About Bro Teoh Kian Koon

Bro Teoh Kian Koon, a civil engineer who graduated from the University of Malaya in 1979, has been a dedicated spiritual practitioner and meditator since 1971. Following his retirement from an engineering career in 2001, he actively shares his personal insights and experiences with those on a quest for genuine happiness, peace and liberation from the cycles of birth, death and mental suffering. Bro Teoh imparts wisdom through Dhamma talks, meditation classes, retreats and weekly Dhamma classes at various centres. His teachings are directed to guide individuals towards becoming more virtuous, nobler and wiser human beings.

For more details of Bro Teoh’s Dhamma activities and his Kalyāṇamittāship group please visit his Dhamma website at: http://broteoh.com

1 Preface

It is Bro Teoh’s sincere wish that Dhamma friends, spiritual practitioners, seekers of Truth and cultivators will be able to make use of this Dhamma teaching to develop a better understanding of the Buddha Dhamma as taught by the Buddha so that they may progress along the Path of the Dhamma to become more virtuous, nobler and wiser human beings who will be a blessing to humanity and to the world.

This book is based on a YouTube video of Bro Teoh’s 22 February 2024 Thursday Dhamma class teaching. Some editorial amendments were made for smoother reading without detracting from the essence of the teaching. It is hoped that readers can understand the true meaning and intent of the teaching. A useful way to do this is to watch the said YouTube video before reading this book.

To watch the video, please go to the YouTube video Unique Dhamma Quote 105 of this teaching or click on this link https://youtu.be/FKnFOvj0k2s

To listen to the recording of this teaching, you may go to the audio file: https://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/20240222_class.mp3

2 Acknowledgements

It is the donors’ intention that this Dhamma teaching in written form be shared with those who are interested and have the affinity to receive it. We would like to thank and rejoice in the generosity and wholesomeness of all donors and all Dhamma friends or Kalyāṇamittās who have donated their time and effort to help in the preparation of this book and to make the distribution of this Dhamma dāna possible.

Special thanks to the following for their collective contribution to make this Dhamma teaching available in this print form:

Chee Guit Yeng

Alicia Cheong Pik Yoke

Chew Poh Lian

Han Moh Ching

Han Poh Cheng

Padmasuri Liew

Lim Eng Bee

Lim Khay Beng

Ooi Chwee Hoon

Teh Chin How

Teoh Soo Yee

Tune Hee Hian

By the power of this 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 realize their good and noble wishes and aspirations soonest possible.

Bro Teoh Kian Koon

May 2024

3 Unique Dhamma Quote 105 on Ultimate Realization

To have the Ultimate Realization to transcend life, one has to transcend the present moment leading to the cessation of the form and mind, to the realization of Nibbāna which is the unconditioned. The present moment may be the highest in life but it is still within life.

Unique Dhamma Quote 105

Extracted from: Straight from the Heart, Unique Dhamma Quotes

4 Pre Pūjā chanting

A very good evening to all brothers and sisters in the Dhamma. Today is 22 February 2024, Thursday class. We will continue our Dhamma sharing from my book: ‘Straight from the Heart, Unique Dhamma Quotes’. We are currently at Unique Dhamma Quote 105.

Let us compose our mind and develop the Saddhā, Vīriya and Sati to commence our Pre-Pūjā chanting…. End of Pūjā chanting.

5 Awareness-based Meditation Instructions

5.1 Thursday class 22 Feb 2024 Instructions

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. This awareness-based meditation is very important because it can help us develop the inner awareness or Sati within. There are 4 supports to develop this awareness-based meditation and they are: relax, maintain awareness, stabilize the awareness and trust.

As explained previously, the silent mind without thought is awareness itself. So, mindfulness is basically an awareness before the knowing. When you are aware before the knowing, without thought, that awareness itself is Sati or mindfulness. Therefore, we need to develop that awareness and allow it to stabilize. That is why the 2nd support after relaxing the body and the mind is to maintain awareness.

However, it is very difficult to maintain awareness. Maintaining awareness does not involve creating more thinking or thoughts and aggregates of mind. It simply means being aware of whatever arises at your 6 sense doors, whether it is hearing, smell, taste, touch, sight or thought consciousness and allowing them to pass through without further engagement. After that, refrain from continuing to think.

After becoming aware, if you proceed to perceive and engage in thinking, the mundane mind will arise. If you constantly do that, it develops into habitual tendencies, eventually leading you to become heedlessly lost in thought. That is why maintaining awareness can be challenging. To maintain awareness means to refrain from thinking, knowing and not going beyond pure perception.

After perceiving through the hearing consciousness or other senses such as smell, taste, tactile or thought consciousness, simply remain silent and maintain awareness. Then, let it naturally fade away. Just be aware without attempting to know or engage in any activity. Relax, maintain awareness and allow the mind to settle down.

The 3rd support following the relaxation of the body and the mind and maintaining awareness is to stabilize the awareness by continuously allowing it to remain in that state of awareness without thought. By doing so, your awareness will stabilize, allowing you to develop a very good and profound understanding of what this inherent awareness nature within is all about.

Realizing this Pure Awareness nature which is beyond thought is very important. However, this Pure Awareness nature is closely intertwined with thought as thoughts arise very quickly from this Pure Awareness nature. This is why many people lacking proper understanding cannot realize Pure Awareness. They are accustomed to their mundane thinking mind and the thought process. They rely heavily on the thought process and they think a lot as they have been conditioned to do so since birth. Without thought, they feel they are unable to function or live life. These factors contribute to why most people cannot develop this inner awareness to be mindful and to be aware most of the time. Understand this and you will make progress.

Now, I will allow you to develop the awareness within on your own. Remember the first 3 of the 4 supports: relax the body and the mind, maintain awareness without trying to know or do anything and simply just be aware, aware, aware. And then, stabilize your awareness.

For those of you who are accustomed to using specific objects of meditation such as Ānāpānasati which is mindfulness of the in and the out breath or any other object of meditation that you are familiar with to meditate, you can use it as a skilful means to anchor your awareness or mindfulness. It is your choice. However, if you can grasp the understanding, you can just use the 4 supports that I have taught you, especially the first 3 supports to develop the mindfulness or the awareness within yourself. It is much faster. Then, you can stay there to stabilize the awareness. If you can do that, you will progress and understand all the Buddha’s teachings quickly.

To be able to develop this mindfulness or awareness within is very important. To maintain that state of awareness means you must stay in that state of awareness without thought for as long as you can. But most people cannot do so. They need a lot of training and understanding to develop that state of awareness. For those who have done it before, it is very easy. Not a problem at all! Hopefully with faith and this understanding, you can develop the mindfulness or the awareness within.

Now, I will let you meditate on your own to develop this awareness within. For those who have already trained their minds and their awareness has stabilized, they can move on to do the 4th support which is trust.

Trust your inner nature to develop the meditative movements. Silence everything and let the awareness stay at the heart area. Then, do not try to do anything through verbalization. Do not try to know and create perception and thinking. Just let that awareness nature move on its own and let it detect whatever on its own. Whatever happens, just let it be. You must trust your own awareness nature within to do the meditation. Do not allow the thought, the memory and the thinking to interfere. All these are the mundane aspects of the thinking mind. The mundane mind is not your Pure Awareness nature. The Pure Awareness nature is responsible for the arising of thoughts. See it clearly so that you understand.

When you train your mind to develop this inner awareness until it stabilizes, you can see all those mental movements very clearly. Then, you will come to understand that you have 2 minds. One of them is the true mind or the silent mind or the awareness nature within before the arising of thought. The other is the creation from that Pure Awareness nature by the karmic process. All these movements and the arising of thoughts are from that Pure Awareness nature. All these will become clear and you will develop clear understanding of them.

The first real and successful progress for those cultivating this awareness-based meditation is to realize this awareness nature within. This Awareness nature is your true mind, your meditative mind. That is the one that can develop wisdom and understanding and it can be awakened. Use it to insight into phenomena, to observe silently, to develop the understanding and to realize the inner awareness nature. Then, stabilize it.

Now, I want to repeat my earlier 16 November 2023 awareness-based meditation instructions below as they complement very well my above 22 February 2024 instructions. It can help cultivators understand this awareness-based cultivation better. Some parts of the instructions may appear to be the same, as if repeated. But each time, you read it after you have developed the cultivation, your understanding will become different. And with that new understanding, you can cultivate to stabilize your awareness nature within more easily.

5.2 Thursday class 16 Nov 2023 Instructions

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 4 supports to help you develop this awareness-based meditation. The 1st support is to relax.

Relax into every mind state that arises - this is the 1st support. Just maintain a relaxed body and mind. Do not try to know. Do not try to do anything. Just relax and maintain awareness - this is the 2nd support. Then, stabilize the awareness – this is the 3rd support. The last support is trust - this is the 4th support. You only do the 4th support after you have developed the stability of the mindfulness within. Otherwise, the 1st 3 supports are good enough - relax, maintain awareness and then, stabilize the awareness.

