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 of the Dhamma with those who are keen in their search for true happiness, peace, liberation from birth and death and all mental suffering. With these understanding it is hoped that they can become more virtuous, nobler and wiser so that they can be a blessing to all. He gives dhamma talks, holds and conducts Buddhist meditation classes & retreats and weekly Dhamma classes at various meditation centres, Buddhist societies and places that invite him.

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

1 Preface

It is Brother Teoh’s sincere wish that Dhamma friends, spiritual practitioners, seekers of truth and cultivators will be able to make use of the enclosed dhamma transcript notes to develop a better understanding of the Buddha Dhamma as taught by the Buddha so that they may progress along the path of dhamma to become more virtuous, nobler and wiser human beings to be a blessing to all of humanity and the world.

As these notes were mostly compiled based on a transcript from the recording of his Thursday dhamma class (dated 16.11.2023); the text is aligned as closely as possible to the colloquial speech in the talk. However, some editorial amendments have been made to the text without detracting from the essence of the talk to make it more readable with lesser colloquial connotations. With this, it is hoped that readers can accordingly adjust themselves to better understand its true meaning and intent. A good way to do this is to listen to the recordings first before reading the transcript notes.

To listen to the recording its audio file is: https://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/20231116_class.mp3).

Alternatively, you can visit our http://broteoh.com website under Repository of Dhamma material to view the YouTube video via this below YouTube video link: https://youtu.be/M8Ep_5Gsn7E

2 Acknowledgement

It is the donors’ sincere intentions that these dhamma transcript notes be shared with 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 have donated and helped in the transcription, formatting, proofreading, pāli words editing, publishing etc. to make this free distribution of dhamma dāna possible.

Special thanks should be accorded to Sister Chee Guit Yeng, Brother Beng Lim, Sister Tammy Tam, Sister Chow Mun Yuen, Sister Lim Poh Ghim, Sister Han Poh Cheng and Sister Lim Eng Bee who had volunteered and taken the initiative to help prepare the initial draft transcripts for my subsequent editing thereby enabling this dhamma transcript book to be printed.

By the power of all these wholesomeness, may all beings be well and happy, free from all mental and physical sufferings and dangers and may there be love, peace and joy - deep within their hearts. May it also pave the way for there to be causes and conditions for all dhamma friends who have donated or helped in one way or another to realise their good and noble wishes and aspirations soonest possible.

With Mettā always,

Brother Teoh Kian Koon

Dated: 31st Jan 2024

3 Unique Dhamma Quote no. 97 and Unique Dhamma Quote 100 (Path to Nibbāna: awakening via cessation of form and mind)

3.1 Pre Pūjā chanting

Greetings by Bro Teoh: Today is 16th Nov 2023, Thursday class. Let us compose our mind and develop the saddhā, vīriya and sati to commence our pre-Pūjā chanting now. …………. End of Pūjā chanting.

3.2 Awareness-based Meditation

As usual, we will have our half an hour of awareness-based meditation. We will turn off the lights for you to proceed with your meditation. Just relax your body and mind and maintain some form of attention, then we can commence our half an hour of awareness-based meditation. Always remember ‘awareness-based meditation’ is to enable us to develop the awareness within. There are four supports to help develop Awareness-Based meditation. First support is - Relax. Relax into every mind state that arises. Just maintain a relaxed body and mind. Don't try to know. Don't try to do anything. Just relax and maintain awareness (second support). Then stabilize the awareness (third support). The last support is Trust. This (4th support), you only do after you have developed the stability of mindfulness within. Otherwise, the first three supports are enough; i.e., Relax, maintain awareness, then stabilize the awareness. When you can stabilize the awareness within, you will come to understand another aspect of mind which is beyond the thinking, beyond the thought process, which is just the pure awareness nature within. With that, great understanding and joy can arise within your nature. So, we just silence our mind, relax the body and mind and maintain awareness. Just do that, no need to know or do anything because the knowing and doing are always by the thoughts. Make your mind alert, attentive and aware. Just aware. Whatever arises, ‘aware, finish’.

This pure awareness nature within, needs to be realized and stabilized. After you can do that, your meditative mind (or the tranquil and still mind without thought) will manifest. That is your True mind, your silent mind. That is the mind that can develop the wisdom, the insight to awaken you. Since this awareness-based meditation can help one realize the awareness nature within, we must therefore develop and stabilize it, then make use of it to cultivate the meditative-wisdom and understanding needed to liberate the mind. Realizing this awareness nature within is very important. This is your primordial mind (or your True Mind). It existed before creation and is responsible for the arising of thought processes and the mundane mind. So, this True mind is the first entity to come out from our nature. We call it the Pure Awareness (PA) from that nature. To develop the meditative understanding, we need to return all thinking (via just being aware) to it. Allow the thinking to naturally slow down by itself via just relaxing and maintaining awareness (i.e. don't try to do or know), then through that process, the thought loses its ability to move or proliferate further thus becoming very quiet. Then you just continue to maintain awareness, - whatever arises, aware; whatever arise, aware; and continue to maintain that silent inner awareness then the thinking mind (or mundane mind) that you have been using throughout the day, will start to slow down, slow down and slow down until they become very quiet and very still. Then you will experience the tranquillity and stillness of mind thereby realizing the silent mind. The first glimpse of it is already very wonderful and beautiful. When you can stabilize it, you become even more beautiful. After you can be with that (PA) nature, you can understand a lot of things. Then inquire, ‘without thought, who are you, what are you and what is that nature all about?’ From then on, you will become very different. You will become more aware and more sensitive. That awareness nature makes you more sensitive because you are just aware and no longer distracted by the thought process, the heedless thinking, the mental activities and the mental states that arise. When all those mundane thinking (or stirring of mind and emotions) ceases, you will realize that true mind which is so beautiful, so bright, luminous, tranquil and still because it's just the Pure Awareness (PA) nature; the bright luminous nature, which is beyond thought, beyond mind. That one can see things as they are, can awaken, can insight into phenomena, to realize the 3 universal characteristics of nature (aniccaṃ, dukkhaṃ and anattā).

Okay, now I will set the alarm for 30 minutes for you to develop this awareness within, so that you can train yourself in this awareness-based meditation. For those who already have the ability to stabilize their inner awareness, they can just silent their mind completely and stay at the heart area tostabilize their awareness nature further, via cultivating the 4th support of Trust. Trust your own awareness nature to develop the meditative movements via just silently observing with the silent mind to understand what is going on within your own form and mind; to understand how you function as a human being, to understand who you are and what you are. Developing all this understanding is what awareness-based meditation is all about.

Ting! x3 (End of 30 minutes of awareness-based Meditation).

3.3 Post Meditation Dhamma sharing

You can now slowly and mindfully come out of the meditation. Try to maintain whatever inner peace, inner calmness and inner awareness that you have developed for as long as you can. These are the mind states you need to live life and to develop the daily mindfulness (awareness), to be aware throughout the day, leading to Heedfulness.

Please turn to page 6 of our chanting book. We shall now chant the Invocation to Devas (Devārādhanā)……… End of chanting.

3.3.1 Dhamma sharing by Brother Teoh on the topic: Unique Dhamma quotes 97 and 100 (Path to Nibbāna: Awakening via cessation of form and mind)

We shall continue from where we stop. We are at the Unique Dhamma quote number 97 of this book by me - ‘Straight from the Heart, Unique Dhamma quotes.’ This Unique Dhamma quote 97 is on page 28.

Unique Dhamma quote 97: Develop the initial wisdom borne of the 1st and 2nd turning wisdom, through constantly listening to the true Dhamma and constantly contemplating, reflecting and inquiring into them to straighten our views.

3.3.1.1 3 Turnings of the Four Noble Truths wisdom

This initial wisdom borne of the first and the second turnings of the Four Noble Truths cultivation are very important. The 1st turning is via constantly listening to the true Dhamma or sutta as proclaimed by the Buddha. The wisdom borne of hearing the sutta or discourse of the Buddha is called Sutamayāpaññā. After you have heard them, you need to contemplate, reflect and inquire deep into all the words spoken by the Buddha to develop the 2nd turning wisdom. Inquire, why did the Buddha say this and how can I understand it? Under his 2nd turning of the Four Noble Truths teaching, the Buddha gave very clear guidelines to cultivate them. When he turned the Four Noble Truths for the 2nd time, he also gave specific emphasis for every of these Four Noble Truths.

Under the 1st turning, he only proclaimed the teaching of this 4 Noble Truths: - i.e. what is the 1st Noble Truth of Dukkha (the 8 realities of life and existence); then what is the 2nd Noble Truth (craving as the cause of arising of Dukkha); the 3rd Noble Truth as, the cessation of Dukkha (which means suffering or Dukkha need not be, because if you know how to cultivate following his teaching then cessation of Dukkha is possible). Then there is this 4th Noble Truth where the Buddha proclaimed the Noble Eightfold Path. He said, there is this Noble Eightfold Path, if you cultivate it, it will bring about the end of all suffering, which means Enlightenment in the here and the now.

After that, on the second turning, he gave different but specific emphasis for each truth. He said under the 2nd turning of the 1st Noble Truth: The Noble Truth of Dukkha is to be understood. So, we need to inquire, why did the Buddha say that this Noble Truth of Dukkha (covering all the 8 realities of life and existence) is to be understood? It is because if we haven't developed the understanding of it, then we can be caught in Dukkha or suffering without knowing that it is suffering. This can be very dangerous because this self-delusion can make one truly heedless. Knowing that all these 8 realities of life and existence are common realities to all of us, we therefore need to confront them as we go through life. When we confront them without wisdom, we suffer. That's why it's called a Noble Truth. So, this Noble Truth of Dukkha is to be understood, means, we need to understand what they are. To do that, you must contemplate, reflect and inquire into all these 8 realities as taught by the Buddha.

Then the next inquiry is, how can you develop an understanding of it? This inquiry will allow you to develop a more stable and deeper understanding of this Noble Truth - termed the contemplative understanding. As you reflect and contemplate into it, you can develop more stability of understanding because normally after hearing it for the first time the understanding is usually not strong and not deep (unless you have cultivated it before from the past). If that is the case then the moment you hear the truth, you can awaken to it. Otherwise, you need to contemplate and reflect based on the inquiry given.

All these contemplative inquiries can give rise to stability of understanding. For example, when we reflect on why the Buddha said, ‘birth is suffering’. As we reflect, contemplate or recollect the birth process, we inquire - what follows and what happens during the birth process? Is it really suffering? Especially after we have gone through life, we will have the ability to recollect the actual birth process to understand clearly why birth is suffering. Especially for mothers who have given birth before because the whole process of birth can be quite traumatic. How those loved ones who are related to the mother and newborn child develop fear, worry, anxiety and suffering when there are complications during birth. They will all be afflicted. All these are realities that can happen. Especially when the birth process is not normal, having problems and complications. Then, due to attachment, craving, clinging and grasping, suffering will arise, leading to mental agony and misery. This contemplative wisdom can stabilize our understanding. Then we can assimilate all these understandings into our nature to make our second turning wisdom more stable. This 2nd turning’s cultivation is a follow-up from the 1st turning’s cultivation. To develop the stability of understanding of the teaching, you need to contemplate very often via the 2nd turning.

