The Dhamma Weapon

Venerable Acariya Maha Boowa
Wat Pa Baan Taad
June 1, 1979

Translated: Achaan Sudchaad

The term majjhima or suitability refers to the application of the
Dhamma weapon to encounter and overwhelm any kind of Kilesa that might
appear. When the strength of this Dhamma weapon matches the strength
of the Kilesas then one can withstand them though there is still the
possibility of the Kilesas overwhelming and defeating us. But if we
are heavy handed and a lot more forceful than the Kilesas then they
will steadily diminish. One will come to see the results which will
testify to the frequency of one's exertion at this level using this
particular kind of majjhima as the means of countering the Kilesas.
One will now take up this particular method of practice as the means
of treading the path in the future.

One must steadily and constantly be doing the work of suppressing and
eradicating the Kilesas. When the Kilesas become steadily weakened
the application of the majjhima Dhamma will be automatically adjusted
to the intensity of the Kilesas. When the Kilesas are violent and
vehement then the majjhima must be equally forceful and vigorous. One
must really stand on one's ground and fight to the death. One must
not retreat one step or back down. One must not abandon or let go of
one's Sati and pa~n~na which is the foremost and the principle weapon
such as during the time when Dukkha Vedana appears within the body due
to sitting for a long time. There will be a lot of pain in the
various parts of the body which will become more intense and severe.
It will yield no result or benefit if we merely endure the this Dukkha
Vedana. We must use our endurance and perseverance in our contention
and in our struggle.

We have to investigate with Sati and pa~n~na. Pa~n~na will have to
dig and search, probe and analyse, for the truth of the Dukkha Vedana
that is appearing at that time, by constantly having Sati controlling
and directing the work of pa~n~na. Both of these factors must be
relentlessly performing their work. One has to investigate to see
where this Vedana arises. It will be unavoidable that there will be
the presumption and assumption that Vedana arises from any one
particular part of the body.

For instance, at the knee, around the waist, or at the bottom, or at
the thighs, around the pelvis, or at any particular part; whichever
part seems to be most profoundly affected by this Dukkha Vedana is
where we have to focus our Sati and pa~n~na. One has to examine and
find out what is the cause of this Dukkha Vedana which is appearing at
this point. What is it that is being afflicted with Dukkha? Is it
the flesh or is it the skin or the sinews or the bones at this
particular point? One has to examine the flesh and then compare it
with Vedana. One must find out if they are one and the same thing.
Are they similar to one an other? The flesh has a physical appearance
and characteristic but Dukkha Vedana does not have that physical
appearance and characteristic. It only manifests it's nature of pain
and agony naturally. This is the way of differentiating it so that
one can see them clearly as they are. This work of differentiating
must depend on Sati to direct and concentrate on the work of pa~n~na.
That is doing the examination and probing into the nature of the
flesh.

Then one's understanding, perception, and comprehension of this truth
can be consistent and continuous. One must not relent in the
application of one's Sati and pa~n~na as they must always go together
in a pair as they do the investigation into all of the Sapava Dhammas
like Vedana and the flesh. If we want to separate the bones out for
investigation and if there are aches and pains in the bones and we
have the understanding that this bone is being afflicted by Dukkha we
must then concentrate our attention in looking at this Dukkha until we
can see it very clearly. Then we have to look at the bone itself to
see what kind of characteristic it has for the bones have distinct
characteristics, features, and colours. But this Dukkha has no such
feature. It is simply Dukkha, similar to the Dukkha that we have
alleged to be arising from the flesh. It is just presumption to think
that the flesh is being afflicted with Dukkha. Whether it is the
Dukkha of the skin, the flesh, or of the bones, it is always of one
characteristic nature.

But this skin, flesh, and bones are all made up; of different things
and characteristics. How can they be Vedana? Let's consider when a
person is dead. The bones, the flesh, and the sinews and skin all
still remain, but there is no Dukkha. If they are one and the same
thing why is there no Dukkha in a dead person in spite of the fact
that the skin, the flesh, the sinews, and the bones are still there?
If this is the case, how can we consider them to be one and the same
thing? This is one aspect.

The second aspect deals with the Citta which is terribly important.
We must now separate the Citta and look into it. Is the Citta
afflicted with Dukkha? If it is not any single part of the body that
is being afflicted with Dukkha then is it the Citta that is being so
afflicted? We have to look at the Citta and at Vedana and also at
the body to see how they are different from one another. All the
Citta has is just knowingness. Whether Dukkha arises, remains, or
disappears, this knowingness is still there. Even before this Dukkha
arose this knowingness was still there. If the Dukkha is the Citta,
and the Citta is Dukkha then when Dukkha disappears the Citta must
also disappear. The Citta should not remain knowing if they are one
and the same thing. Then this would be how it would have to be.