When you can stabilize the awareness within, you will come to understand another aspect of the mind which is beyond thinking and beyond the thought process. It is just the Pure Awareness nature within. With that, great understanding and joy can arise within your nature. So, just silence your mind, relax the body and the mind and maintain awareness. Just do that. No need to know or do anything else because the knowing and doing are always done by the thought. Keep your mind alert, attentive and aware. Just be aware no matter what arises. Aware, and just stay aware.

This Pure Awareness nature within needs to be realized and stabilized. After you can do that, your meditative mind, the tranquil and the still mind without thought will manifest. That is your True Mind, your Silent Mind. That is the mind that can develop the wisdom or the insight to awaken you. Since this awareness-based meditation can help us realize the awareness nature within, we must therefore develop it and 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 exists before the creation of all thoughts and mundane thinking by the mundane mind, arising from there. The True Mind is the 1st entity to come out from our nature. We call it the Pure Awareness nature.

To develop the meditative understanding, we need to return all thinking to the Pure Awareness nature by just relaxing and maintaining awareness there. By doing just that, thinking will naturally slow down by itself. That is, you do not try to do or know. Through that process, thought loses its ability to move or to proliferate further, thereby becoming very quiet. Then, just continue to maintain awareness. Whatever arises, be aware of whatever arises. Be aware and continue to maintain the silent inner awareness. The thinking mind or the mundane mind that you have been using throughout the day will start to slow down until it becomes very quiet and very still. Then, you will experience the tranquillity and stillness of the mind to realize the silent mind.

A 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 Pure Awareness nature, you can understand a lot of things. Then, inquire without thought, who you are, what you are and what that nature is 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, the heedless thinking, the mental activities and the mental states that arise.

When all those mundane thinking or stirring of the mind and emotions cease, you will realize that the True Mind is very beautiful, bright, luminous, tranquil and still because it is just the Pure Awareness nature. The bright, luminous nature is beyond thought, beyond mind. It can see things as they are. It can awaken and it can insight into phenomena to realize the 3 universal characteristics of nature - aniccaṃ, dukkhaṃ and anattā.

Now, I will set the alarm for 30 minutes for you to train yourself to develop this awareness within through this awareness-based meditation. For those who already have the ability to stabilize their inner awareness, they can just silence their mind completely and stay at the heart area to stabilize their awareness nature further by cultivating the 4th support of trust. Trust your own awareness nature to develop the meditative movements by 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 and to understand who you are and what you are. Developing all this understanding is what awareness-based meditation is all about.

Ding! The 30 minutes awareness-based meditation has come to an end.

5.3 Post Meditation Dhamma sharing

You can now slowly and mindfully come out of your 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 help you develop the daily mindfulness 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 the Devas (Devārādhanā)……End of chanting.

6 Dhamma sharing by Brother Teoh on Unique Dhamma Quote 105: Ultimate Realization to transcend life.

We shall continue from where we stop. We are at Unique Dhamma Quote 105 of my book, ‘Straight from the Heart, Unique Dhamma Quotes.’ This Unique Dhamma Quote 105 is on page 30.

Unique Dhamma Quote 105: To have the Ultimate Realization to transcend life, one has to transcend even the present moment leading to the cessation of the form and mind, to the realization of Nibbāna which is the unconditioned. The present moment may be the highest in life but it is still within life.

6.1 Ultimate Realization or Enlightenment

This Unique Dhamma Quote is very important. It is for you to understand what ultimate enlightenment or realization is. It means realizing and awakening to the Truth leading to the cessation of suffering and ending of birth and death. This means that to transcend life, you must go beyond birth and death.

If you want to transcend life, you have to transcend even the present moment because the present moment may be the highest in life but it is still within life, within the field of thought. That is the reason why nowadays, there are a lot of teaching on present moment awareness which the Buddhist tradition call Sati or mindfulness. And this present moment awareness is what most cultivators try to realize and achieve. That is the reason why there are many teachers who teach present moment awareness. One of them is Eckhart Tolle. He wrote his famous bestselling book, ‘The Power of Now.’

The main teaching is to teach you how to develop the stability of this inner awareness nature within. When you are with this Pure Awareness nature, you are with the present moment in Pure Awareness without thought. There is no thinking or thought to create the other 2 aspects of time which we term the past and the future.

6.2 The 3 periods of Time: Past, Present and Future

When you think, the thought creates what is called the 3 periods of time - the past, the present and the future. The past, the present and future cover the full spectrum of time. Therefore, if you can develop the understanding of these 3 times - the past, the present and the future, you will understand Time. Time is basically Existence because to exist or to live life is to go through Time. That is how Life, Existence and Time are related. So, to understand Life and Existence, we must understand Time. We shall start by inquiring into these 3 times, the past, the present and the future. Which of these 3 is reality?

We have gone through all this before, right? Whatever we create through our thinking, the past is already gone. So, it is no longer a reality. Then, whatever has yet to come has not happened yet and we call it the future. So, the future is also not a reality because the future has yet to come. The only reality in life is actually the present moment. That is why it is the highest in life.

With this, we have developed and established a very important understanding of what time is. Basically, through thought, the mundane mind arises and creates the illusion of time. We label it the past, the present and the future. But in reality, everything arises and happens only within the moment. That is the only reality whereas the past and the future are concepts of time created by thought. When you can really silence your mind and be with the moment to develop the understanding, you will understand what that truth is.

You will come to understand whatever you do within the moment; you can only develop the understanding of that moment when you are aware. Without awareness you are lost in thought, preoccupied with what you think and feel. That is why you need to understand this truth very clearly otherwise, you cannot understand the Buddhist teaching.

Now, I will read to you this Unique Dhamma Quote 105 again. Maybe then, you can develop a better understanding.

Unique Dhamma Quote 105: To have the Ultimate Realization to transcend life, one has to transcend even the present moment leading to the cessation of form and mind, to the realization of Nibbāna which is the unconditioned. The present moment may be the highest in life but it is still within life.

When you can cease your form and mind to realize the cessation which is Nibbāna or the enlightenment process of the unconditioned, you can develop the true understanding of what ultimate enlightenment is all about. Without that, you cannot do so. The present moment may be the highest in life but it is still within life. So, to transcend life, we have to transcend even the present moment.

This Unique Dhamma Quote 105 is very profound and not easy to understand but because of my earlier explanation, it will be a lot easier now. I will explain to all of you again on the whiteboard, using the 4 circles formation as shown in Appendix 9.1. Hopefully, it will help you understand better.

So, what is Ultimate Realization? It means enlightenment in the here and the now. To realize that, you have to transcend birth and death to transcend life. I have already explained that the 3 periods of time which are the past, the present and the future are all still within the field of thought. What we need to comprehend is this word, existence. Indirectly, to exist is to go through life and to go through time. So, existence is time related. And life is actually existence. Without existence there is no life. So, life and existence are time related.

To understand existence and time, we need to define the whole spectrum of time. The whole spectrum of time is only the past, the present and the future which we have gone through. The past is already gone, no more a reality. The future is yet to come; it is also not a reality. So, the present moment is the only reality in life and this is what we call life or existence.

This is the only reality and it is the highest in life. Understanding this, we can inquire that moment to moment life passes by but what are we doing? If you can understand this, you will understand your mind profoundly. What are most human beings doing throughout the day? We have established this inquiry - the present moment is the only reality in life and moment to moment, life passes by. So, what are we doing?

The answer is: Most human beings are lost in thought! They are too busy thinking, planning and worrying about life, so much so they never get to live life and they totally miss out on life.

What does it mean to live life? It means to be able to be in the state of presence in present moment awareness. That is the reason why Eckhart Tolle teaches ‘The Power of Now’ and J Krishnamurti teaches ‘Awareness’. To be aware is to be in the state of presence without thought. That is why the present moment, the Power of Now is the highest in life.

If moment to moment life passes by and you are busy thinking, planning and worrying about life, how can you be aware of the pristine beauty and wonders of life? You will be lost in thought because Man can only do one thing at a time. Either you are lost in thought or you are without thought, ever mindful of the moment to develop the Pure Awareness to silently observe what is going on in life, in existence. So, if you are not able to be in this present moment awareness which the Buddha calls Sati, you cannot understand life.

This present moment awareness is what Sati is. Some call Sati mindfulness. Mahāyāna Buddhists call it ‘正念’ (zhèngniàn). In actual fact, it is just the awareness nature. So, this present moment awareness which is Sati is the highest in life. That is the reason why those who understand the Buddha’s teachings will come to understand why Sati is so important. Sati or Mindfulness is the awareness before the knowing. That is the reason why we try to develop this awareness-based meditation to realize and stabilize this inner awareness so that we can be with the present moment all the time or most of the time so as to be aware of what is going on within life and existence. That is how the Silent Mind which is the awareness nature without thought can observe and develop the understanding. It can also insight into phenomena to awaken to the Truth and the reality within life and existence.