Of course, the first turning nowadays can include reading. You can read from books, the internet and listen to recordings. Modern technological advancement has given rise to more convenience for people to develop the 1st turning wisdom. All these are very beneficial and added advantages if you understand.

Under Unique Dhamma quote 97, I mentioned, ‘develop the initial wisdom borne of the 1st and 2nd turning’ cultivation’ via constantly listening to the true Dharmaand constant contemplation, reflection and inquiry into them. These 1st and 2nd turning wisdom can let you straighten your views so that this Dhamma understanding can be clearly established. This straightening of views leads to wisdom. A lot of these reflection and contemplation teachings are also taught by the Buddha via his essential Dhamma teachings of the 5 daily contemplations, Buddhānussati, Dhammānussati, Saṅghānussati and Maraṇānussati.

3.3.1.2 The 5 daily contemplations

The first and most important one is the five daily contemplations. We need to contemplate these five daily contemplations (which are related to the First Noble Truth realities) daily.

He said, ‘this body (the physical form) of ours, they are of the nature to grow old, get sick and die for it has not gone beyond old age, sickness and death’. These first three daily contemplations are for us to develop the understanding clearly that our physical body is not a permanent unchanging entity. It doesn't belong to us. It goes the way of nature. That's why it's subject to old age, sickness, and death. We need to constantly reflect, contemplate and remind ourselves of this reality so that we are not deluded by it, so that we do not attach and cling to this physical body. Without such understanding, you will attach and cling to this physical body, thinking that it belongs to you, it's a permanent unchanging entity whereby you can own it, have it and possess it. Then you will have problems because you will then worry about this physical body getting old, getting sick and finally die. This is Sakkāya diṭṭhi (self-delusion) that can condition one to cling and grasp onto this physical body (the first of the five aggregates of form and mind). As explained by the Buddha, under his 1st Noble Truth final summary: ‘In short, this self-delusion that conditioned us to cling and grasp on to these 5 aggregates of form and mind, is the cause of suffering. That's why the first four realities of birth, old age, sickness and death of the 1st Noble Truth are closely related to these first 3 daily contemplations taught by the Buddha here.

If we contemplate it, then we will understand why the Buddha said, ‘this body is non-self, impermanent, go the way of nature. If we attach, cling and hold on to it via wanting things our way (which is not nature’s way), suffering will be the result’. Hence, these universal characteristics of impermanence, suffering and not-self are very clear because if you look and contemplate this physical body, what is it? Basically, it’s just the four elements, the four basic elements that subdivide all physical things. We have the Earth (paṭhavīdhātu) or solidity element, then we have the liquid element (āpodhātu) then we also have the heat element (tejodhātu). Then we also have the wind element (vāyodhātu) in Pāli. These four elements animate it into a physical body, giving rise to the form aggregate and this one (the physical body) is subject to Nature's condition. That's why it goes the way of nature. It will experience growth, ageing, sickness, disease, injury and finally death. That's why all these are part and parcel of Nature's condition. So, this body of ours is of the nature to grow old, get sick and finally die, even subject to injury, is a reality. This understanding will give rise to the initial wisdom (yoniso manasikāra) that can enable one not to cling or hold on to this body.

Then the 4th daily contemplation regarding the reality of separation is also very important. Here the Buddha proclaimed, ‘whatever that we think we own, we possess or we can hold onto dearly, like our loved ones, our prized possessions, (including our reputation, titles, status, wealth, properties and other possessions, etc., which we believe are ours), will one day separate from us’.

You may think, because you work towards getting them, therefore you can get to own them. But all these, like the Buddha said, they are not reliable or dependablebecause they are all dependent-originating, condition-arising and causal phenomena. When the causes and conditions are there, it's like, you can own them, you can have them, they belong to you. But when the causes and conditions are no more, it will separate from you, even our physical form and mind behave the same because finally, when the breath stops, your entity erased, your identity no more. Separation will still occur. They say you die. So, what is death? Who dies? What dies? When Consciousness separates from the physical, it cannot function as a human being anymore because death has occurred. The moment your breath stopped; your entity gone. Then how can you own things? How can you have things? That’s why all these that you believe you own, you possess, they will separate from you.

Then, the other understanding is, even while you are still alive, healthy, breathing with all the senses intact, separation can still occur when conditions cease to be, you still will lose them. Take for example your wealth, your priced possessions, your loved ones, your whatever titles and honours etc., - because they are all dependent originating entities, they can still separate from you when conditions cease to be. So, separation can happen in the form of losing them during nature’s calamity or crisis (like economic crisis or financial crisis and during periods of turmoil, disorder, war, riots, etc.) So, separation can come about in many ways due to various causes and conditions. Sometimes due to disease leading to death, separation still occurs. Relationship failure leading to divorce can also cause separation. When you contemplate deep into all these, first four daily contemplations, you can develop wisdom not to be deluded by what you see, hear, smell, taste, tactilely feel and think, - believing that all these are real, can be owned, can be possessed and you can attach, cling and grasp onto them. That’s how suffering comes to be. When you cannot get what you want, when things don’t go your way, you suffer! So, all these are realities of life and existence and separation is one of them. Not only divorce and relationship failures can lead to separation; sometimes forced separation due to war can also occur. The death of a sole breadwinner or of a loved one, occurring due to accidents, critical disease etc., can also be very traumatic.

Then finally the most important contemplation is the fifth daily contemplation: where the Buddha said, ‘we are all born of our own kamma, heir to our kamma, conditioned and supported by our kamma and we are what we are because of kamma.’

If kamma plays such a great role in our life, then what must we do? We must take care of our kamma right? How do you take care of kamma? You must avoid all evil, do good and purify your mind. That’s how the advice of the Buddha (via Dhammapada verse 183) comes about. That is how the teaching of the Buddha comes about.

3.3.1.3 Dhammapada verse 183 (Advice of all Buddhas)

Dhammapada verse 183: ‘Sabbapāpassa akaraṇaṁ, kusalassa upasampadā; Sacittapariyodapanaṁ, etaṁ buddhāna sāsanaṁ.’ (Avoid all evil, do good via cultivating wholesomeness and purify your mind, that’s the advice of all Buddhas.)

These are the 3 important advice of all Buddhas. From there, the teaching starts. The Buddha explained, to avoid all evil, one must keep the precepts. That’s how the precepts (Sīla or morality) were introduced. Minimum five precepts for lay people. Ability to keep these five precepts are crucial because violating them constitute committing major evils. Undertaking the training rules to abstain from breaking these five precepts can protect you from committing major evils or karmic negativities which can give rise to grave karmic consequences. So, to avoid all evil you must keep these precepts and to really keep them you must train your mind, to undertake the training rule to abstain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, telling lies and partaking of any intoxicant or drugs that can bring about karmic downfall. Keeping these five precepts are key requirements to avoid all evil. That’s why we need to train our mind in mindfulness (awareness) to enable us to be aware of our mental intention before we continue to allow it to act out until transgression. Initially it may just be a simple thought then if you are not aware or not mindful of the evil mental intention within, it can give rise to karmic negativity. You also need to know what constitutes evil. The 3 evil mind states (or roots) of Greed, Hatred and Delusion are the roots of all evil. That’s why when you are aware of them, when you understand what constitutes evil, this awareness can prevent you from breaking the precepts. This awareness will see the mental intention that has the evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion (especially selfishness, craving, desire, possessiveness, lust, grasping and clinging etc., which are mainly the evil root of Greed.) Then due to self-delusion, we believe we exist, and when things don’t go our way, we get angry, we get emotional, then hatred, envy, jealousy, and unhappiness (which are the evil roots of Hatred) arise. Finally, we have the evil root of Delusion or Sakkāya diṭṭhi (self-delusion) that conditions your fear, worry, anxiety, sorrow, and lamentation to manifest. That’s the reason why without mindfulness and the dhamma understanding of what constitutes evil, you cannot effectively keep your precepts. So, the ability to keep the precepts needs mindfulness. That’s why the meditation as taught by my nature is sati or mindfulness which is awareness-based and not thought-based.

You train yourself to be aware (mindful) then stabilize it to be ever mindful. With this ability, you can avoid all evil to take care of kamma, then kamma will take care of your life. No more negative karmic conditioning meaning no more fruition of these negative actions, speech, and thought processes. When we understand this, we can develop the purification of mind, body, and action, leading to our ability to avoid all evil. You then need to move on to the next step of cultivation which is the cultivation of wholesomeness. All evil is to be avoided first, then cultivate whatever wholesomeness whenever there is condition. This is cultivating kusala kamma (wholesome kamma) born of wholesome action, speech and thought processes. To do it you need to arise the 3rd right effort.

3.3.1.4 Cultivating the Four right efforts STOP

To avoid all evil, you need to cultivate the 1st and 2nd right efforts. The 1st right effort is to abandon whatever negative or wrong thought (with negative mental intention) that has arisen. It means after you are mindful that the wrong thought, action and speech has arisen, the Buddha taught us five ways to abandon it. It means the right effort to abandon the wrong thought that has arisen so that it will not carry through to condition you into karmic negativity. Then the 2nd right effort is to prevent the arising of the negative thought or mental intention leading to sense restraint. After the 1st and 2nd right efforts, we need to develop wholesomeness via the 3rd and the 4th right efforts. The 3rd right effort is to cultivate whatever virtue or goodness or kindness that are still not in you, means to cultivate whatever right thought, right speech, right action and right living that are still not in you. Then after that, the 4th right effort is to refine upon whatever right thought, right speech, right action or right livelihood that we have developed. Meaning all the virtue and appropriate good and wholesome mind states, you need to refine upon them until it is perfected. These four right efforts are just the initial training. We also need to cultivate the third and the fourth ways to overcome unwholesome thought as taught by the Buddha, which is the meditative approach. The third way is to only maintain awareness (mindfulness) to be with it, then it will cease because everything is dependent originating and condition arising phenomena. If you maintain awareness it will cease to be. Then you can see clearly that anger was never you, selfishness was never you, envy, jealousy, fear, worry and anxiety (all these mind states), they are never you, for they are all dependent originating and condition arising mind states. They arise because of wrong thoughts conditioned by self-delusion (Sakkāya diṭṭhi). When you see all these in your meditation, you can straighten your views to awaken. That’s why sati or mindfulness or awareness is very important. Without sati, you cannot understand all these, you cannot see all these. Then, when you continue to be mindful of the six internal sense bases and the six external sense bases, you will come to know how upon contact, the respective sense door consciousness comes to be. When you can see all these, you will have the ability to trace the origination factors to understand, how anger arises? How fear arises? How does emotion arise? How grasping, clinging and craving arise? When you can see them, you can develop the wisdom to retrospectively reverse its arising via understanding that they are all closely related to our sense experiences occurring at the six sense doors. It is normally via the seeing consciousness, hearing consciousness and the thought consciousness. The other mind door consciousness of smell, taste and tactile are less potent and not so bad. But the real culprit is seeing, hearing and thought consciousness. This one stirs your mind a lot, causing you to react to sense experiences and cause duality of likes and dislikes to arise. That’s how the evil roots of like and dislike, pleasant and unpleasant sense experiences, come to be. When you can be aware of all these you will understand how the origination factors come to be. That’s why at every moment of sense experience if you don’t have the initial wisdom (yoniso manasikāra) to attend to it, you cannot cope. It will straight away condition you to react and stir your mind. That’s how habitual tendencies can become very powerful and very potent. You become very mechanical and you always act according to your memory: - from your brain (which holds all your accumulated knowledge, views, opinion, conditioning, belief system, your phobia, your insecurity, your scars of memory etc.) All these are your negative psychological memories and not wisdom. So, you are actually acting according to your psychological memories and knowledge borne of self-delusion, because you lack wisdom and understanding. When you act based on your Sakkāya diṭṭhi (or self-delusion), your craving, your desire, borne of your wrong view, will condition your suffering. Seeing and understanding all these is meditation. Then you will understand why you must not act according to memory and why you cannot always go to your thought processes created by your mundane mind with its senses and accumulated knowledge to act because that way of acting, cannot free you. That’s why thought-based meditation is doomed. You cannot develop wisdom out of it. You cannot liberate your mind and be free. So, this is why awareness-based meditation is so important.

