True wisdom
True wisdom is wisdom by intelecture and experience. For example, it is easy to understand the Budda’s saying “Radiates boundless love towards the entire world”, but how many of us can transmiss that enormous compassion? Similarly, a gambler knows very well that he should not gamble, a drinker knows exactly that he should not drink, a thief understands that stealing is bad. But yet, they keep on performing such actions. Why ?
Because of the lack of internal experience. Most people hardly know their insides from practical perspective. The inner sensations constantly drive us through countless miseries, as taught by Gottama the Budda. If the drinker had no pleasant sensation drinking, if the gambler had no interest in playing, and if a thief possessed practical wisdom about stealing, it would be impossible that they perform such evil actions . Under the discovery of the Budda, the entire universe operates under two main phenomenons: arising and passing away. Things arise, stay for sometimes and sooner or later pass away. What is the meaning for having any clinging or attachment to such impermanent nature?
With all the love, compassion and goodwill, the Budda had pointed us to a clearer explanation and to practice. The old habit pattern of mind keeps on reacting pleasant sensations with craving and unpleasant ones with aversion. Law of nature is such, if we witness sensations objectively without reactions, they are going to become weaker and weaker. But if we keep on reacting, miseries are gonna be multiplied. For example, rarely does an addictor’s drag intake remain unchanged. Today one is sufficient, but tomorrow he needs two, next month, his body asks for three, long later, three is no more enough, etc.
The teaching of Budda, emphasizing mainly on two essential aspects : awareness and equanimity. The awareness of every sensation throughout the body. In order to achieve a high state of awareness, one needs to sit comfortably, observe the body’s natural phenomenon, which’s most basic part is the breath. Then one be equanimous with such sensations. By reinforcing those qualities continuously, one’s sensations become weaker and weaker, passing into a wonderful state of no more evil forces. The drinker no longer wants to drink, the gambler no longer wants to bet. One’s mind is continuously fulfilled by love, driving to true happiness.
Specifically, the practice for those qualities includes morality, master of the mind and purification of the mind. Moralities are the abstaining from sinful actions: stealing, killing, sexcual misconduct, lying and drinking. If you do not want any suffering, stop treating others that way, as Manhattan Gandhi’s famous quote “Be the change that you wish to see in the world. ”. By confronting moralities, one’s mind forms a wonderful base for the next two practices. Otherwise, it is the agitation, imbalance manifesting one’s mind. How can one obtain peace and harmony when one destroys others’? The next step, master of the mind, is concentration. One little exercise, I am sure that most people are unable to tie the mind into his natural breath for a minute. The thought appears unconsciously, drives us from the past to future, with craving and aversion. By practicing observing the breath, we improve the mind’s concentration and come a step closer to deep awareness of our own nature. And the last step, purification of mind, means continuously going deeper inside, being equanimous with any kind of sensations. With that understanding, true wisdom arises.
The entire teaching of Budda, is kept in pure form by a group in Myanmar, from generation to generation for 2500 years, under the name “Vipassana”. Vipassana means “see things as they are’’. To me, the day I joined the Vipassana course seemed like my second birth. At the time, I was in such a crisis situation, that mentally I was in an unescaped self-imagized maze, and physically my body can hardly absorb any food. If it hadn’t been for the light of Vipassana, I could have died out under endless darkness. Hopefully every being soon finds the way to reach true wisdom and come out of all the suffering. Human life is such a short , and yet precious life. Make best use of all the time, for the liberation of oneself, and for the liberation of all beings.