So, that is the reason why to realize Enlightenment in the here and the now or the Ultimate Realization, you need to transcend even the present moment which is still within life. Do you understand?

6.3 Venerable Master Guǎng Qīn (廣欽老和尚)

There is a saying by a very famous Mahāyāna monk, Venerable Master Guǎng Qīn (廣欽老和尚 - Guǎng Qīn lǎo héshàng). He always shares these 3 famous quotes that he had developed through his own realization:

- 过去心不可得 (Guòqù xīn bùkě dé) – It means the mind of the past is already gone and so, it is not a reality anymore. You cannot hold on to it nor grasp on to it because it is already gone, so no more a reality as we have established earlier on.

- Next is 未来心 (wèilái xīn) - The mind of the future 也是不可得 (yěshì bùkě dé) is also not a reality. Why is that so? Because the future has yet to come and hence, it is also not a reality. The future is just a thought projection.

- Then, knowing that the present moment is the only reality, he said, 现在心也不可得 (xiànzài xīn yě bùkě dé) - The mind of the moment also cannot be grasped at or held on to. Why did he say that? It is because this present moment is still within life.

So, to transcend life which is to realize the Enlightenment is to transcend birth and death (了生死- Liao Shēng Sǐ ) of this segmented life of ours. To do that, we must transcend even the present moment which is still within existence and life itself. To transcend life, we must meditate to realize the cessation of the form and mind which is Nibbāna, to realize the unconditioned.

As we all know, the present moment is the only apparent reality in life and as real as it can be, it is just a moment and the next moment, it is already dead and gone or no more. And then, the next moment arises and passes away again and again. This implies it is impermanent, transient, empty and not so real. This is the Anattā nature of non-self. Then, how real can life be?

That is the reason why Master Guǎng Qīn said,

- 过去心不可得 (guòqù xīn bùkě dé) - The mind of the past cannot be grasped on to because it is already gone and no more a reality.

- 未来心不可得 (wèilái xīn bùkě dé) - The mind of the future also cannot be grasped on to because it has yet to come. It is also not a reality.

- 现在心也不可得 (xiànzài xīn yě bùkě dé) - The mind of the present moment also cannot be held on to because it is so transient and hence, also not a reality.

Even though it is the highest in life, it is still within the field of thought. Hence, the mind of the present moment also cannot be grasped on to because it is so transient and unstable. The moment you know or experience it, in a split second, it is already dead and gone!

6.4 Physical and Psychological Times

That is why to realize the ultimate enlightenment and the cessation, you have to transcend even the present moment which is the power of now and Sati. This is the reason why the realization of Nibbāna is the complete cessation of the form and the mind. In this complete cessation, even the Pure Awareness nature is also no more there!

To realize the unconditioned, you need to go through that cessation. That is why the unconditioned is Akāliko - timeless. Only the conditioned world has this so-called psychological time or the mundane mind’s thinking time.

Scientists have established 2 types of time. The first type is physical time. Scientists have a very clear definition of this physical time. Our earth’s time is physical time and it is defined as 24 hours for a full day and night. 1 hour is made up of 60 minutes and 1 minute, 60 seconds. It takes 1 full day or a full 24 hours for the earth to spin one round on its own axis. Then, as the earth spins across space and time around the sun, (note the earth is the 3rd planet from our sun), we call that 1 year which is the time our planet takes to move through space and time to complete the full movement around the sun. That is how physical time is established and that is how we use it in our day-to-day living.

The second type of time is more towards the spiritual and medical fields. We call it psychological time. This type of time is thought related. When you think, your psychological thinking time arises or takes place. That is why we call it psychological time. But when you do not think, what happens? When you stop thinking, psychological time comes to a stop. Is that not so? Hence, when you stop thinking, you can realize the timeless.

You cannot stop or cease physical time because it is a measurement. On the other hand, psychological time is especially of interest because when psychological time stops, we realize the timeless which is Akāliko and our ability to realize the timeless is most beautiful.

6.5 Characteristics of the True Dhamma

In the Sutta, when we recite the Salutation to the Dhamma. It is mentioned clearly by the Buddha that this Dhamma that the Buddha had realized has the following very unique characteristics. This Dhamma is timeless, Akāliko. This word Akāliko is timeless - it is beyond thought and beyond psychological time. When you stop thinking, psychological time does not exist; it is no more. And then, you realize the timeless. That is how He came to realize the timeless. That is the reason why I defined for you in the early days what mindfulness is.

Mindfulness is ‘anawareness before the knowing, before the arising of thought and the aggregates of mind’. The moment thinking or thought arises, the mundane mind arises. From that Pure Awareness nature, thought arises. That is how all this manifests. The Pure Awareness nature without thought is the Timeless. That is why when you recall the Buddha’s Salutation to the Dhamma, He said, ‘Svākkhāto Bhagavatā Dhammo’ - well expounded is the Dhamma by the Buddha. This Dhamma that the Buddha had realized has certain very important unique characteristics. ‘Svākkhāto Bhagavatā Dhammo’ is the 1st unique characteristic. The Buddha recited this salutation to let the monks, his disciples and devotees at that time check whether their cultivation is the Dhamma He had realized. If your so-called enlightenment or realization does not match with what He had proclaimed under his Salutation to the Dhamma, it is not the enlightenment that the Buddha is talking about.

That Dhamma according to the Buddha is Sandiṭṭhiko, meaning that this Dhamma can be realized in the here and the now, before you die. You do not have to wait till after death to come to know whether you have eternal life and whether this is true enlightenment and liberation from birth and death. This 2nd unique characteristic, Sandiṭṭhiko can be realized in the here and the now.

The 3rd unique characteristic is Akāliko meaning that it is timeless, beyond thought, beyond time. Beyond thought means beyond psychological time. With physical time, you cannot stop it because it is a measurement in physical existence. But with psychological time, it is different. It is related to spiritual time. When the thought stops, the True Mind arises. Actually, the True Mind is there all the time. From the True Mind, mundane thinking and thought processes are quickly created. That is how it happens. Understanding this will enable one to understand how beautiful and profound the Buddha’s teaching is.

So, the unique characteristics of the Dhamma are, it is Svākkhāto, Sandiṭṭhiko, Akāliko and Ehipassiko. Ehipassiko is the 4th unique characteristic, meaning that this Dhamma that the Buddha had realized through His enlightenment in the here and the now can be put to the test. It can be investigated and it can stand up to investigation because it is the truth. It points towards the Truth, the reality. This Dhamma which the Buddha had realized is not only Svākkhāto, Sandiṭṭhiko, Akāliko and Ehipassiko, it is also Opanayiko (this is the 5th unique characteristic), leading inwards to the heart. Then, it is Paccattaṃ veditabboviññuhī ti (this is the 6th unique characteristic) meaning it can only be realized by the wise each for themselves.

So, if your cultivation and meditation does not have all these 6 unique characteristics of the Dhamma, it means you are not on the right track. Your so-called enlightenment or realization is not in sync with what the Buddha had realized and proclaimed. That is why the real enlightenment is: Sandiṭṭhiko (it can be realized in the here and the now), Akāliko (timeless), Ehipassiko (it can stand up to investigation), Opanayiko (leading inward into our nature, in the heart area through the gateway to our nature) and finally, it is Paccattaṃ veditabbo viññuhī ti meaning it can only be realized by the wise, the Enlightened Ones, each for themselves.

The point is this realization is not a concept nor an idea nor theoretical Dhamma. This is the Living Dhamma which can be realized in the here and now, beyond thought and beyond time. From here onwards, you will come to understand why the Buddha emphasized so much on the importance of developing Sati or mindfulness, leading to Appamāda or heedfulness.

6.6 Dhammapada Verses 21, 22, 23 on Heedfulness

Dhammapada Verse 21 on heedfulness is very important and very clear. The Buddha said that without Sati leading to heedfulness, you are as if dead. That is, ‘the heedless are as if dead’.

Who are the heedless? Those who think a lot. Those who are hardly mindful or aware. They are never with the moment in silent awareness. They are constantly lost in thought, creating habitual thinking and emotions. Besides thinking about the past and recalling all the scars of memories, miseries, phobia, fear, anxiety, sorrow and lamentation, etc, they also project their thoughts into the future. When they project their thoughts into the future and develop all these unnecessary fear, worry, anxiety, sorrow and lamentation, they suffer a lot because all these negative and wrong thoughts are detrimental to their health.

Yet living beings through ignorance and self-delusion constantly indulge in them. In other words, living beings seldom develop the ability to be aware and to be with the moment. They are hardly aware. That is the reason why most of the time, they are lost in thought and think a lot. If you are hardly aware, how can you understand life and see the unreality of life and existence? These understandings match beautifully with the Buddha’s teaching.