3.3.1.5 Wisdom via seeing things as they are

When you are aware, you can see and observe ‘What IS’ clearly, to realize the origination factors of all these emotions when they arise at every moment of sense experience. Then from the senses you can trace back to the causes behind. So, to trace the origination factor we need to inquire: - why did you stir your mind? It is because of your wrong view, your lack of dhamma understanding right? When you cannot see things as they are, you will act according to memory via seeing and perceiving things according to what your memory tells you. You will also act following your views, opinion, conditioning, belief system and all your accumulated psychological memories, which includes your phobia, fear, insecurity, sorrow, lamentation, scars of memory etc. All these will continue to haunt the living being because these are all delusions that condition wrong thoughts. What are wrong thoughts? Thoughts that condition your misery, your suffering, your fear, your worry, anxiety, sorrow, lamentation and insecurity etc. So, the way to free yourself from all these, is to straighten your view so that you can be at peace with all things. The next time you see something, hear something, smell something, taste something or tactilely feel something or recall through memory something, maybe scars of memory or whatever, inquire: - how can you develop the wisdom not to stir your mind, not to create all these movements of mind states that bring about suffering? That is what the Buddha meant by yoniso manasikāra (wisdom arising at the moment of sense experience). The essential teaching of the Buddha is very clear. He said, ‘we must meditate to see things as they are, to realize the truth, to awaken to the three Universal Characteristics of anicca (impermanent), dukkha (suffering) and anattā (non-self or empty nature of existence). The answers are here, - to see things as they are. Meaning to clearly see their universal characteristics. Then with the 5 daily contemplation’s wisdom developed earlier, you are no longer deluded. This initial wisdom can help you awaken via understanding this: - if they are impermanent, not a permanent unchanging entity then why must I deludedly cling, grasp and hold on to it via wanting things my way, which is not Nature’s Way! For everything goes the way of nature, just like what the Buddha said, “whatever arise, there are causes and conditions behind.” Which means, I cannot argue with the reality; with What is! – which is the Truth! For “What is” decides everything.

Well, this principle of ‘whatever that arise, there are causes and conditions behind’, is based on nature’s law, nature’s condition. If you understand this principle, then you have to accept whatever happened, otherwise you will suffer via wanting things your way which is not nature’s way. So, acceptance is the first understanding needed to free your mind. When you accept, you no longer worry, no longer project your thoughts because you understand this based on right views and right understanding. When you have right views with regards to the spiritual laws of Kamma, Mind and Truth, then you can see things as they are.

Understand that - ‘The world is the world, conditions like that, things will be like that. People are just the way they are - deluded people do deluded things, angry people do angry things, selfish people do selfish things’ then your mind is free’.

With this wisdom and understanding, the next time when I see them, I no longer label them as ‘evil or good’ or whatever. I can accept them for what they are via my direct seeing, for things are just the way they are. It can’t be otherwise. When I have this wisdom to accept and be at peace with all things (which is ‘What IS’), I do not stir my mind, then my mind remains peaceful, calm, tranquil and collected. Thattranquil mind is my True mind. There is clarity and mindfulness within, to understand all these. Then I asked myself - what actually happened? How can I resolve all this amicably? What did the Buddha teach? The Buddha taught the 4th noble truth and proclaimed that, ‘if you cultivate this Noble Eightfold Path, it will lead to the end of all sufferings’. So, this is the solution. If you apply the Noble Eightfold Path teaching to act following the Dhamma way instead of the usual habitual way of acting according to memory, then you can resolve all your so-called problems amicably.

Acting according to wisdom following the Dhamma way is the right way to act. Wisdom means having the embodiments of the Noble Eightfold Path factors and the understanding of the essential Dhamma as taught by the Buddha to help you develop the understanding to solve your problems. You develop wisdom to live life via cultivating this Unique Dhamma quote 97. That’s the reason why I need to go through with you all, this Unique Dhamma quote 97 first. This will enable you all to develop the initial wisdom (yoniso manasikāra) borne of the 1st and 2nd turning of the Four Noble Truths wisdom. Sutamayāpaññā is the 1st turning wisdom borne of constant listening to the sutta and Cintāmayāpaññā is the 2nd turning wisdom borne of constant contemplation, reflection, and inquiry into the Four Noble Truths to stabilize your 1st turning wisdom. This initial wisdom is very important for it can spontaneously prompt you (at the moment of sense experience), not to deludedly stir your mind. This is possible because with this initial wisdom, you will not go to your memory to act via habitual tendencies like before, thereby protecting you. Hence no more acting according to memory like before. After that we have to cultivate Bhāvanāmayāpaññā (the 3rd turning wisdom) borne of the meditative training (purification of mind). To do this, you need to develop the stability of Mindfulness leading to Samadhi to enable you to see things as they are via direct seeing. Via this direct seeing’s awakening you will understand clearly that you have two minds: - the True mind (TM) and the Mundane mind (MM). How from the Pure Awareness (PA), the mundane mind (MM) arises through its creative process, to project into the phenomenal world of consciousness (PWC) via consciousness.

3.3.1.6 Stages of creation and Hallmark wisdom of Master Hui Neng

Please look at the 4 circles chart on the white board, to understand the stages of creation. The 1st circle here: - the Source (S) is our Original nature or our True nature, or the Oneness nature. From here (the Source) the first thing to come out is our Pure Awareness (PA) nature. That's why all of awareness-based meditation training and cultivation is to come to this point to realize the first hallmark wisdom of the 6th Patriarch, Master Hui Neng: - the state of no thought (无念的境界 - Wú niàn de jìngjiè). When you can be here, in this state of Pure Awareness (PA) you are just aware, without any thinking or thought. This is the realization of your True mind (the Silent, Meditative mind). If you cannot be in this state of Pure Awareness (PA) while meditating, you are wasting your time. Which means you are developing thought-based meditation instead. Thought-based means your thoughts are actively doing the thought-based meditation via lots of mental verbalization, chattering and heedless habitual thinking borne of self-delusion conditioned by your mental hindrances. When you are here, at the mundane mind (five aggregates of form and mind) level, this mundane thinking mind (MM), is very active but you cannot see how all these come about because you lack mindfulness (or Awareness) while here at the (MM). This (MM) arises from here: Pure Awareness (PA) nature. When you are born into the world the first thing that comes out is this Pure Awareness. In the case of a newborn baby, it is capable of direct seeing because of no knowledge, no memory and no accumulation yet. They can see things as they are, that’s why they are very innocent and very cute.

From here, at the (PA) level, if you meditate via silencing your mind to be just awareness then you will come to know how the thinking manifests from here: Pure Awareness (PA) nature. Thinking manifests because we have this brain, with its accumulated memories. As thought is a response to memory, (and memory is accumulated Knowledge with its views, opinions and conditioning etc.), therefore from here: (PA) thoughts arise. What is thought? How do we create thought? Initially it is just the spacious Pure Awareness. Then to know the external form, we need to perceive this external form via shrinking our pure awareness to a limited space to input the content of consciousness to form a thought. Hence Thought = Pure Awareness + its content (Saṅkhāra). Reason why thought is limited.

Perception (Sañña) is the 6th consciousness. When we want to know, to experience or to do something via habitual tendencies, that egoic mind arises to perceive. The moment it is perceived; this 6th consciousness brings the external form (the sense data) into our consciousness to manifest the mundane mind as a thought. Then through your memory, views, opinions, conditioning and belief system etc., you react to whatever you perceive through your senses, then you stir your mind. That’s how you become heedless, got lost in thoughts and think a lot via constantly inputting your content of consciousness (Saṅkhāra).

The last time when Bro Song was around, he realized this is what cultivators need to do. Cultivators have to return the external phenomenal world that this mundane mind creates through consciousness back to the Mundane mind (MM) level. Understand how this (PWC) is projected into existence via all these mental consciousness our (MM) manifest. When you become conscious while living life, you tend to perceive (via sañña) through your senses constantly, then you think, react and stir your mind. This saṅkhāra - sañña movements and activities trigger off feelings and emotions. That’s how this phenomenal world of consciousness (PWC) is projected into our existence. This existential world (which is also our conditioned arising world) is what the phenomenal world of consciousness (PWC) is all about. This is where life and existence are and living beings get entangled here. They get afflicted because they grasp, cling and give meaning to this (PWC) thinking that it is real. A lot of things can happen here. That’s why people do all sorts of nonsense here, not knowing that these are just mental images projected from your memory, from your mundane thinking - your mundane consciousness with its deluded content.

Do you know how you know the world and how you interact with the world? Through our senses. Our six sense bases can give rise to seeing consciousness, hearing, smell, taste, tactile and thought consciousness. Without these six sense bases you cannot know the world, you cannot interact with the world, you cannot exist as a living being. So, understanding all these via the meditative process of awareness is crucial. You will then start to see how (referring to the 4 circles chart) this (Source) creates this (PA), and how this (PA) creates this (MM), which in turn creates the (PWC).

