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මුල් සිංහල වීඩියෝව සඳහා Play කරන්න
What Depth is there in this Moment? | Dhamma Siddhi Thero
Practitioner: My question today is this: As I sit here now, Venerable Sir, having been someone who observed thoughts as they arose for so long, I suddenly realized today... no, all of this is happening with me... It feels like an edited film, moving scene by scene across the screen. I realized that all this time, I was the one who "edited" it. I understood that. I used to think, "Thoughts should be like this," "It must be this way," "I must do this," "I must do that." But now I understand that if I am merely acting, there is nothing for me to do, is there, Venerable Sir? Is what I understand correct?
Siddhi Thero: Can you accept that and live your life without agitation?
Practitioner: I can, Venerable Sir. I can do it very well.
Siddhi Thero: That is all. The problem for many people is that they are unwilling to accept that. They think, "I must do this," "It is I who is doing this," "If I don't do this, none of this will happen," "I must think," "I must struggle for these things." That is how a person who has lived twenty, thirty, or at most forty years in this world thinks. It is not like that. Look at how beautifully things were running all this time; look at the way it functioned. Did any of the things you worried about actually happen? No. It has all happened beautifully. Flowers bloomed, didn't they? They exist beautifully. You didn't starve; you have eaten and drunk.
Practitioner: That is so, Venerable Sir. Now I understand that problems arise only when I try to "do" things.
Siddhi Thero: Yes, indeed. One must accept that natural law (Dharmathā). Having accepted it, one must live in that moment with mindfulness (sati) and insight (vipassanā). If those two are absent, life goes wrong afterwards. Mindfulness must be present; it is not about seeing it once, letting go, and then living recklessly like a madman. As life experiences come—places where I get hurt, places where I cry, places where I become weary—one moves forward seeing all of this with the wisdom of insight (vipassanā), seeing the cause and effect. When one does this, if there is anything to be understood, it gets understood completely. After that, one merges with that rhythm. Then, the world holds no strange magic for them. Likewise, suffering (dukkha) is nothing strange, and happiness is nothing particularly special. They simply live beautifully, in the best possible way, within this moment.
Practitioner: Yes. As I continue like this, Venerable Sir, angry thoughts... those thoughts still come. Most of the time, what I feel arising are thoughts of aversion (dvesha) rather than thoughts of lust (rāga). If anger or something similar arises...
Siddhi Thero: Understand that aversion (dvesha) is itself lust (rāga). You may think a lustful mind is one thing and an angry mind is another, but it is not so.
Practitioner: Yes, lust... Yes, Venerable Sir. Yes. That too disappears by itself, doesn't it, Venerable Sir? When watching that mind...
Siddhi Thero: Yes, naturally. You have seen it now; there is no use in getting agitated over something that does not truly exist. In the end, only the agitation remains.
Practitioner: That is so, Venerable Sir.
Siddhi Thero: Yes. Therefore, once you see and understand that, the impulse (āvegaya) arising from it subsides. Before, when you did not see it, a huge impulse would arise, and sometimes you wouldn't even realize what you were doing or saying. Now, having seen it, the moment you see the impulse rising, the tendency to act or speak out of ignorance collapses right there. It stops.
Practitioner: Venerable Sir, even as I go on like this, impulses can still arise, can’t they?
Siddhi Thero: There is a cause for everything. If there is no cause, how can an impulse arise?
Practitioner: That is true. We see it at that time.
Siddhi Thero: When an impulse arises, it is understood through happiness, sadness, or something similar. "This happiness has come because something I liked happened, because my lust (rāga) was satisfied." "This anger has come, this unhappiness has come, because something I liked did not happen." It is within that, that this aversion (dvesha) has formed. Like that.
Practitioner: Yes. That is so, Venerable Sir.
Siddhi Thero: So, when you understand that correctly, from there onwards...
Practitioner: Those impulsive traits are gradually decreasing, Venerable Sir.
Siddhi Thero: Yes. If there is a level where it is "gradually decreasing," you are still at the beginning of the practice. For someone whose practice is well-established, the story ends the moment it is seen.
