essential dhamma) are ‘spin’ off from it.

It has always been Bro. Teoh’s sincere intention and wish that Dhamma friends, spiritual practitioners, seekers of truth, and cultivators will be able to make use of this enclosed ‘Heart sutra cum meditation classes’ short notes to develop a better and clearer understanding of the Dhamma as taught by the Buddha so that they may progress along the path of dhamma to become more virtuous and wiser human beings that can be a blessing to all.

As these short notes were mostly only important pointers as prepared by Sister Lee for my editing, as such it may not be as complete as compared to the recorded talks. Hence it is hope that readers who want to benefit more will listen to the recordings so as to have a clearer and more complete understanding of what had been shared.

For those who want to listen to the recordings they can download the talks from our website at www.broteoh.com by clicking on to Menu / Repository / Recording of classes / Sunday class WPCS / ‘Heart Sutra 2012 Recordings’ link: https://broteoh.com/heart-sutra-2012/ or via contacting either Brother Teh Chin How at chin_how@hotmail.com or Sister Lee Siew Gaik at gaiksl@gmail.com  or Brother Ng Swee Aun at sang47500@yahoo.com  for more details.

2nd Edition dated: 8 March 2020

The reason for this 2nd edition was mooted earlier, to coincide with the need for a 2nd reprint of this Heart Sutra book. In doing so, we have included the following activities to help improve the readability of this book:

1. Correct whatever printing errors, spelling and grammar mistakes detected in the 1st Edition;

2. Since the 1st edition’s text was aligned to the colloquial speeches in the talk, some editorial amendments have been made to the text without detracting from the essence of the talk;

3. Useful sub-headings have been added to all the Heart Sutra classes listed in the ‘Table of content’ to help readers look for the topic that interest them more easily;

4. Appendix 8 – Explanation of Avijjā sutta (Sutta on ignorance) has been added.

5. Appendix 6A – TRINITY to understand cultivation has been added.

Acknowledgement

It is the donors’ sincere intention that this ‘Heart Sutra cum Meditation classes’ short notes (2nd edition) be given free to all those who are interested and have the affinity to receive them. I would like to take this opportunity to thank and rejoice in the generosity and wholesomeness of all those Dhamma friends or Kalyāṇamittas who had donated and helped out in the compilation, typing, formatting, proof reading, etc to make this free distribution of dhamma dana possible.

Special thanks should be accorded to Sis. Padmasuri, who had personally taken the initiative to prepare this 2nd edition updates for my editing, Brother Tune, Sister Eng Bee and Sister Soo Yee for their very useful and rather important input thereby enabling this Heart Sutra cum Meditation Classes Short Notes (2nd edition) to have the condition to be printed for free distribution.

By the power of all this wholesomeness, may all beings be well and happy, free from all mental and physical sufferings, harms and dangers and may there be love, peace and joy - deep within their hearts so that the world will be much more peaceful with greater harmony always.

And may it also pave the way for there to be causes and conditions for all dhamma friends who had donated or helped out in one way or other to realize their good and noble wishes/aspirations soonest possible.

With Mettā always,

By Bro. Teoh Kian Koon

teohkiankoon@hotmail.com

(Dated: 8 March 2020)

1st Heart Sutra Class 12 February 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/Teoh-HeartSutra-120212.mp3

Part 1 – Introduction

1.1 Definitions

- from www.Answers.com ›Library›Religion & Spirituality

Pāramitā (Sanskrit, crossed over) - In Mahāyāna Buddhism pāramitā means a 'perfection' or virtuous quality practised by a Bodhisattva in the course of his spiritual cultivation.

Prajna (Sanskrit) or Paññā (Pāḷi) means Wisdom

1.2 The Heart of Prajna Pāramitā Sutra:-

When Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was practicing the profound prajna pāramitā, he illuminated the 5 khandhas (or aggregates of form and mind) and saw that they are all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty.

Sariputta, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness and emptiness itself is form. So too are feeling, cognition, formation and consciousness.

Sariputta, all dhamma are empty of characteristics. They are not produced. Not destroyed, not defiled, not pure, and they neither increase nor diminish. Therefore, in True emptiness there is no form, feeling, cognition, formation, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, object of touch, or dhamma; no field of the eyes, up to and including no field of mind consciousness; and no ignorant or ending of ignorant, up to and including noold age and death or ending of old age and death. There is no suffering, no accumulating, no extinction, no way and no understanding and no attaining.

Because nothing is attained, the Bodhisattva, through reliance on prajna pāramitā, is unimpeded in his mind. Because there is no impediment, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dream-thinking far behind. Ultimately Nirvana!”

All Buddhas of the 3 periods of time attain Anuttarasamyaksambodhi through reliance on prajna pāramitā. Therefore, know that prajna pāramitā is a great spiritual mantra, a great bright mantra, a supreme mantra, an unequalled mantra. It can remove all suffering; it is genuine and not false. That is why the mantra of prajna pāramitā was spoken. Recite it like this:

“Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha!”

《心经》

观自在菩萨，行深般若波罗蜜多时，照见五蕴皆空，度一切苦厄,

舍利子, 色不异空, 空不异色, 色即是空, 空即是色,

受想行识,亦复如是,舍利子,是诸法空相,不生不灭,不垢不净,不增不减,

是故空中无色, 无受想行识, 无眼耳鼻舌身意, 无色声香味触法,

无眼界, 乃至无意识界, 无无明, 亦无无明尽, 乃至无老死, 亦无老死尽,

无苦集灭道, 无智亦无得, 以无所得故, 菩提萨埵, 依般若波罗蜜多故,

心无罣碍, 无罣碍故, 无有恐怖, 远离颠倒梦想, 究竟涅盘,

三世诸佛, 依般若波罗蜜多故, 得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提,

故知般若波罗蜜多,是大神咒, 是大明咒, 是无上咒, 是无等等咒,

能除一切苦, 真实不虚, 故说般若波罗蜜多咒, 即说咒曰:

揭谛揭谛 波罗揭谛 波罗僧揭谛 菩提萨婆诃。

1.3 The 5 Khandha or Aggregates of Form and Mind – 2 aspects to it

1. 1st aspect - as a human being where the rūpa (form) is the physical form or

2. Then the 2nd aspect – as the 5 mental aggregates where the mental rūpa (forms) are external forms brought into mind by the aggregate of mental perception or saññā.

Perception or saññā is translated as cognition by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua in his book - “The Heart of Prajna Pāramitā Sutra”.

Vedanā, Saññā and Saṅkhāra are contents of Consciousness.

Saṅkhāra = Mental Formation, mental activities, mental states, mental intention, mental planning, scheming, etc. = everything that the mind can do including feeling & perception.

Consciousness or Viññāṇa = receptacle or the container.

6 sense doors = Eye, Ear, nose, tongue, bodily tactile and mind doors.

Part 2 – Meditation And Important Essential Dhamma

2.1 The 5 mental hindrances

The 5 mental hindrances that hinder the mind from becoming peaceful and aware within are:- sensual desire, ill will, sloth & torpor (sleepiness/lethargic mind), restlessness of mind & doubt. To counter it we need to cultivate the opposite 5 spiritual faculties;

2.2 The opposite 5 spiritual faculties are:-

saddhā (faith), vīriya (spiritual zeal), sati (mindfulness), samādhi (collectedness & unwavering mind) and Paññā (wisdom);

2.3 Five daily reflections or contemplations (leading to initial wisdom):-

1. This body of ours is of the nature to grow old & decay for it has not gone beyond old age & decay;

2. This body of ours is of the nature to be diseased & get sick for it has not gone beyond disease & sickness;

3. This body of ours is of the nature to die for it has not gone beyond death;

4. All that is dear to us (our loved ones, our wealth, possessions, etc.) are impermanent and conditions arising hence they will separate from us one day;

5. We are all born of our kamma, heir to our kamma, conditioned and supported by our kamma and we are what we are because of our kamma.

2.4 Meaning of craving, meditation and attachment or clinging

Craving = wanting things your way; ‘Reacting to’ = cravingleading to suffering;

Meditation = listening/hearing/reading + contemplation + ‘direct seeing’ leading to awakening;

Attachment = Grasping or clinging via delusion - condition suffering.

2nd Heart Sutra Class 19 February 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/Teoh-HeartSutra-120219.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 The 10 Perfections or Pāramitā (of the Theravāda tradition)

Dāna - giving/generosity

Sīla - morality

Nekkhamma - renunciation

Paññā - wisdom

Vīriya - spiritual zeal or strong tenacity/energy to cultivate

Khanti - patience

Sacca - truthfulness

Adhiṭṭhāna - aspiration or resolution/self determination

Mettā - loving kindness

Upekkhā - equanimity

These are the 10 perfections that the Bodhisattva who is intent to be a Sammā Sambuddha must cultivate and perfect.

1.2 The Six Perfections or Pāramitās (of the Mahāyāna tradition)

Dāna - giving/generosity Sīla - precepts/morality

Khanti - patience Vīriya - vigour/spiritual zeal

Dhyana - samādhi Prajna - wisdom

1.3 Words of wisdom by the Buddha

- extracted from the Dhammapada Verses on avoiding all evil, do good and purify the mind via having the right view with regards to the Law of Kamma:-

Verse 1: Mind is the forerunner of all things. Mind is chief. Everything arises from the mind. So, if one speaks, acts and thinks with a wicked/unwholesome mind, then suffering will follow one like the wheel that follows the hoof of the ox.

Verse 2: Mind is the forerunner of all things. Mind is chief. Everything arises from the mind. So, if one speaks, acts and thinks with a pure/wholesome mind, then happiness will follow one like the shadow that never leaves him.

Verse 183: All evils have to be avoided. Cultivate whatever good when there are conditions and purify the mind. This is the advice of all Buddhas.

Dhammapada Verses 21, 22 & 23 on heedfulness (Appamādavagga)

Verse 21: Heedfulness is the path to the deathless, heedlessness is the path to death. The heedful do not die; the heedless are as if dead.

Verse 22: Distinctly understanding this difference, the wiseintent on heedfulness and rejoices in the realm of the Ariyas or the enlightened ones.

Verse 23: The constantly meditative, the ever mindful and the steadfast one realizes the bond-free Nibbāna.

1.4 Buddha’s advice before his Parinibbāna:

“Appamādena Sampādetha- “STRIVE ON WITH HEEDFULNESS.”

Note: The Heedful, never die (eternal life, spiritually); The Heedless are as if dead spiritually – no chance of gaining enlightenment.

1.5 Final summary of the 1st Noble Truth of Dukkha

In short it is the attachment or grasping and clinging to the 5 grasping aggregates (or upādāna khandha) of Form + Mind via one’s delusion or ignorance that I call Dukkha.

“The word dukkha (or Sanskrit duhkha) is one of those Pāḷi terms that cannot be translated adequately into English, by one word, for no English word covers the same ground as dukkha in Pāḷi. Suffering, ill will, anguish, unsatisfactoriness are some favourite renderings; the words: pain, misery, sorrow, conflict, and so forth, are also used. The word dukkha, however, includes all that, and more than that." (Ref. pg 37 of The Buddha’s Ancient Path, by Piyadassi Thera)

1.6 The 7 Factors of Enlightenment or Satta Bojjhaṅgā

Sati or mindfulness is the 1st of the 7 Factors of Enlightenment followed by the investigation of Dhamma or Dhammavicaya which is the 2nd factor of enlightenment. Without sati, one cannot be heedful or ever mindful. Hence, one cannot investigate the dhamma. That is the reason why Sati or heedfulness is very important, for Sati is Life because the heedless are as if dead.

With Sati one can investigate the Dhamma and if it is the truth then, this Dhamma will stand up to investigation thereby giving us the strong faith in the Buddha. Then Vīriya or the spiritual zeal, which is the 3rd enlightenment factor will arise thereby enabling one to cultivate the dhamma according to the Buddha’s advice. Sati will then stabilize and Pīti or the spiritual joy which is the 4th factor of enlightenment will arise. Once Pīti is stabilised and becomes more refined, it will cumulate into Passaddhi or tranquillity of mind which is the 5th factor of enlightenment. With Passaddhi becoming more and more stable, the mind will cumulate into Samādhi (a stable collected and unwavering mind), which is the 6th enlightenment factor. With Sati and Samādhi in place, wisdom or Paññā will keep on arising giving rise to the last or 7th enlightenment factor which is equanimity or Upekkhā.

Note: Samādhi = a stable, collected & unwavering mind that does not waver at the moment of sense experiences while in the midst of life.

1.7 The three Universal Characteristics:-

1. Anicca (Impermanence);

2. Dukkha (Suffering); and

3. Anattā (Non- self and empty nature/not a permanent unchanging entity).

1.8 The 5 Universal Laws or Orders (Pañca Niyāmas)

that govern all of Life and Existence in this Universe are:-

First 2 are scientific laws of -

- Utu Niyāma or the Physical Law of Nature and

- Bīja Niyāma or the Biological Order of nature;

Next 3 are spiritual Laws of Nature of -

1. Kamma Niyāma or the Law of Kamma;

2. Citta Niyāma or the Law of the Mind and

3. Dhamma Niyāma or the Law of Truth/Dhamma as taught by the Buddha.

Understanding these 3 spiritual laws that govern all of our Life and Existence will give rise to the 3 important right views as taught by the Buddha in his Noble 8-Fold Path i.e. Right view with regards to the:

1. Law of Kamma - (i.e. ‘You reap what you sow; Do good begets good and Do evil begets evil’ and ‘You are born of your kamma, heir to your kamma, conditioned and supported by your kamma and you are what you are because of your kamma’, etc.);

2. Law of the Mind - (i.e. The 12 Links (Dependent Origination) or paṭicca-samuppāda);

3. Law of the Dhamma (i.e. The 4 Noble Truths, 5 aggregates of Form & Mind, the 5 spiritual faculties, etc.)

Understanding these 3 great spiritual laws is likened to understanding the secret of Life, giving rise to the wisdom to enable one to truly live life. Having these right views will lead to the understanding of non-delusion, non-attachment, non-grasping and non-clinging etc., hence freeing and liberating one’s mind from all suffering.

These Pañca Niyāmas can also be explained by the 4 aspects of Dhamma/Nature as taught by Ajahn Buddhadasa:

1st Aspect: there is Nature;

2nd Aspect: there are laws that govern Nature;

3rd Aspect: there is a right duty that one must perform towards these laws that govern nature;

4th aspect: reaping the fruit of one’s hard work after having performed that right duty.

1.9 The 3 Evil roots or 3 Poisons of Greed, Hatred and Delusion are:–

1. Lobha - (which includes all of your greed, selfishness, lust, cravings, covetousness, desire, deceitfulness, cunningness, etc.);

2. Dosa - (which includes all of your hatred, anger, aversion, envy, jealousy, dislike, negative emotions, sorrow, lamentation, grief, ); &

3. Moha - (which is self-delusion or Sakkāyadiṭṭhi that conditions one’s egoic mind to arise the 3 evil roots of lobha, dosa, and moha leading to all the egoic personality of selfishness, craving, fear, worry, anxiety, etc.).

They are the roots of all Evils. If you have them in your mind or consciousness, then it will condition and cause you to become a very evil person. So, it is very important to develop the training of the mind via meditation to be alwaysheedful so that we can be aware of our mental intentions all the time and if there is any of the 3 evil roots, then we should arise the appropriate right effort to either abandon it or prevent it from arising. Otherwise, it will condition us into negativity leading to all the suffering. As they are also called the 3 poisons, they will kill us (spiritually) if we allow them to stay in our mind.

1.10 Seeing beyond formand understanding Nibbāna

To develop basic wisdom, one must have the ability to see form ‘as they are’ and the unreality of form via its condition arising, its impermanence, suffering and non-self/empty nature leading to our ability to ‘see’ beyond form. Inability to see beyond form will result in form delusion because one will grasp at external forms via one’s own delusion caused by identification with external forms, thinking that they are all so real. As form divides, so once we identify via identification with – let’s say our external form, which is the physical body then one will create the attachment to this body via delusion hence worrying about it getting old, falling sick and dying. It can also create duality of male and female gender; race identification; young and old or age identification, etc. leading to all the unnecessary fear, worries, anxieties, possibility of conflict and arguments caused by external form identification and division.

Unless you have the ability to see beyond form, chances are you will not be able to see mind because mind is much subtler and intangible than the solid external forms. And unless you can see ‘mind’ (the mundane mind) as it is via the silent mind in Sati, true wisdom cannot arise. For Nibbāna is cessation of Form & Mind.

So, learn to see Form, the unreality of form then learn to see beyondform leading to your ability to see the mundane mind clearly. This can then lead to the realization of the impermanence and empty nature of the mundane or thinking mind leading to the ability to see beyond the mundane mind via the silent mind to realize one’s true naturewhich is beyond thought and beyond mind! At the mundane mind level, one still clings on to one’s views and opinions and religious labels etc. hence the division again - at mind level leading to all the conflicts and argument caused by one’s self-delusion as before.

Note: Words divide via form and thoughtidentifications due to Sakkāyadiṭṭhi and ignorance. Hence only if one ‘can see things as they are’ – i.e. via the direct seeing without words, concepts and labelling, etc. only then there is no more form and thought delusion to condition one’s grasping and clinging leading to all the suffering.

That is if you cannot seeform and the unreality of form, then you will not be able to see beyond form. And everything you come to perceive via your mundane mind (which is consciousness only) will be like so ‘real’ and so ‘meaningful’ to you hence the self-delusion or sakkāyadiṭṭhi. Also Dhammapada Verses 1 and 2 said: - ‘Mind is the forerunner of all things & mind is chief and everything arise from the mind.’ so one must be wary of mind.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 2

2.1 Definitions

Thus have I heard - implies Suchness or Thusness of things! Or Tathatā!

The Buddha is also called the ‘Tathāgata’ – meaning He is the Tathāgata who is an expert in Tathatā or Suchness.

The Buddha understands ‘truth’ as it is because Truth IS! - The ISness of things or Suchness via accepting “What IS”.

2.2 Important quotations from Sixth Patriarch (Hui Neng)'s Platform Sutra

i) Introduction

One day while delivering firewood to a store, Hui Neng heard a customer reciting the Diamond Sutra and has an awakening when he heard the stanza "The mind must have no dwelling". He immediately inquires about the sutra and decides to seek out the Fifth Patriarch, Hongren at his monastery on Huang Mei Mountain. Hui Neng then embarks on his journey, and after travelling for thirty days on foot, he arrives at Huang Mei Mountain where the 5th Patriarch was residing.

ii) From the first chapter of the Ming canon version of the Platform Sutra:

The 5th Patriarch asked me, "Who are you and what do you seek?"

I replied, 'Your disciple is a commoner from Xinzhou（新州） of Lingnan （岭南）. I have travelled far to pay homage to you and seek nothingother than Buddhahood.' "

So, you're from Lingnan, a southerner and a barbarian! How can you expect to become a Buddha?" asked the 5th Patriarch.

I replied, 'Although people exist as northerners and southerners, in the Buddha-nature there is neither north nor south. A barbarian differs from Your Holiness physically, but what difference is there in our Buddha-nature?'

Master Hongren the 5th Patriarch immediately asks him to do chores in the rice mill. Hui Neng chops fire wood and pounds rice at the monastery for the next eight months.

iii) Becoming the Sixth Patriarch

One day, Master Hongren announced,

The question of incessant rebirth is a momentous one. Day after day, instead of trying to free yourselves from this bitter sea of life and death, you seem to go after tainted merits only (i.e. merits which will cause rebirth). Yet merits will be of no help if your Essence of Mind is obscured. Go and seek Prajna (wisdom) in your own mind and then write me a stanza (gatha) about it. He who understands what the Essence of Mind is will be given the robe (the insignia of the Patriarchship) and the Dhamma (the ultimate teaching of the Chán school), and I shall make him the Sixth Patriarch. Go away quickly. Delay not in writing the stanza, as deliberation is quite unnecessary and of no use. The man who has realized the Essence of Mind can speak of it at once, as soon as he is spoken to about it; and he cannot lose sight of it, even when engaged in battle.

However, the disciples said to each other that they didn't need to write any gatha, and that surely their teacher and head monk, Venerable Shen Xiu, would become the Sixth Patriarch. So only Shen Xiu wrote a gatha for Master Hongren but as the head monk, Shen Xiu was well respected and under great pressure to produce a gatha that would qualify him as the next patriarch. However, he was uncertain as to his own understanding, and eventually decided to write a poem anonymously on the wall in the middle of the night, announcing his authorship only if Master Hongren approved of it. It stated:

身是菩提樹 (Shen shi puti shu)，　 The body is like a Bodhi tree,

心如明鏡臺 (Xin ru ming jing tai)。The mind a mirror bright on a stand,

時時勤拂拭 (Shi shi qin fu shi)，　 Polish until it shines,

勿使惹塵埃 (wù shǐ rě chén āi)。　 So that no dust can alight.

When the disciples saw this gatha on the wall, there was a great stir but when Master Hongren saw it, he told them, "Practise according to this gatha, you will not fall into the evil realms, and you will receive great benefits. Light incense and pay respect to this gatha, recite it and you will see your essential nature."

All the disciples praised and memorized the gatha.

However, privately, Master Hongren told Shen Xiu, "You have arrived at the Gate of Enlightenment, but haven’t entered it. With this level of understanding, you still have no idea what the supreme Bodhi mind is. Upon hearing my words, you should immediately recognize the original mind, the essential nature, which is unborn and unceasing. At all times see it clearly in every thought, with the mind free from all hindrances. In the One Reality, everything is real, and all phenomena are just as they are."

Master Hongren asked Shen Xiu to compose another gatha that demonstrated true understanding. Shen Xiu tried hard but couldn’t come up with another verse.

When a young novice passed the rice mill reciting Shen Xiu's gatha, Hui Neng immediately knew this verse lacked true insight. He went to the wall, and asked a district officer there to write a poem of his own for him. The officer was surprised, "How extraordinary! You are illiterate, and you want to compose a gatha?"

Whereupon Hui Neng said, "If you seek supreme enlightenment, do not slight anyone. The lowest class may have great insights, and the highest class may commit foolish acts." In veneration, the officer wrote Hui Neng’s gatha on the wall for him, next to Shen Xiu's, which stated:

菩提本無樹 (Puti ben wu shu)， ‘Bodhi is fundamentally without any tree,

明鏡亦非臺 (Ming jing yi fei tai)。 The mind is neither a stand nor a mirror bright;

本來無一物(Ben lai wu yi wu)，　 Originally there was nothing,

何處惹塵埃 (He chu re chen ai)。 Where can any dust alight?’

Hui Neng then went back to rice pounding. However, this gatha created a bigger stir; everyone was saying, "Amazing! You can’t judge a person by his looks! Maybe he will become a living Bodhisattva soon!" However, when the Master Hongren came out, he just casually said, "This hasn’t seen the essential nature either," and proceeded to wipe the gatha off with his shoe. The 5th Patriarch then went secretly to the room where the rice was pounded. Seeing that Hui Neng was working there with a stone pestle, he said to him, “A seeker of the Path risks his life for the Dhamma, should he not do so?”

The 5th Patriarch then asked, “Is the rice ready?”

Hui Neng replied, ‘Ready long ago, only waiting for the sieve.’

The 5th Patriarch then knocked the mortar thrice with his stick and left.

Knowing what the 5th Patriarch meant, in the mid-night at the 3rd watch, Hui Neng went to the 5th Patriarch’s room.

That night Master Hongren received Hui Neng in his abode, and expounded the Diamond Sutra to him. When he came to the passage, "to use the mind yet be free from any attachment," Hui Neng came to great enlightenment—that all dhamma are inseparable from the self-nature.

He exclaimed, "How amazing that the self-nature is originally pure! How amazing that the self-nature is unborn and undying! How amazing that the self-nature is inherently complete! How amazing that the self-nature neither moves nor stays! How amazing that all dhamma come from this self-nature!"

Master Hongren told Hui Neng, "If one recognizes the original mind and the original nature, he is called a great man, teacher of gods and humans, and a Buddha." He passed the robe and begging bowl as a symbol of the Dhamma Seal of Sudden Enlightenment to Hui Neng.

Although this story is as clearly stated as it can be, it should also be noted that Hui Neng was not permitted to make himself known as the Sixth Patriarch until later on. This was due to the fear that his fellow monks might be angered and harm him, that he had been made the Sixth Patriarch and not Shen Xiu or one of the other monks who had seniority over him.

Bro. Teoh. 18/2/2012.

3rd Heart Sutra Class 26 February 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120226.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Question 1: Why must we go through the introductions by Master Hsuan Hua instead of going into the Heart Sutra teaching direct?

Bro. Teoh: A very good question. It will be like building a high-rise building without having a stable foundation. As I have explained, the Heart Sutra is a very profound teaching and it must be understood that without a proper foundation being taught to you, it is almost near to impossible to understand this teaching unless some of you have had some very strong pastcultivation to help support you in the understanding of this sutra. Hence this is the reason why I started off by introducing to you the final summary of the 1st Noble Truth of Dukkha followed by an in-depth explanation of the meaning of the 2 aspects of the 5 aggregates of Form and Mind in the 1st Heart Sutra class. This is to help establish a basis for you to understand the great similarity between Sākyamuni Buddha’s teaching and that of the Heart Sutra as expounded by Guan Yin Bodhisattva. Both teachers emphasized the importance of understanding the 5 aggregates of Form and Mind and why they are all empty? i.e. Anattā and Suññatā.

The introduction by Master Hsuan Hua also explained how wonderful and full of wisdom this sutra is and also why it is so important to read through this sutra diligentlymany times because each repetition will reveal to the reader a new depth or a new level of understanding thus bringing about immeasurable benefits. In a book 10 times its length, one could not fully praise its value as a key to the understanding of human Life. Hence the famous saying, “True emptiness is wonderful existence.” i.e. understanding True emptiness can lead to deep understanding of human Life, hence Life or Existence will become very meaningful and very wonderful once this Heart Sutra wisdom has been developed.

Master Hsuan Hua also stressed on the importance of having real spiritual understanding rather than deep learning or ‘knowledge’ based understanding only as a true prerequisite for expounding this Heart Sutra. The main concern of the Heart sutra and all the other sutras that the Buddha had spoken is simply to understand deeply the Birth, Life and Death of living beings.

Answering questions like:-

Why must we avoid all evil, do good and purify our mind? Why are we born and where will we go when we die? What we must do while here? How we can stop our suffering and find true happiness for ourselves and others? What is death? What dies and who dies? Who are you? And what are you? What is Life – how to understand its meaning and purpose?

1.2 Question 2 : Why must we also study the 6th Patriarch’s platform sutra?

Bro. Teoh: As the Heart sutra teaching is so profound because it is beyond thought, beyond mind and beyond the conditioned world, hence we need to understand the 6th Patriarch’s platform sutra especially so - the 2 famous poems as written by Shen Xiu and Hui Neng. Only then can we develop the understanding to go beyond mind to understand the Heart Sutra which is so abstract with sayings like “Form is emptiness and emptiness is form” and “Therefore in true emptiness there is no form, feeling, etc.……… ; no eyes, ears, ……..; no sights, sounds, …….; no field of eyes, up to and including no field of mind consciousness; no ignorance or ending of ignorance, up to and including no old age, sickness and death or ending of it and no 4 Noble Truths; and no understanding and no attaining etc.….”

1.3 6th Patriarch’s Platform Sutra

Base on his poem then, Shen Xiu has yet to realize the true mind hence his inability to comprehend the higher dhamma as realized by Hui Neng. The reason being he is using the mundane mind to cultivate hence the delusion. In my 2nd and this 3rd Heart Sutra classes recap, I dealt in more detail into Hui Neng’s Platform Sutra and I also taught you how to see form, the unreality of form, its condition arising or impermanent nature and it’s non-self and empty nature so as to enable you to develop the wisdom to finally see beyond form. This is then followed by the same understanding that all the other 4 aggregates of mind (Vedanā, Saññā, Saṅkhāra and Viññāṇa) are also impermanent, causes suffering and are empty. Only then can you start to develop the understanding of why ‘Form is emptiness and emptiness is Form’.

1.4 Mundane Life with and without Spiritual understanding

We can be very successful in life both financially and career wise (both are mundane aspects of Life) but without the spiritual understanding we are still vulnerable and many things can still afflict us especially so the 1st Noble Truth’s 8 conditions which are also the realities of Life and Existence. This is the reason why the Buddha renounced the world once he saw the 4 signs of an old man, a very sick man, a dead man and a Samaṇa or a renounced holy man in robe. The then Buddha-to-be realized that he had a problem with regards to old age, sickness and death hence He seeks the spiritual understanding to gain the wisdom to free himself from these problems. He then developed the Spiritual understanding and became a Sammā Saṃbuddha underneath the Bodhi tree. Without the true spiritual understandingor wisdom, one cannot be free from all suffering because one can still have fear, worry and anxiety etc. via one’s own self-delusion which will condition one to cling onto and grasp at one’s 5 aggregates of Form and Mind. Hence one should realize the importance of cultivating the spiritual understanding via Meditation as taught by the Buddha to enable one to live the noble Life of Love, Peace, Joy and Harmony. Only then can there be no more fear, worries, anxieties, unhappiness and suffering, etc. The spiritual understanding will lead to non-delusion and wisdom enabling one to clearly understand who you are, what you are and how human beings function and eventually leading to enlightenment in the here and the now.

1.5 Essential understanding

In the recap, Bro. Teoh emphasized on the following:-

1. The importance of understanding Dhammapada Verses 1, 2, 183, 21, 22 and 23 and the final advice of the Buddha before his parinibbāna. Once one comprehends these verses, one will understand the importance of training the mind to be heedful and ever mindful. One will like ‘wake up’ from their deluded dream state via seeing the danger of heedlessness and one will then be very serious about life to develop the cultivation;

2. The danger of letting these 3 Evil Roots of greed, hatred and delusion (which are the roots of all evil) from manifesting in our heart;

3. The importance of arising the 4 right efforts to root out the 3 evil roots and the 5 mental hindrances;

4. The importance of cultivating the 5 spiritual faculties to overcome the 5 mental hindrances of mind.

Notes:

1. Under kāyānupassanā, there is a category of cultivation called Sati Sampajañña (mindfulness and the 4 types of clear comprehensions) of every action and movement in the present moment. This is the most important cultivation. It can help stabilize one’s sati or mindfulness via the daily mindfulness cultivation. Hence this is the reason why Bro. Teoh always says, “Life itself is the real meditation and Life is our true teacher.”

2. The 4 types of clear comprehensionsare: clear comprehension of sincerity of purpose; clear comprehension of domains of meditation; Clear comprehension of suitability and clear comprehension of non-delusion.

3. The Domains of meditation means one can meditate in any posture, anywhere, any place and anytime under any circumstances.

4. Anything (external form) that is created by mind via perception is only a mental image - it comes and it goes hence it is impermanent, not so real and empty. To cling onto it is obviously a delusion. Form is never a problem if we know how to develop the mind to understand it, so that we are not deluded or deceived by it.

5. Cultivating the 3 turnings of the Four Noble Truths as taught by the Buddha leading to the 3 types of corresponding wisdom called Suttamaya Paññā; Cintāmaya Paññā and Bhāvanāmaya Paññā is very important. For details, please refer to Bro. Teoh’s dhamma notes on “Understanding the Meditation as taught by the Buddha.”

4th Heart Sutra Class 4 March 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120304.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation

1.1 Emphasis on the previous lesson - Emptiness

1. Emptiness (or Suññatā in Pāḷi) is a term frequently used in the Mahāyāna tradition verse the term non-self (or Anattā in Pāḷi) which is the equivalent term that is frequently used in the Theravāda tradition.

2. Importance of understanding why our physical form and all external forms can also be expressed as Form is impermanent brings about suffering (when we deludedly cling onto it without understanding) and its empty or anattā nature. To understand it clearly, we must have the ability to see its manifestation via mind’s perception with clear mindfulness to recognize it as condition arising phenomena. Hence, it is not a permanent unchanging entity that we can cling onto or hold onto as the “I” and the “Me” or own as the “Mine” thus seeing it as empty (Suññatā/Anattā) because it has no apparent reality. Also a cultivator needs to develop the wisdom to understand why “Form is external manifestation of mind” via a clear and stable daily mindfulness cultivation.

3. Form delusioncan be very powerful. Hence if you can’t see form,you can’t see mind because Form is much grosser whereas mind is very subtle. However with wisdom borne of the direct seeing, form and mind delusion will cease to be, leading to Enlightenment in the here and the now.

4. Definition of Samaṇa. A Samaṇa is a renounced holy person in the robe seriously cultivating the Buddha dhamma as taught by the Buddha. He or she is also usually referred to as one who is already enlightened. The term is used as opposed to the other term Brahmins who studied the Vedas during the time of Sākyamuni Buddha.

To a Samaṇa, spiritual understanding is very important because without spiritual understanding, one cannot be free. One cannot understand the problems and realities of life and existence. There is a recently printed dhamma book for free distribution by W.A.V.E. and the title of the book is “Samaṇa” – on the Life of the late Luangta MahāBoowa. Our kalyāṇamitta fund has also donated towards its printing for free distribution hence we were given some copies of these books for free distribution by W.A.V.E. and anyone who is interested in having a copy can request it from Bro. Teoh.

1.2 Essential understanding

In the recap, Bro. Teoh re-emphasized on the following important dhamma: -

1. The importance of understanding “True emptiness is wonderful existence” leading to our ability to live Life meaningfully and to the fullest;

2. True blessingcomes from your own cultivation via karmic inheritance and nothing else. i.e. not due to your luck, Fong Sui etc.;

3. The importance of cultivating a very stable Sati or mindfulness leading to Heedfulness or Appamāda throughout the day;

4. Importance of repentanceand asking for forgiveness sincerely. When you forgive someone, you actually free yourself from the evil roots of anger, hatred and delusion.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 4 (Introduction One – pg x to xii of Master Hsuan Hua’s commentary)

2.1 Master Hsuan Hua’s very unique birth and life history:-

“On Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s birthday, the Master dreamed that an old woman wearing a patchwork robe and a string of beads appeared to guide him……….”

This unique birth and life history of Master Hsuan Hua, provided the conditions for Bro. Teoh to also share a bit of his unique spiritual affinities and encounters with Guan Yin Bodhisattva in his early years of cultivation (1986) and the details are as described by him during the sharing on that day. For details, please refer to the web link or 16 GB USB that contains the recording as produced by Bro. Swee Aun.

In 1986, Bro. Teoh and his whole family took refuge under Master Hsuan Hua and apart from taking the 5 precepts, the other condition is to finish the 10,000 bows of reciting “Homage to thee, my original teacher Namo Sākyamuni Buddha” within 3 months (Bro Teoh completed it within less than 2 months). According to Bro. Teoh, this bowing, if done mindfully and with very strong saddhā or faith and vīriya or the spiritual zeal, can lead one to a very stable daily mindfulness very quickly.

2.2 Is bowing another technique to develop mindfulness

Question 1: Is bowing another technique to develop mindfulness that is similar to walking and sitting meditation?

The understanding of it is very important. There is not much meaning to your cultivation if you just follow instructions without understanding. You must understand why you bow? And what you are doing in the name of meditation? i.e. do not just follow the instructions to do certain things via any method or technique, etc. thinking that when you are doing all that then you are meditating. The real Meditation as taught by the Buddha cannot begin unless one has developed the training of the mind to be Heedfulwith Sati or mindfulness within. The various objects of meditation used in conjunction with the various methods and techniques of meditation are only initial skilful means used to train the mind so that it is not heedlesslylost in thought most of the time. The main purpose of the object of meditation is to anchor the mindto it so that one is always in the moment, mindful and aware of the object of meditation without thought. Once this training is done the trained mind will be silent (without thought) with awareness within and such a mind is in the meditative state to “see things as they are” without any concepts, ideas or words.

When the above is understood then any method or technique can also be used to train the mind to be heedfulinitially but finally we need to develop the ultimate meditative mind with silent inner awareness (where the mind must have no dwelling as per the diamond sutra). Then one must let go of the meditation object and silent one’s mind to develop the more refined mindfulness within. It is just like swimming - the float is just like an initial skilful means (object of meditation) to help keep one afloat and as long as one still holds onto the float then one will never understand the actual swimming because to swim with the float and without the float are two totally different experiences.

Bowing or reverential salutation is 1 of the 10 meritorious actions and it is a very importantvirtue that comes with so many benefits and advantages. It is part of the opening and closing pūjā or devotional practices as recommended by the Buddha to help one establish the faith or saddhā in the Buddha and his teaching followed by the spiritual zeal or vīriya and the development of sati or mindfulness (which is the 3rd spiritual faculty). One can then bow mindfully and with understanding via a composed mind with strong saddhā and vīriya.

Bowing is not idol worshiping but instead it is reverential salutation done out of great respect and gratitude for someone who has taught us so well like the Buddha who is the fully Enlightenedone, perfect in wisdom and virtues. Since it is a meritorious action, the field of merits is immeasurable if it is done with understanding to the worthy or enlightened ones. Such merits can be made use of, to arise the causes and conditions for us to progress quickly along the path of dhamma via invoking the power of merits.

Apart from helping us to develop the spiritual faculties of saddhā, vīriya and sati, bowing can also help us to cultivate humility and help exercise our body while establishing ourselves in mindfulness training. Also according to the Buddha, 4 things grow if we pay respect sincerely to our elders and worthy ones.

The 4 things are; “ayu, vanno, sukhaṃ and balaṃ.”

Their meanings are: ayu = long life; vanno = fair complexion; sukhaṃ = happiness; and balaṃ = strength (both spiritual and physical). All these 4 blessings are very important for having the good Life.

2.3 Can you show us how to do the bowing?

Question 2: Can you show us how to do the bowing? Is it the Theravāda tradition’s 5 point prostration or the Mahāyāna’s way of standing up then going down to prostrate and come up again?

Bro. Teoh: Whichever way that suits you more, use it. The most important thing is, when you bow, do it mindfully, with very strong faith and vīriya and do it with proper understanding. Always remember, one can only do one thing at a time, that is, either you are mindful with the moment in silent awareness without thought or you are lost in thought hence heedless. Bowing mindfully means body and mind move as one in harmony without thought. When the mind is composed and without the 5 hindrances of mind, mindfulness will be there naturally. So develop the faith, compose the mind then chant the salutation to Sākyamuni Buddha and then bow mindfully to develop the sati or mindfulness within. After a while - if you are sincere, patient and doing it with understanding then it can bring about the conditions for sati or mindfulness to arise. Mindfulness arises through understanding and perseverance and when mindfulness is firmly established, there will be so much joy. The mind is so silent, so light, so composed, so still, yet fully aware within throughout the day. In every movement and every action, there is so much clarity and awareness within the heart. It then starts to see things as they are and direct knowledge and vision of the reality keep on arising. Things that are there all this while (its 3 universal characteristics of anicca, dukkha and anattā etc.) – which the normal living beings never ‘see’ suddenly become very clear. This is the reason why Bro. Teoh always said to us, “Truth is everywhere – in the midst of Life and Nature, why can’t you see? For those who ‘see’ they always see.”

2.4 The 3 great Buddhist traditions – are they all the same or are they different?

Question 3: Are the teachings of our 3 great Buddhist traditions of Theravāda, Mahāyāna and the Vajrayana all the same or are they different?

Bro. Teoh: The essence of the Buddha’s teachings like the Four Noble Truths which includes the Noble 8-Fold Path are essentially all the same for all the 3 traditions. It is only how they approachit that makes it appears to be very different because of different commentaries and interpretation of suttas via words and terminologies used and all these complicate the matter further as words are subjected to various interpretations. What is more important is, not to argue and create any unnecessary and unhealthy divisions and misunderstanding within the various traditions but instead to have an open mind and avoid all negativities. Make use of whatever that is relevant, useful and suitable for each of us to progress along the path of dhamma via following the Buddha’s advice to the Kālāmā as stated in the Kālāmā Sutta. Harmony, Love and Understanding following the Noble 8-Fold Path to resolve all issues amicably is very important – i.e. no more negativity.

2.5 Difference between Pure Land Western Paradise and Nibbāna

Question 4: Can you explain the difference between the `Pure Land teaching that talks about the Western Paradise’ and `Nibbāna as taught by Sākyamuni Buddha’?

Bro. Teoh: Pure Land teaching is based on Amitabha Buddha’sgreat vows which created the Pure Land (also called the Western Paradise) for those disciples or cultivators who have the affinity with him to continue with their cultivation and perfection. By virtue of Amitabha Buddha and all the other great Bodhisattvas (like Guan Yin, Mañjusrī etc.)’s great cultivation, their vows are very powerful because of their wisdom and perfections. Hence, this leads to their great vows to be integrated into nature’s law thereby enabling their vows to have such special ability to create such Pure Land and manifest naturally, thus helping the cultivators and their disciples who know how to connect directly to their vows without themselves having to be there or at any specific place to help.

This Pure Land or the Western Paradise is in the hearts of those who have developed the cultivation and have the ability to connect directly to Amitabha Buddha’s vows via their silent mind with very strong faith while chanting Amitabha Buddha’s name or His mantra. (Chant until no one is chanting i.e. the vibration and the mind has become one in perfect harmony and synchrony.)

This Pure Land or the Western paradise is not within the 31 planes of Existence as taught by the Sākyamuni Buddha.

2.6 What are these 31 planes of Existence?

Question 5: What are these 31 planes of Existence?

Bro. Teoh: According to Theravāda tradition, the 31 Planes of Existence are the realms of existence within saṃsāra or existence where living beings have to undergo birth and death following their kamma. It can also be called the 3 worlds:

1. The Formless world or Arūpa Loka - 4 formless Realms (realms of neither perception nor non-perception; nothingness; infinite consciousness and infinite space.)

2. The Form world or Rūpa Loka - 16 Brahma realms

3. The Sensual world or Kāma Loka - 6 Deva or heavenly realms + 1 human realm + 4 woeful states or suffering realms

The sensual realms are further divided into:

1. Suffering world of the sensual realms or Kāma dugati and they are the 4 woeful realms of demons, animals petas or hungry ghosts and the hell beings;

2. Kāma Sugati or the sensual realm of happiness are the human realm and the 6 deva realms.

The Mahāyāna called it the 6 realms of birth and death with the 1 human realm + 4 woeful realms remaining exactly the same and the only difference is the Mahāyāna has only 1 heavenly realm to define all the 6 deva realms + the 16 Brahma realms + the 4 formless realms. Hence (1+4) + (6+16+4) = 31 realms or planes of existence.

Note:

1. No thought, ever mindful and constantly meditative (imply ever mindful to constantly cultivate the Noble 8-fold path) = Heedfulness (Dhammapada verse 23).

5th Heart Sutra Class 11 March 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120311.mp3

1.1 Introducing Master Hsuan Hua (45th Patriarch of Sākyamuni Buddha lineage)

In 1948 after 3000 miles of travel, Master Hsuan Hua reached Nan Hua monastery near Canton and received the wonderful mind to mind transmission of all Buddhas from the Venerable Master Hsu Yun and became the 45th Patriarch in the line of succession from Sākyamuni Buddha. Master HsuYun is also the teacher of Master Bo Yuan the late abbot of this Mahāyāna vihāra , Wu Pin Chen Seah.

1.2 Introducing the late Venerable Master Hsu Yun (44th Patriarch in the line of succession from Sākyamuni Buddha)

Hsu Yun was born on 26th April 1840 in Fujian, China and passed away in 1959 at the age of 120. He is one of the mostinfluential Chán masters of the past two centuries, and arguably the most important in modern Chinese history. Unlike Catholicism and other branches of Christianity, there was no organization in China that embraced all monastic in China, not even all monastic within the same sect. Traditionally, each monastery was autonomous, with authority resting on each respective abbot. This changed with the rule of the Communist Party. In 1953, the Chinese Buddhist Association was established at a meeting with 121 delegates in Beijing. The meeting also elected a chairman, 4 honorary chairmen, 7 vice-chairmen, a secretary general, 3 deputy secretaries-general, 18 members of a standing committee, and 93 directors. The 4 elected honorary chairmen were the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama, the Grand Lama of Inner Mongolia and Hsu Yun himself. Though Chán is less well known in the West compared to Japanese Zen, the teachings of Hsu Yun have persisted within Asia, and he is still a major figure of Pure Land Buddhism in East Asia. Outside of China, the influence of his teachings is strongest in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam and Myanmar, as well as in Americas, where his teachings were transmitted through well-known monastic students such as Venerable Hsuan Hua and Venerable Jy Din Shakya and Venerable Fo Yuan Shakya.

i) Middle Age and Enlightenment

At the age forty-three, Hsu Yun had by then left the home-life for more than twenty years, but he had not yet completed his practice in the Path. He had not repaid his parents' kindness, and so he vowed to again make a pilgrimage to Nan Hai. From Fa Hua Temple all the way to Ch'ing Liang Peak at Mount Wutai or 5 peak mountains of the northwest, the bodhimandala of Mañjusrī, he made one full prostration every three steps. He prayed for the rebirth of his parents in the Pure Land. Along the way, Hsu Yun is said to have met a beggar called Wen Chi, who twice saved his life. After talking with the monks at the Five-Peaked Mountain, Hsu Yun came to believe that the beggar had been a manifestation of Mañjusrī. Having achieved singleness of mind, Hsu Yun travelled west and south, making his way through Tibet. He visited many monasteries and holy places, including the Potala, the seat of the Dalai Lama, and Tashilhunpo Monastery, the seat of the Panchen Lama. He travelled through India and Ceylon, and then across the sea to Burma.

During this time of wandering, Hsu Yun felt his mind clearing and his health growing stronger. Hsu Yun composed a large number of poems during this period.

After returning to China, During Hsu Yun's fifty-third year, he joined other Venerable Masters Pu Zhao, Yue Xia, and Yin Lian (Lotus Seal) to cultivate together. They climbed Jiu Hua Mountain and repaired the huts on Cui Feng Summit, where Dhamma Master Pu Zhao expounded the  Mahāvaipulyabuddha Avatamsaka (Flower Adornment) Sutra. When Hsu Yun was fifty-six, the Abbot Yue Lang of Gaomin Temple in Yangzhou planned to convene a continuous twelve-week session of dhyana meditation. Preparing to leave, the group asked Hsu Yun to go first. After reaching Di Gang, he had to cross the water, but had no money. The ferry left without him. As he walked along the river's edge, he suddenly lost his balance and fell into the rushing water, where he bobbed helplessly for a day and night and was caught in a fisherman's net. He was carried to a nearby temple, where he was revived and treated for his injuries. Feeling ill, he nevertheless returned to Yangzhou. When asked by Gao Ming whether he would participate in the upcoming weeks of meditation, he politely declined, without revealing his illness. The temple had rules that those who were invited had to attend or else face punishment. In the end, Gao Ming had Hsu Yun beaten with a wooden ruler. He willingly accepted this punishment, although it worsened his condition.

For the next several days, Hsu Yun sat in continuous meditation. In his autobiography, he wrote: "In the purity of my singleness of mind, I forgot all about my body. Twenty days later my illness vanished completely. From that moment, with all my thoughts entirely wiped out, my practice took effect throughout the day and night. My steps were as swift as if I was flying in the air. One evening, after meditation, I opened my eyes and suddenly saw I was in brightness similar to broad daylight in which I could see everything inside and outside the monastery" But he knew that this occurrence was only a mental state, and that it was not at all rare. He did not become attached to this achievement, but continued his single-minded investigation of the topic, "who is mindful of the Buddha?" over and over again, he delved into this topic without interruption.

During the twelfth lunar month, on the third evening of the eighth week of the session, after six hours of sitting meditation, the attendant made his rounds, filling up the tea cups. Hsu Yun's hand was burned by spilling boiling water, and his cup fell to the floor. At the sound of the crash, the root of his doubt was instantly severed. He was joyous beyond words at having fulfilled his lifelong ambition. It was as if he had just awakened from a dream, and he observed how theconditions of the past unravel.

ii) Hsu Yun's verse explanation says :

“A cup fell to the ground

With a sound clearly heard

As space was pulverised

The mad mind came to a stop”

1.3 Meaning of “We accord with conditions” or “Flow with the Dhamma”

The word “accord” means not to resist hence there is harmony and no conflict. Conflict means disharmony, argument etc. So to flow with the dhamma means the same i.e. don’t resist or argue via “accepting things as they are” or via “Seeing things as they are – without delusion and Let things be.” It is like martial art if we were to resist or defend via rigid kung fu then both will get hurt but if you can use Tai Chi to flowwith it then Tai Chi will send the force back to the aggressor who will be hurt by their own force.

1.4 The Phenomenal world is an illusionary world of conciousness

Definition of phenomenon - anything that is perceivable by the mind is a phenomenon. Then how do you know the world? - Via our consciousness and mental perception isn’t it? And since consciousness and mental perception are just mental images in our mind that arise and pass away continuously, hence the reason why it is said, ‘the phenomenal world is actually an illusionary world of consciousness – empty’.

The Mahāyāna also got a very famous saying:

“Perception of form is consciousness whereas its non-perception is wisdom.”

This is themost profound quote, quoted by the Shurangama sutra and the enlightened one will understand it. Now you understand why the Mahāyāna always said that “The phenomenal world is the world of consciousness.” This is also the reason why the Shurangama sutra said, “Consciousness created the world and the continents, the stars and the universe and the “knower” becomes the living being.” Through thought and form delusion, the “knower” deludedly cling on to the 5 aggregates of form and mind (or living being) thinking that it is real and this is what they are. Hence the deluded living being clinging onto the false becomes the “traveller” in space and time wandering through saṃsāra and undergoing birth and death for eternity.

Notes:

1. True Mind does not stir – true Suchness or “Ru Ru Bu Dong” (如如不动). Only the Mundane mindstirs via delusion. Mundane mind without wisdom is the discriminating thinking mind.

2. Definition of hallucinatory – ‘thinking that it is real but is actually not real’.

3. J Krishnamurti said, ‘The observer is the observed’, this is “seeing things as they are” via the direct seeing without words. In a similar way the Buddha also taught the same, “In the seeing, it is only the seeing consciousness and there is no one to see!” – Hence no delusion. Otherwise, the moment you associate and cling onto what you see or what you observe,delusion or sakkāyadiṭṭhi has already arisen.

Part 2 - Meditation

2.1 Visualization technique

Question 1: – Can visualization like visualizing a blue sky be used as a technique to develop MINDFULNESS?