But the case here is that when the Dukkha vanishes this knowingness
still remains. And even before this Dukkha arose the Citta also knew.
How can they be considered one and the same thing? We have to
differentiate and set apart the presumption and assumption, the
preconceived notion and the suppositions of Sa~n~naa that allege and
purport that this thing or that thing is Dukkha, then rounding them in
and mixing them up until it turns out that these things are Dukkha.
The flesh is Dukkha, the sinews are Dukkha, the bones are Dukkha, the
heart is Dukkha. In short, that we are Dukkha. And when it gets to
the point where we are Dukkha then it can be extremely painful and
excruciating. We have to differentiate and analyse so that we can see
it clearly as it is. This is one type of majjhima to be used in
combating Dukkha Vedana that becomes extremely severe after we have
sat for a long time or when we are afflicted with illness.

This is especially so in the last moment when we are about to pass
away. Then Dukkha Vedana will offer it's full onslaught. It will
come upon us to it's maximum limit to the extent where we may not be
able to withstand it but perish right there and then. Between this
Dukkha that is so severe that we are unable to withstand it and will
have to pass away and the Dukkha that arises in practice; of these two
types of practice which is more severe? If we are capable of coming
to true realisation and insight into the nature of Dukkha by doing the
investigation at this time how then can we come across true
realisation and insight into the nature of the Dukkha Vedana that
arises at the time when we are about to pass away, when the Dukkha is
at it's extreme limit?

If our work of investigation is in vain at this time then when we die
we will also be in vain. We will never be able to come up with any
essence or substance to hold onto as our basis but if we have
investigated and come to true realisation and insight into the nature
of the Dukkha Vedana that appears in all it's parts like the skin, the
flesh, the bones, and the sinews that are all found within this body,
if we can see them clearly with Pa��a and know that the Citta is the
Citta and know each separate condition as being a separate truth in
itself and know Dukkha Vedana as it really is and know each of these
things as they really are and as they have been perceived through the
means of our investigation with Pa��a then it is possible to separate
ourselves from them. Even if the Dukkha does not come to cease and
disappear it will not be able to disturb and agitate the heart or give
the heart confusion and trouble.

We can then remain at ease and comfortable. We will remain bold and
courageous. We will remain with a shield protecting our heart. Each
of these things are real and they do not disturb one an other. The
body is merely the body. The Vedana is merely the Vedana. And the
Citta is merely the Citta. They each are real and this is how I
myself was able to perceive them with Sati and Pa��a. This is one
category of majjhima that we will have to apply in our practice. When
the Kilesas, Tanha, and Asava and raga Tanha become very violent we
will have to apply the means that is equally forceful and strong. We
have to counter them with their opposites. We have to bring in the
Nimita of asupa. We have to take the picture that is very pleasant
and beautiful in front of us and then we have to establish it to break
down, decompose, and establish it so that it becomes bloated, becomes
rotten, and decomposes, being devoured by vultures, crows, and dogs
right in front of us. How then can there be any desire or
infatuation?

This is the way of the majjhima. This is how you will have to
understand it. You have to come up with the tool that is suitable for
the different kinds of Kilesas that exhibit them selves. No matter
how vehement and violent or how subtle they might be we have to come
up with the corresponding tools that can catch up with them or else we
will never be able to achieve our purpose.

It is the same way with asupa. We have to do it in such a way that we
can really catch up with the Kilesas. We have to get to see them
clearly within our hearts. We have to overwhelm and counter each
different kind of Kilesa with the corresponding kind of majjhima.
Then we will be able to live in peace and happiness.

The Dhamma teaching of the Lord Buddha which we call the majjhima is
of many different levels or categories. When we have established
bases within ourselves, the majjhima padipada that we have utilised
will have to vary to suit the various kinds of Kilesas that still
exist and which are far more subtle until this majjhima begins flowing
constantly day and night due to the work of the constant
investigation. And when the Kilesas become more subtle then Pa��a
will also become correspondingly more subtle. The things that will be
capable of catching up with the Kilesas are Sati and Pa��a however the
Kilesas manifest themselves. Sati and Pa��a will always be able to
catch up with them and be capable of outwitting them.

