The Buddha taught that the antidote for delusion is
wisdom (Sanscrit: prajna, Pali: panna). If we see through things as they are in
realness, if we can investigate both the ‘self’ that has been foolded and ‘self’
doing the fooling, we can transform suffering and bring the reign of ignorance
to an end, but look how few have succeeded.
Though science has given us an enormous body of
knowledge based on of the physical world, it hasn’t healed out three mental
poisons of greed, hatred and delusion. In fact, looking at how our natural
resources are exploited by more demanding corporations in the name of
globalisation, it shows more greed, ill-will and delusion than before. Science
has not resolved our easiness at being a self.
If we are not inquisitive about what constitutes ‘a self’
and genuine reality, if we go on thinking: “I am real and the world is real, so
what is the point of all fundamental Buddha conceptual hoo-ha?” Nothing is
going to happen. We will continue to be shackled to samsara.
Eradicating the view of ‘a self’ along with its seed
is the key to liberation. We need ‘prajna’ to realise ‘no-inherent self’. If
there is no ‘prajna’ to realise ‘no-inherent self’, one cannot give up the view
of ‘inherent-self’.
To do so, we need to cultivate the following threefold
training that eventually gives rise to prajna, thus liberation:
1. Listening
By listening to the Dhamma, we hear the truth. When
you listen, read or study the Dhamma, try to understand both the logic and how
the different topics (themes) connect. Use our ‘antennae’ instead of using our
discursive mind alone. Be aware that the things we are habitually averse to in
our discursive thinking can be hard to spot. Have an open mind for there are
bound to be things for us to learn, to pick up as well as to avoid, when we
listen or study the Dhamma. In the circumstances, there are some criteria to be
adopted in Dhamma listening: Don’t listen like a politician who clings to party
line, a movie critic who is concerned mainly with the style of delivery
(backdrop, costume, story-line and language), a consumer who picks and chooses
for bargain, an orphan who feels too pathetic or a dhamma groupie who is so infatuated
with the messenger that the message is omitted.
2. Reflection (Contemplation)
Reflection is an important follow-up to Dhamma listening,
yet one that is often overlooked. Profound teachings can clarify themselves
through the process of repetition. This is the reason why important stanzas in
the Pali canon are often repeated in various suttas. What at first is fizzy
becomes clear through repetitive reflection, contemplation. Details we have
overlooked jumped out at us when repeated.
Profound teachings do not really penetrate until you
make them part of your personal experience, cultivation. You need to kindly
take them in, chew on them, reflect on them, ask yourself,
“Is
this true?”
“Do
I experience it this way?”
“What
is the point of this repetitive teaching?”
We need to use thought to get beyond thought; no
contradiction in those teachings that emphasise non-conceptuality. Real non-conceptuality
arises from realising the true nature of conceptuality, not through blocking
thoughts or getting rid of right understanding, right thinking.
Thus, we need to reflect on the teachings a great
deal, particularly those on ‘no-inherent self’ which are so profound and
subtle, so that they become part of our basic understanding of the reality of
events and things in our daily life. Through this process, we gradually develop
certainty about the way things really are.
Having this certainty, genuine non-conceptual
understanding will arise during the third crucial training: Meditation.
3. Meditation
Without meditation, we do not experience ‘egolessness’,
‘no-inherent self’ directly. Without this direct experience, we are fooled by
our own mental perception and project cum fabrication. We need to meditate on
what we have read or listened and to contemplate, meditate upon it in the
course of our daily application to develop ‘prajna’. This is the way
intellectual understanding is transformed into realisation through the practice
of meditation, and sees everything as suchness or thusness.
Conclusion
Through meditation, as you gain practical experience
of what you have understood intellectually, the true realisation of the natural
state develops in you without any mistake. Certainty is born from within.
Liberated from confining doubts and hesitation, you see the very face of the
natural state.”
Listening to the Dhamma engenders contemplation, and
contemplation gives rise to the meditation experience – this is the sequence.
First prajna that comes from listening will result in comprehension of the
general characteristics of the Dhammas of samsara and nirvana. Then
contemplation will pacify blatant grasping to the reality of illusory
appearances, meditation develops the definitive direct experience of mind, and
so on. Thus the previous stages as causes for arising of the latter. When this
is not the case, it is like desiring results without any cause.
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