Bro. Teoh: This type of Visualization technique, like any other skilful means if used with understanding can also bring about the training of the mind to be peaceful and calm. Just like auto suggestions via music, sound and vibration etc. But the disadvantage of this type of skilful means is that it usually only works for the first few times and after a while, like good food, it loses its effectiveness. The other type of visualization technique using kasinas or the 40 objects of meditations used to develop one-pointedness concentration followed by the development of jhānas and deep concentration leading to all the other psychic abilities is more dangerousunless it is done with understanding and preferably under the guidance of a very good and very skilful meditation teacher. If one clings and attached to such one-pointedness concentration and special jhānic abilities then one can get trapped and chances of deviation from the true cultivation of developing wisdom to free the mind from all suffering can happen. The mind that is in one-pointedness concentration is a conditioned mind that is still within the field of thought and all the anusaya or latent tendencies of the mind are still suppressed and not rooted out as yet. Such a mind is not a free mind with clear awareness and Samādhi borne of equanimity or wisdom.

2.2 The wisdom of “Let things be”

Question 2: - How to apply the wisdom of, “Let things be" to solve all of our life’s problem?

Bro. Teoh: With right views borne of wisdom to accept the realityof the moment, we will not react or allow the mind to stir when confronted with the 1st Noble Truth realities of Life and Existence (the 8 conditions), hence no fear, no worry and anxiety or any suffering. That is “we just let things be” after accepting the realities of the moment. Then, with a calm and clear mind, we can weigh our options and act appropriately following the Noble 8-Fold Path (which is the meditation as taught by the Buddha) to resolve all our life situations or problems amicably. I.e. without any negativity or wrong thoughts to cause our mind to stir, we can be at peace because wrong thoughts are thoughts that condition one’s fear, worry, anxiety, unhappiness and misery etc.

Without wisdom and right views borne of understanding the Buddha dhamma, one will react and the mind will stir due to the fear, worry and anxiety, etc. borne of their wrong views (just like normal deluded living beings) leading to all the mental sufferings (grief, sorrow and lamentation etc.). The cause of suffering is self-delusion that conditions one’s grasping and one’s clinging to one’s 5 aggregates of form and mind. This is the 2nd Noble Truth. Under the 3rd NobleTruth the Buddha said, “Suffering need not be if one has the wisdom and enlightenment can be realized in the here and the now or Nibbāna is possible.” Then following the 4th Noble Truth which is the way out of suffering, one cultivates the Noble 8-Fold Path (which is the meditation as taught by the Buddha) leading to the end of all suffering.

6th Heart Sutra Class18 March 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120318.mp3

Part 1 - Heart Sutra Lesson 6 (Introduction Three – pg xxii to xxiv of Master Hsuan Hua’s Commentary)

1.1 Opening commentary on The Heart of Prajna Pāramitā Sutra

The Heart of Prajna Pāramitā Sutra, with verse without a stand and prose commentary consists of 3 parts:

1. The Sutra text itself;

2. The Venerable Master Hsuan Hua’s verse explanation; and

3. The Master’s lectured commentary on the texts and verses.

This Heart Sutra is an essential summary of the Mahāyāna Buddhism’s teaching on true emptiness. The Heart Sutra is nothing less than a summation of the wisdom of the Buddha. It distils perfectly the teaching of non-attachment, which is the doctrine of emptiness. As the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua says in his commentary, only the most advanced of masters can expect to grasp the full importance of the sutra by itself without the aid of a teacher because this teaching is the heart in the heart within the heart.

Bro. Teoh also concurs with Master Hsuan Hua’s statement, and also said, ‘dhamma must be delivered from the heart spontaneously and not through any prior planningvia memory otherwise it is only knowledge and not wisdom’.

The important criteria for translating The Heart of Prajna Pāramitā Sutra as adopted by Master Hsuan Hua are the Eight Guidelines of his Buddhist Texts Translation Society (BTTS):-

1. A volunteer must free himself/herself from the motives of personal fame and profit.

2. A volunteer must cultivate a respectful and sincere attitude free from arrogance and

3. A volunteer must refrain from aggrandizing his/her work and denigrating that of others.

4. A volunteer must not establish himself/herself as the standard of correctness and suppress the work of others with his or her fault-finding.

5. A volunteer must take the Buddha-mind as his/her own mind.

6. A volunteer must use the wisdom of Dhamma-Selecting Vision to determine true principles.

7. A volunteer must request Virtuous Elders in the ten directions to certify his/her translations.

8. A volunteer must endeavour to propagate the teachings by printing Sutras, Shastra texts, and Vinaya texts when the translations are certified as being correct.

When there is condition to share the translated dhamma, one must share, thus allowing the translations to benefit more living beings.

Part 2 – Meditation

2.1 Aṅgulimāla SuttaMN 86: - translated from the Pāḷi text by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Thus have I heard that on one occasion, the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthi at Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇdika's monastery. And at that time, in King Pasenadi's reign, there was a bandit named Aṅgulimāla: brutal, bloody-handed, devoted to killing & slaying, showing no mercy to living beings. He turned villages into non-villages, towns into non-towns, settled countryside into unsettled countryside. Having repeatedly killed human beings, he wore a garland (mālā) made of fingers (aṅguli).

Then the Blessed One, early in the morning, having put on his robes and carrying his outer robe & bowl, went into Sāvatthi for alms. Having wandered for alms in Sāvatthi and returning from his alms round after his meal, he set his lodging in order. Carrying his robes & bowl, he went along the road to where Aṅgulimāla was staying. Cowherds, shepherds, & farmers saw him going along the road to where Aṅgulimāla was staying, and on seeing him said to him, "Don't go along that road, contemplative, for on that road is Aṅgulimāla: brutal, bloody-handed, devoted to killing & slaying, showing no mercy to living beings. He has turned villages into non-villages, towns into non-towns, settled countryside into unsettled countryside. Having repeatedly killed human beings, he wears a garland made of fingers. Groups of ten, twenty, thirty, & forty men have gone along that road, and even they have fallen into Aṅgulimāla's hands." When this was said, the Blessed One kept going in silence.

A second time... a third time, cowherds, shepherds, & farmers said to the Blessed One, "Don't go along that road, contemplative... Groups of ten, twenty, thirty, & forty men have gone along that road, and even they have fallen into Aṅgulimāla's hands." When this was said, the Blessed One kept going in silence.

Then Aṅgulimāla saw the Blessed One coming from afar and on seeing him, this thought occurred to him: "Isn't it amazing! Isn't it astounding! Groups of ten, twenty, thirty, & forty men have gone along this road, and even they have fallen into my hands, and yet now this contemplative comes attacking, as it were, alone and without a companion. Why don't I kill him?" So Aṅgulimāla, taking up his sword & shield, buckling on his bow & quiver, followed right behind the Blessed One.

Then the Blessed One willed a feat of psychic power such that Aṅgulimāla, though running with all his might, could not catch up with the Blessed One walking at normal pace. Then the thought occurred to Aṅgulimāla: "Isn't it amazing! Isn't it astounding! In the past I've chased and seized even a swift-running elephant, a swift-running horse, a swift-running chariot, a swift-running deer. But now, even though I'm running with all my might, I can't catch up with this contemplative walking at normal pace." So he stopped and called out to the Blessed One, "Stop, contemplative! Stop!"

"I have stopped, Aṅgulimāla. It is you who haven’t stopped."

Then the thought occurred to Aṅgulimāla, "These Sakyan contemplatives are speakers of the truth, asserters of the truths, and yet this contemplative, even while walking, says, 'I have stopped, Aṅgulimāla. It is you who haven’t stopped.' Why don't I question him?"

So Aṅgulimāla the bandit addressed this verse to the Blessed One:

"While walking, contemplative, you say, 'I have stopped.' But when I have stopped you say, ‘I haven't’. I ask you the meaning of this: “How have you stopped? How haven't I?"

[The Buddha:] "I have stopped, Aṅgulimāla, once & for all, having cast off violence towards all living beings. You are still unrestrained toward beings. That's how I've stopped and you haven't."

[Aṅgulimāla:] "At long last, a greatly revered great seer for my sake has come to the great forest. Having heard your verse in line with the Dhamma, I will also abandon all evil." So saying, the bandit hurled his sword & weapons over a cliff into a chasm, a pit. Then the bandit paid homage to the feet of the One Well-gone, and right there requested the going-forth.

The Awakened One, the compassionate great seer, the teacher of the world, along with His devas, said to him then:

"Come, bhikkhū." That in itself was bhikkhūhood for him.

Then the Blessed One set out wandering toward Sāvatthi with Ven. Aṅgulimāla as his attendant monk. After wandering by stages he reached Sāvatthi, and there he lived, near Sāvatthi, in Jetta Grove, Anāthapiṇdika's monastery.

Now at that time a large crowd of people, loud & noisy, had gathered at the gates to King Pasenadi Kosala's inner palace, [calling out,] "There is a bandit in your reign sire, named Aṅgulimāla: brutal, bloody-handed, devoted to killing & slaying, showing no mercy to living beings. He has turned villages into non-villages, towns into non-towns, settled countryside into unsettled countryside. Having repeatedly killed human beings, he wears a garland made of fingers. The king must stamp him out!"

Then King Pasenadi Kosala, with a cavalry of roughly 500 horsemen, drove out of Sāvatthi and entered the monastery. Driving as far as the ground was passable for chariots; he got down from his chariot and went on foot to the Blessed One. On arrival, having bowed down, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there, the Blessed One said to him, "What is it, great king? Has King Seniya Bimbisara of Magadha provoked you, or have the Licchavis of Vesali or some other hostile king?"

"No, Lord. King Seniya Bimbisara of Magadha hasn't provoked me, nor have the Licchavis of Vesali, nor has some other hostile king. There is a bandit in my reign, Lord, named Aṅgulimāla: brutal, bloody-handed, devoted to killing & slaying, showing no mercy to living beings. He has turned villages into non-villages, towns into non-towns, settled countryside into unsettled countryside. Having repeatedly killed human beings, he wears a garland made of fingers. I am going to stamp him out."

"Great king, suppose you were to see Aṅgulimāla with his hair & beard shaved off, wearing the robe, having gone forth from the home life into homelessness, refraining from killing living beings, refraining from taking what is not given, refraining from telling lies, living the holy life on one meal a day, virtuous & of fine character: what would you do to him?"

"We would bow down to him, Lord, or rise up to greet him, or offer him a seat, or offer him robes, alms food, lodgings, or medicinal requisites for curing illness; or we would arrange a lawful guard, protection, & defence. But how could there be such virtue & restraint in an un virtuous, evil character?"

Now at that time Ven. Aṅgulimāla was sitting not far from the Blessed One. So the Blessed One, pointing with his right arm, said to King Pasenadi Kosala, "That, great king, is Aṅgulimāla." Then King Pasenadi Kosala was frightened, terrified, his hair standing on end. So the Blessed One, sensing the king's fear & hair-raising awe, said to him, "Don't be afraid, great king. Don't be afraid. He poses no danger to you."

Then the king's fear, his terror, his hair-standing-on-end subsided. He went over to Ven. Aṅgulimāla and said, "Are you really Aṅgulimāla, Lord?"

"Yes, great king." "What is your father's clan? What is your mother's clan?"

"My father is a Gagga, great king, and my mother a Mantani."

"Then may Master Gagga Mantaniputta delight [in staying here]. I will be responsible for your robes, alms food, lodgings, & medicinal requisites for curing illness."

Now it so happened that at that time Ven. Aṅgulimāla was a wilderness-dweller, an alms-goer, wearing one set of the triple robe made of cast-off cloth. So he said to King Pasenadi Kosala, "Enough, great king. My triple robe is complete."

So King Pasenadi Kosala went to the Blessed One and on arrival, having bowed down, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One, "It's amazing, Lord. It's astounding, how the Blessed One has tamed the untamed, pacified the unpeaceful, and brought to unbinding those who were not unbound. For what we could not tame even with blunt or bladed weapons, the Blessed One has tamed without blunt or bladed weapons. Now, Lord, we must go. Many are our duties, many our responsibilities."

"Then do, great king, what you think it is now time to do."

Then King Pasenadi Kosala got up from his seat, bowed down to the Blessed One and — keeping him to his right, departed.

Then Ven. Aṅgulimāla, early in the morning, having put on his robes and carrying his outer robe & bowl, went into Sāvatthi for alms. As he was going from house to house for alms, he saw a woman suffering a breech birth. On seeing her, the thought occurred to him: "How tormented are living beings! How tormented are living beings!" Then, having wandered for alms in Sāvatthi and returning from his alms round after his meal, he went to the Blessed One. On arrival, having bowed down to him, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One, "Just now, Lord, early in the morning, having put on my robes and carrying my outer robe & bowl, I went into Sāvatthi for alms. As I was going from house to house for alms, I saw a woman suffering a breech birth. On seeing her, the thought occurred to me: 'How tormented are living beings! How tormented are living beings!'

"In that case, Aṅgulimāla, go to that woman and on arrival say to her, 'Sister, since I was born I do not recall intentionally killing a living being. Through this truth may there be well-being for you, well-being for your foetus.'”

"But, Lord, wouldn't that be a lie for me, for I have intentionally killed many living beings?"

"Then in that case, Aṅgulimāla, go to that woman and on arrival say to her, 'Sister, since I was born in the noble birth, I do not recall intentionally killing a living being. Through this truth, may there be well-being for you, well-being for your foetus."

Responding, "As you say, Lord," to the Blessed One. Aṅgulimāla went to that woman and on arrival said to her, "Sister, since I was born in the noble birth, I do not recall intentionally killing a living being. Through this may there be well-being for you, well-being for your foetus." And there was well-being for the woman, well-being for her foetus.

Then Ven. Aṅgulimāla, dwelling alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, & resolute, in no long time reached & remained in the supreme goal of the holy life for which clansmen rightly go forth from home into homelessness, knowing & realizing it for himself in the here & now. He knew: "Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for the sake of this world." And thus Ven. Aṅgulimāla became another one of the arahants.

Then Ven. Aṅgulimāla, early in the morning, having put on his robes and carrying his outer robe & bowl, went into Sāvatthi for alms. Now, at that time a clod thrown by one person hit Ven. Aṅgulimāla on the body, a stone thrown by another person hit him on the body, and a potsherd thrown by still another person hit him on the body. So Ven. Aṅgulimāla, his head broken open and dripping with blood, his bowl broken, and his outer robe ripped to shreds, went to the Blessed One. The Blessed One saw him coming from afar and on seeing him said to him: "Bear with it, brahman! Bear with it! The fruit of the kamma that would have burned you in hell for many years, many hundreds of years, many thousands of years, you are now experiencing in the here-&-now!"

Then Ven. Aṅgulimāla, having gone alone into seclusion, experienced the bliss of release. At that time he exclaimed: Who once was heedless but later is not, brightens the world like the moon set free from a cloud. His evil-done deed is replaced with skilfulness: he brightens the world like the moon set free from a cloud. Whatever young monk devotes himself to the Buddha's bidding: he brightens the world like the moon set free from a cloud.

Part 3 - Meditation

3.1 Pain in the legs during meditation

Question 1: While sitting in half-lotus for some time, the pain of the leg becomes unbearable. And then when I start to chant, the original pain ceases but a more severe pain arises in another part of the legs. Why?

Bro. Teoh: First, you must understand what meditation is? And what are you doing in the name of meditation – your purpose and intent. If you don’t have such an understanding then there is this tendency to react to unpleasant feeling/sensation that arises during meditation by labelling it as pain (which is an aversion or an ill will) and as we all know, ill will is one of the five mentalhindrances of the mind that will hinder your mind from entering the meditative state of inner peace and calm. As such, you are already caught or trapped by it. Because of your dislike towards such unpleasant sensation, your mind will try to do something else (like chanting) to either suppress it or make it go away.

As chanting is just another skilful means to train the mind and it is still within the field of thoughts hence by doing so you have lost your focus because Meditation consists of 2 steps :-

1. The 1st  step is to develop the training of the mind to be constantly aware leading to the heedfulness;

2. Then the 2nd step is to use the trained mind to meditate or cultivate the meditation as taught by the Buddha which is the cultivation of the Noble 8-Fold Path. Understanding this will enable you to just silent your mind and patiently relax your body and mind to allow the sensation to be without any like or dislike for that sensation because it is the nature of this body to develop that sensation if you do not know how to relax to enable the ‘chi’ to flow through the blockage. Then sati will take over and this can result in a shift of consciousness to cease the so called pain.

So just be aware (or mindful) always, to observe what is going on within your ‘form and mind’ and to investigate via mindfulness to understand how the movement of mind from one state to another comes to be. That is to understand how the stirring of the mind comes to be and how the mind can be conditioned into negativity, emotions, selfishness and fear etc. via delusion upon seeing something or hearing something or thinking of something etc.

3.2 5 ways to overcome negative unwholesome thoughts

The Buddha teaches 5 ways to overcome negative unwholesome thoughts that have arisen:-

1. Think of the direct opposite wholesome thought. (For example, if there is anger then develop Mettā and if there is cruelty then develop Compassion. And if there is Feardevelop Faith)

2. Think of the consequence of holding on to the unwholesome thoughtor evil roots; (If you do not abandon it then the evil roots which are the roots of all evil will condition you to become an evil person. For example, anger can condition one into hatred and violence. An angry person can kill, harm and abuse others.)

3. Relax and maintainawareness via just let things be - this is the meditative way borne of understanding that “the natural state of mindbefore its stirring is already in the meditative state of inner peace, calmness and silent inner awareness and the flowering of thought is the very ending of that thought”.

4. Trace the origination factors of the unwholesome thought and then retrospectively reverse it via the cultivation of mindfulness of dhamma (dhammānupassanā) – i.e. via cultivating the mindfulness of the 6 internal and 6 external sense bases. This is to develop the wisdom to free.

5. If all the above 4 ways also cannot help you, then you must use your own self- determination as recommended by the Buddha, i.e. “With clenched teeth and with your tongue towards your palate, you should determine strongly to abandon the negative thought”.

7th Heart Sutra Class 1 April 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120401.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 What is meditation

Bro Teoh re-emphasized the importance of understanding the following:-

i) What is Meditation? So that we understand what we are doing in the name of meditation and this will keep us always in focus.

ii) There are 2 steps involved in the development of meditation as taught by the Buddha:-

1st step is to train the mind to be heedful via using a skilful means or an object of meditationto anchor the mind in awareness or mindfulness so that the mind is relaxed, aware, silent and mindful within.

2nd step is to make use of this trained mind in silent awareness‘to see things as they are’ to develop the meditation as taught by the Buddha namely the cultivation of the daily mindfulness or Sati Sampajañña, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the 3 turnings of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble 8-FoldPath.

iii) The aim of Meditation is to realize the state of Enlightenment that is beyond thought and beyond time (psychological time) because the dhamma is Timeless or “Akāliko” in Pāḷi.

iv) Thought-based meditation is limited to the field of thoughts hence it cannot free our mind or lead it to realize a state that is beyond thought and beyond time because the moments of thought is psychological time.

v) Diligently cultivate the 5 spiritual faculties of saddhā, vīriya, sati, samādhi and paññā to overcome the 5 hindrances of mind of sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor (or sleepy/lethargic mind), restlessness of mind and

vi) The danger of having self-delusion and not comprehending what sakkāyadiṭṭhi or self-delusion is!

vii) Importance of using mindfulness to ‘observe’ and understand how your mind ‘stirs’ or gets conditioned into mental thinking or activities leading to all the emotions and reactions to sense experiences that conditioned ones’ sufferings, etc. via comprehending the famous Mahāyāna saying of “Qi Xin Dong Nian” (起心动念) – the arising of mind creates thinking hence stirring of the mind comes to be! Or in Theravāda term it is “avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra” – “Ignorance conditions activities of mind” (the first two links of the paṭicca-samuppāda/Dependent Origination) ;

viii) Originally before the stirring, the mind is already in the meditative state of inner peace, silence and still awareness within, so the stirring of the mind only comes about when we do not have the wisdom and understanding of this fundamental principle of the original (or true) mind then through our own self-delusion or ignorance we cause our mundane mind to arise hence the stirring (via our reactions to sense experiences at every moment of sense door consciousness). Train the mind to have the silent inner awareness and clarity to see all these clearly then there is no more delusion thereby understanding that if we can just “let things be” then there is no more suffering or problem and with this understanding, tranquillity will return by not trying to do anything via using the thought to suppress or control – i.e. just be patient to maintain the ‘silent mind’ with clear inner awareness and let everything return to its original statebefore its stirring. Always remember; when there is no delusion or ignorance then there is no stirring of the mind hence having the understanding that “only wisdom frees the mind”. i.e. the moment you have wisdom, your mind will not stir and you are free so no need to do anything after that because things are just the way they are! – Suchness or Tathatā.

(Note: Tathā means thus in Sanskrit and Pāḷi, and Buddhists think this refers to what is called reality as-it-is (yathā-bhūta). This reality is also referred to as Thusness or Suchness and Tathatā in Pāḷi - indicating ‘What IS’ or the ‘ISness’ of things. A Buddha or an arahant is defined as someone who "knows and sees reality as-it-is"(yathā bhūta ñāna dassanā). Gata "gone" is the past passive participle of the verbal root gam "go, travel". Āgata "come" is the past passive participle of the verb meaning "come, arrive". Thus in this interpretation Tathāgata means literally either, “The one who has gone to Suchness” or, "The one who has arrived at Suchness".)

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 7

2.1 “The Bodhisattva, through reliance on prajna pāramitā, is unimpeded in his mind.

Because there are no impediments, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dream-thinking far behind. Ultimately Nirvana!”

Here distorted dream-thinking means delusion conditioned inverted thinking. That is taking the unreal to be real and vice versa. This verse is so beautiful.

2.2 “All Buddhas of the three periods of time attain Anuttara samyaksambodhi through reliance of prajna pāramitā.

Therefore, know that prajna pāramitā is a great spiritual mantra, a great bright mantra, a supreme mantra, an unequalled mantra. It can remove all suffering; it is genuine and not false. That is why the mantra of prajna pāramitā was spoken. Recite it like this: Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha!”

Here prajna pāramitā means the perfection of wisdom cultivation and Anuttara samyaksambodhi means the perfection of Buddha hood. This is even more beautiful.

2.3 True Emptiness is wonderful Existence

“Therefore in emptiness there is no form, feeling, perception, mental activities or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile and mental forms; no field of the eyes, up to and including no field of mind consciousness; and no ignorance or ending of ignorance up to and including no old age and death or ending of old age and death. There is no suffering, no cause of arising of suffering, no extinction of suffering and no noble 8-fold way and no understanding and attaining.”

This verse appears like very contradictory to normally taught dhamma hence the beauty and uniqueness of the Heart Sutra – reason why it is always expressed as “True Emptiness is wonderful Existence.” That is, when one is - “able to understand the profound True Emptiness as taught in the Heart Sutra then Existence or Life becomes wonderful and very meaningful and beautiful.” Hence there is no contradiction because on the one side is taught the conditioned dhamma within the conditioned world. Then there is the realization of the unconditioned dhamma which is the understanding of True Emptiness as taught by the Heart Sutra. The unconditioned dhamma as explained by the Buddha is beyond thoughts and beyond time hence no words, no concepts, no ideas and no this and no that – which imply cannot be spoken or expressed like the great “TAO”.

Part 3 - Meditation

3.1 Review on compilation of emails – “Understanding The Meditation As Taught By the Buddha”

Bro. Teoh conducted a review on the compilation of emails notes as written by him to various Buddhist Groups and Dhamma Friends in the early years with the title:- “Understanding The Meditation As Taught By the Buddha” so as to enable the cultivators of the Buddha dhamma to have a better understanding of the key/importantdhamma as constantly emphasized by the Buddha. They are:-

1. Importance of understanding Dhammapada Verses 1, 2 and 183; Verses 21, 22 and 23 and the Buddha’s final advice to all the monks before his final parinibbāna. These verses are classified under the words of wisdom of the Buddha immediately after the content, introduction and acknowledgement sections.

2. The importance of understanding the true significance of the Four Noble Truths as expressed by the Buddha as the equivalent to the “Handful of leaves” as emphasized by him at Kosambi in the Simsapa grove, over 2500 years ago to the monks. This is to enable them to stay focused in their cultivation. Otherwise the chances of deviation are very high and probable.

3. The importance of understanding “What is Meditation? As explained under email Nos. 2 and 3.

4. The importance of developing the 3 types of corresponding wisdom of Suttamaya Paññā, Cintāmaya Paññā and Bhāvanāmaya Paññā that will arise via cultivating the 3 turnings of the Four Noble Truths as taught by the Buddha via his 1st sermon the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. Email No. 4.

8th Heart Sutra Class 8 April 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120408.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Can you teach me how to meditate?

Question 1: Can you teach me how to meditate?

Bro. Teoh: This is the most common question but also the most common mistake because it is a wrong question to ask. When you ask this question you expect the teacher or instructor to give you a method and a technique to meditate right? And this SOUNDS very logical, isn’t it? But what is a method? It is only a series of instructions to do certain things right. Like training the mind to be mindful and heedful so that it is in the present moment, silent, peaceful and aware within or to train the mind to develop concentration etc.? And more often than not, the method or technique taught never defines the meditation. So isn’t it more important to understand “What is Meditation?” Only then do we know how to develop it. So whatever that appears logical may not necessarily be the truth or right question to ask.

(Note: Unless you understand what meditation is, you will not be able to develop it. All methods and techniques given are only an initial skilful means meant to help train the mind to be heedful or in concentration. They are only a series of instructions given to initially train the mind so that it is not heedlessly lost in thought or preoccupied with what it is thinking or feeling.)

The purpose of meditation is to train the mind to be heedful then to use it to see things as they are to develop the wisdom and to understand how the 5 mental hindrances can hinder your mind from returning to its original state of silent inner awareness and peace before its stirring. Do not fight the mental hindrances or force it to go away but instead just develop the corresponding 5 spiritualfaculties of mind especially Sati and Samādhi as taught by the Buddha to arise the wisdom to counter them. For the Dhamma is beyond thought and beyond time. Heedfulness is without thought hence without psychological time.

Brother Teoh always advises us to diligently cultivate the 5 Spiritual Faculties because they are keys to the development of the 37 factors of enlightenment. They appeared twice within the 37 factors of Enlightenment.

1.2 Can chanting itself bring about enlightenment?

Question 2: What about those who believe in chanting? Can chanting itself bring about enlightenment?

Bro. Teoh: Yes! It can, provided you know how to chant with very strong faith, clear mindfulness, and understanding. For it can also bring about the cultivation of the 5 Spiritual Faculties of mind (saddhā, vīriya, sati, samādhi and Paññā) leading to the Enlightenment. So don’t be rigid or dogmatic to simply comment when you still cannot understand other people’s practices or cultivation especially those of the Mahāyāna and the Pure Land traditions. Their Buddhas and their great Bodhisattvas vows are very powerful and they can help those who are sincere to connect to their vows enabling them to develop their cultivation so much faster. Whatever you do in Life and if you know how to develop it with understanding then it can bring about a transformation too for “Life itself is the meditation” - via the cultivation of the daily mindfulness which is the cultivation of sati sampajañña.

1.3 Wisdom of Phra Ajahn Yantra

Some important truths that Brother Teoh has learnt from his teacher Phra Ajahn Yantra Amaro Bhikkhū, a very wise and famous Thai monk during the early years of his cultivation (1988-1992) are as follows :

1. Mind is Mind, Body is Body, Body is never the Mind and The Mind is never theBody; But Body is important too because both Body and Mind must harmonize to help us live Life and develop the meditation and we choose ‘take care of Mind’ because Mind is more important;

2. We choose ‘accept everything as natural’ because only “form and mind” arising and passing away and mighty nature rolling by – so, not so real and not what one thinks;

3. We choose contemplate, all dhamma until they are very, very clear – importance of 2nd turning wisdom;

4. The highest or real meditation - “We choose aware of all actions and all movements in the present moment” – daily mindfulness meditation in daily life;

5. Importance of having a good daily religious routine to train the mind to cultivate pūjā, mettā, sati and meditate every day;

6. Importance of constantly cultivating the 5 spiritual faculties of mind and the keeping of the 5 precepts.

7. Nature has great loving kindness. Nature just gives, gives and gives. The air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we consume all come from nature.

1.4 Key to understanding meditation

The key to understanding meditation is to understand that “the body and mind must harmonize and be in a constant staterelaxed inner awareness to develop the meditation” and because the mind is ‘trapped’ inside this physical body of ours due to our karmic conditioning so whatever the body experiences, the mind will also experience them through its mental consciousness. This is the reason why the form and mind can experience suffering conditioned by one’s kamma if wisdom is not developed as yet.

To truly become Enlightened, one must have the understanding to transcend “Birth and Death” of this segmented Life of ours. The famous quotes by Venerable Master Guang Qing are: “Guo Qi Xin Bu Ke De” (过去心不可得) - The past is already gone so not a reality anymore;

“Wei Lai Xin Ye Bu Ke De” (未来心也不可得) - The future has yet to come so it is also not a reality; and

“Xian Zai Xin Ye Bu Ke De” (现在心也不可得) - The present momentcannot also be held onto because of its transient nature hence it is also not a ‘reality’ too even though it is the ‘highest’ in Life or within existence because the moment you know or experience it, it is already dead andgone hence no longer the present moment.

So in order to transcend Life or Birth and Death “Liao Sheng Xi” (了生死), - one must transcend even the present moment which is still within existence and Life itself. To transcend life, we must meditate to realize the cessation of ‘form and mind’ (Nibbāna) which is the unconditioned.

As we all know, the moment is the only apparent ‘reality’ in Life and as real as it can be, it is just a moment and the very next moment, it is already ‘dead’ and gone or no more and the next moment arises and passes away again and again – hence impermanent, empty and not so real or Anattā. So, how real can life be?

1.5 Understanding Life

So moment to moment,Life passes by, what are you doing? The problem of Living beings is, they are too busy thinking, planning, and worryingabout Life most of the time, so much so, they totally miss out on Life i.e. they are never with the moment to fully Live and experience all of the beauties and wonders of Life. Instead, they only existed through Life; they are conscious but hardly mindful or aware. So learn to live Life and not to worry about Life!

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 8 (Part II A General Explanation of the Title and The Five Categories of Recondite Meaning pg 3 to 6)

2.1 Master Hsuan Hua’s 8-line Verse

Brother Teoh just briefly went through it because it is not important.

Below is Master Hsuan Hua’s 8-line Verse which Bro. Teoh advises us to read through before discussing them during the next Heart Sutra class:

1. Wonderful wisdom can reach the other shore right now,

2. The true mind itself can merge with enlightenment’s source.

3. Dhamma and analogy comprise its title which transcends the relative.

4. Empty of the characteristics of all dhamma is this substance beyond words.

5. Fundamental non-attachment is its purpose and intent,

6. And by using its power of eradication, the three obstacles are cleansed away.

7. The ‘Butter division’ is determined to be the meaning of this teaching,

8. A mahā turning around: this is the prajna boat.

Part 3 - Meditation

3.1 6R’s Meditation Practice

While reviewing email no. 3, what is Meditation - Part (2), Bro. Teoh came across the 6R’s Meditation practice as mentioned by one of the participants and Bro. Teoh had so kindly explained the 6R’s practices to us as below:

The monk that introduces this 6R’s practices is quite a good monk and his 6R method or technique which he also sometimes termed it as a form of Right Effort is quite useful and good if used as an initial skilful means to train and relax the mind. But as in many instances, they thought the 6R is the meditation hence the problem. This is also the reason why every time when they are doing the 6R, they thought they are meditating. Anyway the 6R’s as mentioned consist of the following:-

1st R is Recognize – to recognize that your mind has been distracted by a Distraction which may be a pain, awandering thought or a tension, itchiness or numbness within your body manifesting as tactile consciousness or at one of the other sense door consciousness;

2nd R is Release – to release the mind from the Distraction and letting it be without clinging on or reacting to it;

3rd R is Relax – to Relax the Tension or tightness or stress within caused by craving in your Forehead where there is like a membrane that is being tightened;

4th R is Re smile – this is to relax the body and mind of all tension and stress When you smile, you relax because in order to smile genuinely, there must be a relaxed state of joy and happiness;

5th R is Return – to return to the cultivation of Ānāpānasati (mindfulness of the in and out breath) to train the mundane mind to develop a stable mindfulness leading to heedfulness;

6th R is Repeat - to repeat the above 6 R training.

Please note that the no. 6th step involves a lot of repeated doing by the thought hence very mechanical or repetitive leading to thought-based meditation if one clings onto the doing without understanding what Meditation is? So a better way will be to replace the 6th R with Meditation via the trained mind in silent awareness instead of Repeat. This will help improve and refine upon the 6R to make it a lot better and much more useful. Similarly step no. 5 can be stopped once the mind is already trained until it has entered sati. Note that steps nos. 3 and 4 are very similar to our mind sweeping method and mettā used to train and relax our mind to decondition one’s heedless thinking. So basically, the 6R can be a very useful initial skilfulmeans to train and relax the mind and to decondition one’s heedless thinking.

Notes:

1. Have an open mind, when people share with us their understanding. We should appreciate and have mutualrespect for each other’s understanding. No more trying to be right or arise any unnecessary argument that can lead to disharmony and misunderstanding. Avoid all division and

2. Pure actionsare actions performed without any evil roots or evil motive. When you want to do good or generosity to get merits and your action is out of getting merits (or greed for that merit), it is already not a pure action and it will end up with no True merits for True Merits are borne of Pure action that are free of all the evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion.

9th Heart Sutra Class 15 April 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120415.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 7 factors of Enlightenment

Within the 37 factors of Enlightenment, there are 7 mainFactors of Enlightenment called Satta Bojjhaṅgā as taught by the Buddha and they are:

1. Sati or Mindfulness (silent inner awareness before the knowing) - is the 1st Factor of Enlightenment and it is also one of the 5 spiritual faculties. For Sati is Life and without sati there is no heedfulness hence no Life because the heedless are as if Also without sati there is no heedfulness or the ‘silent mind’ in pure awareness to investigate the dhamma and to see the mental intentions behind all our action, speech and thought processes;

2. Dhammā-Vicaya or DhammaInvestigation is the 2nd Factor of Enlightenment. Only with sati is there the ability to investigate the dhamma with the silent mind. When the dhamma stands up to investigation, the faith or saddhā in the Buddha and his teaching will be strengthened giving rise to the vīriya;

3. Vīriya or spiritual tenacity or energy (or zeal) is the 3rd Factor of Enlightenment that will drive your meditation; then

4. Pīti the Spiritual Joy or Calmness, which is the 4th Factor of Enlightenment, will arise;

5. Followed by Passaddhi or tranquillity and stillness of mind which is the 5th Factor of Enlightenment. This is the silent mind in sati or mind has entered sati.

6. Samādhi – the collected and unwavering mind which is the 6th Factor of Enlightenment will arise once passaddhi and sati have stabilized;

7. Upekkhā or equanimity of all mental formations borne of wisdom is the last of the 7 Factors of Enlightenment and it will arise once Sati and Samādhihave stabilized to enable one to “see things as they are” leading to all the wisdom or Paññā which is also the last of the 5 spiritual

This karmically-conditioned5 aggregates of Form and Mind (or this segmental human being) which you all call Bro. Teoh is not me but just only a ‘Tool’ and ‘Vehicle’ for me to come to this existential world and for me to make use of, to Live and Experience life to the fullest, etc. This form or physical body of ‘mine’ is similar to the functional body of Lord Buddha called Nirmanakāya that performed the function of the Buddha 2500+ years ago. When He became enlightened underneath the Bodhi tree, His spiritual nature or perfection body called the Sambogayakāya came back to him and then they combined to make Him the Sammā Saṃbuddha via arising the 3rd transformed body called Dhammakāya that enable him to speak and proclaimed the dhamma.

So after understanding all these - you should not cling on to this karmically conditioned 5 aggregates of form and mind so deludedly anymore. And the next time when you argue with your friend or your wife/husband you will understand that it is just one ‘form and mind’ - with its bundle of memories and its conditionings, views and opinion etc. arguing with another ‘form and mind’, - so not so real and not what you think.

If you deludedly cling or grasp onto the 5 aggregates of this ‘form and mind’ as the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’ then you will have what the Buddha called “Self-delusion” or Sakkāyadiṭṭhi. Self-delusion or wrong view with regards to the Self will condition your Egoic mind and Personality to arise leading to all your Selfishness and Possessiveness to own, cling, grasp and possess things, wanting things your way, etc. thereby arising the whole mass of suffering.

The Buddha gave 5 very good analogies to clearly explain the empty nature of these 5 aggregates of form and mind. He said your physical body or Form aggregate is like a foam - appears so solid but not so because if you leave the foam for a while, it’s gone after a while; and the Feeling aggregate is just like a bubble – arises and passes away so fast. Then the aggregate of Perception is just like a mirage you see in the desert – appears so real from afar but you will realize that it’s just a mirage when you come near to it. Then the aggregate of saṅkhārā (or thinking/activities of mind) is like peeling a banana tree’s stem – layer after layer you peel finally at the core of it, it is empty. i.e. Sabbe saṅkhārā anicca and anattā; lastly the Buddha said your aggregate of Viññāṇa or Consciousness is just like a magician. A magician is also called an illusionist – who creates illusion for you to see. Hence the reason why the Mahāyāna always said that, “This world of ours is an illusionary world – a world of consciousness only, - so not so real and not what you think. Do wake up and do not be deluded anymore.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 9 (Commentary pg 7 to 11)

2.1 The 3 karmic obstacles

Be aware of the 3 karmic obstaclesand according to master Hsuan Hua “Eradication” is what the Heart Sutra is capable of doing. i.e. doing away with - the 3 obstacles: the retribution obstacle, the activity obstacle and the affliction obstacle.

1. Retribution-obstacle – there are 2 types:-

2. Primary Retribution – implies karmically-conditioned physical body like the type of DNA coding, the physical appearances etc.

3. Dependent Retribution – implies karmically-conditioned living conditions or your Materialistic Inheritance i.e. born poor or born rich and where you are born into, you don’t have a choice because it is a dependent retribution but who you marry to, you do have a choice.

4. Activity-obstacle- implies karmically-conditioned livelihood obstacles (like you have a lot of karmic obstructions while working and living your Life.)

5. Affliction-obstacle - implies karmically-conditioned affliction caused by your heedlessness in That is whenever you act, speak and think with an evil mind that has the 3 evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion then affliction or suffering will follow you like the wheel that follows the hoof. Then Dhammapada Verse 1 will take its course. If you want to be happy then be heedful to train your mind to act, speak and think without the 3 evil roots. Then happiness will follow youlike your shadow that never leaves you. Dhammapada Verse 2 will then take its course.

Don’t blame anybody for your afflictions for according to the Buddha “We are born of our kamma, heir to our kamma, conditioned and supported by our kamma and we are what we are because of our kamma”. So do strive on with heedfulness to take care of your kamma so that your Life is taken care of. Do not be heedless. Have goodness and kindness for you “reap what you sow” – what you do to others, karmically it will come back to you so if you are good and kind to others, karmically others will be good and kind to you because these are your karmic inheritance. The “absence of evil is good” so don’t try to be good but instead just train your mind to be heedful or mindful so that it is incapable of evil then naturally you will be good. Those who have cultivated the Noble 8-Fold Path have noevil but only wisdom and virtue.

Part 3 - Meditation (Email No 4 – 3 Turnings and 12 Modes of the Four Noble Truths)

3.1 The 3 turnings and the three types of Prajna as explained by Master Hsuan Hua

The three types of Prajna or wisdom as explained by Master Hsuan Hua are similar to those of the 3 turnings of the Four Noble Truths wisdom as explained by the Buddha under his Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta or his first sermon and they are:

1st Turning – Proclaiming the Truth as spoken by the Buddha leading to Suttamaya Paññā (wisdom borne of hearingthe sutta or discourse of the Buddha). Master Hsuan Hua calls it prajna of language;

2nd Turning – Reflection, Contemplation and inquiry into the truth as proclaimed by the Buddha leading to Cintāmaya Paññā (wisdom borne of constant contemplations, inquiry and reflection on the truth as proclaimed by the Buddha). Master Hsuan Hua calls it the prajna of contemplative illumination;

3rd Turning – Meditative Training leading to Bhāvanāmaya Paññā (wisdom borne of the meditative training as taught by the Buddha). Master Hsuan Hua calls it the prajna of characteristic of actuality or ultimate wisdom.

10th Heart Sutra Class 22 April 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/Teoh-HeartSutra-120422.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Bro Teoh’s reminder on heedfulness

Bro.Teoh reminded us not to be heedless anymore but instead strive on with heedfulness and diligence making use of this great window of opportunity to cultivate and to gain liberation from birth and death when the Buddha sāsana or his dispensation is still around. This is because according to the Buddha it is very difficult to be born as a human beings (‘Ren Shen Nan De’ 人身难得) and even more rare and difficult is to be born during the era of the Buddha sāsana and to encounter the Buddha dhamma (‘Fo Fa Nan Wen’佛法难闻).

So do follow the advice of the Buddha to “Strive on with Heedfulness” and do not be heedless anymore for this great window of opportunity is indeed very, very, very rare – so please do not be complacent to let it slip away for you will truly regrethow foolish you were if you were to let it slip by.

The earlier Heart Sutra short notes that emphasized the following important basic essential teachings of the Buddha are more than enough to help you all develop your cultivation:

1. Importance of cultivating the 5 spiritual faculties;

2. Importance of having right views with regards to the Law of Kamma to follow the advice of the Buddhas (Dhp. Verse 183);

3. Importance of cultivating heedfulness; and

4. Importance of understanding the meditation as taught by the Buddha and the 3 turnings of the FourNoble Truths especially its 2nd turnings. That is to constantly investigate the dhamma via the 2nd turnings of the Four Noble Truths to develop your own understanding via Cintāmaya Paññā – wisdom borne of the 2nd

To develop this cintāmaya Paññā, one needs to carry out constant inquiry, reflections and contemplations on the Buddha dhamma or Noble Truths as proclaimed by the Buddha and not just via believing what the Buddha said and then committing them to memory and storing these so-called ‘dhamma’ up as knowledge, for the true dhamma and wisdom is an understanding and it is ‘alive’(a living dhamma that can be experienced and understood from moment to moment) whereas knowledge and memories are of the past, very rigid and fixed, making you very ‘rigid’ in your views.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 10 (Commentary pg 11 to 15)

2.1 What are deviant views?

Deviant views mean deviated or wrong and devious views borne of delusion that can condition one’s suffering and misery.

2.2 What is affliction?

Affliction is mental suffering conditioned by one’s 3 evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion.

2.3 The unmoving mind of true suchness –

the true mind with the enlightenment factors of Samādhi and Upekkhā or Equanimity.

2.4 Why 7 years maximum or 7 days to realize the enlightenment (Four Foundations of Mindfulness)

Question: Why did the Buddha specifically states the duration of 7 years maximum or 7 days to realize the enlightenment of at least an Anāgāmī if one were to maintain this Four Arousing of Mindfulness or Satipaṭṭhāna practices as taught by him?

Bro. Teoh: The Four Arousing of Mindfulness or Four Foundations Of Mindfulness as taught by the Buddha is very unique because according to the Buddha “This Four arousing of mindfulness is the only way for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the destruction of suffering and grief, for reaching the right path, for the realization of Nibbāna.” Then the Buddha continued telling the Bhikkhūs “ Verily O Bhikkhūs, should any personmaintain these Four arousing of mindfulness in this manner for seven years, for 6 years,…… for two years, let alone a year,……..for seven months,…….. two months, one month, half month or 1 week, then by him again one of the two fruitions is proper to be expected. Wisdom/’Knowledge” here and the Now or if some form of clinging is still present, the state of a non-returner or Anāgāmī.”

This is the assurance given by the Buddha, so it is worthwhile to give it a try, isn’t it? Just sacrifice a Maximum of 7 years to cultivate the Satipaṭṭhāna and your future existence (should you choose to come back) is all set and taken care of, i.e. no more fear, worry, anxiety, sadness, and suffering, etc. from then onwards – worth the while, isn’t it? The other reason is, basing on the Avijjā sutta, cultivating the Four arousing of mindfulness is step 8 and this step can only be effectively cultivated when one had completed the cultivation of steps 1 to 7 [especially steps 4 (Yonisomanasikāra), 5 (sati Sampajañña), 6 (Sense restraint) & 7 (3 ways of right conduct) where you are assured of realizing as least a Sotāpan or a Sakadāgāmī]. So Strive on with heedfulness and do not be heedless anymore.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Do not just believe what has been spoken but instead investigate into all of the dhamma or Truth

as advised by the Buddha via constant Reflection, Contemplation and inquiry into all dhamma to fully understand the 3-turnings of the Four Noble Truths as taught by the Buddha. Once you have developed the 3 types of corresponding wisdom, you will know how to free your mind and later share your understanding with others so that you too can be a blessing to all.

As thought is response to memory so Memory is thought-based and is of the past, hence when you cultivate based on memory which is thought and knowledge-based, you cannot possibly realize a state that is beyond thought and beyond time. With knowledge which is not wisdom, you tend to be ‘rigid’ in your views and you tend to use words, interpret them according to your views and opinion. You will also have the tendency to argue with people and perceive things as right and wrong.

3.2 The 4 Right Efforts within the Noble 8-Fold Path

1st right effort is to abandon the unwholesome actions, speech and thought that have arisen;

2nd right effort is to prevent the arising of the yet-to-arisen unwholesome action, speech and thought – this needs constant heedfulness or mindfulness and the initial wisdom;

3rd right effort is to arise the right effort to cultivate the appropriate right action, speech and thought that are still not in you regularly;

4th right effort is to continuously arise the right effort to refine upon the wholesomeness that is already in you until they become perfected as against just to maintain the wholesomeness as stated in most texts.

11th Heart Sutra Class 29 April 2012. Time

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120429.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 True Suchness or “Ru Ru Bu Dong” (如如不动)

Our true Mind or essence of mind is always there – true Suchness or “Ru Ru Bu Dong” (如如不动) in Mandarin. This is the reason why you cannot practisemindfulness or sati and you cannot try to be mindful because the trying and the practicing or noting and doing etc. are always by the thought. If one does not understand this true principle of the true mind – i.e. the essence of mind is already there and we don’t have to do anything to be mindful because the moment you are silent with inner awareness you are already naturally mindful and heedful and you will be able to “see things as they are” naturally to understand the truth and the reality arising within the moment. For if we do not ‘stir’ the mind or cause it to arise the thinking via our heedlessness (or conditionings borne of wrong views) then our mind will be quiet and silent without thought - then it can be aware of this essence of mind which is the natural state of silent inner awareness before the knowing. Hence mindfulness or sati which is the silent inner awareness will automatically ‘shine’ forth from the ‘nature’ within because ‘Man’ can only do “one thing at a time” - either you are silent and aware within with your nature (or essence of mind) or you are lost in thought and is preoccupied with your activities of mind or thinking and reacting etc. Just like the analogy of the sun – the sun is always there and its rays ever shining but when the clouds are there, its rays cannot shinethrough. So similarly, your thoughts, your various emotions and reactions or ‘stirring’ of the mind are like clouds obscuring your true nature or true mind from shining forth hence your inability ‘to see things as they are’ via the direct seeing with your silent/true mind.

According to the sutta on Dependent Origination as taught by the Buddha the first 3 links are Avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā; then saṅkhāra paccayā viññāṇaṃ i.e. Dependent on ignorance arises saṅkhārā or mental thinking or activities; then dependent on saṅkhāra or mental activities arises mind door or mental consciousness or viññāṇaṃ. This is just a pure consciousness or awarenessbefore the knowing or the perception and labelling etc. – that is there is no one to see or to perceive (objective seeing.) As the true sati is without the ‘observer’(there is only an awareness of the phenomenon or the impersonalprocess of Dependent Origination arising from the pure awareness or the essence of mind which is the unconditioned and without the thought (which is part of the Egoic mind) all as per what the Buddha had often said, “In the seeing there is only the seeing consciousness and there is no one to see or observe” because they are all condition arising (naturally) and causal phenomena - so this is the true understanding of Anattā within the Dependent Origination teaching borne of Right view, hence no more Sakkāyadiṭṭhi or self-delusion.

It is delusion that conditions the living beings to cling and grasp onto the 5 aggregates ofForm and Mind or the mundane mind and this is the main cause of one’s suffering. And because of the first 2 links of the Dependent Origination – ‘Avijjā paccayā Saṅkhārā’, every moment of consciousness you will think and ‘stir’ the mind because of your ignorance that conditions your habitual tendencies to think the wrong thoughts and this is how one becomes heedless.

So if there is no wisdom or yoniso manasikāra (wise attention) at every moment of sense experience then the mind will be conditioned into craving via the link ‘vedanā paccayā taṇhā’ or dependent on feeling craving comes to be when there is no wisdom or wise attention at the moment of sense experience.

Part 2 - Questions and Answers

2.1 The state of non-returner or Anāgāmī

Question 1: Why did the Buddha said, “Verily, O Bhikkhū, should anyone (not necessary a Buddhist) who cultivates this 4 Foundations Of Mindfulness, in this manner for 7 years, then by him one of the two fruitions is proper to be expected, sainthood in the here and the now; or if some form of clinging is still yet present, the state of a non-returner or Anāgāmī – the 3rd stage of the Supra mundane Enlightenment?” and why not at least a Sotāpanna or a Sakadāgāmī is to be expected?

Bro. Teoh: Very likely it is because the Buddha knew that the Four Foundations Of Mindfulness is such a powerful cultivation that it can lead to at least the realization of Anāgāmī if some form of clinging is yet present. The other reason is, in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness cultivation, it is stated that ‘Only after overcoming covetousness and grief, can one cultivate the mindfulness of kāyā , vedanā, citta and dhammānupassanā’. As the Sotāpanna and Sakadāgāmī are still not free from the fetters of ill will and sensual desire/covetousness and they still have to come back to the sensual realm for at least one more Life. This is the reason why the Sakadāgāmī is also called a once returner whereas the Anāgāmīis called a non-returner (one who has no more delusion but still some form of minor clinging and conceit). The Anāgāmī will be born into the Pure Abode within the Form or Brahma Realms. The 10 steps of the Avijjā sutta is also very clear on this. [The 4 Foundations of Mindfulness is step 8 of the Avijjā sutta, to be cultivated only after steps 6 (sense restraint) and step 7 (3 ways of right conduct) have been cultivated].