Dhammapada Verses 21, 22 and 23 point towards the importance of having mindfulness leading to heedfulness. Heedfulness is Appamāda. Appamādavagga are the stanzas on heedfulness. There are 12 of them - from Dhammapada Verses 21 to 32.

Hopefully, with today’s elaboration and explanation, all of you can understand better. In the past, I only mentioned briefly the 3 types of time: the past, the present and the future. At that time, I did not go in deeper. But this time, I am approaching it from the full understanding of cultivation and realization. This is very important. So, please do listen to the video and audio recording attentively and repeatedly to develop clear understanding. Then, contemplate to stabilize all these understanding so that all of you will be able to understand the whole big picture and the full scope of this Sati and heedfulness cultivation.

Now, I will read to you again this Unique Dhamma Quote 105 for you to develop clear understanding.

Unique Dhamma Quote 105: To have the Ultimate Realization to transcend life, one has to transcend even the present moment leading to the cessation of the form and mind, to the realization of Nibbāna which is the unconditioned. The present moment may be the highest in life but it is still within life.

They are the essence of the understanding but there is still one more aspect which I had explained previously but I need to repeat it so that you can understand better. How can we understand this phrase, the present moment may be the highest in life but it is still within life?

I mentioned just now that the past is already gone, hence no more a reality; the future which is yet to come is also not a reality. So, the present moment is the only reality in life. But how stable is the present moment? The moment you become aware of it or you speak about it, what happens? It is already dead and gone. Split second, like a lightning flash, it is gone. The present moment which is the only reality is truly transient. Split second, it is dead and gone. If that is what the present moment is, then what is life? Can there be any reality? The phenomenal world of consciousness is a condition arising world. Moment to moment, things arise and pass away. It is the only reality which is so transient and yet you deludedly grasp and cling on to all the creations manifested by our thoughts.

From here, our mundane mind, the 5 Aggregates of Form and Mind through our thought process and senses, project and create the phenomenal world of consciousness. This phenomenal world of consciousness is where existence and life are. Everything that happens in this phenomenal world of consciousness seems so real but in actual fact, when you are mindful and aware, you can realize this present moment which is the highest in life is truly transient. Moment to moment, life passes by. It just comes and goes. Then, how real can it be? That is why there is no reality. It is an illusionary world.

In the Sūraṅgama Sutta, it is mentioned very clearly: ‘Perception of form is consciousness whereas its non-perception is wisdom’. So, all these forms within existence that you come to perceive through your senses are just consciousness that arises when the mundane mind becomes conscious through contact, through your senses. That is why consciousness comes and goes; perception comes and goes; feeling comes and goes. And so too all the aggregates of the mind including Saṅkhārā. They come and go and you are not dead. If they keep on coming and going, can they be you? This is profound Dhamma.

When you understand that it is only thoughts and through consciousness they manifest, you will understand why this phenomenal world of consciousness where everything happens is just an illusionary world. It is not what you think it is. It is just an illusion. Everything just comes and goes, comes and goes, from moment to moment. It just shows you the empty nature of existence.

From understanding how this phenomenal world of consciousness manifests, you will come to realize that this so-called life and existence is not so real. It is not what you think it is. It is empty - empty in the sense that there is no reality. In the end, whatever happens, you can only hold on to it through memory and through the thought process. In Mandarin, they always use the phrase: 往事只能回味 (Wǎngshì zhǐ néng huíwèi), meaning you can only recall them through memory which is in your past.

Whatever you come to know or you hold on to, comes from your thoughts and memory. Without memory, all this does not exist although you cannot deny that it does happen while you are alive within the existential world. But it is empty, not what you think. Hey no you, hey no me, because everything within the condition arising or existential world are dependent originating and condition arising phenomena. There is nothing within the existential world that is a permanent unchanging entity that you can cling, hold on to or grasp and say, ‘This is me, this is I. Therefore, all these can be mine!’.

This is the most profound understanding. If you can penetrate this, you will penetrate all the other teachings and the Dhamma. Then, the Buddha Dhamma can become a living reality and you can live it. You can understand it and even proclaim, share and develop it into real-life experience. This is the uniqueness of the Buddha’s teaching.

I have developed all these quotes from my Dhamma sharing and teachings. They are compiled into a book called ‘Straight from the Heart, Unique Dhamma Quotes’ because they are truly unique. In the past, when I developed them, hardly anyone knew how unique and profound they were. I think maybe only a few Kalyāṇamittās, one of them being Sister Eng Bee who recognized them as such. She was very perceptive. She knew it was very profound and beautiful and she actually wrote them down and stored them in her computer. Then, when the time came for us to compile all those quotes into a book, she emailed them to me and said, ’Brother Teoh, I have them all.’ Eventually, I edited the whole list and developed more than 160 quotes! That is how my book, ‘Straight From the Heart, Unique Dhamma Quotes’ came about. It is as though all these quotes are meant to be. This Unique Dhamma Quote 105 is one of these quotes and it is indeed very beautiful, profound and unique.

Do you have any questions? Does anyone want to ask any questions or elaborate on what we have shared? For those following online, you can ask your questions or share your thoughts using the microphone. For those who are here physically, you may raise your hand. Anyone?

Bro Teoh: Bro Song, do you understand? The sharing this time around is different again. This time, not only does it link to the Salutation to the Dhamma, it also covers all the other relevant and related aspects of the Dhamma and this time around, I have explained the whole topic in a more comprehensive manner. Earlier on, I could not do so because even at the initial stage of the explanation of the past, the present and the future, it took me quite a while to explain. I only shared that the present moment is the highest in life and moment to moment, life passes by and what are you doing? I only asked all of you to go into this inquiry and contemplate because that itself can bring about a lot of very penetrative awakening and realization.

When my Nature awakened in 1989, these were the things I contemplated on and there was a lot of understanding and joy. Later, I expanded on them. Now, 30+ years later, I still do not need to remember anything. The moment I want to share this topic, the understanding surfaces from my nature, straight from the heart. This is what the Reality is. This is what will happen when you go through all the awakening, enlightenment and the realization. So now, physical time and psychological time have become much clearer. Last time, I had only briefly mentioned them.

The other aspect is how to link it to the Dhamma, to mindfulness or Sati, to heedfulness and to present moment awareness, etc. This time, I explain this present moment awareness cultivation in more detail because now, most Kalyāṇamittas can develop the understanding.

7 Second session: Questions and Answers and Meditation reporting

Bro Teoh: Now, we will have our 2nd session, the Q & A session. The reporting of your meditation is to be followed by whatever Dhamma questions you may have. You can also share anything related to your cultivation, especially to Dhamma in daily life.

Anybody wants to report their meditation or ask any questions? Yes, Bro Song.

(Note: Bro Song speaks a mix of Mandarin and English. To make it easier for readers to understand and follow, Bro Song’s sharing has been translated fully in English).

Bro Song (English translation): Good evening, Brother Teoh, Mrs Teoh and all Kalyāṇamittās. Bro Teoh, my sharing pertains to tonight's topic. Just now, as I was looking at the whiteboard, I suddenly realized that when psychological time arises, the whole world also arises.

Bro Teoh: Sādhu! That is why the Buddha said, ‘Mind is the forerunner of all things. Mind is chief…’. Now that you are able to stay at the awareness nature, you can already see this mundane arising and you will understand the reason why the Buddha in his Rohitassa Sutta (Aṅguttara Nikāya 4.45 or Saṁyutta Nikāya 2.26) states that, ‘Within this fathom length body along with perception, thought and awareness, I proclaim the world (referring to existence) the cause of the arising of the world, the cessation of the world and the path that leads to the cessation of the world’. These are the 4 Noble Truths. That is why these words, world, existence and life are related.

Bro Song (English Translation): When thoughts arise, Dhammapada Verses 1 and 2 also follow. The mental intention behind these thoughts determines its significance. Because we live in this existential world, this understanding is crucial. Without the Dhamma understanding, we will be lost in our deluded thoughts. This cycle of birth and death will continue to flow and spin living beings in saṃsāra for eternity. It is all because of this psychological time, deluded thoughts will emerge. Once they arise, we will be lost in them.

Bro Teoh: That is our 5 Aggregates of Form and Mind, the mundane mind. This mundane mind which is basically consciousness is the ‘magician’. This magician creates illusions for living beings to grasp, cling and hold on to. Magicians are also called illusionists. They create magic which are just illusions with no reality. But most people think it is real, not realizing that it is actually an illusion. So, through this understanding, Bro Song comes to understand all this. Psychological time is basically your thought process, your mundane thinking. When you understand this, you will understand the Buddha’s Dhammapada Verses 1 and 2 and why the verses always start with: ‘Mind is the forerunner of all things. Mind is chief...’.

