The Art of Mastering the Mind | Dhamma Siddhi Thero

මුල් සිංහල වීඩියෝව සඳහා Play කරන්න

The Art of Mastering the Mind | Dhamma Siddhi Thero

 

Disciple:

Now, Venerable Sir, I have understood from various explanations that it is through the state of our mind that we perceive the physical world.


Siddhi Thero:

Yes, that is what the Buddha also taught. When he said, ‘Cetanāhaṃ, bhikkhave, kammaṃ vadāmi’

Disciple:

and in similar teachings, he was pointing to this: to develop virtue (sīla) and keep the mind free.

[Inaudible]


Siddhi Thero:

So, is that something that can actually be done? These things you mention, like keeping the mind free… Can they really be done? Is it like being told to keep your house clean or to keep your yard swept? Is it something a person can just do? Wouldn't you want that? Don't you dislike it when your mind isn't free? Wouldn't anyone who desires a free mind just do it if they could? No one would need to tell them. What I am asking is, can this actually be done?


Disciple:

Yes, it is difficult, Venerable Sir, it is difficult.


Siddhi Thero:

Or is it impossible? Is there any possibility of doing it?


Disciple:

Yes, it can be done. We can decide to keep it that way, Venerable Sir. We can keep it there by thinking.


Siddhi Thero:

Can you maintain it just by deciding, or is the mind actually on a different object at that time?


Disciple:

Yes, it is on a different object, Venerable Sir.


Siddhi Thero:

So then, what is this you're describing? That's not what's really happening, is it? When I decide, ‘I must keep my mind free,’ at that moment, nothing is afflicting my mind. What is the mind doing then? Only if the mind is occupied with a different object will afflictive things not arise as objects. The reason is that it has taken up another object instead. That's it, isn't it? So, is the mind free then, or is it engaged in another task?


Disciple:

Yes, it is engaged in another task.


Siddhi Thero:

So, what is this method you speak of for keeping the mind free?


Disciple:

What I think, Venerable Sir, is that it is about not chasing after other things.


Siddhi Thero:

But 'not going' is also an action, isn't it? 'Going' is an action, and 'not going' is also an action.


Disciple:

it is an action.

Siddhi Thero:

Yes


Disciple:

So how do you do that? 

Siddhi Thero:

That is exactly what I am saying—this is not something you do. It is about putting a stop to all ‘doings.’ Stopping is not a new action you perform. It is about beautifully observing what happens in every activity and developing a habit, a pattern, a rhythm—whatever word you prefer—of being in the best possible way in each and every moment. You cannot avoid working to live; there are responsibilities and other such things. So, within your work, there is a whole collection of mental narratives. The problem isn't with the work itself, is it? The problem is the mental battle that comes with the work. If there were a problem with the work, it would be a physical one. 

Disciple:

Yes

Siddhi Thero:

Do you understand? But you are not saying your body is sick or that you are physically exhausted or anything like that. You are saying the problem is in your mind. 

Disciple:

Yes.

Siddhi Thero:

So what must be done to eliminate the problem in the mind? Every time the mind creates problems, just watch. What is this problem? What is this problem it's creating? Why is it creating a problem? Is there a real reason here to create such a problem? Look at it.

Then you will understand that the mind's desire is to be in any environment whatsoever and constantly make you feel its presence. It needs to keep letting you know, ‘I am here, I am here, I am here.’ It needs to keep poking at you. When you are just existing, unaware of it, it hurts you even more. It makes its presence felt more intensely. When you are at peace, it pokes at you even more. Do you understand?

