Venerable Pramote Pamojjo Teaches

The Principles of Mindfulness and Meditation

Compiled and Translated by Jess Peter Koffman

Edited by Richard Kirtland
A Meditator’s Guide
Venerable Luangpor Pramote Pamojjo
Teaches the Principles of Mindfulness and Meditation

Compiled and Translated by Jess Peter Koffman

Edited by Richard Kirtland

Copyright©2015 by Luangpor Pramote Pamojjo’s

Teaching Media Fund. All right reserved. Printed in Thailand.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission.

Please visit www.dhamma.com for free downloads

or contact Luangpor Pramote Pamojjo’s Teaching Media Fund
at media@lptf.org for free teaching media.

First paperback edition published in May 2018

5,000 copies

Published and printed by

Prima Publishing Company Limited
342 Soi Pattanakarn 30, Suanluang, Bangkok 10250 Thailand
Tel. +6620126999
www.primapublishing.co.th
www.facebook.com/PrimaPublishing
 Contents

Foreword 7

1. Preparing for Dhamma Practice 11
Buddhism Is a Field of Study 12
The Way to Approach Dhamma Practice 13
Morality Brings Happiness 17
Concentration and Observation 20
Buddhism’s Unique Focus 23
A Precious Opportunity 25
Struggle No More 27

2. Levels of Happiness 31
The Burden of Happiness 34
Happiness Is in Seeing the Truth 39
About Nirvana 40
Real Happiness Can Be Here and Now 42

3. Mindfulness In Daily Life 47

Walking the Right Path 50
Gaining Mindfulness 53
When Mindfulness Sees 55

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 Starting Out 58
Making Mindfulness Automatic 62
When Wisdom Sees 64
The Whole Picture 67
Advanced Wisdom Regarding the Mind 71
The Importance of Practice in Daily Life:
My Story 75
Begin Now 83
A Conversation with Venerable Pramote 89

4. Finding Peace in A Suffering World 101
The Four Noble Truths in an Instant 106
Reality in Three Perspectives 108
The End of Suffering 111
The Struggling Mind 113
Knowing Versus Doing 115
Knowing Versus Forcing 118
Knowing Is Equanimous 119
Equanimity Is a Doorway 122
A Conversation with Venerable Luangpor
Pramote 125

5. A Meditator’s Guide 135

Understanding the Practice 136

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 Samatha and Vipassana Meditation 137
The Three Areas of Training 142
Gaining Wisdom into the Body 157
Gaining Wisdom into the Mind 158
The Two Extremes 161
Genuine Mindfulness 163
Picking a Suitable Practice 165
The Four Scenarios When Meditating 168
The Secret to Samatha 171
Understanding Vipassana Practice 181
Virtuous and Non-Virtuous States 189
The Enlightenment Process 192
Out of the Dream and into Reality 194
The Middle Way 196
Dispassion then Liberation 198
A Conversation with Venerable Pramote 200

6. The Ways to Wisdom 205

Practice According to Your Disposition 206
Practicing Samatha to Walk a Path of Wisdom 208
Studying Objects with a Stable Mind 211
Seeing Without Labeling 212
Being Content with the Object 214
Low Quality Concentration 216

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 Wisdom for Busy Minds though Momentary
Concentration 217
Wisdom and Concentration Together 220
Putting Samatha to Use 221
Intend until Automatic 225
Rooted in Awareness 227
A Conversation with Venerable Pramote 229

7. Life Beyond A Self 237

Developing Right View: Non-Self 238
The Mind Creates a Self 239
Aggregates Can’t Bring Happiness 243
What the Arahant Says 248
Waking Up 251
A Conversation with Venerable Pramote 257

About Venerable Pramote Pamojjo 263

6
 Transtator’s Foreword

A Meditator’s Guide is a compilation of Dhamma

talks given by Venerable Pramote Pamojjo, one of the
most revered and adored meditation masters in Thailand
today. Venerable Pramote has a way of transforming
complicated and age-old teachings into simple directions
for a modern mind. As a result of this, coupled with his
ability to see intuitively what needs adjusting in his
students’ practice, Venerable Pramote has become
extremely popular among practicing Buddhists in
Thailand, especially the young intellectual and
professional classes.
Venerable Pramote’s student base is an estimated
100,000, of which I am grateful to be one. This number
is constantly growing as people continue to download
his materials, listen to his recordings and are, as a
result, seeing dramatic shifts for the better in their
lives. Many, including myself, are experiencing a
decrease in pain and suffering in their hearts and
much more happiness from listening to his talks and
practicing what he teaches. What is known as the “The
Venerable Pramote Movement”, a movement that is

7
causing spiritual awakenings across Thailand, can now
spread to the rest of the world through English
translations such as this one.
A total of twelve talks were chosen for this book;
they span the seven years that Venerable Pramote has
been teaching at Suan Santidham Temple, in Sriracha,
Thailand. Each chapter has one or two talks as primary
sources and also includes some materials from other
talks, so as to provide readers with more comprehensive
explanations of each topic. The talks in this book include
teachings on the true meaning of mindfulness and
how it is practiced, both in formal meditation and
in our daily lives. They also span the entire scope
of Dhamma (Dharma) practice; therefore, this book
is useful for beginners first sitting down to meditate
as well as for those practicing at the most advanced
stages.
For ease of reference, there are many subheadings
in each section. Each chapter is a comprehensive work
of its own and the book needn’t be read exclusively
in order. It certainly is not intended to be read all
at once, as each talk is rich with wisdom and needs
time for reader to digest. As readers develop their
meditation and Dhamma practice, they are encouraged

8
to read and reread the portions of the book that
resonate with them at any particular time. By doing so,
this book can act as a very powerful guide along one’s
spiritual journey to enlightenment. It may also be the
case that when there is a question lingering, the reader
is surprised to receive the answer upon opening any
random page.
Venerable Pramote speaks in a friendly and
informal way. As a result, an attempt has been made
here to emulate the style of his Thai talks. He speaks
primarily at Suan Santidham Temple on the weekends
to crowds of 150 to 300 people and travels across
Thailand, and abroad, speaking to groups of up to
3,000 at a time. He uses the word “we” as a friendly
and less accusative way of meaning “all of you”, so
the reader should not consider the use of the word
“we” in this book as including the master as well.
If readers find discrepancies with any of the
material in this book, please assume that the issue lies
with the translation and not with the source material.
Similarly, if there are any areas of Buddha’s teachings
that are not present or properly expanded upon, please
assume this is the fault of the compiler. I have chosen
all the material in this publication in such a way that

9
together it creates a guide for meditation and Dhamma
development. Venerable Pramote’s focus is on the
principles of meditation and such is the focus of this
book. Though Venerable Pramote does use many Pali
terms, speaks of scriptural texts and quotes the Buddha
regularly, I have not included such information in this
compilation as my intention for this book is that it is a
comprehensive guide to meditation and Dhamma
practice, not a scholarly endeavour for intellectual or
comparative purposes.
The power of Venerable Pramote’s teachings
are not just in the words, but in the peace and
understanding of the consciousness behind the words.
The teachings here in this book are extremely powerful
and transformative, as they carry with them the true
Dhamma of the Buddha. As the translator and compiler,
it is an honour to be part of this transformation process
for all those who come into contact with this book.
May we all benefit from these teachings and be part of
this powerful shift in consciousness that is blossoming
in Thailand.
Jess Peter Koffman
September 12, 2013

10
Preparing for Dhamma Practice
Primary Source : Suan Santidham Temple
Feb 8, 2013
 Buddhism Is a Field of Study

Buddhism is more of a field of study than it is a

religion. In practicing, we are taught to rely on ourselves,
and not on higher entities or anything external to
ourselves. To practice Buddhism, we must study; we
must be an observer. We observe ourselves much in
the same way as a researcher who has a field of study
observes his subject. The subject of our field of study
here is our body and our mind and our objective is to see
the true characteristics of them in our own experience.
We must be the one to study our body and mind - no
one else can do it for us.
Buddhism isn’t just about going to temples and
listening to monks chanting. This is just the extreme
surface of Buddhism: the monastic rituals, holidays,
wedding - and cremation ceremonies, giving donations
for good fortune or good karma, and so on. When we’re
interested in only the surface rituals, as are most people
in Thailand, we’re missing the point of Buddhism
entirely. The customs and activities are just the outer
shell. Of course an outer shell or skin is needed, but it is

12
a shame if we never go deeper than that. The surface
has to adapt to the people of today and to our changing
times; however, the true essence of Buddhism never
changes. The Truth is always the Truth.
Buddhism believes in the potential of the human
being to be able to serve oneself and see Truth (with a
capital “T”!). Seeing the Truth of way things really are is
called seeing Dhamma. Once a human being sees the
Truth or sees Dhamma, he or she can be free from
suffering.

The Way to Approach Dhamma Practice

Now, if we want to understand the Buddha’s
teachings, if we want to observe our mind and body, we
need to have an open heart. This means we need to
have humility, recognize that we are suffering and
accept that we don’t know everything. A lot of us are
filled to the brim, thinking that we understand every-
thing about life and understand what meditation is all
about. Of course, if we are still suffering in some way,

13
then we don’t yet fully and deeply understand the
Buddha’s teachings. We may have read Buddhist books,
listened to talks and have a conceptual understanding,
but the teachings have not yet moved deeply into the
heart, the place where Truth is realised. This is why one
needs to be humble and not let a big ego get in the
way. If we start by thinking that we know how to
meditate, that we understand Buddha’s teachings,
we will not see the Truth. We have to put that ego
aside and have an open heart in order to learn the true
Dhamma and free our minds from suffering.
Many psychologists and psychiatrists believe that
they understand the human mind, but we see so many
of them come to learn about the mind from monks
who correctly practice the Buddha’s teachings. The
psychologists believe that they understand the mind
and the heart of the human being, but if they truly
understood their own minds and hearts, they wouldn’t
suffer anymore. Yet they come because even though
they are researching the mind of the human being,
they are still experiencing stress and they are still
suffering. They come to learn the Dhamma so that they
can free their minds and hearts from suffering. If they
14
practice in the correct way - if they listen and correctly
practice the Dhamma - then it won’t be long before
radical changes can be seen.
Practicing correctly yields quick results. We will
see changes within ourselves. We won’t practice for 20
or 30 years and remain at the same level. If we practice
correctly, we will develop regularly and the results will
be obvious. As I travel across Thailand and abroad
teaching the Dhamma, I can see already that many
people are starting to understand the proper principles
of Dhamma practice. They are now becoming true
practitioners of the Dhamma. Their minds are bright and
they are practicing correctly and reaping the benefits:
they feel happier, lighter, more peaceful. They are
practicing the right type of concentration and gaining
wisdom in the Buddhist sense, which is a deep
experiential understanding into the nature of reality.
When we come to learn the Dhamma, we must
be fairly easily contented and not too greedy or goal
oriented. It is beneficial to be of the mind that even if we
work very hard, that whatever profit or benefits we
receive from our hard work are enough to make us content.
If we are too difficult to please, needing everything to
15
be and work in a certain way for us, if our expectations
are too high or if we are too much of a perfectionist,
then we will have a difficult time practicing the Dhamma.
If we want to develop our Dhamma practice,
we must also carefully choose who we spend our
time with. Often we develop similar behaviours to the
people with whom we spend time. If we spend time with
people who have negtive behaviours, we will often
adopt negative behaviours. We should choose friends
who are appropriate for us and will assist in our
development. If we are looking to be more peaceful we
will benefit greatly by spending time with people who
are also more peaceful. We must choose our friends
wisely.
We may have friends who like the Dhamma,
who spend all day talking about the Dhamma or about
meditation or mindfulness, going from this temple to
that temple, or from one meditation centre to another
but who don’t practice much. Without practicing, we
will waste a lot of time. We need plenty of time alone.
If we are talking with people all day long we end up
with a very busy mind that is difficult to bring into
Dhamma practice.
16
 We need balance: we shouldn’t stay in solitude
all of the time and we shouldn’t avoid people all of
the time either. We shouldn’t restrict our eyes and ears
from seeing and hearing the world around us. We don’t
want to totally close ourselves off. In fact, we need to
experience the world. We let our eyes see what is
around us. We let our ears hear what is around us.
We notice as the body and mind generate different
emotions and movements. The eyes see something
and a feeling arises. The ears hear something and
another feeling arises. We can see the different
emotions that arise in the heart. This way, even when we
are in a group of people, if we understand Dhamma
correctly, we can still be practicing.

Morality Brings Happiness

The first area of training required when we come

to Dhamma practice is to achieve a proper moral
standard: a foundation in, or a sense of morality. If we
enjoy hunting and killing animals, annoying or harming

17
people, arguing and becoming angry, shouting out,
stealing and taking advantage of situations or cheating,
we are not going to have the type of mind that is
comfortable with any formal Dhamma practice. Our
mind will be too busy and restless, not comfortable
with itself. If we have a proper moral standard it’s far
easier to be with oneself and to practice Dhamma with
an open heart, with humility and honesty with oneself.
A lot of people think it’s difficult to keep a sense
of morality but this is a misunderstanding. Actually, if
we are harming, stealing, cheating, lying or intoxicated,
we are under the influence of the defilements, the
impurities that fill the mind. We cannot be happy if we
are filled withgreed, anger and desire to hurt or harm
others. If we have a moral standard where we don’t
want to harm anyone or take anything that doesn’t
belong to us, we can be easily contented and
experience more happiness. We can see that morality
leads to a general sense of contentment that greed,
anger, cheating and intoxicants can never give us. Moral
people are generally happier than immoral people. It’s
not really difficult to keep a sense of morality when

18
we see that we’re happier and more comfortable that
way.
If we’re lying to this person and deceiving that
person, we have a busy and restless mind. We need to
keep track of what we told one person and what we
told another. We have to worry about protecting our lies
and worry about getting caught in our deception. If we
just tell the truth all the time, we don’t have to worry
about protecting anything.
It is especially easy for those who drink, take
drugs or other intoxicants to break other moral precepts.
We can be led into lying, and we can easily cheat on
loved ones or harm them in other ways. It’s very hard
to have any mindfulness or awareness while we are
intoxicated or feeling the residual effects thereof, as
we have lowered our level of consciousness.
It’s easy to see that moral people are happier;
they also tend to be better meditators. If we have a
moral standard we are more easily contented, more
easily peaceful, and we can more easily develop in our
practice. It’s easy to see why the first of the threefold
training of the Buddha is a foundation in morality.

19
 Concentration and Observation

The second area of the Buddha’s training in

Dhamma practice is understanding and practicing
samadhi, or concentration. It is mental training. We can
see in everyday life that our minds are busy and
restless. We are always looking for things to make us
happy or things to find pleasure in. We go to eat and we
wonder, “If I eat this will it be pleasurable?” Then, as soon
as we finish eating we wonder, “Now what shall I do?
Watch a movie? Listen to some music? Call a friend?”
Our minds are very restless, moving here and there, looking
at this, listening to that, looking for things to make us
happy and comfortable.
Of course, when we begin to practice, part of
the training in samadhi, or correct concentration, is the
ability to make the mind comfortable and calm. In order
to do that, we just need to find an object, a wholesome
or simple enough object that the mind is quite
comfortable and happy being with. Some people
watch the breath and feel quite comfortable and
happy watching the breath, and so that’s the one
they should choose.
20
 If we are somebody who is easily angered, it is
helpful to repeat lovingkindness phrases like, “May
all beings be happy and healthy. May all beings be
peaceful and free from suffering.” Repeating a phrase
like this can slowly help the mind become more calm,
comfortable and peaceful.
For those of us who have a tendency to crave,
it is usually recommended that we use the body as
our object and watch the body moving, sitting, walking
and lying down. A mind tainted with craving or greed
is often moving out, searching for what it can get. It
sees things and then wants them. If we bring our
attention back to the body - seeing it sitting and walking -
it’s very helpful to steer the mind back to the body and
feeling content within it. We’re looking to find an object
that our minds are happy and comfortable watching
and to make our minds become peaceful with that
object.
We are not looking to be stressed by holding
too tightly to this object. We are just looking to find
something that the mind is content being with and
then eventually it will stay there on its own. That’s the
first type of practice in our training in concentration, the
21
ability to make the mind peaceful and comfortable
for short periods of time.
There’s another type of concentration - the
fundamental type of concentration or samadhi that is
necessary to develop wisdom and free our minds from
suffering. This type of concentration leads to what is
called a stable mind. The first type of samadhi creates a
mind that is temporarily peaceful, one which gives the
mind a nice rest. The second type of samadhi is a mind
that is stable and can become an observer. The object
of observation can be thousands or millions of objects.
We aren’t concerned about what the objects are. We
are concerned with having a mind that is stable - the
stable observer of everything that arises in the body and
the mind. To make the mind the observer is what we
need in preparation for vipassana meditation, the
practice of gaining insight wisdom into the Truth. And
this wisdom, in turn, will liberate us from suffering.
What is the Truth that liberates us? The Truth is
seeing that this body and mind exhibit the Three
Characteristics: impermanence (the body and mind are
always changing), unsatisfactoriness (in the body and
mind, all states are under oppression by suffering
22
and cannot persist) and nonself (ultimately, nothing
that arises in the mind and body is a self or under
anyone’s control).
Once we achieve the stable mind, the second
type of concentration, then we will be able to gain
insight into the Three Characteristics. This is developing
wisdom, the third of Buddha’s threefold training in
Dhamma. We will observe that everything is always
changing. We will observe that suffering is oppressing
the body and mind all the time and nothing in the
body and mind is satisfactory. We will observe that
nothing that arises or falls is under our control or
anyone’s control, that things arise and fall on their
own according to their own causes and that there
isn’t anyone doing it.

Buddhism’s Unique Focus

If we have correct concentration and if we have

a proper foundation in morality, then the opportunity
for true wisdom and freedom from suffering is there
23
and will happen eventually. The Buddha taught us how
to release our minds from suffering in a permanent way,
right here and now in this lifetime. In order to free our
minds, however, we have to do what is necessary and
appropriate; we must set the right causes for the right
outcome. If we practice correctly, we will have great
results in this lifetime. We shouldn’t think that it will
take lifetimes before we can be free from suffering.
Rather, we have to practice the Dhamma according
to our skills and our abilities, and know what is
appropriate for us at any particular time.
All religions have rituals and teach about keeping
moral standards, about being a good person. What
separates Buddhism from other religions is the
teachings on how to liberate one’s mind from pain and
suffering once and for all. Other religions even have
types of meditation. In the Muslim religion, people
think about God five times a day and make their
minds calm, peaceful and faithful. In the Christian
religion, people come to church and sing together,
which make that minds bright and contented.
Meditation is available in all religions. If practising
meditation and keeping moral standards is all we
24
do, we become a quality person, but it’s still not
enough for lasting happiness. We have to practice the
Dhamma until every last impurity has been washed
away from our heart.
The key in learning how to free oneself from
suffering is gaining wisdom into the truth of things.
Most people are busy trying to make their minds still
or peaceful for short periods of time, and in doing
that they’re not gaining insight into reality. This is the
key difference between practicing Buddhism and
practicing other religions: Buddhism cultivates wisdom
so that we can see reality clearly.

A Precious Opportunity

It’s extremely unlikely that we can achieve

enlightenment or the end of suffering on our own
without a teacher. This is what makes Buddhism all the
more important. We have our teacher and we have
the community of practitioners and monks who have
followed the teacher and reached the same state of
25
purity, the same freedom from suffering. We have
teachers and, therefore, can be taught the way.
There are fewer and fewer Buddhist monks these
days and not all are genuine practitioners. People are
even hired to become a monks if there are not enough
available in areas where no one has volunteered to
give up the material world to be with the Buddha’s
teachings. There are very few true monks who have
spiritual attainments. This makes it difficult to receive
true and genuine teachings on enlightenment and
ending suffering. This is why when we are presented
with the correct teachings and the correct way, it is
a very valuable opportunity that we must not waste.
We have the opportunity to listen to the pure and
honest Dhamma that liberates us from suffering,
so it’s our duty to practice it.
Nirvana - the end of suffering - is something very
real and very true. It’s not just a fable or a story. It’s
something that we practice towards and realise in our
own experience.
Many years ago I traveled through Thailand and
saw very old masters in their 80s and 90s. Their bodies
were deteriorating but their minds were bright, beautiful
26
and happy. I would go into the city and see all kinds of
handsome men and beautiful women looking wealthy,
looking like they had everything, but their minds were
nothing but dirty, greedy, angry, impure and unhappy.
Then I would go see this elderly master in the forest
and his mind was as bright and beautiful as it could
be. Why was this? It was because he had learnt the
threefold training of the Buddha. He had training in
morality, in concentration and in wisdom, and he
practiced until his mind freed itself from suffering.

Struggle No More

Buddhism, this field of study into the body and
mind, is very much a practice. Proper Dhamma practice
has nothing to do with the posture we are sitting or
walking in, whether we are holding a stick or beads,
whether we are sitting very straight with eyes closed, or
any such technicality. If we’re able to see the movement
of the body and the movement of the mind it doesn’t
matter what our physical position is or what we look

27
like when we are practicing. It’s about whether we can
be the observer, the knower, and see the movements
of the body and mind.
Buddhism is also not just about being moral and
watching the breath, or repeating a mantra and making
the mind peaceful. Rather, it’s about walking the path
of wisdom. It’s about getting insights into the truth of
the way things really are, what the true characteristics
of the body and mind are. When we genuinely realise
that the mind and body are impermanent, unsatisfactory
and not controllable, then we will be released from
suffering. We will have no more desire or craving with
regards to this body and mind.
Without wisdom training, when a negative emo-
tional or mental state arises, like sadness or boredom,
we quickly try to do something rectify it, to change it to a
preferred state. We’ll turn on the TV, pick up our phone,
indulge in dessert, or find anything at all that we think
will distract or temporarily please us. We are constantly
struggling, trying to keep the body and mind happy and
comfortable. However, once wisdom sees the truth and
futility of these attempts, there is a happiness that is

28
unimaginable and extraordinary. It is a happiness that
doesn’t depend on anything. This mind doesn’t rely
on anything to make it happy. It’s happy in and of itself
simply because it has released itself, liberated itself,
from suffering. Such is the happiness and peace of one
who has walked the correct path of Dhamma practice
and meditation.

29
 Levels of Happiness
Primary Source: Suan Santidham Temple
December 7, 2012

31
 There are many levels of happiness. Sensual
desire - seeing something, wanting it and getting it - is
the lowest level. Better still is the type of happiness
that comes out of samadhi or concentration. When
we achieve peaceful states of mind through proper
concentration, we can feel a more genuine type of
happiness, a true rest. Then there is a higher quality
happiness, one that is experienced when the mind is
the observer or knower of mental and physical
phenomena. It’s not the happiness of a small child just
looking for pleasure, but the happiness of a true adult
who is walking the path of wisdom and seeing the Truth.
Finally, there is the extraordinary and unimaginable
happiness of nirvana.
When we understand the truth of the way things
are, this extraordinary type of happiness emerges.
The ordinary type of happiness that arises from our
daily activities, like shopping or being with people we
care about, is extremely temporary and isn’t reliable.
It depends on circumstances and on people being a
certain way, so it’s very flimsy. We sacrifice our freedom
with this type of reliance. We aren’t free because we

32
rely on our health, home or our loved ones being a
certain way. We can’t be free when we depend on
circumstances, the outside world, people or things to
make us happy. Eventually, we all get old, get sick and
die. For this reason, the body isn’t a reliable source of
happiness. Can we accept the truth that not everything
will be exactly how we want it, or that we will be
separated from those we love, or that this body gets old,
sick and dies? If we can accept these truths then we
become more free.
We notice that the more we love someone, the
more we suffer. Those of us who have ever had a broken
hearts can see this. In the old days, people used to say
that if we have a cow, we suffer because we have a
cow. These days, we can say that if we have a car, we
suffer because we have a car. In the old days people
would have to wash their cows. These days we have to
wash our cars. We also have to wash this body of ours
and take care of it. We do this because we love these
things and we are attached to these things. We suffer
as a result of our attachment.

33
 For those of us who are married, can we feel that
we’ve given up so much freedom? We may sometimes
feel tired and bored or annoyed, or that we don’t
have the same freshness or inspiration as we once did.
When our happiness relies on other people, we have to
make those people happy. It’s a hapiness that’s totally
infused with suffering, responsibility and burdens.
However, the biggest burden is the attachment to our
own body and our own mind. Who here can see that
the body is a burden? Who here can see that the mind
is a burden? Earlier on in our practice, the body will
seem more of a burden than the mind. Later, the
mind will reveal itself as a great burden.