2.2 Why the Bodhisattva way of cultivation is not much emphasized

Question 2: Why is the Bodhisattva way of cultivation not much emphasized in the Theravāda tradition? What is emphasized is mainly the sainthood ways culminating in Arahantship.

Bro. Teoh: The Buddha at that time in Kosambi gathered a handful of leaves in his hand and explained to the Bhikkhūs then, its essential meaning. The Buddha said, “Even so, monks many are the things that I have fully realized, but not declared unto you; few are the things I have declared unto you. And why, monks have I not declared them? They monks are indeed not useful, not conducive, are not essential to the holy life of purity, they do not lead to disenchantment, to dispassion, to detachment, to tranquillity, to full understanding, to cessation, to Enlightenment and to Nibbāna. That is why they are not declared by me.”

So the Buddha knew during that era the conditions were such that the sainthood way via cultivating the 3 turnings of the Four Noble Truths is the fastest and the most appropriate hence the teaching then. The other reason could also be because the Bodhisattva way is so much longer – needs eons and eons of cultivation to perfect the 10 pāramitās or perfections and this way is so much more difficult. To be a Bodhisattva one must have a very great compassion and a very big heart - to come back for the living beings and they have to vow to save the limitless living beings. The supra mundane mind via this great compassion and vows of theirs must arise to cause them to come back again as Bodhisattva to cultivate the perfections otherwise after Arahantship the form and mind will cease upon parinibbāna and there will be no more rebirth.

2.3 2nd aspect of 5 aggregates of form and mind

Question 3: Can you elaborate on the 2nd aspect of the 5 aggregates of form and mind?

Bro. Teoh: The 1st aspect of the 5 aggregates of form and mind is as a human being. As a human being we have a physical form or body and a mind. The Buddha subdivided the mind into 4 more aggregates of feeling, perception, activities of mind or saṅkhārā and consciousness. Since the mind is the knowing element and anything that the mind knows is the form in the mind hence, you also have the 5 mental aggregates of form and mind within every moment of sense experience or sense door consciousness. This is the 2nd aspect of the 5 aggregates of form and mind and the external ‘form’ enters the mind via the mental aggregates of perception (memory-perception-knowledge) or saññā. Like the external form of a Buddha image – how does this external form enter the mind? Via the seeing consciousness and mental perception (via memory), right? This 2nd aspect which is the 5 mental aggregates of form and mind that arise and pass away with every moment of sense door consciousness is the more important one that the Buddha talks about under his dependent origination or 12 Links (paṭicca-samuppāda) teaching.

The text mostly explains the 12 Links using the 1st aspect of the 5 aggregates of form and mind with the 12 link occurring only once over 3 life spans and this type of paṭicca-samuppāda is of not much use. It explains that dependent on the 1st link of ignorance or avijjā, it conditions karmic volition or saṅkhārā then karmic volition conditions rebirth consciousness or viññāṇaṃ and dependent on rebirth consciousness, form and mind or nāma rūpa (the human being) comes to be. Dependent on the human being, the 6 sense bases or saḷāyatana come to be …. To them this is the only possible logical way of explaining it.

Whereas the actual 12-links using the 2nd aspect can also be explained if one understands how our mind functions or operates as taught by the Buddha. According to the Buddha, the dependent origination occurs within every moment of sense door consciousness. That is dependent on ignorance (not understanding the truth and wanting to know) it conditions mental volition or activities (mundane perception and thinking, etc.) then dependent on thinking or mental volition, it creates mental contact that triggers off mental or thought consciousness (instead of rebirth consciousness) because mind is also an organ; then dependent on mental or thoughtconsciousness, the content of consciousness will follow to arise the 5 mental aggregates of form and mind (2nd aspect). Then dependent on this form and mind there must be these 6 sense bases. Hence the flow of dependent origination as taught by the Buddha. This 2nd aspect is seldom taught because it is very difficult for most cultivators to have the understanding to share unless they themselves have realized the paṭicca-samuppāda happening within their own form and mind.

2.4 Why my mindfulness could only sustain for a while

Question 4: Why is it that my Mindfulness could only sustain for a while and I find it very difficult to cultivate the daily mindfulness when I am working?

Bro. Teoh: When you understand what sati or mindfulness is, then you will know how to train your mind to be heedful throughout the day and daily mindfulness can be developed and stabilized even in the midst ofLife and work. When I was cultivating about 26+ years ago I was also working as a civil engineer and the place I work according to my boss and my predecessor was like a ‘mad-house’.

I was the head of the Maintenance and Technical department of the Property Office, a super scale post with a staff strength of 800+ responsible for the overall upkeep, maintenance and development of one main and two branch University campuses. This job comes with a lot of responsibilities and work pressure, yet I was able to develop the cultivation and my daily mindfulness was not a problem. So it all depends on you and if you are sincere and serious about Life then the cultivation will take off and there will be no problem.

You must know how to plan and organize your work well then you will be able to do it. Like what I did - within a period of 2-3 months the whole ‘mad-house’ department was transformed and I was able to settle down to do my cultivation and soon I became quite free after I had managed to standardize into annual contracts most of the essential routine maintenance works. That was the reason why while working, I could still meditate daily, off and on can still go for meditation retreats and spiritual trips etc. with my wife and two children aged 4 & 6. I followed a very ‘strict’ daily religious routine and meditate veryoften. I will meditate early morning when I woke up, before I start workat office, at lunch break and whenever I had free time and before I sleep. Even during meetings. Then later when my daily mindfulness meditation had stabilized, I was able to meditate throughout the day and even into my sleeping moments. Like I hardly sleep and I was fully aware and awake most of the time.

2.5 Difference between forest and city monk

Question 5: What is the difference between forest and ordinary city monk?

Bro. Teoh: It is just different terminologies used to describe these two different types of monks. The forest monks are those from the forest traditions especially those within the outskirts of Thailand where they still practice the forest traditions as laid down by the Buddha i.e. they cultivate following the vinaya and the sutta so as to be worthy of offering etc. and also on a daily basis, they go for pindapata or alms round following the Buddha’s tradition. However the ordinary city monks who stay in the city monasteries or temples do not usually go for pindapata or almsrounds and they are usually more scholarly and since they tend to have more interaction with worldly people, their worldly duties are more but they also cultivate following the vinaya and the sutta. It is a matter of preference or choice and it is up to the individual. Both types of monks can still cultivate the Buddha dhamma because they are ordained monks following the rules and teachings (Dhamma Vinaya) as laid down by the Buddha.

Part 3 – Meditation (E-mail No. 4 - 2nd Turning)

How to cultivate this 2nd turning wisdom of Cintāmaya Paññā via inquiry, contemplation and reflection on the truth as proclaimed by the Buddha?

3.1 1st Noble Truth, 2nd turning

The Buddha said: “This Noble Truth of Dukkha is to be Understood”

Inquiries:

i) Why did the Buddha say this? – It is because the Buddha knew we need to inquire, reflect and contemplate into the truth he had proclaimed, so that we can truly understand what this 1st Noble Truth of dukkha or suffering is?

This inquiry can allow us to sincerely reflect, contemplate and inquire deep into this 1st Noble Truth of Dukkha to truly understand what dukkha is before we confront it so that we can be wary of it. This will also enable us not to be caught in dukkha or suffering via not knowing that we are already suffering.

ii) How can I develop the understanding of what Dukkha is? – one can do it via the above reflection, contemplation and inquiry into the 5 daily contemplations as recommended by the Buddha with a very calm and composed mind filled with saddhā, vīriya and sati (the first 3 of the 5 spiritual faculties) following what we have done during the sutta class. (For details please refer to the recorded sharing via web link as done by Bro. Swee Aun.)

3.2 2nd Noble Truth, 2nd turning

The Buddha said, “This cause of the arising of Dukkha which is craving is to be Abandoned”

Inquiries:

i) Why did the Buddha say this? i.e. craving which is the cause of one’s suffering is to be abandoned?

If craving is not abandoned – we will continue to suffer.

ii) How can I abandon it? - To reflect deeply into the Buddha’s 4 right efforts and 5 daily contemplations as advised by the Buddha followed by the dhamma on impermanence, suffering and anattā nature of the 5 aggregates of the form and mind. To use the 4 right efforts and 5 ways as taught by the Buddha to abandon the unwholesome thoughts and the cravings that will condition our unwholesome action, speech and thought.

As we all understand finally, only wisdom frees so to use the 4th way which is to Trace the “origination factor then retrospectively reverse it” to develop the wisdom to free and this is the best way thus far. This 4th way uses heedfulness to cultivate the mindfulness of the 6 internal and 6 external sense bases via Dhammānupassanā (Mindfulness Of Dhamma cultivation to trace the origination factors leading to the wisdom thereby enabling one to understand clearly how your mind has been tricked into attachment or clinging and reactive modes via one’s delusion because there is no yoniso manasikāra or wise attention at the moment of sense experience. Craving borne of delusion is the cause of all our attachments and clinging to our 5 aggregates of form and mind that conditions our suffering. (To refer to the 18/3/12 - 6th Heart Sutra, Part 3, Question 1 short notes for details.)

3.3 3rd Noble Truth, 2nd turning

“This cessation of Dukkha is to be Realized”

Inquiries:-

i) Why did the Buddha say this? Why is this cessation of dukkha to be realized?

So that one does not have to suffer anymore because according to the Buddha, suffering need notbe and that this cessation of dukkha can be realized in the here and the now before one dies. The other reason is the 2nd turning emphasized here is on the word realization because the dhamma or enlightenment is not a knowledge but a wisdom which is to be realized or awakened to without thought.

ii) How can I realize the cessation of dukkha?

Realization can only arise after one has trained one’s mind to have the initial heedfulness and wisdom (after overcoming covetousness and grief) to cultivate the Four Foundations Of Mindfulness and the Noble 8-Fold Path as taught by the Buddha.

3.4 4th Noble Truth, 2nd turning

“This Noble 8-Fold Path that leads to the cessation of Dukkha is to be Cultivated”

Inquiries:-

i) Why did the Buddha say this?

This 2nd turning emphasis is on the word to be ‘Cultivated’ instead of only to be ‘understood’ as per the 1st Noble Truth. The reason being Noble 8-Fold Path must be a part of you for you to be able to live it hence understanding alone is not enough. i.e. you may understand but you cannot live it.

ii) How can I cultivate it?

To contemplate, reflect and inquire deep into all the Noble 8-Fold Path factors to develop the true understanding of what they are as taught by the Buddha like for the 1st path factor of Right View (Sammā Diṭṭhi) - what are the 3important right views as taught by the Buddha? They are the Law of Kamma; the Four Noble Truths and the Law of Dependent Origination. One also needs to train one’s mind to be heedful and ever mindful with the Right Sati and Samādhi to see things as they are following Dhammapada Verse 23 which states that: “The Ever mindful, Constantly meditative and the steadfast one will realize the supreme bond-free Nibbāna.”

3.5 The 3rd turning is always on the realization and enlightenment part.

12th Heart Sutra Class 13 May 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120513.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Appamāda or Heedfulness-

means a mind that is ever mindful (without thought) within to cultivate the meditation as taught by the Buddha following Dhammapada Verse 23. (It is just like a relaxed inner awareness that is always aware and without thoughtto see things asthey are - to see Reality or the Truth within all mental, physical and nature’s phenomena.)

1.2 Applying the 6R technique

While meditating in a formal posture, if one feels any tension or tightness or distraction or stress within one’s body and mind then one must just recognize (1st R) it and after that release (2nd R) it. Then relax (3rd R) into whatever mind state that has energy built up including all the tightness and the tension that can be felt. Then resmile or radiate a radiant smile (4th R) with a relaxed inner awareness without thought. The moment you relax, craving losses its strength and this relax and radiant smile steps are very important to make your mind feel at ease, light, tranquil and free. This training of the mind will enable you to de-condition your mind from its heedless thinking and grasping to sense experiences. This will enable the cultivator to develop a silent, tranquilmind with heedfulness within naturally via the understanding that ‘originally, the true mind is already in the meditative state with clear inner awareness within - so there is no need to do anything but instead just “relax and silent via let things be” – then the heedless thinking and grasping borne of delusion will slow down and stop on its own via wisdom. The mind will then return to its original state of true silent inner awareness. Without the thought the ever-shining nature which is the true mind will then shine forth. (This ever-shining nature which is the essence of mind is always there.) The 5th R is – to return to the object of meditation to train the mind to develop a verystable sati if this training is still needed. Once the mind is already trained and constantly aware in sati or Passaddhi throughout the day then this training is no longer required because mind has entered sati. The 6th R is to repeat the above training of the first 5R. But need to be careful not to do it until it becomes mechanical or repetitive. This last step must be done with understanding especially for those who are still trapped in thought based meditation. Beyond the 6R is the awareness based meditation where the new 4 supports for meditation are:

1. Relax;

2. Aware;

3. 24 hours;

4. Trust.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 12 (Explanation of the Meaning of the Text pg 23 to 24)

2.1 The opening verse by Master Hsuan Hua :-

“Reversing the light to shine within” (‘Hui Guang Fan Zhao’回光反照), Avalokiteshvara vows to enlighten all the sentient beings; thus he is a Bodhisattva. His mind is “thus, thus, unmoving” (‘Ru Ru Bu Dong’ 如如不动), a superior one at Peace; with total understanding of the ever-shining, he is host and master…… ”

The 1st line of the above verse is very important because most of the time our mind dwells outside to chase after externals – the external appearances that created the phenomena world of ours. This is also the reason why the Buddha said under Dhammapada Verses 1 and 2, that ‘our mind is the forerunner of all things and mind is chief; everything arises when the mind arises’. In order to understand what is going on, we need to return the mind to abidewithin so that we can be aware of what is going on within our mind. This is “Reversing the light to shine within” (‘Hui Guang Fan Zhao’回光反照). Only then can we be aware of our content ofconsciousness within our mind i.e. how our mind are stirred by externals and conditioned into clinging and grasping after externals (created by mind) via our delusion and mental aggregates of vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra and viññāṇa. You will start to understandhow thoughts and feeling arise in your mind, with every moment of sense door consciousness and how they condition each other. How your thoughts (with itsconditionings,views and opinions) condition your feeling and then how this feeling becomes craving/emotion to condition your subsequent wrong thought/thinking. All these, if you are not careful or heedful, if you have not developed the wisdom or yoniso manasikāra to enable you ‘to see things as they are’, clinging and grasping will continue to arise and Dukkha or suffering will be the end result.

The next verse - “With total understanding of the ever-shining, he is host and master.” The word host is synonymous to the owner or Inn keeper. The ever-shining is our Buddha nature. Imagine oneself as a hotel with 6 rooms. The 6 sense bases are like your 6 rooms and the sense data or external forms are like the guests of your mind. For example, the guests of your seeing consciousness are colours, shapes and forms; vibrations like sound, music, noise etc. are guests of your hearing consciousness. These guests of the mind are not like human beings because they cannot talk or complain so it is a lot easier to manage this Hotel if one is not deluded. The Host is always there to receive the guests. The guests of the mind - they will come and go hence they are impermanent. As guests they are here to stay for a while only and most of the time they stay for split seconds only but because of your delusion you cling on to them as memories and give them meaning so that they can ‘stay’ for longer period of time thereby causing you all the miseries and suffering. At times leading to depression.

If the mundanemind can reverse the light and shine within, then it can stay aware inside and see clearly how peaceful ‘He’ is when he just allows them ‘to come and go’ via perceiving them with wholesomeness and wisdom or right view and also how ‘He’ suffers and becomes miserable when he perceives them with negativity via his own wrong views and sakkāyadiṭṭhi to grasp and cling onto them via wanting things his way. This will enable ‘Him’ to develop the wisdom to understand that if ‘He’ - the Hostdoes not attach, cling and react then he is always peaceful and is not disturbed by the guests of the mind then Life iswonderful and meaningful and the guests of the mind can also be quite fun at times.

2.2 Important Notes: -

1. Host– always thereto stay but guests, they come and go;

2. You hold the key to your own life’s destiny. To be happy or to be unhappy depends entirely on your own choice, then why are you not happy? If we choose to be happy then no one can make us unhappy unless we ourselves allow ourselves to be unhappy via our own delusion;

3. Thought is like money and Money is neither good nor evil because good and evil depend on the user. If the User of money or thought is evil then money or thought will also become evil. If user of thought has wisdom then thought becomes right and wholesome thought. So the user of thought is the most important. Hence do strive on with heedfulness to develop the right views and wisdom more and more.

Part 3 – Meditation (Email No. 4 pg 9 of e-mail compilation notes)

3.1 Commentary on 3 turnings under Theravāda and Mahāyāna

Bro. Teoh explained that the three turnings of the 4 Noble Truths given in Pāḷi under the Theravāda tradition is very accurate. Mahāyāna’s explanation compared to Theravāda differs a bit. The problem with most cultivators is they cling onto the 1st turning and never get down to the nitty-gritty of the 2nd turning where all the hard work is. (For more details, please refer to email no. 4, page 9 of Bro Teoh’s email compilation notes on ‘Understanding the Meditation as taught by the Buddha – dated 14th May 2007.) - dated 14th May 2007 click pdf or Ebook to download.)

13th Heart Sutra Class 20 May 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/Teoh-HeartSutra-120520.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Dhammapada verses on Heedfulness (verse 21, 22, 23)

Heedfulness means a mind that is constantly meditative and ever mindful to develop clear understanding & wisdom via seeing things as they are. Understanding the Importance of heedfulness via understanding the following important Dhammapada Verses:-

Dhammapada Verse 21

Heedfulness is the path to the deathless, heedlessness is the path to death.The heedfuldo not die; the heedless are as if dead.

Dhammapada Verse 22

Distinctly understanding this difference, the wise who intent on heedfulness will rejoice in the realm of the Ariyas or the Enlightened Ones.

Dhammapada Verse 23

The constantly meditative, the ever mindful and the steadfast ones realize the bond-free, supreme Nibbāna.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 13 (Commentary pg 23 to 25)

2.1 Dhammapada Verse 1 - leads to suffering.

Mind is the forerunner of all things. Mind is Chief. Everything arises from the Mind. If one speaks, acts and thinks with a wicked/unwholesome mind that has the 3 evil rootsof Greed,Hatred and Delusion, then suffering will follow one like the wheel that follows the hoof.

2.2 Dhammapada Verse 2 – leads to happiness.

Mind is the forerunner of all things. Mind is Chief. Everything arises from the Mind. If one speaks, acts and thinks with a pure/wholesome Mind, that is free of all the 3 evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion, then happiness will follow one like the shadow that never leaves him.

2.3 Why is the teaching or dhamma as taught by the Buddha during his time becomes different as it gets passed down over the years?

Question 1: Why is the teaching or dhamma as taught by the Buddha during his time becomes different as it gets passed down over the years?

Bro. Teoh: Because the dhamma was passed down via using words and speeches which are verbal in nature and as we all know, words are subject to various type of interpretation hence the deviation. For example when asked about “what is the 1st Noble Truth as taught by the Buddha?” More often than not – we get the standard and very popularly accepted answer: - “Life is suffering” and this is very dangerous because the Buddha never said that. The Buddha instead proclaimed that there is a 1st Noble Truth that explained clearly what dukkhaor suffering is and according to Lord Buddha there are 8 conditions in Life or realities of Life andExistence that can give rise to suffering when one confronts them without wisdom.

They are the realities of Birth, getting old or old age, sicknesses and death; when you are with people whom you don’t like; when there is separation from your loved ones and your prized possessions (things that we hold on to dearly); when you cannot get what you want or when things don’t go your way; etc.

No matter who you are and how wealthy and powerful you are – if you live long enough you will confront all of these realities of Life and Existence.

The Buddha then went on to proclaim that there is a cause behind all suffering and the cause is always craving borne of delusion – this is the 2nd Noble Truth. Then under the 3rd Noble Truth, the Buddha said, “Suffering need not be because there is a Noble Truth that explains the possibility of the cessation of all suffering in the here and the now.” Then finally the Buddha taught the 4th Noble Truth – which is the meditation as taught by the Buddha namely the Noble 8-Fold Path and if one cultivates this Noble 8-Fold Path, it will lead to the end of all dukkha or suffering.

2.4 Important Definitions :-

1. Zi Zai (自在) – meaning “Me in the moment” and it means at

2. False thinking – means Heedless thinking.

3. One is not right here or aware within – means lost in thought.

4. 1st pronunciation ‘jue’ (觉) – means enlightenment and 2nd pronunciation ‘jiao’ (搅) – means to stir up trouble.

Part 3 – Meditation (Email No. 4 - 3 Turnings of the 4 Noble Truths)

3.1 Training of the mind to be Heedful - two steps are involved:-

1. Via Mind Sweeping Method + Mettā + 6R + Object of Meditation;

2. Then finally silent your mind to be heedful within via relinquishing the object of meditation i.e. mind is constantly meditative and ever mindful to cultivate the N8FPath.

The mind sweeping method is a very good and useful skilful means to train the mind to be at the location you want it to be and it also trains youto feel and not to think. Then you continue to relax whatever tension, tightness and stress within the location you feel (like your forehead etc.) to enable you to be in a state of relaxed inner awareness to realize the tranquillity, peace, quietness and calmness within when there is no thinking. Then your mind will be peaceful, at ease and without thought after de-conditioning it from your habitualheedless thinking and worrying, etc.

14th Heart Sutra 27 May 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120527.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Life and existence following the 5 universal nature’s orders (Pañca Niyāmas)

Within our conditioned world of Life and Existence, everything is condition-arising (or they arise due to causal phenomena) following the 5 universal nature’s laws/orders (pañca niyāmas namely Utu niyāma, Bīja niyāma, Kamma niyāma, Citta niyāma and Dhamma niyāma). Hence, they exhibit the three Universal Characteristics of anicca (impermanence), dukkha (suffering state) and anattā (non-self/empty nature). The first two are scientific laws – nature’s physical law (Utu niyāma) and nature’s Biological order (Bīja niyāma) and the next three are nature’s spiritual laws namely Kamma niyāma (Law of Kamma), Citta niyāma (Law of the Mind) and Dhamma niyāma (Law of Dhamma or Truths as taught by the Buddha). Understanding these 5 universal orders or laws implies having right view with regards to life and existence and this right view will enable one to have great understanding and wisdom of our existential world. Understanding Citta niyāma will also enable one to understand how our mind functions following the 12 Links or Law of Dependent Origination (Paṭicca-Samuppāda) as taught by the Buddha.

The children of today are mostly 2nd generation kids of the millennials generation and nowadays parents, they are usually over protective of their this 2nd generation children and they also tend to over pamper them in the name of ‘loving’ them hence giving rise to all the related social problems. This is especially common in families where their family members lack understanding for having close relationship with one another. They usually lack harmony and the family members seldom have the opportunity or line of communication to talk and discuss issues with one another openly, frankly and sincerely to resolve their Life’s problems like relationship, health, career and financial problems, etc.

Do learn to play your role as responsible, good and wise parents via cultivating and understanding the Buddha dhamma or great wisdom as taught by the Buddha then share them with your children to guide them through Life. Your duties or responsibilities as parents are to provide for their basic needs like food, shelter, clothing and education etc. when they are young and not to pamper them or be too protective of them. Advise them accordingly and then allow them to make their own decision in Life because it is their Life and let them be responsible for their own Life decisions and never force them or try to control them in any way that will cause them to dislike you or refuse to talk or discuss matters with you.

PART 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 14 (Commentary pg 25 to 28)

2.1 Conditioned love and Mettā

There is a big difference between ‘emotional love’, ‘conditioned love’ and ‘mettā’ – which is universal love. An example of emotional love is the usual love/hatred relationship of laypeople. One moment they will love each other when things go their way and the next moment, this so-called ‘emotional’ love can turn into hatred, envy and jealousy, etc. Then, there is the other relationship between parents and children, brothers and sisters, daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law, good friends, etc. expressed as ‘conditioned’ love that only exists because of relationship bonds whereas Universal love or mettā is love without any opposite.

The mind that has mettā is always peaceful and happy – without any negativity. It is borne of wisdom that enables one to accept the reality of the moment and always be at peace with the way things are and one’s heart is always full of mettā.

2.2 Definition of terms :-

Samādhi– a mind that is collected, unwavering and unmoving;

With total understanding of the ever-shining (or the Buddha Nature);

Host and master – meaning fully in charge;

Mind is at peace – meaning mind that is heedful, silent and unstirred.

Dhamma saying by Master Bo Yuen Chang Lau is quite similar:-

心静(xin jing) - Still or silent mind.

无念是真心 (wu nian shi zhen xin) – no thought is true mind;

动念即无明 (dong nian ji wu ming) – stirring of the thought is delusion.

That is understanding – meaning wisdom;

Outflows – means defilements, evil roots and delusion.

2.3 The 8 Worldly Conditions or the 8 winds or the 8 pairs of dualities are:-

1. Gain & Loss - wherever there is gain there is Before you have, you have not so what you have lost is only losing back what you have gained. We came with nothing & we go with nothing, then why does one grieve over emptiness in between?

2. Happiness & Sorrow – if you cling to happiness, sorrow will be the result because it is a condition world;

3. Praise & Blame – wherever there is praise there will also be blame;

4. Fame & Ill-Fame – the same goes with fame and ill fame.

Note: Do not cling to the 8 worldly conditions! See, the importance of cultivating the equanimity enlightenment factor needed to liberate the mind.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Purpose of meditation

Deeper states of Meditation are needed to allow the stillness and cessation to develop and stabilize via wisdom.

The two main purposes of Meditation are:-

1. To stabilize the silent and tranquil heedful mind – via a combination of relaxation, clear awareness, wisdom and understanding.

2. To use this still/tranquil mind to investigate clearly into all the dhamma and phenomena both internally and externally within Life to realize the wisdom and the enlightenment needed to free the mind.

Brother Teoh also shared with us his own cultivation and how he came out into the private sector to test himself in 1989 – for details, please listen to the 14th Heart Sutra recording dated 25/5/2012.

Bro. Teoh Kian Koon – 28/5/2012

15th Heart Sutra Class 10 June 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/Teoh-HeartSutra-120610.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Mind is the forerunner of all things

According to the Buddha “Mind is the forerunner of all things and mind made are they.” Hence through mental consciousness we can perceive the phenomena world of consciousness - all of the physical, mental and nature’s phenomena within life and existence. (Definition – anything perceivable by the mind is a phenomenon.)

Contemplative wisdom – can arise when you silent your mind to reflect, contemplate and inquire into the dhamma as taught by the Buddha. Be aware and mindful of all physical, mental and nature’s phenomena within your daily Life to ‘see’ clearly their moment of arising, its sustenance and passing away of all phenomena and to realize the penetrative wisdom borne of Bhāvanā or cultivation of the 4 Foundations Of Mindfulness.

With the silent mind in pure awareness one can be aware of all the vibrations and phenomena within one’s form/body and mind. One will be able to perceive deeper into one’s mind consciousness. All phenomena can be perceived via the silent mind and it can also witness how they come and go; arise and pass away; their birth and death, etc. hence realizing their impermanence and empty or non-self nature. You will see them everywhere – from your bodily vibrations to your heartbeat, your pulses, feelings, thought activities, perceptions and consciousness, physical, mental and nature’s phenomena etc. You only have to silent your mind to ‘see’ them all as they are. What you perceive via your mundane or thinking mind is not a real condition because they arise via thought which is response to memory. The reality or pure perception which is before the knowing is very different.

Human beings have the tendency to react to sense experience because of ignorance. To solve human beings’ problem or suffering, one needs the dhamma. Life without dhamma is not easy to cope. Without the dhamma, there will be delusion and ignorance with regards to understanding who you are and what you are? Without self-knowledge, one will grasp and cling to one’s 5 aggregates of form and mind hence conditioning one’s dukkha or suffering.

Saṃsāra or Wheel of Life within Existence can also take the form of “Man and Nature must harmonise” and there are the 5 Universal Laws or Orders that govern Nature. These 5 laws – 2 of them are scientific laws (Utu niyāma and Bīja niyāma) and the other 3 are Spiritual Laws (Law of Kamma or Kamma niyāma; Law of the Mind or Citta niyāma and finally the Law of Truths or Dhamma niyāma). When you have the right understanding or right views with regards to these 5 universal orders/laws (which are like the secrets of Life) then you will know how to Live Life. When you know how to live Life you will know how to experience all of the wonders and beauty of Life. Then Life will be very meaningful and beautiful. i.e. true emptiness is wonderful existence.

Understanding the 3 right views with regards to the Law of Kamma, the 4 Noble Truths and the Law of Dependent Origination or 12 Links is very important because it can transform your understanding of the dhamma to enable you to live the noble Life.

Thought is limited and egoic hence it cannot free you. True mind – is only pure awareness without thought. As such, it can see things as they are without the conditioning. One will come to understand clearly that “In the seeing there is only the seeing consciousness (no one to see)”. That is before the knowing and before the delusion or sakkāyadiṭṭhi carries through to condition you into grasping and clinging on to what you see. Your craving or reactive mental intention is due to your habitual tendency borne of wrong views.

1.2 Understanding thought and consciousness

Once we input the content of consciousness into our awareness then consciousness becomes the thought. Hence Thought = Consciousness + its contents.

Initially before the knowing or the arising of thought there is just this ‘spacious’ Awareness. The moment you focus on something, you input the content of consciousness then consciousness becomes restricted or limited and becomes a thought. Take for example, seeing. Initially -“In the seeing there is only the seeing consciousness (no one to see)”. But the moment you are preoccupied with what you see and without the wisdom (yoniso manasikāra) at the moment of sense experience then the egoic mind borne of sakkāyadiṭṭhi or wrong view with regards to the atta or self, has already arisen causing you to grasp and cling onto what you see. Then your habitual tendencies of likes and dislikes or pleasant and unpleasant will arise to condition yourmental hindrances of mind to arise.

As form is the product of thought hence thought can see form but form cannot see thought because thought has got higher intelligence then form. Likewise since thought is the product of awareness hence awareness can see or be aware of thought but thought cannot see awareness because awareness has got higher intelligence than thought which is limited and egoic.

1.3 Important inquiries for developing the meditative wisdom :

1. Are the feelings, perceptions, saṅkhāra and consciousness that arise in ‘you’ really what you are?

2. If feeling and perception, etc. are you then when they arise and pass away how come you did not die? So who are you and what are you?

3. If the five aggregates of Form and Mind are not you then why did they arise in you?

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 15 (Prajna and Emptiness pg 29 to 33)

2.1 Definition of terms

Profound Prajna – wonderful wisdom of those who cultivate the Bodhisattva way to become Sammā Saṃbuddha.

Superficial Prajna – Limited to the understanding of the Four Truths and the 12 Links of conditioned causation as taught at the Theravāda level.

Form-dhamma – perceptible dhamma at the form level (1st of the 5 aggregate of form and mind).

Mind-dhamma – non-perceptible dhamma (the remaining 4 aggregates of mind namely feeling, perception, activities of mind and consciousness).

Need Awareness or mindfulness to see the mind dhamma.

If one cannot see form dhamma then it will be very difficult for them to see mind dhamma which are much subtler and much less perceptible.

Cultivators of superficial prajna can end the Birth and death of their delimited segment (body and mind) but they are unable to transcend the birth and death of fluctuations or the thought. They can be enlightened because they don’t have ignorance so at the moment of death there is no more rebirth consciousness but their mundane mind is still there when they are still in the midst of living life.

Previous lives could be – animals/petas/demons/devas .…. etc. then this life say you are a Human Being - so which one of these is “YOU’? None of them, isn’t it?

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Post retreat sharing: 2nd - 8th Aug 2012 Meditation Retreat at Cempaka Buddhist Lodge conducted by Ajahn Achalo.

Conditions are very conducive and the retreat was very well-received by all. It had also benefited so many of them in so many ways. These were made possible because of the continuity of mindfulness, bhāvanā and great wholesomeness expressed by all throughout the retreat and it had also resulted in such good conditions for many of the participants to experience rather good meditative states and development of their 5 spiritual faculties. The conditions during the retreat are very conducive for good bhāvanā and wholesomeness training to set the base for our past cultivation to connect back to us thus helping to speed up our cultivation. Every day we chant, take refuge, renew our precepts, pay reverential salutation, maintaining quietness, do sitting and walking meditation and mindfulness bhāvanā followed by listening to the dhamma, straightening our views, share merits, transfer and dedication of merits, offering and receiving of dana, radiating mettā, dhamma discussion and meditation reporting followed by Q & A cum dhamma sharing, etc. - all these are very, very wholesome and meritorious in nature and together with the non-humans - our collective group consciousness had created a very conducive environment which was charged with a lot of very good meditative and wholesomeness energies to benefit so many of us including all those who had one way or other contributed to the success of this wonderful retreat.

This type of retreat is more intense and useful hence the 5 spiritual faculties and the Mind can develop very much faster. It will encourage and motivate many of the participants who have benefited from it to diligently determine to continue their post retreat cultivation. Do not be complacent otherwise one will lose this good state of trained mind within a very short span of post-retreat heedless living again. The ability to maintain and continue this good momentum of post-retreat cultivation by integrating it into one’s daily Life is very important. The momentum of continuous post-retreat devotional, bhāvanā and mindfulness training via having a very good and disciplined daily religious routine and daily awareness/mindfulness training are equally important. A good daily religious routine can be in the form of at least twice a day of strict devotional and bhāvanā training – i.e. once in the morning and once at night before one sleeps followed by paying respect to the Buddha every time before you leave your house and every time when you return to your home. Maintain awareness of all your bodily actions and movements within the present moment to cultivate your daily mindfulness until it is very stable. This training of the mind in kāyānupassanā is to slow down your heedless habitual thinking mind and not your actions and movements. Every moment of awareness or sati will help you to break the momentum of your heedless habitual thinking thus enabling you to stabilize your daily mindfulness training.

16th Heart Sutra 17 June 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Teoh-HeartSutra-120617.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Sense bases, contemplative wisdom and daily mindfulness

The 6 internal sense bases are our 5 physical sense bases and our 1 mind base and the 6 external sense bases are their respective 6 sense data/objects like colour, shapes and forms for the eye; vibrations (sound, music, noise, etc.) for ear; etc. Upon contact of mind, their respective sense door consciousness comes to be and like the physics laboratory experiment of the light bulb, the switch and the battery - upon contact, the light bulb lights upnaturally. So in the same way, our sense door consciousness is also naturally condition arising (i.e. upon contact of mind with their respective sense bases and sense objects their respective consciousness comes to be).

Contemplative wisdom refers to the 2nd turning wisdom called Cintāmaya Paññā whereas the meditative or bhāvanā type developed via cultivation of the 4 Foundations Of Mindfulness refers to the 3rd turning wisdom called BhāvanāmayaPaññā. Wisdom is always linked to harmony. This is the reason why the wise ones are always in harmony and at peace with all things no matter what happens. Sensual desire and ill will are the first two hindrances of the mind that will always arise when one reacts to one’s sense experienceswithout wisdom. Reactions or stirring of mind also imply disharmony via wanting things our way.

Memory is useful for remembering one’s house address, name and bank account and signature etc. but not for grasping, clinging and holding onto our unhappy, sad and fearful memories of our psychological hurts and emotional past, etc. These scars of memoriesmust not be clung onto otherwise they can condition one’s sadness, grief, sorrow and lamentation, fear, insecurities, unhappy emotions etc. Memories should be left in the brain as it is like the ROM and RAM in the computer i.e. we do not cling onto it but only access it when we need to make use of it to perform certain useful and appropriate actions or functions.

True or actual meditation only begins when one’s daily mindfulness has stabilized. That is when one is always aware and heedful throughout the day to investigate the Buddha dhamma in daily life via cultivating the FourFoundations Of Mindfulness to truly understand who we are, what we are, how we function as a human being via ‘self’ knowledge and how we become what we are via understanding how our mind stirs at every moment of sense experience and how we are conditioned into various mind states of suffering due to our own delusion and ignorance.

The silentmind in clear stable awareness or mindfulness will enable us to be aware of the sense door consciousness that arise at every moment of sense experiences thereby enabling us to witness all of the Buddha dhamma like the Four Noble Truths, the Law of Dependent Origination, etc. as taught by the Buddha within our own form and mind or fathom-length body. This witnessing via the direct seeing can give rise to a lot of wisdom leading to the awakening or enlightenment in the here and the now.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 16 (Prajna and Emptiness pg 32 to 33)

2.1 Silent your mind and be aware from within or inside to realize the true mind.

Then you will understand why only wisdomfreesand liberates the mind and nothing else. Then you can understand Master Hsuan Hua’s commentary that states, “With wisdom you can very naturally reach the other shore of Nirvana; very easily, very naturally, you get to the other shore, without any need, expend any effort at all.”

2.2 Is the “divine” innocence of a new born baby the same as the enlightened state?

Question: Is the “divine” innocence of a new born baby the same as the enlightened state?

Bro. Teoh: No! The new born baby’s condition is different. Only the mind state of pure perception is quite similar. The reason being in the case of the baby the so-called pure perception comes about via a brain that is still quite innocent and pure - in the sense, that it is not conditioned by any memories, views, opinion, conditioning or concepts and words as yet. So the main difference is – that mind state is not borne of wisdom. Whereas for those of the enlightened ones, their perceptions are still pure perceptions despite their memories, conditioning etc. due to their wisdom and there is clarity within their pure perceptions. That is, they are like a lotus flower, they are still pure and above the lotus pond even though they originate from the filthy lotus pond below.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 5 ways to overcome unwholesome thoughts

When one encounters adversities without wisdom, the mind will stir to condition ones unwholesome thoughts and unwholesome emotions.

The Buddha teaches 5 ways to overcome all these unwholesomethoughtsand emotions that have arisen:-

1st way - Think of the direct opposite wholesome state. (For example, if there is anger then develop mettā and if there is cruelty, then develop Compassion. And if there is Fear,develop Faith);

2nd way - Think of the consequence of holding onto the unwholesome thoughtor evil root; (If you do not abandon it then the evil root which is the root of all evil will condition you into becoming an evil person. For example, anger can condition one into hatred and violence. An angry person can kill, harm and abuse others);

3rd way - Just Relax and let things be - this is the meditative way developed via understanding that “the natural state of mindbefore its stirring is already the meditative state of peace, calmness and silent inner awareness” and that “the very flowering of the unwholesome thought is the very ending of that thought if we don’t give it anymore ‘fuel’ to proliferate”;

4th way - Trace the origination factors and then retrospectively reverse them via the cultivation of mindfulness of dhamma (dhammānupassanā) – i.e. via cultivation of the mindfulness of the 6 internal and 6 external sense bases. This is to develop the wisdom to free;

5th way - If all the above 4 ways above also cannot help you, then you must use your own self- determination as recommended by the Buddha i.e. “With clenched teeth and your tongue towards your palate, you should determine strongly to abandon the negative unwholesome thought”.

3.2 Is it alright to indulge in positive thought during formal sitting meditation?

Question: Is it alright to indulge in positive thought during formal sitting meditation? For example, like recalling thought of doing good deeds, etc.

Bro. Teoh: Not advisable because it is like trying to create good memories for a good state of happy mind moments which is a form of thinking and sensual indulgence or craving for these happy mind states whereas radiating loving kindness or mettā is different because it is not thinking - it is from the heart with the pure feeling of truemettā. You are silent and you radiate that peaceful mettāsincerely from your heart.

When you are in the sitting posture during formal meditation training, try not to do that because it will not bring about the bhāvanāmaya Paññā (the meditative wisdom) borne of the 3rd turning of the Four Noble Truths. During the formal sitting meditation, your main focus is to initially train and tame the heedless thinking mind into a relaxed state of silent inner awareness. Then after it has stabilized, keep it silent and just be aware within to understand what is going on within our own form and mind so as to develop the 3rd turning direct seeing wisdom as taught by the Buddha.

Understand that the 1st and 2nd turnings wisdom are less penetrative then the 3rd turning wisdom which is borne of the direct seeing. Hence the 2nd turningwisdom via reflection, contemplation and inquiry into the truth as proclaimed by the Buddha should only be done during normal daily mindfulness training and silent relaxed contemplative sessions and moments.

Bro. Teoh – 19/6/12

17th Heart Sutra 24 June 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120624.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Direct seeing

Direct seeing refers to the silent mind in pure awareness to see things as they are without any thought to arise the 3rd turning wisdom (Bhāvanāmaya Paññā). If you have wisdom, the 5 aggregates of form and mind will not be a problem because they will be non-grasping aggregates. Reversing the light of awareness to shine within to cultivate the daily mindfulness with clear comprehension or Sati Sampajañña is very important.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 17 (Prajna and Emptiness pg 29 to 33)

2.1 The three types of wisdom lights

Whenever you are not peaceful and not happy, the evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion are there; whereas wisdom leads to peace, harmony, love, happiness and joy. This is the dhamma to contemplate constantly and it is a very good check for all cultivators.

Buddha reprimanded Ananda on the sayings “see no evil and hear no evil, then you are peaceful” because according to the Buddha “evil” or “not evil” is all in the mind. The world is the world and it is not a problem if you have wisdom to confront its realities for nobody can make you unhappy or miserable unless you allow yourself to be so via your own delusion.

There are three types of wisdom lights:

1st wisdom light – the light of Prajna of Language is equivalent to the 1st turning wisdom called Suttamaya Paññā.

2nd wisdom light – the light of Prajna of Contemplation illumination is equivalent to the 2nd turning wisdom called Cintāmaya Paññā.

3rd wisdom light – the light of the Prajna of the characteristics of actuality is equivalent to the Direct seeing wisdom of the 3rd turning called Bhāvanāmaya Paññā.

Return all external forms or manifestation created by mind to mental consciousness, then mental consciousness to the pure awareness or True mind to realize the Buddha nature or Oneness nature which is also the SOURCE of all things.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 How long will it take for the mind to settle into stillness

Question 1: In meditation, usually how long will it take for the mind to settle down into stillness?

Bro. Teoh: It depends on the individual. If you have cultivated correctly and consistently and your wisdom and daily mindfulness are already very established then the stillness of mind can be realized relatively fast. It can happen within minutes. But if you have not done the training and the wisdom is not established as yet then it may not happen and to settle down into stillness may be quite a difficult and arduous task.

3.2 What actually returns to the source?

Question 2: What actually returns to the source?

Bro. Teoh: There is no one to return to the source. It is just the mundane mind that realizes itself and cease. The cessation of form and mind which is the realization of Nibbāna is without any mind and totally without any thought or even the pure awareness or consciousness hence it cannot be spoken or expressed or understood via words, knowledge or ideas or concept which is still within the field of thoughts. The mind ceases but ‘you’ are not dead and consciousness can still come back if it is still not time for parinibbāna as yet. It is just like the analogy of the candle light that ceases.

3.3 Mental liberation and the non-Buddhist

Question 3: Buddhist Meditation talks about mental liberation and enlightenment via the Buddhist way; can non-Buddhist also gain liberation of mind via meditation?

Bro. Teoh: Yes because like the Buddha said, “The Dhamma or Truthwas already there before him and he only realized it after the enlightenment.” So Truth is not monopolized by Buddhism or any religion for that matter. Whatever that can explain the way things are is the Truth. Hence Truth IS! Not your Truth or my Truth – for these are the individual’s opinion of Truth.

3.4 When meditating is it normal that the mind may go blank?

Question 4: When meditating is it normal that the mind may go blank for awhile?

Bro. Teoh: The mind can go blank for a while or for quite some time depending on the type of meditation one is doing. But it is more important for us to understand what the main purpose of bhāvanā or meditation is. The main purpose is to realize the wisdom that can enable us to understand clearly the Four Noble Truths so that our mind can be liberated from all the entanglements of Life that can condition our mental suffering. So whatever meditative experiences that can bring about this wisdom or understanding is more important than just blanking our mind or developing the very special meditative experiences during meditation. The very special or beautiful meditative experiences that arise during meditation are only conditioned states and if they do not bring about a transformation in understanding then they should be left as they are. They should not be clung onto or perceived as equivalent to special achievement in meditation.

Certain types of one-pointedness concentration and absorption meditation can also bring about a state of like no thought or blank mind for a certain period of time. The calmness can be very strong but the mind is without any awareness within. Such meditation is mainly samatha in nature. One will have to release the absorption and concentration to normal state of awareness to cultivate the sati sampajañña or daily mindfulness with clear comprehension meditation to develop the insight and wisdom needed for enlightenment.

Bro. Teoh (28/6/12)

18th Heart Sutra 1 July 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/Teoh-HeartSutra-120701.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Daily mindfulness is very important to enable one to realize the real dhamma as taught by the Buddha.

Without this daily mindfulness via an awareness of all actions and movements, feelings, content of consciousness, and dhamma that arise and pass away from moment to moment (within the present moment), the real wisdom cannot arise. When there is no wisdom, one will be conditioned by one’s delusion whereas Wisdom leads to Joy, Peace, Love, compassion and harmony.

How you interpret or perceive a life situation or a phenomenon at every moment of sense experience is very important. When you have wisdom, Life itself is your teacher. The Enlightened one will perceive all things with wholesomeness only. Develop the wisdomto be at peace with all situations and learn to accept the reality of the moment so that one does not have to react to or worry about Life but instead always act with wisdom following the Noble 8-Fold Path to resolve all of Life situations amicably.

1.2 The four right efforts

The four Right efforts are:-

1. To abandon the unwholesome actions, speeches and thoughts that had already arisen;

2. To prevent the arising of the unwholesome thoughts, speeches and actions that have yet to arise;

3. To develop or cultivate the right thoughts, speeches and actions that are still not in you;

4. To maintain and refine upon any right thoughts, speeches and actions that are already in you.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 18 (The Conditioned Body pg 35 to 39)

2.1 Three types of suffering

There are three (3) types of suffering:

1. Suffering within suffering in its most obvious ordinary form (dukkha-dukkhatā) – Suffering within the physical form like birth, old age, sickness and death. If the mind via delusion clings and attaches to this bodily suffering then there is double suffering. i.e. not only the body is sick, mind is also affected;

2. Suffering due to the unsatisfactoriness of conditioned states (saṅkhāra-dukkhatā) – suffering due to mental attachment via attachment to the saṅkhāra aggregate of mind;

3. Suffering caused by change (vipariṇāma dukkhatā) – everything is impermanent or unsatisfactory and if one cannot accept this reality or this universal characteristic of impermanence then suffering will arise via wanting good things your way.

Note: - Suffering due to change (as explained on pg 43 of The Buddha’s Ancient Path by Piyadassi Thera)

Vipariṇāma dukkha comes under the category of unsatisfactoriness due to impermanence. All the pleasant and happy feelings that man can experience fade away and disappear. As the Buddha says, even the feelings that a yogi or meditator experiences by attaining the four meditative absorptions (jhāna), come under the category of Vipariṇāma dukkha, because they are transient (anicca), dukkha and subject to change (vipariṇāma dhamma). But the dukkha mentioned here is certainly not the pain and suffering that people in general endure. What the Buddha points out is that all things impermanent are unsatisfactory. They suffer change every moment and this change brings about unsatisfactoriness; for whatever that is impermanent is unsatisfactory (‘yadaniccaṃ taṃ dukkhaṃ’), that is, there is no lasting bliss.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 How to progress along the path of dhamma

Question 1: As always emphasized by Bro. Teoh, Right understanding and Right view are very important. If one lacks these then how can one progress along the path of dhamma?

Bro. Teoh: According to the Buddha the 1st of the Noble 8-Fold Path factor is Sammā Diṭṭhi or Right view. Without this Right View, you can’t proceed with the cultivation of the Noble 8-Fold Path (which is the meditation as taught by the Buddha) because if your views are wrong then your thoughts will be wrong. As thoughts and mental intentions condition our speeches, actions and the way we live our Life then all the other subsequent path factors of the Noble 8-Fold Path will also be wrong. Hence it is important to have the Right view or Right understanding as the 1stpath factor within the Noble 8-Fold Path.

The 3 Right views with regards to all the spiritual laws that govern all of Life and Existence are very important and they are:

1. The Law of Kamma (Kamma niyāma);

2. The Law of the Mind (Citta niyāma) – like the 12 Links or paṭicca-samuppāda;

3. The law of all other nature’s Truth (Dhamma niyāma) – like the Four Noble Truths.

Nature’s TRUTH! Anything that can explain “the way things are” is the Truth. The Buddha’s advice via Dhammapada Verse 183: “to avoid all evil, do good and purify the mind” comes from the 1st Right view – Law of Kamma. According to the Buddha, each and every one of us is “born of our kamma, heir to our kamma, conditioned and supported by our kamma and we are what we are because of our kamma” (which is also one of the 5 daily contemplations that the monks are told to reflect on daily.) Hence the importance of taking care of one’s Kamma.

How do we take care of kamma? We need to train our mind to be ever mindful/heedful of our mental intentions so that our action, speech and thoughts are always right and appropriate to avoid all the negative or evil kamma via keeping our precepts and cultivating their ennoblers. This will enable us to heed the 1st two advice of the Buddha and the 3rd advice is to cultivate the 10 steps of the Avijjā sutta which includes the Four Foundations Of Mindfulness to purify one’s mind.

3.2 How to come out of the wrong path

Question 2: When we are on the wrong path via having wrong view how can we come out of it?

Bro. Teoh: This is a very good question. Now you can understand the great wisdom of Lord Buddha in teaching us how to make sure that we won’t have wrong view or follow the wrong path via following his advice to sincerely cultivate the below important cultivation and aspiration:-

1. Taking the 3 refuges (Buddha, Dhamma and the Saṅgha) with very strong faith and sincerity via understanding its importance. There is no other safe refuge except in the Triple Gem where the Four Noble Truths can be found to realize the enlightenment.

2. To make the aspiration by reciting “Iminā puñña kammena, māme bāla samāgamo; sataṃ samāgamo hotu, yāva nibbāna pattiyā” (to invoke the power of merits to enable one to avoid all the foolish and meet with the wise and the enlightened ones so that Nibbāna can be realized soonest possible time.)

3.3 You reap what you sow – can this kamma be experienced in this very life

Question 3: You reap what you sow, so can this kamma be experienced in this very life?

