Whatever comes, let it come

If we see the value of knowing the truth we can become more resolute as to the development of satipatthana and this is always now. There are many moments that we are not faithful to our resolution to develop all kinds of wholesome qualities together with satipatthana. It may not seem appealing to be mindful of seeing, visible object, hearing, sound or thinking. The stories we think of, our dreams, seem to be more attractive. When we begin to see that the Buddha taught everything which is real and that he showed the Path leading to the end of defilements we do not want to deceive ourselves anymore. It is clinging to nama and rupa which is the cause of being subject again and again to birth, old age, sickness and death, the cause of all our suffering, dukkha. When we see the disadvantages of ignorance of realities, of selfishness, of conceit and of all the other defilements, we are motivated to develop all the perfections together with satipatthana.

If the perfections have not been accumulated it is difficult to develop them, but we can begin to develop them at this moment so that there will be conditions for them to reach fulfilment in the future. The commentary to the Cariyapitaka Ven. Bodhi, p. 323. mentions the difficulties the Bodhisatta may encounter while he develops the perfections. In such circumstances he reflects about his self-surrender, his complete dedication to the Buddhas. We read:

“For when the Great Man, straining and striving for the fulfilment of the requisites of enlightenment, encounters troubles difficult to endure, depriving him of happiness and his means of support, or when he encounters injuries imposed by beings and formations- difficult to overcome, violent, sapping the vitality- then, since he has surrendered himself to the Buddhas, he reflects: ‘I have relinquished my very self to the Buddhas. Whatever comes, let it come.’ For this reason he does not waver, does not quake, does not undergo the least vacillation, but remains absolutely unshaken in his determination to undertake the good.”

Whatever comes, let it come. No matter what will happen in our life, let us be determined to continue to develop right understanding of the present object. When we are busy in our daily life, working in an office, doing cooking or driving the car, we are often absorbed in the world of concepts. When we are in a hurry or when we are tired it seems that realities do not appear as they are, one at a time. Right understanding has not been developed yet and that is why mindfulness has to begin again and again. Nama and rupa have to be studied with mindfulness at the moment they appear, one at a time. Maybe our whole life consists of mere beginnings of understanding, we have to begin again and again, but this is the only way to develop right understanding. We have to be resolute now, there is no alternative. The resolution is in the doing, not in thoughts or words.