The Burden of Happiness

Let’s look at the body. Each part of the body has

a vast array of products especially made to take care of
just that area. Let’s consider the hair. How many products
exist to try and make us comfortable or happy with just
that one part of us, just our hair? We need a brush, a
34
comb, a shampoo, a conditioner. Some people have
creams to make the hair straight, creams to make the
hair curly, or creams to keep the colour a certain way or
to dye it. There are so many things to take care of
because we love this body and mind - we are deeply
attached to them. The more we practice, the more we
see that the things we take to be our self (the aspects
of body and mind) are all a burden and a responsibility
to uphold.
We strive all day long to try and make this body
and mind comfortable. We search the world for people
to make us happy. We shift in our chairs to try and bring
the body comfort. The mind and body are always hungry
for more pleasure or more comfort. The mind is always
hungry for activity, entertainment and happiness. When
the mind is hungry, we have try to find something to
entertain it, to appease it, to fill it up and cure the hunger
temporarily. The mind wants things to be comfortable,
fun and happy and it wants to push away the things that
are not comfortable, fun or happy. It always wants
something. We can see that the mind is actually a
greater burden in many ways than the body. The body

35
is just hungry a few times a day. When we feed it, it’s
no longer hungry; yet, meanwhile the mind is still
hungry, it’s always searching. Our attempts at trying to
make the body and mind happy are futile.
To follow the mind and all its desires is tiring. The
mind’s cravings are endless! They even expand past
our individual pleasures to those of entire communities.
The mind engages with social and political causes and
disputes, like those we have with the yellow shirts and
red shirts here in Thailand. If we look closely, we see
that this is just the thirsty mind trying to fulfil its
neverending desires. Just trying to make this body
comfortable is a burden enough, and then we have to
try to fulfil the desires of the mind too. It’s a huge
responsibility and a huge burden.
When the body is hungry, it just wants to be full.
However, when the mind is hungry, it doesn’t want to just
be full - it wants pizza! It wants something fun or happy
to fill it up and satisfy it. The body doesn’t need much.
It just needs a little comfort and a little food to fill it up.
But the mind wants fun! How about clothes? The body
just wants something to cover it and keep it
comfortable, but the mind wants many clothes and
36
certain styles. It wants choices. Our perception of
what’s sufficient is onehundred percent the workings
of the mind. The body doesn’t want all that much but
the mind wants vast amounts of innumerable things.
The Buddha taught us to just take what is sufficient.
The less we want, the less we suffer and the happier we
can be. An enlightened being, an arahant, doesn’t have
any desires beyond just the simple necessities of life.
Thus, the arahant is the happiest.
What do we do in order to wash away all this
desire of the mind that is such a burden and causes so
much suffering? The most superficial way to try and get
rid of these desires, of course, is to do whatever the
desire says. If the desire is to watch a movie, then we
go to watch a movie. This is the easiest way, and it’s
what we normally do. If this is our practice, then we will
see that there is no end to these desires. The fulfilment
of desire is extremely temporary, so it’s not a solution.
Another option is to resist desire. If there is a desire to
eat, then we ignore the desire. If there is a desire to
do something, we don’t do it. We restrain ourselves.
However, these two techniques are both futile.
Instead of doing either of these, the Buddha taught us
37
to know. If the mind is experiencing desire, then know
the mind is experiencing desire. Once we know the truth
of the body and mind, we see that there is no way to
make the mind stop desiring. It’s the very nature of
the mind to want, and it’s the very nature of the mind to
suffer. We believe that if we do what we want or get
what we want, we will be happy. All of the mind’s
desires are geared towards in being happy and
comfortable, but trying to satisfy these desires is
futile because there is no end to them, and no
real satisfaction. There is no opportunity for lasting
happiness when we harbour desire for a physical or
mental state to remain in a certain way. If the
desire itself is suffering and the mind itself suffering,
how then can we expect to feel happier by merely
obliging them?

38
 Happiness in Seeing the Truth

When we see the truth, we see that there is no

chance the mind will be happy in any lasting way; desire
fades away on its own out of this wisdom. Consciousness
loses its attachment to the mind and body and sees
that these are nothing but suffering - it realises there is
no chance of lasting happiness in them. Out of wisdom,
consciousness eventually withdraws from them and
desire never arises again.
The mind that has no more desire is the one that
experiences nirvana. This state of enlightenment is the
happiest state. The moment that consciousness sees
the truth (that the body and mind are nothing but
suffering) is the same moment that it withdraws, the
same moment that desire or clinging is washed away
and the same moment that nirvana is experienced.
We don’t have to pretend or fudge any results
when trying to see that the body is suffering or that the
mind is suffering. The mind and body are suffering
already, in and of themselves. All that we have to do is
see the unbiased truth of the mind and body, and we
will know they are suffering.
39
 We will no longer desire for this body and mind to
be in a lasting happy state because we see clearly that
this is impossible. When we have the wisdom that sees
the truth of this futility, that sees the truth that the body
and mind are of the nature to suffer, then desire will
never arise again.There won’t be any struggle trying
to put the mind in any particular mental or emotional
state. Consciousness will have let go of the mind.

About Nirvana

It is very difficult to find anyone in this world

who has genuine mindfulness as the Buddha taught it.
However, once we do have mindfulness (as will be
explained), it is not difficult to attain nirvana or
enlightenment in this lifetime. Nirvana, the end of
suffering for oneself, is something that is very real
and very possible. If we don’t believe that nirvana
really exists, we are still very, very far away from it.
Nirvana is the state where there is no more desire.

40
Once there is no more desire present, we will know
what nirvana is.
Desire is nothing more than our insatiable wants.
Can we feel that there is always wanting going on within,
one way or another? We want this one moment and
want that the next. We are struggling to try to feel
happy and comfortable all the time, - but we never do
in any lasting or truly satisfying way.
Nirvana is the end of desire. It is the end of
ceaseless wanting. It is the end of fabricating a
deluded reality. It is the end of mentally creating and
perpetuating our own suffering. Nirvana is the end of
craving for anything. It is not an external event or
utopian society. Nirvana is real and is the greatest
happiness. Everyone who tastes it feels this is true.
It is free of the burden of upholding a self. It is free of
attachment to this self. It is free of any mental
impurities. It is free of suffering. But it is not free in the
sense that it is complete absence or nothingness.
The Buddha taught that nirvana exists, and he
also taught the way in which we can enter the state of
nirvana. Let’s not form an idea that nirvana is something

41
very far away, or just a mental concept of perfection,
like a utopia. Talking about nirvana was not the
Buddha’s way of deceiving people into being good
citizens. The Buddha’s teachings are about moving
beyond good, not tricking people into being good. If we
just do good, we may reap good things, but we will still
suffer as good people. The Buddha taught us how
to end suffering entirely and enter nirvana.

Real Happiness Can Be Here and Now

The way to reach nirvana is by learning about

oneself. The things that we call ourself are our body and
our mind. So, we must study our own body and our own
mind, and thereby come to see their true characteristics.
We come to see that the body and mind are just a part
of the world, of nature - they are not us. When we realize
this, we can then let go of our attachment to them.
Upon relinquishing our attachment to body and mind, we
see nirvana. This is not as difficult as one might think.

42
 This is also not a philosophy. Some people think
Buddhism is a philosophy. Others believe it to be
a science. I don’t think it needs to be classified as
any such thing. In all honesty, it is a field of its own.
Buddhism is the study of how to release oneself from
suffering. Once one fully understands this field of
study, he or she will never again feel negatively, and
will no longer suffer. He or she will live in this word
happily without needing to find ways to avoid suffering.
There will be no need to live in the forest or in solitude;
one who understands the Dhamma is happy wherever
he or she is.
Of course, we can be somewhat happy as regular
working folk, but it is a matter of degree. Dhamma
brings a much greater happiness for those who take
the time to practice. Dhamma is not just for monks.
It is universal, for everyone. If we learn to become
aware of our body and mind, we will discover the
greatest happiness, beyond what words can say and
beyond anything imaginable.
Worldly happiness is fleeting. It comes for just a
short time and then is quickly lost. It could be

43
compared to the feelings we experience when we
have our eye on a girl we like, and finally get her
affections. The happiness only lasts temporarily, and
then we get used to her. We may even become bored.
We will look for other things to try to make us happy
again. There is no satiation point, no satisfaction
regarding worldly happiness. It is very different than
the happiness of Dhamma practitioners. The minds
of practitioners experience higher and higher levels
of happiness as their awareness of body and mind
develops, as they get further and further from suffering.
Of those that have practiced according to my
teachings, there is a vast number that now has genuine
mindfulness and is experiencing higher levels of
happiness. There are tens of thousands of people whose
lives have changed. When they report their experiences
to me, they share how much their lives have improved.
They used to suffer a lot and now they suffer minimally.
They used to suffer for long periods of time and now
they suffer only for short periods. Before, they could
be happy at times, but it always relied on others or
on a particular set of circumstances. However, now

44
that they know how to practice the Dhamma correctly,
there is a happiness within that is independent of outer
situations. They are happy in the present moment,
and don’t rely on anyone to feel good. Happiness
that depends on people and things turns us into a
slave. We are never free. If we depend on someone for
happiness, then we have to oblige them to keep them
around. If we need a certain kind of expensive car to
be happy, then when it dies our happiness vanishes.
We have the burden of continuously taking
care of those people and things we depend on.
Worldly happiness cannot compare to happiness
from Dhamma practice. Each instant that there is
mindfulness, there is also happiness. When there is
concentration or samadhi, there is happiness. When
wisdom and insight into reality arises, there is also
happiness. Eventually, when we let go of body and
mind, an extraordinary kind of happiness becomes our
experience. There is a higher level of happiness that
awaits us at each stage.
The Buddhist faithful are very fortunate. We
have a teacher, the Buddha, who has taught the way to

45
attain liberation and this extraordinary happiness.
We will become increasingly happier as we practice.
We don’t have to struggle for years and only get to be
happy at the end. We don’t have to practice in this life
and only benefit in a future life.
Buddhism is quite amazing. If we have mindfulness,
suffering that arises will instantly disappear right in
front of our eyes. If we follow the teachings of the Buddha,
we will be able to liberate ourselves from suffering.
The heaviness of life will be lifted, and we will be
at ease, light and happy. The happiness remains, as what
happens in the world has no bearing on it. This is what
mindfulness can do for us.

46
 Mindfulness in Daily Life
Primary Source: Sukhothai Dhammadhiraja University,
April 29, 2009
 There is no script or advanced planning when I
teach the Dhamma. The teachings are expounded
according to the quality of the hearts and minds of
the listeners at any particular time. If the minds of
the listeners are peaceful, the Dhamma that is taught
will be profound and powerful. However, if our minds
are restless, with our attention jumping around from
this to that, the teachings will be superficial, and will
jump around as well. Dhamma presents itself at a
suitable level for the audience. Teaching about how to
practice Dhamma is quite different from teaching
Dhamma history or scripture. Teaching scripture can be
organized in advanced under topic headings and so
forth. When I sit down to teach Dhamma practice,
I have no idea what will come out of my mouth.
Someone, however, did suggest a title for today’s
talk: “Developing Mindfulness in Daily Life,” which is
indeed the heart of Dhamma practice. Many people
imagine that sitting or walking meditation is what is
meant by Dhamma practice. They think that we have to
surpass regular human behavior. For example, they may
think we have to move very slowly and tenderly. They

48
call moving and walking very slowly Dhamma practice.
They think that if we sit in meditation we must keep
a particular posture, close our eyes and not open
them. They think that we must walk in a specific way
and at a certain rhythm. The truth is that Dhamma
practice has nothing to do with any of this. It is about
having mindfulness. Whenever we have mindfulness,
we can say we are practicing the Dhamma. When we
have mindfulness, we can be said to be putting forth
the proper effort. When there is no mindfulness
present, then there is no effort and no Dhamma
practice.
While mindfulness in daily life is the heart of the
practice, this doesn’t mean that we neglect formal sitting
or walking meditation. We need a formal practice in the
beginning in order to practice developing mindfulness.
Once we have mindfulness, we integrate it in daily life.
Whether we make it or break it depends largely on our
diligence in our practice in daily life. Those who only do
formal practice have a very slim chance of reaping the
fruit of nirvana, of enlightenment.

49
 Walking the Right Path

So, how is it that we can walk the path that the

Buddha laid out for us? We need to practice within the
foundations of mindfulness (the body, feelings, mind
and natural processes). We need to practice vipassana
meditation.
There are two kinds of meditation: samatha and
vipassana. We do samatha we do so that we can make
our minds temporarily peaceful, happy and good. In
vipassana, we are not practicing to be happy, peaceful
or good. Vipassana is about seeing the truth of the
body and mind. We study the body and mind until
we see the truth: that they are impermanent things;
that they are unsatisfactory; and that they are not
who we really are, that they are not us (the Three
Characteristics). When we see these truths, we release
our attachment to the body and mind, and encounter
true and great happiness.
Unfortunately, there are only two main groups of
people in this world: those that don’t practice Dhamma
and are totally lost in the world, and those who do

50
practice but are addicted to samatha. For those of us
who practice, we can do a quick review. If we have
practiced for a few years and our mind can get
peaceful, but then gets busy again, if it just oscillates
between being peaceful and busy, busy and then
peaceful, then we surely haven’t been practicing
vipassana. We’ve just been finding a place of peace
and contentment occasionally. The peace or happiness
of samatha practice is not a permanent thing. There
is no lasting happiness in this world. We are content for
a short period, and then the contentment vanishes.
Once again, samatha is about making the mind
content, peaceful and good or wholesome. Vipassana is
about gaining wisdom. Wisdom is seeing the truth of the
body and mind. In the two types of Dhamma practice,
the objectives are different and so are the methods.
Therefore, we need to be able to see the difference
in our practice, if what we are working towards at
any particular time is samatha or vipassana. If we
can’t see the difference, then most likely we will be
doing samatha even if we think we are engaged in
vipassana.

51
 Many people like watching their breath and
become very good at it. They are able to watch it
continuously without their minds becoming distracted.
If they think this is vipassana, they are quite wrong. In
vipassana one needs to see the Three Characteristics.
So, watching the breath with complete attention, or
watching the abdomen without straying off to think,
or watching one’s feet during walking meditation,
knowing every little movement, is not vipassana.
Vipassana is not just watching the body or mind. The
truth of the body or mind needs to be seen. This is not
easy to understand unless seen in one’s own
experience. And one who sees the truth of body and
mind regularly is on his or her way to the first stage
of enlightenment.
Can we see that our minds are moving around
from here to there all the time? As we listen to me
speak here, notice that sometimes your mind moves
towards me. Sometimes the mind moves to intently
listen - it stops watching me and moves to listening
instead. After listening to a few words, the mind
then switches to thinking, then listening and then
thinking again. See? It moves around all the time,
52
changes all the time. Once we can see this process
quickly and clearly enough, we’ll see that the mind (or
consciousness) is arising and falling. It arises at the eye
and then at the ear and then in thinking, all very quickly
from moment to moment.

Gaining Mindfulness

Let’s gradually become aware of the workings of

the body and the mind. It is not too hard. It is much
easier than we think. Firstly, we need genuine
mindfulness to arise. To practice this, we need to pick
a type of meditation practice and learn to become
aware. In order to see the truth of the body and mind,
we need to at least come to see the body and mind.
If we forget about the body and mind, we have no
chance of seeing the truth of them. So, let’s become
aware. Being aware of body and mind is the beginning
of our practice towards vipassana.
Normally, our minds are lost all the time: lost in
seeing things, lost in listening to things, lost in thinking,
53
lost in smelling, tasting and bodily sensations. For
example, we can be sitting and get itchy. Then we go to
scratch the itch and feel some relief. This whole process
usually goes unnoticed. We don’t see that the body is
scratching and the mind is feeling relieved. It happens
automatically and we totally forgot about our body
and mind. Forgetting about the body and mind can be
called mindlessness. Mindfulness, in the Buddhist
sense, means knowing what the body and mind are
doing. Mindlessness is forgetting about what they
are doing.
Let’s reflect on how often we forget about our
bodies and minds. Notice that when we think, we forget
about the body and mind. We cannot feel what they
are doing. We have a body, but it is as if it is gone. We
have a mind, but it is as if it is gone. All we know is the
content of our thoughts.
Mindfulness is that which sees or recollects what
is going on in these Four Foundations of mindfulness: in
the body, in the feelings, in the mind or in seeing reality
or the natural processes occurring within the body and
mind. Put simply, mindfulness is what senses or knows

54
the movement of the body or the movement of the
mind in any given moment.
The first step is in our practice is to achieve
mindfulness. The second step is to practice in order
to achieve wisdom. In order to build mindfulness, we
need to watch the body and mind as well as their
movements. The body moves, and we become aware
of the movement of the body. The mind moves, it goes
off to think, and we notice the mind go off to think
again and again. We build mindfulness and we also
build correct concentration, a stable concentration
that doesn’t slip into thought or anything else.
We have to practice to have mindfulness, stable
concentration and wisdom.

When Mindfulness Sees

Watch the movement of the body and watch the

movement of the mind in order to achieve mindfulness.
If suffering arises in the body, then we notice that. If we
have suffering or happiness that arises in the mind, then
55
we notice that as well.
Those who watch the mind, who observe the
different feelings and emotions that arise, achieve
mindfulness. They can also achieve proper
concentration, if they are able to watch the mind and
see as quickly as possible when the mind goes off to
think again and again. For example, if craving arises in
the heart, we know that craving has arisen in the
heart. We have mindfulness in that moment. Then
craving disappears from the heart, and we know that
craving has disappeared from the heart. We then
have mindfulness again for that moment. Whatever
good or bad, wholesome or unwholesome state arises
in the mind, we know that it has arisen. When it goes
away, we know it’s gone away.
When craving disappears, it’s possible that there
is no craving left; however, there may be anger that’s
there instead, so we know that there’s anger. Sometimes
our mind or heart has no unwholesomeness in it. It’s
just a moment that we can say is the result of good
karma. The mind works in successive moments,
moving very, very quickly. In a moment when the eye

56
sees something, there might be nothing unwholesome
in the mind. There’s just pure seeing in that moment.
It’s just the result of karma that we come to see a
particular thing. In the next moment we may interpret
what it is that we see and like it, dislike it, crave it, or
fear of it. Then the mind becomes unwholesome again.
If we can know the body and the mind in a continuous
way, our mindfulness becomes stronger and stronger.
We achieve correct concentration, where the mind is
stable and able to watch whatever the body and mind
do without slipping down into them. The mind is
stable and rooted in awareness.
Mindfulness has the function of knowing what it
is that has happened in the body or mind. We move,
and mindfulness knows that the body has moved.
Something arises in the mind or the heart, like the mind
wandering off to think, for example, and mindfulness
is that which recognizes what has just occurred; in this
case, that the mind has just gone off to think. If we are
able to see this quickly and often, stable concentration
or the observer will arise and we’ll be able to see
into reality without interfering with it. We’ll have a

57
stable, awake mind that is able to see what arises and
falls. To walk the path of wisdom, weneed to have
the mindfulness that is able to see, in a stable and
unbiased way, whatever arises and falls within the
body and the mind.

Starting 0ut

When we start off our Dhamma practice, the best

thing for us to do is pick a home base for the mind as a
place from which to observe what the mind does. If
we are good at watching the breath, then we should
choose that as the home base. We know the breath is
moving in and out in a comfortable and easy manner.
For those who like to do Buddhist chanting, then
do so in a comfortable and easy way. However, do not
just chant so that the mind will become peaceful. For
those who like watching the rising and falling of the
abdomen, then choose that as the home base. For
those that enjoy walking meditation, watch the body
walk. For those who enjoy watching the body posture
58
and positions, then choose the body. For those who
like making hand movements for meditation, then let
that be your home base.
We choose this home base so that we can know
what the mind is doing. For example, when we are
comfortably watching the breath, the mind will move
towards the breath or the nose. Our job is to know that
this has happened. The mind will also move into
thought. Our job is to know when this has happened
as well. If the mind is happy or unhappy, wholesome
or unwholesome (good or bad), then know that this is
so. Breathe and observe what the mind is doing or
feeling, or mentally recite or chant a prayer or affirmation
and observe what the mind does as it chants. We may
chant a few words and then the mind goes off to think
about something else. We should know that the mind
has gone off the chant to think. We may chant and
start feeling at peace. We know that the mind is at
peace. We may chant and the mind becomes restless
and busy. We then know that this is so. We chant and
notice the mind’s changing feelings, moods and
antics.

59
 This is the practice to help us become mindful.
We could equally choose the rising and falling of the
abdomen. We watch and notice when the mind moves
in and clings to the abdomen, when it goes off to think,
and notice whatever else the heart or mind feels or
does. This is what we should practice formally. We
should pick a home base for the mind. It can be
anything benign that we feel is enjoyable to be with.
It could be the mantra “buddho, buddho” or any sort
of chant. It could be the breath, the abdomen, the
body’s position, walking, or anything else we like. We
don’t choose this home base to make the mind still.
We practice so that we can see the mind’s movement,
its changing behaviour.
As I just explained, we may opt to think the words
“buddho, buddho,…” in our mind as a mantra. Very
quickly, the mind moves to think about something else,
and we know that it has done this. Then we recite
“buddho, buddho” a little longer and the mind becomes
peaceful. We are just to know that the mind is
peaceful. Then we think “buddho, buddho” and the
mind gets very busy, and we know this is so as well. If we
choose the breath as our home base, then we breathe
60
comfortably and notice when the mind goes towards
or into the breath, when it goes off to think, and when
it feels joyful or happy or anything else.
We need to choose a home base as the main
object to notice. Normally, the mind runs around from
thing to thing all day long. It is hard to see what it is
doing. If we pick a home base, we can see what the
mind is doing from there. If we have such a home,
then we can see if the mind moves towards it to focus
in, or away from it to think. We can see what the mind
does more easily and clearly. If we don’t have such
a home base, it is hard to see what the mind is doing
because it is so busy moving around all the time.
If we are not good at watching any particular
object as the home base, the best thing to do is choose
a phrase to chant. Or, we could even choose to listen
to Dhamma talks on a CD. When the mind goes off to
think, know so. When the mind hears something funny
and feels giddy, then know it feels so. When it hears
something complicated and feels confused, know it
feels confused. We should practice knowing the
mental and emotional states in the mind as often as
we can.
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 Making Mindfulness Automatic

Practicing to see the mental and emotional states

that arise in the mind will help us to gain mindfulness.
Mindfulness does not arise out of controlling the mind.
The mind is non-self (anatta). No one can demand mind-
fulness to arise. Mindfulness will arise if the cause for
it to arise is present. The reason mindfulness arises is
because a phenomenon (a physical, mental or emotional
state) is well remembered. It is well remembered
when we practice recognizing the state often. So, we
need to watch the mind often. We choose a home base,
watch the mind move, and recognize what it does.
In practice, we may choose to chant and watch
the mind go off the chanted phrases to think, again and
again. The mind will begin to quickly recognize what
this phenomenon of going off to think is like. When this
phenomenon is well-remembered, mindfulness will
arise on its own to notice the mind has gone off, even
if it does so for just an instant. Mindfulness arises by
remembering phenomena well, not by commanding it
to. This truth of the cause of mindfulness is very clearly

62
stated in the Higher Teachings of the Buddha (Abhi-
dhamma; TiraSañña).
Our job is to keep watching the mind until one
day mindfulness arises on its own. When it does, we
are conscious. We are aware. Once we are aware, the
whole idea of different schools of practice - such as
those that teach to watch the mind or those that keep
to watching the body or breath - all goes out the
window. Once we are aware, there is no choosing
what to be aware of.
We may have the body, the sensations or the
mind as a starting point, as a place from which to see
the workings of the mind. Once we’ve practiced this
enough, there is no choice about what we will be
mindful of. In any given moment there is either
mindfulness or there isn’t. Sometimes mindfulness
recognizes a body movement, sometimes it recognizes a
sensation, and sometimes an emotion. We have no
choice in the matter. If we are only knowing within
either the body or the mind, we are moving out of
vipassana meditation and into samatha. When genuine
mindfulness arises, it does so on its own with regards

63
to whatever phenomenon it sees in that moment, be
it of body, feeling or mind.

When Wisdom Sees

When I was waiting to speak today, someone

came to me to report on her practice. She said she was
showering or brushing her hair and she could see clearly
for a moment that the body was not her. Mindfulness
saw the body on its own with no intention for mindful-
ness to arise. It saw that she was not the body.
Mindfulness can also recognize a feeling or any
mental state and see that that state is not us either.
When genuine mindfulness arises, we will start to see
that the body is breathing out, not “I” am breathing
out. We will see the body is breathing in, not “I” am
breathing in. We will see the body standing, walking,
sitting or lying down, not “I” am standing, walking,
sitting or lying down. The body will not appear as us.
When a pleasant or unpleasant feeling arises, it will

64
be seen as just something that comes in and won’t
appear as “I” am feeling unpleasant. When good or
bad states appear in the heart or mind, such as greed
or anger, it will be seen that the mind is greedy or
angry, not that “I” am greedy or angry. We will see
that all phenomena which arise in the body and mind
are not a personal matter; they are not “me” or “mine”.
Once we have correct concentration or a stable
mind, we can see everything arising and falling in
front of our eyes: happiness arises and falls, suffering
arises and falls, anger arises and falls. When we are
walking the path of wisdom, we can see that everything
is changing, arising and falling in front of our eyes
in our direct experience. We keep watching this
over and over again, and one day the wisdom will
arise that all things are impermanent, unsatisfactory or
that there is no self here or anywhere else. To do
this we have to keep watching the truth, seeing reality
over and over again. One day, the mind will accept
the truth.
If we’re watching the breath, for example, we
can see that when we breathe out, it only happens

65
temporarily and then we’re breathing in again. The out
breath goes away and the in breath returns. The same
is true for happiness, comfort, and discomfort in
the body - we feel comfortable, then uncomfortable
and then comfortable again. The mind is the same.
The mind will feel comfortable and then
uncomfortable, oscillating back and forth all the time;
we can see that no state is permanent. We call this
impermanence: it’s there and then it’s gone, it’s there
and then gone.
If we see that these things are arising and falling
and under anyone’s control, or not “me” or “mine”,
we are seeing nonself. In our experience, we will then
see that all the different components that we believed
to be us separate out from each other. They become
distinguishable from each other and we’ll see that
there isn’t a person here but there’s just a bunch of
separate processes, like a body, sensations, feelings
and an awareness that can be conscious of all these
things. There is no person. If we see from the perspective
that none of these things can persist, that each thing
that arises also has to fall, then we’re also seeing the
aspect or characteristic of unsatisfactoriness.
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 We’ve heard of the Three Characteristics:
impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self. They
are all perspectives on the same reality or truth.
If we see things from even one of these three
perspectives, we will gain wisdom into the true nature
of things. We can’t control what perspective will be
experienced, either. It all happens on its own.