Bro. Teoh: It depends on which cetanā or determining thought moment the kamma is being committed. According to the Abhidhamma, there are 7 determining thought momentsor cetanā or mental intention to condition kamma and if it happens during the 1st determining thought moment then it is only effective this Life if there is condition for it to arise. Otherwise, it will cease to be. Similarly for the 7th determining thought moment, it is only effective up till the next Life, if there is condition for it to arise. But those occurring between the 2nd to 6th determining thought moments will be around at all times. So the answer is it is possible to experience them even in this life time. Just like how you reap the result of your hard work while studying and later on working in this life.

19th Heart Sutra 15 July 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120715.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Wisdom and life situations

With wisdom, one is always at ease with a lot of harmony in whatever one does. One will also be able to accord and flow with conditions during their waking moments, as in working career environment, as a housewife doing her daily chores, as a normal human being going through life, etc. One will have the wisdom and ability to resolve all of life’s issues or situations amicably - without causing any suffering or Karmic negativity to any one (i.e. with no mental negativity to deceive, cheat, lie or take advantage of others).

In life, the way one perceives a life situation is very important. If one can perceive a life situation without any negativity then one will be always be happy and at peace with all Life situations. If one does not react or stir one’s mind then one will not suffer.

To have the ability to prevent the unwholesome speech, action and thoughts from arising, one needs to develop sati (mindfulness),heedfulness (appamāda) and wisdom (Paññā) to prevent the arising of the unwholesome mentalintentions that will condition one’s unwholesome speech and action. Right thoughts, speech and action are conducive for the holy life.

The 3-doors that commit kamma are cetanā or mental intentions committed via speech, action and thought processes. To take care of kamma, one needs to be ever mindful of one’s mental intentions and apply the appropriate right effort and right understanding to Avoid all evil, dogood and purify one’s mind. Contemplating to develop skilful means of communication and action via arising only the right or appropriate speech and action that will not cause any suffering or misery to fellow living beings is very important. For example, via having love and compassion, kindness, pleasantness and gentleness of speeches, gratitude, sincerity, etc. in everything we do can go a long way.

Sometimes by being sensitive to say “I am really sorry and please do forgive me if I have unknowingly cause you any misunderstanding”, can go a long way to make people feel good and happy as opposed to engaging in unfruitful argument that can lead to further misunderstanding and enmity later on. Use only pleasant, gentle and appreciative speech and speak tactfully with wisdom, kindness, love and compassion to help others and to bring about more harmony and happiness. Those who are in the service industry should learn to speak well on the phone and when receiving people. Those who are attending to emergency phone calls must have the ability to use gentle, pleasant and good speech to calm people down and assist them to handle the situation calmly and appropriately. Words like “May I help you?” and “How can I be of assistance?” are very useful and appropriate. Understanding the importance of applying the 4 right efforts to purify our action, speech and thought processes is a very important aspect of the whole cultivation. There are 3 very important purifications needed for cultivation and they are purification of morality, purification of mind and purification of view. These 3 purifications are part of the 7 stages of purification as taught by the Buddha.

1.2 7 stages of Purification (satta visuddhi)

The 7 stages of Purification or satta visuddhi as taught by the Buddha are as follows:-

1. Sīla-Visuddhi – Purification of Morality or virtue via keeping one’s precepts;

2. Citta-Visuddhi – Purification of Mind or content of consciousness especially the 3-evil roots via an awareness of how it arises to condition one into negativity then how to root them out via wisdom to develop the wholesome state of mind;

3. Diṭṭhi-Visuddhi – Purification of View so as to arise the Right view with regards to the Law of Kamma, the 4 Noble Truths and the Law of Dependent Origination and to cultivate the rest of the Noble 8-Fold Path factors. Know the difference between right and wrong views to develop the true understanding according to reality and to see things as they are.

4. Purification by Overcoming Doubt (kaṅkhā-vitaraṇa-visuddhi) – no more doubt because it has overcome the 10 defilements of insight that binds the cultivators to complacency and misguided belief of realization;

5. Purification by Knowledge and Vision of What Is Path and Not-Path (maggāmagga-ñāṇadassana-visuddhi) – not path leads to delusion and suffering whereas path leads to clarity, non-negativity, peace and stillness of mind borne of wisdom;

6. Purification by Knowledge and Vision of the Way (paṭipadā-ñāṇadassana-visuddhi) – after understanding the Path, one cultivates accordingly to realize the vision of the way;

7. Purification by Knowledge and Vision (ñāṇadassana-visuddhi) – realization or enlightenment borne of the direct seeing or direct knowledge and vision of the way things are without thought.

Since Meditation as taught by the Buddha is the Noble 8-Fold Path so if one’s meditation does not lead one back to the cultivation of the Noble 8-Fold Path via heedfulness and Sati as taught by the Buddha then it is not the Buddhist meditation as taught by the Buddha. If after having experienced a fantastic meditation experience, one may think that one is already enlightened. But if one’s action, speech and thought processes are still very crude with a lot of wrong view and delusion then one must check what type of enlightenment that is.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 19 (The Kinds of Suffering pg 43 to 46)

2.1 The 31-Planes or Realms of Existence :-

1. The Immaterial World (Arūpaloka). Consists of four realms that are accessible to those who pass away while meditating in the formless jhāna

2. The Fine-Material World (Rūpaloka). Consists of sixteen realms whose inhabitants (the devas) experience extremely refined degrees of mental pleasure. These realms are accessible to those who have attained at least some level of form jhāna and who have thereby managed to (temporarily) suppress hatred and ill will. They are said to possess extremely refined bodies of pure light. The highest of these realms, the Pure Abodes, are accessible only to those who have attained to the sainthood stage of a “non-returner," or of the third stage of Anāgāmī Awakening. The Fine-Material World and the Immaterial World together constitute the higher heavenly realms.

3. The Sensuous World (Kāma-loka). Consists of eleven realms which experience — both pleasurable and non-pleasurable sensual states of mind — it is dominated by the five senses. Seven of these realms are favourable destinations, and it includes the 6 deva realms and our own human realm. The lowest of the realms are the four "bad" destinations, which include the woeful realms of the demons, animal, petas (hungry ghosts) and hell realms.

Enlightenment – Mind that has clarity and wisdom and is no longer deluded.

Genuine wisdom – is with complete clarity and understanding.

3rd Noble Truth - cessation of Form and Mind leading to Nibbāna. Form and mind cease to be.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Reports on Meditation:-

1. I have followed Brother Teoh’s class for almost 19 weeks by now. I can feel the calmness and peace within more often now. I can sit for 1 hour and feel light hearted, with more clarity, joy, calmness and peace within most of the time. My mind is a lot quieter and less heedlesse. with very much less wandering thoughts. When faced with problems, the mind is not so afflicted like before.

2. My daily mindfulness has improved. Now when I encounter problems, the mind is not so easily stirred. I am now more aware of my mental intentions especially the negative ones with the 3 evilroots. And with this clarity of awareness, I am able to cultivate the 4 right efforts to abandon, to prevent the arising, to promote and to refine upon the various mind states with greater ease.

3. After cultivating the daily mindfulness, when encountering sloth and torpor, I can just accept the state of sloth and torpor without any intention to do away with it and this acceptance allows my silent mind in sati to take over and remain in peaceful awareness within. After a while I can experience a shift in consciousness that makes my mind bright and clear with a lot of joy and vīriya. Then the sloth and torpor are gone.

Bro. Teoh: These are very good meditative results borne of correct meditative cultivation and right understanding. Mahā Sādhu to you, Sister. Always remember - whatever you do in the name of meditation if it can bring about more clarity of mindwith inner peace and awareness to live life with a lot of happiness, joy and understanding then it is the right meditation. The meditation as taught by the Buddha will also enable you to develop all the wisdom and virtues/wholesomeness borne of the cultivation of the Noble 8-Fold Path to live the noble Life of a Noble one.

To truly live life, the mind must be in silent inner awareness to be with the moment to experience all of the beauties and wonders of Life. Most living beings are heedless because they think a lot and they are most of the time too busy thinking, planning and worrying about life so much so they totally miss out on Life (i.e. they don’t really live). To be at peace with every moment of sense doorconsciousness is genuine wisdom. To have the clarity of mind and right understanding or wisdom to know how to act and live life to the fullest meaningfully is most important.

20th Heart Sutra Class 12 August 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 The first three stages of purification

The 7 stages of purifications are important cultivation especially so the first three purifications which are purification of morality, purification of mind and purification of views.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 20 (Sariputta pg 47 to 50)

1.2 Definition:

With precepts and Samādhi complete and bright - the pearl light appears. (The pearl light refers to the relics of the enlightened one.)

The wisdom is within you. How do you meet it? Put down your upside-down mind and let go of your false thinking or deluded mind. Earnestly work hard at your meditation. (False-thinking mind - is the mundane/deluded/heedless mind.)

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Developing the meditation

To develop the meditation, the body and mind must be in harmony, that is, they must both be in a relaxed state and at ease. At ease means no stress, no tension, no tightness within the physical body and no fear, no worry, no restlessness and no anxiety etc. within the mind - both body and mind are completely relaxed and at ease. The stress and tension within the physical body and mental arise because of one’s heedless living via lack of mindfulness or attentiveness to live life.

The heedless living arises because human beings tend to have a lot of problems and worries. They worry about their children, their education and their future; worry about their own health, their career and work-related problems, their relationship with their loved ones, their financial problem, their investments, business, wealth and possessions, etc. This is the reason why the Buddha said, to meditate, one must keep one’s precepts, to avoid all evil so that one’s kamma is taken care of via less heedless living. Hence this is the reason why the Buddha has advocated the cultivation of the following: -

Sīla – morality/precepts;

Samādhi – meditation

Paññā - Wisdom

And

Dāna – generosity to build up the pāramī for goodness to arise;

Sīla – morality/precepts and

Bhāvanā – meditative discipline which is inclusive of Samādhi and Paññā

3.2 Can enlightenment be attained through listening without meditation

Question 1: Can one attain enlightenment through only listening and without meditation?

Bro. Teoh: Yes! And there are many cases of this happening even during the time of the Buddha. Like venerable Kondañña and Sariputta and many others. Normally such people are able to awaken only through hearing because of their past cultivation and pāramī. Most of these people have, in fact, cultivated very sincerely and diligently before in the past. So, that is the reason why in this Life, they will have the condition to awaken just via hearing the dhamma. This hearing of the dhamma actually corresponds to the 1st turning wisdom called Suttamaya Paññā – wisdom borne of hearing the sutta or discourses of the Buddha.

3.3 How to apply the dhamma to deal with someone who is difficult

Question 2: How do we apply the dhamma to deal with someone who is very irritable, throw things in front of you, and rather unfriendly towards you? Apparently he is such because of the way he has been brought up so we can’t really blame him and I don’t know how to deal with him!

Bro. Teoh: Is he or she one of your family members or friends? “Yes! She is one of my Family members.”

To apply the dhamma is very simple – just follow the Noble 8-Fold Path. She is just the way she is so have the right understanding or right view to accept her for what she is. Then you will be at peace. If not, you will react and perceive her with the negativity which you had described via your question.

This is the suffering that will arises when you are with people whom you don’t like as described by the Buddha under his 1st Noble Truth and the cause behind is your craving borne of your delusion. So, to overcome this delusion and craving, you will have to accept her for what she is. Then learn to arise the right thought, pleasant and gentle right speech following the Noble 8-fold path to deal with her. Do not react or reason with her because it will not bring about a solution to her so-called problem or negativity as you have perceived earlier. Have love and goodness of heart to understand her. Radiate mettā and make aspiration to help her change for the better. All these will help. With mindfulness observe her and await the right conditions to counsel her and bring her into the dhamma fold when conditions are appropriate. Slowly with patience, loving kindness and wisdom, she will come to accept you one of these days.

21st Heart Sutra 26 August 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120826.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Purification of Sīla, Citta and Diṭṭhi

Purification of Sīla (or morality/virtue), Citta (or mind/content of consciousness) and Diṭṭhi (or view) followed by purification by knowledge and vision of overcoming doubt are all very important cultivation. This is especially so for the first 3 purifications where one must get it right. The understanding of Dhammapada Verse 183 - on the advice of all Buddhas is also very important for it is based on a deep understanding borne of right view with regards to the Law of Kamma.

Starting, of course with the 1st advice - ‘All Evil is to be avoided.’ So our 1st inquiry must be, what constitutes Evils? The 3 Evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion are the roots of all evils - so if your mental intentions behind all of your actions, speeches and thought processes are with these Evil roots then they will condition you to become very evil hence creating one’s negative kamma via “you reap what you sow”. Take for example, selfishness and anger – once these evil roots are there, they can condition one to kill and harm and take advantage of a situation for their personal selfish gains.

Saṅkhāra(mental states or content of consciousness) - there are 52 of them and some are wholesome and some are unwholesome. So we need mindfulness and heedfulness to be aware of them so that we can avoid all evil via this heedful mind. With heedfulness and sati or mindfulness, we can see clearly how our mind gets conditioned into negativities (mind states with these 3 Evil roots) via our own ignorance and self-delusion; how we get ourselves entangled with the evil mind states of Anger, hatred, selfishness, lust, envy & jealousy, fear, worry and anxieties, etc. through our lack of understanding of the noble truths thereby conditioning us to grasp and cling onto the unreal which has the 3 universal characteristics of impermanence, suffering state and non-self cum empty nature of all phenomena. Without wisdom, we will not understand how we are conditioned into negativity.

Understanding the 3rd Noble Truth, that suffering need not be if we had developed the wisdom before confronting the 1st Noble Truth’s reality of Life and Existence, is very important and that enlightenment in the here and the now is possible once we have awakened to the 3 universal characteristics of Nature.

With wisdom and awareness or sati, one can just be Aware and “let things be” via “seeing things as they are” and then there will be no more suffering. One can then just accord and flow with conditions (without any resistance). Hence, there is no suffering and unhappiness via wanting things our way which is not nature’s way or the REALITY – which is What IS! We cannot argue with ‘What IS!’

Sati or mindfulness which is the 1st enlightenment factor and most important spiritual faculty is very important because without sati, there is no Heedfulness and without heedfulness there is no spiritual Life. Without sati, one cannot investigate the dhamma (2nd factor of enlightenment) to strengthen one’s faith and vīriya. One must investigate into the following important Dhammapada Verses 1, 2, 21, 22, 23 and 183 and confirm that these truths stand up to investigation thereby establishing our faith in the Law of Kamma as explained by the Buddha to reaffirm our right view with regards to this Law of Kamma.

All of Saṅkhāra or mental activities (inclusive of all our feelings and perceptions) are impermanent for they arise and pass away constantly and are in a state of continuousflux. Thought activities also come and go; arise and pass away; its birth and death; appearing and disappearing – exhibiting its characteristics of impermanence constantly. With Wisdom within, one sees it clearly whereas the mundane mind without wisdom is very heedless.

My teacher used to tell me, “Finally, there is only pure awareness” - which is the true mind. This I came to realize later when the rather gross mundane or thinking mind collapsed leading to the true mind which is just pure awareness and silence within. It is very fine and like no more mind. It is like the pure nature or awareness just shining forth when the mundane thinking mind is no more.

But there is such a thing as Life even though it is only within the moment. As we have established earlier on - the past is already gone hence it is not a reality anymore. Similarly the future has yet to happen so it is also not a reality. Hence, the only reality in existence is only the present moment and moment to moment Life passes by, what are you doing? Every thought just arises and passes away very quickly. So, as real as it can be, it is there (or existed) only within that moment when it arises. After that, it is gone – ‘dead’ and gone! So do wake up! And do not ‘dream’ or ‘sleep’ anymore. The phenomena world of consciousness is not what you think. As long as you are not deluded to grasping and clinging then you are okay and you won’t be afflicted. So don’t hold, don’t grasp and don’t cling or attach to anything - even through memory. Then, you will be free and peaceful always. Without delusion and ignorance, you are beautiful. When you can see things as they are then you will not be deluded by them. The form and mind will be clear to you then there will be no more entanglement to cause you anymore mental suffering. The reason being the mind has awakened to the 3 Universal characteristic of anicca, dukkha and anattā hence no longer gullible.

With heedfulness well-established, the mind is constantly aware of all your mental movements and intentions. You will come to know how you are conditioned into negativity via your mind’s delusion that conditions you to grasp and cling onto your 5 aggregates of form and mind as the “I”, “Me” and the “Mine”. You will also come to know how your likes and dislikes come to be via your reaction to what you see and perceive at the moment of sense experiences when you lack wisdom or yoniso manasikāra (wise attention at the moment of sense experience). You will come to experience all of the 4 Noble Truths, the Dependent Origination (or 12 Links) and how your mind functions via witnessing the 12 Links occurring within your mind. Always be aware within and develop the ability to use the trained mind in heedfulness to cultivate the penetrative wisdom borne of the direct seeing to clearly awaken to the 3 universal characteristics of anicca, dukkha and anattā to liberate your mind. You will come to witness how all your feelings arise and pass away like a ‘bubble’. All of your perceptions, activities of mind and mental consciousness also exhibit the same characteristics of impermanence leading to your ability to realize their anattā and suffering nature within all phenomena.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 21 (Form Does Not Differ From Emptiness pg 51 to 57)

2.1 Form is emptiness and emptiness is form

This concept of “form is emptiness and emptiness is form” is very difficult to grasp and most people cannot understand this. There are also some Buddhists of the Theravāda tradition who think that the Mahāyāna teaching is not authentic because they cannot accept the Heart Sutra teaching that said “Form is emptiness and emptiness is form.” But for those who understand, there is no such problem because basically, the Buddha’s teaching on Anattā, as presented in the Theravāda tradition, also gives the same meaning for Anattā as Non-self and empty natureof all phenomena and Suññatā or emptiness. For whatever that is impermanent, it is not a permanent unchanging entity that we can cling onto and say this is ‘Me’ or these are ‘Mine’ i.e. they cannot be owned and possessed. Ultimately, they are all mind-made and empty because Form and mind are all conditions arising phenomenon hence `Hey! No Me and Hey! No You’. Also, the Buddha always said “Rūpaṃ aniccaṃ, rūpaṃ anattā”. Before something exists in space, there is only space or emptiness so form, which occupies that empty space later, does not have different characteristic with that emptiness space. So, in Form, you are able to see and understand the principle of emptiness and hence not get attached. If we go direct into the mind then we will know that all knowing comes from mind as mind is the forerunner of all things so everything is only consciousness appearing and disappearing – so how real can it be? This is the reason why it is empty, because it is just a mental image conjured by consciousness which is like the great ‘Magician’ as explained by the Buddha via his analogy of the 5 aggregates of form and mind.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 3 universal characteristics of impermanence, suffering state and non-self / empty nature

All phenomena whether physical, mental or nature’s phenomena, exhibit these 3 universal characteristics of impermanence, suffering state and non-self/empty nature – take for example our in-and-out breath; our footsteps; our heartbeat; our feelings; our perceptions; our thoughts and consciousness and our bodily vibrations etc. They are all continuously arising and passing away following nature’s law. See their appearing and disappearing; birth and death; rise and fall; and the moment of its arising, its sustenance and its disappearance clearly via the silent mind in direct seeing to awaken to their 3 universal characteristics of anicca, dukkha and anattā so as to break free from sakkāyadiṭṭhi or self-delusion.

See clearly its condition arisingphenomenon – i.e. how when conditions arise, the phenomenon comes to be and how when the supporting conditions for its sustenance are still there, then the phenomenon will continue to exist and how when any of the supporting conditions cease to be then it will lead to the disappearance or cessation of that phenomenon. This will lead to the comprehension of its impermanence and non-self or empty nature clearly. Then, you will come to understand that if you try to hold or cling onto things and want them your way (which is not nature’s way), suffering will come to be.

This is how you react to your sense perceptions via delusion that conditions your evil roots to arise. Evil roots are the roots of all evil hence they have the power to condition you into negativity via your evil action, speech and thoughts. This is the reason why Heedfulness to understand all of these is very important and with heedfulness, you will be able to constantly investigate the dhamma as taught by the Buddha to confirm that they are the Truth hence reestablishing your faith and reaffirming your right view.

The Buddha pūjā or Buddhist devotional practices as taught by the Buddha are very useful practices recommended by the Buddha to help us develop the 5 spiritual faculties of Saddhā, Vīriya, Sati, Samādhi and Paññā needed for us to receive and understand his teaching more easily. Silent your mind to do the Buddha pūjā with very strong faith and confidence in the Buddha and his teaching via understanding who He is and how special and great He is, then, bow mindfully. This will develop a very strong, calm and composed mind leading to the establishment of the vīriya and sati. Then, with the strong saddhā and vīriya, you bow mindfully to pay respect or reverential salutation to the Buddha, to de condition the heedless thinking that you have arisen throughout the day, thereby calming the mind to develop the stable sati or mindfulness within. The reason being, this constant bowing and chanting of the Buddha’s name as practiced by the Mahāyāna can also help develop the very strong saddhā, vīriya and sati needed to develop the wisdom. There are also many benefits that can arise because the bowing or reverential salutation is also a meritorious action. Then apart from developing the faith, we can also make use of these merits to make the necessary aspiration to walk the path of dhamma smoothly by avoiding all the fools and only meet up with the wise and the enlightened ones so that Nibbāna can be realize soonest possible.

When we bow mindfully with the very strong faith/saddhā and vīriya, our mind is very calm and very composed thereby helping us to develop a very stablemindfulness/sati much more easily and it also leads us to cultivate humility. At the same time, we exercise our body. Sati is awareness before the knowing or the arising of thought – just a pure awarenesswithin. So this bowing should be done with understanding i.e. we bow to establish mindfulness or awarenesswithout thought so that the body and mind move as one in perfect synchrony or harmony. Once mindfulness has been established, use it to cultivate the 4 postures of standing, walking, sitting and lying down then followed by the cultivation of sati sampajañña or Mindfulness and clear comprehension of all actions and movements in the present moment to develop the initial vipassanā wisdom borne of direct seeing of the 3 universal characteristics. Only then, can we proceed with the contemplation of the 4 elements and the 32 parts within this physical body of ours and the 9 stages of cemetery decomposition contemplation to finish off the kāyānupassanā cultivation. After kāyānupassanā, we then proceed to vedanānupassanā and cittānupassanā followed by finally dhammānupassanā.

22nd Heart Sutra 2 September 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/Teoh-HeartSutra-120902.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 The meditative mind

The meditative mind must not only be calm but it must also be mindful and heedful within to develop the wisdom needed to liberate the mind. It is this meditative mind that is aware/mindful and heedful  that can understand how the mind stirs and becomes afflicted via one’s delusion and wrong view (or ignorant) that conditions the evil roots to arise. It will come to understand its origination factors clearly as to how the evil roots come to be. It will also come to understand that before the evil roots are there, the mind was originally very peaceful. Everything arises naturally via conditionsarising causes and all phenomena exhibit the 3 universal characteristics of anicca, dukkha and anattā. Then via dhammānupassanā cultivation of the 6 internal and 6 external sense bases, one will understand clearly how to trace the origination factors behind the stirring of the mind and how one can retrospectively reverse it via wisdom. The moment your mind stirs, Dhammapada Verse 1 will take its course hence conditioning one’s suffering like the wheel that follows the hoof.

The meditative mind will understand how the mundane mind got caught? With understanding, it will no longer be deluded. To really see and awaken to this truth or understanding, one needs a very stable mindfulness. Take for example - a case where a kalyāṇamitta’s friend passed away suddenly at the age of 63 years old due to a heart attack. The kalyāṇamitta said “Today I am very sad!” So I asked her “why?” She said because “she has been my very good friend for the past 20+ years”. I asked her again “Do you know why ‘you’ are so sad? And who is sad? Who is the ‘you’ that is sad?”

As usual, she said “attachment lo!” Then I said, “Most Buddhists answered this way and because of that, very likely, they will not develop the wisdom because they never inquire, reflect and contemplate deep into this dhamma that has arisen, as advised by the Buddha under the 2nd turning of his 1st Noble Truth.” The 1st turning is - proclamation of the 1st Noble Truth of Dukkha leading to Suttamaya Paññā. Then, under the 2nd turning, the Buddha said “this Noble Truth of Dukkha is to be understood” leading to Cintāmaya Paññā. So, the inquiry will enable her to investigate via mindfulness and heedfulness to realize that it is the mind that has been conditioned by her wrong view or ignorance that causes her to cling onto her thought that arises via her memories of her good friend of 20+ years hence confirming the Buddha’s final summary of the 1st Noble Truth that states “In short, it is ignorance/delusion that conditions one’s grasping to their 5 aggregates of Form and Mind that I call dukkha.” So the cause of suffering which is craving (or grasping and clinging) conditioned by her own self-delusion (or Sakkāyadiṭṭhi) led her to cling onto her mental perceptions, memories and consciousness that conditioned her pure feeling into sadness or suffering. It is only a Form and Mind - not so real because all conditioned arising phenomena are not permanent unchanging entities that one can cling onto and say, “This is ‘Me’, this is ‘I’ and these are ‘Mine’ ”. Do reflect deep into this and awaken to its 3 universal characteristics of anicca, dukkha and anattā to break free. Then, we will understand that there is No one to be sad and also no one born, no one dies!!!

Contemplate and reflect deeply and inquire – Why am I still so deluded? Why can’t I wake up to this Truth!

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 22 (Form Does Not Differ From Emptiness pg 57 to 61)

2.1 Anattā or Non-self nature

Anattā or Non-self nature is also Emptiness. If one realizes Anattā or penetrates the understanding of True Emptiness, then one can also become enlightened. Once awakened to True Emptiness then one will understand why the Heart Sutra said – ‘True emptiness is wonderful EXISTENCE’.

When thinking, one is clouded by what one thinks, hence no clarity to understand what is happening within the moment to awaken to the Truth. As Man can only do one thing at a time i.e. either one is aware and silent within (Heedful) or lost in thoughts, hence, heedless. Living beings are most of the time, preoccupied with what they think plus all of their minds’ reactions to the 3 evil roots that they create within their thought processes via their likes and dislikes,pleasant and unpleasant feelings and emotions that arise upon contact of mind within every moment of sense experiences.

In the Diamond Sutra, it is said, ‘the mind must have no dwelling’. Hui Neng understood this stanza when he heard it because Hui Neng’s mind is - true mind; reason why he was able to see things as they are via the silent mind without thought as he was born without the mundane mind. If you create via thoughts - then there is good and bad for you to dwell on. So, duality will arise because thoughts divide via words and concepts like gender, race, religion, nationality, right and wrong, good and bad, etc. Non-duality is the doctrine of True emptiness. With wisdom, one can see things as they are and can accepteverything that happens as natural or the way things are hence transcending all dualities that lead to reaction of mind. Knowing via thought is knowledge whereas awakening via the silent mind without thought is Enlightenment which is an understanding and understanding is non-rigid because it is not knowledge. No right and no wrong because everything is just the way it is – true Suchness or Tathatā!

Dhammapada Verse 183states that: ‘All evil is to be avoided, do good and purify the mind.’ - And this is the advice of all Buddhas which all Buddhist must follow. To purify the mind one must develop the enlightenment factors of Equanimity & Samādhi to see things as they are. Then, with wisdom, one will come to understand that things are just the way they are and there will be no good and evil, right and wrong, wholesome and unwholesome, etc. in meditation. No right no wrong because deluded person will say deluded things; angry person will say angry things. So accept them for what they are via perceiving them with equanimity. When you perceive a life situation with negativity or without equanimity, you will react and your mind willstir to bring about suffering to all (including yourself).

The Buddha said, ‘In the seeing, there is only the seeing consciousness and there is No one to see!’ and external form arise through consciousness. So do wake up to this reality via the pure awareness to see clearly that mind is the forerunner of all things and mind is chief, everything arises when mind arises. Then when we understand that we can reverse all these mental creations via returning all EXTERNAL mental creations to mind consciousness, then mind consciousness to the pure awareness and then pureawareness back to the great void which is Emptiness via realizing the cessation of form and mind which is Nibbāna, then we would have understood the whole mystery of nature’s creation.

If all phenomena can be returned to mind-consciousness then to pure awareness and then finally back to True Emptiness – it means they are all not so real; - all created by mind via consciousness and mind made are they, hence ’the phenomenon world is a world of consciousness and they are all really empty!’

Beyond mind there is no creation and no suffering; i.e. without mind there is no form, no perception, no feeling, no saṅkhāra hence no kamma and no creation via mental consciousness. Cognition via mental perceptions is all mind-made hence phenomena and perceptions are all linked – they are all impermanent, leading to suffering and anattā or Empty.

The pure awareness (before the knowing) or essence of mindwhich can be aware of the silence of nature is not a condition-arising phenomenon hence it is the unconditioned and also your ‘true mind’ but it is not a permanent unchanging entity that you can call the ‘Me’ and the ‘I’ because it cannot come out to live life. Whereas, the mundane condition-arising mind needs sense data in the form of vibration for the arising of the hearing consciousness to perceive hence its condition-arisingnature within the phenomena world.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Meditation question

Question 1: I often feel peace and calm during meditation, I also feel warm in my body. As I bow and chant, it increases the mindfulness in me. Thereafter, it prepares me for more effective sitting meditation.

Bro. Teoh: As you meditate, the Yin & Yang energies can build up to cause heat and cold to arise within your body. Here at Wu Pin Chen Seah, there is no air-conditioning so we tend to feel warm and sometimes, we sweat too. Is the warmness uncomfortable? “No, it is quite soothing.” Then, it is okay and you can just silent your mind and relax into it and as long as your mind is not affected by the heat then you are at peace with it. Otherwise, your mind will be affected and cause you to react. For some, who do samatha or one-pointedness concentration and absorption type of meditation, they tend to have this heat problem because of their Yin & Yang imbalance. This is especially so for those who like to play with energy fields to develop psychic powers. The maras too can come and delude them and disturb them. But if they know how to release the energy built-up and come out to normal state of awareness to cultivate the 4 Foundations Of Mindfulness to develop the wisdom as taught by the Buddha, then they are alright and they can also develop the enlightenment.

3.2 Meditation question and sharing of The Work by Byron Katie

Bro. Teoh: How about your daily mindfulness? Are you able to develop it?

Reply: For a while only because I get easily agitated and affected when confronted with DIFFICULT situations in daily life. Then the calmness and the daily mindfulness are all gone.

Bro. Teoh: Habitual tendencies borne of the wrong view to perceive certain situations with negativity is the cause. You lack rightview and you should reflect, contemplate and inquire deep into the dhamma via the 2nd turning of the 1st Noble Truth to develop the Cintāmaya Paññā to overcome this problem of yours. You should inquire why you are agitated or affected. How do these habitual tendencies that cause you to react to such situations come about? You will finally come to understand that it is because you have certain expectations and preferences borne of your wrong view that conditioned you to think that way for so long already. You are actually graspingError! Bookmark not defined. or clinging onto your wrong thoughts borne of your conditioned memories. Seeing this clearly with your pure awareness will enable you to straighten your view via silencing your mind to develop the wisdom and right understanding needed to free your mind.

You can also inquire to free via applying the ‘work’ as taught by Byron Katie to free. The Work is a simple yet powerful process of inquiry that teaches you to identify and question the thoughts that cause all the suffering in this world. It’s a practical way to understand what’s hurting you, and to address the cause of your suffering or problems with clarity.

Her work consists of 4 lines of questionings or inquiries to develop the wisdom to free and they are:-

1. Question the wrong thoughts that conditioned you to react habitually:- ‘What the thought is telling you, is it True?’

2. Then inquire again by asking: - ‘Can you absolutely know that it's true?’

3. How do you react and what happens, when you believe that thought? – (You are afflicted isn’t it? Hence it is a wrong thought and you should arise the right effort to abandon it instead of believing it or clinging onto it to condition your suffering and misery).

4. Who would you be without this wrong thought? – (Peaceful and at ease isn’t it? With this clarity ofmind and non-reaction then we can act following the Noble 8-Fold Path to resolve whatever issue amicably without having to resort to any negativity of action, speech and thoughts thereby leading to the end of all suffering).

Then you will perceive Life differently and will know how to truly live Life to experience all of its beauties and wonders. The pure awareness with wisdom within is so beautiful and it can experience all of Nature’s pristine purity and beauty. When I was in New Zealand I can feel that the Nature there is so pure and so different because there is very little human consciousness to pollute it. Even the food I eat makes my body feel so good.

3.3 How do you perceive opening chakras via Qi Gong practices?

Question 2: How do you perceive opening chakras via Qi Gong practices?

Bro. Teoh: When you use your thought to ‘open’ your chakras, you have to be careful because the thought created by the unenlightened being still has delusion so it can bring about Yin & Yang imbalance. It can also mean tampering because wherever you focus and concentrate your mind, the thought energy will build up there. It is advisable to develop only the relaxation and mindfulness training to exercise your body while doing the Qi Gong practices; - not to focus and store your thought energy at the Tan Tien unless the intention is to develop the Qi for health purposes. Do not use it to develop the psychic or energy field.

There is a safer and more genuine way to open the chakras via developing the wisdom first. Then, when the mind can cease via wisdom, one can make use of it to develop the 10 perfections to walk the Bodhisattva way to realize Buddhahood. Develop the loving kindness, compassion and wisdom and then stay at the heart area and silent one’s mind to detect the gateway to our nature. This gateway will ‘melt’ all our life force and mental or pure awareness energies into our nature to become pure neutral energy which is no more of the yin & yang type. This is the pure energy that can really open up the chakras internally and naturally via Trust i.e. without the interference of any thought.

23rd Heart Sutra Class 9 September 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/Teoh-HeartSutra-120909.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 The 5 aggregates, understanding meditation and sati

Within the 5 aggregates of Form & Mind, Form is much grosser and has perceptible characteristics hence it is quite easy to see and understand. But when it comes to mental aggregates like feeling, perception, activities of mind (thinking, mental states, mental formation and intentions etc.) and consciousness, they are formless. Hence, they are much subtler and more difficult to see and understand.

Most people do meditation without the true understanding of what is meditation - as taught by the Buddhaand its true purpose and intent? Hence their main activities are centred on developing the so called ‘good’ meditation such as calmness and tranquillity of mind via concentration and focusing of the mind using thought. Such calmness and tranquillity are usually taken as good meditative states which they will cling onto as a sign of good progress forgetting that it is only wisdomthat frees and liberates the mind. The calmness and tranquillity are ‘good’ conditioned states but they are only the by-product of meditation that should not be clung onto. Instead, they should make use of it to develop the wisdom or insight needed for enlightenment via sati to see things as they are without any concepts, words, ideas or thoughts.

Without Sati or Mindfulness, you cannot ‘see things as they are’ to understand what is going on in Life within the moment. Use the Sati or silent mind before the knowingto meditate and awaken to the three Universal characteristicsof nature and to develop the insight knowledge needed to free the mind. ‘See’ clearly that all phenomena are natural conditions arising upon contact of mind with their respective sense bases. Also ‘see’ how upon contact, consciousness (and its 7 universals mental concomitants) come to be and how through ignorance, contact conditions craving leading to all the grasping and clinging etc. that causes one’s suffering when wisdom or yoniso manasikāra (wise attention) is not there at the moment of sense experience. Then, one will come to understand clearly how thought arises due to response to memories and how one grasps and clings to all these memories via our mental perceptions and thinking that condition our emotional negativitiesand fear etc. leading to all the suffering and misery in Life. And because of delusion, you take them as very real and give them meaning hence arising your grasping and clinging. In actual fact, there is no one to see, to think, to feel, grasp and cling. All these are due to one’s wrong view or sakkāyadiṭṭhi (self-delusion) because one still cannot see their condition-arising nature to insight into the 3 universal characteristics of nature- anicca, dukkha and anattā.

The human being (1st aspect of our 5 aggregates of Form and Mind) is only a ‘vehicle’ and a ‘tool’ - karmically-conditioned out by our karmic nature for us to use and live this segment of ‘our’ Life and it is not a permanent unchanging entity that you can call the “ME” and the “I” because it is NOT YOU! When you see this clearly, you truly awaken. We have taken birth and die over/for so many countless lives. So, which of all these countless numbers of segmented life is ‘YOU’? None! So do awaken to this Truth with Right view and wisdom. Then, we will understand the secret of life and we will know how to truly live Life without having to worry about Life anymore.

1.2 Does realization happen during or out of meditation?

Question 1: – This wisdom or realization, does it happen during or out of meditation?

Bro. Teoh: It can happen anytime as long as one is heedful which means constantly meditative and ever mindful and be the steadfast one as explained by the Buddha via his Dhammapada Verse 23. Never crave or desire or expect it to happen because the craving, desire and expectation are thoughts that will prevent one from awakening to the state of enlightenment which is beyond thought to see things as they are. Silent the mind completely and be patient to cultivate the 4 Foundations Of Mindfulness as taught by the Buddha via Sati or the silent mind then only can one awaken.

When you are out of the formal meditation and yet you are still heedful most of the time then you can also awaken to the truth. That is as long as you are heedful, awakening can happen anytime - you can realize it via any of the 1st, 2nd or 3rd turnings of the 4 Noble Truths. But if you are heedless, you are as if dead (spiritually) hence no way to awaken as confirmed by the Buddha via his Dhammapada Verse 21.

1.3 What is it that we must be aware?

Question 2: – When we say we must be constantly aware. What is it that we must be aware of?

Bro. Teoh: Awarenessis before the knowing so there is nothing for you to be ‘aware’ of technically. It is just awareness before the labelling or perception and words i.e. mind in silentawareness to see things as they arebefore the arising of the aggregates of mind to interpret and give meaning to them. Just the mind and phenomenon in harmony and perfect synchronization before the knowing - so don’t go and note anything or look for the phenomena but instead, just silent your mind and allow the phenomena to tell you their characteristics via the silent awareness to awaken to all the 3 universal characteristics of all phenomena. This is the reason for the Buddha’s instruction on cultivating Ānāpānasati (mindfulness of the in and out breath) are: - “breathing in aware and breathing out aware.” i.e. just an awareness of the in and out breath (the breath and mind move as one in perfect harmony and synchronywithout thought and at ease). In the seeing, there is only the seeing consciousness – no one to see because it is just the pure consciousness or awarenessbefore the knowing that arises naturally upon contact of mind with the eye as the organ (like the physics experiment analogy of the light bulb, battery and the switch). So similarly when ‘you’ are aware there is no one to be aware of anything because it is just awareness i.e. the silent mind and phenomenon as one without thought to perceive anything.

Equanimity means Non-duality. Seeing thing as they are with YONISO MANASIKĀRA (wise attention at the moment of sense experience) is the key to enlightenment because only through wisdom or understanding can the mind be free. The nature’s laws that govern all of Life and Existence especially the Law of Kamma is very complex so without wisdom it is very difficult to cope with Life.

Thinking can become a habitual tendency when we lack mindfulness and wisdom and because of our rather conditionedviews and opinions, we tend to develop a lot of negative thoughts via habitual tendencies. As we understand, wrong thoughts are thoughts that condition our fear, worries, anxieties, suffering and miseries etc. As such, they should be abandoned via right effort and wisdom. We must apply the Kālāmā Sutta’s advice not only as advice given to us but also to our thoughts. Hence, whatever advice given to us, in order to know whether we should follow it or not, the Buddha said to the Kālāmā at that time that they should reflect and contemplate as follows to find out: “If I follow their advice, will it cause suffering and misery to others and to me? If not, then we can try it out. Otherwise, abandon it”. So if it is applied to our own thoughts then we will know how to abandon all the wrong thoughts and develop only the right and wholesome thoughts via the 4 right efforts as described in the Noble 8-Fold Path.

Without wisdom, thought is always egoic. With wisdom, we can see all these i.e. we can see the limitation of thoughts and how thoughts divide through words like race, religion, gender, nationality, views and opinions, relationships, etc. to bring about all the conflicts, misunderstanding, argument, jealousy & envy leading to all the enmities and wars. With wisdom, we will see clearly that it is only thoughts and Formand Mindarguing. They are only the aggregates of mind and not ‘You’. Like the analogies as given by the Buddha to the 5 aggregates: feeling is like a bubble – because feeling or sensations always arise and pass away from moment to moment; Perception is like a mirage – only a mental image; Saṅkhāra is like a banana tree’s stem because layer after layer after you peel - at the centre or core, it is empty, which is similar to your thoughts or thinking, they always arise and pass away and very quickly they are dead and gone, hence empty – only thoughts; then consciousness is like a great magician or illusionist creating all the illusions to delude you.

Living beings should inquire deep into why the Buddha said ‘sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā and sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhā and sabbe dhammā anattā’ to understand its deep meaning. Saṅkhāra is only mental activities or thoughts so how come they have the power to delude you and cause you so much suffering and misery? It is because via ignorance and delusion, you give it power to torment you without your knowing. With wisdom, we can see all these clearly and we will come to understand that things are just as they are and that everything that we come to perceive through our mind are all conditions-arising,causal phenomena and they are all manifestation of mind or mental images only – hence not so real and not what we think. So don’t grasp, don’t cling and don’t give it meaning via delusion otherwise they can torment you.

The essential dhamma as taught by the Buddha are: -

1. The Appamāda vagga – Dhammapada Verses on Heedfulness D21, D22 & D23;

2. The 4 Noble Truths; The Noble 8-Fold Path; The 5 hindrances of mind; The 5 spiritual faculties;

3. The 3 evil Roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion; The 5 daily contemplations;

4. Right view with regards to the Law of Kamma, 4 Noble Truths and the 12-Links;

And they must be clearly understood in order to progress along the path of dhamma. The reason being when I first came out to share the Buddha dhamma during the year 2004, I thought what living beings need was the dhamma. But after I had started, I came to realize that very few could really understand the true Buddha dhamma because at that time their basic understanding of the essential dhamma as taught by the Buddha was still not there. So when I contemplated on it the inquiry on - “How can living beings develop the understanding of the true dhamma?” – Then this understanding comes to me. This is the reason why nowadays I reverse the teaching to focus on the essential dhamma first before teaching the true dhamma to new people.

We are not able to be aware of the silence of nature because of the phenomena world. Our mind is so clouded by thoughts, - the vibrations and activities of mind that thoughts create. This is the reason why most of you can only perceive the silence of nature only in the middle of the night when everything is very quiet via the essence of mind.

Consciousness creates the worldand the continents and the universe. The ‘Knower’ becomes the Living being. Via ignorance and delusion, the ‘knower’ grasps onto the Form and Mind thinking that it is real and what they are hence becoming the ‘traveller’ in space and time, wandering in saṃsāra following the Law of Kamma. Certain dhamma books talk about - be with the ‘knower’. Actually there is no ‘knower’ or any Atta at all – there is only awareness. Like the Buddha explained “In the seeing, it is only the seeing consciousness and there is no one to see – everything is condition-arising and they always arise and passing away following nature’s conditions.” Hence just be aware and don’t get involved. That is why the mind that has wisdom will not stir.

Thoughts are just thoughts they are neither good nor bad because it depends on the user of thoughts and if the user of thoughts has wisdom then thoughts become right thoughts and they are so beautiful. Use thoughts appropriately via arising only right and wholesome thoughts. Right thoughts bring about harmony and wholesomeness whereas wrong thoughts are thoughts that condition your fear, worries, anxiety, suffering and misery etc.

When we are born with these 5 aggregates of Form and Mind via our kamma, we must understand that it is just like a ‘vehicle’ and ‘tool’ for us to use and live Life. The body is like our physical tool or ‘vehicle’ that can take us around and the mind is our mental ‘tool’ for us to use to live and experience Life in the here and the now. Together, we call it a human being which we think is a permanent unchanging entity that we can grasp onto as the ‘Me’ and the ‘I’ hence the delusion. When we develop the pure awareness base meditation to connect to our true nature or true mind and awaken to the Truth to see the unreality of this form and mind then we can understand clearly what this form and mind is. Then there is no more sakkāyadiṭṭhi or self-delusion. With this wisdom connected to this form and mind, the form and mind is then no longer deluded hence it will not grasp anymore thereby freeing the mind from all suffering. It will have the enlightenment factor of equanimity within hence no more stirring of the mind to be afflicted again. It will be at peace with all things. It will know how to live life and no more delusion to worry about life anymore because you have clearly understood that these 5 aggregates of form and mind of this ‘segmented Life’ of yours (as a human being) is not ‘YOU’. This is the ultimate understanding.

Important notes:

1. The 4 important supportsneeded to develop the proper awareness base meditation are: - Relax, Aware, 24 hours and Trust.

2. When the heart areacannot ‘open’ up it is very difficult to progress along the path of dhamma so the bowing and reverential salutation to develop the saddhā, vīriya and sati spiritual faculties to ‘open’ up our heart area to make it sensitive to receive the spiritual energies needed to connect to our nature within is very important.

3. Just Relax, Aware and silent your mind to develop the heedfulness then you will progress along the path of dhamma naturally following Dhammapada Verses D21, D22 & D23.

4. D21 - “Heedfulness is the path to the deathless; Heedlessness is the path to the The Heedful do not die; the Heedless are as if dead.” All conditioned things are impermanent, non-self & empty (anattā) therefore strive on with Heedfulness – Appamādena Sampādetha as advised by the Buddha and do not be Heedless. Without sati or mindfulness, you cannot be heedful for Sati is life.

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 23 – Nil.

Part 3 – Meditation – Nil.

24th Heart Sutra Class16 September 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120916.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 The true purpose of meditation

The true purpose and intent of meditation is to develop the wisdom to liberate the mind so that one is no longer deluded by the 5aggregates of form and mind causing one to grasp and cling onto it as the ‘I’ and the ‘ME’ and the ‘Mine’ to condition one’s suffering. Understanding this true intent and purpose of meditation is very important because meditation is not only about developing the calm and tranquil mind alone. Wisdom is more important. One only needs to understand why one’s mind is not peaceful? The main reason being the 5hindrances of mind, and they are there because the opposite 5 spiritual faculties needed to overcome them are lacking. When the spiritual faculties are there, the hindrances will cease to be.

Then when there are no more mental hindrances or craving, the mind will be naturally peaceful and calm because it can accept the reality of the moment via wisdom. Wisdom allows one to see thing as they are via the unwavering Mind in Upekkhā (or Equanimity) – mind that does not stir anymore. Mind is free, liberated and no longer deluded.

‘Meditation’ via Focusing, looking and noting are mostly thought-based whereas the one via the silent mind in sati/awareness before the knowing (without thought) to awaken to phenomena is mindfulness or sati-based. Only through wisdom is the mind free. This wisdom cannot be learnt, but only through awakening via the direct seeing - with the true mind without thought.

Attachment to dhamma as knowledge can also be a form of delusion. Wisdomis an understanding and not knowledge. There is nothing to know because all knowing is via the thought as knowledge whereas wisdom is an awakening – a realization which is beyond thought and it is not rigid.

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 24 (Feeling, Cognition, Formation & Consciousness pg 62 to 71)

2.1 Formless dhamma

So too are feelings, cognition, formation, and consciousness. Sariputta, all dhamma are empty of characteristics. They are not produced, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure, and they neither increase nor diminish.

This section covers the more subtle formless dhamma acting at the mind level.

2.2 Definition:

1. True understanding (pg. 63) – imply wisdom;

2. Defeat them – imply no longer deluded by them;

3. Feelings of happiness – imply pleasant feeling;

4. Feelings of suffering – imply unpleasant feeling;

5. Feelings which are characterized by neither suffering nor happiness – imply neutral feeling or indifference.

“In the pure and deep ultimate silence, all creations are transcended: A sudden awakening to the original perfect fusion of self and dhamma.”

Explanation - when the mind realizes itself, all the above can happen.

Part 3 – Meditation (Reporting And Questions)

3.1 Listening from my heart during dhamma sharing

Question 1: When I listen from my heart during dhamma sharing, I feel very peaceful and happy; there is clarity but this state does not last. Why is it that I feel this way?

Bro. Teoh: This could be due to your past cultivation that enables you tohave this ability to listen from your heart and it looks like conditions are now ready for you to connect back to your past cultivation. You will progress very fast from now onwards because when you know how to listen from your heart with your full awareness there, then the brain which is up here in your forehead will not condition you to think, comment, judge and react so stronglyas before when your attention is most of the time at your forehead while listening. Since thoughts are response to memories so by listening from the heart, there will be very much less thoughts but initially, it will be like the listening is in bits and pieces and not really connected to the memories. But don’t worry because it is normal and you should continue to listen from your heart until it becomes normal or natural for you to do that. Actually that is the correct way to listen – listening with your full attention or consciousness/awarenesswithout the interference of thoughts. It is a sign of good progress. Also understand that like all phenomena, it is impermanent - so do not expect this same experience to be repeated all the time. This is especially so during your daily life, when you are not in a conducive place to listen to the true dhamma. Then your habitual tendencies of listening from your forehead (brain) will start to happen again.

Sometimes the hindrances of mind can still come in to disturb your mind states. So do not react or stir your mind via delusion - just let things be and let it settle back to its natural/original state of stillness and inner peace then you will always be happy and at peace. Have the wisdom ‘to see thingsas they are’ and understand all these clearly. Then, one day you will come to understand that as long as the True mind withindoes not stir and create thoughts via one’s own delusionto think or react then the mind will always be peaceful.

“The wanting to react or to be calm and peaceful via the thought is a delusion.”

The wanting will create the stirring of the mind because this mind via the thought will try to control and suppress its negative emotions or lack of peace thinking that it is bad via not understanding that ‘the controller is the controlled’. When the mind is in Sati there is no thought (i.e. thought ceases). So just relax and silent the mind to be with the moment in silent inner awareness and do not try to do anything because the doing is almost always by the thought that will cause the stirring of the mind again. So the thought which is the ‘controller’ tries to control thought thus explaining why J Krishnamurti said, ‘the controller is the controlled’.

When one understands that the natural state of mind before the stirring is stillness without thought then meditation becomesvery simple just like the case of swimming. Take for example swimming - if we understand that the natural state of our body is already buoyant (because it is lighter than water) then why do we need to learn how to float? Just let go and don’t do anything and trust that your natural state of your body is buoyant then your body will just float via not doing anything. But instead most people struggle in the water trying to keep afloat and in the process sink and drink water because of their fear and lack of understanding or delusion. So similarly in meditation – if we understand that the natural state of mind is already the meditative state of silent inner awarenesswithout thought then we just let things be and don’t do anything and the mind will settle down to its natural state of peace, tranquillity and stillness on its own just like the swimming analogy.