You have to apply this Sati and Pa��a and you have to really
investigate, doing it thoroughly. Don't remain idle, doing nothing.
Don't be weak or discouraged. Don't project difficulties into the
future. Don't think that in the future it will be very hard to do the
practice. If you want to think then we should think that the Kilesas
will always be menacing and trembling over our heart in every form of
existence that we will take up. This will go on ceaselessly if we
cannot find a way of correcting them. They will be the ruler of the
heart and subjected to take up birth in the various forms of existence
following the Kamma that we have made in the past. We are being
totally useless in allowing the Kilesas to menace and damage
ourselves. If we are going to think about the future this is how we
are going to have to think. It is only the present that is of any
importance. We have to try to set up ourselves and be able to stand
our ground and set up our resolve. We must not back down.

The Lord Buddha has vouched for the efficacy and results of all the
Dhamma that he laid down for us. He was the first one to cultivate
this Dhamma and was able to attain to the fruit, going up steadily to
the state of illumination, the state of Buddho, the state of purity
due to the influence of this Dhamma. The Lord had verified and tested
this Dhamma before expounding it to us so how can this Dhamma go off
the mark? The Kilesas can never surpass this Dhamma. Every kind of
Dhamma surpasses the Kilesas. Every kind of Dhamma outstrips every
kind of Kilesa. If we apply the Dhamma so that it is suitable to each
different type of Kilesa then it is certain that we will be able to
stamp out and overcome every kind of Kilesa. This is the fundamental
principle that we have to think of and apply in our practice.

We have to exert ourselves and be very vigorous and enterprising. We
should not see anything to be more valuable than Dhamma to the extent
of being obsessed and engrossed in it, as being more valuable than the
state of deliverance from the Kilesas and Asava which oppress the
heart. This is a crucial point. To be totally free from all kinds of
Kilesas is the happiness which we should aspire to as this is the
everlasting happiness. It is the happiness that is totally
independent of time, the happiness that lasts for ever. You have to
set up your hearts and concentrate in your investigation. I teach my
fellows in Dhamma wholeheartedly and with pure intention. I have not
kept anything secret from you. I teach and bring to light the various
means and methods in coping, conquering, and overcoming those
influences that are inimical and antagonistic to the heart from my
personal and practical experience. I illustrate and point out all the
facts and know-how of practice.

Try to strive and set your heart into the practice. You must not
relent in your exertion. Sati is terribly important. You must always
try to maintain your Sati. Don't be careless or unmindful. When we
come to association and involvement with one another the tendency is
for us to be absent minded and to loose our guard like the time when
we come to have our hot drink or while we are walking along the path
together or when we have work to do together. We tend to be unmindful
to the extent where we become carried away and become somewhat wild
and reckless. Don't let this happen within the circle of the
practitioner who sees the harm of the Vata Sa.msaara and the harm of
the Kilesas. While we are walking, standing, sitting or lying down,
while we are eating or drinking, we must always be seeing the harm of
the Kilesas. Don't be immersed in the pleasure of eating. While
walking, standing, sitting or lying down don't be immersed in reverie
and fantasy nor be heedless or negligent for this is not the way of
the Lord Buddha.

This is not the way for one who is going to be free Dukkha. Remember
this very well. Wherever you are be possessed with Sati. Don't be
negligent or headless. Be possessed with Sati always. You must
really and firmly establish your Sati. Don't waste your time in
thinking of and concocting up the things that you have done countless
times before. All there is in this Vata Samsara and this entire world
is just our thinking and concoction that disturbs and troubles our
hearts. Haven't we seen the harm of them already? Why do we have to
cherish them and be immersed in thinking about them? We should learn
our lesson well from those things which have been harmful to us.

Try to avoid and get away from that kind of thinking and try to
suppress and eradicate all those things that can be antagonistic to us
and which are the consequences of our thinking and concocting. Let us
open up the way of thinking in the way of Dhamma so that the Dhamma
can appear. Then all the thinking processes that go in the way of
Samudaya can gradually fade away. Then this other thinking process
can spring forth, becoming truth and Dhamma that is capable of
overcoming the Kilesas and Asava. The Citta that can steadily attain
to calm is the result of our practice. Let us not put the blame on
our Vasana and endowments. The Kilesa pay no attention to the
endowments and Vasana of anyone. Regardless of the numbers of the
Kilesas they are always harmful to us. We have to look at the Kilesas
as the harm and as the bane.