The Whole Picture

We need to start off by finding a home base that

we are able to comfortably observe as a place from
which to gauge the mind. Any object is fine. If we like
to watch the body walking, then we should choose
that. If we like chanting then choose that. Then, we see
what the mind does from there as much as we can.
Mindfulness will start to arise and know on its own
what the body and mind are doing. Mindfulness will
sometimes see the body, sometimes see feelings, and
sometimes see other mental behaviour. We will see that
there is no us. The body is not us. The feelings and
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sensations, whether pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, are
not us. The mental states, whether good or bad, are not
us. There is no us. One with the wisdom that sees
clearly that there is no me is called a stream-enterer.
This is the first level of wisdom, a stage at which it is
accepted that there is no self.
When we reach the intermediate stage of
wisdom, we see the truth that the body is nothing but
suffering. The way to see this is not by doing anything
different than the earlier stages. We watch the body and
the mind in exactly the same way we have been.
Mindfulness sees what the body is doing sometimes
and what the mind is doing at other times. Mindfulness
works automatically, so we cannot decide what it will
recognize.
We keep watching and one day the mind will
have seen enough of the truth to reach a full
understanding. It will come together and become
very concentrated at one point. At that point it will
understand clearly once and forever that the body is
nothing but suffering. The eyes, ears, nose, tongue and
the rest of the body are simply masses of suffering.

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 Who here can see that the body is suffering? For
those of us that raised our hands, do we see that the
body is utterly and completely suffering, or that it is
suffering sometimes and comfortable at others?
We can see then that we don’t yet fully
understand that the body is always suffering. We see
that it is suffering sometimes, not all the time. Like
now, if we keep our hand raised we will start to suffer!
We can put our hands down now. (Laughter)
So, let’s be careful not to hastily conclude that
we understand the Dhamma. The Buddha taught that
the body and mind are suffering. More specifically, the
five aggregates that comprise body and mind (body,
feelings, memory, mental formations and consciousness)
are suffering. Yet, we cannot see this truth until we
have reached the later stages of enlightenment.
Those that can see the body is nothing but suffering
are called non-returners (anagami). Those that can see
that the mind is nothing but suffering are called
undefiled ones or fully enlightened beings (arahant).
Everyone else sees that the body and mind are happy
sometimes and suffering at others.

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 If we continue to have mindfulness, eventually
we will see that the body is suffering all the time. There
are only two possibilities: it is suffering a lot, or
suffering a little. The mind will see this on its own. Once
it does, we will no longer be attached to the eyes, ears,
nose, tongue and the rest of the body. If there is no
more attachment to the eyes, then there will
be no attachment to what the eyes see. If there is
no more attachment to the ears, then there will be no
attachment to what they hear. If the nose is not attached
to, then scents will not be attached to either. If the
tongue is not attached to, then there will be no
attachment to flavour.
The reason we are attached to the body is
because we adore seeing forms, hearing sounds,
smelling scents, tasting flavours and feeling tactile
objects. We are attached to these things. Yet, when the
wisdom arises that the body is nothing but suffering,
we will relinquish attachment to all the senses and
what they make contact with. There will be no more
craving for or aversion to anything that is seen, heard,
smelled, tasted or touched. This is the non-returner

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stage of enlightenment, the intermediate level of
wisdom where there is no more sensual desire. This
phenomenon of no more sense desire arises from
seeing the truth that the body is suffering.

Advanced Wisdom Regarding the Mind

Now I’ll describe the advanced level of wisdom.

Just like at school, learning the Dhamma has beginner,
intermediate and advanced levels. At the advanced
level, we see that the mind is a mass of suffering. Can
some of us here see that the mind is nothing but
suffering? Of course not. We haven’t seen that the body
is nothing but suffering yet, so we surely haven’t seen
this truth regarding the mind.
What we listeners here will notice is that we
feel that the mind is happy sometimes and suffering
at others. So, can we understand that we are not seeing
in accordance with reality? One who sees that the
body and mind (the five aggregates) are nothing

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but suffering will wash away desire completely.
Then, no desire, attachment or suffering ever arises
again. The cause of suffering is desire: the desire to
make the body and mind happy and comfortable,
and the desire to make the body and mind free of
suffering.
Once we see clearly and directly that the body
and mind are nothing but suffering, we have no more
desire to make them happy. Desire vanishes because
we know that it is impossible to make the body
and mind happy. Desire vanishes because we
know that trying to make the body and mind free
of suffering is futile. There will be no more craving
and no more aversion to whatever arises of body
and mind. There will be no more demands for the
body and mind to be or feel any particular way.
The moment we see the truth clearly is the same
moment we release the cause of suffering (desire). The
moment that the cause of suffering is eliminated, the
end of suffering or nirvana is realised. This all happens
in the same instant, which is called the moment of the
Noble Path.

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 Let’s practice the Dhamma. Let’s become aware
of the workings of the body and mind. Let’s observe
that the body that stands, walks, sits and lies down is
not “me” or “my” body. The body that stands, walks,
sits and lies down is not us. Let’s observe the workings
of the mind. We observe it feel happy, unhappy, good
and bad, and see that it is not us. It is not us that gets
angry; the mind gets angry. If we keep practicing we
will see that there is no us in the body or the mind, or
anywhere else. When we can see that there is no us
to be found, we become a stream-enterer, at the first
stage of enlightenment.
Then, we keep practicing by watching the body
and watching the mind. One day, the wisdom arises
that sees the truth clearly: the body is nothing but
suffering. All a tachment to the body is then eliminated,
including the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. This, in
turn, means that there is no attachment to anything
seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched. There is no
more craving for or aversion to anything contacted by
way of the senses. It is the end of sensual desire. This is
the intermediate stage. It is a stage where there is

73
tremendous happiness in the stable awareness that is
present. The mind is content in awareness and sees that
the mind - that is thinking, making stories and fabricating
a false reality - is suffering. So the work isn’t done yet.
In the advanced stage, wisdom sees that the
mind is nothing but suffering, whether it is in an aware
state or not. The mind is let go of. It can be said that
the mind is returned to the world or to nature. It is a
miraculous event, and it is surely hard to understand
how this happens. Let’s just listen for now and keep
practicing. One day, this miraculous event could happen
in our own experience. Once the mind is returned to
the world, there is no suffering ever again. The thing
that we are most attached to, the thing that we hold
to be ourselves most, is our mind. The stage where the
mind is seen as nothing but suffering is the highest
level of wisdom.
At first, we practice until we can see that the
body and mind are not us, not a self. At the intermediate
stage, we practice until we see that the body is nothing
but a mass of suffering. Then at the final stage, we
practice until we see that the mind is nothing but
suffering. This practice isn’t as hard as one may think.
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 The Importance of Practicing in
Daily Life: My Story

I have practiced since I was young, long before I

was a monk. When I was seven years old, I learned from
Venerable Father Lee in Samutprakan province in
Thailand. When I was just a child, he taught me to
practice samatha by watching the breath and to recite
“buddho”, as I did. I practiced every day. After a few
years, Venerable Father Lee passed on and I didn’t
have a teacher to help me progress past my samatha
practice. So, I continued with samatha, making the mind
very peaceful for periods. I did this for over 20 years and
didn’t progress at all. With samatha, no wisdom can arise
to free the mind from suffering. The mind would get
peaceful and free from suffering for a short time, but
once the feeling would wear off, I’d feel suffering again.
So then I’d watch the breath to make the mind peaceful
again. If we only practice samatha, we just go back and
forth between feeling good and bad, free of suffering
and then suffering again. I had no idea how to
practice vipassana at the time.

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 Finally on February 6, 1982, I went to visit
Venerable Grandfather Dune in Surin Province. He
finished his meal and came out to his balcony where I
waited. I paid my respects and then told him that I’d
like to practice the Dhamma. He shut his eyes and sat
still for almost an hour. He was very old and had
just eaten… I thought he was taking a nap! I didn’t
know much at the time, all I could do was samatha
meditation. I wondered when he would wake up and
teach me. Finally, he opened his eyes and began. The
first thing he said is that Dhamma practice is not difficult;
it is only difficult for those who don’t practice. He told
me that I’ve studied enough books and it is now time
to study my mind. This meant that I should start to see
what was going on in the heart and mind. He didn’t
mean to analyze it, try to control it, or try to create any
favorable state. He meant for me to just study it and
see the truth of it. Whatever arises, we just know
what has arisen. We are not to be the producer of
what happens, or a composer. We are not to be a critic
or a director of the drama of our life.
He taught me to watch my mind. Before this, all
I did was watch the breath and body, but I didn’t like
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watching the body. Now I was being instructed to watch
what happened in my mind. Well, I did what I was told.
At the time I was a government worker and
worked Monday to Friday. One thing I noticed was that
the moment I would wake up and recall what day it
was, the emotions in the mind would change. When I
would wake up and remember that it was Monday,
the mind would feel lethargic and unenergetic. When
I’d wake up on Friday, the mind would feel fresh and full
of energy. However the mind would feel, I would know
that it felt this way. If I’d wake up knowing it is Friday
and feeling fresh, and then remember that it was a long
weekend, I’d feel even fresher. Does anyone share
these sentiments? Everyone does! We wake up and
think it’s Friday andfeel great, and then realise we
were wrong and that it is only Wednesday! Oh, how
quickly the mind turns to disappointment. We can see
that suffering then arises. This is the way to watch
the mind.
At the lunch hour, we go to the cafeteria and
see they are cooking our favourite food. The mind feels
pleased. The next day there is nothing that we enjoy on
the menu. We may complain, “Why does this cook not
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think of something more original? It is the same boring
stuff all the time.” Our mind has aversion. Our job is to
know that the mind has aversion. Our job is not to know
what food is on the menu today; it is to know what
feeling arose in our heart.
We see a certain food and our mind feels a
certain way. We smell a certain food and our mind feels
another way. We know the feeling that arises in the
mind (or heart) after the event. This is the practice of
mindfulness in our daily life. It has nothing to do with
sitting and shutting out the world. Wherever our life
takes us, that is the place we practice. So, if we are
selecting food, know what feelings arise. We may be
happy that they have what we like but when we taste it,
it isn’t any good at all! Our emotion changes. Has this
happened to any of us? We see something that looks
delicious, then put it in our mouth and find it disgusting.
And we feel great about that! I’m just joking. We may
complain that the cook is lousy. Our mind is disliking,
so we are to just know that the mind is disliking.
This is how I would practice when I wasn’t busy
working or having to think. I’d go for a walk at lunch-

78
time after eating. I’d walk around and notice the mind
going off to think, watching the body walking and
noticing impurities arising in the mind. When we do
this, we notice that whatever arises does so of its own
accord. No one ordered or planned what arose to be
there. Things justcome and go on their own. We just
keep watching in this way, in a relaxed and comfortable
way with no expectations and no thought to stop. We
just keep practicing. If we don’t enlighten in this
lifetime, we keep practicing in the next one.
Travelling to or from work, we get in the car and
run into a traffic jam. We catch a red light. How do we
feel? We feel frustrated, right? Then there’s another
red, and yet another. We start getting really annoyed.
When we get greens, we feel glad.
If we hit a yellow light and have to break quickly
and stop first at the red, how do we feel? Sometimes
we get angry, right? Yet, if we are the tenth car in the
line at a red light, how do we feel then? Sometimes
we feel even better than if we had to break suddenly
and be the first! If we are the 50th car, we may feel
totally neutral when we see the light turn green as we

79
know we have no chance of making it. I hope it is
becoming clear that Dhamma practice can be done in
real life just like this, and real results will come. The
main distinction between practitioners who reach the
stages of enlightenment and those who don’t is this:
the ones who do, know how to practice in daily life.
They do not overlook its importance.
It is a mistake to think that Dhamma practice is
about shutting our eyes and ears and sitting in the
forest. This is not necessary at all. Practicing Dhamma
is about studying the body and mind and learning
their true characteristics. We don’t have to go to a
temple to have a body and a mind. Wherever we are,
are body and mind always there to study. So we can
practice absolutely anywhere.
How many hours can we do sitting or walking
meditation? Most of our lives are spent doing regular
daily things. So, if we only practic Dhamma when we
go to a temple or on a meditation retreat, or even
formally at home for a short while each day, then we
are not spending enough time at it. Most of us neglect
our practice for the larger portion of the day, often in

80
favour of meaningless and frivolous things.
I never neglected to practice when I was a
working man. When I was a young employee and
couldn’t yet afford a car, I would practice at the bus
stop. A bus would stop and be totally crammed with
people. I would feel disappointed. Sometimes a bus
would be coming with no one on it. I would feel
delighted, only to find that it was not in service. I’d have
to watch it pass right by me! The delight would quickly
change to anger. Of course the bus was empty in the
middle of the route because it doesn’t pick up people!
It is pretty logical. This is a great example of proper
practice in daily life. I see the bus coming and feel
happy, then it doesn’t stop and I feel angry. The job is to
know phenomena, in this case, the feelings that arise.
In vipassana we have to see phenomena in the
present moment. We have to see the phenomena arising
and falling right in front of our eyes. If, for example,
fear arises in the heart and mindfulness sees it, the
fear disappears. We can see that a moment ago the
fear was there and now it’s gone. We see it fall away
right in front of our eyes. When the fear disappears

81
just for a moment the mind is the stable observer - but
then we get lost in thought again.
When we get lost in thought, we get angry about
what we think about. When the mind thinks something
good or bad, it’s not in our control. When we dislike
someone very much, when we hate them, we think
about them a lot. If we love them very much, we think
of them a lot, too. However, if we’re impartial toward
them, we don’t think of them at all. Can we see that?
When we’re newlyweds we think of our partner all
the time. Years later, when we are more indifferent to
our spouse, we don’t think of them very much at all.
When our husband or wife is sitting across the dinner
table and he or she has a new haircut, we don’t even
notice. We’ve become equanimous to our spouse!
We used to think he or she was beautiful but now we
find the food that arrives in front of us much more
inviting!
This is the easy way to practice mindfulness in
daily life; it’s suitable for busy modern lives like most
of us have. We don’t have time to sit for long or do
tons of walking meditation. Instead, we gradually get to

82
know the feelings and emotions that are always
changing. One moment we feel pleasant, the next
unpleasant. One moment our mind is wholesome, the
next it is impure. We are to just know what arises in
the heart or mind, and not try to control it. We should
not try to make the mind wholesome, happy or peaceful.
We should just watch it changing.

Begin Now

Let’s remember and recite what I’m about to say:

From now on, I am going to watch and see the
changing nature of the emotions. I’ll watch in a relaxed
and enjoyable way. Soon we will see that the mind is
happy one moment and unhappy the next, good one
moment and not so good the next. It just cycles around
like this. Happiness stays just for a short period and
then disappears. Discontent stays just for a short period
and then disappears. Greed, anger, aimless thinking -
they all stay for a short period and then disappear.

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Let’s keep seeing over and over again that everything
that arises in the mind also disappears. One day the
mind will conclude on its own that it is the nature
of all things to arise and then fall. This is a truth that
the Buddha taught us to see.
One who sees, in one’s own experience, the truth
that whatever arises also falls, is known as a stream-
enterer at the first stage of enlightenment. He or she
sees that all things arise and fall, and understand that
there is nothing that is a permanent self.
So let’s practice mindfulness in daily life as I have
described. Let’s get to know what feelings arise and
not refuse any of them. Let’s know when anger has
arisen, know when the mind is busily thinking, know
when the mind is upset, and know when the mind is
pleased or displeased. Let’s keep working at this
regularly.
Some people say it is hard to watch the mind.
Actually, it is really easy. Is there anyone here that
doesn’t know what anger is? Has anyone listening here
never been angry? Has anyone never been greedy? We
know what anger or greed are like. Do we know what
a wandering mind is like? Have we ever been restless?
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Disgruntled? Sad? Jealous? Scared? Worried? We are
feeling these things all the time! Our duty is to notice
whatever emotion or mental state has arisen in the
heart or mind. If we don’t understand what I’m talking
about now, and feel a bit bored, then just know the
heart (or mind) feels this way. But it is very rare
indeed that anyone who listens to me feels bored!
(Laughter)
Can we all notice that when we laughed just
now our hearts opened up and felt clearer? Can we also
take note that at that moment we were not aware of
our body and mind? Let’s make sure to be aware by
noticing the changes in the emotions and mental states
as much as we can.
This is what my teacher taught me and what I
practiced. I watched and saw that the emotions change
all the time. One moment the mind is happy or good
and the next it is suffering or bad. Let’s keep watching
like this because within days, months, or years, one of
the stages of enlightenment is sure to be attained.
At each of the four stages, when the mind is ripe
for enlightenment, the mind actually leaves the regular
world for a few moments. In the regular world, the mind
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is moving around quickly from sight to sound to thought
and so on. It is in the world of sense desire, looking for
pleasure through the body and its eyes, ears, nose, tongue
and tactile senses. This regular world is not where the
mind enlightens. The mind moves into jhana, a high
degree of concentration. Even if we have never practiced
entering the jhanas before, the mind will do so on its
own when it is ready. The mind then decides once and
for all that whatever arises, also falls. It goes through a
short process, and when the mind comes out of this
process and back into the regular world, the feeling that
there is a “me” disappears forever.
For all those of us who follow the Buddha’s
teachings, we need to make a goal. Let’s be set on
at least attaining the first stage of enlightenment in
this lifetime. We should not think that it is too
difficult to attain. Our duty is to cultivate the cause
for enlightenment, and when the mind is ready
enlightenment will happen on its own. The cause for
the first stage of enlightenment to happen, where
we accept that there is no self, is to have mindfulness
that sees the body and mind as they are. Especially for

86
city folk, it is important to watch the ceaseless flux in
emotions. Then, one day we’ll see that there is no us.
Let’s give it a try, and see that it isn’t as hard as
we think. I’ve taught enough for today, so let me just
summarize. Firstly, let’s not let the mind stray. Whenever
the mind wanders, we forget about our body and mind.
Secondly, let’s not practice meditation in a stressed or
forceful way. Let’s not control the body or control the
mind. Let’s be aware that there is a body and there is a
mind, and be careful of the mind that wanders off. When
the mind strays, we lose awareness. At the same time,
we shouldn’t focus in or stand on guard waiting to see
what happens. That is stressful and incorrect. We simply
don’t wander off and don’t force the mind still either.
We just feel what it is that is going on. We are aware of
the body and mind, and the changing emotions and
mental states. We are aware in a light-hearted way. We
just feel or know. We don’t think about it and we don’t
force it or focus in on anything. If we practice correctly,
one day wisdom into the truth will arise. If we exercise
control, there will not be wisdom. Everything will
become stiff and still.

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 If we feel confused when listening to me now,
we just know that we are confused. It’s that easy. If
we are confused, then we know it. That is the correct
practice. When the mind wanders off, we know that it
has. Let’s not try to force it to stay put; that is an exercise
in futility. No one can make the mind stop wandering
for long. The mind is not truly under our control; it is not
us or ours. So, if the mind wanders off let’s just know it
over and over again. Let’s know when the mind is happy
too. Many of us now listening are becoming aware of
their feelings, and the mind is feeling delighted. We are
to know that this happiness has arisen. Let’s just know
and not interfere with what goes on.
So, that’s the practice. It is not hard at all. We
willsee that the Buddha’s path to enlightenment is
something accessible to anyone who wishes to walk it.
It is not beyond the reach of a regular human being to
arrive at this most worthy destination.

88
 A Conversation with
Venerable Pramote

Student: When I’m looking out at the world, I see the

view much more than I’m seeing my mind. The knowing
is just for a moment, and then I’m looking out again.
Sometimes I am aware that looking is happening for
longer. But I’m not sure if I am doing it right.

VP: The way you are watching your mind is not quite
correct. It is almost there, but you are watching too
purposefully.

Student: Sometimes I look out, and I am not aware that

I’m looking out. But I can feel that I am seeing.

VP: When you know that you are looking, it is not a

natural knowing. It is still a little overdone, which makes
it dull.

Student: Sometimes I want to come back to watching

the mind.

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VP: Don’t do that. If you want to, just know there is
wanting. Once there is wanting, see the wanting. That
is watching the mind!

Student: I have trouble seeing the wanting clearly.

I know I’m wanting, but I can’t quite sense anything.

VP: Just that is enough. Know there is wanting, and

then when it is gone know it is gone. It doesn’t have to
go further than that.

Student: The mental objects are often weak. I can barely

see the wanting at all.

VP: That doesn’t matter. Just see what you can. It

doesn’t matter which of the four foundations of
mindfulness (body, feelings, mind, Dhamma) we watch.

Student: Sometimes when I come back to watch my

mind, the wanting is already gone.

VP: If you come back to watch your mind intentionally,

you should know that you are bringing it back. Here,
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greed has arisen; a defilement has arisen.

Student: When I intentionally come back to watching

the mind, I know there is wanting to do it, but then
the original mental phenomenon that I came back for
becomes so weak that there is nothing left to watch.

VP: It is so weak because it is something of the past. That

phenomenon has fallen away already.

Student: But the wanting seems to stay because it went

unnoticed from the start.

VP: So, how do you know that you are wanting to watch
the mind? That is the knowing we need. We don’t need
to watch wanting in any detail. We just need to know
there is wanting. A few days ago, a child was listening
to me talk about seeing the defilements and asked,
“When we see them, what do they look like? Do they
have big scary eyes?” I answered that we don’t see their
body or shape; we just know when they have arisen.
She replied, “Ooh, then I see them just fine.”

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Student: When I listen to you talk, I am still watching
my mind too purposefully, right?

VP: Yes, a little overdone, a little more than natural. Can

you see? Your mind is rendered a bit dull.

Student: If this is so, what should I do about it?

VP: There is nothing to do. Merely know it, just the way
it is. Don’t hate it either. If you do hate it, know you are
hating it. If you want to fix it, know you are wanting
to fix it. Just follow each phenomenon with knowing,
as much as you can notice.In vipassana, we can only
know as much as we are able to. There isn’t a standard
by which we need to follow regarding how many
phenomena we need to know. “Shoulds” are just our
own expectations. Just know what you can of whatever
occurs naturally.

Student: I can’t seem to separate my body from my mind.

VP: Because you still want a separation. I keep saying

that we cannot make anything happen. Just know. Just
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know that you want the mind and body to separate.
That is all you need to do. Separation will occur, or not,
according to its own causes. What is the cause of this
attachment? You are forcing the practice too much, as I
have said, and it is making the mind dull.

Student: When I am looking out at things, does that

mean I don’t have an inner awareness? Does that mean
I am “sending my mind out”?

VP: No. In your case, you don’t totally let your mind go
out. You are scared to let it out, so you pull it back a bit.

Student: Well, if I let it out it will stay out a long time;

it will get lost in thought.

VP: Let the mind get lost. Then when it is lost, just know
so.

Student: But it gets lost for so long.

VP: See? It is too long, right? It should be shorter,

shouldn’t it? There is the word “should” again. Too
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much, too little, too long, too short - they all come from
our expectations. What can be done so that you are lost
for shorter periods of time? If your mind recognizes
mental states with precision, it will get lost for shorter
periods and mindfulness will come in more often.

Everyone please consider what I say now as

homework: Whatever method of meditation we
presently practice, please continue it. Do it diligently.
The only methods I don’t recommend are those where
we are watching something outside ourselves, like
looking at a candle flame. These styles are not relevant
to watching our body and mind. It is too difficult to
come back inside and see the body and mind with
such methods. If our practice is relevant to the body
and mind, then please continue it. I recommend that
at night we do our evening ritual of prayers or chanting
and then do some sitting and walking meditation. We
should do whatever method of meditation we are
accustomed too, but do it to know the body and mental
states. If our method is watching the abdomen rise
and fall, likely we watch it as intently as we can in the
hopes that we will benefit one day. Now we will make
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a little adjustment. In future, as we watch our abdomen,
if the mind goes off to think, then know it. If the mind is
forcing attention somewhere, then know so. If the mind
is happy, suffering, virtuous, non-virtuous, then know so.
We keep watching and knowing the different physical
and mental phenomena that arise. If we keep up
watching and knowing phenomena every day, the
mind will better remember them. This will enable the
mind to recognize different phenomena more easily
when they reoccur. Mindfulness of phenomena
will then arise by itself. This is why we need to
practice regularly.

Student: If I intentionally come back to watch the mind,

then I am forcing it to, aren’t I?

VP: Yes. That practice isn’t quite right.

Student: But isn’t that how I can watch and know mental
states?

VP: That isn’t knowing. That is focusing on the states.

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Watching the mind is about knowing what has arisen.
This means that a phenomenon occurs, and then we
know that it has. We get lost in thought, and then we
know so. Anger arises, and then we know there is anger.
Don’t pull the mind back and set it to look. Just know
after each mental phenomenon has arisen. Don’t
intentionally focus your mind in advance.

Student: So then how do we make the mind know

often?

VP: It will know often if we keep noticing mental states

as much as possible. We just live our normal lives. The
eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind will make
contact with the world all the time. We can talk to our
friends and do whatever else we do. Just know the
mental states as they change. Eventually, the mind
will well remember a great number of states.

Student: When we are watching, aren’t we intending to?

VP: No, that is not true. Allow the feeling or mental

state to arise first, and then know it. In this way, at first
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we will only know the really obvious ones, for example
anger. Then later, we will know states which are a little
more subtle, like being annoyed. Eventually, we will
be able to notice even the slightest irritation. We don’t
force ourselves to see subtle phenomena arise; the
way is to know simply and enjoyably.

This is what we all should do. We should practice

our normal meditation method, but when the mind gets
lost in thought, know so. When it is focusing, know so.
When it is happy, sad, angry, greedy or lost, just know
that each state has arisen. We train in this way every
day, and make sure we find some quiet time to train
formally as well. There need not be the slightest idea
about when our practice will improve or when genuine
mindfulness will arise. When we have had plenty of
practice, our mind will remember many states and
thus recognize them at once when they appear.
Mindfulness will arise on its own in our daily life. In this
room here, there are many of my students who have
mindfulness arise on its own. And when it does, we will
come to see that the body is not us. It is just a form that
moves. We will also see that the mind is impermanent,
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ever changing and cannot be controlled.
At this point, we will have learned what is
necessary. And when we keep feeding the truth to our
mind each day by watching the bodyand mind, one day
true wisdom will blossom. It will be crystal clear that the
body and mindare not us. We see more and more
clearly as we sever the wrong view that the body and
mind are us. (There are ten “fetters” that are severed.)
We will then dislodge from them and never have the
feeling that the body and mind are us ever again.
There is nothing to hold on to, nothing to maintain.
Let’s keep practicing until one day we relinquish
our attachment to the body. The mind will be
completely and constantly awake without any effort.
This is the Buddhist stage of enlightenment known as
the non-returner or anagami. As we practice further,
consciousness, the ‘knowing’ element, will show its
characteristics of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness,
and nonself. The mind will then let go, as it will no
longer be anyone’s possession; it will return itself to
the world, to the universe, to nature. And then it is final.
There is nothing left to do. We don’t even need to call

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one who has undergone this process “enlightened” or
an “arahant” - there remains nothing substantial to label
or denote.