Through his awareness, Bro Song can see the moment the thought process starts, how psychological time also starts, thereby creating the apparent reality within existence. That is how the world arises. That is why the Buddha said, ‘Mind is the forerunner of all things. Mind is chief and when mind arises, the whole creation arises.’

Arises through what? Through consciousness that is being projected into the phenomenal world of consciousness. Through their Sakkāya diṭṭhi or self-delusion, living beings then hold on to them deludedly as if life exists and it is real. That is how all the entanglements start. When you know your thoughts are very important and the mundane thinking is the forerunner of all things, what must you do? You must take care of the mind otherwise, when you act, speak and think with a heedless mind that has the evil roots of greed, hatred and delusion, suffering will follow you like the wheel that follows the hoof of the ox. This is Dhammapada Verse 1.

I used to share with you all this understanding: Your life, you decide how you want to live it. If you know this Dhamma and understand the significance of what psychological time is and what the mundane mind is, you will choose to take care of your mind to develop heedfulness. Then, Dhammapada Verse 2 will take over.

Dhammapada Verse 1 is about suffering as all actions in this life are preceded by the mind. Suffering follows the heedless who never develop their heedfulness, mindfulness and awareness to understand life. We must realize the Dhamma and Enlightenment in the here and the now to transcend life so that we understand life and we can truly live life. Now, we will move on to Dhammapada Verse 2.

The Buddha shared Dhammapada Verse 2: ‘Mind is the forerunner of all things. Mind is chief; mind-made are they. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, because of that, happiness follows one, even as one’s shadow that never leaves.’ So, when the mind arises, all things, all creations arise. And when one speaks, acts and thinks with a wholesome mind that is free of the evil roots of greed, hatred and delusion, happiness will follow one like one’s shadow that never leaves. That is what life is all about.

Today, Bro Chin How texted me something interesting. Later, I will share with you all on our Mykalyāṇamittas WhatsApp platform. Someone who listened to my YouTube sharing on the topic, 2024 Heart Sutra, Lesson 1 wrote to me. He said he has a Christian background. After listening to this particular sharing of mine, he wrote to thank me.

He wrote: Thank you, Bro Teoh. As a lay person with a Christian background, your explanation of the Buddhist teachings  brings clarity to me that I can live with better wisdom to mitigate and hopefully end suffering in my this earthly existence.

Will you all not rejoice with me hearing this? He has a Christian background and has never met me before. Just by listening to my 1st Heart Sutra class sharing, he can develop such profound understanding. That is really amazing. Someone totally new to Buddhist teachings can develop such profound understanding so quickly. In this 1st Heart Sutra class sharing, I expounded the essence of the Buddha’s teaching which is the 4 Noble Truths. I elaborated on it during that class sharing and I remembered that it was very beautiful. Because of that, he was able to develop that clarity of understanding on how to live life. So, he had the intention to change for the better based on what he had heard and understood to mitigate and hopefully end suffering. Now, he can see the possibility of freeing himself of suffering in this very life.

In this context, to mitigate is to lessen suffering so that hopefully the end of all suffering is possible. When you have the true understanding of all this teaching that I have shared (pointing to the whiteboard) all this can be realized.

He had not even come to the Pure Awareness nature cultivation (referring to the whiteboard), yet it can benefit him so much. He had only heard about the 4 Noble Truths, the Heart Sutra’s preliminary teachings where I mentioned Dhammapada Verses 1 and 2. That itself was enough for him to understand the importance of being heedful and the importance of training his mind to be aware and mindful, leading to heedfulness and to experiencing and understanding present moment awareness.

Now, looking back, my understanding leads me to question how a being can have this type of understanding 2,600 years ago. That is only possible if He is the real Sammā Sambuddha. Nobody else in this existence can summarize all of His understanding into just the 4 Noble Truths and spin off the whole teaching.

That is why in the year 1971, after I read the book, ‘What Buddhists Believe’ (1st edition) written by our late Chief Reverend Dr K Sri Dhammananda, I was full of joy. The moment I read the 4 Noble Truths in that book, my nature told me that there is no further need to search for the Truth. Because of my past cultivation, straight away I understood what that teaching was all about.

To me, it is the secret of life because it explains the complete understanding of life, both the mundane and the supramundane. That is why after that, my nature went all out to develop the cultivation of that teaching without turning back. Later, I followed up by renewing my Bodhisattva vows to continue with the Supreme Vehicle cultivation.

In 1989, after my nature connected, all the understanding from my spiritual nature came back to me. Then, everything just fell into place. It was as though it was meant to be. That is why I used to share with you all that in this life, in this segment of my nature’s coming, I actually did not do anything. I just accord and flow. Do you understand why I say that?

It is because the causes and conditions are already there and everything is as though pre-planned and set in place by my nature’s past cultivation, wisdom, understanding, adhiṭṭhāna or strong determination, affirmation and of course the vows. That is why, this coming, the conditions and everything else just fell into place. That is why this teaching is very profound and unique. Hopefully in today’s sharing, please remember to listen to my nature’s teaching again and again to develop the stability of understanding. This new understanding is complete and comprehensive. It will revolutionize a lot of our Kalyāṇamittās’ understanding.

Okay, Bro Song please continue. Sādhu!

Bro Song (English translation): When this psychological time arises, the world also arises. When consciousness arises, the world also arises. So, all the Dhamma also arises - the 4 Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, the 5 Aggregates of Form and Mind, etc. - everything is already there!

Bro Teoh: Yes, because thinking is in psychological time and thought consciousness. Therefore, when they arise, the phenomenal world of consciousness which is the ‘world’ also arises. All Dhamma mentioned by Bro Song such as the 3 evil roots of greed, hatred and delusion, all dualities like good and evil, etc. are included because everything is mind-made.

Bro Song (English Translation): Bro Teoh, I want to share something from 2 months ago when I was listening to your Dhamma talk. When I heard Bro Teoh mention duality, the word struck me. Later on, my understanding of this word changed. I thought about how each of us in this world is constantly playing the game of duality. Suddenly, I understood.

For example, as cultivators, we often hear others mention that when they experience unfavourable meditative outcome, they will say, ‘My meditation is very bad’. We always crave for good meditative experiences. Then, when we dislike or reject those unfavourable meditative experiences, we manifest a type of negative craving like hatred, dislike and aversion. At that moment, I understood that my craving for good meditative experiences is another form of craving that had conditioned my aversion and dislike.

Bro Teoh : Yes, the opposite manifests itself. That is why the Buddha also explained this duality teaching in the Theravāda tradition. It is similar to the duality teaching of the Yin and the Yang as taught by Lǎozi (老子).

The Buddha described it by saying, ‘Imasmiṃ sati idaṃ hoti; Imasmiṃ asati idaṃ na hoti’ (Saṁyutta Nikāya 12.61) meaning ‘when this arises, that arises, when this ceases, that ceases’.

It means that when you create good, obviously whatever that is not good is bad which is, its opposite will manifest. Is that not so? That is why you tend to have good and bad meditation. Meditation is not about clinging on to good meditative experiences or rejecting bad meditative experiences. It is about developing the understanding and the wisdom to awaken.

That is why I always say only wisdom can free you. It has nothing to do with this duality created by thought. Thoughts through words, ideology and concept create duality of the Yin and the Yang to divide. So, when you see this duality in your present stage of cultivation, it means you will start to penetrate the Dhamma because this is the beginning. After that, you will see the profound beauty of the Buddha’s teaching on duality: When this arises, that arises. It applies to all circumstances in life because all dualities are the same.

Venerable Shénxiù (神秀) was caught up in the same problem because he held on to all wholesome mind states. That is why he said that all these defilements are like dust - he thought that the mundane mind in the state of Sati is the True Mind and that the mundane mind must be polished until it shines so that no dust can collect. How can you do that? When you cling on to wholesome mind states, whatever that is not wholesome mind states, the opposite which is defilement will arise. If it arises, how can you do away with it or try to kill something that you have created? You cannot because they are a pair. You must go beyond or transcend duality to make them both cease. That is, when you do not create one side, the opposite cannot arise because the moment this arises, that arises.

That is why the Buddha said, ‘Imasmiṃ sati idaṃ hoti!’ And then, He said, ‘Imasmiṃ asati idaṃ na hoti’ meaning you must cease both by not creating duality. You must transcend all duality. In the opening statement of the Buddha’s first sermon as recorded in the Dhammacakka pavattana Sutta, the Buddha said that we should avoid the two extremes of self-mortification and sensual indulgence. These are dualities. So, how do you avoid them?

The first way is through the normal teaching to avoid all evil and do good. This is thought-based.