Living in the (PWC) is like watching a cinema show. The projector with its lights, sound system etc., projected onto a white screen, then the movie appears as if it is so real, so exciting and lively. But after the cinema show ends, it is just an empty white screen, nothing real. Can you understand? So, all these movements and manifestations are just your mental saṅkhāra, sañña activities triggered by your thought processes and the mundane thinking. When you understand all these, you can return this (PWC) to the mundane mind (MM). Then when you allow the mundane mind to slow down and cease, the Pure Awareness (PA) will reappear. When you are here (PA) you will break free from Sakkāya diṭṭhi (self-delusion) because you will know very clearly via this awareness-based meditation, that this (PA) nature without thought is not a being thereby enabling you to realize a very profound understanding (or wisdom) that can liberate your mind from delusion. Reason why I ask you all to contemplate that Koan (公案 Gōng'àn): ‘Without thought who are you? What are you?’ You realize without thought, you are nothing and you are nobody! Without the egoic mundane mind, it cannot come out and create. But once that Mundane mind (MM) comes out and creates – straight away it manifests into the (MM), the five aggregates of form and mind and then from there very fast via saṅkhāra - sañña it created the phenomenal world (PWC). You can see very clearly how the thinking manifests from Pure awareness nature (PA); it is like the (MM) and the (PA) are very near to each other. It is just a thin line separating them. Without the stability of mindfulness, one cannot realize all these. Now you understand why you must meditate to develop this Pure Awareness nature (PA). You must stay here (PA), determine to be aware, relax, maintain awareness and don’t try to know or do anything, just stay here (PA). When you are here (PA), you see clearly how the process of creation arises, then how once it has come here (MM), it (consciousness) is like a magician. That is how Consciousness created the illusionary world (the phenomenal world of consciousness). That’s also the reason why the Buddha said, ‘consciousness is like a magician, the greatest magician,’ - which I always share with you all during our meditation retreats.

While inside my house, when you open your eyes, your whole field of vision (everything you can see and perceive, including my voice), they arise already. Appearing so real in front of you. But the moment you close your eyes, the whole creation is gone. The moment you shut off your senses the whole of creation is gone. Therefore, this phenomenal world of consciousness (PWC), are just mental images created by thoughts, - so, how real can it be?

Externally it may appear very solid and real (with the four elements and everything else), but how do you perceive it? Through your mental perceptions, right? Mental perceptions are just mental images; so, how real can these images be? These images come and go, perception comes and goes, feeling comes and goes, thinking comes and goes, emotion comes and goes and you didn’t die so how can they be ‘you’? While living life, your senses are fully engaged. Everything you manifest through your senses; they move very fast. Without mindfulness how can you cope with life? How can you see and understand all these movements? That’s why you need mindfulness, pure awareness and sati to cultivate and develop the understanding needed to awaken. Hopefully by now it is pretty clear, why you must develop awareness-based meditation instead of following methods and techniques of meditations (which are mainly thought-based) to create more delusion here (at the MM level).

Thought-based meditation can lead one astray through energy and psychic field cultivation. Whereas Awareness-based meditation is beyond thought beyond mind hence non-duality. No focusing or concentration involved, hence no energy or psychic field built-up. Nothing, but just the pure awareness nature, which is not a being, it cannot come out and live life. It is not like this human being, the 5 aggregates of form and mind (MM) which are subject to kamma. This (MM) is like a traveller in space and time.

Throughself-delusionyou cling and grasp onto this (MM), not knowing that you are not this (MM), you are actually the nature behind and you originated from here: the (Source) which is your Buddha nature, your True nature. This lack of understanding gave rise to self-delusion that conditioned the EGO to grasp on to the 5 aggregates of form and mind (MM). Then you believe you exist, you are this human being, a traveller in space and time. That’s how you repeatedly return to samsara (world of birth and death) via the karmic process.

There is so much Self-delusion: - you believe you exist, you are real and you further believe you are so and so, then you go through life, you own and have this and that etc. All these are just accumulated memories, nothing else. Finally, when the consciousness separates from the physical form, they say you die. Then rebirth due to ignorance happens again. Then you continue with these countless segmented lives of birth and death. Every segmented life, you come, which one is you? None of them are you. Reason why you must understand, how through all these samsaric processes, you created a karmic nature that conditions your continuous rebirth in samsara.

So, this karmic nature is what the Buddha wants you to understand. For according to Buddha, ‘we are all born of your kamma, heir to your kamma, conditioned and supported by your kamma and you are what you are because of your kamma’. When you understand this, you will know how to reverse all this and return.

So, when you are here (MM), you can develop the awareness-based cultivation to come back to here (PA), then you will see via the pure awareness’s direct seeing, the fallacy and delusion of all these. Then this phenomenal world of consciousness (PWC) will fail to deceive you, fail to condition you into negativity. That’s how you break free, it has no more power over you. So, this is what awareness-based meditation is all about. When you have all these understanding then what happens is, the Mundane mind (MM) that develops all this understanding, realizes itself and ceases. Realize that this (MM) is unreal (not a permanent unchanging entity) because it is just a dependent originating and condition arising entity or just a vehicle and a toolfor you to come to this existential world to live life, to cultivate, to go through the karmic process and to do whatever function you want.

When the Mundane mind (MM) realizes itself and ceases, that is the realization of Nibbāna or Enlightenmentin the here and the now. When it (MM) ceases, it (MM) not only comes back to the Pure awareness (PA) initially, but the whole pure awareness also ceases - for it to return to the (Source). The (Source), they also give it the name Nibbāna and the Unconditioned.

So, this is the realization of Nibbāna, the unconditioned. Initially, for those who cultivate the sainthood way, they may only have a glimpse of the cessation here (Source). But a glimpse is enough for them to break free from Sakkāya diṭṭhi (self-delusion). For those who took the Bodhisattva way they will stay here (PA) and develop this (PA Nature) until it is very vivid and beautiful to perfect the 3rd stage of Bodhi mind development.

3.3.1.7 5 stages of Bodhi Mind Development

Can you remember the five stages of Bodhi mind development that I shared earlier? What is the 3rd stage of Bodhi mind development? Yes, Bodhi mind that illuminates that nature. That is what they will do. The first two stages of Bodhi mind development are relatively much easier. The first stage of Bodhi mind development is just to aspire with great Sincerity, Faith and understanding to plant the seed of Bodhi to go this Bodhisattva way via taking the four basic vows of a Bodhisattva with understanding. This initial stage of aspiring sincerely with Faith to cultivate this Bodhisattva way to realize Sammāsambuddhahood is very important. That’s the reason why I prepared the taking of the Bodhisattva way’s yellow card to act as a guide to help you all develop the understanding of the unique process involved. This yellow card, with clearly set out format and details to take the Bodhisattva vows to go this Bodhisattva way is very concise, yet comprehensive, unique, and very good. Please go through it (the yellow card) and recite it every day to develop a clear understanding of this cultivation.

The second stage of Bodhi mind development is to develop the Bodhi mind (Bodhicitta) that can endure and severe (or subdue) all afflictions.  Which means you must develop the wisdom to realize the perfection of Renunciation. Renunciation is Nekkhamma in pāli. When you can renounce everything (with wisdom), it means you cannot suffer anymore because by then you would have understood that everything is not so real (not what you think). That is how you can renounce them all.

To perfect this perfection of Renunciation, the Buddha while cultivating as a Bodhisattva, also needed to develop the ability to renounce even his wife, children and his kingdom, when put to the final test. So, Nekkhamma is the perfection one needs to accomplish for one to realize this second stage of Bodhi mind development {the Bodhi mind that can endure and severe (or subdue) all suffering (or affliction)}. Which means one must have also perfected the understanding of prajnapāramitā by then. Because of that one will continue with the cultivation from this Pure awareness (PA) to develop the third stage of Bodhi mind development. This third stage is what Soo Yee just mentioned, the Bodhi mind that illuminates this, (PA) Nature. Once you can illuminate this Pure Awareness (PA) Nature, this one (MM) understands very clearly what this (Source) is all about, then this one (PA) becomes very different, it becomes very powerful and very beautiful. Powerful as in Balas, where the spiritual faculties have stabilized until it is unshakable. Your spiritual faculties when you have not stabilized them, they are just normal spiritual faculties. But once you have stabilized them until unshakable, they become balas or powers. But here the word power is not to destroy things.

Sister Soo Yee: Is it a blessing?

Bro. Teoh: No, no, True blessing comes from wisdom. Wisdom and blessing arise together when one uses the Pure Awareness (PA) Nature to cultivate.

When you can stay here (PA) until you can illuminate that (PA) nature, it means you have detected the gateway to your nature. This gateway is around your heart area (usually located slightly towards its left). After detecting the gateway to your Nature, your external yin yang energies will flow (or melt) through the gateway naturally to make you very still.

Then stay at the Pure awareness (PA), to illuminate that Nature until it becomes very beautiful. Let the Pure (PA) Nature develop the internal movements and transformations via Trust until this whole Nature at your heart area opens up, until the mundane mind collapses. This is what Bro. Teoh experienced in the year 1989 and he became very different after experiencing those transformations.

His last guide showed him where the gateway was in 1989, and the moment he detected the gateway, he knew what it was. After that, 9 months later, his internal Nature’s transformation led to the collapse of his mundane mind (MM). The Pure Nature then shines forth and illuminates that Pure Awareness Nature. That is the 3rd stage of Bodhi mind development – ‘Bodhi mind that illuminates Buddha nature as enlightenment’ – means you not only awaken but you manage to illuminate that nature within (your True nature) until it becomes so clear - means you not only connect to the gateway to your nature, but you can now continue with the internal transformation’s cultivation until that nature can become very exceptional. That was how Bro Teoh came to understand what that nature is.

That is what this (PA) nature cultivation is all about, but for most of you all, you only try to have a glimpse of this (PA) nature’s awareness and its cessation while cultivating the sainthood way. This awareness is actually sati or mindfulness - the state of no thought as taught by Master Hui Neng, the 6th Patriarch. Which means you all haven’t detected the gateway to your True nature yet. But the moment you can stabilize the (PA) to detect the gateway to your nature via doing the 4thsupport, Trust, then your cultivation will become very exceptional, wonderful, and beautiful because once you can do this Trust, a lot of things will happen to your nature. All your external Yin and Yang energies will melt through this gateway to become pure wisdom energy, then it will do the internal transformations and movements until your wisdom and understanding become very different. This pure wisdom energy will then transform your bodily vibration until it becomes very fine, until the mundane mind becomes too gross to withstand the vibration and collapse. It is like a layer of consciousness at the forehead area, slowly tightened until finally (after a period of 9 months), it suddenly dropped off leading to the collapse of the mundane mind. The process is quite gradual.

When you are here (PA) you can develop a profound understanding of a different dimension, completely different from the normal wisdom borne of the provisional teaching’s cultivation. I came to understand all my past cultivations after I inherited them from my Spiritual Nature. These understandings are so different; most of it is not from my present life’s cultivation.

This Spiritual Nature (SN), you cannot inherit anything from it until after you have detected the gateway to your nature. But the moment I can be at the Pure Awareness (PA) nature – I started to inherit all my past cultivation from my (SN). That’s how my understanding became so different after that.