Once you realize that you can float without doinganything or holding onto any float then swimming becomes very simple and easy because you just move to swim without having to worry about learning how to float anymore. The float is just like your object of meditation which is just a skilful means to help you to train your mind to be heedful or in the case of the float to assist you to float. So now you start to see and understand that as long as you are dependent on the float to swim then you will never understand what the real swimming is without the float. So, in a similar way, as long as you are still holding onto an object of meditation or a mantra or noting something then you will not understand what the actual meditative mind is. So now you understand why finally one still needs to drop the use of any meditation object or skilful means used to train their mind. Just like swimming - why must you learn how to float, when your natural state of your body is already buoyant which is a fact which you can’t understand initially due to your delusion. Understanding that your natural state of mind is already the meditative state, which is, without thought - in perfect pure awareness and stillness then meditation becomes very simple and very straight forward and you will know how to meditate without delusion anymore.

To me, after several years of serious meditative investigation, I have come to realize one very important truth or understanding with regards to Meditation, that is, we need to understand what meditation is instead of clinging to meditation techniques, methods and teachers because the technique/ method (which is a series of instructions to do certain things) neverdefines the meditation. Maybe, it can act as an initial aid, like a float to assist you initially to learn how to swim and float. But, to really know how to swim, you must let go of the float and believe that your body can float and reach a natural state of balance or buoyancy if you don’t try to do anything, that is, let go completely and you will float. Then swimming becomes very natural and easy. Our mind is more or less the same i.e. its natural state is already the meditative state in stillness – so just stay silent (mentally) and don’t do anything (don’t even try to use the ‘mind’ which is the thought to meditate) to disrupt the natural state because the thinking mind which is egoic and thought-basedcannot meditate to realize the dhamma/truth which is akāliko (timeless & beyond thought). Because of ignorance (not knowing what truth is), the thinking mind is conditioned via its own wrong view and habitual tendencies to constantly arise the mental activities or heedless thinking (saṅkhāra) leading to the arising of the respective mental consciousness (viññāṇa) that supports the arising of the 5 mental aggregates of form and mind (nāma-rūpa), hence triggering off the whole chain of dependent origination leading to dukkha finally.

When you understand what Meditation is, then you will naturally knowhow to meditate at any place, any time and under any circumstances and you will not be constrained or deluded by your attachment to methods, techniques and teachers. Basing on the analogy of the handful of leaves by the Buddha it is pretty obvious that the Noble 8-Fold Path is the Meditation because according to the Buddha there is this 4th Noble Truth that states clearly that: “the path leading to the cessation of dukkha (or realization of Nibbāna) is the Noble 8-Fold Path.” So just silent your mind and be heedful to cultivate the Noble 8-Fold Path via the 7 stages of purification and the 3 turnings of the Four Noble Truths as taught by the Buddha. Hope the above explanation will clear all your doubts and enable you to meditate correctly with the right understanding.

3.2 Bro Teoh’s advice to silent our mind and stay at the heart area

Question 2: Brother Teoh, you are the only teacher who asks us to silent our mind and stay at the heart area but why no monks or text ever advise us to focus on the heart area?

Bro. Teoh: Don’t worry about what others say. Just investigate and find out for yourself. Do not quote me saying anything (because you may not understand what I mean) then you may get me and yourself into trouble unnecessarily. If you are not careful then you may end up arguing with them over methods and techniques again. Just say, “Bro. Teoh only share his dhamma understanding with us so no right no wrong and we as dhamma friends (or kalyāṇamittas) just make use of whatever that is useful and conducive for our owncultivation; It is just his sincere way of sharing the dhamma and as dhamma friends who walk the path of dhamma we are here to sincerely support, motivate, counsel and help each other to progress along the path of dhamma without resorting to any inappropriate negativity of action, speech and thought.”

I only advise those who have developed the ability to silent their mind and rest their awareness at the heart area to feel the ‘gateway’ to their nature if they have penetrated the direct seeing and stabilized their daily mindfulness. This meditation is only done by those who have developed the silent mind in pure awareness (or sati) without thought after they have stabilized their daily mindfulness or ānāpānasati and also for those who have trained their mind until their mindfulness is so subtle and fine that they can hardly feel anything. This is the state where a lot of ‘meditators’ get trapped and stagnate because they don’t understand what is happening. Some master or teacher will ask them to do the ‘sitting and touching’ etc. but if they understand what is happening then they should stop doing those things just like what I have explained under Question 1 above. The reason being, the ‘meditator’ has reached a state where their bodily vibrations have become so much finer and subtler. Hence they need to develop the more refined sati or mindfulnessto stabilize their mind so that their mind is able to stay still and silent on its own without the need for any ‘dwelling’ or object of meditation, that is, mind in sati without any anchor.

To realize this state - they must silent everything and stay at the heart area to detect the gateway to connect to their nature within so that their sati can become more refined and stable. Then when they have stabilized their sati this way, they will suddenly realize that they are now able to be mindful of even the very subtle breathing or fine vibrationswithin their heart area and every movement of mind within their kāya via this awareness or sati is like greatly ‘magnified’ and in slow motion but with a lot of clarity within – all of the movements are like broken down into a lot of very fine movements in between. When this stage of cultivation is reached, the mind is very mindful most of the time (in and out of meditation). Even in their daily life, their daily mindfulness will be very different - very clear and stable with little or no thoughtmost of the time and they are constantly aware. A mind in sati is always aware of sense experiences - every hearing, seeing and thinking etc. with a lot of clarity; and everything is like a ‘flow’ – i.e. the mind and phenomenon coming together and move as one, in perfect harmony and synchrony. The meditation using Trust is needed when one is able to detect the gateway to their ‘nature’ within and this is usually cultivated only by those going the Bodhisattva way leading to Buddhahood. For more details please listen to the recorded talk.

25th Heart Sutra Class 23 September 2012

Audio mp3 : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Teoh-HeartSutra-120923.mp3

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Nothing frees you except wisdom

If you have delusion, you will grasp and cling. Nothing can free you except wisdom. When there is wisdom, the mind is always free and at ease because it is no longer deluded by sense experiences. The mind is always peaceful and calm and it will not stir anymore.

Thought-based meditation cannot develop the penetrative insight/wisdom to liberate the mind because the dhamma is akāliko (timeless, beyond thought & time) and paccattaṃ (can only be realizes by the wise each for themselves).

The Mahāyāna analogy of finger pointing towards the moon is very important. The dhamma is like the finger pointing towards the truth which is the enlightenment so to really see the moon one must look/gaze beyond the finger. Similarly, to realize enlightenment, one must see beyond the dhamma and not cling onto the dhamma. If you attach or cling onto the dhamma, then your mind cannot be free because it is still holding onto something, hence not a free mind. A good example is Shen Xiu, who always clings onto the wholesome dhamma and tries to push away the unwholesome dhamma via his constantly ‘polishing’ of his mind until it shines so that no dust can alight. He has failed to realize the true mind because he mistakenly (or deludedly) clings onto the mundane mind taking it to be the true mind. This delusion has conditioned him to cling onto the wholesome and unwholesome dhamma (or duality) created by his own discriminating mind. But Hui Neng (the 6th Patriarch) who has transcended the dhamma and realized the true mind is no longer deluded hence he can understand that ‘originally there is nothing so where can thedust alight’; that is, if there is no discriminative mind with delusion to divide the dhamma into wholesome and unwholesome for it to grasp and cling onto then there will be no dust (which are the defilements or the unwholesome dhamma) hence no more problem or doing is needed anymore because wisdom frees.

Mind creates through consciousness following the 12-Links. Consciousness is just mental images hence not so real and empty and because it is constantly arising and passing away following nature’s conditions we will be able to awaken to its anicca (impermanence), dukkha (suffering state) and anattā (non-self) universal characteristics if we can just be silently aware within via a choiceless awareness of What IS.

1.2 To be aware and listen from the heart

Forehead – is where the brain is so if we Live from there then it is mainly thought-based giving rise to mainly Knowledge only.

Heart – is where the nature or awareness is so if we Live from there, we will use it mainly to feel and be aware intuitively to arise the wisdom via the direct seeing. When the mind is chattering or thinking then it is preoccupied with those activities hence it is Not silent and not aware anymore to see things as they are. Active thinking will make one heedless, that is, lost in thoughts hence no real wisdom can arise.

To have wisdom, one must develop the ability to be aware and listen from the heart without the interference from the brain’s conditioned thinking (views and opinions). Thought-based living leads to heedlessness and a lot of negativities whereas awareness or sati-based living from the heart leads to wisdom. Therefore stay in the heart – have Love and be Loved always. Without the daily mindfulness, there is no real meditation because wisdom can only come from the direct seeing via the silent mind in pure awareness. Heedless thinking throughout the day develops strong negativeHabitual tendencies. To overcome this Heedlessness, one must develop the 5 spiritual faculties to counter the 5 mental hindrances of the mind.

The Mind sweeping method to only feel (no thinking) and relax is also a very useful technique to decondition the mind from its daily heedless thinking via allowing the mind to settle back to its natural state of silence and stillness. Every moment of feeling and relaxation will allow us to relax any tension, tightness or stress within our body more and more because the momentum of thinking will be temporary disengaged. With a relaxed physical body, it will condition the mind to be at ease and relaxed thereby arising the meditative mind. The Meditative mind is just aware, silent and without thought. So, the Pureawareness or essence of mindbefore the knowing is the meditative mind.

DhammapadaVerses 23: The constantly meditative, the ever mindful and the steadfast ones realize the bond-free, supreme Nibbāna.

1.3 The Heart and Citta

Question1: Brother Teoh, can you explain more about the Heart. Is it the same as Citta?

Bro. Teoh: Do not cling to the words. When you have developed the cultivation correctly then you will come to understand those related Pāḷi words very clearly. Sometimes, they use the words citta, viññāṇa and mano – all 3 terms as synonymous with mind. Mano is commonly used in Dhammapada Verse 1 and 2 as the mind that arises to create the citta and the viññāṇa. The reason why the Buddha said, “Mind is the forerunner of all things…….” whereas viññāṇa is usually taken to mean the pure consciousness or receptacle which is the last aggregate of mind. Then when one adds in the content of consciousness which is saṅkhāra, it becomes citta or thought.

Thought or Citta = (content of consciousness + viññāṇa).

Heart is “Xin” (心)in mandarin or Mahāyāna term. The heart is the seat of consciousness and it is also the Gateway to our nature. So, if we live from the heart, it means live with pure awareness before the thought. But the moment we introduce the saṅkhāra or content of consciousness (everything that the mind can do) via the brain then thought or citta will arise. So the user of thought is very important. If the user is deluded then the thoughts that arise become wrong thoughts. If the user is wise then thoughts become right thoughts. For more details, please refer to the recorded talk.

Part 2 – Heart Sutra – Nil.

Part 3 – Meditation – Nil.

26th Heart Sutra Class 14 October 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Understanding thoughts, knowledge and wisdom

Clinging to all teachings or Dhamma via knowledge or memories is of not much use and one must instead awaken to the Truth or Dhamma - especially the 3 Universal characteristics of impermanence, suffering states and non-self or empty nature of all phenomena to arise the wisdom borne of direct seeing because only wisdom or understanding can free the mind. The mind once awakened is no longer deluded and the understanding is always there because understanding or yoniso manasikāra (wise attention at the moment of sense experience) is not knowledge. The dhamma is like the raft acting as a means to take one across the ocean of suffering and once awakened one must not carry the raft around. Also, one must not mistake the ‘finger’ pointing at the moon which is analogous with the ‘dhamma pointing towards the truth’ as the moon.

The emphasis of our present civilization is mainly on IT, Science and Technological advancement hence the overuse of the human thought processes via this type of very competitive knowledge-based education system. The spiritual cultivationvia sati or awareness and the creative mind has been neglected for too long. You cannot use thought and knowledgeto liberate the mind from delusion and ignorance because thought is limited and egoic. Only through the cultivation of wisdom via mindfulness or awareness to understand ‘who you are?’ and ‘what you are?’ can we understand what Anattā is. You cannot rely on thought anymore. You should inquire via your heedfulness, “Is the human being or the 5 aggregates of form and mind, really what you are?”

In the olden days when we did not use the thought process so rampantly we tend to be more intuitive and creative because we use more of our senses and inner Natureto feel and be aware instead of constantly preoccupied with our thought processes and its related reactions to what we see, hear and think etc. via our heedless living. But then civilization has evolved over the last few centuries and the emphasis nowadays is more on science and technology and IT type of education which is mainly knowledge and thought-based. So we tend to use the thought process more and more to acquire scientific, technological and IT knowledge and in the process, we overlook our natural or True mind of stillness and peace which is without thought, more creative that has a lot of clarity within. The moment those (who are not yet enlightened), use thought from their forehead (where their brain is situated), it will cause their mind to stir hence disrupting its natural state of pure, calm, inner awareness and stillness. We therefore need to develop the wisdom to balance our life so that we are not deluded and drawn by the overemphasizing on the heedless thinking process to disrupt our spiritual life of awareness heedfulness living. Instead of being 90+% of the time using the thinking process from our forehead, we should reverse it, to only use it where necessaryto live life with a silent and clear mind with inner awareness from the heart most of the time. Only then, do we know how to live life via our essence of mind or the true mind after realizing the Anattā nature of these 5 aggregates of form and mind of ours. To develop this understanding or wisdom, we need to develop sati or mindfulness/awareness to reconnect back to our essence of mind. So stay at the heart and be aware from there to live life. Have love and be loved.

Understand that thoughts are responses to memories, so if we maintain our attention at our forehead then thought will constantly arise and because of our delusion, thought will create a centre which is the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’ (or self-delusion/ Sakkāyadiṭṭhi) thereby conditioning us to act and react heedlessly. As wrong thought is always limited and egoic, it will condition our fear, worry, anxiety, selfishness and emotional negativity.

Knowledge binds - hence the reason why all knowing which is thought-based knowledge is not wisdom and it will become an obstruction to spiritual cultivation. This is reason why the Pure Land teaching of the ‘Infinite Life Sutra’ or Wu Liang Shou Jing’s (无量寿经) most profound quotes are “Suo Zhi Zhang” (所知障) & “Fan Nao Zhang” (烦恼障)i.e. all knowing (via memories/knowledge) are obstructions and all fear, worries and anxieties are obstructions too. We are so used to thought-based living. Thought-based living is very egoic hence a lot of selfishness and possessiveness – it is motivated by what your thought tells you. Our thoughts are conditioned thinking – conditioned by our wrong views & opinions caused by our Sakkāyadiṭṭhi (or self-delusion). These conditioned thinking are mainly our habitual tendencies that will cause us to deludedly react, hold, cling and grasp onto a lot of things which we think we can own and possess or desire and reject.

Before thought, it is just spacious awareness or the entire oneness. Then the moment we focus or concentrate, thought is being created via the input of the content of consciousness (which are our perception, feeling, emotions, thinking and other activities of mind etc.) within that space. Hence, thought becomes limited because it shrinks the whole of the spacious awareness into the narrow field of focusing. No focusing implies no thought and without thought, there is no centre of the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’ hence no one to fear, worry, become anxious, selfish and emotional etc. which implies peace, pure awareness, tranquillity and stillness. The awareness nature without delusion is the essence of mind. To prepare for this coming 2012 expected transformation of consciousness and great shift, we only need to be aware and stay at the heart – have love and be loved, then everything will be alright, that is, Heart-based awareness and no more thought-based living from the forehead. Then naturally, overnight you may transform if you do not arise any fear. The Pure awareness state before the arising of thought has no centre which implies - nobeing hence anattā.

Thought has the power to divide via words, concepts and ideas, etc. and creates the centre – the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’ resulting in selfishness, anger, possessiveness, delusion, fear, worry and anxiety etc. This Sakkāyadiṭṭhi or self-delusion will condition us to believe that there is ‘a thinker behind the thought’ and that there is ‘an observer and the observed.’ The moment we awaken to the fact that it is only consciousness and every sense door consciousness is naturallycondition arising then this delusion of self will automatically cease to be. Remember the analogy of the lighting up of the light bulb when the switch is switched on? The moment there is delusion, the egoic mind or mundane mind or thought will grasp and cling due to the 12 Links – i.e. through ignorance, contact triggers off mental activities which include perception, memory, Sakkāyadiṭṭhi – self-delusion etc. then contact, feeling, craving, grasping, becoming and birth leading to the whole mass of suffering. Just maintain Awareness without thought then everything will cease to be. Silent your mind and you will awaken to this truth. No thought means no ‘centre’ – no Ego, no becoming, no fear, no selfishness etc.

Understand how you get yourself entangled with life via not understanding the Four NobleTruths:

1st Noble Truth of Dukkha – explains clearly the realities of life and existence and the final summary of what is dukkha;

2nd Noble Truth – explains the cause of suffering which is craving conditioned by one’s delusion and ignorant;

3rd Noble Truth – suffering need not be and enlightenment in the here and the now – Nibbāna can be realized;

4th Noble Truth - The Noble 8-Fold Path leading to enlightenment and the cessation of all suffering.

1.2 The beauty of the Noble Truths as a summary of all of Life

Question 1: Bro. Teoh, can you explain again what you meant by the Buddha was able to summarize all of Life – both the mundane and the supra mundane into just 4 simple but very beautiful Noble Truths which is the essence of his teaching? And can you also explain which part is mundane and which part is the supra mundane?

Bro. Teoh: As stated above, the 1st Noble Truth of suffering or dukkha clearly explains all of the 8 realities of Life and Existence that cover all aspects of our mundane living and Life experiences ranging from Birth, Old age, sickness & Death, to separation from our loved ones and prized possession; and to be with people whom we don’t like; not able to get what one desires or when things don’t go our way or follow our expectation; and the final summary of - attachment to the 5 aggregates of our form and mind (upādāna khandha) as the cause of all suffering. The Buddha also cautioned living beings that if they do not develop the wisdom needed to free their mind before confronting these 1st Noble Truth of dukkha’s life realities then they will definitely be afflicted by it and suffering will be the result.

Then the Buddha proclaimed the 2nd Noble Truth that explained clearly the cause behind all sufferings so that living beings can develop the understanding not to be gullible anymore. After understanding what suffering is and their cause behind they will know how to manage their life better so that they need not have to suffer unnecessarily anymore.

Then, the Buddha proceeded to explain under the 3rd Noble Truth that ‘sufferingneed not be if one has the dhamma’ and there is such a Noble Truth that talks about the possibility of realizing Nibbāna or the enlightenment in the here and the now leading to the cessation of all suffering. This enlightenment or Nibbāna is the supra mundane realization.

Then the Buddha explained how this enlightenment can be realized via proclaiming the 4th NobleTruth that states: - ‘There is a path leading to the cessation of all suffering namely the Noble 8-Fold Path of Right view, Right thought, Right communication or speech, Right action, Right living, Right Effort, Right mindfulness and Right samādhi’. Once this Noble 8-Fold Path has been cultivated it can lead to the supra mundane way of living the Noble Life of the Noble or enlightened ones following the Noble 8-Fold Path. The entire 8 path factors within the Noble 8-Fold Path – they are all so noble and relevant to Life and they cover all of Life, both the mundane and the supra mundane aspects.

In order to live life we must have the understanding of what is life? And to understand Life we must have the 1st path factor of Right understanding or Right view with regards to nature’s laws that govern all of Life and Existence especially the 3 great spiritual laws of: - Kamma niyāma, Citta niyāma and Dhamma niyāma.

Then to live life, we have to use thoughts, we have to communicate via speech, e-mail, etc. and we also need to act and work to live life hence the importance of having the 2nd to 5th path factors of Right thoughts, Right speech/communication, Right actions and Right living cultivated. Then we will need the 4 Right efforts path factor to purify our actions, speeches and thoughts followed by Right Mindfulness to be heedful to cultivate the Four Foundations Of Mindfulness and finally the last path factor of Right Samādhi to see things as they are thereby developingthe wisdom to become enlightened.

This is also the reason why the Buddha gave the analogy of the handful of leaves at Kosambi to the monks to impress upon them the importance of understanding the Four Noble Truths which is so essential to live the holy life. This Four Noble Truths and its 3 turnings are also the Buddha’s first teaching or his 1st sermon – the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta which he expounded immediately after his enlightenment.

This dhammacultivation is more or less a full time job – i.e. throughout your waking hours cumulating into 24 hoursheedfulness cultivation; that is, we need to confine our cultivation fully on the dhamma when undergoing the training which consists of hearing, reflection, contemplation & inquiring into the 4 Noble Truths and heedful direct seeing into phenomenon via our daily mindfulness in life itself. But, full time job here doesn’t mean one must retire or give up one’s job or career. One can cultivate even in the midst of working and living life via the daily mindfulness and this type of heedfulness training.

I always advise devotees or Kalyāṇamittas as follows - if you:

1. Have to work (for survival) then work;

2. Need to work (because too much free time and don’t know how to retire) – then work;

3. If you already have the wisdom and you don’t have to or need to work then retire or semi-retire to do the things that youlove or like to do.

Learn to live life and not to worry about life. To be Heedful is to be ever mindful and constantly meditative to realize the dhamma as taught by the Buddha. The most important meditation training is the cultivation of Daily mindfulness via following this instruction – ‘we choose aware of our every bodily and mental action and movement within the present moment’.

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 26 (Feeling, Cognition, Formation and Consciousness pg71 to 73)

2.1 Definitions :

MentalFormation – Saṅkhāra or activities of mind (everything that the mind can do.) Impermanence– a universal characteristic prevalence in all phenomena; see clearly how phenomenon comes & how it goes, how they arises and passes away, their birth and death, their rise and fall, etc.

All condition arising phenomena are impermanent and they do not have a permanent unchanging ENTITY of their own – hence they cannot be owned or held onto as the ‘I’ & the ‘Me’. Our Fundamental nature is the oneness or Buddha nature.

2.2 Saying by most venerable master Guang Ching Lau He Shang

1. “Guo Qu Xin Bu Ke De” (过去心不可得) – the mind of the past cannot be grasped onto because it is already gone - not a reality;

2. “Wei Lai Xin Bu Ke De” (未来心不可得) – the mind of the future also cannot be grasped onto because it has yet to come – also not a reality;

3. “Xian Zai Xin Bu Ke De” (现在心不可得) – the mind of the moment is the only reality and highest in Life but to transcend Life, we have to transcend even the moment which is still within the field of thought hence the reason why the mind of the present moment also cannot be grasped onto because it is so transient and unstable! Split second it is dead and gone.

Note: Moment to moment Life passes by, what are you doing? Are you truly Living Life or are you too busy thinking, planning and worrying about Life - so much so you totally miss out on Life, that is, you never get to truly live Life. To be with the moment in silent awareness within to feel and to experience the reality of the moment (including all of its wonders and beauty of life) is to truly live Life.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 The difference between Contemplation and Thinking

Question1: What is the difference between Contemplation and Thinking?

Bro. Teoh: To contemplate on the dhamma spoken by the Buddha is to reflect and inquire deep into the proclamation of the truth that he has given under his 1st turning of the 4 Noble Truths. This contemplative wisdom called Cintāmaya Paññā is part of the 2nd turnings of the 4 Noble Truths wisdom. To develop this contemplation, one must have a calm and composed mind (with the spiritual faculties of Saddhā, Vīriya, Sati and Samādhi) in its creative state to inquire and reflect deep into its 2nd turnings hidden meaning.

Reflection and contemplation is a form of inquiry/investigation with the creative mind in sati. There is some form of slight creativethinking (but not the active thinking) to bring about a better understanding of what has been heard under the 1st turning followed by the assimilation of it to stabilize one’s understanding. Just like a talented musician or a talented person – when are they most creative? - When they are in a very tranquil and conducive setting to reflect and contemplate on their talent. Their mind is usually very quiet, calm and rather creative at that time and that is the reason why they can have the talent to create such beautiful music. Reflect on what you have heard, taught to you or read about. Listen with attentiveness and a calm mind. After that, reflect and contemplate with that calm mind (with very little or no thinking). Reflection is like inquiring and contemplation and its purpose is to stabilize what one understands. (Note: Assimilating the dhamma is analogous to assimilating the food – i.e. like assimilating or absorbing the nutrients after eating the food.)

29th Heart Sutra Class 2 December 2012

Part 1 – Recapitulation & Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Short notes from Shurangama Sutra

There were no short notes for last week’s Heart Sutra class so we will use the short notes of the last Tuesday Shurangama Sutra (楞严经) class.

The Shurangama Sutra (楞严经) is important because without it, the Maras will create havoc. According to Master Hsuan Hua, this sutra will be the first sutra to disappear during the dhamma ending age. If this sutra is around, the Maras will find it very difficult to delude the cultivators. This sutra explained clearly the danger of the 50 Deviant Samādhi or “Wu Shi Yin Mo” (五十阴魔) that can trap the cultivators if they deludedly grasp onto any of them. The Shurangama sutra also explains how the living beings come into this world of existence via the four stages of manifestations originating from the source. These 4 stages of manifestations are clearly explained in the notes to be given out at the next Tuesday class.

From the Source comes the True Mind in Pure awareness before the knowing. Man, because of the basic ignorance caused, since time without beginning, by the 1st thought which screened the True Mind, became subjected to birth and death. Thus, both permanent and impermanent unite to transform that True mind into Ālāya vijñāna or store consciousness, the root of saṃsāra. This ālāya consciousness has 3 characteristics: a karmic one which is basic ignorance resulting from self evidencing; a changing or condition-arising one which turns fundamental wisdom into false perception, the root of the first seven consciousness; and its expression in appearances or forms. Because of basic ignorance, the spiritual, bright, and nirvanic absolute void was changed into dull and deluded emptiness. Hence Mañjusrī said: ‘Thus in delusion there appeared one-sided emptiness’. Within this dull emptiness, ignorance gradually crystallized and turned into illusionary form made of the 4 elements, resulting in an imaginary world created within the void. When false perceptions confronted form, a very small portion of this form was gradually grasped as being self-possessed and being supported by wrong perception, mind and form united and grasped at this dim little form as the EGO, thereby creating the living being made up of the 5 aggregates of form and mind. Hence Mañjusrī continued: ‘Steadying itself, the thinking process made the continents and the illusionary knower became the living being’. Then via delusion and ignorance, the living being with the mundane or Samsaric mind (5 mental aggregates of form and mind) came to be via karmic conditioning and this was then grasped at - hence the self-delusion or Sakkāyadiṭṭhi. This was the origin of a living being. Ever since then, this living being grasped at the condition arising 5 aggregates of form and mind as the EGO (as the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’)’ so how then can he now recognize its boundless True Mind before the stirring?

Then comes the External phenomena world or world of form or consciousness created by the mundane mind via its condition-arising thoughts and consciousness. So our meditation is to develop the wisdom to understand all these retrospectively to return the entire External phenomena world back to consciousness within the mundane mind then silent and still the mundane mind to connect back to our True mind before returning to the Source via the complete cessation of form and mind.

1.2 A condition-arising phenomena world of consciousness

Everything you come to know and perceive is manifested through mind. Mind made are they – a condition-arising phenomena world of consciousness. Before mind arises, there was nothing so everything comes about after mind has arisen via mentalconsciousness. So how real can mental consciousness be? Just a mental image, isn’t it? Constantly arising and passing away from moment to moment hence its impermanence and empty or ‘anattā’ nature. If you can’t understand all these via wisdom then you will grasp and cling onto all these mental manifestations very strongly thinking that they are real. This is delusion and it can be so powerful as to cause you a lot of suffering (via your sorrow, lamentation and fear, etc.). When you train your mind to be silent, ever mindful and heedful then you will be able to ‘see things as they are’ thereby developing the wisdom and understanding to enable you to free and liberate your mind so that you need not suffer anymore. Then you will be able to connect to the true mind and live from it. It is this True mind in pure awareness that can ‘see things as they are’ to realize the enlightenment in the here and the now. When wisdom stabilizes, the mundane mind will realize itself and ceases to be leading to the realization of Nibbāna. Nibbāna is complete cessation of form and mind (even the pure awareness also will cease) and it cannot be talked about because it is the unconditioned and beyond the form and mind.

The Mahāyāna’s 6th consciousness is the Theravāda’s Saññā aggregate of mind which is usually translated as mental perception or cognition. It also includes the conception and discerning aspects of the mundane mind but the key meaning is perception and cognition. The first 5 types of consciousness are: seeing, hearing, smelling, tactile and tasting consciousness and the 6th , 7th and 8th consciousness of the Mahāyāna are within the mental consciousness that arise upon contact of mind with its respective sense organ and data.

The mundane mind or False thinking mind is not your True mind because it is condition-arising – i.e. Not a permanent unchanging entity. It has no nature of its own whereas Nirvana is totally different because it is the unconditioned. Once the Mundane Mind completely ceases then the True mind will manifest leading upstream to the realization of the Oneness Nature – Buddha Nature.

Mundane Mind – is the deluded Heedless thinking mind, capable of false Perception, cognition, memory, knowledge and false thinking – karmic related. Saṅkhāra and Saññā are very active within it. It constantly clings and grasps onto sense data whereas the True mind is the silent Heedful Mind - Pure and clear profound bright mind. It can be aware of sense data, thoughts and it can also see things as they are. The Mind of the enlightened one is connected to their True mind with wisdom. It is the essence of mind – the unconditioned mind.

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 29 (pg 77)

2.1 Saññā (Perception) – brings the external form into the mind via mental perception and it is also called the 6th consciousness. This external form then becomes the mental form or sense data for mind to arise mental consciousness because mind is also an organ.

7th consciousness – Saṅkhāra, is likened to the ‘mental organ’ and upon contact within mind (via the mental activities of Saṅkhāra) triggers off the 8th consciousness – Ālāya or store house consciousness (Viññāṇa).

2.2 The 4 Foundations Of Mindfulness in brief:

1st foundation - Kāyānupassanā: starts with

1. Ānāpānasati (mindfulness of in and out breath) to train the mind to be in sati to develop heedfulness.

2. Once heedful, cultivate mindfulness of the 4 postures of standing, sitting, walking and lying

3. Then, move on to cultivate sati sampajañña (mindfulness with clear comprehension) of all the connecting activities in between the 4 postures e. daily mindfulness of all actions and movements in the present moment to develop the initial insight into the 3 universal characteristics of nature. Four types of clear comprehensionsare clear comprehension of sincerity of purpose; domains of meditation; reality of the here and the now and lastly, non-delusion.

4. Then, cultivate mindfulness of the 4 elements which constitute this physical form to see its anattā

5. Then, contemplate the 32 parts that constitute this physical body to understand its condition-arising nature of all the parts coming together to perform the functions of a human being and to realise it foulness.

6. Finally, to contemplate 9 stages of cementary decomposition of this physical form or body after it is devoid of consciousness.

2nd foundation – Vedanānupassanā: mindfulness of the feeling that arises upon contact of mind.

1. Be aware of feeling. If feeling has been conditioned into pleasant and unpleasant feelings then one has to be aware that it has become sensual desire and ill will which are the first two of the 5 hindrances of mind and it is also the 1st two evil roots of mind. With this awareness, we must arise the right effort to abandon the unwholesome thoughts that have arisen followed by the right effort to prevent them from arising in the future.

2. So, during meditation if we are not mindful of the uncomfortable tactile feeling that arises via lack of wisdom then we will react to it and label it as painful or unpleasant feeling which is the reason why your mind cannot be peaceful anymore because pain is a mental hindrance.

3. If we have this understanding then we will be mindful of this feeling via our silent mind to investigate into it - to trace its origination factors so as to understand how the unarisen hindrance of mind comes to be. The mind will come to understand that if there is no wrongview or self-delusion then the stirring of the mind leading to the arising of the mental hindrance of sensual desire or ill will will not happen. Then via striaghtening one’s views ‘to accept things as they are’ one will be able to retrospectively reverse it, thereby understanding how the disappearance of the arisen hindrance comes to be via wisdom. Then as this wisdom finally stabilised one will also come to understand how the non-arising of these hindrances in the future comes to be. This is the way to develop wisdom or insight via vedanānupassanā and not via just noting pain, pain, pain to do away with the pain via resisting, suppression and control etc.

4. To go deeper into the investigation, we can also inquire as follows - before this unpleasant feeling arises – there was none. Hence the awareness of this feeling transforming into mental hindrances can bring about an understanding of how the unarisen hindrance comes to be. How come I have this reaction of mind to those mental perceptions that I come to perceive via my seeing or hearing or thinking? – thereby conditioning the feeling or sensation into mental hindrances of sensual desire or ill will? It is because of one’s conditioning to reject unpleasant feeling which is a negative craving – hence a wrong view borne of habitual tendency. If you can be at peace with what you perceived via acceptance of ‘what is’ then there is no more wrong view. Then with this right view or right understanding one can just let things be and then silent one’s mind to relax into it. When you do not react or grasp and cling onto the sensation with aversion or wrong view, then what happens? The hindrance is no more there so the mind that accepts the reality of that sensation without reactingto it can be at peace with it. Hence, the mind can relax into it and the sensation will become normal and peaceful again. The lack of peace comes from your reactionof mind to try to do away with that unpleasant sensation that you had labelled via your wrong view.

5. Meditation is to develop the wisdom to understand and then act with right view following the Noble 8-Fold Path which is incapable of negativity to resolve all issues amicably instead of reacting to them via delusion and wrong view thereby creating more negativities in the process. So, the main purpose and intent of Meditation is to realise the wisdom, to be at peace with any situation within the moment and not to label it as pain, etc. With no more aversion then only can we accept the reality of the moment and to understand that it is because we do not know how to relax into it causing the “Chi” (气) flow to be constricted thereby causing that unpleasant sensation. This is what you should do. You don’t have to resist, surpress and control it.

3rd foundation – Cittānupassanā:

1. Like feeling, here we go deep into the content of consciousness to be aware of its evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion, and various states of consciousness, etc. When the content of consiousness has Greed, one must be aware - to deal with it as above so as to develop the wisdom to free the mind.

4th foundation – Dhammānupassanā: Its 1st category of cultivation is:

1. Mindfulness of the 5 hindrances of mind; followed by

2. Mindfulness of the 5 Aggregates of form and mind; then

3. Mindfulness of the 6 internal sense bases and the 6 external sense bases – the 18 sense realms to trace its origination factors and then retrospectively reverse them via wisdom; then

4. Mindfulness of the 7 Factors of Enlightenment followed by the final cultivation of

5. Mindfulness of the Four Noble Truths to realise the enlightenment in the Here and the Now.

Once enlightened, there is no more delusion, so one will never be deluded by the 5 aggregates of Form and Mind anymore. One doesn’t have to suffer anymore. One will know how to use the karmically-conditioned Form and Mind to truly live the noble lifewonderfully and meaningfully following the Noble 8-Fold Path thereby becoming a blessing to all. This is the reason why the Heart Sutra said, ‘True emptiness is wonderful existence’.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Understanding what mindfulness or sati is – is very important.

Sati is before the knowing – just an awareness within the momentwithout thought i.e. phenomenon and mind as one without thought. Like ānāpānasati or mindfulness of the in and out breath. Just feel the breathing and then mind and breath move as one in complete synchrony without thought following the Buddha’s instruction, “Breathing in, one is aware and breathing out, one is aware, etc. …..”

A calm and peaceful mind is only a by-product of a well-trained mind but the main purpose and intent of the Buddha’s Meditation is not about becoming peaceful and calm only but to develop the wisdom to be at peace with all situations. Otherwise, one will be trapped with a mind that is attached to the calm and peaceful meditation as the good meditation and when your meditation is not peaceful and calm then you are afflicted and you label it as bad meditation. Hence, your sensual desire and ill will which are hindrances of mind are still there. Like the saying goes: “Any sense experience whether it is pleasant or unpleasant is a prelude to suffering or dukkha.” Even very fantastic and so-called good meditative experiences including the experiencing of jhāna, seeing of nimitta, etc. are just condition-arising states within meditation and unless one can develop the wisdom out of them to free the mind, then they are of notmuch use.

3.2 I follow your instruction, just be awrae and no more noting. Is this correct?

Question 1: Bro. Teoh, during the meditation when I hear the bird’s very loud and excited chirping, I follow your instruction, just be aware and no more noting. Is it correct?

Bro. Teoh: It is very dangerous to do that because when you quote me and follow what I say via your own interpretation of it without proper investigation to develop your own understanding then you become gullible. The reason being when you are fully aware and without thought the listening is very different because it is with the silent mind in full creativeawareness and attentiveness. Only then, can you truly awaken via clearly witnessing the condition-arising nature of the hearing consciousness within your meditation. This is Not as a concept or a theory but truly realising it during the meditation. So that is why I always say, ‘Don’t qoute me’, but just cultivate to investigate and find out for yourself whether what I have said to you is the truth or not? Don’t just believe me and be gullible, okay? Nevertheless, it is a good question because if you don’t ask, I cannot point out your mistake and explain further.

When you meditate, you just relax your body and mind and maintain the silent inner awareness to be watchful of what is going on within one’s form and mind, how one reacts to sense experiences and get conditioned into the various mind states to become afflicted via one’s heedlessness and wrong view, and how one function as a human being and how we become what we are; how our mind, thoughts, feelings and emotionsarise and pass away following the 12 Links or Law ofDependent Origination. Awareness or sati is the silent mindbefore the knowing and it is just awareness and without thought. i.e. mind and phenomena as one in perfect harmony and synchrony to move and flow with Life. But due to ignorance and delusion, the mind cannot become heedful or mindful because it thinks a lot and becomes very heedless via its habitual tendencies. Through ignorance, the mind keeps on reacting to sense experiences to arise the likes and dislikes, fear, worry and anxieties & restlessness, doubt etc. throughout the day. These are the 5 hindrances of mind that hinder your mind from entering the meditative state of inner peace and calmness. Such continuous heedless thinking with the 5 mental hindrances will become so habitual and this is the reason why most living beings think a lot and they find it so difficult to meditate. The moment they close their eyes - there are so many thoughts!

So, the first thing to do in meditation is to develop the opposite 5 spiritual faculties of saddhā, vīriya, sati, samādhi and pañña via your daily devotional pūjā  to counter the hindrances thereby reversing all the heedless thinking so as to become more peaceful and calm. Another skilful means is to do the mind-sweeping method to just feel and relax the body and mind without thinking so as to decondition your habitual heedless thinking. It will also train your mind to be at the location you want it to be. This is followed by ānāpānasati or mindfulness of the in-and-out breath so as to develop appamāda orheedfulness of mind. When the mind is trained and heedful, it listens to you. You want it to be silent, calm and peaceful, itwill just do that. If you want it to be aware at the moment of feeling, perception, activities of mind and consciousness, it will just do that. Such a mind can meditate and understand what is going on. You want it to think then only it thinks. Otherwise, it is silent, relaxed and just aware within. The mind becomes like your obedient and faithful servant and it is always at your command to do what you instruct it to do especially to live and experience all of the beauty and wonders of Life and live life to the fullest and meaningfully.

If the user of thoughts is wise then thoughts become beautiful, right and wholesome thoughts. Otherwise, if the user of thoughts is evil and heedless then thoughts become evil (i.e. wrong thoughts that constantly condition one’s evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion leading to all the suffering and miseries). This is the reason why the noble eightfold path is about right thoughts only.

The cultivation of the 5 spiritual facultiesis very important because it can help you overcome the 5 hindrances of mind (sensual desire, ill will, sloth & torpor, restlessness and doubt) thereby enabling you to understand easily the Buddha dhamma and meditation as taught by the Buddha. Radiating love and mettā via reciting ‘May this body and mind of mine be well and happy always’ also helps complement the cultivation because it will bring about a calm andcomposed mind with a lot of inner well-being and happiness and this positive mind states of good vibration will help improve and strengthen your immune system. When the mind has a lot of well-being, joy and mettā, it can become calm and composed because it is without the heedless thinking and hindrances of mind. Hence, it can be heedful to develop the meditation especially after a stressful day. If one can meditate to bring about inner peace, inner well-being  and inner clarity of mind to develop the wisdom then one can be in a state of constant relaxed inner awareness, with a lot of inner peace and joy always.

3.3 Meditation involves 2 important steps:

The 1st step is to train the mind to be heedful or ever mindful via deconditioning one’s habitual heedless thinking; then the 2nd step is to use that trained or heedful mind to meditate via cultivating the Noble 8-Fold Path especially the 4 Foundations Of Mindfulness. It is also very important to understand what sati is? Also to understand that Vipassanā is not a knowledge that you can practise or learn via thought-based ‘meditation’ because it is an insight or wisdom that has to be awakened to via the direct seeing without thought. And wisdom is not a rigidknowledge that can be learnt or practiced because it is an understanding which is not rigid. This is the reason why the Buddha always says, ‘He only showed us the way but we must walk the path ourselves to awaken to it.’ ‘Vi-’ stands for the 3 universal characteristics of nature (anicca, dukkha and anattā) and ‘passanā’ is to insight into, so the meaning of Vipassanā is to insight into the 3 uinversal characteristics of nature thus awakening to this truth.

Note: There are no short notes for Heart Sutra Classes 27 & 28 because Bro. Teoh's sharing was just based on a review of the Heart Sutra Class 26 short notes.

32nd Heart Sutra Class 6 January 2013

Part 1 - No more notes for this section.

Previous notes are more than adequate for your cultivation so do strive on with Heedfulness.

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 32 (The Emptiness of the Eighteen Fields or 18 Sense Realms pg 78)

2.1 The 18 sense realms consist of 3 sets of sixes:

1st set of 6 – refers to the 6 internal sense bases or organs (5 physical and 1 mental);

2nd set of 6 – refers to the 6 external sense bases or sense data; and the

3rd set of 6 – refers to their 6 respective sense door consciousness.

Understanding these 18 fields or 18 sense realms can lead to the understanding of how you know the world and how you interact with the world plus how you function as a human being leading to the understanding of who are you? And what are you?

It is important for us to understand what Saṅkhāra is?Saṅkhāra is the content of consciousness or everything that your mind can do including the aggregates of feeling and perception. It includes all of your mental movements & activities like mental states, intention, planning & scheming, formations, conditioned views and opinions etc. The consciousness aggregate is the pure receptacle. Consciousness and its content becomes the thought which is the mental 5 aggregates of form and mind that the Buddha referred to under his final summary of the 1st Noble Truth of Dukkha – in which the Buddha said,

“In short it is due to one’s self-delusion (sakkāyadiṭṭhi) that conditions one’s craving and clinging to grasp onto these 5 aggregates of form and mind that He called dukkha”.

This is due to self-delusion. Living beings tend to attach/cling to their physical form, mental feeling, external forms that they come to perceive with every moment of consciousness, their mental thinking and mental consciousness, - taking them to be real and calling them the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’ and the ‘Mine”, leading to all the suffering. Take for example, when one perceives their loved ones, good friends, colleague or pets or various prized possessions like their property, money and wealth etc. and grasp onto them then what happens? The fear of separation or losing them can arise if we don’t have the wisdom and deludedly perceive them as really belonging to us. Once you attach or grasp to them, you can be afflicted and you will become very ‘fragile’ and vulnerable. It is due to delusion that conditions you to grasp and cling onto them because you fail to see their impermanence, suffering and anattā or non-self nature. All sense experiences and phenomena – no matter how alluring – are a prelude to suffering because they are of the nature to arise and pass away or cease, so they will separate from you. Without wisdom developed via heedfulness, one will not be able to accept this reality. One must train one’s mind to be heedful or ever mindful to cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path and the 4 Foundations Of Mindfulness leading to the Enlightenment via realization of the 4 Noble Truths.

2.2 The 4th Foundation Of Mindfulness’s

3rd category of cultivation (mindfulness of the 6 internal sense bases and 6 external sense bases) is related to the 18 sense realms and the 12 Links or Dependent Origination and the Fire sermon cultivation.

In the Fire sermon, the Buddha taught, how one can achieve liberation from suffering through detachment from the five senses and mind consciousness. In this discourse, the Buddha described the sense bases and resultant mental consciousness or phenomena as "burning" with passion, aversion, delusion and suffering. Seeing such, a noble disciple becomes wary,disenchanted with dispassion and thus liberated from the senses bases thereby achieving Arahantship. This is described in more details below:-

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Gaya, at Gayasisa, accompanied by a thousand bhikkhus, the Buddha proclaimed:

"Bhikkhus, all things are burning." - Sabbaṃ bhikkhave ādittaṃ. What, Bhikkhus, are all these things burning?

The eye, Bhikkhus, is burning; visual forms are burning; visual forms/sense data received by the eyes are burning; eye or seeing-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, also whatsoever feeling felt as pleasant or unpleasant/painful or neither pleasant nor-unpleasant/painful that arises with eye-contact, that too is burning.

With what are they burning? - Burning with the fire of lust/passion (Lobha), with the fire of hate (Dosa) and with the fire of delusion (Moha). I say it is burning with birth, aging and death, with sorrow, with lamentation, with pain, with grief, with despair.

“The ear, Bhikkus is burning, sounds are burning; vibrations or sense data received by the ears are burning; ear or hearing-consciousness is burning, ear-contact is burning, also whatsoever feeling felt as pleasant or unpleasant/painful or neither pleasant nor-unpleasant/painful that arises with ear-contact, that too is burning.

With what are they burning? - Burning with the fire of lust/passion (lobha), with the fire of hate (Dosa) and with the fire of delusion (Moha). I say it is burning with birth, aging and death, with sorrow, with lamentation, with pain, with grief, with despair”.

The Buddha then repeated the same for all the other sense door consciousness as below:-

“The nose, Bhikkhūs is burning, odours are burning; smell or sense data received by the nose are burning; nose or smell-consciousness is burning, nose contact is burning, …”

“The tongue, Bhikkhūs is burning, tastes are burning; taste or sense data received by the body are burning; tongue or taste-consciousness is burning, tongue or taste contact is burning, …”

“The body, Bhikkhūs is burning, tactile sensations are burning; tactile feelings or sense data received by the body are burning; body or tactile-consciousness is burning, tongue contact is burning, …”

“The mind is burning, thoughts are burning, mental objects received by the mind are burning; mind or thought consciousness is burning, mind contact is burning, also whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with mind-contact, that too is burning”.

With what are they burning? - Burning with the fire of lust/passion (Lobha), with the fire of hate (Dosa) and with the fire of delusion (Moha). I say it is burning with birth, aging and death, with sorrow, with lamentation, with pain, with grief, with despair.

“Bhikkhus, when a noble disciple who has heard (this truth) and clearly seeing things thus,

“He becomes wary of the eye, wary of visual forms, wary of eye or seeing-consciousness, wary of eye-contact, and wary of whatsoever is felt as pleasant or unpleasant/painful or neither pleasant nor unpleasant/painful that arises with eye-contact.”

“He becomes wary of the ear, wary of sounds, and wary of ear or hearing consciousness ...”

“He becomes wary of the nose, wary of odours, and wary of nose or smell consciousness ...”

“He becomes wary of the tongue, wary of taste, and wary of tongue or taste consciousness ...”

“He becomes wary of the body, wary of tactile sensations and feelings, and wary of body or tactile consciousness ...”

“He becomes wary of the mind, wary of thoughts or mental forms, wary of mind or thought-consciousness, wary of mind-contact, and wary of whatsoever is felt as pleasant or unpleasant/painful or neither pleasant nor unpleasant/painful that arises with mind-contact.”

In this way, he becomes freed of passion and he becomes aware of feeling, with insight knowledge and wisdom. He knows there is no more re-birth, that the holy life is his that he has done all that should be done.

These were the Blessed One’s words; when he spoke to the Bhikkhus thus, the whole congregation of over one thousand bhikkhus, rejoiced,approved of his words and attained liberation from the āsava through clinging no more and their hearts were completely freed.

2.3 Notes from another commentary

"Bhikkhūs, form is burning, feeling is burning, perception is burning, volitional formations are burning, and consciousness is burning. Seeing thus, the instructed noble disciple experiences wary towards form, feeling, perception, volitional formations and consciousness..... through dispassion and [this mind] is liberated...."

The ensuing text reveals that "all" (sabba) refers to:

1. the six internal sense bases (āyatana): eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind

2. the six external sense bases: visible forms, sound, smells, tastes, touches and mental objects

3. consciousness (viññāṇa) contingent on these sense bases

By "burning" (āditta) is meant:

1. the fire of passion (rāgagginā);

2. the fire of aversion (dosagginā);

3. the fire of delusion (mohagginā)

The manifestations of suffering: birth, aging and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress and despair.

“Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate.

Through dispassion, he is fully released.

With full release, there is the understanding, ‘Fully released.'

He discerns that “Birth is ended,

The holy life fulfilled, the task done.

There is nothing further for this world.”

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Meditation consists of two parts

Meditation consists of two parts: 1st part is to train the mind to be heedful, then the 2nd part is to make use of this trained mind in heedfulness to live life and cultivate the Noble 8-Fold Path with special emphasis on the 4 Foundations Of Mindfulness. This mind that is trained listens to you…. and if you want it to be silent within, it will just be silent within. If you want it to be aware or think, then it will do just that. Even if you want it to be at the moment of feeling, perception, activity of mind or consciousness, then it will just do that. That is, it listens to you. Heedfulness can only arise when the mind is trained. To be heedful, one must know how to silent one’s mind to connect to one’s true mind. The untrained mind is very heedless and it thinks a lot because of ignorance and delusion. Without this heedfulness developed, one is as if dead (spiritually) as per Dhammapada Verse 21. Since heedfulness is the path to the deathless and the heedful do not die, so please do strive on with heedfulness.

Note: There are no short notes for Heart Sutra Classes 30 & 31 because Bro. Teoh's sharing was just based on a review of the Heart Sutra Class 29 short notes.

33rd Heart Sutra Class 13 January 2013

Part 1 – Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Dhammapada Verse 21 –

Heedfulness is the path to the deathless, Heedlessness is the path to the dead. The heedful do not die; the heedless are as if dead (spiritually). One only needs to be Heedful then one is destined for enlightenment. Therefore one must make strong determination to be heedful.

To know who you are and what you are, is very important. Is this human being or the 5 aggregates of form and mind really what you are? How do you know the world? And how do you interact with the world? It is the senses that enable us to interact with the world via mind or mental consciousness – this is a very important understanding.

