Sarah' notes from discussions with Phra Dhammadharo,Sri Lanka, 1977.
More ignorance, more wrong understanding, more attachment and this will mean more unhappiness, so matter how difficult we find it what choice do we have. We either go forward or we go with the rest of the world backwards and down. Even if we go forwards only a little bit it is much better than going backwards. If we understand how important it is to go forward, if we see the value of progress and the dangers of falling backwards then perhaps there will be more conditions for us to study, to listen, to develop kusula and to see progress taking place.
From the beginning it must be Right Understanding. But the only moment that we can progress, the one and only moment in our whole life . . . is this moment.
If our understanding is very, very weak, then the little bit of understanding we may gain now will not be enough for us to see the truth. But without accumulating one little bit now, the moment will never come when wisdom is strong enough to know the truth.
We know from our own lives that we don't always give help when help is needed.
Loving kindness has to be a reality for us in our actions and speech from day to day as we live.
Loving kindness isn't just a word. It's a reality which has to be known through practice in our daily life.
Everybody loses when we don't have metta.
We have to be kind instead of wishing everyone else was kind. Thinking that everyone else should be kind or wondering why they are not kind.
The only way we will ever be able to prove the Buddha's teachings is by beginning to practice them and see what happens. There's no other way.
There is never a moment goes by when awareness cannot arise.
It is loving kindness that helps us present Dhamma is a gentle way without being pushy. . . And that's hard.
We don't have kindness when we expect too much of someone. They should understand, why? Because we say so, because we teach so well, because it's the truth. People should be kind. Why? Because we think so, because it would be nice. It depends on conditions.
If we don't develop Sati, we can't keep the precepts. So what could be kinder?
It's kindness when we develop Satipatthana, we are being kind to ourselves and kind to everybody else. We're doing the whole world a favour. We're removing a little bit of ignorance from the world that makes us behave and act the way we do.
The way to develop more understanding is exactly the same for every living being that was ever born. To be aware of the reality which appears now in your life whatever that reality may be.
There can be no short cut.
The practice of Satipatthana is the most subtle thing.
All moments are moments for awareness.
What is kusula without Right Understanding, it's just self, self, self.
A moment of Satipattana that is aware of akusula is so much more valuable than kusula without Sati (right understanding) .
Who can stop realities from arising?
At moments of desire for awareness, at moments of trying to be aware of a particular object, to try and force, to try and be aware here, here, here, it's all wrong, its not natural.
We cannot call back any reality.
Results for whom.
It's good to know the truth that all realities of our life our Dukkha. They arise and fall away.
If we think that the way to be happy is to get what you want and to have nice things to look at, to hear, taste and smell. We'll make lobha our God and devote our lives to serving lobha. . . and that's the path to pain.
There is really nothing better in life to do, than to find out what life is all about.
We find out in practice what we are told in theory.
Who can say what will happen next.
It is conditioned, it is unavoidable, uncontrollable.
Dosa is Dosa, it's not Dosa with a body it's not Dosa that can do anything. How can you blame Dosa?
We can't not have akusala.
We have the illusion of control all our life except at the moment of sati. It helps to eradicate that illusion.
The condition for the development of Sati is Right Understanding of it.
We can't really develop right understanding, if we are not ashamed of our ignorance of realities, if we are not afraid of not knowing the truth about realities.
True respect for Dhamma is not just listening and understanding what you hear but putting into practice what you hear.
Only a coward performs akusula because he's afraid of inconvenience, afraid of trouble, afraid of poverty therefore he's capable of and shamelessly performs akusala.