My (MM) collapsed nine months after I detected the gateway. After that, from 1989 until now, 2023 (a total of 34 years), these cultivation, internal movements, and transformations inside my heart area or (PA) nature area are still continuing. Reason why this Pure Awareness (PA) Nature can be developed until it is so exceptional and so beautiful. At that time, how can I share and teach all these understanding which my Nature had realized? That is the reason why I said there is a lot more understanding that my Nature can share, provided there are causes and conditions. Now I had the conditions to teach all these; it’s because Maitreya Buddha’s nature in the year 2008 had requested my nature to share the True Dhamma with the world, – with the message: “请您把正法传下去” (Please help transmit the True Dhamma). That is the reason why the sharing and the teachings now (compared to then) are so different.

This type of teaching you can’t even find in Mahāyāna books. Unless it is written by great beings who had gone through such cultivation and transformation, otherwise it is unlikely.

The Pure Awareness (PA) Nature is to be cultivated until it is very clear first, before one can move on to the 4thstage of Bodhi mind development cultivation. Can you all recall what is the 4th stage of Bodhi mind development? Yes, Bodhi mind that renounces Saṃsāra. At this stage, to them saṃsāra is ‘nothing’ (no longer an issue), so is the phenomenal world of consciousness (PWC). They will not think like those deluded beings who said, ‘Wah! This Bodhisattva way takes so long (aeons), you think you can do it? You think you can go that way?’ All these are wrong thoughts, deluded thinking, because to the Bodhisattvas all these comings are wonderful existence. It is not what you think. Their Karmic nature and Spiritual nature (SN) are so beautiful because they come with the understanding that both these Karmic and Spiritual natures are there to support them. They can come and live life to the fullest, even though they know the (PWC) is not real, because there is such a thing as life and ‘True Emptiness is wonderful existence’ as explained in the Heart Sutra. So, all these is what the supreme vehicle teachings is all about.

Sākyamuni Buddha’s teaching is very extensive and profound. One can never find another teaching that can cover such extensive understanding. Tracing back to the Source, starting from the beginning of time and covering the whole of the 4 circles or stages of creation. As the Buddha said, ‘inconceivable is the beginning of the first thought of ignorance that conditioned, stirred and created all these movements until now (present moment). The 5th stage of Bodhi mind development is the ‘Bodhi mind of the consummate’, which means you have reached the pinnacle of wisdom and compassion or completed the 10 perfections of the Buddhahood cultivation.

3.3.1.8 2nd session: Questions and Answers and Meditation reporting

Bro Teoh: Anybody want to report your meditation or ask any questions?

Sister PG: Good evening, Bro. Teoh, Mrs. Teoh and all Kalyāṇamittas. Actually, your sharing today is a very comprehensive revision for me.

Bro. Teoh: Yes! Today sharing is very beautiful and it can act as a very comprehensive summary of the whole cultivation.

Sister PG: Today’s sharing by Bro. Teoh on the higher teaching’s cultivation is very profound, good, and comprehensive. Dhamma practitioners with many years of cultivation may also find these teachings new to them if they do not have an in-depth understanding of this higher teaching’s cultivation. For Kalyāṇamittas who have the understanding, today’s sharing is very beautiful, unique, and very comprehensive. It can act as a very good summary for the whole cultivation.

Bro Teoh: PG I rejoiced with your good comment. You not only can follow, but you can also appreciate it so much and feel so good about it too. It is indeed very rare to have someone who can share such profound teaching in such a simple and well-expressed manner with you all. As such it will be great and fantastic if this talk can be transcribed into another beautiful dhamma transcript book. These teachings are not ordinary knowledge or thought-based dhamma teachings. It is a true dhamma teaching which one can relate to life, and all the essential dhamma as taught by the Buddha and to one’s cultivation. It also has the unique ability to link all the essential dhamma of the Buddha to form a complete teaching. From explaining how to develop these 1st and 2nd turnings wisdom via linking it to the 5 daily contemplations teaching, then moving on to the 4 circles formation to explain how from the (Source), the (PA) and the (MM) with its thought processes comes about and then how the (MM) projects via our sense doors’ consciousness to arise the phenomenal world of consciousness (PWC). How Sakkāya diṭṭhi (Self-delusion) conditioned the 3 evil roots to entangle our life. How we can develop the meditative understanding to realize our Pure Awareness (PA) nature within and how we no longer meditate without understanding after that.

The emphasis nowadays is mainly on cultivating via the Pure Awareness nature (PA) and no longer on learning only the usual mundane dhamma covering the external phenomenal world’s dhamma, the 5 aggregates of form and mind, the 3 marks of existence, the 3 turnings of the Four Noble Truths etc.

In the early days, this Pure Awareness (PA) teaching was hardly taught because hardly anybody can understand. But now, the Kalyāṇamittas’ consciousness is so different, especially after our last Cameron Highlands retreat. After that retreat, a lot of Kalyāṇamitta can follow and understand the (PA) cultivation.

3.3.1.9 Four stages of creation via the 4 circles explanation

That’s why recently, Bro Chin How also commented that nowadays, Bro Teoh’s teaching on Sati is so different and he was full of joy listening to it. According to Chin How, he said, ‘In the early years he couldn’t follow or understand what I was teaching. Only in recent years has he started to develop the joy and appreciation of the teaching, after hearing all these recent sharing on the higher teaching, especially on the stages of creation via the 4 circles formation explanation’. After that a lot of Kalyāṇamitta like become very different. Even Sister Eng Bee, Alicia, Sister Poh Cheng, Bro Song and many others, they now realize that my Thursday class Dhamma sharing nowadays are no longer those that I shared at Bro Swee Aun’s house before, where only the essential dhamma like the 5 spiritual faculties, the 5 mental hindrances, the 3 evil roots and the Dhammapada verses 1, 2, 183, 21, 22 and 23 are repeatedly shared. The teachings nowadays are so different.

Now the phase of understanding is on how to realize that Pure Awareness (PA) nature and how to develop the awareness-based meditation, for these are the Buddha’s supreme vehicle’s teachings. All the others are provisional teachings of the sainthood way; taught earlier to prepare you all to receive this Pure Awareness-Based supreme vehicle teachings. Now you understand why, before 2015 the teachings shared by me were mainly provisional teachings, covering the essential dhamma within the phenomenal world of consciousness

(PWC) and the 5 aggregates of form and mind etc., and this Pure Awareness (PA) teaching was hardly taught because the sainthood way does not need the (PA) cultivation’s understanding to awaken. But during the year 2015, the causes and conditions for the Bodhisattva way’s teachings to be taught arise, that’s how all these (PA) teachings also arise. Even the stages of creations’ teaching shared now is via developing the understanding of it. No longer just a brief explanation of what it is.

I have to lay low at that time, but the 2020 Pandemic led MCO was a blessing in disguise because during this MCO, we were forced to go on zoom to conduct our Dhamma classes digitally instead of having only physical classes. Since our annual meditation retreats at Cameron Highlands were also affected, I was able to teach our Heart sutra classes sharing over eight months instead of the usual eight days while at the annual retreat. This is to better prepare and equip all of you to receive these vital Heart Sutra teachings first, prior to attending the next coming annual retreat. Sister Poh Cheng from Singapore benefited the most from this 2020, eight months Heart Sutra classes sharing over zoom. When she listened attentively and followed the instructions closely to develop the awareness-based meditation she progressed very fast and the transformations happened. Her rather fast progress helped give Faith and confidence to a lot of Kalyāṇamitta, because she was quite new and she didn’t really know me. Also due to the MCO she was not able to attend the scheduled annual retreat (which she had wanted to attend) after she made the affirmation to seriously cultivate in 2020. Those who took the Bodhisattva vows also saw this thing coming and they developed a lot of good progress and understanding too, thereby making them so different and their life changes for the better. So, this True teaching is capable of transforming living beings (especially cultivators of the way).

Now our sharing is different, we had moved into the Pure Awareness (PA) teaching, and the supreme vehicle teachings, covering the sharing of the following Mahāyāna sutra: i) the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra (妙法莲华经 – Miào fǎ lián huá jīng), and ii) the earlier Sutra of Immeasurable Meaning (无量义经 – Wú liàng yì jīng) which is about the virtue of Bodhisattva and how Bodhisattva teach the dhamma. The next book which we have not covered is the Pǔ Xián Jīng (普贤经) Samantabhadra Sutra - the meditation of Pǔ Xián Bodhisattva (covering her Practices and vows). It will be taught after we have completed the Lotus Sutra sharing and the understanding of the 3rd and 4thstages of Bodhi mind development’s teaching to enable you all to better appreciate it.

Now that the teaching has reached the supreme vehicle level, - looking back, you will understand why these provisional (or preparatory) teachings of the sainthood way need to be taught first before the supreme vehicle teachings can come about.

PG you can continue your sharing.

Sister PG: To me, after having witnessed the progress of Kalyāṇamitta and their ability to realize pure awareness (PA) nature and stabilized it, it makes me realize that the teaching from the books on how Bodhisattva was able to have those type of virtue to enable them to renounce so many things, are no longer a fairy tale.

Bro Teoh: All these are possible once one understands the supreme vehicle teachings. Even those vows the Bodhisattva took, are no longer that extraordinary because they already have the understanding. You put it very well PG, Sādhu to you for the good understanding and ability to express them so nicely in words.

Sister PG: It also reinforces our faith and determination to walk this Bodhisattva path.

3.3.1.10 Planting the seed of Bodhi

Bro Teoh: Your determination and faith can be a very strong motivation to drive you to go this way. If you can plant the seed of Bodhi deep inside your nature via determined faith and affirmation to seriously cultivate this Bodhisattva way, life after life, you will be home and straight away everything will just fall into place. With strong determination, faith, perseverance and understanding, you must Adhiṭṭhāna to plant this Bodhi mind until it really goes into your nature. Then your Bodhi mind will become very different and it will be activated. If in this life you can have such understanding, faith and affirmation then during your future comings, all these causes and conditions that you have planted will come to fruition. They will come forth and support you. Your Bodhi mind will be activated even during the non-Sāsana era. It will arise. You will become beautiful. By the time you hit the next Sāsana era, you are already very advanced and very beautiful as a cultivator of the Way. So, Sādhu to you all!

PG, please continue.

Sister PG: Ya, Brother Teoh, with such a reward in having such a Bodhi Mind developed, it will really spur us all to go all out to do what we must do in this lifetime. Like myself, I am already of this age, I do not have much time left. I must really strive on with Heedfulness.

Brother Teoh: No problem, PG because age is just a number! The heart must be young. That is more important. It is the heart that determines. Within those few moments (instances) of you receiving the understanding, you immediately make the affirmation and determination, that itself will trigger off the requisite causes and conditions and when that happens, we always say, “jak bei liao” (in hokkien meaning you have more than enough for your fill already) because that affirmation (adhiṭṭhāna) that goes into the nature’s law, is very exceptional and powerful. It can bring forth a lot of beautiful causes and conditions into the future, for all your future comings to become so different and blessed.

