The great glory of the Master lay in his wonderful sympathy for everybody, especially for the ignorant and the poor. Some of his disciples were Brahmins. When Buddha was teaching, Sanskrit was no more the spoken language in India. It was then only in the books of the learned. Some of Buddha’s Brahmins disciples wanted to translate his teachings into Sanskrit, but he distinctly told them, “I am for the poor, for the people; let me speak in the tongue of the people.” And so to this day the great bulk of his teachings are in the vernacular of that day in India.
Whatever may be the position of philosophy, whatever may be the position of metaphysics, so long as there is such a thing as death in the world, so long as there is such a thing as weakness in the human heart, so long as there is a cry going out of the heart of man in his very weakness, there shall be a faith in God.
On the philosophic side the disciples of the Great Master dashed themselves against the eternal rocks of the Vedas and could not crush them, and on the other side they took away from the nation that eternal God to which every one, man or woman, clings so fondly. And the result was that Buddhism had to die a natural death in India. At the present day there is not one who calls oneself a Buddhist in India, the land of its birth.
Hinduism cannot live without Buddhism, nor Buddhism without Hinduism. Then realise what the separation has shown to us, that the Buddhists cannot stand without the brain and philosophy of the Brahmins, nor the Brahmin without the heart of the Buddhist. This separation between the Buddhists and the Brahmins is the cause of the downfall of India. That is why India is populated by three hundred millions of beggars, and that is why India has been the slave of conquerors for the last thousand years. Let us then join the wonderful intellect of the Brahmins with the heart, the noble soul, the wonderful humanising power of the Great Master.
And how, monks, does a monk live contemplating mental objects in mental objects?
Herein, monks, a monk lives contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the five hindrances.
How, monks, does a monk live contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the five hindrances?
Herein, monks, when sense-desire is present, a monk knows, “There is sense-desire in me,” or when sense-desire is not present, he knows, “There is no sense-desire in me.” He knows how the arising of the non-arisen sense-desire comes to be; he knows how the abandoning of the arisen sense-desire comes to be; and he knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned sense-desire comes to be.
When anger is present, he knows, “There is anger in me,” or when anger is not present, he knows, “There is no anger in me.” He knows how the arising of the non-arisen anger comes to be; he knows how the abandoning of the arisen anger comes to be; and he knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned anger comes to be.
When sloth and torpor are present, he knows, “There are sloth and torpor in me,” or when sloth and torpor are not present, he knows, “There are no sloth and torpor in me.” He knows how the arising of the non-arisen sloth and torpor comes to be; he knows how the abandoning of the arisen sloth and torpor comes to be; and he knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned sloth and torpor comes to be.
When agitation and remorse are present, he knows, “There are agitation and remorse in me,” or when agitation and remorse are not present, he knows, “There are no agitation and remorse in me.” He knows how the arising of the non-arisen agitation and remorse comes to be; he knows how the abandoning of the arisen agitation and remorse comes to be; and he knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned agitation and remorse comes to be.
When doubt is present, he knows, “There is doubt in me,” or when doubt is not present, he knows, “There is no doubt in me.” He knows how the arising of the non-arisen doubt comes to be; he knows how the abandoning of the arisen doubt comes to be; and he knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned doubt comes to be.
Thus he lives contemplating mental objects in mental objects internally, or he lives contemplating mental objects in mental objects externally, or he lives contemplating mental objects in mental objects internally and externally. He lives contemplating origination factors in mental objects, or he lives contemplating dissolution factors in mental objects, or he lives contemplating origination-and-dissolution factors in mental objects.[21] Or his mindfulness is established with the thought, “Mental objects exist,” to the extent necessary just for knowledge and mindfulness, and he lives detached, and clings to nothing in the world. Thus also, monks, a monk lives contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the five hindrances.
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EXERCISE
PURPOSE: To practice mindfulness in mental hindrances.
Look and contemplate on SENSE DESIRE.
Know when sense-desire is present, “There is sense-desire in me,”
Know when sense-desire is not present, “There is no sense-desire in me.”
How the arising of the non-arisen sense-desire comes to be;
How the abandoning of the arisen sense-desire comes to be;
How the non-arising in the future of the abandoned sense-desire comes to be.
Do steps 6 – 9 before going to the next step.
Look and contemplate on ANGER.
Know when anger is present, “There is anger in me,”
Know when anger is not present, “There is no anger in me.”
How the arising of the non-arisen anger comes to be;
How the abandoning of the arisen anger comes to be;
How the non-arising in the future of the abandoned anger comes to be.
Do steps 6 – 9 before going to the next step.
Look and contemplate on SLOTH and TORPOR.
Know when sloth and torpor are present, “There are sloth and torpor in me,”
Know when sloth and torpor are not present, “There are no sloth and torpor in me.”