We must not think that those Vasanas and endowments can help us
eradicate the Kilesas apart from our diligent effort and strenuous
exertion, having Sati and Pa��a as our instrument. This is the
crucial basis for the eradication and suppression of the Kilesas.
Don't be concerned with the Vasanas and endowments for this can only
cause us to become weak and discouraged. Then we will not be able to
make it through. We have to be tough and strong, we who are the
practitioners.

When I heard Tan Achan Mun relate the way that he had exerted himself
I was moved with sympathy and compassion for him for he was really
earnest and serious, putting his whole life into it. He really sought
for the truth in Dhamma despite the fact that no one was there to
teach and guide him. He kept on struggling and ploughing through
doggedly by himself with the aid of the texts that were presented in
general terms and was eventually able to get through and become our
wonderful teacher in this present generation. Before he could become
famous and an honour to the Sasana and be respected and venerated by
the people, both those who had gone forth and the laity, he had to
really struggle. He was really earnest and serious, putting up his
life in exchange for what he was looking for. It was this that
enabled him to become wonderful and noble and to be free from all
forms of Dukkha. No form of Sammuti could touch him any longer. From
that very moment on to the end of time.

This is what is meant by "Nibbana is permanent". The Kilesas are
impermanent, for they are Samutti and they have both Sukkha and
Dukkha. There is gain and loss and they lead people to be happy and
sad and this is the way they will always lead people. When we have
corrected and overcome all of these things it is not necessary to say
whether the Citta is permanent or not or whether Nibbana is permanent
or not. It is only the Kilesas that infiltrate the Citta, that make
it have it's ups and downs, highs and lows, constantly changing
places, from being luminous to being dull, to being confused and
agitated, to being calm. These are all the disturbances of the
Kilesas but when the Kilesas calm down, due to our exertion, then the
heart also attains to calm. If our exertion becomes more intense,
then our Kilesas will get calmer and calmer and when we can overcome
any particular kind of Kilesas then that particular Kilesa will
disappear and we will keep on over coming and getting rid of every
single kind of Kilesa until there isn't a single one left within the
heart.

We will then not have to go and look for any happiness anywhere else.
We can see very clearly that the reason that we cannot find any
happiness is because of the Kilesas that obstruct us, that pressurise
and oppress us with affliction and Dukkha. We have to shoulder the
burden of this Dukkha constantly all of the time in all the various
forms of existence, right on up to the present one. But when we are
totally free from this oppression of the Kilesas and they have been
totally vanquished from the heart then it is not necessary to ask
about the equilibrium of the Citta. The Agalika Citta or the Agalika
Dhamma, the timeless Citta or the timeless Dhamma or the Dhammo
Pattipo; the radiance of Dhamma that is constant and unchanging. We
don't have to ask about these things for they will be found within
everyone.

You must really strive in achieving this for it is the most valuable
treasure, much more precious than all the other possessions of the
world that are highly cherished and valued. But there is also
tremendous greed for them, a great desire to acquire them. Although
one might already have these things one still wants more of them.
This is the way of Lopa. The ambition for power and influence is also
the work of the Kilesas. Greed or Lopa, is the work of the Kilesas.
Hatred is the work of the Kilesas. Delusion is the work of the
Kilesas as well as the confusion and trouble of both the body and the
heart.

They are all the work of the Kilesas. They are not the work of
Dhamma. Although it might have to go through Dukkha the work of
Dhamma is the work for happiness. This Dukkha is the investment
capital. The Sukkha is the profit that arises therefrom. This is not
just simply going through the type of Dukkha that is damaging and
menacing without there being any reward like the way the Kilesas
destroy people. This is the difference. This is how they differ.
When we strive in our exertion, if there is Dukkha then let us face it
so long as the results are steadily forthcoming and the heart is
becoming blissful and joyful until we arrive at perfection. Then all
of our burdens will be shed off. The battle that has been raging
against the Kilesas like a Dhamma Chakka, turning around, relentlessly
and ceaselessly while walking, standing, sitting and lying down, with
the exception of the time when one goes to sleep, so intense, will
immediately come to cease when all of our enemies have been totally
vanquished. Then the instrument that counters the Kilesas that has
been turning around like a revolving wheel will also immediately come
to cease.

This is because all of the opposition and all of the enemies that one
has been contending with have all totally disappeared. The battle of
Dhamma between the Kilesas and the Citta has now come to a decisive
conclusion. One has now attained to victory. The conquering of
oneself which is the conquering of the Kilesas within one's heart is
far more supreme than conquering other people or winning battles a
hundred thousand times. We have to accomplish this work.

End of Dessana.