So, when you understand that this is the mind’s nature, its methodology—that is, the moment the mind is about to become empty, it tries to place a heavy burden back on our shoulders, that it struggles to make us feel something extra—if you know this secret, then the moment a heavy burden comes to your head, you will know. We will know from practice, "Ah, just when my mind was heading toward a moment of freedom and calm, this devil has slipped some nonsense back in and loaded it onto my head." You see that. Once you see this with mindfulness (sati), it can no longer continue to load things onto you, because that loading process ends the moment our mindfulness (sati) arises. Do you understand? The very moment mindfulness (sati) arises. This means, the mind creates something in you, some kind of burden, through thoughts about some physical thing, some external thing. As it is being created, instead of carrying that burden in your head and wandering off, lost in a heap of thoughts about the physical world, we teach something else. What is it? We say to come to a state of mindfulness (sati). We say to look and see what is happening. Instead of carrying the burden, we say to look at what you are carrying.

Disciple:

Aha, Yes. understand.


Siddhi Thero:

Do you understand? At that very moment, you see that it's just a bunch of thoughts, born from some attachment (ālaya) or aversion (gati) due to a value you yourself have created in your own mind, and that you are just senselessly thinking them over and over. You see there is nothing substantial in it. You see this when you look. When you practice insight meditation (vipassanā), especially when you begin to see into this, you see the truth. You see its nakedness. And right there, that whole narrative collapses. It ends. That's how it is.


Disciple:

So, Venerable Sir, the ultimate thing is to remain mindful.


Siddhi Thero:

Don't create some special program for yourself to be mindful 24 hours a day. Live beautifully. I always say, just live beautifully. Yes, as you are living, there will be moments when that beauty is lost. Moments when burdens arise, when the mind becomes heavy. 

Disciple:

Yes, when the mind becomes heavy. 

Siddhi Thero:

Moments that create troubles, fatigue, and pain. Whatever it is, there are places that make this beautiful life ugly. 

Disciple:

Yes, things that make you "lose your mind," as they say

Siddhi Thero:

—all of it. Only at those times, do what I am suggesting. Come to your mindfulness (sati). Look with mindfulness and see what this is. The moment you look, you understand the falsehood in that situation. You realize it is a mental fabrication. You understand that even if you were to think about it for not just one moment but for a hundred million moments, there is no problem there that can be solved. 

Disciple:

Yes

Siddhi Thero:

The moment you understand that, the problem runs away from us. The problem lets go of us, because the problem can no longer hold on to us. We see the problem in its nakedness. It's like a magician showing us a magic trick; it only appears to be magic as long as we don't know the trick. If we know exactly how the trick is done, is anything he shows us magic? No, it's not magic.

In the same way, the mind conjures these magic tricks. It is said that the mind is a magician (māyākārayek). Isn't consciousness described as ‘māyūpamaṃ viññāṇaṃ’? The word māyā here refers not just to magic, but to the magician himself. It is a name for the magician. It is because of the magic performed by this magician that people fall for the trick. As long as one does not know that there is a system here that manifests in this moment, deludes you, and creates either suffering or happiness for you, one gets caught up in it. One gets caught in a thought and follows it, on and on, creating and creating, either suffering or enjoying, and this becomes a habit. As that habit forms, we introduce something else. We break that habit and, in its place, we cultivate the habit of mindfulness (sati). We make mindfulness a habit.


Disciple:

Aha!


Siddhi Thero:

Once you have made mindfulness a habit, the very moment a heavy thought, a problem, pain, or any issue arises, you begin to see it with mindfulness (sati). The moment you see it, the fabricated falsehood shatters completely. It shatters. Do you understand? It’s something like that. 

Disciple:

This means there is no need to be mindful 24 hours a day. 

Siddhi Thero:

A human being cannot do that, and that is not what Buddhism teaches. Buddhism is not about teaching you to be mindful all the time. Please understand, Buddhism is about being happy. Mindfulness is needed only for those times when you are unable to be happy, to return to happiness, to refresh yourself. There is no religion that says you must be mindful all the time. The Buddha never said such a thing. To be mindful for 24 hours a day is utter madness.