The second way is to transcend duality. When you can transcend duality, you can also avoid the two extremes. But how do you transcend duality? The Buddha said, ‘Imasmiṃ sati idaṃ hoti’, meaning, ‘when this arises, that (the other aspect of the duality) will also arise’ because whatever that is not this, is the opposite of what you have created. That is why it is called a duality. Then, the Buddha continued, ‘Imasmiṃ asati idaṃ na hoti’ meaning when this ceases that ceases. So, your solution is to develop the wisdom to realize that they are duality created by thoughts - hence, not a reality. This is created by the mundane mind based on conventional truth. So, if you believe in those dualities created by thoughts, you will hold on to the good and try to avoid or push away the negative which is bad.

Then, what will happen to you? You will be forever chasing and fighting duality, both of which will lead to suffering as both are cravings, positive and negative. That is why I say: any good states and experiences, especially pleasure, are also a prelude to suffering. Why? Because you will cling on to them through memory. You may think that this experience is very nice, good and special and you want it to be repeated in the future. So, we archive it. But when you cannot get what you want, you will be afflicted.

That is why it is a prelude to suffering. Suffering will arise when you hold on to all good mind states, the positive, the wholesome and other pleasurable and amazing states that you crave, not realizing that if you do that, the opposite will surface and you will be caught.

That is why when you cannot get what you want and when things do not go your way, suffering will be the result. That is the 1st Noble Truth’s 7th reality. Therefore, understand that all this is to free you after you have developed the wisdom to transcend duality, meaning not to crave, cling and create. That is the reason why I used to share with all of you the importance of understanding why there is no right and no wrong.

According to the Buddha, things are just the way they are - deluded people do deluded things. Why do you say that he is wrong? Similarly, foolish people do foolish things and heedless people do heedless things while wise people do wise things. They are just the way they are.

Living beings and nature’s conditions are just the way they are. That is why the Buddha said that thing is just the way it is, or things are just the way they are. That is the Truth which is the Reality. That is Suchness, the Isness of things. Tathatā! You cannot go against it.

Why do you want to create duality to define it differently? This profound understanding is what the Buddha wants us to realize. It means that when this wisdom is developed, you will not be trapped by duality and such delusion will not affect or afflict you anymore. The truth is that within that moment, things are just the way they are, no right, no wrong, no good, no bad. When you understand this, it implies suchness seeing. When conditions are like that, things will be like that. It cannot be otherwise because that is the reality.

Then, why is the mundane mind acting like a busybody saying, ‘this is right, and this is wrong’? Then, division, argument, conflict, suffering, misery and misunderstanding can arise to condition sufferings. That is how the chaotic phenomenal world comes to be and how the world of ours has so many problems, wars and conflict due to disagreement over ideology, differences of opinions, etc. All these are created by the mundane mind through delusion, through ignorance. So, seeing all this, realizing all this, with your Pure Awareness within, you will penetrate duality in no time because this is the true beginning of transformation for all of you after you can follow and understand all this sharing on duality.

Bro Song, now that you can see it already, that is why you can use your own words to explain what you now understand. But the deeper meaning that I have just explained is to help take you beyond duality to transcend all dualities which means to see things as they are through the direct seeing. Just like what the Buddha said, ‘To see things as they are’ with Suchness seeing, to see the Reality, to see What Is.

So, things are the way they are - these words of wisdom can awaken you. Once awakened, all this duality will have no more meaning. In the first place, who created them? The deluded and the foolish ones. But we must also understand we live in a conditioned world where dualities exist. As I have always explained, duality exists within the conditioned world, the existential world and you cannot avoid duality while here, because that is for living. You cannot simply quote the Dhamma and say that we must transcend duality because there is no right, no wrong. Then, you will argue with people. That is still a one-sided understanding. That is why we have the 3 types of seeing as stated in the Mahāyāna teaching. Can you remember them?

7.1 The 3 levels of Seeing

1st level: 看山是山 (seeing mountain as mountain). This is mundane seeing.

2nd level: 看山不是山 (seeing mountain as not mountain). This is supramundane seeing.

3rd level: 看山又是山 (seeing mountain as mountain again). This is suchness seeing. Why?

When the Enlightened One comes and says there is no mountain, you will agree and say yes, there is no mountain. That is to say 看山不是山 is through supramundane seeing and he is also right.

When the unenlightened one comes and says that through his mundane seeing, 看山是山, you will also agree and say, yes, 看山是山 and you become different because you have transcended duality through your wisdom. That is why this suchness seeing is without duality, no right, no wrong, through seeing things as they are. That is the real awakening, the real wisdom. Ok? Very good, you brought up some very good conditions for all this to be explained again.

Bro Song: Later, I developed my meditative understanding to realize that if we do not develop awareness, when we live our daily lives, we will be caught in duality and we cannot get out of it. I realized these are our deluded habitual tendencies, repeated again and again and this is the reason why we are caught in it. To my understanding, if we wish to come out of it, we need a very stable mindfulness base. Stabilizing this mindfulness to develop the wisdom is most important. Then only can we develop acceptance through wisdom. Acceptance must come first before we can act following the Dhamma way by applying the Noble Eightfold Path to resolve all things amicably. Act according to the Noble Eightfold Path as taught by the Buddha to end all our sufferings – this is the 4th Noble Truth.

Bro Teoh: Yes! Acceptance through wisdom after understanding the truth and the reality through seeing things as they are is crucial. To do that we must understand the Buddha’s sayings. You must develop the deeper understanding of what the Buddha actually meant when He said that you must learn to see things as they are with ñāṇa-dassana! - the direct knowledge of vision of the reality, meaning Tathatā or Suchness seeing. When you can see things as they are, it means you can understand this stanza: ‘whatever arises, there are causes and conditions behind’.

This stanza has deep meaning. It means that this is the reality because conditions are already set and if you do not accept what happens, it means you want things your way which is not nature’s way. Then you suffer because these are nature’s conditions. When the causes and conditions are already established, the reality has to be such, not otherwise. Not according to what you want, not according to one’s individual craving and preference because these are nature’s conditions. It implies that Reality Is. Suchness and Truth Are! This is the Isness of things. It is not your truth and not my truth because these are the individual’s relative truths.

Similarly, a situation is neither good nor bad because it is the reality - things are just the way they are and they have to be such. The same goes with this saying of mine: ‘living beings are just the way they are and the world is the world’. Do remember all these words of wisdom because they all point towards suchness. It is because we live in a conditioned world. So, when conditions are like that, things will be like that. That is the reality and the present moment is the only reality in life.

But this present moment is so transient - split second, it is dead and gone. That is why understanding this present moment awareness is very important. If you are not aware and you are lost in thoughts, how can you understand what is going on in life and what is happening within the moment? How can you know who you are, what you are, what life is, what existence is and what truth is? All these teachings of the Dhamma are to awaken you to the present moment awareness which is Sati or mindfulness. With Sati developed, all these will fall in place. Then, your nature will become very different.

Once you have that awakening as I have explained earlier on, the phenomenal world of consciousness and form will ‘collapse’ in front of you. That means the phenomenal world of consciousness and form will have no power over you because you have understood that perception of form is consciousness, only mental consciousness – no reality, whereas its non-perception is wisdom. When you are here with the Pure Awareness nature, you do not perceive anything because that is the true mind, the silent mind with no thought, nothing, no duality. So, how can it perceive? That is why Pure Awareness or pure perception is to see things as they are because things are just the way they are. Suchness cannot be otherwise.

This is how you can come to a great awakening. Your whole nature just awakens as if there is a sudden explosion of understanding.

That is why I said that the phenomenal world of consciousness and form will ‘collapse’ in front of you. They will have no more power over you because you have understood that these manifestations are all projected from the mundane mind as consciousnesses. Hence, there is no reality. It is similar to the blank white screen. When all the lights and sound are projected onto it to create a movie, it can make you emotional and make it appear so real.

But when the movie ends, what happens? It is just a blank screen, no reality, empty and not what you think. All these are created through causes and conditions and they can delude living beings. The videos nowadays including the cinema shows can all appear to be so real, so enticing and so alluring. That is how they lure your senses, entice you, make you believe it is real and make you crave for it, fight for it and even pay to watch it. All this is what life, existence and creation are. Without awareness and Sati, developed from the true mind’s direct seeing, you cannot understand all these and you cannot penetrate all these.

That is why you have to bring this phenomenal world of consciousness back to the mundane mind level and cease it by bringing it back to the Pure Awareness stage. Then, through realization with wisdom, realize Nibbāna, Enlightenment in the here and the now. That is where the original nature or the source is. It is from there everything comes to be through the 4 stages of creation as I had explained. That is also what the Sūraṅgama Sūtra’s explanation is all about. It said that from here, the source, the primordial mind comes to be and starts karmic movements until it becomes the phenomenal world of consciousness. Very good. Sādhu!

Bro Song: We can see with mindfulness that when psychological time arises, Dhammapada Verses 1 and 2 also take their course. At the same time, one can also witness the 2nd Right View (citta niyāma) which is synonymous with understanding the Law of Dependent Origination occurring, thereby understanding the 12 links.

