We shall today discuss the testing of sati which we have built up. We want to know whether it can be used to advantage now.
We want also to know the characeristics of our temper so that it too can be used to advantage.
There are many ways to test sati, and there are both external and internal tests. We shall start with the inner part of the external test.
"Arammana" (an object of consciousness) and thought are synonymors, the former is pali or religion language while the latter is Thai. Thought is the guide who leads
us to either happiness or suffering, to impurities of enlightenment. It leads us to the old time, to passion, to desire, and to existence. Actually, passion and desire are words
which are coined to designate certain assumed qualities of our thought.
We assume that a certain part of our body is arm, leg, eye, ear and nose. In reality, they are parts of our body. In the same manner, we assume that this is passion,
this is desire, and this is existence. Actually, they are thoughts.
The thought denoting our crave for something is called "tanha" (desire). Suppose we crave for sensual pleasure, the thought is called "kammatanha". If we crave for
any physical object, it's still kammatanha because it is still under the category of physical object.
If we crave for praises, to be distinguished, to have high title, this is called "bhavatanha".
If we want to keep away from something like getting old, illness, death, and poverty, this is called "vibhavatanha".
Or, if we want something very much and become depressed because we do not get it. This is still under the category of "vibhavatanha".
All these tanha and kilesa are lumped under thought which is swayed into those respective symptoms and supposition.
It is now the duty of tapadhamma practitioners like us to improve our mind. We should find the way to increase our tapadhamma power, which is the protector of our mind,
and should try to increase our good arammaya to feed our mind so that it will be strong or get used to good arammaya.
I urge you to build up our tapadhamma so that it will help us to achieve our aim of leading our mind away from distraction and directly toward purity.
The first step we should do in the fight against distraction is to take care of our sati:
Satikarn 1. The method of testing is as follow:
In Satikarn 1. Our own thought is thw object of testing. When our mind wanders back as we used to, or when we start to doubt about what we have done, and we know what
is going on, we do not allow our mind to wander as it wants to. So it comes back to the place we marked, which may be a spot during our breathing, chanting, or "chong-krom"
walking. The moment we notice it, we come back to the marked spot right away. And we repeat the procedure each time the mind wanders away.
Satikarn 2. Is characterized by spontaneous occurrence of thought, the moment our mind begins to pursue arammana, to the effect that the demonstrated symptom indicates
certain kind of suffering which is bound to result from our current distraction. The thought may keep on reminding us that suffering is the necessary fellow traveller of life,
and as we have already commited to birth (by pursuing arammana) we wil have to meet with more suffering. We should try to teach our mind to realize the tragic incident of
being born, which is the consequence of permitting our mind to weld the existence connection. As the mind accepts that life if dreadful, it will not run wild any more and arammana
will no longer receive any support.
Satikarn 3. Is characterixed by the sudden pressure sati applies on arammana the moment they meet, leave no time for the mind to get in touch with the sense-object.
This ocurs internally, and the mind surrenders before we resort to the external tactic.
Mahasati is characterizeed by the sudden surrender by the mind moment thought occurs. The mind has no way to challenge the power of sati which we have created.
Those who have sttained Mahasati, exemplified by their ability to immediately lock up the mind, are comparable to people well versed in the nature and property of fire who
will never allow themselves to get hurt by unknowingly touch the fire.
Sine the purpose of sati building is to use its power to suppress the mind, our method of sati testing though the observation of arammana and its wandering nature appears to be feasible,
especially when we observe the extent of melancholy caused by the wandering mind and how it could be led to the path to purity after which we should actually lead it
through the path to our ultimate aim of cessation of existence.
I urge that we all explore the test strategy. After we have found that our sati power is strong enough to be used to advantage, we should it pull our mind out of the path to worldly
existence. By nature, we all have different amount of protection factors depending upon the individual and period in life. When we use ourselves as a sample for study, we may
notice that something we tend ti talk wildly, or talk without sati, which causees us to be sorry afterward. But in other times, we note that our talk is reasonable and impressive. This shows
that sometime we may be good, and in the other time we may not be that much good.
the dhamma power which we may draw on to help us here may be grouped under 3 headings: 1 ) the mind directing power wave, r thought linking to arammana: 2) sati, or
the merit value judgement on the effect of arammana; and 3)wisdon, or the dection-making on certain issue.
It is sati that we shall have to build upfirst toserve as the protector. Wisdom will be next, but this second element does not have to be built up per se, for it will gradually evolve
by itself. As sati has completely controlled the situati9on, we shall use wisdom to arrive at the rationality of arammana.
Let us, therefore build up the true dhamma to serve as our protector. As yet, there is no need for us to identify and categorize such items as kilesa, tanha, man and titthi.
They are merely our own supposition, after all. It is enough for us to know basically what they are. As we move freely without any protector, our mind tends to lesd us to the
worldly existence. We must use our built up sati to lock the mind up. In this connection we need "sangappa", or the will to do. Let us now set our mind to this task.
Regarding the sati test, I think those of us who are practitioneres have already grasped what I have been expounding. I want now to call the attention of the others present here who are dhamma
listeners, dhamma lookers, and dhamma readers. I want to tell you that most of the book on dhamma deal only with the periphery of the suject. You may ask where the true dhamma is,
and I will tell you it is what we have been talking about here.
I want you to understand that dhamma resides inour action and our utterance. When our mind is swayed into the good path, it will direct our action toward the good deeds.
On the other hand, if it is swayed into the evil path, evil deeds would follow.
It may be concluded that our bahavior depands on our mind. With a good mind, our action and utterance will be meritorious. With an evil mind, on the other hand, our action and
utterance will be dreadul.
Today we have been discussing the 3 parts of sati test which help us to find out whether our built up sati could now be used to advantage. The testing of Satikarn 1, 2, 3 and
the attachment of our mind to arammana is a step toward either our ultimate achievement or distraction. Realizing this, we should try to build up tapadhamma so that we can use
it to control our mind, preventing from swaying into guided courses. I urge that we take care in seeing to it that our mind is directed to help us in the proper course of action
so that were will arrive at our destination where happiness abounds.
Satikarn 2.
Satikarn 3.
| Personal 1 | Personal 2 | Personal 3 |
Personal 4