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Finding Peace in a Suffering World
Primary Sources: Suan Santidham Temple
May 30 and November 13, 2010

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 This world is filled with suffering, over-flooded
with it, in fact. When we are too young we don’t see this
truth quite yet. As we get older we see the suffering of
all beings in this world, fighting for survival, status,
harming and infringing upon each other, fighting
over lands, territories, people and businesses. There are
no beings that cause more harm to human beings
than human beings themselves. We are competing,
segregating, fighting and harming each other in the
most inexcusable ways, far more violently than any
other being in the world and perhaps the universe.
Other animals and beings on this planet don’t
segregate in ways such as humans do. No other
species of animal becomes divided to the point where
one says, “You’re Jewish, so we must kill you.” No other
being is capable of the evils that humans are. Humans
rob entire species or cultures of life and existence.
People of different religions kill or want to kill each
other. Even people of the same religion but practicing
in different ways want to harm or kill each other.
Human beings want and need everything according to
their image of perfection, according to their ideas

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and opinions.
Even in this world so filled with pain and hostility,
we must learn to exist in it in an intelligent way. We
have to see the truth that our greatest enemies are the
impurities in our own heart; they are the things that
prevent us from being happy. Other people can do many
things and create difficult situations for us but it is only
the impurities and defilements in our own heart that
have the ability to make us suffer.
We all hate suffering. For example, whenever we
give to charity or pray we always wish, “May we be
spared from suffering. May our loved one be spared
from pain.” When we wish in this way we don’t realise
that we are actually asking to be far from enlightenment,
far from nirvana. In order to attain nirvana, we need
to know suffering, and to do this we need to see or
experience suffering for ourselves.
What is suffering? The body and mind are
suffering. More specifically, the five aggregates that
comprise body and mind are suffering. The reason why
we are not able to release ourselves from suffering or
the five aggregates is because we still believe these

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five aggregates that comprise the body and mind are
happy things. If we understand a little more than that,
we believe that these five aggregates are things that
are happy sometimes and not happy at other times.
Take this body, for example. We see that it’s happy
sometimes and not at other times. We don’t see that
it’s always just a mass of suffering, all the time. Similarly,
the mind appears to be happy sometimes and
unhappy at other times.
If we could choose between being happy or
unhappy, we would always choose against being
unhappy, against suffering, and choose to be happy.
Most of the time in our daily life, we are consumed by
ways to avoid suffering and are trying to be in a state
of happiness. We’re struggling and trying to create
stories in order to escape from suffering and stay in a state
of happiness. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to make
the five aggregates happy or help them escape from
suffering because suffering is actually what they are!
They are suffering, proper. How can we make
something not be itself? We see in this way that there is
no chance of lasting happiness when we are attached
to the five aggregates.
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 The Buddha took many years and endured a great
deal of struggle and difficulty until he enlightened and
saw how simple the Truth is. He struggled and then
taught us what we need to do very easily and simply,
so we don’t have to struggle like he did. We can just
learn from his teachings and practice correctly.
When it comes to practicing the Dhamma, we
often ask what to do to make our minds good, what
to do to be a good practitioner, what to do to practice
correctly, or what to do to become enlightened. We
always have the words “to do” in our consciousness.
Instead, the Buddha taught us “to know”. What did
Buddha teach us to know? He taught us to know
suffering. What is suffering? Our body and mind - the
five aggregates - are what he calls suffering. It is the
first of his Four Noble Truths, the truth of suffering.
We start by knowing suffering within this body and
within this mind.
When the Buddha taught to know suffering, he
didn’t mean to look at pain. Rather, he was referring to
the five aggregates as suffering. He meant us to look at
the body and the mind and know the mental and
physical phenomena that are arising or are present in
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this moment. We know within this body, know within
the pleasant and unpleasant and neutral feelings,
know within the wholesome and unwholesome mental
states and emotions, know within this consciousness.
Consciousness is always changing states: from thinking
to knowing then thinking again, lost in the senses, or
lost focusing in on an object. We see the phenomena
that occur, and we see that the aggregates are always
changing, always in a state of flux.
There isn’t anything that arises which is stable
and unchanging. It’s like we’re stuck to someone who
is very unpredictable, inconsistent or fickle. Where’s the
happiness or contentment in being fickle all the time,
constantly wanting this or needing that in order to feel
good? In this way the aggregates are extremely fickle
and because of this, suffering is their very nature.

The Four Noble Truths in an Instant

The Four Noble Truths: suffering, it’s cause (desire),

it’s cessation (nirvana) and the path to its cessation
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(the noble path).
In the moment that we come to realise, to
experience the truth of suffering, we become
enlightened. We release from the cause of suffering
and enlighten in that same moment. It happens
automatically. When we see the truth of suffering, the
cause of suffering is abandoned and the cessation of
suffering is realised in that moment; the moment when
the noble path arises.
The more that we practice the Dhamma the way
the Buddha taught, the more eloquent we see that it
is. However, when we don’t practice the Dhamma
correctly but listen only to the Buddha’s teachings, we
become a philosopher or a critic. When we actually do
practice correctly and see the results, it is truly life-
changing. Who would have thought that when we see
suffering clearly and directly, suffering is then released
and the cause of suffering is abandoned? Who would
know that when the cause of suffering is abandoned,
the cessation of suffering occurs and the noble path
occurs? Who would know these things? All we have in
this world are people who absolutely hate suffering,
who are terrified of suffering. The world is full of people
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who are filled with desire, wanting not to suffer,
wanting to be free of suffering. The Buddha was
different. He didn’t teach us to want to be rid of suffering;
he taught us to know suffering. When we know
suffering with utter clarity we attain “the fruit of the
path”.

Reality in Three Perspectives

It doesn’t seem to matter how well we take care

of our body or how well we take care of our mind. One
day they are certain to deteriorate, right? We can use
this cream or that cream for our face but no matter
what we do, or how hard we try, one day our face is
surely going to be old and wrinkled.
We will get sick, we will get old and we will die,
no matter what we try to do to these five aggregates.
We try to take the mind here and there. We give it this
food for fun or go to that place for entertainment. In
the end we die and that fun, entertainment and

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happiness dies along with us. Can we truly have
happiness by being attached and involved with all
these changes that are going on with the body and
mind, the five aggregates? No. There isn’t any true
lasting happiness that comes from being attached to
these things.
Just like the Buddha taught, through correct
practice our wisdom will fully develop and we will
see clearly that the five aggregates are nothing but
suffering. This suffering will be seen from three
perspectives. It can be seen because the aggregates
are always changing and impermanent. It can also be
seen because the aggregates are under stress or
oppression, never satisfied and always struggling. It
can also be seen because no real self can be made
out of them; the aggregates are not us.
When one of these perspectives on the five
aggregates, on the body and mind, is realised, the
practitioner releases from the five aggregates and
becomes an enlightened being. When the body and
mind are released then this enlightened being, the
arahant, no longer has any desire to try to make these

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five aggregates happy things. The arahant knows that
these things are suffering and that there is no way to
make them truly happy. He or she recognizes this
clearly.
The five aggregates are suffering. It doesn’t
matter what we do, they still suffer. When one has
come to peace with this, to the full realisation of this,
there will be no desire to try and make the five
aggregates free from suffering anymore.
We can see in our mind that there is an over-
abundance of wants and desires. We want this and
that; we want a new phone, new clothes and so on.
Underneath all of this, we mainly want this body and
this mind to feel happy and we want them to not feel
pain and suffering.
If we don’t have a car, we feel it would be so
much better if we had a car. The body would then feel
more comfortable and happy. We are trying to make
the body feel happy. Even if we had a car, we would
see others who had nicer cars, then we would struggle
with that as well. This is not trying to make the body
happy, but trying to make the mind happy. Soon

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we realise that the body and mind are nothing
but suffering, no matter what physical and mental
phenomena arise. None of them are anything but
suffering. Whatever arises is suffering, whatever sustains
is suffering and whatever falls away is also suffering.
Other than suffering, there is nothing that arises and
falls. When we see this, we realise this truth. Then we
will have no desire to make the mind and body
happy anymore. We will be free from desire.

The End of Suffering

When there is no more desire to make the five

aggregates happy because we clearly see that it’s
impossible, then, of course, there is no more struggle. In
the same moment that suffering is fully understood in
this way, desire, which is the cause of suffering, is
extinguished. At that moment, there is no more desire
and there is nothing to be abandoned because it has
already vanished.

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 We can see that we have not yet fully realised
that the five aggregates are suffering because we are
still trying to find ways to make them happy. The
complete abandonment of desire upon realising the
truth of suffering is the complete end of suffering; it
has been extinguished, never to return. It’s called the
cessation of suffering, or nirvana.
The extinguishing of all desire is the exact
moment that is considered fruition of the noble path,
the moment that nirvana is realised. After this there will
be no more creating fiction and stories, no more forming
of painful emotions - the mind no longer abides in any
realm at all. There are no boundaries, no limitations
and we are free of all conditioning. It’s the end of any
burden or sense of responsibility in this world. All of
these things are lifted.
True happiness or peace all happens in that
one moment that desire is abandoned, suffering is
understood and the cessation of suffering is realised. It
all happens in the same moment and it all happens as a
result of our practice. Then we become an extraordinary
human being. To be this extraordinary human being, we

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must practice. No one can reach the noble path for us.
We have to do this practice on our own.

The Struggling Mind

Those of us with the opportunity to listen to this

talk are fortunate; we have enough to eat and we have
proper shelter. We don’t need to worry about the
bare necessities of survival. Although we may be rich
compared to most of the world, we still may not be rich
in Dhamma. In fact, some of the monks upcountry who
are given robes from my temple can be far more rich
in Dhamma, or far more rich in understanding the truth.
This is because those who are poor can often see the
truth of suffering more clearly.
The Dhamma of the Buddha holds no prejudice
against any race, religion or social class. No matter who
we are or where we comefrom, the Dhamma is avail-
able to all. It washes the pain and impurities right out
of our hearts and it protects us from the pain and

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difficulties that are found in this world. This world is a
place where happiness is elusive. However, when we
have the Dhamma in our hearts, we have a lasting
happiness, a true happiness. The Dhamma of the Buddha
is all about our own heart and our own mind. That’s
what it all comes down to.
Today someone who donated monks’ robes came
to me and said, “My mind is so busy. What should I
do about this?” The mind being busy is something that
we are aware of by using our own mind, correct? The
mind is that which knows that the mind is busy. Once
the mind is aware of an object, in this case the busyness
or restlessness, we have to then become aware of the
reaction or the relationship to this object. If the mind is
very busy and we see that the mind is busy, there’s a
reaction that arises. It may be that we’re not liking that
it is busy. The not liking is the reaction. We have to be
able to see this not liking or aversion that has arisen
in the heart. We don’t have to do anything about the
busy mind. We don’t have to manage it in any particular
way. All we have to do is know the reaction that arises
in that present moment right in front of our eyes. If we
can see the reaction quickly, then the mind will cease
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making up more stories, and we won’t remain stuck in
our struggle or our pain. If we are not aware of the
reaction that arises in the heart quickly or at all, then
we will get caught in the reaction, continue to make
stories and fall further and further into a painful
struggle.

Knowing Versus Doing

If our mind is very busy and restless, normally

what we’ll try to do is find a way to calm the mind down.
We will struggle, “What should I do? How should I fix
this?” What we don’t realise is that this not liking, this
hoping it is different than it is, this trying to fix it is what
constitutes the struggle itself! If we can instead notice
that the heart is not liking the busy or restless mind,
that the mind is not impartial to this phenomena, then
the restless mind that is struggling will cease to be that
way. It will become impartial, equanimous and will see
that the busyness or the restlessness isn’t the mind
but something that enters the mind and then exits. It
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arises and then it falls away. It isn’t really anything of
any consequence. When the mind becomes the stable
observer of the body and mind, it will see that whatever
object comes and goes is not us, is not who we are.
Everything just arises and falls. This is what we are
practicing the Dhamma to see.
Yesterday there were quite a few monks who
came to visit me. A few of them have been monks for
quite a long time. They said that their late teachers used
to teach them about mindfulness. They taught them
about becoming the knower or the stable observer of
phenomena. When I heard them say this I knew that
surely these were genuine monks from a long time ago.
Unfortunately, these days in the temple we don’t hear
the terms “knower” or “stable observer” anymore.
Mostly, what we hear about is concentration exercises,
trying to make light appear or a sign appear in front of
the eyes.
In the newer generations we don’t hear about
the knower or observer. We hear about the thinker or
the story maker; the one making up fiction and
fabrications. Then, what we try to do is control the
mind so that it doesn’t think or doesn’t fabricate a false
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reality. No matter how hard we try, the mind will still
think and make up stories. We end up thinking about
how we are going to stop thinking instead of knowing
the mind just as it is, with impartiality. If the mind is
thinking we know it’s thinking. If it’s fabricating, then
we know it’s fabricating. If we can do this we develop a
mind that is impartial to what is going on, and we don’t
suffer.
This is what impartiality or equanimity means.
The mind isn’t involved in what’s going on. It just sees
it and is free of it. If we are not impartial or equanimous,
we will end up thinking more, making up more stories,
and inevitably struggling.
For example, if anger enters the heart we know
that anger enters the heart but if we don’t like the anger
then that means that we are not impartial to the anger.
We struggle by trying to get rid of the pain of the anger.
We get angry and we try to figure out how to get rid of
the anger. If we’re looking for a way to get rid of the anger
then the mind doesn’t stop, it just keeps moving, keeps
working. If, instead, we’re able to know what phenomena
is arising in the heart when it does, the struggle stops
right then and there.
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 Knowing Versus Forcing

Many of us try to make the mind stop struggling

by holding it still, by trying to keep it as still as possible
so that it won’t shift into any negativity. What I teach is
to become mindful of what arises in the mind. For
example, if greed arises in our heart, if we can know that
the greed has arisen and we know in an impartial way
then the greed will lose momentum and disappear
right then and there. The mind will be an impartial one
that doesn’t suffer and doesn’t continue making stories
and fabrications which keep us in the pain of the greed.
The more that we dislike a phenomenon that arises
and don’t want it to be there, the more suffering we
have.
If happiness comes and we don’t want it to go
away, then we also struggle. We try and find ways to
keep it. When we don’t see what arises and we don’t
see the bias, the wanting, the liking or disliking, the
mind will continue to work ceaselessly. The more the
mind is working, the more it’s struggling - certainly we
will not be free from suffering in that manner. We won’t

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find our way out of suffering in a pattern of fabricating
endless stories and their resulting emotions. In reality,
we can’t force or prohibit the mind from disliking. The
mind will dislike all by itself. We may wish or pray,
“Please let me be equanimous to all phenomena that
arise”, but it will never work. The mind is annata; it is not
our self. We can’t control it and choose what our
mood, temperament or emotions will be. If we were
able to control such things then the world would be
full of enlightened beings, wouldn’t it? If we had
control of the mind, then why wouldn’t we order the mind
right now: “Be enlightened!”. Why wouldn’t we do that?
Simply, we can’t because we are not in control of
our minds.

Knowing is Equanimous

The mind will form, create or fabricate all kinds of

stories on its own. Our job is just to know that the mind
is doing this. We don’t need to continue to fabricate

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more stories; the mind will do it all by itself. What we
can do is to know that it’s doing so, at the time when the
phenomena arises. Simply by knowing quickly or on
time, we won’t be encouraging or perpetuating more
stories to form. If we are fabricating stories then we know
in an impartial way that the stories are arising. The
fabricating will cease temporarily. If anger arises, we see
that anger has arisen. Then we want the anger to go away
so we know that we are wanting. Then the wanting
disappears. There may still be some anger left but there
is no struggle against it. We are free. The anger can then
teach us. It will show us that it is not the mind, but just
something that comes into mind and leaves the mind.
It comes in of its own causes and when the causes are
gone the anger will drop off as well. It comes and goes,
and is just a temporary phenomenon.
The same is true of the pleasant and unpleasant
feelings that come up in the heart. They come, they stay
for a bit and then they disappear. They are not the heart.
When the causes are there for them to arise, they arise.
When the causes are no longer there they disappear. We
can’t control this truth. Any good or bad emotional or

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mental state that comes in is just temporary. The state
arises and then it falls away. It comes of its causes and
it goes away when the causes are no longer there. It is
not something that is under anybody’s control. When
we see this again and again, over and over, one day the
mind will have the wisdom that all happy, unhappy,
good and bad states are temporary ones. Once the
mind truly understands this, it won’t struggle anymore
with whatever arises in the heart. The mind will be
equanimous and will stop making up fictions and stories
- it will stop struggling. It will stop because it is
equanimous. It will stop because it has wisdom.
Before we have this wisdom, when happy states
arise we try to keep them. We try to hold them. When
we see over and over again that happiness comes and
happiness goes, eventually we gain wisdom into the
truth. Then, when happiness arises we no longer fight
to try to keep it. We are aware that it’s somthing that
comes and goes of its own accord. There’s no need to
be enamoured by the happiness that comes up, to
be pleased with it or to be displeased. Similarly, when
painful emotions arise in the heart we usually try to get

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rid of them. We usually hate them. That’s our old state
of consciousness. Instead, when practicing properly we
become skilled at seeing the pain that arises in the heart
when it does. By repeatedly seeing it come and seeing
it go, we gain wisdom into the fact that it is just a
temporary thing. Then our hate for our negative
emotions starts to disappear and we become impartial
to the negative feelings in the heart. We won’t struggle
as a result of them.

Equanimity is a Doorway

If we keep watching and seeing the truth, one

day the mind will accept that all phenomena are
temporary and we won’t struggle along with them ever
again. Equanimity to all phenomena that arise and fall is
the final stage of wisdom on the path of vipassana. It
is the doorway to enlightenment. Once we reach that
stage of equanimity to all formations, we have the
opportunity to attain enlightenment and move from

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someone of the world to being above and beyond the
world forevermore. From there, we gain more and more
insight into the Noble Truths and uncover more sublime
levels of understanding.
For this enlightenment to occur, the mind must
practice to become impartial and equanimous to the
phenomena of body and mind. However, we must not
become impartial through trying to control the mind,
trying to force it still or trying to manipulate the mind
into being impartial in anyway. There is no chance of
rising above and beyond the world if we’re just
equanimous as a result of practicing samatha or
exercising control. The best that can happen from
samatha is the arising of the jhanas, deep absorption
levels of concentration. They are very peaceful but
they are also temporary, and they are certainly not
enlightenment. It’s a totally different path.
In both paths, we can say that we are practicing
to have the mind stop. In the case of samatha, when
the mind stops thinking we get a deep level of peaceful
concentration. In vipassana, when the mind stops
struggling, we attain enlightenment. Those are the

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two ways of the mind stopping. Please let’s not stop
practicing the Dhamma: that’s a stop that I don’t
recommend. That would be the most unfortunate kind
of stopping.
Let’s come back to our own hearts and practice
to see the truth of the mind and body. This is where
we will be able to find true and lasting happiness. We
can have eternal happiness amidst all the pains and
struggles and hostilities of the world. Where we once
used to feel lost and drowning, we can feel peaceful
and happy. This is how amazing the Dhamma can be
for us. This is the potential of the human being. Those
who have never practiced true Dhamma have no idea or
understanding of how amazing the human mind is and
how amazing Dhamma can be. Those who practice and
reap the results have nothing but love for their teachers,
and the Buddha, who was the first teacher to show the
way to end suffering.
The Buddha was able to teach us about something
that is right here in front of our eyes, something that
no one can see. Nirvana is right here in front of our eyes,
but there are very few people in this world who are

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able to see the truth of it. Practitioners of the Dhamma
are few in this world, and though a growing number,
they are still an extremely small number compared to
the vast numbers of people in this world.
Let’s make an effort in our practice; let’s be
diligent and not do this for anyone else but ourself. And
let’s not be lost in thought all the time. Instead, we must
become aware of our body and mind. We must keep
watching them often, and then we’ll start to see that
the Dhamma is not so difficult.

Conversations with
Venerable Pramote

Student 2: My respects to Venerable Pramote.

VP: Hey, aren’t you the girl who would always fight with
her mother?

Student 2: Yes, that’s me but it’s a lot better now.

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VP: Good, good.

Student 2: I do walking meditation and I feel I have no

energy, no vitality in my practice.

VP: Are you practicing in a way that makes you feel lazy
or bored with yourself? We have to walk not in a tired
way but in an enthusiastic way, a content way.

Student 2: I used to walk happily, but now I sort of know

the phenomena - but I don’t really know. I feel as if I
don’t see phenomena sharply, and I am just looking at
this and that aimlessly. My consciousness is just going
out to the eyes to see.

VP: When we practice walking meditation, we should

not be looking at anything but our own mind. When the
mind goes out to the eyes, we see that it went out to
the eyes. We’re not trying to be good in any way, not
even to be a good practitioner. If your mindfulness isn’t
clear then you may want to repeat the word “buddho”
in your mind, when you’re walking, standing, or no matter

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what you’re doing. You can repeat the word “buddho”
in your mind, and this can help bring you the stronger
clarity and more freshness of mind that you require.

Student 2: Well, what I usually do is just move my finger

most of the day. I keep my finger moving.

VP: Yes, but be careful that doesn’t become too

repetitive. For example, when I was a practitioner I used
to set an alarm to go off every two minutes to remind
me of my practice. It worked for a little while but soon it
became so repetitive that I wouldn’t notice it an more.
The mind gets used to it. Your mind has gotten used to
this finger movement and so has stopped developing.

Student 2: Can I watch the breath instead of repeating

“buddho”? I feel that’s an irritating practice for me.

VP: Yes that’s fine. Just be careful that what you

choose is not boring and repetitive. It has to be something
that makes us feel content and fresh. If we choose
something that is too boring and repetitive, especially

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with your demeanor, a moody one, it will never work
for us. You must find something that helps you feel
more relaxed or content. Of course, dancing or singing
won’t do. Those things promote a very busy mind
indeed.

Student 3: I feel so confused. I really can’t watch the

body or the mind.

VP: Do you know what being confused feels like?

Sure you do. So if you’re confused and you know
that you’re confused, that means you’re able to
watch the mind effectively. Now do you want the
feeling of being confused to go away? Sure you do.
So just know you’re wanting. There, that’s watching the
mind. That’s how easy it is. So, instead of thinking, “What
should I watch, or what should I notice?” just know
whatever feeling enters the heart right then and there
as it does. Keep doing that. That’s practicing the
Dhamma. Has your mind gone off to think yet?

Student 3: Yes it has.

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VP: There, that’s called watching the mind. We see
that the mind goes off to think. Watching the mind
isn’t stopping the mind from going off to think. Watching
the mind is about knowing how the mind is at any
particular moment. Has your mind gone off again yet?

Student 3: I’m confused again.

VP: And why are you confused? You’re confused

because you went to think, right? You see, if we don’t
go off to think, we don’t get confused. Don’t think
too much. You’re creating problems for yourself. You
get confused, so just know that the mind is confused.
That’s all there is to it. You know what anger feels like,
right? So when you get angry, know that the mind is
angry. If you want the anger to go away, then know that
you’re wanting. If greed comes in and you don’t want
there to be greed, then know you’re wanting there to
be no greed. It’s that simple. The mind will start to
become equanimous.

Student 4: When the mind has mindfulness, I don’t feel

like it’s heavy or light. I know that you’ve spoken before
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about how light mindfulness feels.

VP: And right now, would you say you have mindfulness?

Student 4: Well, right now I am noticing the heart

beating. I would say yes I have mindfulness.

VP: Take another look and see if instead you’re

overfocusing. When we’re focusing in, there will be a
sense of stillness, heaviness, dullness. It will be rigid and
there will be intention in the background, intending to
know and see. Instead, know in a relaxed way without so
much intention. Can you remember what it was like in
the days before you were a Dhamma practitioner? The
mind was cheerful and would change from this mood to
that mood. Let your mind go, like you used to when you
were a child. The only difference is that now, whenever
any feelings come up, know they have. Has your mind
gone off to think yet?

Student 4: Yes, it has.

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VP: Good, so when the mind goes off to think, know that
it has. And now you’re holding, trying to stop it from
moving. Notice that you’re holding. By doing what you’re
doing now, the mind will get too still and unnatural.
Don’t get disappointed or discouraged. When the mind
gets disappointed or discouraged, just know that it has.
Do you see that, feelings are coming and going all the
time? Yet, when we hold the mind still, we won’t get
a good look at these feelings. When we let the mind
move naturally, the feelings will arise and will change for
us to see. A moment ago, when you were listening to
me, you let go and let it be natural again for a moment.
When you did, the feelings arose. There, now can you
see? You became aware of the feelings, and now you
feel happy. You feel like your mind is open and free,
more expanded and bright. Do you notice that?

Student 4: Yes, I can see that. I feel happy now.

VP: Great the mind has to be that relaxed type of mind

in order to practice correctly. How about now? Have you
started to feel uncomfortable yet?

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Student 4: Yeah, now I don’t feel quite as comfortable
again.

VP: That’s because you started to control again. You

started to hold the mind still again. You did that because
you want to be good; you want to practice correctly.
It’s the wanting that’s made it uncomfortable.

Student 4: Can I use the mantra “buddho”?