Sakkāyadiṭṭhi (self-delusion) is a very powerful delusion because during every moment of sense-door consciousness like seeing, hearing and thinking, etc. the personality and Egoic mind will arise if there is sakkāyadiṭṭhi. Then, one will try to own and possess things. This is how selfishness which is an evil root arises. Similarly because of the Ego, one can also become jealous, angry, emotional and fearful and these are the other 2 evil roots of hatred and delusion. As they are the roots of all evil, this is the reason why when things do not go your way, and when you cannot get what you desire or want, you can become very unhappy and you can also get angry and become emotional too. When confronted with the 1st Noble Truth’s realities, especially health problem or separation problems, the thought will project into the past and the future to condition your fear,worry, anxiety and sadness/unhappiness etc. leading to one’s suffering. See that it is just a thought – not a reality at all so how come it has such power to torment you and cause you so much suffering? This is wrong view conditioned by your delusion to grasp and cling onto the so-called problem hence causing your fear, worry and anxiety etc. Do see its impermanent characteristics and anattā nature i.e. it is just a thought which comes and go and it has no power over you if you are not deluded by it.

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 33 (The Emptiness of the Eighteen Fields pg 80 to 83)

2.1 The Dhamma are only word, concepts and skilful means

Ultimate Nirvana - when you have wisdom, you do not cling to the Dhamma. The Dhamma are only words, concept and skilful means pointing towards the truth as likened to the finger pointing to the moon.

The commentary said, ‘The mind of the past cannot be obtained, the mind of the future cannot be obtained, and the mind of the presentmoment also cannot be obtained.’ This English translation by the commentary is not so clear as compared to the mandarin version. In mandarin, it is “guo qu xin bu ke de” (过去心不可得) meaning the mind of the past is already gone so it is no more a reality i.e. you cannot hold onto it or have it anymore. Similarly, the future has yet to come soit is also not a reality. The moment is the only realityin Life and moment to moment Life passes by, what are you doing? Are you mindful of the moment truly livinglife? Or are you too busy thinking, planning and worrying about life (so heedless) so much so you totally miss out on Life. To be with the moment to experience all of the wonders and beauty of life without any fear, worry and anxiety is truly living life.

The present moment may be the highest in Life but in order to transcend Life, one must also transcend even the moment. This is because the moment passes by so fast and it is also not a reality in that sense. That is split second - it is dead and gone. This moment then the next moment and the next moment - only a stream of unending moments of thoughts rising and falling. See thisclearly and free your mind. Only consciousness and thoughts arising and passing away, implying it is nothingsubstantial and not so real. This is the reason why the Buddha said, ‘Mind is the forerunner of all things, mind is chief and when mind arises, everything comes to be and mind-made are they. So, if one acts, speaks and thinks with a heedless or unwholesome mind that has the evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion, suffering will follow one like the wheel that follows the hoof.’

Hence the reason why the Shurangama Sutra states that: - ‘perception of form is consciousness whereas its non-perception is wisdom’. The first seeing refers to mundane seeing via the conditioned arising mundane mind whereas the 2nd seeing refers to the direct seeing via the true mind which is beyond thought and beyond mind (the mundane mind).

When cultivating the Buddha dhamma, one must be diligent to do it continuously with full determination in order to be successful and one must not be complacent. A good analogy is of the primitive man making a fire by rubbing a stick against the rock to spark off the fire. One must not stop half-way before the spark can trigger off the fire. Hence heedfulness must be stabilized and sustained until one is ever mindful.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Why do I experience heat during meditation?

Question 1 – Why do I experience heat which comes and goes during meditation?

Bro. Teoh: Whether heat arises or not is not so important because the main purpose and intent of meditation is to train the mind in heedfulnessfirst, that is, to be in a stable state of relaxed innerawareness or mindfulness first. Then only can one meditate. Heat can be due to the environment that you are in or due to your Yin and Yang imbalance within your body. The key thing is just to be in a state of relaxed inner awareness, to be aware of everything that is arising and passing away during meditation. Just maintain a silent passive awareness. Don’t try to know. The understanding will come by itself via an awakening and not via thinking.

3.2 Heedful and mindful during meditation but heedless in the midst of life

Question 2 – I can be very heedful and mindful when I am here doing meditation in a very conducive environment but when I am in the midst of life I can be very heedless. When I am in a very negative environment/situation, I can become deluded very fast. Then I start to blame myself and get angry with myself. Why?

Bro. Teoh: This is normal. When you are in this present tranquil meditative environment, you will be naturally more peaceful and heedful. Everything appears very smooth sailing because it is a conditioned environment or state of mind with no negativity to stir and test you. But, when you are in the midst of Life, you are usually less heedful. So, when you are with someone that you don’t like or a weird and difficult person then you are tested. During these moments, if you have yet to develop the wisdom needed to calm yourself down, then it is very likely that you will become unhappy via your heedless reaction to what they say and what they do. You will have to learn to confront or face all these negativities and difficult life situations with wisdom to free your mind. That’s why you must investigate into all these; that is, - how your reactions to sense experiences conditioned by your delusion develop into very strong habitual tendencies without you even becoming aware of them. Habitual tendencies borne of delusion are difficult to change or correct overnight.

Silent your mind to investigate into their origination factors so that you can later, retrospectively, reverse it via wisdom after you have contemplated deep into it. That is, - how this anger or fear arises in your mind? And then inquire - are they real? Is angry or fear really what you are? Apart from these mental states that come and go, is there a nature within that is unmoving and unchanging? All these are part of meditation.

Your problem lies in your inability to recognize the fact that you are not what you’re thinking or mundane mind tells you via your sakkāyadiṭṭhi. Your true nature within is already perfect and without any negativity or discrimination and convention. So don’t blame yourself for being like so useless because you cling onto your form and mind (the so-called human being) as the ‘YOU’, the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’. Hence the delusion!

Blaming and getting angry with yourself is of no use because it is a wrong view. The anger or fear that arises is not‘YOU’ but only a conditioned state of mind that arises after you have reacted to what you see and what you hear and think via your own sakkāyadiṭṭhi or self-delusion which is a wrong view. If you do not perceive whatever life situation that arises with negativity or wrong view then you will not react and there will be no suffering. You will come to understand via your heedfulness that when things don’t go your way then you will react because you want things your way which is against nature’s laws that govern all of life and existence. Hence suffering will arise because you have your expectations that are not met and you are not able to understand that people are just the way they are and this is a fact. This is part of the 1st Noble Truth’s 7th condition or realities of life and existence. When you have right view - anger, selfishness and fear cease to be.

As we all know a deluded person will say and do deluded things. Likewise an angry and violent person will do and say angry and violent things. You have to develop the wisdom via your meditation to just accept them for what they are, and then you will be peaceful. You only need to change and straighten your view to free your mind. This realization is wisdom. Hence the saying, ‘Wisdom frees whereas delusion binds!’

3.3 How do I overcome discrimination against a specific person?

Question 3 – How do I overcome discrimination against a specific person?

Bro. Teoh: When you use your false thinking (or condition-arising) discriminative thinking mind to see and perceive a specific person via your wrongviews and opinions borne of your own mind’s conditioning then this discriminative perception will arise. The problem is your sakkāyadiṭṭhi or self-delusion that conditions you to deludedly cling onto your false thinking mind leading to your inability to realize your true mind to see things as they are via wisdom. Please refer to the 7th Shurangama Sutra’s notes dated 8/1/2013 for further explanation on this.

34th Heart Sutra Class 20 January 2013

Part 1 – Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Verse For Opening A Sutra

“The unsurpassed, profound, and wonderful dhamma,

Is difficult to encounter in hundreds of millions of eons,

I now see and hear it, receive and uphold it,

And I vow to fathom the Tathāgata’s true meaning.”

Reciting the above opening verse with great sincerity and faith is very important because it reminds us clearly of the following:-

1. Rare is birth as a human being;

2. Rare is the OPPORTUNITY of hearing the Dhamma;

3. Dangerous is the delusion of mind.

Via the analogy of turtle’s egg in the great ocean.

In the  Mahāparinibbāna Sutta, the Buddha used the metaphor of a blind turtle in a vast ocean to explain how difficult it is to be reborn as a human being and at the same time to have the chance of hearing the Dhamma.

Suppose there is a turtle egg floating on a vast ocean. The turtle egg has a hole the size of which is just slightly larger for the head of a turtle to pop into. There is a long-lived sea turtle in the ocean. Once every one hundred year, this turtle comes out from the bottom of the ocean and pops his head into the ocean surface and the probability of it hitting the hole of the turtle egg is the probability of being born as a human being and to hear the Buddha Dhamma. i.e. To be able to be born a human and having the chance to hear the Dhamma is just as hard as for the blind turtle to encounter the turtle’s egg on a vast ocean and let its head go through the hole of this turtle egg. Therefore, do not be heedlessanymore so that you will not lose sight of this great opportunity of already having the special condition to be a human being and the great condition to hear the Dhamma. Yet, not taking it seriously to diligentlycultivate to awaken to it is going to be a real waste. If one misses this window, it may be hundreds of millions of eons later before one can have another such condition or opportunity.

1.2 What is Heedfulness or Appamāda?

Question 1: What is Heedfulness or Appamāda?

Bro. Teoh: The importance of heedfulness is clearly expounded by the Buddha via his Dhammapada Verses 21, 22 and 23. The Buddha said under Dhammapada Verse 21,

‘Heedfulnessis the path to the deathless and the heedful never die, whereas heedlessness is the path to death and the heedless are as if dead.’ So do not be heedless and do strive on with heedfulnessalways.

Appamāda is the silent mind in heedfulness, attentiveness, alertness, non-laxity, diligence and vigilance to develop the meditation to liberate the mind. Appamāda or heedfulness is the cornerstone of all skilful mental states and it is of such importance that the Buddha stressed it in his parting words or last exhortation: "Transient are all conditioned things and phenomena. Strive on with heedfulness!" (Appamādena Sampādetha)

1.3 Appamāda Sutta

Below is the Appamāda Sutta as translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu:-

Appamāda Sutta:

At Sāvatthi, as he was sitting to one side, King Pasenadi of Kosala said to the Blessed One: "Is there, Lord, any one quality that keeps both kinds of benefits secure — benefits in this life and benefits in lives to come?"

"There is one quality, great king that keeps both kinds of benefits secure— benefits in this life and benefits in lives to come."

"But what, Lord, is that one quality?"

"It is Heedfulness, great king. Just as the footprints of all living beings with legs can be encompassed by the footprint of the elephant, and the elephant's footprint is declared to be supreme among them in terms of its great size; in the same way, heedfulness is the one quality that keeps both kinds of benefits secure — benefits in this life and benefits in lives to come."

That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-Gone, the Teacher, said further:

For one who desires long life, health, beauty, heaven and noble birth, lavish delights, one after another — the wise praise heedfulness in performing deeds of merit.

When heedful and wise, you achieve both kinds of benefit:

1. Benefits in this life; and

2. Benefits in lives to come.

By breaking through to your benefit, you're called enlightened, wise.

To be mindful or in sati is to be in a state of relaxed inner awareness or attentivenesswithout thought. To be heedful is to be aware or mindfulbefore the knowing, to understand the truth or to see things as they are. When the mind is silent, mindful and attentivewithout thought then it is in sati. The silent mind with inner awareness to cultivate the Buddha dhamma thus developing the wisdom (or paññā) is heedfulness. The opposite of heedfulness is heedlessness and when one is heedless, one is hardly aware and only merelyconscious of life because one is too busy and heedlessly thinking, planning and worrying about life so much so one totally misses out on life. One never really lives life because one is so preoccupied with one’s thinking or thought processes (hence the heedlessness) via constantly lost in thought most of the time and throughout the day.

Heedful living allows us to be ever mindful of all our mental intentions behind all our action, speech and thought processes. This will enable us to cultivate the Noble 8-Fold Path factors of Right speech, Right action and Right thought via following the advice of the Buddha to apply the appropriate 4 Right efforts to avoid all evil, do good and purify ourmind. Heedfulness will prevent us from being heedless throughout the day so that the 5 hindrances of mind can be overcome and finally eradicated. Heedfulness will also enable us to trace the origination factors of the 5 hindrances of mind and 3 evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion when they arise due to one’s reaction of mind to sense experiences. By understanding how they arise via wisdom, we will be able to retrospectively reverse it. With heedfulness, we will be able to put the teachings to test and witness the 4 Noble Truths and the Law of Dependent Origination or 12 Links occurring within our own form and mind with every moment of mental activity. Heedfulness will also enable us to see things as they are via our sati and Samādhi leading to the wisdom or paññā. When one is heedful and mindful with inner awareness most of the time, one can see everything very clearly because the silent mind is not distracted by anything and it is not preoccupied with any heedless thinking so it can see things as they are. It can be aware of thoughts, mental intentions, emotions, fear etc. It can also be aware of all movements like the moving cars, all our physical actions and movements, etc. When mindfulness stabilises, it will develop into a continuous flow. Then, your ‘seeing’ or awareness will be so different because it can be aware of all of life’s physical, mental and nature’s flow. The mind is just silent and aware, one with all phenomena without thought and always heedful. When one’s mind is no longer preoccupied with all the heedless thinking then there is great clarity and one can see very clearly. Just like the saying goes, “Truth is everywhere, why can’t you see? For those who see they always see!” That is, when one is heedful there is no thought – only the senses are aware so there is a lot of clarity. Everything is so clear. Without thoughts there are no evil roots - i.e. no fear, no selfishness and emotional negativity etc. So, develop the silent mind with inner awareness to be heedful always.

For more details on heedfulness, please refer to the recorded talk.

1.4 How to overcome Anger

Question: How to overcome Anger?

Bro. Teoh: When there is anger arising, just be aware (don’t think). Then, silent your mind and sit back to relax. After a while, the agitation due to the stirring of your mind into anger via your heedlessness and delusion will slow down. Then suddenly it will become completely still. Then you will come to understand with joy clearly that if you don’t react to stir the mind then you are in your original natural state of mind (which is peaceful and calm) before the stirring. The analogy of a pool of still water will help illustrate the point. If stirred by a falling branch or a stone thrown into it, the ripples will start to form. Wind and weather may also create waves just like Fear and Anger appearing in the mind due to external stimulus.

A Mind that is heedful, wise and constantly aware will not be stirred by any delusion hence it will be very calm and peaceful always. As habitual tendencies developed over the years are difficult to eradicate or do away with, one will need to be heedful most of the time, throughout their daily life to stabilise the wisdom to deal with the strong habitual negative tendencies. When the spiritual faculty of Samādhi and enlightenment factor of equanimity are there, then one will no longer be entangled. The mind that is transformedwill not react anymore and instead it will just flow and accord via wisdom. When you try to share and there is no condition but then others want to argue and want to be right; then you will say yes! You are right and let them be right because they don’t understand duality as yet so just let things be. One must ask the question, Right according to whom? And why must one defend oneself? It is because of the EGO – the self-delusion that conditions one’s selfishness, emotional negativities and fear. Understand that things are just the way they are – no right no wrong via seeing things as they are! Grasping and clinging to sense experiences via delusion is the cause of suffering. Only wisdom liberates and frees the mind nothing else. With wisdom one will be able to understand and appreciate life more and more.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra - Nil.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 This is what you are supposed to see in your meditation

Question 1: During Meditation, I heard and perceived the branches of the tree, and I return to Ānāpānasati but then the thoughts regarding the falling branches arise? May I have your comments?

Bro. Teoh: This is what you are supposed to see in your meditation because there is this subtle grasping going on within the mind. Meditation is to uncover all these unhealthy delusion and unwholesome subtle attachments to what we perceived with every moment of our conscious sense experiences via our trained mind in heedfulness or silentinner awareness to understand what is going on in our own form and mind, how we are conditioned into thinking and reaction of mind (likes and dislikes) via our own self-delusion or sakkāyadiṭṭhi. Why do these thoughts arise and not other thoughts? And we also see clearly how we are conditioned into grasping and clinging leading to the suffering caused by our own self-delusion, selfishness and emotional negativities (the 3 evil roots – which are the roots of all evil). In this particular case, there is this curiosity of mind due to ignorance that conditions your grasping to what you perceive earlier – which is the falling branches. This is attachment to 1 of our 5 aggregates of form and mind and in this case it is the perception aggregate. So the first of the Dependent Origination link of ‘avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra’ or ‘dependent on ignorance, saṅkhāra (which is mental activities) comes to be,’ hence the thought or thinking about the falling branches. This is witnessing how your mind functions and via all this heedfulness training, you will also witness all of the Buddha’s teachings like the 4 Noble Truths and the 12 Links, etc. in your own life experiences via your daily mindfulness to understand who you are and what you are including how you function as a human being; how the sense door consciousness and the stirring of the mind come to be etc., so as to develop the requisite wisdom and understanding leading to the subsequent awakening via insight into the 3 characteristics of nature of Anicca, Dukkha and Anattā especially the Anattā universal characteristics.

For further details please listen to the recorded talk.

35th & 36th Heart Sutra Classes 27 January 2013

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 To develop the Heedfulness needed to cultivate the Meditation

To develop the Heedfulness needed to cultivate the Meditation as taught by the Buddha, one must at least understand “What is Heedfulness?” and “What is Meditation?” as taught by the Buddha in order to start. It is just like you have a ‘problem’ and you come to a meditation teacher and he said to you – “just meditate and your problem will be resolved.” Is this going to be useful if you do not even want to find out what your problem is? How can you start solving your problem when you do not know what your problem is? Similarly with meditation, if you do not understand what meditation is, then how can you start developing it? Meditation and cultivation must be done with understanding so that one is not gullible.

Dhammapada Verses 21, 22 and 23 already stress the importance of Heedfulness. So Heedfulness must be a part of you in order to realize the enlightenment. Continuous Heedfulness is the key to the noble life. Those without Heedfulness cannot become enlightened. Please refer to the earlier 34th Heart Sutra notes for the detailed explanation of what heedfulness is.

As meditation is a very general word, it is important to understand the meditation as taught by the Buddha. The real meditation as taught by the Buddha is to develop the wisdom via insight into the 3 universal characteristics of nature (anicca, dukkha and anattā) so as to be at peace with all situations wherever you are - termed upadhi viveka.

Fully relax and be aware to develop the wisdom borne of direct seeing. The thought must not interfere. There is just clarity of mind leading to the awakening or insight into the 3 universal characteristics of nature. The mind that is liberated is so free. It understands that all of phenomena (whether physical, mental and nature’s) are all empty and they are all conditions arising or causal phenomena following nature’s laws. This is deep penetrative wisdom.

In cultivation we should thank those people who are not so friendly and constantly make things difficult for us because they are the ones that can give us the conditions to test ourcultivation. Hence we should perceive them with wholesomeness and wisdom via accepting them as they are, then expressing our gratitude towards them. Then, great compassion will naturally arise in our mind. Do not perceive any situation with negativity, for the absence of negativity is good. So don’t try to do good because without wisdom, one can end up becoming just a good-hearted fool. The unenlightened ones are so heedless, chasing and clinging after so many things in life. They still grieve and worry about life despite having so many things and possessions for they lack contentment and wisdom to live life. The 1st Noble Truth of dukkha that expounds so clearly the 8 realities of life and existence needs to be understood. Otherwise, they can really make human beingsmiserable. Without understanding the true dhamma as taught by the Buddha, suffering will be the final result. So, strive on with heedfulness and do not be heedless. Please listen to the recorded tape for more details.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra – Nil.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 The same worrying and fearful thoughts keep coming back

Question 1: While cultivating mindfulness in daily life, I was able to be mindful most of the time when I am going about living the normal life. But, when confronted with work-related and personal problems I find it very difficult to maintain that heedfulness and I realise that the same worrying and fearful thoughts keep coming back to haunt me. How can I overcome this?

Bro. Teoh: This is a very good question. Yes! When there are no 1st Noble Truth realities to disturb us, cultivating heedfulness or mindfulness in daily life is fairly easy. The challenge is when one is confronted with the 1st Noble Truth realities of birth, old age, sickness and death; threatening separation from loved ones and one’s prized possessions, etc. like work-related and personal health, career, relationship and financial problems etc. Can your mind still be peaceful and calm to cultivate the requisite heedfulness? This is most difficult but it can still be done if one has developed the appropriate wisdom to confront them with right understanding.

This is the reason why the Buddha constantly advised the Bhikkhūs to reflect on the 5 daily contemplations and to strive on with heedfulness to arise the much needed wisdom to overcome all these 1st Noble Truth realities.

3.2 The 5 daily contemplations are as follows:-

1. Our body is of the nature to decay and grow old for it has not gone beyond old age and decay;

2. Our body is of the nature to be diseased or sick because it has not gone beyond diseases and sicknesses;

3. Our body is of the nature to die for it has not gone beyond death;

4. All of our loved ones, wealth, property and other prized possessions, etc. which we hold onto so dearly - they will all one day separate from us or we separate from them when our breath stops;

5. This is the great Law of Kamma and is also the 1st Right view that we must develop or have to begin our cultivation. Each and every one of us (including all living beings), we are all born of our kamma, heir to our kamma, conditioned and supported by our kamma and we are what we are because of our kamma. This is the great Law of Kamma. Since kamma is so important, we must all take care of our kamma via avoiding all evil, do good and purify our minds (which is the advice of all Buddhas) to develop the strong karmic nature to bring about the good life every time we come or choose to come.

Once the wisdom borne of one’s cultivation and above constant reflections and contemplation has stabilised, then these projections of wrong thoughts to haunt you will not have power over you. Wrong thoughts are deluded thoughts that condition one’s fear, worry, anxiety and suffering via one’s self-delusion or sakkāyadiṭṭhi that conditioned one to cling on to the 5 aggregates as the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’, hence the heedlessness. So ultimately, it is wisdom that reallyfrees and liberates one’s mind. Job pressures, datelines and targets can be very stressful within the job and career environment and if one has not developed the wisdom to confront them with understanding, it is not easy. The same goes for personal problems. So, the dhamma understanding to confront all these 1st Noble Truth realities is very important and this is the reason why the Buddha’s final advice before his passing away is to strive on with heedfulness to develop the requisite wisdom to liberate one’s mind.

3.3 Understanding the meditation as taught by the Buddha

Dhammapada Verses 21, 22 and 23 confirmed the importance of heedfulness in order to become enlightened.

Heedfulness or Appamāda = Ever mindful (sati) + to cultivate the dhamma and the meditation as taught by the Buddha

So the first thing we must do when starting this meditation is to train our mind to be in sati (or silent inner aware) to be ever mindful without thought most of the time first. Then only use this trained mind in sati to meditate and cultivate the dhamma as taught by the Buddha.

How do we train this mind to be mindful and aware most of the time? First, we must understand why we are most of the time heedless and not mindful/aware and peaceful? According to the Buddha it is because of the 5 mentalhindrances that condition our heedless thinking thereby stirring our mind and hindering our mind from returning to its natural meditative state of inner peace and calmness before the stirring.

The 5 Mental Hindrances of:-

1. Sensual desire;

2. Ill will;

3. Sloth and torpor (lethargic or sleepiness);

4. Restlessness or agitated mind (due to fear, worry anxiety);

5. Doubt

The 5 Mental Hindrances condition our heedless thinking,lack of peace and awareness so we must reverse all these via cultivating the opposite five which are the 5 Spiritual Faculties:-

1. Saddhā or confidence in the Buddha and his teaching

2. Vīriya or spiritual zeal/tenacity to cultivate heedfulness

3. Sati or mindfulness or awareness;

4. Samādhi or collectedness of mind/unwavering mind; and

5. Paññā or wisdom

To cultivate these 5 spiritual faculties, the Buddha recommended the pre and post pūjā or devotional practices of paying respect or homage to the Buddha, Dhamma and the Saṅgha and taking Refuge in them followed by the renewal of 5 Precepts, chanting the various salutations to the Buddha, Dhamma and the Saṅgha etc. The paying of respect and the taking of refuge followed by the chanting of the various salutations is to develop the faith or saddhā and vīriya spiritual faculties. Then the paying of respect or mindfulreverential salutation is to develop the composed mind to be mindful while paying respect to the Buddha. So do not under estimate the importance of pūjā in the cultivation process. When Sati is developed, Samādhi will come to be and with Sati and Samādhi one will be able to have the clarity of mind to see things as they are (without the interference of thoughts) via the Sati in direct seeing hence awakening to the truth leading to the wisdom.

Then to decondition the heedless thinking, we use the mind sweeping method as a skilful means to train our mind to just feel and relax (no more thinking) as we sweep the mind through our body. This will allow the mind to naturally relax and calm down on its own. We can also combine it with the radiating of mettā or loving kindness to develop the inner well-being and wholesome state of mind to enhance our meditation. After the mind sweeping method and mettā training, our mind should be more relaxed, calm and peaceful then we can use it to develop sati (the silent mind with inner awareness) via the Ānāpānasati(or mindfulness of the in and out breath) training as taught by the Buddha in his kāyānupassanā practices. After that, when sati is already quite stable, we should move on to the mindfulness of the 4postures followed by the sati sampajañña (or the daily mindfulness with clear comprehension) training as described in the kāyānupassanā’s 6 categories of practices. Once sati is established, use it to cultivate the 3 turnings of the 4 NobleTruths and the Four Foundations Of Mindfulness to complete the training. The real meditation as taught by the Buddha is the cultivation of the Noble 8-Fold Path leading to the cessation of all suffering and enlightenment in the here and the now.

3.4 Summary of cultivation:

Train the mind to be heedful via:-

1. Pūjā or devotional practices (a daily religiousroutine will be useful);

2. Mind sweeping method and mettā;

3. Ānāpānasati;

4. Mindfulness of the 4 postures; and

5. Mindfulness and clear comprehension of all actions and all movements in the present moment or Daily Mindfulness and clear comprehension training.

Once heedful, use the trained mind to cultivate the 3 turnings of the Four Noble Truths and the Four Foundations Of Mindfulness or Satipaṭṭhānapractices

For a higher resolution of the above image please click here

37th Heart Sutra Class 7 April 2013

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Understanding the 3 conditions for Bro Teoh’s Dhamma sharing

In order not to arise any unnecessary misunderstanding or karmic consequences, Bro. Teoh had been reluctant to share his dhamma understanding until about 9 years ago when he was approached 3 times by a very sincere sister of the dhamma, asking him to share his rather good understanding of the dhamma. Bro. Teoh then contemplated and finally agreed to share the dhamma but with the following 3 conditions:

1. Call it a Dhamma Sharing instead of a dhamma talk because a talk could be like a ‘one–way traffic’ not offering any chance of having a fairdiscussion to clarify matters from the audiences. Also sharing means no authority over one another and as dhamma friends we are here to share our understanding of the dhamma with mutual respect for each other’s cultivation e. I respect you for what you are and hopefully you can also respect me for what I am.

2. No right and No wrong – if it is beneficial to you, use it. If it is not – have an open mind because we are not here to argue about right and wrong. Right and wrong is just a relative measurement or opinion as expressed by someone according to their views and opinions and it is not something absolute. As such, it is not beneficial at all. If we are not careful, it may lead to unnecessaryarguments and misunderstandings

3. To have an open mindto listen attentively and to take or make use of whatever that is useful and beneficial to progress along the path of Dharma. Also do not quote me – because it can be very dangerous. If you quote me (what I said) without understanding what I meant, it can get both of us into unnecessary trouble.

Just say, “Bro. Teoh shared with us his understanding of the dhamma” - which we have come to appreciate a lot because the dhamma which is a very difficult and profound topic can be made so simple and taught to us with such clarity that we can so easily relate to it in our daily life, as always pointed out by Bro. Teoh. According to Bro. Teoh:- “Life itself is the meditation and Life itself is where the dhamma is and Life itself is our greatest teacher. Truth is everywhere – in the midst of life and nature so why can’t you see? For those who see, they always see.”

Wisdom cannot be learnt or taught because it is not a rigid knowledge. Wisdom needs to be awakened to or realized because it is an overall understanding. Dhamma is about realization and it can only be understood by the wise each for themselves – no one else can understand it for us. At different levels, wisdom is realized differently. If you can understand the deep meaning behind this Shurangama saying: “Perception of form is consciousness, whereas its non-perception is wisdom” - then you would have some form of wisdom borne of understanding the mind dhamma. For everything is condition-arising and mind-made are they – so not so real. It is only the mundane mind creating the phenomena world through its own mental perception and consciousness. Like the following Zen sayings:-

1.2 Zen Proverb

First ‘you see mountain as mountain’ – this is conventional or mundane seeing.

Then ‘You see mountain as not mountain’ – this is seeing with the above Shurangama saying’s understanding;

Finally ‘You see mountain still as mountain’ again – this is seeing things as they are with understanding that everything is ‘Suchness’ or ‘What IS’ (able to accept things as they are - hence able to accommodate both the Conventional and Ultimate realities to live life with wisdom and understanding.)

1.3 Zen analogy

1. Two monks were arguing about the temple flag waving in the wind. One said, "The flag moves." The other said, "The wind moves." They argued back and forth but could not agree. Hui-neng, the sixth Patriarch, said: "Gentlemen! It is not the flag that moves. It is not the wind that moves. It is your mind that moves." The two monks were struck with awe. This is because Hui Neng knew that these monks still have form delusion so he prompted and hinted to them to see the next level which is mind dhamma. (To refer earlier Heart Sutra notes for the detail explanation of this Zen analogy).

2. Bodhisattva’s son died – no crying, no sorrow and lamentation. Why? Because the Buddha knew, “Whatever that is of the nature to arise is also of the nature to cease and what has been born has already ceased to be so no amount of sorrow or lamentation can bringback the dead”. We have been born so many times so which one of the many eons of segmented lives or birth and death is ‘YOU’?

3. Cameron Highlands retreat - stillness, breeze ….. – Dhamma contemplation When your mind is silent and still, all of Nature’s phenomena + mental & physical phenomena – can be perceived clearly because they keep on arising via mental perceptions and consciousnesswithin your silent or true mind. When at the retreat you are very relaxed, at ease and heedful most of the time so dhamma contemplation can arise easily and there is dhamma in everything that comes within your field of perception and awareness.

Part 2 - Report of Meditation

2.1 Meditation is not just about developing calmness

Question: When I focus on an object to meditate. I can feel there is a grasping. Thus I change to free flow and I find it more relaxing and there is better blood circulation with better awareness…

Bro. Teoh: Meditation is not just about developing calmness nor having good and bad meditation experiences but it is about developing wisdom via the silent mind in awareness to insight into the 3 universal characteristics of anicca, dukkha and anattā.

Meditation or Bhāvanā consist of two parts – Samādhi and Paññā. First part is Samādhi which is the path factors of Sammā Sati and Samādhi i.e. training the mind to be in sati (or mindfulness) leading to the Samādhi (or collected and unwavering mind) to arise the heedfulness needed for cultivating insights. Then the 2nd part is to use this trained mind in sati and samādhi to meditate and cultivate the dhamma as taught by the Buddha (leading to heedfulness) to develop the paññā or wisdom.

So how can you do that? Can you do that by focusing on an object of meditation? Or must you just train your mind to be aware via a skilful means or a meditation object? The latter will lead you to an understanding of what you are doing in the name of meditation. So whatever happens in meditation – as long as you are silent and aware to understand what is going on, then wisdom can arise. If we have expectation that meditation must lead to calmness and good meditative experiences then we have a problem when it doesn’t happen. Most yogis tend to react and chase after good meditation and what they do is, they become unhappy and agitated when they cannot get what they want or expect – hence their mind is not at peace with the moment. This lack of understanding is the main problem that traps most yogis.

You must understand that the moment you are silent, you are already aware and heedful so you don’t have to try to be aware. The trying is by the thought and if thought is active how can your mind be silent and aware. The 5 mental hindrances that hinder your mind from becoming peaceful and calm will arise as long as your mind is deluded and heedlessly lost in thoughts. This habitual tendency of heedless thinking is the main problem. So to counter these 5 mental hindrances, we need to cultivate the opposite 5 spiritual faculties of saddhā, vīriya, sati, samādhi and paññā via cultivating the following:-

1. The devotional practices(or pūjā) to develop the faith, the vīriya and sati;

2. The mind sweeping method& mettā to de-condition the heedless thinking via just feel and relax (no more thinking); then

3. Cultivate Ānāpānasati or mindfulness of the in and out breathing to stabilize the sati borne of the above training leading to the silent mind (sati), followed by samādhi and paññā.

There was a question raised by a yogi during the last Saturday meditation class as to why the random thoughts keep on arising during her meditation? I told her, “This is good because at least now you are able to be aware of your own lack of peace and understand why your random thoughts keep arising.” Why these thoughts and not other thoughts? - When you are aware of all these without any reactions of mind and agitation or trying to do anything – then what happens? You will come to realize that these random thoughts arise due to your attachment or clinging to a lot of those mind activities that affected you during your daily life and these arising thoughts have a lot to do with the memories - which you had deposited or accumulated (‘scars’ of memories) into your brain over the years. And since thoughts are response to memories – that is how random thoughts arise during your meditation but if you just let it be and remain just silent and aware then these random thoughts will start to slow down on their own until there is just stillness or quietness. Also if you don’t cling and live your life with heedfulness and wisdom then all these clinging and grasping and accumulation will cease to be and you will be very peaceful most of the time.

‘Vi’ is the 3 UniversalCharacteristics of nature and ‘passanā’ is ‘to insight into’, hence Vipassanā is a meditation that leads to the ability of the mind to insight into these 3 universal characteristics of nature to arise the wisdom needed to liberate the mind. So meditation is about insight and not about good or bad meditation. Reaction of mind is due to one’s wrong views that conditioned the arising of the wrong thoughts leading to the fear, worry, anxiety and restlessness of mind. Understand via awareness how these wrong thoughts come to be and how they condition our fear, worry, anxiety, sorrow and lamentation etc. via thoughts projections and proliferation is very important. Then, understand how dhamma can allow us to develop the wisdom needed to free our mind leading to the peace and tranquillity within. This is meditation.

38th Heart Sutra Class 14 April 2013

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Form Dhamma and Mind Dhamma

It is important to understand “What is Form Dhamma?” and “What is Mind Dhamma?” For example, I am a religious person; my religion says I cannot take certain types of meat – not permitted. I cannot touch OR use the bowl that contains this type of meat used by people of other religions. Then by the same logic, they shouldn’t breathe the air that the people of other religions have breathed or the money that they have used. This type of action puts emphasis only on the Form Dhamma – i.e. they only deal with the form and are not able to see the mind as yet. Form has so much meaning to them hence they can be deluded by it and it is because of their attachment to form dhamma that conditions them to cling to the external forms and identify with them as right or wrong, spiritual or non-spiritual.

Outwardly, they try to become more spiritual but inwardly at the mind level they are still ‘barren’ because they cannot see their rather latent defilements,evil mental intentions and thoughts. Another example is taking “vegetarian”. When you don’t understand ‘Why are you vegetarian?’ then the same problem will arise. Some people are vegetarian because they thought by doing so, they will be more spiritual and compassionate because they don’t cause to kill anymore. There may be some truth in that statement but if you don’t have the clear understanding of why you go vegetarian then delusion can still creep in because you fail to understand that spiritualityhas nothing to do with what you eat. For spirituality is about cultivating the mind and purifying it to develop wisdom to liberate our mind. Otherwise, all the herbivorous animals like the cows, the goats and the horses would have been enlightened because they are vegetarians all the time for they only eat grass and the funny part is - what they eat, finally becomes meat too.

The other important point that one need to understand is - for the true cultivators of the way, there will come a time for them to go vegetarian and they will know when and why. For their cultivation has reached the mind level and they are so sensitive and so clear with their understanding that they are ready to go vegetarian. This is a good understanding, but what happens when you don’t have this type of understanding? When your understanding and cultivation have not reached this level of refined compassion then becoming vegetarians like the others, has not much meaning and it will not make you more compassionate and spiritual. It is like at the form level, you are trying to ‘impress’ others(outwardly) that you are a ‘vegetarian’ but inwardly your mind is still not ready and so coarse with all the cravings, selfishness, anger, hatred, jealousy, violence (to harm and kill), pettiness and fear etc. – all these you cannot see, so what is happening?

This is attachment to form dhamma and not cultivating the mind dhamma at the mind level to develop the wisdom to understand beyond form dhamma. This is like some devotees who chant to renew their 5 precepts but still break them. Outwardly, they will say, ‘I am a Buddhist you know – I cannot lie and steal or commit sexual misconduct etc.’ but then inwardly, are they really a Buddhist? As a true Buddhist and to be worthy of the Buddha, the minimum we should do is, to be able to, at least, heed his advice‘to avoid all evil, cultivate goodness and wholesomeness and purify our mind’ right?

I) To avoid all evils, we will have to keep our 5 preceptsvia developing our mindfulness and heedfulness to diligently cultivate the first 2 right efforts:-

1. to abandon the unwholesome thoughts (or mental intentions) that have arisen; and

2. the other right effort to prevent the unwholesome thoughts from arising.

II) To cultivate goodnessand wholesomeness, we need to cultivate the next 2 right efforts:-

1. to promote or arise the right thoughts, right speech and right action that are still not in you; and

2. the other right effort to refine upon whatever right and wholesome mental intentions and thoughts, action and speech that you have developed.

As these 4 right efforts are cultivated at mind level hence they are still thought-based cultivation involving effort or the thought. A better way to cultivate goodness, wholesomeness and blessings is to understand that the absence of evil is by itself already good. With this understanding, one only needs to cultivate the stability of daily mindfulness leading to the heedfulness to constantly avoid all evil mental intention that condition one’s negativity then there will be no more need to use the 4 right efforts anymore.

III) To purify our minds, we need to go beyond thoughtto cultivate only mindfulness or sati (the silent mind) to see things as they are, without the interference of thoughts via its views, opinions and conditioning. This is direct seeing which is also called the 3rd turning cultivation leading to the realisation of Bhāvanāmaya Paññā (wisdom borne of bhāvanā or the meditative discipline).

At the mind level you can still be deluded because you must understand that your mind is the forerunner of all things, Mind is Chief and everything arises from the Mind. So if one acts, speaks and thinks with a wicked/unwholesome mind, then suffering will follow one like the wheel that follows the hoof. So, even though the mind dhamma is more important than form dhamma, one can still get trapped at mind level if one continues to be deluded by the aggregates of mind. When we identify via form then we will discriminate according to what we see or perceive like male and female, old and young, beautiful and ugly, race, nationality, etc. Like I am a Malay, Chinese, and Indian leading to racial discrimination via identification with our external physical forms or appearances. When we are able to see beyond form all these discriminations or divisionsconditioned by form dhamma will cease but then mind dhamma can still arise to cause similar division and discrimination. At mind level, we still have our views, opinions,belief systems, traditions and conditionings etc. that can still divide and cause us to argue with one another. All these divisions and discrimination can only cease when we are able to see beyond form and beyond mind or thoughts leading to the ‘direct seeing’ – with our true nature within. i.e. ‘seeing things as they are’ leading to the understanding of ‘What IS’ - Suchness or Tathatā.

The Buddha explained to us clearly how we perceive form via our mind (mental consciousness). This is the reason why the Buddha said, “Mind is the forerunner of all things and mind is chief. When mind arises, everything comes to be.” So we can return all external forms to mind then mind to our pure nature within to realise the truth of how creation via mental consciousness comes to be, leading to the understanding of their impermanent, non-self and empty nature.

When you awaken, your form and mind will cease and your true nature within or your essence will be realised as the Oneness, the unconditioned and the timeless – beyond thought, beyond mind. The whole world is about Suchness. Truth cannot be monopolised by any religion or any one because Truth IS! Not your truth or my truth for they are our own opinions of truth. Truth is whatever that can explain the way things are! So what is the truth? Truth is dhamma or nature’s laws that govern all of Life and Existence.

1.2 According to Mahāyāna tradition there are 3 levels of seeing Mountains and they are: -

Part 2 – Meditation

2.1 I used to have pain and now I don’t have, why?

Question 1: I used to have pain when I meditate and now I don’t have, why?

Bro. Teoh: You must investigate into it and find out for yourself. Very likely it is because you are more calm now and your ānāpānasati cultivation has improved and you are more relaxed and mindful now. This is a good sign of slight progress but meditation is not just about cultivating calmness of mind and having peaceful experiences leading to the so called - ‘good’ meditation and then jump for joy and cling on to it unknowingly.

It is just like random thoughts that arise during meditation - yogis dislike it and call it ‘bad’ meditation and they become unhappy. So is this meditation? - When your mind still reacts to good and bad meditation.

Meditation is about developing wisdom via awareness to be at peace with all life situations. Even when random thoughts arise, the yogi can still develop the wisdom out of it if the yogi knows how to develop the meditation via satito understand how the random thoughts come to be via inquiring – “Why am I not peaceful?”

When we come to understand that we have been heedless for so long because we seldom train our mind to be in sati and we are seldom heedful, then we will understand that this mind is not peaceful because of the heedless way we have been living our life. This heedless living has conditioned our habitual tendencies of ceaseless thinking and reactions to sense experiences giving rise to the 5 mental hindrances – hence our lack of peace. If we just silent our mind via wisdom and not feed it with anymore thought energies, like trying to focus and concentrate or do something to push away the random thoughts then what happens? Try it and find out for yourself. You will be very surprised that the random thoughts will just slow down on their own and then become silent and still.

This is a form of awakening and wisdom will arise. Then, the yogi will suddenly understand with a lot of joy that the natural state of mind before the stirring and reaction of mind is already silent and still. So the cultivation of sati or mindfulness during meditation is not about doing with the ‘thoughts’ but about understanding that the moment I am silent without thought I am already in sati. That means you don’t have to practise mindfulness or try to be mindful anymore because the practice or the trying is by the ‘thought’. With thoughts so actively ‘doing’ things - how can you be aware? So just silent your mind then sati is automatically there because sati is awareness before thethought or the knowing – it is just a pure awareness leading to the direct seeing. Sati is the silent, choice less awareness of What IS.

39th Heart Sutra Class 21 April 2013

Part 1 - No Heart Sutra Notes

Part 2 – Meditation

2.1 The significance of the 3 Turning of the Four Noble Truths

Question 1: Brother Teoh, the sutta said Buddha became enlightened through self-realization. Then why is it also mentioned in the 1st sermon that the Buddha himself also had to go through the 3 Turnings of the Four Noble Truths to become enlightened?

Bro. Teoh: The Buddha had already cultivated for 3 and ¾ aeons to fulfil his 10 perfections cultivation prior to his full enlightenment in India 2600+ years ago. So the Buddha was already a Bodhisattva then and he had cultivated the 3 Turnings of the Four Noble Truths before. What happened was, when he became fully enlightened under the Bodhi tree, he inherited all his past perfections and cultivation. Hence he knew the 3 turnings of the Four Noble Truths are very important.

In the first sermon, the Buddha’s opening statement is to advise the 5 ascetics to avoid the 2 extremes of:-

1. Sensual Indulgence; and

2. Self-Mortification via following the middle path (which is the Noble 8-Fold Path) as proclaimed by him. The deeper meaning of the middle path is to transcend all dualities.

In the early days when I was cultivating the Buddha dhamma, I haven’t really heard of these 3 turnings of the Four Noble Truths but I was indeed very lucky because I met a Thailand monk Phra Ajahn Yantra Amaro Bhikkhu in 1988 and it was he who constantly (not less than 6 times) advised me to contemplate all the dhamma spoken by the Buddha until they became very, very clear. I didn’t know that this was the 2nd turning of the Four Noble Truths until much later.

He also emphasized a lot on the importance of cultivating the daily mindfulness. Because of my very strong saddhā or faith in Ajahn Yantra and the Triple Gem, I cultivated this dhamma contemplation (or 2nd turning wisdom) and the daily mindfulness a lot and my understanding of the Buddha dhamma started to stabilise and my progress along the path of dhamma became very smooth and fast.

It was only in the year 2004 when I was invited by a sister in the dhamma to share the dhamma that arises the condition for me to really look at the first sermon sutta. I remember it was at section 17, Selangor Vipassanā Society, - when she asked me what topic I wanted to start off with. I then saw a framed photo of the Buddha giving the first sermon to the 5 ascetics on the wall. So I said to her, “since the Buddha started with that I would also start with that first sermon sutta”. I then asked her for a copy of the sutta which she so kindly gave to me. It was a Thai chanting book and the moment I read the 3 turnings of the Four Noble Truths, straightaway I could link my cultivation to it and there was so much joy. I suddenly understood its meaning and how the 3 turnings correspond to the 3 types of wisdom that the Buddha talked about in the sutta. I had developed my own cultivation following these 3 turnings without knowing that they were the 3 turnings of the 4 Noble Truths.

2.2 Our mind can only do one thing at a time and yet simultaneously I could be aware of a lot of other things – why?

Question 2: According to Bro. Teoh, our mind can only do one thing at a time. But in my meditation, how come I could be aware of my in and out breath and simultaneously I could be aware of a lot of other things – like my other thoughts, perceptions and bodily sensation etc. Why is it so?

Bro. Teoh: This is a very good question. You see, when your Ānāpānasati had stabilised, your awareness will enable you to do that because mindfulness of your in and out breath will help you anchor your awareness there. With that awareness (silent mind with inner awareness of the breath) you can definitely be aware of your thoughts, perceptions and bodily sensations or tactile consciousness because every time when you are aware, you are not thinking. So this awareness of all your other mental activities like perceptions, tactile and thought consciousness are actually all separate entities but because your mind can move so fast, it is as if you can multi-task them – as if they are all happening simultaneously. When you are aware of the breath, there is no thought (i.e. mind and breath as one) but the moment you start to arise a perception of what you have perceived, your mental aggregate of ‘saññā’ has arisen so it is a separate entity. Then what do you do? Chances are you will deludedly react or grasp on to it via your views and opinion. Unless you have wisdom (or yoniso manasikāra)at the moment of sense experience your feeling will be conditioned into craving of likes and dislikes almost immediately.

With wisdom, mindfulness and heedfulnessyou can be aware of thought and its content. You can be aware at the moment of perception, feeling and consciousness etc. but the moment you are lost in thought or preoccupied with what you perceived then your mind is no longer aware and you have become heedless. The mind that is aware is always silent. Hence the moment you are aware again, you don’t perceive or think anymore. The mind with silent innerawareness is actually the oneness nature that can take in the entire phenomena world outside.

2.3 During meditation, I was more aware and able to sense the cooking smell, as if in front of my nose – why?

Question 3: During my meditation, I was more aware and I was able to sense the cooking smell from behind the kitchen as if, it is just right in front of my nose. Why?

Bro. Teoh: When your mind is truly silent and you are aware then this is possible because the smell is just the smell consciousness. The smell can travel to your nose because you are more sensitive when the mind is silent and not preoccupied with any thinking or distracted by any worry or anxiety. If it is a vibration like a very distant sound, you can also be aware of it and the vibration hearing consciousness is very clear and sort of magnified. The silent mind in awareness pervades the entire oneness.

Meditation is not about inquiry ‘How come the mind is like that?’ Meditation is about developing the wisdom to understand clearly the universal laws that govern life and existence and to understand how you function as a human being and what this so called human being is all about. It is also to understand how the mind works and functions thereby understanding clearly the 12 Links (or Law of Dependent Origination) as taught by the Buddha. The dhamma or truth is everywhere but why can’t you ‘see’? If only your mind is silent, you will be aware then you can ‘see’. It is as if, all of a sudden, you can awaken to it. Hearing the truth, contemplating and reflecting upon it can bring about a lot of joy. Wisdom is not a rigid knowledge, it must be awakened to. Thought is created via a focusing of the perceived with its content of consciousness that was introduced into it. Initially it is just spacious pureawareness and silence. Learn to see how thought arise. When the mundane mind collapses, the pure awareness nature or supramundane mind will shine forth and it will be a lot clearer.

40th Heart Sutra Class 12 May 2013

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Let things be, then investigate

When random thoughts arise, do notreact, suppress or try to control them, just let things be and flow with them. Then investigate and find out what happens when you do that. You will come to understand that they are just thoughts which come and go according to your mental conditioning. You will also come to understand that when your 5 mental hindrances are around, you are not peaceful and when the 5 spiritualfaculties are there, they will counter the 5 mental hindrances and you are then naturally peaceful. No matter what happens, do not try to control or suppress thoughts. Only through understanding, you free your mind - not through the doing via the thought which is egoic. You must investigate why you are like that and why you are not peaceful?

The essential dhamma as taught by the Buddha will enable us to see the dangers of the 3 evil roots of greed, hatred and delusion, the importance of Heedfulness and the importance of following the advice of the Buddha to avoid all evils (via keeping the precepts), do good and purify the mind (via cultivating the Noble 8-Fold Path) until one is awakened. Similarly one will also see the importance of cultivating Dāna, Sīla and Bhāvanā, based on the Right view with regards to the 3 importantspiritual laws (Kamma Niyāma, Citta Niyāma and Dhamma Niyāma) that govern all of our life and existence so as to understand and see the full picture of the dhamma cultivation clearly.

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 40 (The Twelve Conditioned Causes pg 84 to 88)

2.1 The 10 Dhamma Realms(十法界) (a Buddhist cosmology)

The Buddhist cosmology consists of 10 dhamma realms - First four realms are the realms of the saints or enlightened ones and they are:-

1. The realm of the Buddhas “Zhu Fo Fa Jie” (诸佛法界);

2. The realm of the Bodhisattvas “Pu Sa Fa Jie” (菩萨法界);

3. The realm of the Conditioned Enlightened Ones “Yuan Jue Fa Jie” (缘觉法界);

4. The realm of the Sound Hearers “Sheng Wen Fa Jie” (声聞法界);

The other 6 realms are the realms of the living beings subjected to birth and death and they are equivalent to the 31 Planes of Existence within the Theravāda tradition. They are:-

1. The realm of the heavenly beings “Tian Ren Fa Jie” (天人法界);

2. The realm of the human beings (Ren Dao Fa Jie) (人道法界);

3. The realm of the demons “ A Xiu Luo Fa Jie” (阿修罗法界);

4. The realm of the animals “Chu Sheng Fa Jie” (畜牲法界) ;

5. The realm of the hungry ghosts “E Gui Fa Jie” (饿鬼法界);

6. The realm of hells “Di Yu Fa Jie” (地狱法界).

Some of the great Bodhisattvas like Guan Yin (观音菩萨), Wen Shu (文殊菩萨), Pu Xian (普贤菩萨)and Earth Store (Di Zang Wang) Bodhisattvas (地藏王菩萨)have already fulfilled their 10 perfections to become Sammā Saṃbuddha but due to their great compassion and love for the living beings they have used their great vows to continue to come and save living beings. Just like Earth Store Bodhisattva - one of his vows is that if hell is not empty of living beings, he will not become a Sammā Saṃbuddha.