Bro Teoh: Yes! Then, you will also understand the Diamond Sutra’s famous stanza: 一切有为法 - Everything within the conditioned world are conditioned Dhamma. This is because physiological time creates the phenomenal world of consciousness, the conditioned world of conditioned Dhamma (有为法). Then, everything that arises within the conditioned world which are dreamlike, illusionary, like a bubble and shadowy (如梦幻泡影) will become very clear to you. Then, it is followed by 如露亦如电 – like morning dew and a lightning flash which is the present moment experiences. So how real can it be? It is just like a lightning flash. Split second, it is gone. Certain phenomena may take a longer time to arise. That is why it is analogous to a morning dew. Finally, 应作如是观. You must contemplate it thus to develop the profound wisdom of the Diamond Sutra and break free from all dualities. Very good! Mahā sādhu!

Bro Song: Bro Teoh, today’s Dhamma sharing is truly profound.

Bro Teoh: Yes! That is why when the teachings start to link, more and more profound Dhamma will surface. If you are to do this cultivation on your own, it may take you a very long time to reach this level of understanding. That is the reason why the Buddha sāsana and the Great Beings are very important. Without them, you cannot find all this understanding. If you try to understand on your own, it will take you a very long time. It is just like the gateway to our nature. If I were to look for it by myself, it would take me at least 10 to 15 years to locate it. After that, to go through this nature’s transformation to develop all these understandings, it definitely cannot be achieved in just this lifetime. A lot of hard work had been done in the past to contribute to such a possibility. All these are what the Buddha is trying to tell us: ‘when the Buddha sāsana window is there, all these are possible’ because these Great Beings,佛菩萨, that is the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are everywhere and their Nature is all over.

The reason why I like to conduct our annual meditation retreat at the Sam Poh Temple in Cameron Highlands is because I realize there are a lot of Great Beings’ nature there. I came to know about this Sam Poh Temple in 1989 when I was there attending a 5-day meditation retreat. It was during that retreat, my nature connected and that was how I came to know why that Sam Poh Temple way place is so conducive for cultivation.

That is the reason why I told Bro Swee Aun back then that it will be the best place to conduct our annual meditation retreat. Finally, we managed to get the temple committee to allow us to have our annual retreat there despite the fact that we do not have any Buddhist organization representing us at that time. We borrowed SJBA because at that time, Bro Swee Aun was there together with Bro Chim. We should thank them for that. All this evolved through causes and conditions and it has manifested and grown to what we have become today. It is really amazing. That is because it is meant to be. Even without an organization, we can still have the permission to conduct all these annual meditation retreats at Sam Poh Temple in Cameron Highlands since 2013.

Bro Song (English translation): Lately, when I listened again to Brother Teoh’s recent Dhamma sharing, my understanding has become totally different. Just like now, when Bro Teoh asked me whether I have anything else to add. At that moment, I could not think of anything to add. But when I slowly looked at the written Dhamma on the whiteboard, I felt I could link and connect all this Dhamma: Psychological time, Dhammapada Verses 1 and 2 and the 12 links of the Law of Dependent Origination. I was able to understand how they are all related to movements in psychological time. When psychological time starts, all things start.

Bro Teoh: That is why I always share with you that all of the teachings are interconnected. The difficult part is in knowing how to connect and link all these teachings because they are actually only one teaching. From the 4 Noble Truths, the rest spins off from that one teaching.

When you have the understanding that the whole teaching and all Dhamma are interconnected, you will be amazed that the whole teaching is so very beautiful. That is the marvel of the Buddha Dhamma because it is the Truth. It points towards the Reality, to its Suchness nature. It is related to life. That is why this Dhamma is a living Dhamma. It can be realized and experienced as a living reality. To have the ability to present and explain all this understanding is not easy. And yet we are able to do so.

20 years ago, in December 2004, Sister Yoon Chun who is one of our pioneer Kalyāṇamittās requested that I come out and share the Dhamma. I remembered that in December of 2004, the deadliest tsunami in history occurred. It wreaked havoc and caused immense destruction and death in 14 countries in South East Asia. By this year end, December 2024, it will be exactly 20 years since I started expounding the Dhamma. As such, this coming year end, the gathering of Kalyāṇamittās will be especially meaningful, beautiful and memorable. It will mark the 20th anniversary of my nature coming out to share the Dhamma with the world. It also coincides with my 70th birthday. It seems that all this is meant to be. It is as if the time has come for the whole teaching to arise and manifest itself. That is why since 2017, the videos, the website and all the recent special Dhamma sharing can come to be.

I also remembered that in January 2017, we formed the website committee to set up our Dhamma website. In the last 6 to 7 years, all these Dhamma sharing, books and videos were recorded and stored in our website. Now, we have our own Dhamma website: www.broteoh.com which is protected by our annual website security subscription. For all this to arise, we must thank all those who helped and made this possible, especially Bro Lau, Bro Swee Aun, Bro Chin How and Sister Soo Yee.

Actually, in the last 7 to 8 years, a lot had transpired. That is why from now onwards, you will start to understand why you have to realize one Dhamma Door at a time before it can lead you to the next one. Once you understand and realize the significance of the Dhamma Doors, you will become different. It is as though the wisdom key opens that first Dhamma door. When you go in with the understanding you have gained, it will lead you to the next Dhamma Door and then, to the next Dhamma Door and so forth. When you come to understand that the whole teaching is all connected, it means you already have the master key to open all the Dhamma Doors. All the Dhamma understanding is actually one. It is the entire Dhamma teaching of the Supreme Vehicle in the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition.

Sis Soo Yee: Towards the end, when the Sūraṅgama Sūtra was mentioned, something occurred to me from within and it wanted me to share. From the source, everything arises and we become. The first thing to arise is this Pure Awareness nature that can be aware of everything, whether we know it or not. And then, the form and the mind give us our senses through our physical body as well as the thinking faculty through our mundane mind. From the mundane mind, we create the world, the phenomenal world of consciousness as we know it, as our apparent reality. So, I want to share that we ‘think’ that is the only reality that everyone of us agrees with.

But this is not always the case. That was a very common misconception that I had all this while. To make that clearer, I will give you an example. If there is a phenomenon of sound, we are either conscious or aware of it. But when we want to try to cognize it and remember what has transpired, we use our ear and then, we start to label with our memory - this is a good sound, a bad sound or a loud sound; it is bad for health, etc. We start to create that conscious experience as our present moment experience and we label it as our reality. So now, think back to the Sūraṅgama Sūtra teaching on the mind.

For example, we all understand that someone that is deaf, cannot hear. So, whilst the people that can hear that sound will say that it is a good sound, it is good for health, etc, there are others who may argue that it is a bad sound, it is bad for health, etc. For the person who cannot hear, his world does not have sound and so there is no such thing as a good sound or a bad sound. His reality is very different from other people's reality. Actually, each of them has their own version of their own apparent reality. That is why this apparent reality is unreal. What we know as our life, the so-called highest in life is unreal. It is only what we think of it but we hold on to our interpretation and fight over it. That is to say, my version is right but your version is wrong because of our ego, our pride, our views and our opinions of things, through our greed, hatred and delusion (the 3 evil roots), etc, all borne of delusion.

So actually, if we do not want to fight, we just need to accept that something that can be good can also be bad depending on who is perceiving and from what position and perspective that person is coming from. Everybody can be correct and everybody can be wrong, depending on how you want to interpret and what kind of assumptions you want to take into consideration and how far back in history you want to go. That is why arguing in this conditioned world of apparent reality and duality is really futile. That is what I want to share.

Bro Teoh: Sādhu, sādhu, sādhu! What Sister Soo Yee has shared is very good. I would like to add on a bit more to make it more complete. You see, the Sūraṅgama Sūtra mentioned that ‘perception of form is consciousness’. So, from here, at the mundane mind level, you perceive. Then, through consciousness, you create the phenomenal world of consciousness. That is how all dualities arise. That is why perception of form is consciousness which means it is deluded because this consciousness is mundane consciousness that arise through mundane seeing.

Before you become enlightened, this thought consciousness is not the Pure Awareness. But its non-perception means that from here, at the Pure Awareness stage where there is no thought, no duality, nothing. What you perceive is the reality by seeing things as they are. That is why from here, the Pure Awareness nature, you do not perceive form. Why? Because 看山不是山 seeing mountain as not mountain means non-perception.

Non perception is wisdom - this is the direct seeing, seeing things as they are. You do not label. The form that we label comes from the thought process, the memory, the knowledge, your views and the opinions that you hold on to, the meaning that you give to each and every one of this existential world’s apparent reality.

That is why Sister Soo Yee said: All the various versions of truth, of realities that living beings perceive are conventional truths, not ultimate truth. Every living being has his or her own views, opinions, conditioning, belief systems, etc. So, how can you expect the world to come to a consensus and develop peace?