VP: Sure you can, but don’t do that so you can keep
the mind under control. Just use “buddho” so you
can gauge when the mind is doing something else, like
going off to think. There, great; what you’re doing now
is perfect! You see, you’ve become the stable observer.
You can feel that the mind is bright and light. It can be
seen on your face. You’re smiling and looking bright!
You see the stable observer just lasts for a very short
time. Then, we move from being the knower to being
the thinker. Then we may think for a little bit, and then
we become the focuser or controller by trying to still
the mind. Can you sense this? The mind cycles around

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between these things again and again. Watch the workings
of the mind in this way.

Student 5: Right now, I feel like the centre of my chest

is very, very heavy and I’m also controlling things.

VP: Well, there you go. That’s why there’s heaviness in

the chest - you’re controlling things. If you relinquish
control, there won’t be that heaviness.

Student 6: I’m starting to see that the body is on a

different level or layer than the mind is. Sometimes I
can see that they are separate from one another and
sometimes it’s all just like one mass. I’ve seen this
separation happen quite a bit over the last couple of
months but I still feel like I’m not gaining any wisdom.

VP: Can you see that each of them are impermanent?

Student 6: No, I’m not seeing the impermanence of

these things. Can I consider it? Can I try and think about
seeing the impermanence?

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VP: Yes, that’s fine. You can use thinking to help you see
the impermanence at first.

Student 7: Once, I was walking and just for a quick

second I felt like my mind was equanimous. But can
equanimity be something that is seen by the mind?
I think I saw it.

VP: Of course it can. If you don’t see it, how would you
ever know you were equanimous? Did you notice that
when this event happened, you weren’t intending, that
there was no intention in your practice?

Student 7: Yes, you’re right. I wasn’t really practicing at

all.

VP: That’s right. If we have intention in our practice

there is greed. Of course, if there is greed, we are not
equanimous or impartial. Can you notice that when the
mind is equanimous, all things in the world lose their
meaning, lose their importance? We have risen above
the world, if for just for a moment.

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 A Meditator’s Guide
Primary Source: Suan Santidham Temple
July 13, 2006

135
 Understanding the Practice

It is a wonderful thing that so many of us have an

interest in meditation. However, before we get started
with the practice, we need to be clear about four key
points:
• What are we going to practice?
• For what purpose?
• How do we engage in this practice?
• And while we practice, are we are actually doing
what we intended or are we unknowingly veering
off into some other practice?

These four points are essential in directing our

practice in the right direction and keeping it from slipping
off track. They are the most basic type of wisdom in
meditation practice: clear comprehension.
Whenever we meditate, there must always be
two assistants present. The first assistant is mindfulness.
Mindfulness is what sees or recognizes an object of body
or mind, like the breath or an emotion. The second is
the clear comprehension that keeps our practice in

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check. Without these two assistants, without seeing
objects that are present and without being clear on
what we are doing, it is easy to lose our way and falter
in our practice.

Samatha and Vipassana Meditation

There are two main types of meditation found

in Buddhism: samatha and vipassana. In coming to the
practice of samatha or vipassana, we need to have the
mental clarity to know which one we have selected and
for what purpose. The purpose of samatha is to bring a
mind that is not peaceful to a state of peace, to bring
a mind that is not happy to a state of happiness, and
to bring an unwholesome mind to a state of virtue. In
vipassana, we do not practice to change anything in this
way. Instead, we practice to clearly understand things
as they really are. We practice so we can see the true
nature of body and mind.

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 Samatha
Samatha was well known and well practiced
before the time of the Buddha. Before his enlightenment,
the would-be Buddha learned from teachers who were
skilled in the different levels of absorption concentration,
or jhanas. Like most of us, he believed that if he sat
in meditation long enough he would enlighten.
He learned to make his mind very subtle and sublime.
There are eight levels of jhana one can achieve. In the
eighth level, the mind is so sublime that there is barely
a trace of perception.
We can start by focusing in on the body or breath
and make the mind subtle. We can enter the material
or form jhanas, levels one through four, from there. We
can also focus in on consciousness itself and bring the
mind into the formless realms.
We start by seeing the spaciousness or emptiness
aspect and enter the jhana of infinite space. We
then realise that consciousness is aware of space and
we turn our attention to consciousness itself. Then
consciousness becomes aware of consciousness. The
observing consciousness actually becomes the object

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of consciousness - this can regress infinitely. This is the
jhana of infinite consciousness. After this, the mind
can become disinterested in consciousness and the
spaciousness. It enters the jhana of nothingness.
Eventually, the mind becomes so subtle that there is
only a tiny trace of consciousness remaining: the
jhana of neither perception nor non-perception.
The Buddha was taught to reach this state but
found that when he exited this state, the impurities of
the mind returned. He realised that samatha, or
focusing in on an object, was not the way to get rid of
the impurities or defilements of the mind. It is not the
way to end the suffering in the heart of humankind.
He realised that any type of meditation where we
are holding to or focusing on a particular object,
whether material or formless, is not the way to
extinguish suffering. It is not the way to end one’s
karma.

Vipassana
After a period of body torture and denial, the
Buddha-to-be finally found yet another type of

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meditation where the key is to be aware or highly
conscious. He taught this way of meditation in the
Anapanasati sutta (awareness of the in-breath and
out-breath). In that discourse, he does not teach to try
and hold attention at the breath and force the mind to
be quiet or subtle. What he says is to know: to be aware
and be conscious. If the breath is long, we should know
that the breath is long. If the breath is short, we know
that it is short. We are to stay alert and aware, and
know what states of body, mind or impurities of heart
come in and pass away.
We must get to know this coming in and passing
away of physical and mental phenomena in our experience.
Our job then is to become aware of the body and mind
regularly with an inner watchfulness. This is the practice of
vipassana. When we practice in this way with frequency,
wisdom arises - we come to know the true nature of
the body and mind. This kind of wisdom is called ‘right
understanding’. We come to know that the body and
mind are impermanent, unsatisfactory and are not our
self, not us. When we have enough wisdom to realise
these truths authentically, consciousness can then let

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go of any attachment to the body and mind and
automatically come to know nirvana, the end of
suffering.
The body and mind were seen by the Buddha as
five distinct groups, called the five aggregates (khandha).
Each of these has the inherent characteristic of suffering
(dukkha). If we practice watching the body and mind a
great deal, one day we will truly see that the body and
mind are just aggregates, elements of nature, fractions
of the earth. They are not us, nor do they belong to us.
When we see the truth that there is nothing we can
constitute as being our self, we will reach the first
stage of Buddhist enlightenment called streamentry.
If we continue watching the body and mind
carefully, to the point of letting go of all attachment to
them, then we become an arahant: one who has reached
full enlightenment and completely ended suffering.
An arahant is not someone who is able to make the
mind something permanently good, or create permanent
happiness or permanent peace. He or she is one who
no longer takes interest in such things. Peace, happiness
and the like are worldly endeavors. An arahant knows

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the futility in trying to pursue satisfaction through worldly
measures. He or she knows the true nature of body and
mind and is beyond any attachment to them. We need
to practice vipassana to learn the truth about the body
and mind that we consider our own. True liberation,
the end of suffering, is not in trying to make the mind
permanently happy or peaceful, but in seeing the nature
of the body and mind as impermanent, unsatisfactory
and not us - and then letting go.

The Three Areas of Training

In watching and learning the body and mind

directly, the Buddha taught that there are three areas
of training: training in morality, mental training, and
training in wisdom. Problems will arise if we don’t train in
all three of these areas.

Training in Morality
Many Buddhists believe that morality consists
merely of taking a vow, in front of a monk to follow a
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list of moral precepts. It is certainly not that superficial.
For meditators, it is not only about adhering to lists
of Buddhist precepts (of which there are 5 for regular
laypeople, 8 for nuns, 227 for monks and 311 for
female monks). There is an entirely different kind of
morality that we need to understand, one where we
guard ourself at the level of the senses. When our eyes
see forms, our job is to be aware of any liking or disliking
as soon as it arises. When we are aware in such a way,
mental impurities or defilements (such as greed and
anger) cannot affect us. Morality will occur in the mind
automatically. Can we see how important it is to be
mindful of what arises within our mind? It is necessary
beyond the scope of meditation, and promotes moral
behavior as well. Such awareness is something we need
with us everywhere we go and at all times, for three
reasons: for upholding the virtuous mind needed for
moral behavior; for keeping the mind attentive and free
from wandering; and for attaining wisdom into the true
nature of things. So, when our eyes see a lovely lady,
and wanting and liking subsequently arise, have the
mindfulness to see that desire has arisen. Once the mind
sees desire arise, it will recognize it as being temporary,
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unsatisfactory and not itself. The mind will then not
be at desire’s mercy, and action in accordance with the
desire will not follow. Consequently, we will not break
moral precepts, such as pursuing a woman who is
spoken for, or deceiving her in some way.
Or, perhaps we are walking and see a man’s mobile
phone fall out of his pocket unknowingly. As it turns out,
it is not just any phone but the exact model that we were
looking to buy! Greed and wanting arise, and mindfulness
sees this. It knows right away that greed has entered the
mind and thus the greed will immediately drop off and
be unable manipulate us. As a result, we will not steal,
even if we have no chance of getting caught.
If someone scolds us and we get angry, mindfulness
sees the anger arise. Thus, the anger cannot affect
us - we will not shout back, become violent or harm
anyone in any way. The mind will be impartial. We will be
moral automatically because of the mindfulness that
immediately sees whatever arises in the mind.
The Buddha taught, “…When your eyes see forms
in the world, liking and disliking appear in the mind.
Have the mindfulness to know when they do. If you

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don’t see the liking or disliking immediately, the mind
will be burdened and influenced by greed, aversion and
ignorance.” The mind will stray from its normal state of
purity and become immoral. A mind without morality is
actually an abnormal mind. It has the mental defilements
(greed, aversion, etc.) influencing it.
All meditators need to practice this method of
morality. If our ears hear that we are being praised, liking
arises and we become buoyant and inflated like a
balloon. We must be watchful and know this as it
happens. As a result we will be less likely to gloat and
get mindlessly lost in the feeling.
Usually, when we are on our own, we are in thinking
mode: analyzing, replaying, projecting, curious about
this, concerned about that. Some thoughts are about
good things, some about bad things. Some thoughts
create virtue in the mind, others vice. Have the
mindfulness to see whatever appears in the mind as
it arises. It then cannot override the mind’s normal
and natural state. This is when we can truly say that
our mind is moral.

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 Mental Training
The lesson in mental training is about the
loneliest and neglected lesson there is. So few people
are interested in learning it. Nevertheless, it is of such
importance that the wisdom which sees the true nature
of things cannot arise without it.
Most meditators don’t take enough interest
in learning proper mental training. Some just sit and
meditate, thinking that meditating for hours on end and
losing oneself in the object of meditation is proper
mental training. This is not so. Others believe that it is
enough to just practice labeling mental and physical
phenomena, and the mind will become concentrated
by itself. Once, again, proper mental training is not so
superficial as to merely sit, meditate and hope for the
best.
Mental training is about learning our own mental
states.Which states of mind are virtuous ones? Which
are not? Which states of mind are suitable for samatha
meditation and which for vipassana? And which states of
mind are unfit for any practice at all? We need to know
clearly the characteristics of each mental state. By doing

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so, we can see which practice is the most appropriate for
us at any given time.
We must understand that there are two ways of
learning.The first is the intellectualway, from teachers
and textbooks. Those that learn the details of meditation
in a scholarly setting will often find themselves studying
the Abhidhamma. In this ancient Buddhist scripture, 72
conditioned phenomena are detailed, of which mind is
just one. The mind, however, is the only one that can
be separated into 89 or 121 different states. Though
Abhidhamma is interesting, nobody actually experiences
all these states. Learning in this way can be tedious and
complicated.
The other way to learn is much simpler. This is
learning the truth as it happens in our own experience.
At first, however, we do need to understand some
principles, such as which mental states are virtuous
and which are not. For such things, it helps to have a
meditation teacher to point us in the right direction.
Otherwise, we can fall into situations like creating
unwholesome states of mind that we think are virtuous
ones. This is surprisingly a very common occurrence

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among meditators. We also need to understand which
mental states are suitable for samatha and which for
vipassana. If we don’t, we will likely bring a mind of
low quality into our vipassana practice, rendering the
practice ineffectual.
A vast number of meditators don’t truly know
what samatha and vipassana are. They intend to do
vipassana but actually unknowingly practice samatha.
This is extremely common in all meditation halls. It is
important to clearly understand the fundamental
principles of each practice, and then all meditation
centres will be of good use. One centre’s practice isn’t
any better than any other; however, if watching the truth
of body and mind is not a part of the program, there is
no vipassana and no way to gain insight into our true
nature. When we know the principles behind the
practice, meditation is not so hard. If we don’t know the
principles, if we don’t know about watching our body
and mind, the practice will be very difficult indeed, like
fishing for a needle in a haystack.
Let’s have a look at what types of mental states
are virtuous and which are not. Virtuous ones do not

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have desire, aversion or ignorance controlling them. So,
if in any moment the mind is wanting, is in a state of
anger or stress, is lost in thought or lost in sense
perception (looking, hearing, etc.), then it is surely not a
virtuous or wholesome one in the Buddhist sense. This
is an easy way to measure the quality of the mind in
any given moment. With that said, sometimes we can’t
tell if the mind has desire, aversion or ignorance because
they are there in such a subtle form. In such cases, there
are other ways to know.
A truly virtuous mind is a light one. The arising of
a weighty mind is a sure sign that we are faltering in our
practice, that unwholesomeness has come in to replace
virtue. Sometimes our minds become so heavy in their
practice it is as if they are carrying a mountain on their
shoulders. A virtuous mind is gentle and pliant. Any
rigidity or dullness is not virtuous. Some of us have our
minds held stiff all day long. A virtuous mind must be
agile and nimble. We must be cautious and cognizant
of such things.
We may notice that if we are too deliberate when
we set our minds to practice, there will be heaviness,

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tightness, dullness or inattentiveness. Why is that? It is
because greed has entered. Wanting to practice is
actually a form of greed. When we want to meditate we
bring the wanting into our practice, and it will affect our
mind. Normally, when the desire arises to meditate, we
meditate. As such, our actions are resulting from a state
of mind that is defiled with desire, an unwholesome
state. Heaviness, rigidity, inattentiveness and dullness
will then appear. There will be no chance for a truly
impartial mindfulness of inner phenomena to occur.
Genuine mindfulness cannot occur at that moment
because the area has already become a defiled one.
Mindfulness can certainly never arise in conjunction
with a defilement. We can only have one or the other.
Therefore, if we are meditating and the mind is rigid or
dull, know that this mental state has arisen out of greed.
When the rigidity and dullness arise, aversion will also
follow because we want these states to go away.
We don’t like them and feel confined and edgy. We want
to be pleased, happy and comfortable. Once again,
mental defilements prevail.
Let’s come to learn the qualities of virtuous and
nonvirtuous mental states within ourselves. Speaking
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bluntly, almost all meditators are practicing without
virtue, insofar as they are wanting to be virtuous.
What they are creating is rigidity, dullness, heaviness,
discomfort. Greed comes in and aversion comes in
but what is constantly arising is ignorance, and this
ignorance goes unseen. The true nature of mental states
like greed and aversion go unnoticed because ignorance
is blinding us from it. When we practice by firmly holding
our attention somewhere or intensely noting phenomena,
the mind often ends up in a daze or just still and lifeless.
Sometimes, however, the mind does become
gentle and bright, though what often happens next is
that the mind becomes attached to the brightness, to
the happiness or peace that arises. We lose our footing
when this happens; we lose our way. This is a common
trap for those of us who firmly hold our attention
somewhere or intensely take note of phenomena as
mentioned above. We find that the mind gets very calm
and light. The mind is happy and shining bright. We
must carefully notice that the mind is attached to the
happiness and is stiller than it should be, more still
than normal.

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 The truth is that the most suitable mind for
practicing vipassana is a mind in its natural, normal state.
A regular human mind is just right. Humans are already
higher minded beings that are ready to uncover the
true nature of things, to see the Dhamma. Nevertheless,
many of us, when deciding to practice forcibly, hold our
attention or mentally note phenomena until the normal
human mind is lost and replaced by a subtle mind
like that of a godly deity: serene, calm and blissful.
Such a mind gets lost in these states and floats away
in them. There is still desire looming, but because of
ignorance we cannot see it.
These are some common mistakes of meditators.
When some of us practice, a non-virtuous mind arises - it
is stressed, rigid, heavy and tight. When others practice
and enjoy the beautiful sensations and mind states that
come along with the practice, they get absorbed in them.
When the mind experiences this, it is actually virtuous,
but only in the worldly sense. We are actually creating an
obstacle to the path of enlightenment in a very subtle
way. We must be very careful. Some of us who practice
in this way practice so much meditation that our minds

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become too subtle and serene, much more than is
naturally so. We become immersed in such sublime
states for days and days. Desire and ignorance have
come in but they go unseen.
Some of us are able to hold our minds still for
quite a while. Then when we come out of the stillness,
we think we are great practitioners because we can
successfully halt our mind and feel peaceful. The
problem in this case is that no wisdom will develop.
Such meditation will not cleanse the heart of the
impurities that plague it: (e.g. the ego and all the
defilements such as anger, greed and delusion that keep
us away from the Truth). After successfully holding the
mind still, temporarily of course, we can end up with a
heart that is even more impure with an even bigger ego!
In other cases, ignorance and aversion may be
arising right from the start. This is especially true for
beginners who practice by the method of mentally
noting mental phenomena. By mentally labeling again
and again, forcibly focusing attention each time,
ignorance and aversion come in. We have to keep learning
until we truly know the characteristics of the mind, and

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then we can practice properly without making these
mistakes. Then our mind will be an impartial one, one
that can truly see and know mental phenomena clearly.
This is a quality mind, one of virtue and wisdom. Such
a mind arises on its own without any effort. In this type
of mind, wholesomeness has momentum and fortitude.
It is the most suitable mind for practicing vipassana.

Momentary concentration
The easiest way to go about developing such a
mind that is wholesome, that is a stable observer of
body and mind and is conducive to wisdom, is called
momentary concentration. The way to achieve it is to
choose an object like the breath, or a mantra or phrase,
to mentally repeat. Instead of trying to make the mind
rest and be comfortable and peaceful with this object,
we observe the mind from this place instead. We keep
this object as our main object and we set the mind
free.
What will happen, of course, is the mind will go
off to think.Then we observe or know the mind went off
to think. Then the mind may go back and try tohold to

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that meditation object. Then we observe or know that
it has gone to hold to the object. Then, right away, it
might go off to think again. We observe or know that
the mind has gone off to think again right away. The
mind will oscillate between going off to think, and
going back to the object and trying to hold to it. We
must observe these movements of the mind.
It’s important to know that we are not practicing
this to try and keep the mind peacefully with the
object. If we choose the breath, we are not trying to stay
with the breath. We are just trying to see what the mind
does from this place. We start by breathing and then the
mind goes to think. We know that it went to think. The
mind goes back to the object, and we know it went back
to the object. The mind goes to think again, and we
know that it went to think again.
When we do this over and over again the expe-
rience of the observer or knower, the stable mind that
has this correct type of concentration, will arise. Only,
it will arise just for a very short moment, each time that
we notice that the mind moves out to think, see, hear
or feel. When we observe or know that the mind had

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gone out to think, the mind will be the stable mind, or
the observer, for just a moment. If we do this again and
again, over and over, the experience of the observer or
the stable mind will stay longer. The mind will be light
and bright and comfortable, and will be the observer
of body and mind.

Training in Wisdom
Now we come to the lesson on the arising of insight
wisdom which sees the true nature of the body and mind,
or more precisely, physical and mental phenomena.
Once we achieve correct concentration, the stable
observer, we can train in wisdom. This is the third of
the threefold training of the Buddha. Once we are the
observer that has been developed through correct
mental training, we will see the Truth. We will see that
the body that is walking around, sitting, moving, brushing
it’s teeth, is just a mass. The body is a physical mass that
isn’t owned by anyone, and it isn’t anyone. It’s not a
person. It’s just a physical mass that belongs to the
world, that belongs to nature.
We will see that the body is one thing and that
the consciousness or the observer that sees the body is
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a totally separate thing. We will start to gain wisdom
into the way that things truly are. We will also see that
the mind, with all its different thoughts, and the heart
with all its different feelings, don’t belong to anyone
either. Feelings are just feelings, emotions are just
emotions and thoughts are just thoughts. They don’t
belong to anyone and they aren’t anyone. We will see
this and gain this wisdom with the proper type of
concentration.
We have to see the truth of this body and mind,
and eventually consciousness will release itself from
this body and mind and be free. Even as we are still
alive we will have no attachment to the body and
mind. When the attachment dies it is the extinction of
suffering.

Gaining Wisdom into the Body

When we watch the body, we should not get

immersed in it. The mind should be independent and

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watch from a distance, as if we are watching someone
else. We see this body stand, walk, sit and lie down.
The mind is the observer. When we practice in this way,
we will see directly that the body is not us. There will be
no need to think about it; the body will be clearly and
directly seen as not us or ours. The body stands, walks,
sits and lies down and the mind is the observer. This is
how to watch the body. One day the truth will show
itself and we will understand that the body is just
flesh and bones, water, heat and movement. The body
is under constant oppression by suffering, always in
some form of discomfort. Then, the mind orders the
body to move or act to try to relieve the discomfort.
When we practice correctly we will see the true
characteristics of the body for ourselves.

Gaining Wisdom into the Mind

Watching the mind is easier than watching the

body. When we watch the mind we will see that

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there are two things that arise in each moment:
mental phenomenon and consciousness. This is because
one’s consciousness does not arise unless there
is an object of consciousness - they appear in unison. We
cannot watch the mind without mental phenomena
or emotional states because the mind has no body or
form of its own.
First, we should watch each mental phenomenon,
whatever aggregate it is considered to be: a feeling or
sensation, memory, or a mental formation. All such
phenomena arise and fall in conjunction with consciousness.
For example, at times we have a virtuous mind and at
times we do not. Our impression is that the mind that
belongs to us is now virtuous, or it is greedy, averted
or lost in thought or sense perceptions. This is how
we perceive it at first. Yet, when the mind that is ripe
with wisdom arises, it will see clearly that consciousness
is one thing and greed is another. Consciousness is one
thing and disliking is an other. Consciousness is one
thing and thought is another. They will show themselves
as separate and distinct processes.
Consciousness will separate out from the body
and will see that it’s not the body but something else.
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Defilements or impurities like anger or greed that arise
in the mind are also another thing. They are not the
consciousness or the body; rather, they are another
aggregate. If the mind is stable in concentration, then we
are able to separate out these aggregates and see
that none of them are us. Normally, these aggregates
appear to be stuck together like one mass. We think that
there’s a person. There will be memory that mistakenly
remembers a person because all these aggregates are
attached together like one mass which creates the
wrong view that there’s a person.
If we have stable concentration and are able to
separate out the aggregates or pieces, we will see that
the feeling of happiness, unhappiness or neutrality is
one thing, the mental formations like anger or greed is
another, the body is another thing, and the consciousness
that can see all these things is another thing.
If we can separate out these things, it’s like
pulling apart a car. We can take the analogy of the
chariot that the Buddha gave, and change it to a car.
We see that we believe this car is an actual thing but in
reality the car is just a concept. If we split apart the car

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into its various parts - the axle, the wheel, the engine
and so on - we can’t say that any one of these parts is
a car. When we assemble all the parts and they work
together we conjure up the concept that there is a car.
Similarly, we jump to the false conclusion that these
aggregates are a person.
Let’s keep watching and knowing the phenomena
that arise in the mind. When we practice correctly,
wisdom into the truth of all phenomena is sure to
follow.

The Two Extremes

There are many mistakes that meditators make

which create obstacles to path of insight wisdom. We
must not falter and slip into either of the two extremes
that block our progress in vipassana and in the arising of
wisdom.
The first extreme is controlling our mind to the
point of suspending it, making it frozen stiff or overly

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fine and subtle. The other extreme is letting the mind
get lost, mindlessly following our ignorant and indulgent
thoughts. When we begin to practice, the mind will
either go wandering off thinking of this and that,
unaware that the mind is thinking, or we will want to be
good and practice well, and will hold the mind still or
suppress it.
These are the two directions in which we can
falter - total control, or mindlessly following the lure
of the defilements. They are the two extremes. One is
pulling in too much or controlling too much, the other
is letting go too much and following the impurities of
mind. Buddhism teaches the middle way. We need a
certain understanding and finesse in our practice in order
to find the middle way between these two extremes.
Practicing the middle way is to know quickly when the
mind goes out wandering towards impurities, following
desires and following aversions that arise in the mind,
and when the mind pulls in and goes in the other
direction trying to be good, trying to control and trying
to be still. Let’s try to notice the mind that goes into
either direction and then the mind will eventually find

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its place as the aware observer, which is the middle
way between the two extremes.
There is a certain ability that develops though
our understanding of the practice. Sometimes we need
to pull in and control a little bit, otherwise the mind
will be out lost and wandering all day long. Sometimes
we need to relax a little if we are overfocusing. To
practice the middle way is to achieve a mind that is
conducive to wisdom. Each of us requires a certain
flexibility in our approach to our practice based on our
mind state at any particular time. Ultimately, we want
the mind to be neither too rigid nor too relaxed. Stable
in knowing, and not doing, is the middle way.

Genuine Mindfulness

If we want to know the Buddha’s middle way in

our experience, then we should gradually keep learn-
ing until genuine mindfulness arises. (the automatic and
impartial awareness of mental and physical phenomena

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as they arise in our experience). Genuine mindfulness
will occur as a result of clearly recognizing mental
states as they arise, not from holding concentration
in one spot, from mental noting, or from forcing it into
being.
The Abhidhamma teaches that the proximate
cause that enables genuine mindfulness to arise is the
recognizing of mental and physical phenomena. When
we first practice using the four foundations of mindfulness
that were taught by the Buddha (e.g. the body, feelings,
mind and Dhamma or natural processes), we do so
to achieve this mindfulness. We practice watching
the body until we can see the truth of physicality. We
practice watching feelings until we truly see the reality
of feelings. We practice watching the mind until we
come to know the truth of the mind. Genuine mindfulness
arises on its own when we see the reality of these
things.