2.2 Law of Dependent Origination or Paṭicca-Samuppāda

The 1st link is Ignorance. Ignorant of what? - the Truth or Realities of life and existence (i.e. the lack of right views with regards to the Law of Kamma, Four Noble Truths and the Laws Of Cause And Effect or Dependent Origination.) One major aspect of ignorance is sakkāyadiṭṭhiError! Bookmark not defined. or self-delusion. This is the sole culprit that conditions our grasping and holding onto all the creations of the mind as real and trying to own and possess them. Upon understanding clearly via meditation that there is no “I” and “me” or Attā within this 5 aggregates of form and mind of ours, then there is no more wrong view or self-delusion to grasp and to cling onto the phenomenon world of consciousness created by mind. With this wisdom, the form and mind can be free of all suffering.

Because of this ignorance or wrong view, living beings think a lot and thinking arises because they don’t understand what is going on in life. So wanting to know and wanting to understand life, the living beings create more thinking or saṅkhāra hence becoming more heedless. As mind is also an ‘organ’ of thoughts so this thinking creates contact to trigger off mental consciousness or viññāṇa. Then within this viññāṇa, there is the mental form that enters the mind via perception or saññā hence arise the 5 mental aggregates of form and mind or nāma-rūpa. Please read the blue book (dhamma discussion transcript on the Law of Dependent Origination dated May 2008 – based on a direct transcript from a recorded talk as given by me on 8th Sept. 2005) for a more detailed explanation of all the other links.

Part 3– Meditation

3.1 I can be at peace with itchiness but not with pain – why?

Question 1: Brother Teoh, why is it while in Meditation, I can be at peace with most things like itchiness, etc. but only not with pain?

Bro. Teoh: If you can endure itchiness, you should be able to endure pain also because they are quite similar. It is the result of understanding via meditation. Not being at peace with pain could be due to your inability to relax into it via acceptance. That is your mind have negative craving to push away that so called painful sensation that you have labelled to be so, hence giving it the strength to become a hindrance of your mind (ill will). Your mind wants things your way hence conditioning suffering in the mind when you cannot get what you want. You have to silent your mind and investigatethen you will understand what is going on. Meditation is to be done with understanding and not just to endure that pain without understanding. Inquire - why am I not peaceful and not silent? Understand the importance of the 5 spiritual faculties that are needed to counter the 5 hindrances of mind and the danger of allowing the hindrances of mind to be around. Then the answer will come to you through an understanding, and then you will know what to do. Try to just relax into the sensation and not labelling it as such to see what happens. Develop wisdom to free. Always remember only WISDOM FREES!!!

41st Heart Sutra Class 19 May 2013

Part 1 – Nil

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 41 (Emptying The Four Truths pg 91 to 98)

2.1 Definition:

Way – path

Extinction – cessation

The 7 mental Factors of Enlightenment (SattaBojjhaṅgā) are:-

1. Sati – mindfulness or awareness;

2. Dhammavicaya – dhamma investigation;

3. Vīriya – spiritual zeal or tenacity to cultivate the Buddha dhamma;

4. Pīti – spiritual joy/calmness or rapture;

5. Passaddhi – tranquillity (still mind or silent mind without thought); Mind already trained – initially it can still stir because the latent tendencies or anusaya are not rooted out as yet.

6. Samādhi – a collected and unwavering mind (that can see things as they are);

7. Upekkhā – equanimity of mind (borne of wisdom – no more grasping or clinging and stirring of mind & feeling at the moment of sense door contact will remain as pure feeling because there is wise attention or yoniso manasikāra. Similarly for perception, saṅkhāra, consciousness etc.)

For the Arahants, their 5 aggregates of form and mind are pure aggregates and non-grasping because of their wisdom. Their minds cannot get into trouble anymore because the Arahants are no longer deluded. Understand the non-self or anattā nature of our form and mind then there will be no more delusion to condition us into dukkha.

When your grasping arises, you cease to have the enlightenment thought.

The Arahants – still have outflow of thoughts but no more ignorance. The wisdom is enough to liberate them from birth and death of their segmented life – the 5 aggregates of form and mind.

2.2 The Four Noble Truths (Cattāri Ariya-Sacca) :-

1. Dukkha – Suffering

2. Samudaya – cause of arising of dukkha

3. Nirodha – Extinction or cessation of all dukkha (Nibbāna)

4. Magga – the Way or path (Noble 8-fold Path) leading to the cessation of all dukkha.

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Now I understand that pain is just another negative expression of the feeling that I dislike so I just relax and let it be without any aversion

Question 1: Brother Teoh, since the Cameron Highland’s retreat, I am able to feel the different mind states in meditation, especially pain and other subtle emotions. Now I understand that pain is just another negative expression of the feeling that I dislike so I just relax and let it be without any aversion towards it. The mind is now more at peace and because of that, it effortlessly drops to the heart, and when this happens, there are no more obstacles and I feel hollow and free (neither feeling the energy nor anything for that matter.) I am then able to sit much longer without any feeling of numbness or pain anymore in the legs.

Bro. Teoh: This is very good understanding leading to a very good meditative experience that can stabiliseone’s insight. Most cultivators make the mistake of reacting to the tactile sensation that arises and label it as pain because of their mind’s aversion towards that sensation. They do it without knowing that the moment they label it as pain then a mental hindrance (ill will) has arisen. This mental hindrance of ill will hinder the mind from becoming peaceful. The lack of peace will condition the ‘meditator’ to try to note or focus and concentrate the mind to push away the pain so as to become more peaceful. This is introducing thought into the meditation hence no more heedfulness because the doing (of meditation) is by the thought which is actively trying to meditate to become peaceful. This is not knowing that you are already peaceful the moment you are silent and aware (without thought) to just understand the truth and the reality of what is happening within the moment. You will start to understand how the form and mind can be conditioned into reacting to sense experiences via its own sakkāyadiṭṭhi or self-delusion to grasp onto the 5 aggregates of form and mind as the ‘I’ and the ‘ME’. This is real insight borne of sati that can ‘see things as they are’ and understand what is going on there and then without any thought/thinking.

Under vedanānupassanā, the Buddha said when there is feeling (whether pleasant, unpleasant or neutral), you must be aware. This awareness will enable you to understand how your mind via its own wrong views and opinions (or self-delusion) reacts to the sensation and label it as pleasant and unpleasant sensation (or like and dislike leading to the first 2 hindrances of mind). These hindrances of mind which are sensual desire and ill will are also part of the evil roots of greed and hatred. The moment the mind is aware of such delusion, the mind can just relax into the moment without any reaction. Meditation is not just about good, comfortable, peaceful and beautiful meditation. It is about the development of wisdom to enable the mind to deal with all life situations without having to experience anymore mental suffering.

3.2 Understanding the 5 ways to overcome the 5 mental hindrances and unwholesome thoughts that have arisen is also very important. The first 2 ways are:-

1) Think of the direct opposite wholesome thoughts;

2) Contemplate the consequence or danger of holding or clinging on to these unwholesome or wrong thoughts;

These 2 ways are still thought-based meditation but they are important skilful means that can help the cultivator to overcome the unwholesome thoughts via the first 2 right efforts whereas the 3rd and 4th ways are meditative training as taught by the Buddha to help the cultivator develop the wisdom needed to free the mind from such unwholesome thoughts. This is especially so for the 3rdway:-

3) the Buddha said, just silent your mindand don’t do anything. Then the mind will settle down on its own to return to its natural state of silent and stillness before the stirring conditioned by one’s self-delusion. This understanding can lead to profound wisdom.

Just like J Krishnamurti’s famous quote – “The very flowering of the unwholesome thought (like anger etc.) is the very ending of that thought.”

4) Then the Buddha via its 4th way trained the cultivator to develop true understanding or wisdom via tracing its origination factorsand retrospectively reverse it via understanding to liberate the mind.

The origination of these unwholesome thoughts is always via one of the sense doors consciousness especially the seeing, hearing and thought consciousness sense doors. When we understand the cause behind the stirring of the mind then we should contemplateError! Bookmark not defined. the 3 turnings of the 4 Noble Truths (especially the 2nd turnings) until the wisdom is very stable and clear so that the next time when we confront similar seeing or hearing or thought consciousness situations, we will not be deluded by them anymore and can have the wisdom to deal with the situation.

The ability to silent the mind and to accept the reality of the moment without any reaction or judgement is WISDOM. Then to be able to use this clarity of awareness or heedfulness to investigate the truth and characteristics of all phenomena in our daily life is TRUE MEDITATION. The ability to accept the reality of all sensations/feelings is also wisdom. The mind can only understand what is going on via just a silent inner awareness to observe the truth and the reality of the moment without any suppression or control of any emotion – i.e. just allowing it to flower to develop the wisdom that comes with it.

Use the mind sweeping method (combined with mettā) to decondition your heedless thinking so that your mind can be trained to be in a state of relaxed silent inner awareness to be heedful to meditate. This heedfulness will be able to investigate clearly how the tactile consciousness really comes to be. You just silent your mind to be aware to investigate the truth and the reality of the moment and you will understand how they arise and pass away with every moment of arising of the tactile consciousness. You can then be aware of the pulling sensation to understand clearly how the form and mind function. There is always a knowing element that can be aware of the pulling sensation phenomena that has arisen. The awareness or mind moment is always moment to moment – hence no reality at all because they are all conditioned arising mental phenomena/consciousness only but due to your self-delusion you will grasp and cling onto them hence conditioning your suffering via your wrong view. This understanding is very important to enable one to break free from the concept of self or self-delusion.

3.3 Meditation is not about right and wrong

Question 2: Brother Teoh, when I meditate I don’t feel any pain but I am aware of thoughts. When aware, I tell myself to be silent and go back to ānāpānasati. Is that correct?

Bro. Teoh: Meditation is not about right and wrong but it is more towards realising wisdom that can free our mind from all suffering. When you are just silent and aware, you are heedful and in that heedful state you can develop a lot of understanding via observing your own form and mind without any judgement or comment. You only need to continue doing ānāpānasati when you need to train your mind to be aware so that it is not heedless. Once your heedfulness has already stabilised, technically you don’t need to hold onto the ānāpānasati training anymore. Similarly for the mind sweeping and mettā exercises too, for they are just skilful means to train the mind. The key is relaxation of both the body and mind followed by the silent mind leading to a tranquil state of mind that has clarity and awareness within to see things as they are thereby realising the wisdom. So meditation has 4 important supports and they are: - relax, aware, 24 hours continuity and trust.

The key to meditation is awareness or sati which is also the 1st factor of enlightenment. With awareness, you can develop the understanding of why your mind is like that, how it is conditioned to react to sense experiences via your wrong and deluded views and opinions of things. That is dhamma investigation. Inquire deep into who is doing the meditation? What is the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’ all about? Why did the Buddha say it is sakkāyadiṭṭhi or self-delusion? Why are the thought so active, judgemental and intrusive and why can’t, they just let things be. The moment you are aware, the dhamma will come to you. Understand it and awaken to it. Relax and be with the moment in silent awareness to experience all of the beauty of life and existence. Once you realise, you will know how to accord and flow, then you will not be afflicted anymore hence life becomes very meaningful and very beautiful.

All these can be understood if you are not deluded. See how your attachment and craving arise during your meditation when you lack wisdom. Most cultivators attach to the good and calm meditation. They hold onto all the things that their mind has created via their consciousness and its content not knowing these things are all impermanent and empty thus causing suffering the moment they grasped onto them.

Through this dhamma sharing, you can develop wisdom much faster. Otherwise, it will take you a long time to understand the full picture of the cultivation yourself. These short notes are very useful and all of you must read through them again and again to stabilise your understanding. Similarly for the recorded talks – you must listen to them again and again to develop the clear understanding of the dhamma shared. This is how you can progress along the path of dhamma.

Appendix 1 - The Heart Of Prajna Pāramitā Sutra

The Heart of Prajna Pāramitā Sutra

When Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was cultivating the profound Prajna Pāramitā, he illuminated the five skandhas and saw that they are all empty and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty.

Sāriputta, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So too are feeling, cognition, formation, and consciousness.

Sāriputta, all dharmas are empty of characteristics. They are not produced, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure, and they neither increase nor decrease.

Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, cognition, formation, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch, or dharmas; no field of the eyes, up to and including no field of mind-consciousness; and no ignorance or ending of ignorance, up to and including no old age and death or ending of old age and death.

There is no suffering, no accumulation, no cessation, no Path. And no understanding and no attaining because nothing is attained, the Bodhisattva, through reliance on Prajna paramita, is unimpeded in his mind because there is no impediment, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dream-thinking far behind. Ultimately he attains Nirvana!

All Buddhas of the three periods of time attain Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi through reliance on Prajna Paramita. Therefore, know that Prajna Paramita is a great spiritual mantra, a great bright mantra, a supreme mantra, an unequalled mantra. It can remove all suffering; it is genuine and not false. That is why the mantra of Prajna Pāramitā was spoken.

Recite it like this:

Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha!

Appendix 2 – 般 若 波 罗 蜜 多 心 经

般 若 波 罗 蜜 多 心 经

bō rě bō luó mì duō xīn jīng

观 自 在 菩 萨，行 深 般 若 波 罗 蜜 多 时，

Guān zì zài pú sà , xíng shēn bō rě bō luó mì duō shí，

照 见 五 蕴 皆 空， 度 一 切 苦 厄。

zhào jiàn wǔ yùn jiē kōng, dù yī qiē kǔ è。

舍 利 子，色 不 异 空， 空 不 异 色 色 即 是 空， 空 即 是 色。

shè lì zǐ, sè bù yì kōng， kōng bù yì sè , sè jí shì kōng, kōng jí shì sè。

受 想 行 识，亦 复 如 是。舍 利 子，是 诸 法 空 相，

shòu xiǎng xíng shí， yì fù rú shì shè lì zǐ, shì zhū fǎ  kōng xiāng,

不 生 不 灭，不 垢 不 净，不 增 不 减， 是 故 空 中 无 色, 无 受 想 行 识，

bù shēng bù miè, bù gòu bù jìng, bù zēng bù jiǎn, shì gù kōng zhōng wú sè, wú shòu xiǎng xíng shí,

无 眼 耳 鼻 舌 身 意，无 色 声 香 味 触 法,无 眼 界，

wú yǎn ěr bí shé shēn yì, wú sè shēng xiāng wèi chù fǎ, wú yǎn jiè,

乃 至 无 意 识 界，无 无 明， 亦 无 无 明 尽，乃 至 无 老 死，亦 无 老 死 尽。

nǎi zhì wú yì shí jiè, wú wú míng , yì wú wú míng jìn, nǎi zhì wú lǎo sǐ, yì wú lǎo sǐ  jìn。

无 苦 集 灭 道，无 智 亦 无 得，以 无 所 得 故。

Wú kǔ jí miè dào, wú zhì yì wú dé, yǐ wú suǒ dé gù。

菩 提 萨 埵，依 般 若 波 罗 蜜 多 故，心 无 挂 碍。

Pú tí sà duǒ, yī bō rě bō luó mì duō gù xīn wú guà ài。

无 挂 碍 故，无 有 恐 怖 远 离 颠 倒 梦 想，究 竟 涅 槃。

wú guà ài gù, wú yǒu kǒng bù, yuǎn lí diān dǎo mèng xiǎng, jiū jìng niè pán。

三 世 诸 佛，依 般 若 波 罗 蜜 多 故，得 阿 耨 多 罗 三 藐 三 菩 提。

sān shì zhū fó, yī bō rě bō luó mì duō gù, dé ā nuò duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí。

故 知 般 若 波 罗 蜜 多，是 大 神 咒， 是 大 明 咒，

gù zhī bō rě bō luó mì duō, shì dà shén zhòu, shì dà míng zhòu,

是 无 上 咒， 是 无 等 等 咒。 能 除 一 切 苦，真 实 不 虚。

Shì wú shàng zhòu, shì wú děng děng zhòu。néng chú yī qiē kǔ, zhēn shí bù xū。

故 说 般 若 波 罗 蜜 多 咒。

gù shuō bō rě bō luó mì duō zhòu。

即 说 咒 曰：

Jí shuō zhòu yuē：

揭 谛 揭 谛，波 罗 揭 谛，波 罗 僧 揭 谛 菩 提 萨 婆 诃。(3X)

Jiē dì jiē dì, bō luó jiē dì , bō luó sēng jiē dì, pú tí sà pó hē。

Appendix 3 – Lesson 5 of the Satipatthana Sutta 6 April 2014

Audio : http://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Teoh-WPCS-140406-Appendix-3-6th-Satipatthana-Sutta-Lesson-5.mp3

Notes Taken To Assist In The Understanding:-

1.0 Pure Land Chanting - Is It Meditation?

1.1 Developing the Five Spiritual Faculties

Just like what Sis. Monica said, chanting is also one of the methods or techniques or skillful means used to anchor your mind but the Pure Land type of chanting is more than that. Because in the Pure Land tradition, they have this great faith in the Buddha and the Bodhisattva that they chant and due to the great vows of these Buddha and Bodhisattva it can arise the causes and conditions for them to develop the very strong faith to connect to their vows. Their vows are very heavy and powerful because of their great virtues, wisdom and perfections hence all these vows can become part of nature’s laws and they will manifest and respond on their own. That is, you don’t need to have the Buddhas or Guan Yin Bodhisattva to be all over the places to listen to you and respond. Because of the Buddhas’ and the Bodhisattvas’ great vows, if you chant with understanding and you do it sincerely with very strong faith, it can help you to develop a very strong affinity with their natures and such faith and affinity will connect you to their vows. And their vows will bring forth the causes and conditions to assist you to progress along the path of dhamma and help you develop the 5 spiritual faculties needed for you to develop the meditation.

1.2 Leading to Heedful Living

You may see them like only chanting, chanting and chanting, but in actual fact they are training their mind to be heedful via mindfulness of the Buddha’s name. Their faith in the Buddha’s name will arise the strong Saddhā (due to the repeated chanting with understanding) leading to the vīriya (spiritual zeal) then together with the sati developed via chanting,walking and bowing (reverence salutation) it will bring forth the Sati and Samādhi needed to develop the clear mind (which is the meditative or silent mind without thoughts) to ‘see things as they are’ to arise the wisdom which is the last of the 5 spiritual faculties. When Sati and Samādhi are established then during every moment of their daily living – when they see, hear, smell, taste and feel something, they will be very different because they will be no longer heedless like before. Instead they will be heedful most of the time and their mind are very peaceful, calm and just aware withoutthought (hence clarity of mind) most of the time and this is possible because they hold their mantra with faith and they do it very sincerely and diligently.

1.3 Overcoming the Five Mental Hindrances leading to Direct Seeing

To develop the meditation, we only need to develop these 5 spiritual faculties which will help us overcome the 5 mental hindrancesthat hinder one from becoming peaceful and mindful. These 5 mental hindrances, you don’t have to fight them, control or suppressed them or worry about them because once these 5 spiritual faculties of Saddhā, Vīriya, Sati, Samādhi and Pañña are there, the hindrances will cease to be, and then the mind with sati and Samādhi will have the clarity to see things as they are, to arise the wisdom (pañña).

Then their mind is no longer heedless and they will no longer see things with the conditioned mind – i.e. no more ‘seeing’ with their views and opinions and the egoic mind and their thoughts will no longer interfere with the direct seeing which will lead to the awakening, understanding and the enlightenment. They will see the dependent origination within their own form and mind. They will start to understand the 4 Noble Truths on their own. Then they will start to see clearly what the Buddha meant by the 5 mental hindrances and the 5 spiritual faculties. They will also see clearly the 3 evil roots of greed, hatred and delusion within their own mundane mind and why the Buddha called them evil roots. They will also come to understand how the 7 factors of enlightenment come to be and how their sense bases actually function. I.e. how upon contactconsciousness and feeling comes to be and because they have sati and Samādhi they will also have the ability to see clearly how through delusion one is conditioned into negativity, grasping, clinging and attachment then how suffering comes to be. Then when they are just silent and aware they will come to understand how the arising of the non-arisen hindrance of mind comes to be. Then later on when they continue to be just silent and aware they will come to know how the disappearance or abandoning of the arisen hindrance comes to be. Then how through non-delusion they will know how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned hindrance comes to be and how all these are possible. This is how they will cultivate the Satipaṭṭhānaor four foundation of mindfulness.

1.4 Leading to Enlightenment

Satiwill allow them to also understand how their mind stirred via their delusion to react to sense experiences to arise the craving (or their evil roots) to condition their own suffering. This is how Pure Land chanting can also lead to the enlightenment in the here and the now. (Note: Sati is awareness or mindfulness before the knowing and Samādhi is the Collected and unwavering silent mind).

1.5 Cultivation of the Five Spiritual Faculties facilitates Meditation

Saddhā or faith will make your mind confident, composed and very calm hence no more restlessness and doubt. And when there is vīriya, you will not be sleepy anymore because this vīriya or spiritual zeal will drive you to diligently cultivate. Then when you have SATI, you are not heedless anymore, you are mindful and always aware and your mind is always with the moment in sati and when you stabilize it - Samādhi will arise. With Samādhi established, the mind will be collected and unwavering hence it can see things as theyareto understand the truth and the reality leading to the wisdom. Once these 5 Spiritual Faculties are in place, your mental hindrances will be gone, then you will automatically know how to meditate.

1.6 Mind and Chanting as One

That’s why when they chant and chant until that ‘Fo Hao’ or the ‘Buddha’s name’ and the awarenessbecome one. I.e. Mind and the chanting as one - like there is no one to chant; just an awareness of the chanting, of the vibration then their Sati will stabilize. At that time, they will be very different because the 5 spiritual faculties that are so stable will transform them. Then, throughout the day, even when they are not chanting the Buddha’s name, they will also have that type of heedful mind. It will like chant with awareness by itself. Sometimes you don’t chant also, it will be there.

1.7 Awareness of the Chanting

There was this very soothing and continuous chanting of ‘Amitofo, Amitofo, Amitofo …..’ in its background. So as I listen to that chanting which was repeated many times on the background I was also able to follow and chant it so naturally and so mindfully. I can chant it until it becomes like very clear to me. Then, one day while I was driving, all of a sudden this chanting just arise from inside my brain and there was such clarity that I stopped my car somewhere and silenced my mind to listen to it. It was like the mind and the chanting was in complete harmony and synchrony - as one. I remembered initially I was chanting then all of a sudden it was like no one is chanting then everything stopped then somewhere underneath my brain from behind the chanting automatically come out and the mindfulness on it was so stable and so clear and it just stayed there fully aware of everything. That’s how I came to know this type of Pure Land chanting can also develop the 5 spiritual faculties of saddhā, vīriya, sati and Samādhi leading to the wisdom and how the mind can become one with it. And there was a realization that there was no one chanting and the naturewithin is just aware!Fully Aware! The chanting just repeats itself and there was just an awareness of it. So the real chanting is very different because there is no one to chant. It is just the mind that is aware of phenomenon – whether it is physical, mental or nature’s phenomena. In this case it is a mental phenomenon.

1.8 Cultivation of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness

All these are possible when you had properly developed all these spiritual faculties until they are very stable. Then even in the midst of your daily life, your mind will be very different because of the stability of your Sati and Samādhi. You will be able to see your mental intentions, your aggregates of mind (like your feelings, perceptions, activities of mind, emotions, mind states, etc.) including the consciousness. Then you will also see your mental and physicalflows and after that you will be able to use it to cultivate the 4 foundations of mindfulness and your wisdom will keep on arising. The 4 foundations of mindfulness cultivation will bring forth the enlightenment because the cultivation of the 4 foundations of mindfulness will cumulate into the cultivation of the 4 Noble Truths. Then the 4th Noble Truth which is the meditation as taught by the Buddha is the Noble 8-foldpath (because it leads to the end of all suffering which is the enlightenment in the here and the now). So finally whatever meditation you do if it does not lead you back to the 4 foundation of mindfulness, the 4 Noble truths and the Noble 8-fold path then it is not the meditation as taught by the Buddha.

1.9 Cultivation of the Noble Eight Fold Path

Caution: If you think chanting alone is the meditation then you can be deceived. Chanting is just a technique or a skillful means to initially train your mind to develop the 5 spiritual faculties of saddhā, vīriya, sati, samādhi and pañña needed to overcome the 5 mental hindrances. After that only the real meditation begins. That is after your 5 spiritual faculties had been cultivated and your daily mindfulnessstabilized then only the real meditation which is the cultivation of the Noble 8-fold path via daily mindfulness can begin. And within the Noble 8-fold path we had the sammā sati path factor which is the cultivation of the 4 foundations of mindfulness (which is also the focus of our dhamma discussion).

2.0 Understanding the essence of the Buddha’s teaching

Hope this is clear and that is also the reason why I had always advised you all that - meditation is to be done with understanding otherwise you are wasting your time and you cannot progress because you are not focus and you are actually doing it without the proper understanding. So be very clear about the whole teaching. Pariyatti, or the learning of the doctrine or teaching, is the 1st phase of the dhamma cultivation. Only after having a very clear understanding of the dhamma then only can one put the dhamma into practice in daily life effectively leading to the 2nd phase of the dhamma cultivation which is Paṭipatti. Be patient with Pariyatti otherwise one becomes gullible when cultivating Paṭipatti.

2.1 Heedfulness = Sati + Noble Eight Fold Path cultivation

One must understand that the essence of Buddha teaching is the 4 Noble Truths and how from there all the other teachings come to be.How and why the Buddha highlighted the importance of Heedfulness via Dhammapada verses 21, 22 & 23. And why one must understand what heedfulness is. Heedfulness = Ever mindful + Constantly meditative (to cultivate the Noble 8-fold path or meditation as taught by the Buddha) as defined by the Buddha’s Dhammapada verse 23.

2.2 Sati – First Factor of Enlightenment

That’s the reason why the 1st factor of enlightenment is Sati because without Sati, there is no Meditation and without Sati, there is no Heedfulness and according to Dhammapada verse 21 - without Heedfulness, you are heedless and the Heedless are as if dead (spiritually). All these are very clear, so to develop the meditation one must initially train one’s mind to be Heedful.

2.3 Stabilise the Mind (Sati) to Cultivate the Four Foundations of Mindfulness

This is also the reason why the 1st category of training of the 1st foundation of mindfulness (Kāyānupassanā) is Ānāpānasati which is just to train the mind to be mindful or aware of the in and out breath - to do just that. Then stabilize it and used it to cultivate mindfulness of the 4 postures leading to the daily mindfulness to develop all the other subsequent four foundations of mindfulness training and cultivation.

3.0 PITFALLS of thought-based meditation

When you understand all these, you will know how to proceed. Otherwise, you will deviate, because most living beings are gullible. They thought meditation is some form of fantasy or like something very mystical. Then, when they meditate and develop some form of special experience that other people don’t experience, then they think this is very special. Then, they will attach and cling, and they want to know, - ‘is it a sign that I had achieved or realized’. That’s how one deviates because they don’t understand what their focus is? They don’t inquire to find out - what is meditation? When you don’t have a clear understanding of what you do, you will end up – keep deviating. Then you may also end up having fantasies about meditation. That’s how many cultivators or meditators got trapped and the other danger is they cannot see thought, they cannot see the danger of thought. They cannot understand what Sati is and because Sati is beyond thought and if you continue to allow thought to come in and distract you, then it will become thought-based meditation instead of mindfulness based meditation. All of thought-based meditation will not bring you the meditative results that you are looking for because what you want to realize is the dhamma, which is Akāliko. Akāliko means timeless - this dhamma is beyond thought, beyond time, so if the instrument you use to meditate is thought, you cannot reach it, because you are limited by the instrument you use to develop the meditation. So, with this, I think it should be very clear by now, and you shouldn’t make the same mistake again. By now you all should start to understand why I keep on emphasizing in the past, that meditation had to be done with understanding. You don’t just blindly followed instructions. Just like what the Buddha told the Kālāmā “You should not belief what the spiritual teacher tells you, not even the Buddha himself.” You have to investigate and find out. Then, when you understand you will be very clear, your mind will be very different and you will know how to proceed with the cultivation. Otherwise, you become gullible. Then, again you deviate.

4.0 Sati – “Mindfulness” or “Awareness”?

Q. (Sis. Chwee): Bro. Teoh, I am afraid I had to ask this somewhat simple question. Sati in Pāḷi means mindfulness or awareness because I see the words being used interchangeably and sometimes I just get confused, can you please explain again, thank you.

A. (Bro. Teoh): It is a very good question. You see Sati is a Pāḷi word. It is translated as MINDFULNESS - a very commonly accepted translation but nobody really inquire into this word “mindfulness”. If you split up the two words then you will get the meaning – ‘Mind in fullness’, right? But you never inquire or ask “What does this mean? - The mind is full of what”? If you say “Full of thoughts”, then that is definitely not Sati. So it is full of what? Awareness, right?

Sis. Chwee: I actually defined it as “Mind in fullness of that moment”

Bro. Teoh: It still doesn’t explain anything right? When you say, ‘Mind in fullness of that moment’ - what are you trying to tell me? Because within that moment, you can also think – i.e. mind full of thinking within that moment”.

Sis. Chwee: No! You can’t think when you are in the moment. How can you think? …you are supposed to be…..

Bro. Teoh: You can be in the moment and still think because you are not aware.

4.1 A Mind Full of Awareness

But when you are in the moment without thought, then it is a different thing. Mind is full of awareness, and then you are without thought. That’s why I said you never inquire – “Full of What?” When mind is full of awareness, it cannot have thought. It can only be aware. But that word is not use. Only in recent years, later teachers used that word. Then they try incorporating them now. That’s why ‘Awareness’ has become a new word, nowadays. The actual word should be ‘PureAwareness’ without thought - that is SATI.

4.2 Be With the Moment Without Thought

But they went on to confuse it with another Pāḷi word, and they said, it carries the meaning of remembrance and recollection. They said SATI has a lot to do with memory and recollection. So, ‘What is SATI?” I don’t want to know the history because when I meditate, I can be with the moment without thought, hence I can understand. That’s why I know what Sati is. Sati is “Mind in Fullness” – Fully of awareness without thought. That’s why I said, ‘Sati is Awareness before the knowing and you just aware’. Why can’t you just be aware? Because you think a lot, you are so heedless and you are seldom aware within the moment because of your habitual thinking/tendencies borne of Heedlessness or habitual heedless thinking. You also have a lot of fear, anxiety, and the hindrances of mind like sensual desire, ill-will, restlessness and doubt – they keep on arising to haunt you, hence the reason why you cannot be aware.

5.0 Sati – Pure Awareness before the knowing

Awareness before the knowing means what? The knowing is your thought’s perception, your aggregates of mind. Initially it is just a pure awareness, before even feeling or perception arises, before the labeling, the words and the views and opinions interfere. It is just like what the Buddha said: “In the seeing, there is only the seeing consciousness”. Do you understand? And there is no one to see, just the pure consciousness arising - the pure awareness before you input the content of consciousness or just the pure direct seeing, without the word, without the labeling, without your conscious mind focusing and perceiving through memory to recall, etc.

5.1 General Spacious Awareness

It is just a general spacious awareness, - just aware without a ‘centre’. The moment thought comes out - it means, you had already focused and recall throughmemory and that’s not Sati anymore.

So, when you want to understand what Sati is, you need to have a very calm and silent mind. If your mind is not silent, the true nature cannot shine forth. The true mind cannot come out because your mind can only do one thing at a time. Either it is Aware within or it is lost in thought - heedlessly lost in thought. The human being because of their Heedlessness and their delusion, they are constantly lost in thought and seldom or hardly aware. That is the reason why the Buddha said, ‘the heedless are as if dead (spiritually dead)’.

5.2 Awareness and Clear Comprehension (Sati Sampajañña)

Q. (Sis. Chwee): Then, is it okay, for me to think of the 4 Foundations of Mindfulness as the 4 Foundations of Awareness - is it appropriate?

A. (Bro. Teoh): Yes! You can say that. It’s not harmful but later part in the sutta, they add in the word Sampajañña which is clear comprehension and call it Sati Sampajañña. So you not only mindful, you must also have clear comprehension of what you are mindful of. That’s why the 3rd category of cultivation under kāyānupassanā is - awareness and clear comprehension of what is going on or Sati Sampajañña. There is clarity. Then there is also the sentence ‘aware internally and externally’. All these, you will slowly understand when you cultivate. Before you cultivate, when you had not realized the enlightenment as yet, it is very difficult for you to use your mundane mind’s rational thinking to try to understand. When you use thought it is very difficult. That’s why Ms. Lee printed out this J Krishnamurti’s quote on ‘What is Awareness’ which I just send out for sharing today. Maybe it is meant to be.

5.3 ‘Awareness is the Silent and Choiceless Observation of What Is’ – J Krishnamurti

The below J Krishnamurti’s daily quote below was read by Sis Eng Bee at Bro Teoh’s request:

“Awareness is the silent and choiceless observation of what is; in this awareness the problem unrolls itself, and thus it is fully and completely understood. A problem is never solved on its own level; being complex, it must be understood in its total process. To try to solve a problem on only one level, physical or psychological, leads to further conflict and confusion. For the resolution of a problem, there must be this awareness, this passive alertness which reveals its total process.” – J Krishnamurti

5.3.1 What is “Silent”?

Can you all understand this daily quote? What is “silent”? Not just don’t talk! “Silent” here means no chattering - completely no mental chattering and verbalization. No mental chattering/verbalization means no thought. That’s what awareness is. But sometimes when you are silent, it doesn’t mean you are aware because you can be doing a disciplined attention. You silent your mind like no thought but you have a thought inside there that disciplined you via saying, “I must be mindful”, then you are no longer mindful or aware. That’s why - don’t try to be mindful because the trying is by the thought but instead just maintain silence.

5.3.2 What is “Awareness”?

The moment you are silent, you are already aware so why do you want to be aware or try to be aware?

During one of the recorded ‘Satipaṭṭhāna sutta workshop’ I heard this funny question that they asked: “Who is aware?” and “Aware of what?” If you inquire this way, then you will get caught because you thought awareness is a ‘knowing’. That’s why you ask ‘who is aware?’ and ‘Aware of what?’ Very logical, isn’t it? But because most people’s Sakkāyadiṭṭhi or self-delusion is so strong so how can they be aware? The thought alwayswants to be aware via verbalizing. That’s why it is a focused attention. Focused Attention means the thought wants to be aware, the thought is still active behind the awareness so how can it be aware? Understand or not? The thought is trying to be silent, to be aware of what it wants to be aware, so the moment you want to be aware of that thing, you are no longer aware.

5.3.3 Choiceless – Not Making Any Choices or Decisions

Awareness is just silent, then Choiceless means you don’t try to make a choice; there is no decision of what you are aware of. Like the Buddha saying, ‘In the seeing, there is only the seeing consciousness’ and there is no one to see as yet. It is just the consciousness, just like the physics experiment, - upon contact, the light bulb lights up, which means the consciousness just arise naturally. Can’t you just be aware of the consciousness, the pure consciousness before you input the content of consciousness? The trouble with you is you are so fast and via memory, you already label it as flower, book, etc because of your conditioned thinking. That’s why you cannot see. In order to see, you must have this ability to be silent and you must have SATI and SAMĀDHI. Otherwise, these aggregates of mind, they will arise very fast – the mind stir and they come up very fast and you cannot do anything about it.

So, that’s why when you read J. Krishnamurti’s quote, ‘Sati is Awareness’ and what is Awareness? J. Krishnamurti said “Awareness is the silent and choice less observation of ‘What IS’.” ‘What IS’ is the realitybefore the labeling, that actual thing. So don’t try to go and develop a duality to react to what you see or observed. That’s why, it is just a “Choiceless observation of the reality” - of “What is” and ‘What is’ means the ISness of thing or the reality. ISness is Suchness. That’s why the Buddha is called the Tathāgata, who is an expert in Tathatā and Tathatā is “suchness”. So, “the choiceless observation of what is” - is observing the ISness of things or is just the silent “AWARENESS” of the reality within the moment.

5.3.4 Listening Attentively Without Thought

Sis. Monica: “In one of my meditation on Thursday, (correct me if I am wrong – whether that is SATI or not?), I could hear the talk that you were giving and I know that there were brothers and sisters around me but there was this joy in me (I wasn’t thinking and I know that it was after the whole thing that I started to recollect back). I was so joyful, I know that there was Bro. Teoh talking and there were people around but, just that and then nothing else.”

Bro. Teoh: Okay Sādhu! Because when you listen attentively, there is no interference from your thought, from your opinions, your views, your conditioning, etc - you don’t comment inside there. You just listen attentively - without any reaction. That’s what choiceless awareness is all about. But the moment you perceived or the mind cognized, that’s already the mind coming out of SATI. But in her case, she is very good because she did not allow it to continue to think, which means, there is awareness; then, there is a perception of Bro. Teoh talking, all the vibrations, etc - just goes in. Then, if she wants to understand, she can understand. But she did not arise any thought to interfere – which means there is no view, opinion or conditioning coming out of it. Just an open mind that listen - no right no wrong. That’s how I investigate with the silent mind to find out whether it is the truth or not? When I can listen attentively without thought, which means I have very good Sati or Awareness. Then this Sati can do dhamma investigation.

5.3.5 Sakkāyadiṭṭhi (Self-Delusion) and the Three Evil Roots

I will go on with the JK’s quote then you will understand better. The quote said, “Awareness is the silent and choiceless observation of ‘What IS’.” Then it goes on to say, ‘Problems will always exist where the activities of the self are dominant.....’ Can you all understand this statemen? What are the activities of the SELF? What is SELF? Self is the “Ego”, the personality, the “I”, and the “Me” and this Egoic mind is your thought or the 5 mentalaggregates. When there is Sakkāyadiṭṭhi, or self-delusion, then this thought becomes egoic. Which means the thought will have selfishness, emotion, doubt and fear, etc and they are part of the 3 evil roots of ‘Greed’, ‘Hatred’ and ‘Delusion’. So, it is exactly like what the Buddha taught: ‘Problems will always exist where the activities of the self (conditioned by self-delusion) are dominant’ or when the 3 evils roots are there. Because when there is this self-delusion to grasp at the Form and Mind, thinking that it is ‘you’, whether it is the human being or the mental 5 aggregates of Rūpa, Vedanā, Saññā, Saṅkhāra and Viññāṇa then suffering will arise. Any of these five aggregates of form and mind, if you grasp and cling through self-delusion, thinking that ‘feeling’ is you, that all these external forms you see - you can own or possess them and thinking that all of the perceptions that you perceived and labelled are real – also can be owned, can be possessed; including all of the views and opinions that you are holding on to plus all of the phenomena and things that you become conscious of - you can grasp and cling on to them via giving them meaning then suffering will follow you. Hence the reason why the Buddha said in his 1st Noble Truth final summary, - “In short the 5 grasping aggregates (or Upādāna Khandha) are dukkha”. So, the teaching is exactly the same because the thought which is the 5 mental aggregates, if you grasp on to them as the ‘Me’ and the ‘I’ via self-delusion then suffering will arise. Or like what J Krishnamurti said via his daily quote: - ‘So, problems will always exist where the activities of the self (which is self-delusion) are dominant. To be aware - which are and which are not the activities of the self, needs constant vigilance......’

5.3.6 Be Constantly Aware and Heedful

Constant vigilance here means constantly AWARE and Heedful. That is, when the evil roots are there, when the ‘Self’ is there, when the selfishness, the emotional negativities, the fear, and the manifestation of the mental EGO are there, you have to be aware - that’s what vigilance means. The Buddha used the words: - ‘Constantly Aware” which is the same as Vigilance. That’s why in certain books, HEEDFULNESS is also translated as VIGILANCE. So, it is only when you are constantly aware, only then you can do something about it, otherwise you cannot because the mind is so fast.

5.3.7 Vigilance or Awareness is NOT Disciplined or Focused Attention

Then, what did Krishnamurti say? This vigilance is Not a disciplined attention. Just like what I had shared with you all earlier on. How do you discipline and do you know what discipline is? Just like in the military! Full discipline, - ‘you must do this, you must do that, you must note this and you must note that, you must meditate like that’, and all these are disciplined attention or focusedAttention, do you understand? But AWARENESS has nothing to do with the thought. Who discipline? The thought wants to discipline. The thought wants to be aware; the thought wants to maintain attention. And the worst is – the thought wants to meditate. And what happens when the ‘meditator’ which is the thought is so actively ‘meditating’! You are no longer aware! - Because you are verbalising via the thought. Now you can laugh but last time you just follow instructions and do without understanding. You are just being gullible.

This Vigilance is not a disciplined attention because once the thought is active, then you are no longer in Sati already; for Sati is awareness or the silence before the thinking or knowing. Since Vigilance or Sati is an extensive Awareness which is choiceless as opposed to disciplined attention which is thought based hence the reason why J Krishnamurti go on to say that: “Disciplined attention gives strength to the self”. This is because when the user of thought is deluded then thought will be Egoic. Egoic means self-centred. So, when you try to discipline and when you try to ‘meditate’ with the thought or when you try to be aware it is already a disciplined attention already because the trying is by the thought. And when thought is there, you give it mental energy and this will strengthen the self, the ego which is the personality. Then, what happen? You can no longer see things as they are because you are preoccupied with the doing via the thoughts hence you lack clarity.

Whereas Awareness on the other hand is not self-induced and there is nobody inside there to beaware. It is just an awareness ‘nature’, which is the essence of mind – the silent mind which is just aware – a general spacious or specific phenomenon awareness before the knowing or labelling via thoughts or the aggregates of mind.

5.3.8 Meaning of “What Is”

Awareness or Sati is the silent and choiceless observation of What IS! ‘What IS’ is Suchness – the ISness of things, the Reality or the Truth. Not a concept, not an ideal, not what you perceived to be but just ‘What IS’ – that Reality. Silence means mentally silent. Not just you don’t talk; then Choiceless awareness means no views, no opinions and no judgement, etc. You don’t go and decide and you don’t go and discriminate. You don’t go and create dualities out of nothing. So awareness is the silent and choiceless observation of the Truth or the Reality which is the same as ‘when you see things as they are’ – it means the Truth which is also ‘What IS’ or the ISness of things.

5.3.9 Self-Delusion and Seeing Things as They Are

Then J Krishnamurti said, “Problems will always exist when the activities of the self are dominant”. Self as you know is your atta, your self-delusion, your misconception – that conditioned you to cling on to these 5 aggregates of form and mind – both aspects. The first aspect of it is as a human being. We all have a physical body or form (1st aggregate) then we all have a mind which can feel, perceive, think and become conscious (the other 4 mental aggregates). Combining them we have the 1st aspect of the 5 aggregates of form and mind as the human being or a living being. The 2nd aspect is the 5 mental aggregates of form and mind that arise with every moment of sense door consciousness. When you attach and cling, there is this ego or personality that you create and that is what Krishnamurti call the Self. The moment you have this egoic mind or the sense of ‘Self’ created, then it is capable of selfishness, emotional negativities, and fear through delusion hence conditioning the 3 evil roots to arise and that’s why J. Krishnamurti also said the same via his quote that ‘problems will always exist when the activities of the self (which is the egoic mind or self-delusion) are dominant’. Then he said, ‘In order to be aware which are and which are not the activities of the self you need constant vigilance and this vigilance is not a disciplined attention.’ Discipline attention means regimented attention – which means through the thought you want to be aware and through the thought you want to discipline yourself. Like - ‘this is how you should meditate and this is how you should note. This is how you should do things’. All these are disciplined or focus attention and not a silent general awareness. So when you understand that vigilance is not a disciplined attention but an extensive awareness which is choiceless then you can develop the understanding of what Sati or awareness is?

Then Krishnamurti goes on to say, ‘this disciplined attention gives strength to the self’ because the thought which is egoic is involved. So when you try to discipline and meditate with the thought or when you try to be aware – who is trying? The thought is trying and when the thought is there you give energyto it and it will strengthen the Self or the Ego. Then what happen? You become more deluded and heedless. Whereas Awareness on the other hand is not self-induced and there is nobody inside there to be aware. It is just an awareness ‘nature’ – an essence of mind which is just aware and ever mindful within. It just like inquiring – ‘who is aware of the silence of nature?’

In the middle of the night, when there is no more vibration, which means no morehearing consciousness but yet there is still a ‘nature’ within ‘you’, that can be aware of that silence, that stillness, - the mind that doesn’t chatter anymore because there is no more thought and it is not a condition arising consciousness. So who is aware of that silence? It is just the essence of mind that is aware of silence and that is ‘your’ true nature, your true mind but you seldom or hardly touches it. Even when you touch it momentary, it is so fast and you couldn’t recognise it. For most of you, you only know thoughts. That is the only instrument you have been using rampantly to ‘live’ life since birth and that is why you have a lot of problem and suffering. And because of that you cannot develop the ability to be aware. It is because when your thoughts are so rampantly proliferating, you hardly got any space between thoughts to experience the silence.

5.3.10 The Space Between Thoughts

Can remember? – The space between thoughts which we discussed at our recently concluded Cameron Highlandsretreat. When you think continuously until you have no more space between thoughts hence there is no more clarity of mind to be aware because you are so preoccupied with the thoughts and this space between thoughts which is very important is not there. Between two thoughts (1st and the 2nd thought) there is this space in between. When you have this space, you can then realise that this ‘space’ is Silence, Peace and Tranquillity leading to Stillness. When you are without thought, this is what you will experience. This space between thoughts can only be realised by the true cultivator of the way. And they are so different because this is Heedful living – and most of the time you are constantlyaware and ever mindful. So, this is the part - if you cannot understand because you never meditate until your mind is so quiet and so still, then you can never understand what SATI is. For Sati can only be understood when you had realized it. The moment the Form and Mind realized it, it will know what SATI is. No need any words or explanation. So, the space between thoughts is very important. Reason why J Krishnamurti said, ‘Awareness on the other hand is not self-induced. Nor it is the outcome of a Practice.....’ - Who practice? - The thought practice meditation. That’s why it is different because the real sati is without thought. Do you understand?

5.3.11 Training the Heedless or Mundane Mind

You can train your ‘mind’ because it is Heedless. So train the Heedless mind, the mundane mind. Then when that one ceased or is no longer active, then the ‘nature’ comes out or shine forth, - the ‘nature’ don’t practice. You don’t try to practice to be aware because your true mind or your true nature they are already aware and you only need to be silent then it will manifest – because the ‘nature’ is awareness itself so why must you practise to be aware? What you already have within your ‘nature’, you don’t have to train or practice to get it, isn’t it? When you don’t have, then you have to train, you have to practise - just like the mundane mind which is HEEDLESS, thinks a lot, restless, with all the emotions and delusion, - that one you need to train. That’s why you only train the mundane mind but to develop Sati and Mindfulness, you don’t go and practise. Can you understand?

The Buddha taught you 5-ways to overcome unwholesome thoughts and what is the 3rd way? Just Aware, right? Don’t do anything. Then the mundane mind will return to its original state before the stirring and you will come to realize that the original state of mind (before the stirring) is already aware and this awareness is the silence, peace,tranquillity and the stillness. So you don’t try to be aware, you only have to understand that the moment you don’t think, this awareness is already there. It is in factall the time there but because you are clouded by thought, deluded by thought, actively chasing after thought, you cannot see and you cannot understand. Do you know why? Because you lack mindfulness or awareness and the ‘meditator’ which is the thought is so active. So, how can there be silence? That’s why the real meditation is just silence.

But initially you cannot be silent because the mundane mind has a lot of mental hindrances, a lot of delusion (Sakkāyadiṭṭhi), - that’s why it thinks a lot because all of your conscious living since birth until now, you use thoughts – endlessly using thoughts. That’s why they say the HEEDLESS thinks a lot. So, now you understand why most of you think a lot. It is only either at a retreat or if you had cultivated before in the past then for certain moments of your life, you may experience that silence. Then the moment you experience it, you will know the big difference between the HEEDLESS thinking mind and the HEEDFUL silent mind. That’s why when you see the difference between the two, you will determine never to be HEEDLESS anymore because the Heedful state is so beautiful, whereas the Heedless state is so full of suffering, problems and delusion leading to all the fear, worry, sorrow, lamentation, anxiety and misery - all of the so called problems of life and that’s the reason why Krishnamurti say: “Problems will always exist when the activity of the self which is the ego is there”, - you can never be free”.

Then after that, what did Krishnamurti say? “Awareness, on the other hand, is not self-induced, nor is it the outcome of practice”. So, you don’t go and foolishly practise to be mindful. You only need to train your mundane mind to be quiet via anchoring it to something, so that it will not wander off, so that it can stay with the object of meditation. So that it can be with the moment without thought. After you had anchored it, you have to stabilize it until it becomes very quiet and still. Anchor it through what? - Through that awareness. Since the mind can only do one thing at a time, - so if you think a lot, then how can you train the mundane mind? So, you have to anchor it to something so that it doesn’t wander off, - just aware of in and out breathe. You train the mundane mind to just be mindful of the in and out breathe until one day; - when this mundane mind comes to realizes that if it listen to you, it will be very peaceful. If it didn’t listen to you, it will become very Heedless. This is the beginning. That’s why I say, the moment you can train your mind to be aware, that’s only the beginning of real meditation. Now, you understand what I meant. Last time you all could not understand.

Q: You mean after attending all the retreats, I come back I still haven’t started the real meditation?

Answer (Bro. Teoh): Yes! You haven’t started because you could not understand what SATI is.

5.3.12 Understanding the Contents of Consciousness

Now after you have developed the understanding, you can really laugh because Heedlessness is like that; the mundane mind is like that and you cannot differentiate between the two - your true mind and the thinking mind which is also the mundane mind or deluded, sakkāyadiṭṭhi mind – with self-delusion. Then what else did Krishnamurti say?

“Awareness, on the other hand, is not self-induced, nor is it theoutcome of practice; it is an understanding”, which is WISDOM to understand what thought is and all the related problems that thought had created.