He said to practice mindfulness so that one can get into this pattern. Some people get it instantly. For some, it might take a week. Do you understand? For someone who has a strong habit of being enslaved to the mind, the Buddha said it might take practicing mindfulness in this way for even seven years. But before seven years pass, if that person practices mindfulness correctly, they will understand this pattern. After that, they will be able to bring the mind to that state of freedom at any given moment. They will still get angry, you see. Getting angry is not a problem for them. Sadness will come. The moment sadness arises, this person sees, "Ah, because of this attachment, and because that thing is broken, this sadness is arising." The moment this awareness dawns, there is no problem in it. There is no real suffering in it; there is only understanding. For a person who has that understanding, nothing in the world is a problem. That person knows that the problem is ignorance (avijjā) itself. That is why it is said so. The problem is this very lack of knowing. It is due to ignorance (avijjā) that the entire process of dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda) arises. Avijjā-paccayā saṅkhārā, saṅkhāra-paccayā viññāṇaṃ (With ignorance as a condition, formations arise; with formations as a condition, consciousness arises)—the root of it all is ignorance (avijjā). Therefore, the Buddha’s teaching is about the arising of wisdom: ‘vijjā udapādi.’ It is about dispelling ignorance (avijjā) and giving rise to true knowing (vijjā). So, a person should live with this knowing. Not with physics, or chemistry, or this science or that science [Vidya in Sinhala means science]. Not with those things, but with wisdom (paññā). Do you understand? Once one becomes endowed with wisdom (paññā), that is true knowing (vijjā). Once true knowing (vijjā) has arisen within, everything becomes manifest. Everything is seen. Everything that happens is seen.


Disciple:

Yes, it is seen.


Siddhi Thero:

There are no secrets in the world for that person. They grasp the secret of this mind, which creates all secrets. That is what it means to be free from ignorance (avijjā). To be in ignorance (avijjā) is to have the mind's secrets be more powerful than us, for the mind to be the master, leaving us crippled. Because of that, we are forced to do everything the mind says. That is the nature of a person in ignorance. But after one has cultivated true knowing (vijjā), they are no longer someone who does what the mind says. They become someone who gets work done from the mind, according to their own will.


Disciple:

Yes, they use it.


Siddhi Thero:

A person who can use it. When they need something, they use the mind. ‘Ah, I’m hungry, aren’t I? Think of a way to find some food.’ Then the mind will offer suggestions. ‘Shall we go dig up some cassava?’ ‘No, I don’t feel like cassava, something else.’ ‘Alright, then let's eat from a shop today.’ Then, if we like that idea, we agree, ‘Okay, let’s eat from a shop.’ It's like that. We are the ones telling it, ‘Suggest something to get rid of this hunger.’ Then it provides many options based on habit. So, we can choose what we like.


Disciple:

We can choose.


Siddhi Thero:

Yes. Or it might say, ‘Let's go begging today.’ ‘Ah, that’s a great idea too.’ It's like that. So, for that person, there is no problem.


Disciple:

There is no problem. Venerable Sir, all this time I thought we have to be mindful 24 hours a day.

Siddhi Thero:

That would be sheer madness. Then that person has no life. We say to be mindful, but we mean to live. One doesn't live life to the fullest because of a lack of mindfulness (sati); so, at those times, you should generate mindfulness (sati). Then you begin to feel life completely.


Disciple:

You begin to feel it....Now we have to....


Siddhi Thero:

You are always looking for something to do. I am not telling you to do anything. There is nothing to do. Live beautifully, and when problems arise, look at the problem with good mindfulness. Do not try to solve the problem; I have said this in previous sermons. Do not solve the problem. Instead, trace back the way the problem arose.


Disciple:

Looking back.


Siddhi Thero:

Yes, look at how this came to me as a problem. Go right to the root, to the way it was formed. Then you will understand that it was a foolish thought planted somewhere that was then cultivated and brought forward. And then, it ends right there.


Disciple:

It ends.


Siddhi Thero:

Yes. Out of habit, it might come back once, twice, or three times. But it won't trouble you as much as it did the previous time. It's just coming back out of habit. After that, that habit too will break.

Original Source (Video):

Title: හිතෙන් වැඩගන්න කලාව | ‪@parawarthana69‬

https://youtu.be/G_v9DBQgmgY?si=oi53QncsqwMxnZLY

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