Having the “faith, sincerity, determination and perseverance” to go this way are most important. Once you determine it strongly, it can be firmly established. Like what you have witnessed and comprehended now, you understand that all these vows are possible. Not a fairy tale anymore. Before you have the understanding, all these are like fairy tales. But once you understand, you know all these are possible because of your Pure Awareness (PA) Nature’s unique capability.

After you have detected the Gateway to your nature, your cultivation process will continue, until that (PA) Nature shines forth to illuminate your (PA) nature. That’s your Bodhi mind that illuminates the (PA) Nature clearly. This Bodhi mind is very powerful. Once you hit that stage, you will never regress. The Bodhisattva Way is guaranteed and confirmed. You will finish the cultivation. So, all these are so rewarding. I use the word “rewarding” because it is really rewarding. Then after you finish stage three of Bodhi mind development, stage four is even more rewarding. You can by then renounce samsara, via realizing the Bodhi mind that renounces Samsara. It's not your mundane mind that renounces samsara. It is the Bodhi mind that has the perfection and the cultivation to renounce samsara.

So, it's similar to the final advice of the Buddha, “strive on with heedfulness”. Meaning with heedfulness only you strive on. This is the Bodhi mind that renounces samsara. The Bodhi mind that has the understanding and wisdom that enables it to renounce saṃsāra. Means to them saṃsāra is nothing, not an issue anymore. The continuous coming has become so rewarding, so beautiful. So, why not? Like I said, if you need to come, you must come with all these understanding, otherwise why must you come? Don't waste your time. Otherwise, you suffer.

Very good. PG, you can continue. Anything else you would like to share?

Sister PG: Brother Teoh, I would like to say that with such a wise Teacher like Brother Teoh and with the blessings of all the great Beings (Buddhas and Bodhisattvas), I am sure a lot of us if we really put in the determination (Adhiṭṭhāna), many of us would be able to progress well.

Brother Teoh: Definitely! Sādhu! I fully agree with that statement.

Sister PG: I can see, so many of us, at our recent meditation retreat, are so fired up after some of our Kalyāṇamittas had already shown us the way forward. Which means all these progress, realization and awakening are possible. Of course, our Pāramī and Kamma also play their important roles. Having come this far and getting to meet up with Brother Teoh under such unique circumstances, I think it's very much our effort now instead of just depending on our Pāramī and Kamma from the past.

Brother Teoh: Like the song “陪你到天涯 (Péi nǐ dào tiānyá)” that Padmasuri put on the website. That song is so meaningful. You must read the Mandarin lyrics. It is so beautiful. It says all these encounters are not by chance or accident. Nothing is a coincidence. They have all been arranged by causes and conditions from the past (因缘早安排 Yīnyuán zǎo ān pái). These are the actual Mandarin words. Go listen to it, on our www.broteoh.com website, it is so beautiful.

Sister PG: I don't understand Mandarin, Brother Teoh!

Brother Teoh: You don't have to understand Mandarin. When you listen, listen from your heart. Anyway, I was told, Padmasuri had put in the English translation, so do go and read it.

Sister PG: Okay thank you so much. Brother Teoh, I am so sorry. That's all I have to say.

Brother Teoh: Okay. Soo Yee will take over.

Sister Soo Yee: Good evening, everybody. Just a short one. It was mentioned there are causes and conditions everywhere and in everything that happened and nothing is coincident. Everything has a momentum to move towards each other and that one is the Karmic force that pulls everything together. On that note, I remember at the previous Tuesday class, where Sister Poh Lian had an incident when she was trying to hang a jasmine garland on Di Zhang Wang Pusa statue.

At that time, it was not very clear. For the incident to happen, there are causes and conditions behind it. This is an impersonal observation of what happened. Instead of thinking, it was her fault because she tried to meddle with the garland flowers that triggered the accident that led to the broken statue, actually there were a lot of signs. For example, to be able to make it to the class is not easy, there were people that had flu, traffic jams and rain which may hinder them from coming. However, Sister Poh Lian still managed to be here and got to offer the flower garland. Hui Rong who arrived later, there was no more flower garland left for her to offer. For you to have the flower garland to offer and of all the images, only Di Zhang Wang Pusa statue was without a flower garland, what was the probability? So, it's like there are so many causes and conditions behind but if we are not aware and we don't see all these causes and conditions, we may think we have control of the situation. If I didn't do that, this wouldn't happen. Actually, that is self-delusion at work already, via thought’s rationalisation. Just that bit to share. Kamma is always around and pushing us. Without awareness, we just flow heedlessly and entangle ourselves resulting in suffering.

Brother Teoh: Sādhu! Sādhu! Sādhu! Very good. In fact, what Soo Yee shared is very true. Nothing happens by chance. Like what the Buddha said, ‘whatever arise, there are causes and conditions behind’. So, for Chew Poh Lian’s case, if you all can reflect and contemplate in that manner, then you will understand. Just like what I told Chew Poh Lian. After what happened, she felt very bad because of what she did. The statue is very small and light. She wanted to make the garland smaller by circling the loop twice. While doing so, she accidentally broke Di Zhang Wang Pusa’s hand that held Di Zhang Wang Pusa’s staff.

I told her, ‘don't worry, just let things be’. I said, in hindsight, lucky it is just a statue. If she really broke the hand of the real manifestation of Di Zhang Wang Pusa, then that would be really serious Kamma. I told her, you have to learn from all these as there are causes and conditions for you to learn the dhamma behind their arising. The sharing by Soo Yee just now (based on what she had gone through and understood) is good.

As you cultivate the Dhamma, you will develop mindfulness, wisdom and understanding which will enable you to see the signs clearly. You will know all these are habitual tendencies manifesting. You understand that the mundane mind is always creating such habitual conditioned thoughts through the thinking.

She said, ‘she is not mindful.’ That is beside the point. The big picture behind, for you to learn and develop the understanding is more important. When you are mindful, you will come to understand how that mundane mind through habitual tendencies stirred the mind to trigger off the karmic conditioning. These are karmic conditioning that are supposed to happen and it happens for a reason. That is why I make use of this condition to share. I said, ‘Kalyāṇamitta has reached the point of cultivation where you all need to know all these already because kamma is like that. The karmic conditioning is usually very strong and powerful, as if you cannot avoid, just like what Soo Yee came to know.’

For the thing to happen, the causes and conditions have to be there and the situation has to be like that. Just like what the Buddha said, ‘whatever arises, there are causes and conditions behind’. It's only whether you can see or not? If you cannot see, you are trapped in the Karmic process. Luckily it is just a statue. When she does that habitual thing, she cannot be practising mindfulness at that time. You tend to make mistakes, especially at her age (near 60 years old already). So, what happened is, it will trigger off what happened. If you develop the understanding, then in future when you are going through your daily life, especially when you’re driving, don’t listen to your conditioned thoughts because during those split seconds when your attention is not on the road, accidents can happen.

When you are going through old age, if you are not careful with your movements, especially when you go to the toilet, it can be very dangerous. Like the example Padmasuri gave, while in the toilet (there is a small drop of one inch), just because of a misstep, an old lady fell and broke her pelvic. It was so serious because she also has osteoporosis. That is why when you are not careful, small thing can actually trigger the karmic fruition because the karmic conditioning are already there. If you have to go through it, you will go through it. However, if you have the awareness (mindfulness) and the wisdom you can do something about it.

In 1989, it showed it to me. It kept on happening. That's how I came to know all these because the causes and conditions behind are so clear because my (PA) Nature (within my heart area) can prompt me. Like that incident involving the crossing in front of Mun Yuen’s house, I knew my car could go through the suspended timber crossing. I knew there would be no problem and nothing would happen because I am a civil engineer. But my nature within told me, don't cross! It was a very strong message (or inner voice) telling me not to cross. I asked myself, ‘how come it is like that?’ I had never experienced such a thing before and I wanted to find out. So, I reminded myself to be very mindful and aware when I cross.

The moment I crossed, I saw the conditioning coming and leading me out. There was a taxi outside (near Kayu Restaurant) and I was supposed to turn right. That taxi from the other road (parallel to the road where I was), it just shot out from nowhere. When I saw the taxi coming, I accelerated. Yet he banged the back part of my car. If I had not accelerated, he could have banged my car head on. The driver of that taxi still had the guts to come down from his taxi and asked me to compensate him. I asked him whether he saw the white line on the road where he was supposed to stop. He asked whether it was true and looked at the road. Then he said, sorry and left. I said to him, ‘next time be careful’. Of course, I also need to spend some money to repair my car. That is karmic and all these are for me to learn. My nature alerts me and lets me see and witness these very strong karmic conditioning coming and how it unfolds differently when I was mindful of its coming.

On other occasions, e.g. while playing mahjong and the curry fish incident, I had similar experiences. Once I wanted to order the curry fish. My nature told me not to order via telling me, “You cannot eat that fish!” I felt strange. It was 1989, after I knew the Dhamma. I wanted to find out. So, I purposely order. After I ate, I had diarrhoea straight away. Then inside tell me, this fish has an affinity with you. You cannot simply order and eat it and moreover it is also contaminated. That's how I came to know. So, the next time I got this type of feeling, I know what it is. That's why when I travel to China, I can see and feel the signs. I can understand many things and because of that understanding I can avoid a lot of inappropriate situations in life. Otherwise, there is no way for me to have that understanding to live life.

There is another incident which I told you all before, that I bought a new car. Within the first two months, all the four tires punctured. Such a coincidence? No but it is meant to be. It is something I have to go through because I have to pay for the repairs. These are Karmic debts. Very strange but yet it happened. It is for me to understand the causes and conditions behind, so that I know what to do. After that, I became very tactful and careful. In fact, when you are too tired and sleepy, yet you still want to drive, you will surely get into trouble. Your Pure awareness (PA) can alert you and advise you to rest and don’t drive. From 1989 onwards, when I have the ability to see all these, I was able to avoid many accidents. You can ask my wife.

So, all these are possible when you are mindful, aware and when you have the understanding. Then a lot of things, I can see the signs, the causes and conditions and conditioning arising, how they surface and how they come to my nature for me to sense them. Like how I teach my daughter, my son and my wife via telling them, ‘whatever that is meant to be, the sign will keep coming and you cannot stop the signs from manifesting’. Then you know this person you must meet or this place you must go because it is meant to be. These are Nature’s conditions.

That day we were supposed to go with Padmasuri to do some donations at Fa Gu Shan, Malaysia. It is like meant to be. My wife asked me. Then I advised her to go through Padmasuri as she has been there before. My wife was supposed to get directions from Padmasuri and drive there alone. I said no. Eventually, Padmasuri came with us, and she managed to get a senior staff there, to show us the whole way-place. Then it gave me the understanding. It was a ready-built semi-detached industrial lot. They can save time on the planning, design and construction as they bought an existing semi-detached industrial building. They only have to pay for the purchase of that property, then furnish and do up that place to convert it into their way place. It was so beautiful and relatively inexpensive. If they had raised funds to buy land and apply for the conversion, it would have taken much longer time. This property, the moment they buy they can do it up very fast. So, a lot of things in life, like I told Sister Poh Lian, Chin How, Mun Yuen and other Kalyāṇamittas, it's for you to learn; for life itself is our greatest teacher. If you cannot learn from life, it means you don't have the Dhamma. You don’t have mindfulness (awareness). You don't understand what is going on. You are being deluded. So, all these sharing are meant to be. It can be just a broken statue, but Dhamma is everywhere in the midst of life and Nature.