Content of consciousness means the hidden as well as the superficial. You know what is the hidden? The hidden is your sub-conscious and unconscious. That one you cannot ‘see’. Whereas, superficial is the conscious mind. So you have to develop the whole understanding of the whole contents of that so call thought which is related to your so called problems. When you grasp and cling deludedly to the thought which is your five mental aggregates of Form and Mind, they will become grasping aggregates, and then suffering will arise. So, your whole of suffering or problem which is related to the contents (both the hidden and the superficial) you must develop the understanding of it. Then, how do you do it?

According to JK: - “The surface must be understood for the hidden to show itself; the hidden cannot be exposed if the surface mind is not quiet.”

So when the chattering is still going on how can you meditate? Do you understand? That mundane thinking mind has to be quiet only then there is SATI and SAMĀDHI, then only you can meditate, otherwise the spiritual faculties of SATI and SAMĀDHI cannot arise. SATI is just a silent inner Awareness and Samādhi is the stability of it. This sati and samādhi also haven’t developed as yet and you want to meditate? So who meditates? - The thought meditates. The spiritual faculties are still not there and you want to meditate. That’s why you are wasting your time. Thought-based meditation has this problem because the thought is actively noting and labelling - concept after concept. The next word explained it even better; - JK explained to you how verbalization dulls the mind.

So I will read the quote again – “The surface must be understood for the hidden to show itself; the hidden cannot be exposed if the surface mind is not quiet”.

5.3.13 Silent the Mundane Mind to Develop Understanding

So, you have to really, really silent the mundane mind to develop the understanding. The whole process of understanding the thought has nothing to do with the words, verbalisation nor is it a matter of mere experience because experience is also from the thought. Who experience, the thought experience, - pleasant and unpleasant; nice, and not nice. Awareness doesn’t experience anything. Awareness has got no mental state and there is no like or dislike. The experiencing comes from the mundane mind. So the next word is what? – Verbalizationand verbalisation indicates what? Yes! ‘Dullness of mind’ and you all some more go and note, - ‘rising, rising, falling, falling…etc’ to make your mind even more dull. But if you know how to do chanting, then it is different - the vibration comes out and the awareness is aware of it, which is not the thought noting another thought. When you are aware of the thought, it is a different thing - it is SATI. Thought will arise, because upon contact it will trigger off. And there is awareness which can be with the moment of contact, at the moment of that arising of consciousness. Just like what the Buddha said, “In the seeing, it is just the seeing consciousness”. When sati is aware of the moment of consciousness, then it can understand how the mind conditioned by its content of consciousness move or stir inside. You can be with the moment, to be aware of them all. That’s why SATI can see thought and SATI can see all the aggregates of thought but thought cannot see awareness. So, this one is a very important understanding because Krishnamurti said “Verbalization indicates dullness of mind”.

And experience being what? ‘Cumulative’ - means what? Ah! Yes! .... Memory, you accumulate what you experienced as memory. That’s why Mahāyāna Buddhism said, - “The 2nd Noble Truth is accumulation or 集”. The 4 Noble truths they recite as - 苦集灭道 (Ku, Ji, Mie, Dao) - it never said “cause of suffering”; it said - “You continue to accumulate suffering”. There is accumulation. “So accumulation being cumulative makes for repetition”. You know why JK said that? When you accumulate as memory that is your downfall because if you cannot see that is just a thought that you retrieve via memory, then it will condition your craving (your positive and negative cravings) because you had that experience before. Let’s say you come across nice food or beautiful experience, or good meditative experiences, then what happened? Next time when you do your meditation or when you eat something, you want to compare and you want to measure - through what? – Memories!

‘Wah! .... Last time that shop very nice or my last meditation was so beautiful’. Then you make a wish – ‘how nice if I can repeat that experience’. Then your meditation becomes what? - Good and bad meditation experiences! Then what are you doing? Then where is your Heedfulness? Where is the training? Then, where is the Noble 8 Fold Path? That’s how you lost your focus, do you understand? - Because you got distracted by the very peaceful and calm state of that meditative experience. That’s why JK said:

“Experience, being cumulative, makes for repetitiveness”.

Meaning you want it to be repeated. That’s how you develop habits. That’s how you get into delusion. That’s how you become afflicted. When things don’t go your way and when you cannot get what you want, suffering is the result and that’s one of the 1st Noble Truth realities that can condition one’s suffering. And you still happily - are playing with it, thinking that you are very great - ‘Wah! I want to meditate until I get back that state’. So now, you start to understand why all these are actually foolishness and delusion isn’t it?

5.3.14 Awareness is NOT Determination

The next line is what? “Awareness is not a matter of determination”. You cannot determine to be aware because ‘who determine?’ The thought determine. - “For purposive direction is resistance” and because thought direct - meaning you want things your way. That’s why you resist. That’s why I say you have to accord and flow if you want to be free. Meditation is not about resisting anything. You just relax and silent, accord and flow and be with the moment, then you will understand.

Then JK continued: - “Which tends towards exclusiveness ...” Means What? - The egoic mind wants that. “Me” and ‘I’ can do this, - implies very exclusive. ‘I already improve, my meditation is already not bad’, - and all these are the thought. So, that’s why when you determine, then there is a direction, there is a goal where you want to walk towards. That’s why the moment you want to be an Arahant, you are ‘dead’ already because the becoming ‘kills’ you spiritually. Who wants to become, the thought wants to become. And becoming is craving. The moment you have craving you cannot realise the enlightenment.

5.3.15 The Awakening

So, don’t try to become anything. Just silent, and sincerely, patiently, cultivate, then you will awaken. The moment the mundane mind awakens and realizes itself and ceased, that’s wisdom. And when wisdom arises, there is no more delusion. That’s why you could ‘see things as they are’. You awaken to the 3 universal characteristics of nature, there is no more delusion and thought will have no more power over you. Then you ‘see things as they are’ - which is beyond thought, beyond time. Otherwise, you will continually use thought which is psychological time. Then you will be trapped in time and trapped within the field of thought.

5.3.16 The Mystery of Life Unfolds

Then, next one is what? After - “Awarenessis the silent and choiceless observation of what is; ..” it said, ‘in this awareness the problem unrolls itself’ - I prefer to use the word ‘unfolds’ itself. This can happen because when you silent and aware, the phenomenon will tell you the ‘story’. Your silent mind will understand, - the awareness without thought will awaken to it and understand what it is. That is how, - you will understand without word. How ‘contact’triggers off consciousness. Not only consciousness, - within the content that you input into, there is also feeling which will simultaneously also arise. You will come to know them all, - not through the text book, not through the one dimensional dependent origination that says – ‘upon contact, feeling arises’ (then you go look for the feeling). This is so gullible isn’t it? Just like the physics experiment - upon contact, consciousness comes to be. The mind becomes conscious first and then within, there is also the content of consciousness where perception and feeling also arise. Then feeling will be stirred and be conditioned into craving because of sakkāyadiṭṭhi (or self-delusion) due to your lack of wisdom or wise attention (Yoniso Manasikāra) at the moment of contact. You got instead ayoniso manasikāra or unwise attention. So this is how living being gets into trouble.

So, when you understand all these, the whole mystery of life like slowly unfolds itself. Then you will start to understand how you function as a human being following the dependent origination or the 12 links. That’s why when you develop the silent mind, don’t try to knowanything and when you meditate don’t try to know or try to say “Is this SATI?” or “Is this aniccaṃ?”, or “Is this what the Buddha meant as anattā”? But after the meditation, you can reflect and contemplate but when you are meditating or doing it never ever do that. If you do that, what does it mean? The thought is trying to comein from the back door to tell you all these things, then how can you be in sati anymore? Who say it is aniccaṃ? - Your thought right? That is why Dhamma-based and thought-based meditation will have all these problems. “Oh! I realized already, this is what the book said; this is what the Buddha said”. All these are your thoughts verbalisation.

Q. (Sis. Bee Lan): “Is this the reason why when you go for certain retreats, they don’t allow you to read books?”

A. (Bro. Teoh): Yes, there is some truth in that statement – i.e. ‘when you meditate, don’t read anything’. But it does not apply to everybody because some people who had cultivated in the past, if they read, - the moment they read truth, they can awaken straight away to it. So it doesn’t mean that you cannot read. You can read but don’t attach or carry that information or knowledge in your brain. When you meditate, have an open mind. That’s what choiceless awarenessis all about. Don’t - in the meditation, verbalise – ‘Oh! ...I remembered what the text book said; what the Buddha said’, then you are ‘finished’ or become heedless already. Understand or not? Actually it is not the Buddha or the text book; it is your thought that said and you cannot see at all and you some more say, you got Sati! And you still think you are such a great meditator by saying that ‘I have been meditating for 20, 30 or 40 years already so don’t come and tell me all these bulls**t.’ But actually they cannot see their own thoughts. They keep on quoting the books or the texts via their thoughts which is accumulated knowledgeand notwisdom and because they cannot see their own thoughts they become deluded.

5.3.17 Voluntary, Involuntary and Spontaneous Actions

Q. (Mr. Chai): Breathing or heartbeat, we don’t have to think about it because it will go on by itself. But when we come to the unconsciously, sub-consciously, or voluntary and involuntary actions, how do you develop the understanding?

A. (Bro. Teoh): You ask about voluntary and involuntary actions, right? So, you have to ask yourself - “What is action?” Action is the ‘Form & Mind’ (or human being) doing something through the thought, correct or not? Then voluntary action means there is a ‘will’ involved as against Spontaneous action - when you don’t think.

Within the field of thoughts and awareness there are 3 types of actions, - voluntary, involuntary and spontaneous. But for your case, you only have two because you are only within the field of thoughts. You studied Biology before? Voluntary action is when you have a ‘will’ to define what you want or intent to do. Like if I want to come out of my sitting, then voluntarily I come out of my sitting but for the Biological experience it is different, - you put your legs crossed up, then the Biology teacher used a rubber hammer to knock your knee, automatic and involuntary it reacts. That one is involuntary action. That one has nothing to do with thought’s intention but from your physical, - through nerves response, it just moves. That’s involuntary action whereas voluntary action is through your ‘will’. The 3rd one is via wisdom. Spontaneous action, - no ‘will’ is involved; no desire, no craving, no pre-planning, no checking with the memories – to inquire whether to do or don’t do? Like that better or like that better? - If you act like that, it means you don’t have wisdom. If you have wisdom, you don’t have to think or consider but instead you just act spontaneously because according to JK – ‘Acting according to memory is not acting at all’.

You only consider and think initially, - just like when the Buddha taught the Kālāmā Sutta, to the Kalamas, he said: “Whatever they teach you to do; you have to check, if I do, does it harm myself or harm others”. Ah! That one you use thought to develop the understanding initially. Then, you decide to do or not to do. Then, if it is the truth, if it doesn’t hurt you and hurt or harm others, then you do. When you cultivate until you awaken already, you will do things spontaneously via wisdom. You don’t think anymore because the thought is always selfish and egoic. Via wisdom you just act spontaneously.

That’s why that day in the Thursday class; - someone told me she can do things spontaneously already. Ah! It was Sis. Eng Bee – while in the office, - there was a colleague who earlier on had a misunderstanding with her. This colleague thought she was the one who did his year-end appraisal. He was not happy because he didn’t get a good appraisal but later on he came to know that his appraisal was not done by Sis. Eng Bee. Then a few days later after the Cameron Highlands Retreat, she brought some strawberries to her office and place it on the table near the store room, then this colleague of hers walked by and spontaneously she talked to him. She said: “There are some strawberries that I bought from Cameron Highlands and you can have it, it is quite nice”. Surprisingly he was very friendly and at that time Eng Bee didn’t feel anything but later on when she was on her own, then with her awareness she came to realise that it was the awareness that enable her to act spontaneously. If she had thought about it she would not have approached this colleague because there was already the memory that said: “This colleague doesn’t like me, so it may arise some misunderstanding if I approach him”. When she recalled and reflected upon this incident, she just smiled, - because suddenly this colleague was not like before anymore – so friendly already. He already, like could respond with such pleasantness and is now so different. So this is the difference between spontaneous action that happens naturally and the one with the planned approach via thought consideration (which is not natural at all).

5.3.18 Check and Question the “Thought”

People can see it because that planning is the thought, and thought is always selfish and egoic before you become enlighten. That’s why before you become enlighten, try not to use so much thought. When you had straightened your view already, then you can use thought. Otherwise, thought is very dangerous that’s why Byron Kathy asked you to check and question the thought - ‘Is it true? Are you sure it is absolutely true.’ You sure say it is the truth. And then with her 3rd question you will start to understand how thoughts delude you. The 3rd question is - ‘What happened when you think that thought?’ - “Oh..I became Miserable!” Then her 4th question – ‘Without those thought, how will you be?’ “Oh! Before those thought I was normal, happy and beautiful” - then you will come to realize that all these thoughts that made you unhappy, miserable, fearful, selfish (with the evil roots) are all wrong thoughts deceiving you.

That’s why the Buddha states it clearly in the Noble 8 Fold Path that you must have right thought borne of right views or right understanding. How to arise right thoughts? The user of thought is very important, isn’t it? If the user is deluded, how can it be right thought? If the user of thought is deluded, thought will be evil. That’s why you must put in the right effort to cultivate virtue, goodness, kindness, etc to arise the right thoughts that are still not in you after you had straightened your views. To have right views you must understand the 5 universal orders or laws that governed all of life and existence, especially the law of Karma (kamma niyāma) and the law of the mind (citta niyāma). Otherwise, without the straightening of your views via the right views, your thought will always be wrong thought.

5.3.19 Habitual Tendencies and Memories

Q. (Bro. Chai): How about habits or habitual tendencies that conditioned our actions?

A. (Bro. Teoh): You don’t follow habitual tendencies. Habit is what? Memory, do you understand? Because you accumulate experiences, - experiences that you like form your habit. Experiences that you don’t like also become your habit. That’s why you have likes and dislikes. Immediately after you see something, you react so fast. Immediately after you hear something you reacted already; - smell, taste, tactile and thought you also do the same. Why did you react? Because you have become so Heedless and heedlessness develops habitual tendencies. And what are habitual tendencies? - No need to think also you will react that way because that is your habitual tendencies and it comes from your conditionings via your wrong views. Especially so, your self-delusionwhich will condition you to arise the 3 evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion to react to sense experiences thereby making you heedless. This heedless mind will condition you to have very strong habitual tendencies to discriminate, react and do things following your wrong views. That’s why when you hear something from your wife, especially for married couple, - straight away you will react. You may say, “Ah..I know what you want to say already… that’s enough!” You may also do it to your son or your children because it has become so habitual. Every time you scold them using the same words like – ‘told you not to do, you still want to do.’ Then one day your children may react back and said. ‘Ah…Mummy or Daddy, that’s enough! – I know what you want to say’. Then what happened? – You will become very sore isn’t it? All these can arise because you are not conscious and aware (or heedful) at that time. The habitual tendencies took over - through what? Through your anger, your selfishness, your unhappiness, etc which are your evil roots borne of wrong thoughts that conditioned your habitual tendencies. Because you already given it some thought and you accumulated all these unhappy thoughts via memories. Then, they become what? - Your anusaya (or latent tendencies), - No condition they don’t come out, got condition like machine gun, they just pop up. No need to think at all because you already memorized and pre-planned as to what you want to do the next time when the same situation arises. Then you will retort, - “you think you very good, you also like that before?’ Why? Because of the so called latent tendencies - waiting to erupt when there is condition for it to arise. So human beings due to their heedlessness do a lot of these foolish things. Can follow?

5.3.20 WISDOM - Understanding Fully and Completely

Now we continue with JK’s quote: ‘In this awareness, the problem unfolds or unrolls itself, and thus it is fully and completely understood.’ - Which means no more fragmented, - no more only this fragment, that fragment and instead you act with complete understanding as opposed to thought which is limited and fragmented because thought cannot see the totality, the overall; that’s why thought based meditation cannot develop wisdom and understanding. Thought can become cunning, smart or ‘intelligent’ - thought can be very intellectual but it cannot develop wisdom. Thought can only develop knowledge which is rigid. JK said:

“A problem is never solved on its own level; being complex, it must be understood in its total process.”

So, just like what I had told you all just now, you cannot have a fragmented solution to spiritual understanding. Spiritual understanding needs the total understanding of the whole of the thought and its contents and their limitation. Also how thoughts divide via words and concepts to deceive you into conflict, argument, wars and attachment etc to arise the fear and suffering in you and how thoughts project to arise the illusionary time of past and future which are never the reality to deceive you, make you heedless. It cannot be at the fragmented level when thought analysed thing, or the way thought looks at thing because thought being limited and egoic only looks at thing from the logic side, from knowledge and the intellect aspect. That’s why I used to share with you all this quote, - ‘whatever that is logical may not necessarily be the truth, and it is usually always the opposite’.

This Krishnamurti quote if I don’t explain, I don’t think anyone of you can understand. But after my explanation, you can at least at the intellectual, knowledge level develops a very high degree of ‘understanding’ and that will have established and stabilised a base for you to receive truth then after that if you meditate with understandingdiligently, you can awaken very fast. Because if you already had that base then with an open mind - the moment you see truth, straight away it will connect. Connect to what you had reflected and contemplated earlier on - for you had understood what that thing is. Then the whole thing just arises and you just awaken. ‘Ah! That’s what J. Krishnamurti meant’ because you had seen it in the awareness itself. Which means the truth had been realized no more a theory. And you will keep on experiencing this type of awakening because when your contemplative dhamma is very stable (meaning you had straightened your views) then you can understand very easily.

Through this understanding, what will happen to you? You will be no longer deluded by thought-based meditation. By then, the ‘egoic mind’…you can see it very clear already then unknowingly it will slowly develop the stability of understanding and wisdom that will start to change you; the way you live your life, the way you think, the way you approach thing and the way you become aware of things. You will be no longer like before. Not like before anymore - the thought tried to be aware! You will just know how to train your mind to just be silent.

Silent means what? If your mundane mind is still Heedless, then you need to de-condition it via the mind sweeping method. Then after that develop Ānāpānasati, to anchor and stabilize it or use whatever other skilful means that you are familiar with - like chanting, rising and falling of the abdomen or your heart beat etc. And after that when it is already stable, you just silent your mind in meditation so that this mindfulness become more and more stable until it develops Samādhi. Then, you can use that to meditate.

‘A problem is never solved on its own level’- means, not look at in a fragmented way. Then ‘Being complex or complicated, it must be understood in its total process’ - means, the whole of the content within that thought, plus the way of thought, power of thought to divide, to delude, to develop the egoic mind with self-delusion to be selfish, possessive and fearful, etc need to be understood. And all these can be understood via just silencing your mind and maintain a choiceless awareness then you will be able to see how the mind stirs and how the habitual tendencies come to be and how craving comes to be; how attachment comes to be and how it conditions grasping, becoming and birth leading to all the suffering.

This is seeing the dependent origination or 12 links and the 4 Noble Truths within your own form and mind. The 3 evil roots, the 5 mental hindrances, and the 5 spiritual faculties - via your SATI. That’s the real meditation. That’s why in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta especially under Dhammānupassanā, - the 1st category practice is awareness or mindfulness of the 5 mental hindrances, followed by the 5 aggregates of Form and Mind then, the 6 internal sense bases and the external sense bases (or the 18 sense realms), followed by the awareness of the 7 factors of enlightenment (because by then you are very near to enlightenment and the 7 factors of enlightenment will keep on arising). After that you will become very mindful of the 4 Noble Truths, you will see and understand them all. Then all the 3 turnings of the 4 Noble Truths, you will know how to do them. That’s how your meditation can take off.

Then JK continue, “To try to solvea problem only one level, whether physical or psychological, leads to further conflict and confusion”. You cannot do it in a fragmented way.

“For the resolution of a problem, there must be this awareness (which is SATI), this passive awareness (not an active one) which reveals its total process”. An active one means the thought has come in to interfere already. Then reveals its total process here implies - Is to see the whole of the happening, - you see it happening. You see how the mundane mind gets conditioned out. How upon contact, consciousness comes to be. In the meditation itself, when you are silent, you will witness all these arising. Then the dependent origination is no more a theory because upon contact, you really feel it inside your meditation, - at the sense bases because your awareness is always within the moment. It can only be aware of what is within the moment and it is not a thought because thought is a movement away from the silence after that. Thought then can project into the future and recall the unhappy past or scares of memories. That’s why thought is never in the moment. Thought is responses to memory hence it is the past - within the field of the known and thought cannot touch the unknown.

“For the resolution of a problem, there must be this awareness, this passive alertness, which reveals its total process”. Alertness is what? - Attention, hence no thought, just aware, and then you just silent and aware during meditation, then with every moment of consciousness, you will witness the real dhamma arising from within your own form and mind and not through theory. That is, how upon contact, consciousness and feeling comes to be. When meditating, always just silent the mind and don’t go and recall what the book or paṭicca samuppāda said, like - “Upon contact feeling arise” then while meditating you are looking for feeling. Who is looking? The thought is looking! That’s why you cannot meditate like that, otherwise you will get conned and be deceived by your thought because you tend to look for ‘insight’ in the form of ‘dhamma’ which is not the true insight. And who is looking, again the thought is looking. And you still think that is the true dhamma. You think, - “Wah! I saw Aniccaṃ already; I saw dependent origination; i.e. upon contact feeling arise”. But actually it is your thought looking for feeling and you feel with your thought which is not sati. And yet you gullibly believe you had seen it.

Then when people explained to you that upon contact apart from feeling, consciousness also arises. You said, “No!…no…no, you are wrong!” - Because you meditate with the book or text’s knowledge, with the thought. But if you meditate with the silent mind you will be very sure. You will understand and awaken without any words, thoughts or verbalisation. When you had realized, it will be totally different because upon contact of mind, so many things actually happened, and he who had awakened can tell you that it is like that and they don’t have to check with the text. That is the real one. The moment you mention something, he can tell you straight away, - “Yes, it is like that.” Just like the 6th Patriarch Hui Neng, who was an illiterate but the moment you speak the truth, he understands. Why? - Because, he had realized them in his meditation before.

This is what J Krishnamurti meant by – “there must be an ‘awareness’ in order to have this total understanding” because thought cannot understand. Then this awareness which is just a passive alertness or attention will reveal its total process. Because when you are silent you are fully aware of what is happening. Then phenomenon will show it to you clearly their 3 universal characteristics of impermanent, suffering and non-self or empty nature. Then you will also witness what the dependent origination or 12 links is all about? What this world is all about? What life and existence are all about? What phenomenon is all about? Not from the texts or the theory part.

When you just silent your mind, you can understand many things. That’s why I always said: “You don’t try to ‘know’ while you are meditating”. You just silent and meditate sincerely with the faith and when the understanding arises - the form and mind will know and you will awaken to it. There is no thought involved but just the awareness via the direct seeing – then one awakens to it. Then that understanding is wisdom, the Intelligence or pañña. And through that you straightened your views and you can live life with that understanding. That’s why after that this Form and Mind does not suffer anymore because it has got no more delusion hence no more suffering.

Note: Please remind me to also explain the importance of this JK’s quote during our sharing at the Tuesday and Thursday classes because the understanding of this JK’s quote is very important and very unique – anyone who can understand this quote, their minds will transform very fast.

Appendix 4 - 31 PLANES OF EXISTENCE

(Source: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sagga/loka.html)

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Appendix 5 - TEN DHARMA REALMS (十法界)

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Appendix 6 - TRAINING THE MIND via understanding the Essential dhammas & Meditation as Taught by the Buddha

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TRAINING THE MINDvia understanding the Essential dhammas and Meditation as Taught by the Buddha

(Notes compiled mainly from various talks given by Bro Teoh Kian Koon at : Ti-Ratana Buddhist Society Klang on 20 June 2014, Thursday Classes especially the one held at Bro Swee Aun’s house on 10 July 2014 and the March, 2014 Cameron Highlands Retreat at Sam Po Temple)

Appendix 6A – TRINITY To Understand Cultivation

6.1 A Trained Mind

- A trained mind is always silent, heedful, peaceful, relax and naturallyaware within.

- It has the clarity borne of inner peace and inner awareness to ‘see things as they are’ leading to the wisdom needed to arise the wise attention or yoniso manasikāra at every moment of sense experience so that one is always at peace with the moment to live life.

- It will listen to you: if you want it to be silent it will just be silent; peaceful and aware - it will just be so.

- You can use it and direct it appropriately to cultivate the Noble 8-fold path leading to the heedfulness.

- It will become like a servant to you, it will serve you well.

- A trained mind is ever mindful and constantly meditative hence it is the base from which Wisdom will keep on

6.2 An Untrained Mind

- An untrained mind is heedless. It thinks a lot and reacts easily to sense experiences and is constantly lost in thoughts most of the time and as per Dhammapada verse 21: - the heedless are as if dead.

- It is like a devil’s workshop and it will make you very evil.

- You have no control over it. It actually controls you and takes over your life causing you suffering.

- The thinking mind, the mundane mind which is heedless need to be trained.

- Deluded with wrong views, it easily become angry, selfish, emotional and fearful hence the suffering.

- It has no understanding of what is going on in life. It lacks Wisdom because it is

6.3 Training the Mind

- Without Wisdom, living beings are heedless hence they suffer because they don’t understand life.

- To understand life one must understand the secret of life which is the 4 Noble Truths as taught by the Buddha.

- To understand the 4 Noble Truths one must train one’s mind to be heedful to understand what is going on in life so as to understand who we are; what we are and how our mind function so that we understand what causes us suffering and how our deluded mundane mind get muddled up in life.

- The untrained mind is heedless and not peaceful because of the 5 mental hindrances of sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and doubt. These mental hindrances will hinders one from entering the meditativestate of inner peace with inner awareness. And to overcome the 5 mental hindrances one only need to cultivate the opposite 5 spiritual faculties of Saddhā, vīriya, sati, Samādhi and pañña as taught by the Buddha.

- When the 5 Spiritual Faculties are there, the mental hindrances will be gone and the mind will be trainedautomatically. That is why you should work on the cultivation of the 5 Spiritual Faculties via your pūjā or devotional practices and daily religious routine.

- The 3 phases of dhamma are Pariyatti, Paṭipatti and Paṭivedha: -

1st phase - Pariyatti is the learning of the teaching or dhamma as taught by the Buddha.

2nd phase - Paṭipatti is the Cultivation via putting the Dhamma learned into practice in daily life so that it can become a living reality.

3rd phase - Paṭivedha is Reaping the Fruits of one’s Cultivation or hard work.

6.4 Importance of Sati to walk the Path of Dhamma

Sati is extremely important because without Sati:-

1. One will become Heedless;

2. One will not be able to follow the Buddha’s advice – to Strive on with Heedfulness (Appamādena Sampādetha);

3. One will not be able to follow the advice of the Buddha ‘to avoid all evil, do good and purify the mind’ following his Dhammapada verse 183;

4. One will not be able to keep one’s Precepts;

5. There will be no 5 Spiritual Faculties;

6. There will be no 4 Foundations of Mindfulness practices;

7. One will not be able to investigate the dhamma (Dhammavicaya);

8. There will be no 7 Factors of Enlightenment;

9. There will be no Noble 8 Fold Path cultivation.

6.5 Important Advice to Meditators

1. Don’t try to know anything during

2. Just Silent the Mind and let things be. The understanding will arise on its

3. The moment you are truly silent and relaxed,Sati is already there. This is the silent mind that can investigate into all phenomena, then let the phenomenon tell you the ‘story’, - don’t go and look for the ‘story’ with your thoughts or dhamma knowledge.

Note: The pitfall of “thought-based meditation” is: - one is limited by the instrument that one uses to develop the meditation hence their inability to realise the Enlightenment which is beyond thought and beyond mind. One needs to inquire deeply to find out for oneself - who is the meditator? If it is the thought which is actively doing all the noting, labelling, chattering and trying to describe the “Dhamma” and trying to develop the meditation then that is not the silent mind. The real Dhamma can only be realised when you’re truly SILENT.

6.5 Using the Silent Mind (Sammā Sati)

When your mind is Silent, without any thought, you will understand everything that is going on within your 5 mental aggregates of form and mind and you will awaken to the 3 characteristics of Anicca, Dukkha and Anattā.

You will understand how, upon Contact, Consciousness comes to be. And then how within the content of consciousness you will see how your mind stirs after you input your mental intention borne of your wrong view. Then how upon Contact, the 7 universals^1 which are common to all consciousness arise simultaneously. The Feeling part, you will feel it clearly and you will understand how upon Contact, Feeling arises. But because you don’t have Wisdom or you lack Yoniso Manasikāra (wise attention) at the moment of sense experience, feeling will be immediately conditioned into Craving. Hence without wisdom or yoniso manasikāra you cannot ‘cut’ at feeling.

You will see all these within your meditation. And that is the real direct seeing. That is how you will come to understand clearly that this condition arising mind, the stirring of the mind, and the reactive mind are not your true mind. They arise because of your wrong Views.

Then the 4 Noble Truths, one by one, you will come to understand them. You will come to understand the realities of life and existence; what is suffering and the cause behind its arising.

______________________________________________________________________

1The 7 universal mental factors (sabbacittasādhāraṇa cetasikas) are common (sādhāraṇa) to all consciousness (sabbacitta). They perform the most rudimentary and essential cognitive functions without which consciousness of an object would be impossible. They are:-

1. Phassa – contact; 2. Vedanā – feeling; 3. Saññā – perception; 4. Cetasā – volition; 5. Ekaggatā - one-pointedness; 6. Jīvitindriya - life faculty; & 7. Manasikāra – attention

6.6 There Are 5 Ways To Overcome Unwholesome Thoughts Or Negative Mental States

The Buddha taught 5 Ways to overcome the unwholesome thoughts or negative mind states during meditation.

Appendix 7 -The House Builder (DHAMMAPADA 153 - 154)

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* The ridge pole is the top main support for the roof truss and the rafters are the bearer beams (sub main supports) spanning from the ridge pole to the base plate of the roof truss needed to support the battens which are needed to hold the roof tiles etc.

Appendix 8 – The Avijjā Sutta

This Avijjā sutta (AN 10.61) explained clearly the importance of having true noble friends as Kalyāṇamittas to realize the enlightenment. According to the Buddha, having noble friends as our Kalyāṇamitta is one of the pre-requisite to become an ariya or an enlightened being. It also talks about factors that will influence Ignorance. To be free from ignorance is one of the main tasks in cultivation.

Having Dhamma / spiritual / noble friends (Kalyāṇamittas) is a pre-requisite for this task hence the importance of Kalyāṇamittaship. There are two sequences discussed in this sutta. Each of the factors in both sequences has its own nutriment. The first sequence is the

Ignorant sequence:

1. The nutriment for ignorance (Avijjā) is

2. The five mental hindrances (Pañca Nīvaraṇa) and the nutriment for this is

3. The three ways of bad conduct (mind, body and speech) and the nutriment for this is

4. Unrestraint of the sense faculties and nutriment for this is

5. Lack of mindfulness & clear comprehension (Asati and Asampajañña) and the nutriment for this is

6. Unwise consideration (Ayoniso manasikāra) and nutriment for this is

7. Lack of confidence/faith (Asaddhā) in the Buddha, Dharma, and the Saṅgha and nutriment for this is

8. Not listening to true Dharma and nutriment for this is

9. Not associating with good Dharma or spiritual friends (Kalyāṇamittas).

[Note: NOT associating with good Dhamma or spiritual friends (Kalyāṇamittas) is the starting nutriment to the wrong path that finally ends up with Ignorance (Avijjā) leading to Heedlessness].

The second sequence is the Enlightenment sequence:

1. True Knowledge (Vijjā)leading to enlightenment and the nutriment for this is

2. The Seven Enlightenment factors (Satta Bojjhaṅgā) and the nutriment for this is

3. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipaṭṭhāna) and the nutriment for this is

4. The three ways of good conduct (mind, body and speech) and the nutriment for this is

5. Restraint of the sense faculties and the nutriment for this is

6. Mindfulness and clear comprehension (Sati and Sampajañña) and nutriment for this is

7. Wise consideration(Yoniso Manasikāra) and nutriment for this is

8. Confidence/Faith (Saddhā) in Buddha, Dharma, and the Saṅgha and nutriment for this is

9. Listening to true Dharmaand nutriment for this is

10. Association with good Dhammaand spiritual friends (Kalyāṇamittas).

{Note: Again you can see association with good Dhamma or spiritual friends or Kalyāṇamittas is a pre-requisite needed to arrive at that path that ends in True Knowledge (or Vijjā)/enlightenment. That is the reason why the Buddha clearly instructs us via saying to Venerable Ananda: ‘having Dhamma, spiritual, noble friends (kalyāṇamittas) is 100% of the holy life.’ Hence developing and promoting true kalyāṇamittaship among all Buddhist within the Buddhist communities is most important}.

Appendix 9 - The 3 Turnings & 12 Modes of the 4 Noble Truths as proclaimed by the Buddha

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Table of Contents

Biodata of Bro. Teoh Kian Koon

Introduction

Acknowledgement

1st Heart Sutra Class 12 February 2012

Part 1 – Introduction

1.1 Definitions

1.2 The Heart of Prajna Pāramitā Sutra:-

1.3 The 5 Khandha or Aggregates of Form and Mind – 2 aspects to it

Part 2 – Meditation And Important Essential Dhamma

2.1 The 5 mental hindrances

2.2 The opposite 5 spiritual faculties are:-

2.3 Five daily reflections or contemplations (leading to initial wisdom):-

2.4 Meaning of craving, meditation and attachment or clinging

2nd Heart Sutra Class 19 February 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 The 10 Perfections or Pāramitā (of the Theravāda tradition)

1.2 The Six Perfections or Pāramitās (of the Mahāyāna tradition)

1.3 Words of wisdom by the Buddha

1.4 Buddha’s advice before his Parinibbāna:

1.5 Final summary of the 1st Noble Truth of Dukkha

1.6 The 7 Factors of Enlightenment or Satta Bojjhaṅgā

1.7 The three Universal Characteristics:-

1.8 The 5 Universal Laws or Orders (Pañca Niyāmas)

1.9 The 3 Evil roots or 3 Poisons of Greed, Hatred and Delusion are:–

1.10 Seeing beyond formand understanding Nibbāna

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 2

2.1 Definitions

2.2 Important quotations from Sixth Patriarch (Hui Neng)'s Platform Sutra

3rd Heart Sutra Class 26 February 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.2 Question 2 : Why must we also study the 6th Patriarch’s platform sutra?

1.3 6th Patriarch’s Platform Sutra

1.4 Mundane Life with and without Spiritual understanding

1.5 Essential understanding

Notes:

4th Heart Sutra Class 4 March 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation

1.1 Emphasis on the previous lesson - Emptiness

1.2 Essential understanding

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 4 (Introduction One – pg x to xii of Master Hsuan Hua’s commentary)

2.1 Master Hsuan Hua’s very unique birth and life history:-

2.2 Is bowing another technique to develop mindfulness

2.3 Can you show us how to do the bowing?

2.4 The 3 great Buddhist traditions – are they all the same or are they different?

2.5 Difference between Pure Land Western Paradise and Nibbāna

2.6 What are these 31 planes of Existence?

Note:

5th Heart Sutra Class 11 March 2012

1.1 Introducing Master Hsuan Hua (45th Patriarch of Sākyamuni Buddha lineage)

1.2 Introducing the late Venerable Master Hsu Yun (44th Patriarch in the line of succession from Sākyamuni Buddha)

1.3 Meaning of “We accord with conditions” or “Flow with the Dhamma”

1.4 The Phenomenal world is an illusionary world of conciousness

Notes:

Part 2 - Meditation

2.1 Visualization technique

2.2 The wisdom of “Let things be”

6th Heart Sutra Class18 March 2012

Part 1 - Heart Sutra Lesson 6 (Introduction Three – pg xxii to xxiv of Master Hsuan Hua’s Commentary)

1.1 Opening commentary on The Heart of Prajna Pāramitā Sutra

Part 2 – Meditation

2.1 Aṅgulimāla SuttaMN 86: - translated from the Pāḷi text by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Part 3 - Meditation

3.1 Pain in the legs during meditation

3.2 5 ways to overcome negative unwholesome thoughts

7th Heart Sutra Class 1 April 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 What is meditation

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 7

2.1 “The Bodhisattva, through reliance on prajna pāramitā, is unimpeded in his mind.

2.2 “All Buddhas of the three periods of time attain Anuttara samyaksambodhi through reliance of prajna pāramitā.

2.3 True Emptiness is wonderful Existence

Part 3 - Meditation

3.1 Review on compilation of emails – “Understanding The Meditation As Taught By the Buddha”

8th Heart Sutra Class 8 April 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Can you teach me how to meditate?

1.2 Can chanting itself bring about enlightenment?

1.3 Wisdom of Phra Ajahn Yantra

1.4 Key to understanding meditation

1.5 Understanding Life

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 8 (Part II A General Explanation of the Title and The Five Categories of Recondite Meaning pg 3 to 6)

2.1 Master Hsuan Hua’s 8-line Verse

Part 3 - Meditation

3.1 6R’s Meditation Practice

Notes:

9th Heart Sutra Class 15 April 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 7 factors of Enlightenment

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 9 (Commentary pg 7 to 11)

2.1 The 3 karmic obstacles

Part 3 - Meditation (Email No 4 – 3 Turnings and 12 Modes of the Four Noble Truths)

3.1 The 3 turnings and the three types of Prajna as explained by Master Hsuan Hua

10th Heart Sutra Class 22 April 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 10 (Commentary pg 11 to 15)

2.1 What are deviant views?

2.2 What is affliction?

2.3 The unmoving mind of true suchness –

2.4 Why 7 years maximum or 7 days to realize the enlightenment (Four Foundations of Mindfulness)

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Do not just believe what has been spoken but instead investigate into all of the dhamma or Truth

3.2 The 4 Right Efforts within the Noble 8-Fold Path

11th Heart Sutra Class 29 April 2012. Time

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

Part 2 - Questions and Answers

2.1 The state of non-returner or Anāgāmī

2.2 Why the Bodhisattva way of cultivation is not much emphasized

2.3 2nd aspect of 5 aggregates of form and mind

2.4 Why my mindfulness could only sustain for a while

2.5 Difference between forest and city monk

Part 3 – Meditation (E-mail No. 4 - 2nd Turning)

3.1 1st Noble Truth, 2nd turning

3.2 2nd Noble Truth, 2nd turning

3.3 3rd Noble Truth, 2nd turning

3.4 4th Noble Truth, 2nd turning

3.5 The 3rd turning is always on the realization and enlightenment part.

12th Heart Sutra Class 13 May 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Appamāda or Heedfulness-

1.2 Applying the 6R technique

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 12 (Explanation of the Meaning of the Text pg 23 to 24)

2.1 The opening verse by Master Hsuan Hua :-

2.2 Important Notes: -

Part 3 – Meditation (Email No. 4 pg 9 of e-mail compilation notes)

3.1 Commentary on 3 turnings under Theravāda and Mahāyāna

13th Heart Sutra Class 20 May 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Dhammapada verses on Heedfulness (verse 21, 22, 23)

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 13 (Commentary pg 23 to 25)

2.1 Dhammapada Verse 1 - leads to suffering.

2.2 Dhammapada Verse 2 – leads to happiness.

2.3 Why is the teaching or dhamma as taught by the Buddha during his time becomes different as it gets passed down over the years?

2.4 Important Definitions :-

Part 3 – Meditation (Email No. 4 - 3 Turnings of the 4 Noble Truths)

3.1 Training of the mind to be Heedful - two steps are involved:-

14th Heart Sutra 27 May 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Life and existence following the 5 universal nature’s orders (Pañca Niyāmas)

PART 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 14 (Commentary pg 25 to 28)

2.1 Conditioned love and Mettā

2.2 Definition of terms :-

2.3 The 8 Worldly Conditions or the 8 winds or the 8 pairs of dualities are:-

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Purpose of meditation

15th Heart Sutra Class 10 June 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Mind is the forerunner of all things

1.2 Understanding thought and consciousness

1.3 Important inquiries for developing the meditative wisdom :

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 15 (Prajna and Emptiness pg 29 to 33)

2.1 Definition of terms

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Post retreat sharing: 2nd - 8th Aug 2012 Meditation Retreat at Cempaka Buddhist Lodge conducted by Ajahn Achalo.

16th Heart Sutra 17 June 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Sense bases, contemplative wisdom and daily mindfulness

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 16 (Prajna and Emptiness pg 32 to 33)

2.1 Silent your mind and be aware from within or inside to realize the true mind.

2.2 Is the “divine” innocence of a new born baby the same as the enlightened state?

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 5 ways to overcome unwholesome thoughts

3.2 Is it alright to indulge in positive thought during formal sitting meditation?

17th Heart Sutra 24 June 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Direct seeing

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 17 (Prajna and Emptiness pg 29 to 33)

2.1 The three types of wisdom lights

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 How long will it take for the mind to settle into stillness

3.2 What actually returns to the source?

3.3 Mental liberation and the non-Buddhist

3.4 When meditating is it normal that the mind may go blank?

18th Heart Sutra 1 July 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Daily mindfulness is very important to enable one to realize the real dhamma as taught by the Buddha.

1.2 The four right efforts

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 18 (The Conditioned Body pg 35 to 39)

2.1 Three types of suffering

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 How to progress along the path of dhamma

3.2 How to come out of the wrong path

3.3 You reap what you sow – can this kamma be experienced in this very life

19th Heart Sutra 15 July 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Wisdom and life situations

1.2 7 stages of Purification (satta visuddhi)

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 19 (The Kinds of Suffering pg 43 to 46)

2.1 The 31-Planes or Realms of Existence :-

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Reports on Meditation:-

20th Heart Sutra Class 12 August 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 The first three stages of purification

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 20 (Sariputta pg 47 to 50)

1.2 Definition:

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Developing the meditation

3.2 Can enlightenment be attained through listening without meditation

3.3 How to apply the dhamma to deal with someone who is difficult

21st Heart Sutra 26 August 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Purification of Sīla, Citta and Diṭṭhi

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 21 (Form Does Not Differ From Emptiness pg 51 to 57)

2.1 Form is emptiness and emptiness is form

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 3 universal characteristics of impermanence, suffering state and non-self / empty nature

22nd Heart Sutra 2 September 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 The meditative mind

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 22 (Form Does Not Differ From Emptiness pg 57 to 61)

2.1 Anattā or Non-self nature

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Meditation question

3.2 Meditation question and sharing of The Work by Byron Katie

3.3 How do you perceive opening chakras via Qi Gong practices?

23rd Heart Sutra Class 9 September 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 The 5 aggregates, understanding meditation and sati

1.2 Does realization happen during or out of meditation?

1.3 What is it that we must be aware?

Important notes:

24th Heart Sutra Class16 September 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 The true purpose of meditation

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 24 (Feeling, Cognition, Formation & Consciousness pg 62 to 71)

2.1 Formless dhamma

2.2 Definition:

Part 3 – Meditation (Reporting And Questions)

3.1 Listening from my heart during dhamma sharing

3.2 Bro Teoh’s advice to silent our mind and stay at the heart area

25th Heart Sutra Class 23 September 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Nothing frees you except wisdom

1.2 To be aware and listen from the heart

1.3 The Heart and Citta

26th Heart Sutra Class 14 October 2012

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Understanding thoughts, knowledge and wisdom

1.2 The beauty of the Noble Truths as a summary of all of Life

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 26 (Feeling, Cognition, Formation and Consciousness pg71 to 73)

2.1 Definitions :

2.2 Saying by most venerable master Guang Ching Lau He Shang

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 The difference between Contemplation and Thinking

29th Heart Sutra Class 2 December 2012

Part 1 – Recapitulation & Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Short notes from Shurangama Sutra

1.2 A condition-arising phenomena world of consciousness

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 29 (pg 77)

2.2 The 4 Foundations Of Mindfulness in brief:

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Understanding what mindfulness or sati is – is very important.

3.2 I follow your instruction, just be awrae and no more noting. Is this correct?

3.3 Meditation involves 2 important steps:

32nd Heart Sutra Class 6 January 2013

Part 1 - No more notes for this section.

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 32 (The Emptiness of the Eighteen Fields or 18 Sense Realms pg 78)

2.1 The 18 sense realms consist of 3 sets of sixes:

2.2 The 4th Foundation Of Mindfulness’s

2.3 Notes from another commentary

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Meditation consists of two parts

33rd Heart Sutra Class 13 January 2013

Part 1 – Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Dhammapada Verse 21 –

Part 2 – Heart Sutra Lesson 33 (The Emptiness of the Eighteen Fields pg 80 to 83)

2.1 The Dhamma are only word, concepts and skilful means

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Why do I experience heat during meditation?

3.2 Heedful and mindful during meditation but heedless in the midst of life

3.3 How do I overcome discrimination against a specific person?

34th Heart Sutra Class 20 January 2013

Part 1 – Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Verse For Opening A Sutra

1.2 What is Heedfulness or Appamāda?

1.3 Appamāda Sutta

1.4 How to overcome Anger

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 This is what you are supposed to see in your meditation

35th & 36th Heart Sutra Classes 27 January 2013

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 To develop the Heedfulness needed to cultivate the Meditation

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 The same worrying and fearful thoughts keep coming back

3.2 The 5 daily contemplations are as follows:-

3.3 Understanding the meditation as taught by the Buddha

3.4 Summary of cultivation:

37th Heart Sutra Class 7 April 2013

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Understanding the 3 conditions for Bro Teoh’s Dhamma sharing

1.3 Zen analogy

Part 2 - Report of Meditation

2.1 Meditation is not just about developing calmness

38th Heart Sutra Class 14 April 2013

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Form Dhamma and Mind Dhamma

1.2 According to Mahāyāna tradition there are 3 levels of seeing Mountains and they are: -

Part 2 – Meditation

2.1 I used to have pain and now I don’t have, why?

39th Heart Sutra Class 21 April 2013

Part 2 – Meditation

2.1 The significance of the 3 Turning of the Four Noble Truths

2.2 Our mind can only do one thing at a time and yet simultaneously I could be aware of a lot of other things – why?

2.3 During meditation, I was more aware and able to sense the cooking smell, as if in front of my nose – why?

40th Heart Sutra Class 12 May 2013

Part 1 - Recapitulation And Emphasis On The Previous Lesson

1.1 Let things be, then investigate

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 40 (The Twelve Conditioned Causes pg 84 to 88)

2.1 The 10 Dhamma Realms(十法界) (a Buddhist cosmology)

2.2 Law of Dependent Origination or Paṭicca-Samuppāda

Part 3– Meditation

3.1 I can be at peace with itchiness but not with pain – why?

41st Heart Sutra Class 19 May 2013

Part 2 - Heart Sutra Lesson 41 (Emptying The Four Truths pg 91 to 98)

2.1 Definition:

2.2 The Four Noble Truths (Cattāri Ariya-Sacca) :-

Part 3 – Meditation

3.1 Now I understand that pain is just another negative expression of the feeling that I dislike so I just relax and let it be without any aversion

3.2 Understanding the 5 ways to overcome the 5 mental hindrances and unwholesome thoughts that have arisen is also very important. The first 2 ways are:-

3.3 Meditation is not about right and wrong

Appendix 1 - The Heart Of Prajna Pāramitā Sutra

Appendix 2 – 般 若 波 罗 蜜 多 心 经

Appendix 3 – Lesson 5 of the Satipatthana Sutta 6 April 2014

1.0 Pure Land Chanting - Is It Meditation?

1.1 Developing the Five Spiritual Faculties

1.2 Leading to Heedful Living

1.3 Overcoming the Five Mental Hindrances leading to Direct Seeing

1.4 Leading to Enlightenment

1.5 Cultivation of the Five Spiritual Faculties facilitates Meditation

1.6 Mind and Chanting as One

1.7 Awareness of the Chanting

1.8 Cultivation of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness

1.9 Cultivation of the Noble Eight Fold Path

2.0 Understanding the essence of the Buddha’s teaching

2.1 Heedfulness = Sati + Noble Eight Fold Path cultivation

2.2 Sati – First Factor of Enlightenment

2.3 Stabilise the Mind (Sati) to Cultivate the Four Foundations of Mindfulness

3.0 PITFALLS of thought-based meditation

4.0 Sati – “Mindfulness” or “Awareness”?

4.1 A Mind Full of Awareness

4.2 Be With the Moment Without Thought

5.0 Sati – Pure Awareness before the knowing

5.1 General Spacious Awareness

5.2 Awareness and Clear Comprehension (Sati Sampajañña)

5.3 ‘Awareness is the Silent and Choiceless Observation of What Is’ – J Krishnamurti

5.3.1 What is “Silent”?

5.3.2 What is “Awareness”?

5.3.3 Choiceless – Not Making Any Choices or Decisions

5.3.4 Listening Attentively Without Thought

5.3.5 Sakkāyadiṭṭhi (Self-Delusion) and the Three Evil Roots

5.3.6 Be Constantly Aware and Heedful

5.3.7 Vigilance or Awareness is NOT Disciplined or Focused Attention

5.3.8 Meaning of “What Is”

5.3.9 Self-Delusion and Seeing Things as They Are

5.3.10 The Space Between Thoughts

5.3.11 Training the Heedless or Mundane Mind

5.3.12 Understanding the Contents of Consciousness

5.3.13 Silent the Mundane Mind to Develop Understanding

5.3.14 Awareness is NOT Determination

5.3.15 The Awakening

5.3.16 The Mystery of Life Unfolds

5.3.17 Voluntary, Involuntary and Spontaneous Actions

5.3.18 Check and Question the “Thought”

5.3.19 Habitual Tendencies and Memories

5.3.20 WISDOM - Understanding Fully and Completely

Appendix 4 - 31 PLANES OF EXISTENCE

Appendix 5 - TEN DHARMA REALMS (十法界)

Appendix 6 - TRAINING THE MIND via understanding the Essential dhammas & Meditation as Taught by the Buddha

Appendix 6A – TRINITY To Understand Cultivation

6.1 A Trained Mind

6.2 An Untrained Mind

6.3 Training the Mind

6.4 Importance of Sati to walk the Path of Dhamma

6.5 Important Advice to Meditators

6.5 Using the Silent Mind (Sammā Sati)

6.6 There Are 5 Ways To Overcome Unwholesome Thoughts Or Negative Mental States

Appendix 7 -The House Builder (DHAMMAPADA 153 - 154)

Appendix 8 – The Avijjā Sutta

Appendix 9 - The 3 Turnings & 12 Modes of the 4 Noble Truths as proclaimed by the Buddha