Practitioner: It ends.
Siddhi Thero: Hmm.
Practitioner: That is so, Venerable Sir. We do nothing beyond that point.
Siddhi Thero: Nothing is done. What is there to do? When I realize it is my own foolishness, when I realize it is my own stupidity, if I keep holding onto it and doing something more, that means in addition to the foolishness, there is also madness.
Practitioner: That is so, Venerable Sir.
Siddhi Thero: Yes. Because that foolishness has not been seen as foolishness completely. Knowing it is foolishness, I myself still proceed to do something out of foolishness.
Practitioner: That is so.
Siddhi Thero: That is an abnormal condition. That is a condition requiring treatment.
Practitioner: Now, as things proceed like this, I will attain realization, won't I, Venerable Sir?
Siddhi Thero: As long as you are searching, you will not find any such thing as realization.
Practitioner: No, it is like this, Venerable Sir: when I first turned to this path, there was an occasion where I felt immense happiness and everything made sense. Then I thought, "Ah, I know everything, I have attained a great realization." But gradually, I feel things appearing deeper and deeper, more and more.
Siddhi Thero: Ah... Now do you want something even deeper?
Practitioner: I don't mean that there is a "depth." At first, I saw that the external world was false, Venerable Sir. Then I thought... I understood that everything is just thoughts. Up until now, I haven't met anyone or anything; I realized things gradually. By this time... So I don't know if there is anything else...
Siddhi Thero: No. If it was realized gradually, and if you say "it was realized," there cannot be anything left to be realized again.
Practitioner: There is. When I look, it seems to me that for all this time, deeper and deeper... that is, in deeper and more subtle ways...
Siddhi Thero: There is no depth in that. You are imagining some nonsense called "depth." What is the depth in this moment? What depth is there within this very split-second?
Practitioner: That is so, Venerable Sir. No, I mean in words, Venerable Sir... one has to say everything using words now.
Siddhi Thero: Exactly. I also spoke using words. Do you understand? Remove that concept of "depth" starting today. There is no strange depth or abyss here. Do you understand? If there is the capacity to exist within the limit of what is seen, heard, and felt in this moment, that is all that remains for a person in this life. Do you understand? Everything outside of that is imagination. Things you have put into your head. Now, even "Nibbāna" is just another concept. You created the concept of "Samsāra," and thinking "I must attain Nibbāna to end Samsāra," you created another opposite called "Nibbāna." Then, thinking "I am now in Samsāra, I am in suffering, I must get out of this," you set off saying "I must go to this Nibbāna." After listening to someone's talk and understanding a thing or two, you think, "I have gone a little deeper now." "Here, I have gone a bit deeper." Then you think, "I have gone halfway deep, I need to go deeper to find Nibbāna." The true Nibbāna is this very instant. The moment of the Buddha's awakening (Buddhotpāda kshanaya) is the instant existing within this very moment. So, once that is understood, all this searching, struggling, and all weariness must completely subside.
Practitioner: That means, Venerable Sir, to remain without vibrating (kampanaya) or being shaken?
Siddhi Thero: As long as you "try to remain without being shaken," there is a "me" remaining, and there is a process of "not being shaken."
Practitioner: That is so, Venerable Sir. That means, if shaking doesn't happen...
Siddhi Thero: Whatever you try to do, you will not find Nibbāna. Nibbāna is not in anything you do.
Practitioner: Watching silently?
Siddhi Thero: As long as you are watching silently, there is nothing.
Practitioner: That is so.
Siddhi Thero: Because there is a "watcher" there. Do you understand? First, think about this: "Am I burning right now?" What is my problem right now? Is there a problem with the eye? A problem with the ear? With the nose? With the tongue? With the body? Or is it a mental problem? Just look closely. When you look closely, if there is a problem, it will be caught. Otherwise, for a person in a normal state, for someone existing in this split-second, there is no problem anywhere. Because there are no issues. There are no problems at all. Okay. This split-second has now gone to the past. As it goes to the past, the present renews itself again. Is this split-second a problem? No, there is no problem in this split-second either.