That is why all discussions on world peace usually end up in wars, in more conflicts, more disharmony and argument. In fact, a lot are due to the evil root of hatred and anger. If you look at the Middle East wars and all the other conflicts that arise within our planet, they arise because of the evil roots of having a lot of hatred, a lot of anger, a lot of greed, selfishness and delusion to seek power and authority. All these are the evil roots that manifest in the chaotic phenomenal world of consciousness. But living beings still grasp, cling, fight unceasingly, doing a lot of silly things. This is what delusion is. According to the Diamond Sutra, all these are illusions with no reality.

7.2 Diamond Sutra

Diamond Sutra:

- 一切有为法 - Everything within the conditioned world are conditioned Dhamma.

- 如梦幻泡影 - Everything that arises within the conditioned world are dreamlike, illusionary, like a bubble and shadowy and hence, there is no reality.

- 如露亦如电 - Like a morning dew and a lightning flash, how real can it be?

- 应作如是观 - You must contemplate thus to develop the profound wisdom of the Diamond Sutra’s teaching and break free from all dualities and delusion.

The above implies this is an illusory world. That is why the illusory phenomenal world of consciousness and form are not real because perception of form is consciousness and hence, illusory. This phenomenal world of consciousness is like a magician creating all the illusion for you to see. Yet you still believe in it. That is why you must develop awareness and go back to this Pure Awareness nature to see with direct seeing where you do not perceive to enable you to see things as they are. This means no more duality, no more right and wrong, no more your views, my views and other people’s views. This is because Reality Is, Truth Is. It is Suchness. Reality is without words - not your truth, not my truth, not other people’s truth. All these are our views and opinions of what the world is but the Dhamma is still the only reality.

That is why these Dhammapada verses are evergreen. They never become obsolete. This is where the difference lies between the living Dhamma and the mundane or knowledge-based Adhamma that the world has created through the phenomenal world of consciousness and the thought process. That is why thought-based approach is always knowledge-based. So, thought-based seeing cannot see things as they are and cannot awaken because there is no wisdom. That is why all thought-based doing or learning cannot genuinely develop wisdom. You can only develop more and more knowledge to become more and more sophisticated. Okay, I think we should end here. Sādhu, sādhu, sādhu!

Bro Song, do you want to summarize before we end?

Bro Song (English translation): This evening’s Dhamma sharing is very deep, profound and wonderful. Bro Teoh has shared a lot of very penetrative understanding. If we listen again, it can help awaken our nature. We should listen carefully again and contemplate on the many beautiful Dhamma quotes and pointers shared by Bro Teoh to stabilize our understanding. Anyone who does it with faith and understanding can awaken.

Bro Teoh: If we can document today’s sharing in written form, it is going to be very beautiful. Some parts of the Dhamma that I have shared today are beyond the Heart Sutra cum Meditation Classes Short Notes provisional teachings that I had taught you earlier on. These Heart Sutra cum Meditation Classes Short Notes provisional teachings are the initial basic understanding of the teaching needed for all of you to go into the higher teachings of the Supreme Vehicle. This teaching is based on the understanding of the higher teachings and it can let all of you develop a complete grasp of the whole teaching.

The sharing today connects and links a lot of very important Dhamma and understanding needed for one to have a better grasp of the whole teaching. By now, all of you should realize that everything is interconnected. All these explanations I have written on the whiteboard including what Sister Soo Yee has added and shared can help all of you develop more understanding of the cultivation. That is why there is a the stanza in the Sūraṅgama Sūtra which states that ‘perception of form is consciousness whereas its non-perception is wisdom’. This statement is so beautiful and so profound.

At that time, in 1989, when I read that Sūraṅgama Sūtra stanza, my nature rejoiced. I said that this stanza is most beautiful because that was what my nature saw - consciousness is really like a magician, an illusionist with no reality.

Then, what is the present moment? It is the only reality and the highest in Life. But it is so transient - split second, it is dead and gone, split second, it is dead and gone and yet that is the only reality in life. So how real can life be? And yet living beings hold on to that illusionary world which has no reality. If the only reality is so transient, how can there be a permanent unchanging entity? Because everything that happens within existence has to be within the present moment, moment to moment, it arises and passes away. It comes and it goes. It appears and disappears. Split second, it is dead and gone. So, where is the reality? Yet living beings can still cling on to such things in detail, as if everything is so beautiful and so real.

But please do understand that our existential world has its own apparent reality and wonderful existence. This existential world although it is unreal, there is such a thing as life. That is why in the Heart Sutra, there is this saying, ‘In true emptiness there is wonderful existence’ (真空妙有). But to understand those words, you must realize true emptiness. Only then can existence become truly wonderful.

Of course, you can only describe and explain its wonders after you have realized true emptiness and developed true understanding because only after your awakening, can you transcend duality and suffering. Then, you can come to this existential world with a form and mind that has this special understanding. This existential world which has its own mundane reality or what they call life or existence can be really wonderful and beautiful. There is no suffering at all. That is why in this segment of my present life, when it comes, it is beautiful every moment. Of course, after 1989 when I connected and developed all this understanding, it became even more wonderful and beautiful.

When the third phase of the Dhamma, Paṭivedha which is after the direct first-hand realization of the Dhamma dawned on me, all this wonderful existence became possible. Every instant, every moment, life is so pristine, wonderful, beautiful and meaningful. This is what life and existence is all about although not so real because everything just comes and goes, hey no you, hey no me. But there is such a thing as Buddha Dhamma within the conditioned world. There is such a thing as wonderful existence within the conditioned world. So, do not be mistaken by one-sided reality.

This is the reason why you have to understand both the unconditioned Dhamma and the conditioned Dhamma. Only with these 2 understandings can you truly live life. Otherwise, you cannot live life. To make the Dhamma a living reality, you need to understand both the unconditioned Dhamma and the conditioned Dhamma. So today, we end our sharing here.

8 Ending – Closing Pūjā

Let us rejoice with all the good sharing and wholesomeness once again. Sādhu! Sādhu! Sādhu! Let us share merits with all beings, starting with the Devas by chanting the closing pūjā.

Now, you can all pay respect mindfully to Lord Buddha, Guānyīn Bodhisattva and all the Worthy Ones and we end this session.

9 Appendices

9.1 The 4 circles formation to explain the stages of creation

Notes:

1. The above 4 circles formation chart was prepared by Sister Teoh Soo Yee to help readers better understand what had been shared.

2. A Dhamma question on understanding the Pure Awareness nature was extracted from Bro Teoh’s email dated 23 March 2024 for further sharing below:

Question: ‘My question is if the Pure Mind nature can return to the Mundane and the Phenomenal World of Consciousness, then it does not seem to make sense as the person becomes a Puthujjana again’.

Answer by Bro Teoh: The Pure Awareness nature or the Pure Mind is a ‘nature’ and it does not fall or return to the Mundane and the Phenomenal World of Consciousness. The Mundane mind arising from this Pure Awareness nature is dependent originating. It is a by-product of that nature and it arises through the karmic process. You must get this right and then you will understand better, otherwise your doubt will continue. To understand what I have shared, you need to develop a very stable Pure Awareness nature and cultivate diligently to awaken. Hope this helps. (Extracted from Bro Teoh’s email)

9.2 Audio, whiteboard, and YouTube links

YouTube: Unique Dhamma Quote 105 - https://youtu.be/FKnFOvj0k2s

Audio:https://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/20240222_class.mp3

Whiteboard notes: https://broteoh.com/wp-content/uploads/Straight-from-the-Heart-Unique-Dharma-Quotes-by-Bro-Teoh.pdf

Table of Contents

About Bro Teoh Kian Koon

1 Preface

2 Acknowledgements

3 Unique Dhamma Quote 105 on Ultimate Realization

4 Pre Pūjā chanting

5 Awareness-based Meditation Instructions

5.1 Thursday class 22 Feb 2024 Instructions

5.2 Thursday class 16 Nov 2023 Instructions

5.3 Post Meditation Dhamma sharing

6 Dhamma sharing by Brother Teoh on Unique Dhamma Quote 105: Ultimate Realization to transcend life.

6.1 Ultimate Realization or Enlightenment

6.2 The 3 periods of Time: Past, Present and Future

6.3 Venerable Master Guǎng Qīn (廣欽老和尚)

6.4 Physical and Psychological Times

6.5 Characteristics of the True Dhamma

6.6 Dhammapada Verses 21, 22, 23 on Heedfulness

7 Second session: Questions and Answers and Meditation reporting

7.1 The 3 levels of Seeing

7.2 Diamond Sutra

8 Ending – Closing Pūjā

9 Appendices

9.1 The 4 circles formation to explain the stages of creation

9.2 Audio, whiteboard, and YouTube links