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 Picking a Suitable Practice

Usually, I teach my students to watch the mind.

This is because most of us here are city people with
busy minds. We are thinkers. Our jobs naturally involve
thinking all day long, so watching the mind is the most
suitable practice for us. Those with a tendency to crave,
who want the comforts in life and enjoy fashion and
beauty should practice by watching the body.
Take a look at the decision to go to practice at
a meditation centre. We don’t think about what type of
personality we have. We want to go, so we do. We don’t
notice our mental states. Our friends decide to go, so
we go too. We unwittingly believe that if a meditation
centre becomes popular, it must be a good one. The
truth is it may or may not be. Furthermore, the master
may be firstclass, but if the practice doesn’t suit our
aptitudes and we merely follow the technique as
direct-ed, we won’t accomplish much. So, before we
practice we need to observe ourselves and determine
where our abilities lie. If we are the kind that is happy
with worldly pleasures, beautiful things, comfortable

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surroundings, and like being left alone in peace and
quiet, we may best suited to watch the body. This is
because when we watch the body, we will easily come
to know that it is not happy, comfortable or beautiful.
Those of us who think too much, who are caught up in
our heads, should watch the mind.
We should discern which of these two main
personality types matches us best: sensual or analytical;
that is, do our passions lie primarily with worldly
pleasures or intellectual ones? Let the choice here act
as a guideline for what our objects of meditation should
be when we begin our practice. If we are primarily
sense driven, we should watch the body, and if we are
analytical we should watch the mind. The other two
areas to watch (according to the teachings of the Buddha
on the four foundations of mindfulness, the Satipatthana
Sutta) are feelings and the true nature of phenomena.
We should not watch those two areas until our minds
are a little more advanced, a little more ripe for
wisdom. Watch the mind and the body first, as they are
fundamental.
It is important to note, however, that watching
the body is most appropriate for those that are skilled in
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the absorption concentration levels (jhãna). Unskilled
minds that concentrate hard will completely lose
themselves in the body. For example, if we watch the
abdomen rising and falling, the mind will be motionless
and completely latched to the abdomen, thus rendered
ineffective. In walking meditation, the mind will be
latched to the feet lifting and moving. In watching the
breath, the mind will stick to the breath so completely
that we lose ourselves in it.
It is difficult to watch the body correctly if the
mind is not firmly rooted in awareness; that is, if our
mind tends to slip down into the object of observation.
If we can reach the peace and higher concentration of
the second jhãna, something arises that masters in the
forest monk tradition call the knower or the observer.
This observer is the awakening of right concentration,
an unshakable awareness that clearly sees that the
body, the feelings, the good and bad thoughts, and the
mind that watches are all distinct and separate entities.
The body moves, the mind is the observer. The body
sits, the mind is the observer.
If we have already been practicing a certain
meditation technique which involves watching the body
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and/or the mind, I recommend we stay with it. There is
no need to stop or change what we do. I do not teach
a specific technique - we should continue with whatever
style we do best and learn the principles I am teaching.
When we understand the principles correctly, we
should integrate them into our present practice. If the
fundamental principles behind our practice are lacking
or misconstrued, then it doesn’t matter how gracefully
we walk or how still we sit; we will not be practicing
vipassana and what we do will not lead to insight wisdom.
Those in marching bands have beautiful posture and
perform gracefully but we certainly don’t see much
enlightenment going on there! Our posture and technique
is not the least bit relevant. We can just keep practicing
whatever style we have learned in the past, though we
must bring a correct understanding into it.

The Four Scenarios When Meditating

If we have practiced watching the in breath and

outbreath, and we are comfortable with it, then we
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should keep at it. If we feel agitated, we may then want
to pick another place in the body as a home base for our
attention. Wherever in the body we may choose as our
home base or primary object of attention, the mind can be
described as falling into one of the following four types:

1) In the first type, we may be watching the breath,

the abdomen rising and falling, or even an intentional
body movement, such as raising and lowering the arm.
What happens is that we get caught up in something
and forget ourselves. Whether it is in dreamy states
or peaceful sensations, we lose our awareness and
mindlessly stray from our intended task. Almost all
meditators who enjoy watching their breath get totally
lost in it this way. This state is unproductive.

2) The second type occurs when the mind moves

its way down into breath or other meditation object.
Let us pay attention to our breath now. We will start to
notice that the mind moves down into it. The mind that
moves into the breath is not one of right concentration,
not rooted in awareness. The mind has sunk down. It is
the same for those who watch the abdomen rise and
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fall, or focus on other bodily movements: the mind sinks
down into the area of attention. Watching the body
standing, walking, sitting, and laying down can also
result in the mind firmly holding its focus. In this case,
the mind sinks down and fixates on the whole body.
This is not a hard thing to do. It is quite easy to
fix our attention on the breath, the abdomen, or on the
whole body. Many of us are practicing by firmly fixing
our attention somewhere. This is not the way of authentic
awareness, not the observer we spoke of. Many of us
firmly fix our attention on their mind, focusing as hard
as we can until the mind is still. This is equivalent
to samatha practice, and the effects of samatha will
result in tingling sensations, swaying, feeling light, or
feeling like our body is extremely large or floating
away. Some of us mistakenly think that when we
experience such sensations we are entering the path
of insight wisdom. These are merely bodily sensations.
The path of insight is about wisdom, seeing the
true nature of things. So, why is it that we intend to
practice vipassana, yet we experience sensations
associated with samatha? This is because we are

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fixing our attention somewhere, latching onto the
abdomen or the breathing, perhaps. If we keep at it,
we are sure to feel lightness, floating sensations,
swaying and so on. There is nothing surprising about
this, as focusing attention in one area is the practice
of samatha. It’s not a bad thing to do this, but it is
not vipassana. If ever our mind is so distracted and
exhausted that it doesn’t have the energy to do
vipassana, then we can practice samatha. If we are
skilled at watching the breath, or the abdomen rise and
fall, then we can gently bring attention there and feel
calm and happy.

The Secret to Samatha

The principles of samatha are not difficult at

all. Normally our mind is restless and moving around,
running from one thought to another, running from one
object to another - it is busy, non-stop action and
motion. those of us who don’t understand the practice

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will try to control the mind and make it peaceful or
good. If we try to force the mind to be still, we will
create tension. If we are forcing the mind to be peaceful
then we are practicing samatha wrongly. There is no
stress or strain in correct samatha.
It is important to know that concentration will
not arise by forcing it to. Concentration is not the cause
of happiness. Happiness is the cause of concentration.
Try to remember this. Actually, as concentration gets
more profound and subtle, happiness drops off and
there is but equanimity - a sublime and wholesome
state of complete impartiality. We don’t practice
concentration so that happiness will arise; happiness
is what brings about concentration.
When arriving at the true nature of things (Dhamma),
often the causeeffect relationship between things will
reveal that our previous notions were inversions of
the truth. In this case of happiness and concentration,
we can see that people who enjoy playing cards can
often do so happily until dawn. The body and the mind
are totally concentrated on the game. Those who like
watching sporting events can get intensely focused on

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them and stay up far past their usual sleeping hour.
They can do this because they are happy. The happiness
brings them the concentration, and they stay focused
on the game. This is how we should choose what to
watch when we practice meditation: choose whichever
object makes us happy.Whether our choice is the breath,
the abdomen, or any other phenomenon, if we like it,
it will quickly make us calm. Our mind will keep to the
practice and will come to a rest.
If we know how the mind works, we will see that
it is similar to a child; it’s like a naughty toddler; It runs
here, and runs there! One moment it laughs and the
next it cries. One moment it is happy and the next it is
upset. The mind is very much the same. If we force a
young child to sit still and don’t let it move around,
it will start to get stressed. The mind, if it is forced, will
also get stressed. Therefore, we need to find an object
that the mind likes and then it will take be satisfied.
Let’s say that the child in our example likes ice
cream. When the child is running around outside, all
we have to do is tell it to come in and have some ice
cream. The child will happily comply. The child will not

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only stay put, but it will be quite content as well. Use
this principle for samatha practice. We have to choose
an object of meditation that the mind is happy with.
For some, watching the breath makes them
feel happy. So, they should choose the breath as their
meditation object. They don’t need think about how
to make the mind become peaceful. It is happy to be
with the breath. Some people are content watching the
abdomen rise and fall. So they should do this. Some
like to walk back and forth.Some like to use a mantra;
for example, mentally repeating “buddho”. Some like
to make hand movements like in the famed Venerable.
Thian’s tradition. Do whatever makes the mind
comfortable and content. Happiness is the proximate
cause for concentration. When the mind is happy, it
will not run away from where it is. It will stay with the
object it is happy with. This is the secret to samatha.
For those who say that no matter what they do
their minds never get peaceful, it is because they are
trying to force the mind to be still. It will not get
peaceful by doing this. We need to attract it with an
object that makes it happy. When I was young I enjoyed

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watching the breath. I learned to watch the out and
in-breath from Venerable Father Lee at Wat Asokarama
in 1959. Most of you weren’t even born yet! I felt happy
watching the breath, and the mind became peaceful.
It was like a child eating ice cream. It was well-behaved.
Let’s use this principle for practicing samatha. When we
choose an object the mind is happy with, it will become
peaceful on its own.
Furthermore, let’s be careful to make sure that
we achieve the correct restful state of samatha. We
shouldn’t get lost in a daze and let the mind fall into
a dull and lowly place, a sleepy place and pretend
that’s what peace is. That’s not peace. We shouldn’t
hold the mind still in a rigid and uncomfortable way
either. We have to know how to feel relaxed and happy
but still fresh and alert.
When the mind is becomes peaceful without
any force, it is a stress-free mind. If we feel stress when
we are practicing, then we can be sure we are not doing
samatha or vipassana. If the mind becomes happy
and peaceful on its own, without any force, then we
have achieved samatha. Once the mind is happy and

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peaceful, it is not advisable to stop at this point. Just
practicing to make the mind happy and peaceful is
too superficial. Buddhism has teachings that are far
more profound than that. Teachings about how to find
happy and peaceful mental states are available without
Buddhism and even predate Buddhism.
When teaching monks, however, I often advise
them to practice samatha to get some temporary states
of peace and happiness. This is because monks in general
don’t have the same outlets for happiness as us lay
people do. If laypeople have a desire, a specific craving
to eat or participate in something, they can usually go
and eat it or do it and get some temporary pleasure.
Monks don’t have such opportunities. They don’t have
movies, television, or great conversations; they don’t
get to eat whatever they like whenever they’d like it.
Monks can practice samatha to feel some comfort and
pleasurable states in order to get them through the day.
So far we have covered the first two types of minds
that occur when practicing meditation; namely, getting
totally lost, or losing oneself in samatha by fixing our
attention on the arms, the feet, the abdomen, the entire

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body, or on the mind. What seem like many different
meditation techniques from many different centres
really just amount to the same thing: latching our
attention on to something. Most meditators oscillate
between the first two categories without ever being
truly aware as in the third type.

3) The third type occurs when we watch the

body, as in vipassana meditation. We can choose
any observable phenomenon of the body, such as
the breath, the rising and falling of the abdomen, or
intentional body movements. In the case of the
abdomen, we can see that there is rising and falling
occurring there, and the mind merely watches this.
The mind must be the observer, an independent
phenomenon from the object. The mind does not sink
down to the abdomen but is rooted in awareness and
simply sees that the body has this rising and falling
motion at the abdomen. Or, the mind sees that the
body is breathing in. It sees the body breathing out. The
mind watches the body stand, walk, sit and lie down.
It watches the hands and arms moving and stretching

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and so on. It sees the body doing what it does. The mind
is just the observer. The body moves and the mind
watches. The body ceases to be ours. This body moves,
but it is not us moving. The hand reaches, but it’s not
our hand. It won’t even feel like it is a hand. It is just a
physical form moving.
When we see it in this way, there will be a
lightness to all that we do. Yet, when we see it as our
hand moving, the mind carries more weight. Whenever
the hand moves and the mind just knows it, there is
tremendous relief. True mindfulness arises. The mind
awakens and sees that the physical form that is moving
is not us.

4) The fourth type is when we have been

practicing the watching of an object of meditation,
such as in-breath and out-breath, and we are able to
notice the occurrence of mental phenomena. Perhaps
the mind goes off in thought or latches itself on the
breath or the abdomen. We become mindful of
whatever happens.
Here are a few more examples: We watch the
breath, and a feeling of joy or rapture arises in the mind
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- we immediately know that joy has arisen. We watch
the breath and happiness arises - the mind knows that
happiness has arisen. We watch the breath and feel
anxious the mind knows the anxiousness. Or, we watch
the abdomen and feel frustrated - the mind knows
frustration has arisen. Whatever mental state arises,
mindfulness is there to recognize then. As we practice
this more and more, we will see how what arises in
the mind is always changing. We will eventually come
to recognize a great number of mental phenomena.
We will know what getting lost in thought is like, what
fixing the mind on a spot is like, what a virtuous or non-
virtuous mind is like, what greed, aversion and ignorance
are like. When we recognize such phenomena well,
mindfulness will arise on its own in our daily life.
We can see, then, that mindfulness as described
in this fourth case can also be practiced throughout the
day. This is alittle harder for those of us who prefer to
watch the body, as the body tends to take up all of our
attention when we do. For those of us who are skilled
at watching the mind, we can do this quite easily. As an
example of watching our mind in daily life, we may see
our friend coming towards us. When she does, gladness
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arises. Mindfulness knows this right away, even if we
weren’t intending to practice. Wisdom sees the gladness
and it falls away. Phenomena just arise and pass away.
We start talking with our friend and start enjoying
ourselves. The fun feeling arises, mindfulness knows
it and then the fun feeling passes. Then, our friend
says something that bothers us. A little anger arises, is
known immediately and then falls away. If we can watch
the arising and falling away of mental phenomena
repetitively in this way - they are then we are able to
develop our mindfulness in daily life.
The first type described is the mental state that
most people are in all the time lost all day and all night.
There are six ways to be lost: in seeing, hearing, smelling,
tasting, bodily sensations, and in thinking. There is one more
way to be lost, actually, and that is the second category:
lost in meditating. That is, lost in fixation on an object or
in mental noting. We can enter this second mental state
anywhere, but it is quite common among temple goers.
They go on a short retreat and get very good at losing
themselves in the breath or the abdomen.
The third and fourth types can be accomplished
without having to go on a meditation retreat. In the third,
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whatever the body is doing - standing, walking, sitting,
lying - the mind keeps watching it repeatedly. The mind
sees that the body which is engaged in these activities
is not us. Such a mind is light and gentle, pliant and
agile, adaptable and proficient.

Understanding Vipassana Practice

Please try to follow what I say. If we read and listen

to my talks repetitively our understanding will deepen.
We will slowly absorb more and more each time. Don’t
just listen to them once, come back a few years later and
say it is all the same. We need to listen or read often so
that we will not forget. Please do keep at it. I won’t
force anyone to come. I don’t charge for my lectures,
and I give out my books and CDs for free. All I’m doing
is asking us to come and listen, asking us for some
determination and perseverance.
Now, during the last few moments I have not been
teaching about the true nature of things (Dhamma). Can

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we notice that our minds have a lot more movement?
Our minds are much more active now.This is how we
watch. We just know this is happening. It’s easy. There
isn’t much to it. Most people have the perception that
practicing the Dhamma means we must do difficult
things, things greater or on a higher level than is normal
or natural. If we endeavor to do things higher than
normal, we won’t see the Dhamma.The Dhamma is
completely normal and natural. We are not trying to
become superhuman here. We are not even learning so
that we can feel happy, or be intelligent, knowledgeable
or worldly. We are learning so that we can see the truth.
That is all.
It is not necessary to know all the Buddhist
scriptures. No one does. We are not the Buddha.
We just need to know what happens in our experience.
Practicing the Dhamma is similar to climbing a mountain.
Before we climb, we want to see what path others have
successfully taken and follow it. If we do, one day
we will arrive at the goal. We will also believe that we
chose the right way to get there. But when standing on
the mountain top we then can see that there are many

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pathways which arrive at the same peak. We could have
taken other ways, practiced at other centres. We just
needed to know the principles of the practice that I am
explaining and thus get the fundamentals right. We need
to know the four different categories I explained. The
mind at each moment can be depicted as falling into
one of the four types, only - but the third and the fourth
are conducive to wisdom.
Watching the rising and falling of the abdomen
and wandering off in thought or enjoyment is a futile
practice, and is our first type, of category. Watching by
holding our attention at the abdomen is samatha, our
second category. Watching the abdomen as merely
the body moving, with the mind as the independent
observer, is vipassana practice by watching the body.
We will see that the body is not us. This is our third
category. Watching the abdomen and seeing the mind
- happy one moment, suffering the next, good one
moment, bad the next - with the abdomen acting as
the basis from which we watch the mind, is vipassana
practice by watching the mind. This is our fourth
category.

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 The same fundamentals are true for watching the
breath. Watching the breath and losing our awareness
will have no benefit. Watching the breath with a
high degree of focus is samatha. Watching the breath
and seeing the body moving with the mind as the stable
observer is vipassana by way of the body. We will see
that this body, now sitting here and breathing, is not
us. Watching the breath and noticing mental states is
vipassana by way of the mind.
For those who practice a style such as Venerable
Master Thian’s, where we sit and move the arms, the
fundamentals are the same. Moving the arms with the
mind wandering here and there is useless. The second
way is moving the arms and keeping focus on them.
Staying focused intently with each movement in this
way is samatha. The third way is to know that the body
is moving with the mind as the observer. The fourth
way is moving the arms as a basis for watching mental
movement and mental states.The fourth way is how
the practice was intended and originally taught: knowing
that the body is moving and knowing that the mind is
moving. Unfortunately, most people don’t follow the
teachings and, therefore, get stuck in the second state.
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Many more get stuck in the first: they get stuck or lost
in thinking about each movement. “What step is next?
Oh yes, this step. Ok, great. What’s next?” This is nothing
but thinking. Even if we mentally note, “thinking,
thinking, thinking,” we are still thinking!
Keep watching the different mental and physical
phenomena. It doesn’t matter which technique we
choose. We all have our own ways; there is no need to
copy others. Let’s just remember well the three areas
of training that I discussed. We learn by observing the
eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. Whatever
comes into contact with them, be aware of it
as soon as it arises. Watch how the sensations are
always changing. Observe the mind. Know what states
are virtuous or non-virtuous. Most of us here are
listening and feeling light - not in the “floating away”
sense, but just gentle. Become aware of it now. Some of
us are stuck intently focusing, fixing our attention. It
will feel dull, sort of dry and emotionless, if we are
holding our concentration in this way.
(Venerable Pramote then takes the opportunity
to assist an audience member.) In your case, you are
stuck in the practice of intense focus. You make yourself
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peaceful until you are in a kind of daze. This is not right.
You need to be in a state of knowing; you should be
attentive, awake, self-aware, yet calm and relaxed. If
you practice and you feel irritable or uncomfortable,
the mind is not virtuous. In fact, these are defining
characteristics of a non-virtuous mind. A mind that
feels heavy is surely non-virtuous. A mind that is light
or happy, however, may or may not be virtuous. Thus,
we must be careful not to be mistaken. Light or happy
feelings don’t necessarily mean that the mind is in
a virtuous state. Some people have light and calm
minds all day and all night but are just lost, without
awareness.
Please keep at it. What I said doesn’t mean that
the practice you are doing has been useless, but you
need to keep working on it. Listen to me a little more
and you will be able to practice vipassana properly.
Most of us are stuck in samatha. We get attached to
the sensations that occur as a result of our one-pointed
concentration on an object, and think that we have
reached a level of vipassana insight. Another name for
vipassana insight is wisdom. Wisdom has nothing to do

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with physical sensations; it is about seeing the truth. This
misunderstanding may be a result of some meditation
masters of previous generations that would play little
tricks to give encouragement and say that their
students are reaching levels of insight even though they
weren’t. They were happy that at least the students
made progress in samatha and they hoped that the
students would then keep practicing. One day, by the
grace of their merit, they may break free of samatha
and enter the path of vipassana. Everyone please keep
learning, keep practicing. Whatever technique we have
chosen is fine. Each can be done correctly or incorrectly
just the same.
I have practiced with many well-known masters
of the forest monk tradition: Luangpu Doon, Luangpu
Thaed, Luangta Maha Bua, Luangpor Phut, Phra Ajarn
Boonchan, and Luangpu Suwat to name a few. These
teachers are unwavering about correct mindfulness
practice. However, many newer disciples in Luangpu
Mun’s lineage are caught in samatha practice - and not
just in that lineage either. The lineage which watches the
rising and falling of the abdomen is primarily composed

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of meditators who are stuck in samatha, stuck in holding
their attention there. This is because many believe that
mental labelling is equivalent to genuine mindfulness.
This is a mistake.
Genuine mindfulness is about precise recognition,
not fixing the mind somewhere and labeling it with a
word. When we note in such a way, we are investing
greed in our intent. Greed is continuously entering into
our practice unnoticed. In the Commentaries to the
Theravada Buddhist Scriptures it is mentioned that
mindfulness by noting mental and physical phenomena
carries suffering with it. Desire is hovering in the
background, which is the cause of suffering. If we
want to practice, and then start noting, suffering arises
immediately. The defilement of wanting to practice is the
force behind the noting, causing further karma, further
suffering. With that said, some who like noting phenomena
are quite skilled and can do it happily. They start off
with the defilements, producing further karma, and yet
eventually settle in to a nice practice.

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 Virtuous and Non-Virtuous States

It is possible that unwholesome mental states

can cause virtue to arise. It is also possible that virtue
causes unwholesomeness. For example, we see our child
running out into the middle of the street or playing in
the rain and we have compassion for our child. We don’t
want to see our child get struck by a car or catch a cold.
So, we call our child into the house. Then, when our
child refuses to come in, we start to get angry. What we
say or do may hurt the child more than a cold would.
In this case, we can see that a virtuous mind soon
produces an unwholesome one.
Once, there was a well-known monk who had so
much loving-kindness. Unfortunately, his love was so
vast that it exceeded his mindfulness. This caused desire
and attachment to enter at times when he wasn’t
sufficiently aware. If we have loving-kindness, losing our
footing just a little bit can cause desire. If we have
compassion, and if our mindfulness is not strong enough,
it may result in anger. So, we must truly be careful.
Non-virtue can create virtue and virtue can create
non-virtue. It goes both ways, as in the following
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example: We can be in the nonvirtuous state, well
known as the wandering mind. Yet, after an hour or so
we remember our mindfulness and recognize that the
mind has been wandering. Now the mind has become
virtuous, at least for this moment of mindfulness. We
may then get upset with our mind for wandering away
for so long, thinking, “I can’t believe that happened
again!” Now we are lost in non-virtue again; this time
in regret and over-thinking. Another common situation
that occurs is when we are concerned about the future,
and the mind wanders away into different scenarios. A
non-virtuous mind such as this becomes virtuous the
moment that mindfulness realises this is going on. Then
we think, “How can I prevent all this wandering?” and
proceed to feverishly mentally note the thinking. This is
most certainly greed, and not virtue.
Please listen to this principle carefully: We are
not practicing so that the mind will not wander. We
are practicing to know ourselves, to be aware of ourselves.
We need to see the wandering mind, to know what it is
like, to see that it is not permanent, and see that the
aware mind that was lost is not permanent either. We

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are not even practicing so that we can be aware of
ourselves all the time. We are not practicing to be or
get anything at all!
A virtuous mind, or an aware mind is not a
permanent thing. We will clearly see that we cannot
prevent being lost in thought. We can’t chase it away,
and we can’t command mindfulness to come in. We
also can’t make it stay. Being lost or aware, greedy or not
greedy, angry or not angry are all equivalent phenomena.
A truly mindful mind does not value one over another.
They all teach us the Three True Characteristics - they
teach us that they are impermanent, unsatisfactory and
that they are not us. This is the wisdom that will arise in
our mind. Then we will come to know the true nature of
things: that a mind which is virtuous and a mind which is
not are just passing phenomena.
I want to emphasize that if we are trying to hold
awareness, we are practicing incorrectly. If we are over-
focusing and holding to the mind, we need to let it go
and see that it goes to think, goes to the eyes and the
ears, and it goes to think again. We have to see that all
the aspects are impermanent phenomena and that they

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are all arising and falling. We will know that we cannot
control them. In the end, we will see that all things that
arise also pass away. There is nothing in this world that
persists. There is nothing that we can force to happen.
If there is a cause for something, it will arise. When there
is no cause for it to be there, it will pass away. There is
no self to be found.
There isn’t anything in the world that is a permanent
fixture, a self. Things simply come together temporarily
and we believe that’s enough to justify the existence
of a person. However, when we see clearly, we see but
the workings of components and no self at all.

The Enlightenment Process

The mind that has reached this point of understanding

will automatically become completely concentrated.
When the mind is completely concentrated, it will see
phenomena quickly arising and falling away. Then there
will be just a few “mental” moments where the mind

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releases itself from suffering. For some who are very
developed, there will just be two mental moments
that the Abhidhamma calls the moment of access and
the moment of conformity to the Truth. At this point,
the mind is closely following the Noble Truth of suffering
(dukkha). The mind sees that each phenomenon that
arises is dukkha. However, it doesn’t have any aversion
towards the unsatisfactory nature. Instead, it has patience
and is completely impartial. It accepts the truth that
dukkha arises and passes, arises and passes. Other than
dukkha nothing else arises at all. It accepts the truth so
fully that it stops it’s struggle to avoid or chase away
dukkha. After that, the mind lets go of its attachment to
the aggregates of dukkha; it lets go of its attachment to
the body and mind. It flows back into the stream of pure
consciousness on the noble path to freedom, and the
defilements and impurities that previously covered pure
consciousness are then lifted away by the noble path.
This is why in the Buddhist scriptures it says that the
mind is released from what was tainting it - it no longer
clings. This process of enlightenment is all perfectly laid
out in the Buddhist scriptures. It is surprising how its

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words of truth have been preserved for so long.
It is the defilements that cover up the mind.
When the mind completely sees the true nature of
things (that is, when sees that the aggregates which
make up body and mind are nothing but suffering) the
mind will release its attachment to them and be free
of defilements. It is like a fully developed chick that
breaks its way through the egg shell into the vastness of
the world.
When the mind is let go of, it releases from the
world and the idea of self so completely so fully that it
never attaches again. We can picture a clown who sells
helium balloons, holding a huge cluster of them together
by just the string ends in his fist. All he has to do is open
his hand, and all the balloons are released in a wink.