Practitioner: No, now when the ear hears, we see it... when a sound comes, when seeing a form... everything is there. Now, when we hold onto a past thought through the mind and come out from there... it is said that it is gone.
Siddhi Thero: So, holding onto a thought with the mind, where are you "coming out" to?
Practitioner: Ah... Venerable Sir, let's say I was thinking about my mother. Suppose I thought something. Now, mother is not here. There is nothing for my eye, ear, or nose to contact regarding her. Then, thinking "I thought about her," that thought came and vanished... as the thought comes, it disappears.
Siddhi Thero: Later, thinking "I thought about mother" is also a process there. What I am saying is, when a thought arises, within that thought of "Mother," you feel a certain sensation. Either a loving nature, happiness, sadness—some kind of vibration. The moment this vibration comes, you feel it somewhere, don't you? That feeling becomes the object. Then switch to insight (vipassanā): "Why did this feeling occur to me?" Then you understand, you see, "This feeling was constructed by the perception 'Mother,' by the concept 'Mother.' If another person were there, that feeling would not come; a different feeling would come. If the husband came to mind, it wouldn't be that feeling, but another. If the child came to mind, it wouldn't be that feeling, but another." Do you understand? You see this with insight. Then, regarding that train of thought that was going on—you linked this insight to a journey of thoughts about the mother, didn't you?
Practitioner: That is so.
Siddhi Thero: That journey of thinking collapses right there with this insight. That mental construction of stories about the mother does not proceed beyond that point, because you saw what happened.
Practitioner: Ah, right, Venerable Sir. That is so.
Siddhi Thero: That process is what we constantly tell you to bring into insight (vipassanā). Think about necessary things. Think about what to cook today. Then do those tasks beautifully. Do the work of earning a living today beautifully. We discuss this problem to free suffering people from their suffering. Prince Siddhartha would not have sought this if "suffering" (dukkha) had not been felt greatly in his life. He left the lay life to find: What is suffering? How is suffering formed? What are the remedies for suffering? Can it be done? If so, what is it? How is this done? After searching and finishing that search, his first sermon contains that very content. If a student is asked to do a presentation on some research they have done, they present what they have done all this time. "I was in a situation like this, I searched for something like this, I realized suffering is this vast, it was scattered in these aspects. I found a way it arises. It arises in this manner. I found a system to eliminate it. That is by seeing it in this way." And then, Prince Siddhartha, having attained Buddhahood, explains completely in the first sermon that he found what he was looking for, and "this is how it is."
Practitioner: That is so.
Siddhi Thero: Yet, the entirety of what calls itself "Buddhist" is busy searching for all sorts of other nonsense today. But they don't search for what the Buddha said. So, if someone wants to live without suffering... our mind keeps transforming into different states of being (bhava), like a monkey jumping from branch to branch—being in a thought here, then going to another thought, and another thought, and another thought. In this way, thoughts... one thought dies and leads to another, and another... The Buddha teaches the way to stop this process, which exists as a mental torture for everyone running at this speed. So, what you need to find through the Buddha's teaching is not magic tricks, miracles, or anything else. It is the path of practice (pratipadā) on how to live beautifully throughout one's life without suffering. The practice of living free from all suffering. There are many steps in our mind called birth, aging, sickness, and death; it is the practice of living without getting caught in them. The practice of being able to depart from this world very happily even within death.
Practitioner: That is so.
Siddhi Thero: So, if you have found that much, and if you are searching for something more beyond that, remember well: you are still scratching at the surface of some ideology or view someone has stated; you can never grasp life. The reason is that it is a view (diṭṭhi). Are there any questions?
Practitioner: No, no, Venerable Sir, it became clear to me.
Siddhi Thero: Therefore, examine what creates weariness in your life. Suffering, worry. Not just that, look at the other side too. Happiness, love. How did this come about? "Ah, this came about based on a desire I have regarding this person. That desire was fulfilled. I thought they would smile at me. It actually happened. The moment it happened, my mind floated up." Then, what is the cause of this happiness? "I desired something, and it happened. Therefore, I became happy." But understand right in that moment with the wisdom of insight: if that hadn't happened, what I would have right now is not this happiness, but its opposite—suffering.