Okay, Sādhu, Sādhu, Sādhu. We will end. Let us now share merits.

3.3.2 The End – closing pūjā

Okay, we end our today’s sharing. Let us rejoice with all the good sharing and wholesomeness one more time. Sādhu! Sādhu! Sādhu! Sharing of merits with all beings and chanting of the closing pūjā………………. End of closing pūjā.

Okay you all can now pay respect mindfully to Lord Buddha, GuanYin Bodhisattva and all the other Worthy Ones. Then we end the session.

4 Appendix

4.1 Audio, whiteboard, and YouTube links:

Audio: https://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/20231116_class.mp3

Whiteboard notes: https://i0.wp.com/broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/ Whiteboard-2023-11-16.jpeg?ssl=1

YouTube:

1. ‘Unique Dhamma Quote 100’ - https://youtu.be/FUhfHgxw-DU

2. ‘Unique Dhamma Quote 97’ - https://youtu.be/M8Ep_5Gsn7E

4.2 Transcript notes for Unique Dhamma Quote 100 (Path to Nibbāna: Awakening through cessation of form and mind)

(This below transcript notes were prepared by Sister Poh Cheng and Sister Eng Bee to help others better understand what had been shared. It is also to help complement Unique Dhamma Quote 97 where this topic: ‘Path to Nibbāna’ sharing was not shared).

Transcript notes on Unique Dhamma Quote 100 (Path to Nibbāna) as spoken by Bro Teoh on 23rd Nov 2023:

Unique Dhamma quote 100 : ‘When one can see things clearly or perceive how our ordinary mundane mind reacts, stirs and oscillates between the dualities of like (sensual desire) and dislike (ill-will) because of one’s wrong (incorrect) view leading to habitual tendencies, then wisdom will continue to arise’.

This above Unique Dhamma Quote 100’s cultivation, can only be done after you have developed stability of mindfulness with clear comprehension (Sati·sampajañña). Otherwise, you can’t. For, everything boils down to understanding what meditation is. Understanding what meditation is, is crucial.

To be in a meditative state requires the development of heedfulness. From heedfulness, understanding can naturally unfold. Therefore, the first thing cultivator of the way need to train is heedfulness. Anything that doesn't lead to heedfulness is not the meditation as taught by the Buddha, as Dhammapada verse 21 makes clear: 'Heedfulness is the path to the deathless, whereas heedlessness is the path to the dead. The heedful do not die; the heedless are as if dead.'

So, unless you are Heedful, you don’t stand a chance. To be heedful you must be ever mindful and constantly meditative (following Dhammapada verse 23). To be ever mindful one must develop mindfulness first then stabilize it to be ever mindful. These are very important understanding. Reason why the meditation as taught by the Buddha, centres on developing this ability to be mindful or aware first, meaning you have to quiet your mind and not think (to prevent it from becoming actively and heedlessly lost in thoughts). You need to maintain silent inner awareness to allow all this Existential World (or Phenomenal World of Consciousness) manifestations return to our inner awareness nature to realize our True mind.

Our Pure Awareness (PA) (or our True mind) can cease when one realizes Nibbāna. This Phenomenal world of consciousness arises from the Mundane (thinking) mind. When one cultivates with the True mind to realize the enlightenment via the direct seeing, one develops wisdom. With this wisdom, the mundane mind realizes itself and ceases, thereby returning to the Source. The Source, you can call it your True Nature, your Original Nature, your Oneness Nature or Buddha Nature. Some call it Nibbāna or the Singularity. Some even call it God. It is how you understand it. God because they believe it is an eternal or a deathless All mighty entity, - not knowing that it’s not a being! You have to understand this significant difference.

Then, the first thing to come out from the Source is the pure awareness. This pure awareness is what our true mind or original nature is. From here (the Source) we manifest as the pure awareness first. This pure awareness (PA) creates mundane thinking very fast. This Mundane thinking created the Mundane Mind. This Mundane Mind (MM) then created the phenomenal world of consciousness (PWC).

Most human beings cannot develop understanding of all these because the moment you are born, you are so used to this conditioned, mundane thinking (or mundane mind’s activity). Then your brain, together with its registrations, memories and conditioning starts the accumulation and thought processes, for thoughts are response to memories. You accumulate all the knowledge, views, opinions, conditioning, belief system, phobias and life experiences (both good and bad) etc. This is how your brain and its memory create all the delusion and entanglement, leading to all your deluded wrong views.

Then from here (MM), through your senses and your consciousness (trapped inside your body), created the 18 sense realms which manifest into the phenomenal world of consciousness (PWC). So, to meditate is to understand all these movements and manifestations: - how from here (the Source) we move out to there (the PWC). This is the whole 4 stages of the creation process.

Most people can hardly understand (the Source) and all these other manifestations because they can’t even be here: - at the Pure Awareness (PA) level. The Pure Awareness is where Sati or our silent (or True) mind is. Without thought, this Pure Awareness (PA) nature is naturally there, as this pure awareness nature is the first to come out from the Source and was there all along. That’s how the Buddha came to have such clear understanding. He said, ‘Mind (this mundane mind), is the forerunner of all things and when this mundane mind arises, all things arise (the phenomenal world of consciousness)’. Realizing this in the meditation, is to see the creative process with your sati via your direct seeing to realize the wisdom to understand how all these manifest, thereby liberating your mind.

When your pure awareness nature (PA), is very stable, you can see clearly how the movements from that Pure awareness nature into the thought processes via the Mundane thinking, happening very fast. Then how your senses via consciousness, manifest the Phenomenal World of Consciousness (the seeing, hearing, smell, taste, tactile and thought consciousness). Reason why, without the stability of awareness or sati one cannot develop the understanding. Only through mindfulness can one understand how living beings that are heedlessly lost in thoughts (via their habitual tendencies and conditioning etc.) cannot see all these. They don’t even know how the Mundane Mind (MM) manifested the (PWC) and how the mundane mind came to be. If they cannot understand the (MM), then how can they understand the two aspects of the 5 aggregates of Form and Mind?

Here, when I describe and explain all this, it may appear to you as if it is very easy to understand but when you are living life as a human being, here: (at the MM level), then projecting onto to here: (to the PWC level), how can you understand and cope with what arise or happen in life? This (PWC) is the one that can entice and lure you via your delusion. It is here at the existential world or the phenomenal world of consciousness (PWC) : - where everything happens and living beings are completely lost here because they are hardly aware. That’s the reason why when you are here (at the PWC), everything has become a concept, an ideaand via your deluded thought processes you will grasp and cling on to the illusionary (PWC), thinking it is real, because you are no longer with the pure consciousness in sati. The moment you see, hear, smell, taste, tactilely feel and think, you create “saṅkhārā-saññā”. Then via your habitual tendencies, you stir your mind and create the emotions. That’s how you get entangled here (at the PWC). So, this is the conditioned world where you get conditioned and entangled into suffering and affliction. Not able to see all this clearly leads to attachment, clinging, grasping and holding onto things, - that’s how suffering manifests. But when you are Aware from here (at the PA), you can see how you fall, how the mundane mind creates all these wrong views, wrong thoughts, attachment, and entanglement. Through this understanding, you straighten your views, to enable you to ‘see things as they are’ and not get entangled.

So, the main purpose of meditation is to see all this clearly then retrospectively reverse it (via wisdom) after knowing how you get entangled. With this clear understanding, borne of this pure awareness’s direct seeing and awakening, you will realize the wisdom to awaken, liberate and free you. Then this phenomenal world of consciousness and form, will not have any more power to delude you. That’s how the whole illusionary world created by consciousness collapse in front of you. Then you understand very clearly: - there is just a form and mind, which is a vehicle and a tool, for you to come to this existential world to live and experience life and you will also know how to use it, to cultivate wisdom and perfections etc. But this one (the mundane mind) is not you! This one is dependent originating, condition arising, karmically conditioned out through your karmic nature; - so, this living being, or human being is not you! It’s not a permanent unchanging entity. Understanding this, is wisdom and also the main intent of meditation, hope you understand.

The other thing is, when you had developed the ability to be here: - at the Pure Awareness (PA), you must use it to cultivate heedfulness to develop the direct seeing to insight into phenomena, to awaken to the 3 Universal Characteristics of aniccaṃ, dukkhaṃ and anattā. Then wisdom will manifest to liberate the mundane mind. This mundane mind that realizes itself will cease, because it knows this one (the mundane mind) is not a reality. This is the deluded mundane mind that creates havoc when you don’t have Dhamma. When you have Dhamma this one (the mundane mind) listens to you. If you want it to be silent and aware, it will just do that, then it will cease when it realizes itself, - completely cease! Then, it reaches here, the Source.

When you are here (at the PA), you can develop the sainthood enlightenment. The initial first stage of sainthood is Sotāpannaship, followed by Sakadāgāmī (second stage of sainthood), then Anāgāmī (3rd stage) and Arahanta (4th stage). This sainthood way is relatively easier but to go further to develop the higher cultivation (the Bodhisattva Way), you cannot just have a glimpse of its cessation at the Pure Awareness (PA) level. You need to stabilize this (PA), then locate the “Gateway” to your nature. You need to develop the stability of mindfulness to stay at the heart area and let that nature detect or locate the “Gateway” into your Pure nature (PA and the Source) within. That movement within is the Bodhisattva Way cultivation (which is the higher Supreme vehicle cultivation). Once you can develop the cultivation at this (PA) stage, this Awareness nature will evolve to become more and more prominent, more and more stable, then the internal transformation (which is based on the 4th support of “Trust”) will follow and become very clear. Trusting your pure awareness nature to do the meditation by itself without the interference from the thought/memory is the ultimate cultivation.

From then onward you will cultivate the five stages of Bodhi Mind Development, to complete the Bodhisattva way cultivation. How from the first stage of Bodhi Mind Development, where you sincerely via Faith and understanding develop the aspiration to plant the Bodhi mind to go this way by taking the 4 basic vows of a Bodhisattva. Then from there, how you develop all the understanding (the wisdom part), to arise the Bodhi mind that can free you from all suffering; meaning able to endure and severe all suffering. This is the second stage of Bodhi mind development. After that, develop the Bodhi mind that illuminates that nature. That one, is the ‘gateway’ cultivation. Without which, you cannot do it.