Out of the Dream and into Reality

The truth is that most people in this world walk

around with their minds wandering all the time. There

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is no awareness of it for their entire lives. Even in their
next life, they are completely caught up in thought. They
never wake up and notice it. How could they notice?
Their minds are too busy wandering all the time! Let’s
look at an example:
Suppose each person in this room, including
myself, was a bad person. Then no one here would
be bad. Can we see why? Everyone would be equal.
Comparatively, we would all possess equal amounts of
goodness. Now if one member of the audience became
a truly good person, then I would be a pretty bad monk!
We would be able to clearly see contrasts. Similarly, in
general, the minds of people are completely lost in
sense perception and thought all of the time. They have
no idea that this is the case, but all the while they are
suffering from it. It is consistent across the entire globe:
there is no mindfulness at all from birth until death.
There are only a few handfuls of people who are awake.
Nearly everyone is completely lost, but they don’t
know that this is so.
We should, therefore, listen to the Dhamma
regularly and one day our mind will awaken. All it takes

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is to be truly aware for but an instant and we will know
that for our whole lives prior to that point we had
been lost, totally absorbed in content. We will know
what being lost is. It is like our example above, if one
person suddenly becomes good in a room of bad
people, he will clearly see that everyone else is bad,
and that he had been bad up until then.

The Middle Way

If we are watching incorrectly, we will be lost in

one of two ways. We will be lost in thought, or lost in
focusing, fixing, forcing our attention somewhere. If
we watch correctly, we are practicing what is called
the middle way. We watch the natural workings of
the body and mind. We see the body and mind as
they are. The Three Characteristics, the truth of
impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self, will
then reveal themselves for us to see. If the truth is not
revealed, then we are doing something wrong.

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 If we make our mind still, the mind will seem to
be a permanent fixture. In doing so, we will not have
the right understanding. We will not see the true
nature of the mind. Everything else will exhibit the Three
Characteristics, but the mind won’t. To practice the
middle way rightly is to know what is wrong. Practice by
knowing physical and mental phenomena, practice by
watching and knowing different states: knowing going off
into thought, knowing forcing attention, knowing greed,
knowing anger, knowing mindlessness, and so on. Let’s
keep practicing in this way and genuine mindfulness
will arise on its own - and the middle way will too. We
can’t force the middle way to arise. We can’t determine
ourselves where the middle is!
Many people try to find where the middle
is. Some try to find it in the middle of the chest or
the middle of the forehead, or just above the navel.
I am not sure what they are trying to find. The middle
way cannot be found in the body. The middle way arises
in the place where there is genuine mindfulness. The
mind will have mindfulness when it recognizes physical
and mental phenomena. There is no thinking here. We

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have to feel it. Vipassana is not about thinking. Those
who practice mental noting, be very careful. If anger or
another non-virtuous state arises, we must know so. The
knowing is virtuous. To then proceed and mentally note,
“anger, anger”, is thinking, which is non-virtuous, once
again.
We must simply keep watch. We watch the body
and watch the mind. There is movement of the body,
and the mind watches. There is movement in the mind,
and the mind watches. We become the observer and see
the Truth. This is what true meditation is all about.

Dispassion Then Liberation

When the Buddha enlightened, he brought forth

the teaching of vipassana, which was not available
elsewhere. Vipassana is learned so that we can see the
truth of the body and mind. When we see the truth of
the body and mind, we become dispassionate towards
ourselves and this world. The Buddha taught that when

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we see the truth, we become dispassionate towards
worldly existence, and that once we become dispassionate
we then let go of our attachment to the world. When
we let go of our attachment, we are liberated. Once
we are liberated, we know that this is so.
When we study the Dhamma, we study the body
and mind until we are liberated. Once we are liberated,
our job is done. We need not practice the Dhamma
anymore. It is not like working in the world. In the world,
we work to make money and spend it. Once we spend
it, we have to work again to make more. In Dhamma
practice, there is an end to the study of vipassana.
Once we are completely free from suffering, there is no
coming back to the practice. It is not like worldly things
where we suffer again and again.
Let me emphasize that we must see the body
and mind as they really are in order to become
dispassionate towards them. Once dispassionate, we
relinquish our attachment to them. Once we are no
longer attached, we are liberated. Once we are liberated,
we know that this is so.
Therefore, step one is to see the body and the
mind as they really are. What is the truth of the body
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and mind? The truth is that they exhibit the Three
Characteristics (impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and
non-self). Vipassana is deeper than most people think.
Most people think that as long as they are watching the
body or the mind, that they are practicing vipassana.
Just watching the body and mind is still samatha. It
doesn’t matter how good our concentration is or how
skilled we are at making the mind peaceful. That doesn’t
liberate the mind from suffering.We need to see the
truth of the body and mind.

Conversations with Venerable Pramote

from May 30, 2010

VP: How are you feeling today?

Student 1: I’m feeling sort of still, neutral.

VP: Are you feeling that way naturally or are you

controlling yourself? Is there forcing going on?

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Student 1: There is controlling going on.

VP: Yes, you are controlling yourself and making your

mind neutral and emotionless. That’s how you’ve been
practicing. Can you see what you are doing? Observe
what the mind is doing, again and again. See? There is
nothing that doesn’t arise and fall. Every phenomenon
that happens comes and goes. You feel good and
comfortable, and that’s impermanent. Then, in comes
feeling discomfort or suffering, and that’s impermanent
too. All things are impermanent. We study and
watch the mind in order to see that all states are
impermanent.

Student 2: I feel that my mind is more stable than it

was earlier today but I feel tired, exhausted.

VP: That’s correct, there’s a lot of sleepiness there.

Student 2: I think I might be suppressing or holding,

pushing something.

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VP: Yes, you’re suppressing some anxiety because you
are afraid to talk with me. You’re thinking ahead and
then suppressing some of the anxiety.

Student 3: I can see that as I’m talking now I’m being a bit
phony. I’m not happy about that. I’m not equanimous to
it, and I’m not seeing it go away.

VP: We’re not practicing to make things go away, we’re

practicing to see that whatever is there isn’t us.

Student 3: I want to see it that way but all I see is that

things aren’t going away, and then I get angry about that.
I see that I can’t control it.

VP: That’s right, you can’t control it. You still see that
the body is something special, something that can bring
happiness. But if your wisdom is full and you see that
the body is nothing but suffering, you won’t see it the
same way anymore.

Student 3: Ok, I’ll keep watching in this way.

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VP: Good. Keep watching in this way and see that the
body is nothing but suffering. There isn’t anything lovable
about it. The mind is also not lovable. It’s transient,
changing all the time.

Student 4: I’ve been listening to your CDs and practicing

for over a year now.

VP: What are you worried about, what are you curious
about? You’re practicing just fine.

Student 4: I’m worried that I don’t have the same energy

and momentum in my practice that I had in the past.

VP: If you feel you don’t have enough strength in your

practice then come back and practice some samatha.

Student 4: But I’m afraid of getting stuck and addicted

to samatha.

VP: Don’t worry about that. The only people who should
worry about that are those who are stuck in samatha,
are holding focus on objects and don’t know they are
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doing it. Or, there are some groups of medtators that
may know they are holding their attention somewhere
but they don’t see the satisfaction or contentment that
comes up as a result of it, so they get addicted to the
state. Make sure you don’t force the mind to be too
still or try to focus with too much force. The secret to
practicing proper samatha, or making the mind peaceful,
is to just breathe and relax.Just see the body breathing.
Don’t worry that you’re going to get stuck.

Student 4: But I was stuck in it before.

VP: Don’t worry, you’re not attached to this practice

anymore. Don’t throw away samatha. The Buddha
taught us that the things we must practice and develop
more than anything else are samatha and vipassana.
So, the buddha never told us to throw away samatha,
and we shouldn’t. Don’t be afraid of samatha. Practice
it correctly. Once we practice it and the mind feels fresh
and energized, we can walk the path of wisdom once
again. We can practice separating the aggregates. Your
mind is awake. You’re a good practitioner, so go ahead
and continue practicing.
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 The Ways to Wisdom
Primary Sources: Suan Santidham Temple
Jan 2013
 Many people think that Dhamma is complicated
because of all the different teachings and techniques
available. On the surface, it certainly seems as though
there is a lot of variation from one monastery or meditation
centre to the next. However, once we understand the
proper principles of the practice that the Buddha taught,
and are developing well, everything starts to make
sense. Everything comes together and we see that even
among the apparent disparity and contradictions in
different centres and techniques, there is actually a
uniformity to it all.

Practice According to Your Disposition

There are many ways to practice toward

enlightenment. We can start with practicing samatha,
making the mind peaceful, then walk the path of wisdom
and see the truth. On the other hand, we can start by
practicing vipassana and walking the path of wisdom in
order to see the truth. Peacefulness comes later. Yet

206
another approach is to practice the two at the same
time in conjunction with each other.
Those of us who have a peaceful disposition, who
like to be alone and quietly sit under a tree or relax, are
appropriate for practicing samatha before walking the
path of wisdom and seeing the truth of the way things
are. Such people are also more suited - once the mind
is peaceful - to watch the body rather than the mind
because their concentration is powerful and able to see
the true characteristics of the body. Their minds, however,
are also probably a bit unnatural, too still to see the
truth of the mind itself. Those of us who are most
appropriate for samatha or peacefulness practice are
best at watching the body first.
On the other hand, those of us who are
busyminded people, like most of us here who are
working, have lots of responsibilities in life, are busy
doing this and that, who may get easily impatient or
restless, and who tend to be full of opinions, would be
better at doing a different practice. Busy minded people
do best at watching the mind and heart first before
going to any sort of deep meditation or trying to make

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the mind peaceful or still. Such people can skip that
for now and go right into taking a look at the mind and
heart and seeing their true characteristics. We will start
to notice that each feeling that arises in the heart, whether
it be happiness, sadness, anger or frustration, is something
that only lasts for a very short period of time and then
goes away.

Practicing Samatha
to Walk the Path of Wisdom

For those of us with a peaceful disposition, we

can practice the first type of concentration, but we have
to be a very good meditator. We have to be skilled
at concentrating on one object, such as the breath or a
mantra. In this way, one can make the mind very peaceful
and concentrated to the point where the mind gets very
bright and light. If our object is the breath, we will notice
that the breath gets shorter and shorter as we are more
concentrated. The mind then moves from whatever

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object it was focused on to using the light as its object.
When the mind is concentrated and subtle enough, the
breathing will stop, the thoughts will stop, body is no
longer experienced, and all that will remain is bright
light.
At this stage the mind has entered the first level
of absorption, or jhana. Once there is stillness and
peacefulness here with the light, eventually the light
disappears and all that is left is pure awareness and
equanimity. That is at the fourth jhana. There are also
four more formless jhanas, making a total of eight. (see
page 138)
Once one comes out of the second jhana or higher,
the observer remains in our daily life for an extended
time. It can stay as long as a week. The mind has samadhi
and can use this samathi to cultivate wisdom.
A lot of people think that Buddha enlightened
because he watched the in and out breath, but that is
a fallacy. The Buddha practiced the in and out breath
and went into the jhanas in order to put the mind in
a beautiful, clear and pristine state where it was then
able to gain wisdom into the truth of body and mind.

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It’s not just by watching the breath that we enlighten.
If we practice breathing in and out, it’s a nice practice
to make the mind peaceful but it’s not enough for
wisdom to arise on its own. There’s more we have to do.
This first type of concentration was practiced
before Buddha, and he saw that it could make the mind
very peaceful but is not, in itself, the way to nirvana or
the end of suffering. He did see, however, that this quality
of concentration is useful when wanting to gain wisdom.
We can enlighten, or reach the end of suffering, through
gaining the wisdom that this body and mind are not us,
and that this body and mind are nothing but suffering.
Practicing samatha to reach these high levels of concen-
tration is very difficult, especially for modern people, but
if we are capable of doing it, our mind will be in a very
awake state - this is a very useful state in which to walk
the path of wisdom.
In this state, however, we must continue to practice
when we return to the real world from these deep
levels of concentration. We can then observe one’s own
body and see clearly that the body and all the parts of
the body contain no self inside. We can see clearly that

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the mind and body are two separate things. We can also
see that the emotions, mental states and feelings also
are not us, but just things that arise in consciousness
and then fall away. We can even see that the
consciousness that observes all of this isn’t us either.

Studying Objects with a Stable Mind

We start to see that all the feelings which arise in

the heart are not the heart itself, and that the thoughts
that arise in the mind are not the mind itself. We start
to see that the mind is not the feelings or the thoughts
themselves but is really that which is able to observe
the feelings and thoughts.In a similar way, those who
are more peaceful and observe the body sitting, moving
and walking around will be able to see that the mind is
the observer of the body and that the body is that
which is being observed. There is a subject - object
relationship. There are two things: a body and a mind,
and they are distinct. Similarly, if we watch the feelings

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and emotions that arise in the heart we start to see that
there’s a mind, or that which observes, and there are
feelings that arise and fall in the heart, or that which is
observed. They are also distinct.
In this way, we start to separate out into
components what we thought was one solid person.
We see that there’s a body and there are feelings,
and then there is that which observes the body and
the feelings. When our stable concentration and
mindfulness get very powerful, we start to see that
feelings arise and fall extremely quickly in the centre of
the chest.

Seeing without Labeling

When our concentration is this strong we see that

the thought process or memory that arises to classify
the feeling is something separate from the feeling. If it is
regarding the feeling, it will arise right after the feeling.
Sometimes, if our mindfulness is very powerful, and able

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to watch the feelings arise and fall over and over, we
will notice that the thought process or memory doesn’t
even have a chance to identify or classify what the
feelings are. The process happens very quickly, and the
mind just sees that things are arising and falling, that
whatever arises also falls. It is no longer interested in the
content of the thoughts and feelings, and it starts to
gain wisdom into the truth that things are always
changing.
Once we have attained this stable state of con-
centration, we can observe the body in detail, which
will lead us to seeing the mind clearly. When we watch
the body with a proper state of peaceful or stable
concentration, we will see that the body isn’t us. It will
completely separate out or even disappear. Then, all that
is left is the mind. When we properly scrutinize the
mind we see the true characteristics of it. This is a
powerful way to practice. However, for many of us,
reaching high states of concentration is impossible,
therefore, we need to rely on practicing the path of
wisdom thought mindfulness first. More powerful
concentration will come later.

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 Being Content with the Object

If attempting to make the mind peaceful and

deeply concentrated, we have to be verycareful not to
watch the breath or the meditation object in a serious
way, as that means we are trying to control the mind or
to hold the mind still. There should be no stress in it.
Rather, we should be watching the meditation object in
a very relaxed and gentle way. I practiced in this way
from seven years old, and I didn’t meet my true teacher
until I was 29. I feel that I wasted 22 years of just
watching the breath and becoming very peaceful, but
really not getting anywhere. For 22 years I was able to
meditate and make my mind peaceful, but then
through the work day I’d have a stressed and restless
mind just like everyone else. I didn’t like that, so I would
go back to meditate and make the mind calm again. I
would just go back and forth between peaceful and not
peaceful. I didn’t move forward until I learned how to
attain the necessary wisdom into reality in order to
liberate the mind from suffering.

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 If we are able to practice making the mind
peaceful, we just have to make sure to pick a meditation
object that the mind is happy to be with and enjoys
watching. If our mind likes the breath and feels good
watching the breath, then we use the breath. If it feels
good with a mantra then we use a mantra. Whatever we
do, the mind has to be comfortable, relaxed and happy
as we do it. Concentration, or Samadhi, will arise not
because we controlled it into arising or forced it into
arising. Concentration arises because the mind is
comfortable and likes being with the object. When the
mind is very happy with something it will stay with it.
It won’t go anywhere else on its own. This is the attitude
we need in order to bring the mind into the peaceful
states of absorption concentration or jhana. We use the
breath until the breath disappears and all that is left is
light. Then we watch the light. Once the light disappears
and if we continue along that absorption path, we achieve
the state of correct samadhi - the stable observer - that
is necessary for widsom. We achieve that observer in
the jhanas and when we exit and return to the regular
world, our mind will be the observer of all things. It will

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be able to see the body and the emotions, the mental
states, all the mental and physical phenomena as they
really are: always arising and falling, not persisting and
not a self.

Low Quality Concentration

If we are not already experts at making our minds

peaceful and we are taught to watch the body moving or
watch the breath, our minds are not stable in awareness.
Instead, our minds go out to grasp and slip down into
whatever object we are observing. For example, if
we don’t have a mind that is stable in awareness, when
we are watching the breath we will slip in towards the
breath and be lost in the breath or get stuck in the
breath. If we are observing the body, or observing the
feet while walking, the mind will slide right down into
the feet. It won’t be the stable mind or stable observer
of the body. It will get lost in the feet and become
attached to them.

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 When we have this type of concentration, we are
not able to see the truth of the way things are because
the mind is not in a stable, aware, rooted position. It’s
lost in the breath or lost in the feet. If we don’t have
true, peaceful concentration where the mind is totally
stable in awareness, then the best thing to do is to
watch the arising and passing away of the feelings and
emotions. It’s best to not to try and hold to any specific
meditation object but instead go right to observing the
truth of the feelings, observing the way that they are.

Wisdom for Busy Minds Through

Momentary Concentration

For those of us who are busy-minded and cannot

meditate to achieve states of peace, there is an easier
way. Instead of practicing to make the mind extremely
peaceful and enter a state of absorption or jhana, we
can practice a type of samadhi called momentary
concentration. Through this method we can still achieve

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a quality type of concentration that is able to be separate
from phenomena of the body and mind, and is also able
to achieve insight into them.
The way to practice this is to pick a meditation
object like a mantra, or watching the breath, watching
the abdomen rise and fall, or watching the body walking,
sitting, standing. Only, instead of staying with this
meditation object and trying to keep the mind still or
stop it from thinking, we use the meditation object as
the background and notice in the foreground that the
mind goes off to think again and again, naturally. We don’t
try to stop the mind from thinking. We let it think as it
does normally, but we notice that it is thinking. We start
breathing in, and when the mind goes off to think, we
know it. Then, when we are breathing out the mind goes
off to think again, and we know that again.
The reason we choose to watch thinking is
because it is the activity that the mind goes off to do
most often. Thinking is something we can surely become
mindful of often because the mind will do it often,
as long as we’re not trying to control it. We can watch
a meditation object and see that the mind went to think

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and then when it comes back to the meditation object
we see that the mind came back to the object. This all
must be observed in a relaxed way. What happens is that
each time that we notice that the mind went off to think,
the mind has attained correct samadhi or momentary
concentration just for that moment. Then the mind
gets lost in thought again, or it slips down to take a
good look at the meditation object and gets lost in
the meditation object. Then we know it has gotten lost
in thought or in themeditation object again. When we
know this, the mind is in the proper state of samadhi
again for another moment.
If we practice this often and are able quite
quickly to notice the mind go off, then we have several
consecutive moments of momentary concentration.
Soon it will appear as if it’s a continuous thing, that the
mind has attained stable concentration. However, it’s
stable just one moment at a time. Having many such
moments in a short period, will allow us to achieve a
high quality mind with correct concentration.

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 Wisdom and Concentration Together

Stable concentration can also be achieved if we

are able to practice meditation until a bright light
appears. Then we can know the mind which gets
interested in the light and moves toward the light. The
awareness of that movement towards that light will
help to make the mind stable in awareness and not
move out. Each time we notice that the mind go off
towards an object, whether it be thinking, the light, the
senses, or anything else, this is a moment of mindfulness.
When there is a moment of mindfulness that’s able to
see the movement of consciousness towards the object,
the movement will stop automatically because the
movement is caused by a defilement, namely greed. If
there’s mindfulness in the moment after the defilement,
the defilement will disappear. Mindfulness and a
defilement cannot coexist. Mindfulness is a wholesome
state and a defilement is an unwholesome state. A
wholesome and an unwholesome state cannot exist
in the same moment. When the mind moves out and
mindfulness sees this, the movement of the mind

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will cease and the mind will be stable in the
correct type of concentration. Watching the mind in
the presence of a bright light is a way of practicing
both peacefulness and wisdom in conjunction with
each other. The movement of defilements may appear
to arise and fall very quickly, so quickly, in fact, that
each defilement disappears before it can be identified
(as anger, a desire, a thought, etc.).

Putting Samatha to Use

Who here has been able to watch the body and

mind moving and working, whose mindfulness is strong
and whose mind is the awake observer that sees the
movements of the body and mind all day and night? If
you can reach this stage then you know how tiring it is.
You can see how hard the mind works. The mind works
very hard, all the time. The body doesn’t work as hard as
the mind does. For example, how many times a day for
example does the body get hungry? Maybe two or three,

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or five times a day, maximum. How often is the mind is
hungry? It’s hungry for this or that object, hungry for a
good feeling, hungry for information, hungry to feel calm
and peaceful - and the list goes on.
We can see that the mind suffers in the sense
that it never rests. The body is resting and yet the mind
is going and going. It’s tiresome. If we’ve never practiced
the Dhamma then we won’t understand how tired the
mind is. The body can rest and feel fresh again, but if
we don’t know how to practice samatha correctly -
which most of us don’t - the mind never gets a rest.
If we know how to practice samatha the right way,
we can make the mind peaceful for a while and then
bring the mind to a place where it can get some rest,
whether we use a mantra, the breath, or bodily move-
ments. If we can’t practice samatha successfully, we
will have to walk the path of wisdom all the time and
won’t have any rest for the mind at all.
If we’re able to practice samatha, we give the
mind a rest for a short time and then we put the mind
to work. Let’s not waste the opportunity to apply such
a good rest. Let’s use this refreshed, well-rested mind

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to effectively watch the movements of the body and
mind. If all we do is rest then we miss a big opportunity.
We become lost in a low - value activity, and we
sacrifice the opportunity for the most valuable thing:
nirvana or the complete and total end of suffering.
If we can’t practice samatha, we should listen to
or read these Dhamma talks until we feel content and
relaxed. This is enough of a relaxation to practice
vipassana and walk the path of wisdom. In the old
days, when I was not able to practice samatha
effectively, I would pick up the Buddhist scriptures
and in reading the suttas my mind would become
content and peaceful, allowing me to continue with my
wisdom practice.
If we can’t do samatha and we need a rest, we
can choose something that we enjoy doing, something
wholesome that doesn’t tempt the defilements. We
can read teachings or go into a natural environment and
notice the trees or feed fish in the river. We should
simply do something that makes us feel relaxed and
content, then the mind will have had a rest or will even
be able to then practice samatha more effectively.

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 I had a student who said that his mind was way
too busy to practice samatha, and it seemed there
was nothing he could do about it. I asked him what
made him happy. He told me he enjoyed listening to
classical music. I suggested that he listen to classical
music until his mind was content and relaxed then to
come back and watch the mind. We don’t keep listening
to the music indefinitely, luring the mind into dreamy
and sensual states. We listen for an appropriate amount
of time until our mind is happy and calm. Refreshed
and relaxed, we then effectively watch our mind.
If we know how to go into deep concentration,
then we should do it. If not then we need to have some
finesse in knowing how to give the mind at least a little
rest, so that we can then be able to be mindful and
practice vipassana more effectively. When the mind is
not resting and is working all day and night it’s an
experience full of suffering.
Not only is the mind moving, working and changing
all the time, but it’s also not us, not under our control.
It is a natural thing that cannot be controlled. We can’t
order it to be happy. Once the mind is happy we can’t
order it to stay happy. When suffering returns we can’t
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prohibit it from coming back. We can’t chase it away.
Ordering wholesome states to arise doesn’t work and
ordering negative or unwholesome states to go away
doesn’t work either. We can’t order any state to remain.
The mind is not afraid of us. If we try to push away a
negative state, it doesn’t go away. If there’s anger and
we want it to go away, we get angry at the anger and
we have double the anger!
Let’s take a look at the truth and see that the
mind and the body exhibit the Three Characteristics.
The body and mind are impermanent, unsatisfactory
and not our self. This is developing the practice of
vipassana or wisdom.

Intend until Automatic

The mind does what it does by itself. When the

mind is seeing the truth and walking the path of wisdom,
there isn’t anybody doing it. Consciousness operates by
itself. Many of us get confused and wonder if we should

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not do anything. Of course, to arrive at the state where
the mind is seeing truth by itself we must start with some
intention. Then eventually we drop the trying and allow
mindfulness to happen by itself.
This type of samadhi is not a state where there
is no thinking. It’s a state where the mind is able to
observe, scrutinize and gain wisdom into the body and
mind in an unbiased way without becoming attached to
the body, the mind, or the phenomena that arise and
fall. This type of samadhi is not only the ideal state for
wisdom to arise, it’s absolutely necessary for wisdom to
arise. We have two choices to make if we want to arrive
at the proper samadhi in order for wisdom to arise: we
can choose to practice deep levels of concentration
(jhana) or we can practice momentary concentration,
watching the mind go off to think and return again
and again to a meditation object.
For modern urban people with busy minds and
active lifestyles, it is best to forget about trying to make
the mind peaceful or still because we are simply not
able to. Instead we should watch feelings arising and
falling in the heart, watch how the mind is feeling at

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any particular time and practice this second way. It leads
us to the same realizations - the Truth is the Truth.