Practitioner: That is so. Venerable Sir, another thing I have is... feelings arise in the mind regarding small children or animals, don't they, Venerable Sir?
Siddhi Thero: There is no problem with that. That is very loving. What is the fault in that?
Practitioner: That... that is a loving feeling, isn't it, Venerable Sir? That arises in me. Then I looked at it and thought, "What is this I am feeling? This cannot be a bad thing."
Siddhi Thero: That shouldn't be for a limited number; your love should broaden to the trees and environment as well.
Practitioner: That is so, Venerable Sir. Now I feel, even if I grow a flower plant in a pot, a feeling comes like, "Poor thing, did I deprive it of the chance to fall naturally by itself?"
Siddhi Thero: Now those thoughts are not good. We don't know those things. Those are just things people think. Some people think, "It is more beautiful when grown in a pot and kept here; it gets more attention; I remember to add fertilizer; I remember to water and protect it." These are just each person's views.
Practitioner: That is so. That is actually a view.
Siddhi Thero: Give love to everyone. Not just to the animals and those in your immediate surroundings, but to strangers. Do you understand? Not just to my children, but to children who are not mine. Not just when my parents are sick, but to those mothers and fathers seen on the road, sick and suffering, unable to buy medicine at the pharmacy. Give love to this entirety. That is where the activities of a liberated mind are found. Otherwise, no matter how much one does, there sits a person trapped in "self." They do not inherit the freedom of nature. They are trapped.
Practitioner: That is so, Venerable Sir. It is truly a blending with nature. That is why, Venerable Sir, regarding the senses and what arises within the senses... when I came to this state, I felt everything along with myself. I felt the existence of trees, I felt that I exist, I heard sounds, I felt the wind. Then, that it is all just one single thing... one single phenomenon... that is where I suddenly got confused.
Siddhi Thero: Only one.
Practitioner: Afterwards... right, now I realize it, Venerable Sir.
Siddhi Thero: There is only one thing. Just experiencing (daneema). It is felt through the eye, felt through the ear.
Practitioner: I tried to listen to them separately. To hear the sound separately, like that. Then... I didn't understand it... it felt like everything was flowing together.
Siddhi Thero: You are acting like someone who brings a TV where everything comes together, decides "this won't do," dismantles the TV, adds some wires, moves the speaker further away, sets the screen to show images separately—doing some nonsense like that. I am saying, accept that natural law. Don't struggle trying to hear forms or separate sounds the way you want.
Practitioner: Nothing like that. I am here... that is exactly it, Venerable Sir. I realized that. Then I understood that this is what is meant to happen. But I was confused while it was happening. Now it is right, I have realized it, Venerable Sir. I understand many things from your sermons. I listen to discussions you have with others. I gained great understanding from those things. Not just understanding, I don't know... when I try to put it into words, Venerable Sir, perhaps I get it wrong; I can't say it properly.
Siddhi Thero: Smile and live happily. If there are any other problems—because new issues and questions arise—they get discussed in these conversations. Then you can understand them. You will find parts you didn't understand. Unclear points will become clear. So, we will stop here. May the Triple Gem bless you (Theruwan saranai).
Practitioner: That is so, Venerable Sir. May the Triple Gem bless you, Venerable Sir. Thank you very much.
Original Source (Video):
Title: මේ මොහොතෙ මොකක් ද තියන ගැඹුර | @parawarthana69
https://youtu.be/xDUX9EZWVLk?si=o0Yp5riQ9NU5qJrJ
Disclaimer
The translations shared on this blog are based on Dhamma sermons originally delivered in Sinhalese. They have been translated into English with the help of AI (ChatGPT & Gemini AI), with the intention of making these teachings more accessible to a broader audience.
Please note that while care has been taken to preserve the meaning and spirit of the original sermons, there may be errors or inaccuracies in translation. These translations are offered in good faith, but they may not fully capture the depth or nuance of the original teachings.
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