This 3rd stage of Bodhi mind development that illuminates that nature very clearly, can only be done after the Bodhisattva has detected the “Gateway” and gone through the internal transformation. Then the whole nature becomes very clear and very beautiful. Words cannot describe it. That nature is beyond words, beyond thought and that one will keep on evolving and transforming; - keeps on developing the wisdom. As the process goes on, your wisdom energy develops until it’s very, very fine, until it has reached the level of finest, that the mundane mind is too gross to remain. That’s how the mundane mind collapses. When the mundane mind collapses, that pure nature shines forth. That’s how it can illuminate “nature”.

That is also the reason why GuanYin Bodhisattva under the Prajna Pāramitā Sutra, recited: ‘When he was cultivating the Prajn a Pāramitā Sutra, he illuminated the Five Skandhas and realized they were all empty’ (照见五蕴皆空 (Zhào jiàn wǔ yùn jiē kōng’). This means he realized the Third Stage of Bodhi Mind Development at that time, meaning that nature has become very clear. Then when you are there (at the PA) with that understanding borne of that Nature’s clarity; these five aggregates of form and mind will become very clear to you. That is how he, 照见五蕴皆空 (Zhào jiàn wǔ yùn jiē kōng’) - meaning he realized that they (the 5 aggregates of Form and Mind) were all empty, not real, not a permanent unchanging entity, no reality at all. This (PA) is not a being. It cannot come out and live life. This, you will also come to understand, as a cultivator.

This is how the whole cultivation can be understood - via me presenting to you all this 4 circles formation. When I draw these four circles to represent the 4 stages of creation or manifestation in simple formation, it is easier for you all to develop the understanding. That is, from the Source, the first thing to come out or arise, is the Pure Awareness (PA). Then how, from this Pure Awareness (PA) nature we develop the awareness-based cultivation (whether it’s a Sainthood Way or the Bodhisattva Way). This one (at the PA level), a lot of work is to be done; this is your true mind, your meditative mind, your silent mind. This one (the PA cultivation), very few people can understand the cultivation or do or can come to it. For those of you who can have this understanding, you better go all out to develop it. After you have developed it, you will understand the true meaning of living beings and their Essence. This one, your Essence (PA nature) will take you back to here (the Source). When this one (PA) develops the clear understanding, it will cease, i.e. the Pure Awareness (PA) nature also will cease. Then you merge with the Source; only then can you understand what this thing is. But when you are inside there, there is no word, nothing. That’s why you cannot talk about it, you cannot (describe it) but the moment it comes out again (from the Source), you can see this coming out process (to PA stage). Then how from here (PA), it creates this mundane mind (MM) which in turn creates this (PWC). You can see all these very clearly when you go through Nibbāna, the whole process of cessation. Meaning you will come to know how all this creation returns and ceases. Then from there (the Source), how the (PA) comes out again because “not time for ‘you’ to die yet, as your aggregates of mind are still there, your karmic life force is still there”. That’s why they call it “the Arahant with residue”. Meaning the five aggregates, they are still there, you’re not supposed to Parinibbāna yet and because of that, this one can come out again (to PA). It's like for ‘you’ to witness the creation process, during the coming out, how the first arising of this pure awareness (PA) from the primordial nature (the Source) comes about. Then from here (PA), how it actually falls via the (MM)’s delusion and becomes what it is now. All these subsequent eons and eons of birth and death is what saṃsāra is all about.

Ability to return and realize the cessation of form and mind, leading to the realization of Nibbāna, where the pure awareness also ceased, is what enlightenment is all about. After that if you are not supposed to die yet, means not supposed to Parinibbāna yet, then this one (the PA) can come out again. When it comes out depends. It’s not for you to decide because it is the unconditioned, but you will know how it (come out). When it comes out, the first thing to arise, is the Pure Awareness (PA). This you can see it very clearly; this one manifests first. When the pure awareness manifests; I still remember, from here (the heart area: the inner pure awareness nature); that pure consciousness comes back; that pure consciousness inside then splits into 3 areas of consciousness. One part of the consciousness goes to the brain, one part goes to the “dāntián 丹田”, the other one resides at the heart area. Then it starts to animate you into a living being (or human being for our case). I can still recall, during that time (in 1989), here, at the brain, the whole thing ceased (when you go through the cessation of form and mind, to realize Nibbāna; - your whole brain here, the activity, all ceased. There is no movement at all, completely no movement or activity but you are not dead). Then, I remember when the nature came out, the first one that came out was the pure awareness, then this pure consciousness, it split into three. The moment that awareness or pure consciousness came out to the brain, this one (the fore-head area) was like animated - “zoom,” like a Dynamo, it started to function again. Then you could see all the activities, the movements; initially they were like very slow, very slow… Then at the heart area, also the same; the heartbeat and everything else they returned. Then the dāntián consciousness manifested the mundane energy that you need for living, for moving or doing whatever the human being needs to do. It is from here (the dāntián). This consciousness, at the heart, is where your conscience resides, it is also responsible for the arising of your emotion and your pulse of life.

But up here (the brain) is memory. You can see them clearly. After that, how the senses, slowly, slowly come into play. How upon contact of mind with their respective sense bases triggered off the Paṭicca Samuppāda, the 12-links movements. How your mind goes to the brain, the memory, to retrieve and input the content. But before you have the Dhamma, the heedless, wrong thoughts, will be inputted instead. But after you come out from that realization (of Nibbāna), your understanding will be there, it has become very different. Then, it’s like you know it is coming already, how the creation process starts to animate you into a human being again. That’s what I shared with you all when I came down from Cameron Highlands, meditation retreat in 1989. I was on the bus. I saw how the sense data came in, like in slow motion, slowly. Then how it started to develop the movements and created the manifestation of the mundane mind activity again; means how I went back to normal human consciousness again. Initially its awareness nature was very deep inside, then when it came out, it was still fairly deep. Then I saw how all these manifest and start happening. After that, how I came out of the meditation, then how I came out of the retreat. I saw them all. That’s why I can now share and teach you all, because the thing that happened at that time was so clear, so vivid and so beautiful. All the links, everything was very clear. It’s like everything was in slow motion for you to see and that clarity was so vivid. That’s why, that nature was very different, it’s very beautiful; that Pure Awareness (PA) nature, that thing that came out and manifested all these movements.

But most living beings cannot even be there (PA level), not to say to experience what happened (the whole process of its cessation and coming out). That’s why it is said, ‘after you go in and come out, you will become very different’. Then, whatever people tell you, you won’t believe them anymore; because you know what that thing is, ‘hey no you, hey no me!’ There is no such thing as a being inside there. Nothing! It’s just that pure nature’s movements and activities. The phenomena world is just like an illusionary world, just like the Buddha’s analogy: - Consciousness is like a magician, an illusionist that creates illusion. Then, the five aggregates analogies are exactly like what the Buddha shared. He said, form is like foam, no reality, appears very solid but disperses very fast. Only the four elements that go the way of nature, going through birth, old age, sickness and death. Feeling is like bubble, pop gone, pop gone! All your feelings (if you don’t believe me), when you are mindful and aware, when you are sick or with injury or having unpleasant sensation, you will come to realize those sensation arising and passing, they are moment to moment, with nobody inside to feel, nothing. It’s just Paṭicca Samuppāda, dependent originating, dependent originating: Upon contact, feelings arise but when you have the wisdom, feeling can remain as pure feeling. It doesn’t condition craving and you can see them all very clearly.

That’s why the analogies given by the Buddha were very beautiful. Then perception is like a mirage in the desert, also no reality. Every image you create through your seeing consciousness is like very real, isn’t it? Let’s say you open your eyes, everything within your seeing consciousness will appear - as if created, like very real, very solid. Can you understand? You can see all the colour, shape and form, everything within your field of seeing consciousness. Then you can, like describe it with full detail (as if it is very real)). But is there any reality? The moment you close your eyes this whole creation is gone. That’s why it is just an image, like a mirage, appears so real but you cannot own it, hold on to it because all these are dependent originating phenomena. The only reality is within the moment and how stable is the present moment? Split second, it’s gone, split second, it’s gone! That’s why I use to say, ‘everything can only be recalled through memory, 往事只能回味 (Wǎngshì zhǐ néng huíwèi) - which implies no reality’. It’s just an image, consciousness and through the brain, the memory, you perceive it. So, how real can perception be? That’s why I say, like a projector, creating the film show on the white cinema screen. It’s blank, with nothing there. But when you are watching the movie, the video or the film show, it is like, so real. The sound and its multimedia effects, colours and all those high level of sensuality manifestations, they are so luring. That is what delusion is, when you don’t have the dhamma understanding, the direct seeing and the understanding of what is happening in life.

Then, of course, saṅkhāra is the most difficult to understand and yet it keeps on manifesting. All of your mind states, all of your mental activities and thinking, your planning, your scheming, your mental intentions, emotions, fear, worry and anxiety etc.; they are all part of saṅkhāra (everything that your mind can do). Then consciousness is like a magician, after the magic or illusion comes out, only the consciousness appears, but the brain through its deluded saṅkhāra activities, deludedly input the wrong content and give rise to wrong perceptions to grasp and cling onto the phenomenal world of consciousness. That’s how entanglement comes to be. Initially, like the Buddha said, “In the seeing, it’s just the seeing consciousness, no one to see.” No story. Do you understand? Like the newborn baby’s pure seeing, pure hearing, pure smell, pure taste, pure tactile and pure thought. No content. Can you be in that state? Only enlightened beings can be in that state. Normal living beings cannot.

Okay so today I think the sharing is enough. Let us rejoice Sādhu! Sādhu! Sādhu!

(Above transcript notes prepared by Sister Han Poh Cheng and Sister Eng Bee)

Table of Contents

Biodata of Bro. Teoh Kian Koon

1 Preface

2 Acknowledgement

3 Unique Dhamma Quote no. 97 and Unique Dhamma Quote 100 (Path to Nibbāna: awakening via cessation of form and mind)

3.1 Pre Pūjā chanting

3.2 Awareness-based Meditation

3.3 Post Meditation Dhamma sharing

3.3.1 Dhamma sharing by Brother Teoh on the topic: Unique Dhamma quotes 97 and 100 (Path to Nibbāna: Awakening via cessation of form and mind)

3.3.1.1 3 Turnings of the Four Noble Truths wisdom

3.3.1.2 The 5 daily contemplations

3.3.1.3 Dhammapada verse 183 (Advice of all Buddhas)

3.3.1.4 Cultivating the Four right efforts STOP

3.3.1.5 Wisdom via seeing things as they are

3.3.1.6 Stages of creation and Hallmark wisdom of Master Hui Neng

3.3.1.7 5 stages of Bodhi Mind Development

3.3.1.8 2nd session: Questions and Answers and Meditation reporting

3.3.1.9 Four stages of creation via the 4 circles explanation

3.3.1.10 Planting the seed of Bodhi

3.3.2 The End – closing pūjā

4 Appendix

4.1 Audio, whiteboard, and YouTube links:

4.2 Transcript notes for Unique Dhamma Quote 100 (Path to Nibbāna: Awakening through cessation of form and mind)