How the arising of the non-arisen sloth and torpor comes to be;
How the abandoning of the arisen sloth and torpor comes to be;
How the non-arising in the future of the abandoned sloth and torpor comes to be.
Do steps 6 – 9 before going to the next step.
Look and contemplate on AGITATION and REMORSE.
Know when agitation and remorse are present, “There are agitation and remorse in me,”
Know when agitation and remorse are not present, “There are no agitation and remorse in me.”
How the arising of the non-arisen agitation and remorse comes to be;
How the abandoning of the arisen agitation and remorse comes to be;
How the non-arising in the future of the abandoned agitation and remorse comes to be.
Do steps 6 – 9 before going to the next step.
Look and contemplate on DOUBT.
Know when doubt is present, “There is doubt in me,”
Know when doubt is not present, “There is no doubt in me.”
How the arising of the non-arisen doubt comes to be;
How the abandoning of the arisen doubt comes to be;
How the non-arising in the future of the abandoned doubt comes to be.
Do steps 6 – 9.
Continue contemplating this hindrance internally and/or as observed externally.
Be mindful of the origination factors in this hindrance, and/or the dissolution factors in this hindrance.
Be mindful that this hindrance exists to the extent necessary just for knowledge and mindfulness.
To be mindful is to look attentively, to observe carefully, and to contemplate thoughtfully. The activity of mindfulness may be described as follows:
Look attentively at what is right there in front of you, physically or mentally.
If there are many things in front of you, then start with the first thing that your attention goes to. Then look at the next thing, to which the attention goes naturally, and so on. If there are many issues you are concerned with, then start with the issue uppermost in your mind, then the next issue in the queue, and so on. Do not speculate. Do not go digging into the mind. Keep looking patiently at what comes up naturally to be scrutinized. Then observe it carefully.
Observe things as they really are, not as they seem to be.
As you look, do not expect anything, and do not assume anything. It is easy to assume what one normally expects to be there. For example, if you are looking at the profile of a person, you see only one ear, but you may believe that the person has two ears. Be mindful about what you actually see without taking anything for granted. Let your observation be completely non-judgmental.
If something is missing do not imagine something else in its place.
If something is missing then recognize that it is missing. Do not imagine something in its place. If someone asks you a question and no answer comes up in your mind, then do not feel obliged to make up an answer. You will then end up defending an answer that was imagined and not there naturally. If something is missing then continue to observe around that area. Maybe something interesting will come up, maybe not.
If something does not make sense then do not explain it away.
If something does not make sense, then recognize that it does not make sense. Do not try to explain it away. If you encounter a failure do not just blame it on yourself or on the circumstances. Contemplate upon it until all inconsistencies (things that don’t make sense) are resolved. When faced with an inconsistency, be alert to what you might be taking for granted. At times it may take some thinking outside the box to realize what is going on.
Use physical senses as well as mental sense to observe.
We associate the idea of sense organs with eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body. However, the mind is also a sense organ, which senses the ideas, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and sensations out there. When being mindful, use all your senses to observe, including your mind.
Let the mind un-stack itself.
Let the mind present what to look at. There should be no digging into the memory. There should be no effort to recall. Simply look at what is right there in front of the mind’s eye. Let the mind un-stack itself naturally through patient contemplation. When that is allowed, the mind will never present anything overwhelming.
Experience fully what is there.
An important aspect of mindfulness is to fully experience what is there, such as, feelings, emotions, efforts, etc. But before you do that, make sure that your environment is safe and free of disturbance. The mind should be free of stimulants. If the mind is racing, then simply experience that racing phenomenon without contributing to it. There should be no resistance when experiencing. Fully experience whatever the mind presents naturally.
Do not suppress anything.
It is the suppression of perceptions, memories, knowledge, visualizations, thinking, etc., that causes all difficulties in life. First make sure that your environment is safe and free of disturbances. Any medical condition should be addressed appropriately first. You then start observing whatever is there without suppressing it. If something shameful appears then you observe and experience the shame. If something threatening appears then you observe and experience the threat. Do not pre-judge and avoid something because you consider it to be painful. By not suppressing you establish complete integrity of perception.
Associate data freely.
Let the data be presented by the mind without being interfered with. Let the mind associate that data freely on its own. Mindfulness is observing the very activity of thinking itself.
Do not get hung up on name and form.
Simply be aware that name and form may act as built-in judgment of what is there. Your task is to see things as they are. There should be no effort to judge by deliberately supplying name and form to what is there.
Contemplate thoughtfully.
Let non-judgmental observation provide accurate input. Let free association provide thoughtful contemplation.
Let it all be effortless.
Any effort would come into play only when any of the above points are violated.
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You may practice mindfulness by doing the exercises at