Rooted in Awareness

When listening and looking at me now, notice

that our minds are going out towards me. Often whatever
object we are looking at, our minds will go out to it.
When we have stable concentration we still see, but
our mind doesn’t go out towards things. It’s rooted
in awareness. It doesn’t go out to become one or
merge with whatever it is observing. The mind sees the
body as being something separate from itself rather
than being the body. It sees the feelings that arise and
fall as being separate from itself, rather than being the
feelings.
Let’s watch this heart and see that one moment
it’s happy and the next moment it’s unhappy. Let’s notice
that one moment it’s being kind and the next moment
it’s being mean. Let’s notice that all wholesome and

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unwholesome feelings change all the time, beyond our
control. Let’s practice to see the truth of the way things
actually are and see over and over again that whatever
feeling or emotion or mental state arises, also falls. It’s
there for a bit, and then it’s gone. Then there’s a new
state that arises, and then it’s gone. We have to keep
seeing this right in the present moment; we have to see
that a feeling is here, now it’s gone, and now a new
feeling is here. The mind starts to accept that nothing is
permanent and that everything that comes, also goes.
When the moment of enlightenment is about to
occur, the mind goes into at least the first absorption
level or the first jhana. This happens for all beings
who enter into any of the stages of enlightenment. All
enlightened beings are at least able to achieve this
level of concentration, but that moment of enlightenment
could be the very first time that they ever achieve it,
depending on the way he or she practices.
Enlightenment or nirvana can be reached from a
variety of different ways but it always happens by seeing
into reality. When we understand the proper principles
of the practice in the way that the Buddha taught, we
are free to choose whatever technique or strategy suits
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our abilities and our temperament. We can start with sa-
matha and make the mind peaceful, start with becoming
mindful on the path of wisdom, or even cultivate the
two together. Any way we choose, it will be the wisdom
aspect that sets us free.
There are many angles from which wisdom can
arise. We can see the Truth by starting by watching the
body, the sensations or feelings, the movement of mind,
or the natural processes, like how the mind and body
interact. For example, the eyes see, and then there’s a
feeling that arises in the heart. As a result, other
impurities may follow. We may see something, then we
like it and then we want it. We must learn to watch
these types of processes. The Buddha’s’ teachings are
not just to be listened to, but also practiced. When we
do, we’ll see the results in our own lives.

Conversations with Venerable Pramote

VP: How are you doing?

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 Now, how many of us turned to look at him
without remembering to be aware of ourself? Be brave
enough to admit it! (Venerable Pramote acknowledges
two people at the front.) The two of you here are knowing
correctly. You understand, right? All that is required
for my approval of your practice is to know the states
that arise, and to see the mind get lost at the eyes, the
ears, in the thoughts, and so on. Just that is enough. Just
that is enough for genuine mindfulness to arise.

Let’s not let our practice slip. Even the world

champion boxer doesn’t stop training. No matter how
much strength we’ve lost in our left hook, we should
never stop training. If we like to use a mantra like “buddho,
buddho…”, then let’s use it. If we are accustomed to
watching the breath, then let’s keep going. If we have
trained in watching the abdomen rise and fall, then
we keep at it. Just know as different mental states arise.
Some days we are tired and lethargic. Some days we fall
into samatha. Some days we separate out of the mental
states and are able to see them clearly. This is how the
practice goes. If we practice in this way mindfulness will
arise in our daily life.
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(Another student now addresses Venerable Pramote.)

Student: Intellectually, I know so much about the truth.

However, when it comes to my practice, I’m afraid I’m just
totally lost in desire. I don’t have mindfulness. I am not
aware. I keep thinking about what you teach and what
you say, but I can’t seem to do it right.

VP: Just knowing that at the time it arises is enough.

Mindfulness is not us or under our control. If it doesn’t
arise, then it doesn’t arise. We don’t practice so that we
can be aware twentyfour hours per day. We want to be
aware so that we can know truly that non-virtuous
mental states are impermanent and that virtuous ones
are impermanent too. This is what we are learning. We
are not learning to have mindfulness every moment of
our lives, knowing in every moment. Perhaps you can
see that if we were never aware of the body walking,
then we would never know that we were primarily lost
in thought while walking. But if we can be aware of the
body walking, then as soon as we are we will see that,
“a moment ago I was lost in thought, and now I am not.

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Oh, I got lost again, and now I am knowing again.” Both
being lost and aware of body and mind are impermanent
mental states; they come and go. We cannot control
them. Eventually, the mind will drop both of them. It will
not drop the state of being lost and keep the state of
mindfulness. Both of them will be let go of. I believe
this is the place of your confusion. Sometimes the
defilements such as desire are in control. This is normal.
It is good that you can see this.

Student: Well, I don’t think it is normal in my case. I mean,

I do see small desires come and go, but when it is the
desire to develop in my practice, it sends me on a
tangent. I keep feeling that it is correct to have such
desires.

VP: It is easy for good people to stop doing bad deeds,

but difficult to stop good ones. Can you see that when
we love goodness it is hard to let it go? The Buddha
said that it is hard for good people to do bad deeds, but
easy for them to do good ones. And it is difficult for bad
people to do good, but easy for them to do bad. So in

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your case, you are a good person, so it is easy to stop
doing bad. As soon as you see any badness arise in your
mind, it drops away quickly. See it, and it goes. Regarding
goodness, it is a different story. You are a good person,
so it is hard for you to let go of goodness. There’s no
need to be surprised by this.

Student: I always want my thoughts to be good ones.

So, I have this unpleasant wanting in the mind without
being aware of it.

VP: The truth is that once wanting has arisen, it is not a

good thing.

Student: I am not aware of the desire when it arises.

I just think I’m doing something good.

VP: This is a mental state that you didn’t know previously.

But now you know it. Do you see that? Now it cannot
fool you. Now something else will instead. Whatever
we can know when it arises in awareness cannot fool us
into becoming it or clinging to it. Whatever we don’t

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know has arisen will fool us again. But remember that
we are not practicing to achieve or receive anything.
We just practice to see the truth that all mental and
physical phenomena are impermanent, unsatisfactory,
and are not us. And when we see this, we return them
all to the world. Upon completely letting go, no feeling
of responsibility will remain, even the one to be and
do good.
There was a doctor once that told me he went to
pay his respects to a meditation master. When he did,
he told the master that he has mindfulness all of the
time; all day long he is able to watch his body and mind
without fail. The master then looked at the doctor,
smiled and said just two words: child’s play. The doctor
said he was very confused, and so he asked the master
if he was not in a state of mindfulness. The master said
that he was not. The doctor then asked what the master’s
internal dwelling place is. The master then said he will
refrain from answering that question.
From this story, we can see that mindfulness of
the body and mind, right concentration, wisdom and
such things are the boat on which we sail to nirvana.
We are not practicing so that we can keep this boat.
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Gradually watching and knowing the body and mind
more and more is the right thing to do, and will bring
benefit.

Student: Another thing I would like to say is that I think

this is great. When a thought arises and mindfulness
knows it quickly, the mind won’t start wandering off.
Sometimes when I’m not aware enough and the mind
already gets into the story, I become aware a few
moments later and know that I was thinking. I just want
to say that I think this is a good thing.

VP: Good. We don’t practice so that we can stop thinking.

We practice so that so we can know when thought does
appear. In this way, we will not start thinking aimlessly
and unwholesomely. If we have some task to perform
that requires thinking, we can think. But if there is no
reason to think, we don’t have to mindlessly fall
into thoughts. When we are mindful, we will see that
we cannot prevent the mind from thinking, and we
cannot control the fact that everything arises and
then falls away. All mental states are the same in this
regard.
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 Life Beyond a Self
Primary source: Suan Santidham Temple,
April 6, 2012

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 Developing Right View: Non-Self

All beings in the universe are under the influence

of ignorance or wrong view. For example, we believe
that there is a self or a person. Some of us believe that
there is a self and that this self is permanent. We may
think that once this body dies, this self is reborn into
another body. Some of us believe that there is a self but
once we die there is complete annihilation, that nothing
exists after death. Physicists often don’t believe there is
any life after death but if you ask them they will say that
there is a self. They believe they exist but that this self
doesn’t last any longer than this lifetime.
Many people debate whether this self continues
or doesn’t continue after this life. This is what we debate
about but when we practice the Dhamma we see the
truth that there isn’t a self after all. We see that this
debate about the afterlife is a futile one, completely
based in wrong view because there isn’t a self to
begin with. If there is no self right here and now,
whether we die and there is an afterlife or whether it’s
complete annihilation is irrelevant. Without seeing the

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truth, all of us are just continuing to perpetuate
and collect more and more wrong views and
misunderstandings grounded in ignorance about the
way things truly are.
We think that the body is something that is really
ours and is under our control, and that the mind is
something that is ours that we can control. If anybody
asks us what the true essence of Buddhism is, we can
answer with certainty that the true essence of Buddhism
is about right view, the correct understanding of the way
things are. That is what Buddhism is about. It’s not only
about correct concentration, or mindfulness. The reason
we practice concentration and mindfulness is so that we
can observe and understand things correctly, so that we
can develop right view.

The Mind Creates a Self

We think that there is a self. When we are born

we are taught that there is a me, that this is my mother

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and father. We are taught in this way, and it’s not a bad
thing. This is our brother, sister, our house, our dog, our
friends, and neighbours. This is my school, my university.
In fact, even ten or fifteen years after some of us graduate,
we still feel like this is my university and we still keep a
bumper sticker or an emblem of it. The self has made its
way deep into our psyche and identity. Then, of course,
we feel affiliated and identified with a certain group and
it’s ‘us’ versus ‘them’ in battles or competitions between
different schools. As we get older there are more things
to justify and perpetuate this sense of self. We start our
own family and take on our own profession or job. More
and more things reinforce a sense of self. Some of us
have a last name that is famous or displays wealth or
status. If we belong to a social class, or political party,
that class or party is deeply embedded into our psyche.
These things blind us from the truth that in the deepest
sense, there is no self. These things make us feel as
though there is a me and there is a group or society that
we belong to.
If we practice correctly, we will know that
everything we say and do is always reinforcing or

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reasserting the self. If we’re able to see and know what
the mind is doing, we will see that the motivation
underneath everything we’re thinking, doing and saying is
the need to reassert the existence of a self. Let’s try to
notice this.
My disciple Venerable Ah and I were once being
offered food somewhere and he went to throw out a
napkin in a garbage bin. He noticed that he felt he was
cool because of the way he was throwing it in the bin.
Even in that small movement a sense of self appeared.
The self is even exerting itself while throwing out garbage!
There’s nothing we hold dearer than our self. Once
we become the stable observer of the body and mind, we
will notice that this body and mind are not us. When some
of us see this we get very shocked. We get scared, sad,
and wonder, “Who am I?” or, “Where I am I, then?” This
is because this truth defies what we love so much. Some
of us get so scared when we see there is no self that we
stop practicing altogether. Some of us cry. We may feel
like it’s such a shame to not have a me. We can’t accept
this truth because it goes against what we were always
taught. The practice of vipassana is the practice of seeing

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that there really isn’t a me. The real truth goes against
what we have mistakenly believed to be true all of our
lives.
I had a friend who wanted to practice meditation.
I taught him to practice watching the body and mind.
One day in his practice he saw that the body consists of
bones. When he saw this he became so afraid of the
truth of what he saw that he stopped practicing. We need
to have some perseverance because we need to get
beyond these initial stages of shock and worry when we
do see the truth. If the mind can become awake and be
the observer, we must keep watching the body and mind.
Let’s not be discouraged or back down when we see
that there is no self. If the mind gets worried or shocked,
we notice this worry or shock. It’s just a stage we need
to pass through.
When we see that there isn’t a self, the worry
and fear that arise are just passing phenomena, just like
everything else. If we see this, eventually the mind will
become impartial to what it sees. We keep watching the
body and mind more and more, and wisdom sees the
truth more and more. It sees that the body is something

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that is temporary and that the body is oppressed by
suffering all the time. We will also see that the body is
just a mass of elements coming in and going out all the
time. It’s not a person, an animal, a being, a him or a
her, a me or a you. Similarly, we will see that the mind
is not permanent. It’s always in a state of flux. Happiness
and unhappiness are impermanent things. Any positive
or negative emotional state is also impermanent. Even
the mind that goes to see, hear or think is impermanent.
All these states of seeing, hearing, smelling or think-
ing, feeling, making up stories, are impermanent states.
We will also see that the mind is suffering, unsatisfactory
and oppressed.

Aggregates Can’t Bring Happiness

The body and mind are made up of what are

called the five aggregates. As we begin to see the truth
clearly, we see that the aggregates are everything that
we believed to be us. For example, the body is the first

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of the aggregates. It’s more appropriately just called
form or matter, because the body is actually an abstract
idea. What’s actually real in the world of form or matter
in the first aggregate are the symbolic elements of earth,
water, wind and fire. Each points to a quality of ultimate
reality. Earth points to the varying degree of hardness;
water to suction or attraction; wind to movement and
fire to heat or temperature. The first aggregate includes
all these concrete forms. Then there are the other four
aggregates which comprise mind or mental phenomena.
These are feelings, memory, mental fabrications, and
the consciousness aggregate which is aware of all the
others.
Again, these five aggregates constitute the body
and mind, what we believe is us. It is desire or craving
which makes us cling or attach to these five aggregates
and take them to be ourselves. These five aggregates
are sheer suffering. Since we don’t see that or don’t
know that yet, we crave these five things.We think we
can be happy through possessing these five aggregates.
We grab them and identify them as ourselves.
Whenever we practice and achieve the under-
standing that the five aggregates are nothing but
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suffering, in that moment we truly know suffering.
Consciousness then has the opportunity to abandon
the cause of suffering - desire or craving - and we realise
nirvana, where suffering ceases. We have developed
the noble path or the path leading to the end of suffering.
In short, we have practiced until we have achieved a true
understanding of the Four Noble Truths (see page 106)
all in one moment, the moment of enlightenment. The
end of suffering is realised when all desire and craving has
been abandoned and we see that the five aggregates
are nothing but suffering in and of themselves.
We can see that that body and mind are imper-
manent. They feel or think one thing now and something
else later. The characteristic of impermanence is
that something was there and now it isn’t there. It
comes and goes. The characteristic of unsatisfactoriness
is that this thing that was there was oppressed by
suffering. The characteristic of non-self is that something
requires a cause for it to arise. When the cause is no
longer there then the thing goes away. It’s not under
anyone’s control; it’s just a succession of causes. We see
things arising and falling one after another in succession,
and we notice the characteristic of impermanence. If we
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see something that hasn’t fallen away yet, and it’s
oppressed by suffering and it falls away, we see the
unsatisfactoriness quality. If we see that we have
no control over what comes and goes then that is
the characteristic of non-self: things arise according
to causation. There is nothing we can call our self.
There are simply things arising and falling. This feeling
that there is a me is just a delusion.
Let’s watch our minds. When we see or hear
something and there’s a moment of interest, our mind
shifts. Our heart flinches. We can’t stop this moving.
It’s uncontrollable. The mind is not something we can
control. The eyes see. We can’t forbid the eyes to see.
They are eyes and their function is to see forms and
light. The eyes are not things we can control. Once the
eyes do this, there will be a shift or feeling in the heart;
that is something we can’t control or prevent either.
We can’t stop the eyes from seeing and we can’t stop
the ears from hearing. The nose will smell, the tongue
will taste and the body will have tactile sense, none of
which are under control. The mind will make up stories
and pictures, and we can’t stop that either.

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 Normally, we don’t see that the mind is thinking,
that the sense organs are seeing, hearing, smelling,
tasting or feeling because the mind is not of a high
enough quality yet to be able to see that these things are
happening of their own accord. Even practitioners only
see these things on the rarest of occasions - for the most
part we are perpetuating our habit of being lost in the
world.
Let’s study and learn to see the things that are
uncontrollable. Let’s study that which is not under our
power to control. Let’s come to know the movement of
the body and the mind. We keep watching and knowing
within the body and mind until we see that there isn’t
a self. Once we see this, there’s no doubt: there is no
self, there never was a self and there will never be a self.
All the big questions vanish. Questions regarding fate,
regarding whether there was a self in a past life, regarding
what happens when we die, and what this self will
be in a future life. All of these questions drop off when
we realise there isn’t anyone at all. We see that
everything that exists arises out of a cause. If there’s a
cause for something to arise then it will, if there isn’t a

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cause it won’t. There is no person in any of this. There’s no
self, even right now. There isn’t any need to figure out
what happens to us after we die, because there never
was a self to begin with.

What the Arahant Says

Many of us wonder what it’s like to experience

nirvana. We see that life as we think we know it is merely
a dream but because we love the dream so much,
because we love our self so much, sometimes we are
afraid to practice. We fear seeing that there isn’t a self.
We think that if there’s no self in nirvana, then why
would we want it? We fear that we won’t be satisfied
with nirvana. Some of us would prefer to have a self and
suffer.
The enlightened ones or arahants are peaceful in
the sense that they are free of these five aggregates. They
are free of mental formations and fabrications creating
a deluded reality. They are free of anger and free of greed

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and all the emotions; free of painful feelings that arise in
the heart and they are also free of attachment to body
and form. They are peaceful in the sense that they are
not burdened by any of these things because they have
released their attachment to the five aggregates. They have
let go of them. Although the five aggregates still operate
while the enlightened being is alive, they’ve liberated
from them.
There’s a story in the Buddha’s time about a
wealthy man who wanted to listen to a doctrine about
the undying or the eternal self. Of course this is because
the wealthy man wanted to know or have comfort in the
fact that he is immortal. He was looking to find this type
of doctrine. He heard that the Buddha was teaching about
there being no self at all, let alone immortality. Buddha
taught about freedom from selfhood. If there’s a cause
for something it arises. If the cause is gone it goes away.
The Buddha taught that wherever there is a self there is
suffering. The wealthy man couldn’t accept or believe that
the one who teaches such things would be the Buddha.
He assumed the Buddha must teach about the self and
immortality. In truth, the Buddha does teach about

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immortality in the sense of undying; however, this is
undying in a very different way. It’s the Dhamma that is
undying. He didn’t teach about a separate self that doesn’t
die. There’s no permanent self according to what the
Buddha teaches. The Buddha teaches that once we are
free of the delusion of the self or of the “me”, that we
arrive at or experience the undying truth, the Dhamma.
We experience an everlasting happiness; an eternal
happiness. The mind or consciousness and Dhamma
become one. Nirvana is undying and it is the greatest
bliss.
Let’s gradually practice the Dhamma more and
more. There was a self hiding in everything we have
done up until this point. Our parents and society
helped to lodge a sense of self in our subconscious. Our
friends and everyone who we have come into contact
with have helped to reinforce this deep into our minds.
Everything that we say or do, everywhere we go has
this self going along with it and is an expression of this
self. We perpetuate this self all the time and reinforce
its existence.
When we come to practice mindfulness and see
truth of the body and mind, we see that there isn’t a
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self. We wash away the delusion of there being a self.
We come to the essence of Buddhism, the real truth -
that the aggregates of body and mind that we thought
were a “me” are just masses of suffering. When we are
able to see clearly and realise that there is no self in the
five aggregates, we become a streamenterer at the first
stage of enlightenment. When we finally see that not
only are these five aggregates not only not a self but are
suffering in and of themselves, consciousness releases
attachment to the five aggregates and experiences
nirvana. We experience the undying state,the
unconditioned state, nirvana. The state of being a
separate self is a state of dying, a place of mortality,
but nirvana is the state of undying.

Waking Up

As regular people, we are lost in the world. We

are pursuing happiness through worldly endeavours,
through relationships, through fun, status, material
things and so on. In a way, we have to “pull ourselves
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out of the world,” which means to become aware of
this body and mind. We have to become aware and
then be able to see the five aggregates (body and mind)
functioning and doing what they do: seeing the body
moving and the mind moving, the emotions arising and
falling, from an indifferent or unbiased perspective, as
the stable observer.
If we are able to become aware in such a way,
then within weeks, months or years we are able to
at least attain the first stage or enlightenment, stream-
entry, where we fully understand once and for all
that the body and mind are not us.
In the Buddha’s time there were many people
who followed the teachings of the Buddha and were
able to attain levels of enlightenment. There’s no reason
why we’re not able to do that now. We are receiving the
correct teachings and are able to see the truth of the
body and mind just the same. Let’s see that the body
and mind are not us and we can become a streamenterer.
After that, we can keep watching the body and mind,
and see that not only are they not us, but that they are
nothing but suffering. We can become fully enlightened

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or an arahant, but we have to be determined and
cannot be lazy. Being lazy won’t get us anywhere. We
have to be diligent and work towards seeing the truth
as much as possible.
If we’d like to be able to go through this process of
enlightenment efficiently and quickly, we have to be
skilled at watching our mind, which means seeing the
mind go off to think and seeing the feelings and emotions
when they arise. We need to change realms, so to speak,
pull our minds out of the world and become above the
world.Then, we move from one who is of the world to
one who is still in the world but not of it.
When learning the Dhamma with me, we might
at first find it difficult to understand what I’m teaching.
Nevertheless, I recommend that we read and listen to
what I teach again and again. It only seems hard
because there aren’t many people who teach what I
teach. It’s something that we aren’t accustomed to
hearing, but actually the practice isn’t too hard for a
regular human being. Continuing to read and listen to
my CDs and downloads will help.In fact, before CDs
were invented someone recorded one of my talks on

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a tape and just listened to the same talk again and
again until her tape broke! But it was enough for her to
understand the practice.
Once we are able to become aware of our body
and mind, it’s easy to see that this practice is really
simple. It’s just difficult when we struggle and search for
how it’s done. However, it’s quite easy to see whatever
phenomenon is occurring in our body or mind in the
present moment. If we worry we’re not doing it right,
wecan just see the worry. We see it arise, stay for a bit
and then fall away. We can see that the worry that
comes up is something which is observed by the mind,
and that it’s not us. We see that every phenomenon
exhibits that same behaviour of arising, staying and
disappearing. There’s really nothing to it. It’s quite easy.
It’s only difficult because we struggle and our minds
waiver, wonder and ponder: “How am I going to understand
this? How am I going to practice today? What exactly is
the teacher saying? What should I do?” We try to analyse
and make rhyme and reason of it all. This is what can get
difficult!
Instead of wasting time trying to analyse, which
makes life and the practice difficult, just come to know
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or be aware of whatever phenomenon is going on in the
present moment, right here in front of our eyes. If we’re
confused, know right here and now that the mind is
confused. If it’s curious, we know it’s curious. We
become the knower of whatever mental or emotional
state or behaviour is occurring in any particular moment.
If we practice by thinking, “Oh yes, this is imper-
manent,” or “Oh yes, there is no self”, this is not observing.
This is not the correct practice of vipassana. Seeing
the Truth in vipassana prac-tice has nothing at all to do
with thinking. Observing is beyond the scope of thought.
We can never liberate our minds from suffering
by thinking our way out of suffering. The observer is
beyond thinking. In order to practice the Dhamma,
we need to have a mind that is totally unbiased.
An unbiased mind is just the observer, the bare witness
of what is naturally arising in the body and mind.
The observer doesn’t interfere or change anything,
either. It is just noticing what is happening in the
body and mind, just as it is, naturally. Seeing things as
they are means the mind is equanimous. The mind isn’t
busy liking or disliking different states that arise. It is
not trying to fix them and is not interfering with them.
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It is seeing things just as they are. This stable mind is
able to observe the truth of the way things are. It sees
that what arises also falls; it sees that all things are
unsatisfactory, in that they cannot lead to lasting
happiness; it sees that the body and mind are ultimately
not under anyone’s control.
The root of what we need to wash out of our
hearts is ignorance, or not seeing or understanding the
true and natural characteristics of the way things are. If
the mind still thinks that there’s an opportunity to gain
lasting happiness through this body or mind in some
sort of mental, emotional or physical state that is per-
manent, we will stay attached to this body and mind
and we will suffer. Only when we are able to see truly,
clearly through direct observation and experience, that
ultimately this body and mind are nothing but suffering
can consciousness release itself from suffering. As soon
as we gain the wisdom that there is nothing worth
holding on to, or nothing that can satisfy us, then we let
go and are free.
The most important thing, regardless of whether
we have listened a lot of Dhamma or not, is that once

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we understand, we practice. We have to be very diligent
in doing so as well. We can’t just read or play an mp3,
listen to these Dhamma talks and think that we’ll get
results from that. There are no short cuts in this world of
Dhamma. We have to practice. It’s completely just and
fair. If we put in the work, we get the results. Everything
arises out of causes. We have to put in the causes for
fruition in order to reach fruition. Hopefully, I have helped
to plant the seed for you. Now it is time to train correctly
and sufficiently, and the practice is sure to bear fruit.

Conversations with Venerable Pramote

from November 13, 2010

Student 1: I want to be able to show you what is going

on in my mind in the present moment but every time I
speak to you I am so nervous.

VP: There you go! Nervousness is what’s here in the

present moment.

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Student 1: I was doing walking meditation and was
walking very slowly with a lot of concentration but I found
that I started to go into a daze. I decided to walk quickly
and naturally instead of slowly and meditatively. When
I did that I found that I was holding my attention at the
movement, pushing and focusing too much.

VP: Well, you do have to hold yourself in the practice

for a little while, especially as a beginner. At minimum
it’s much better to exercise some control than to totally
lose yourself in mental impurities. So, at the beginning we
have to overcompensate with a little focusing and self
control. It’s better than being totally lost. If we try to have
the perfect practice from the start, we will find ourselves
lost in thought the whole time.

Student 1: I only walk a very short distance and turn

around and walk back the other way. But even just for
onerotation the mind goes off to think - bam, bam, bam,
again and again. Is that correct?

VP: Yes, good. That is what we are looking to see. The

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more we notice the arising and falling the better. Can’t
you see? There is nothing that is a permanent self.

Student 1: Well, I see things go away.

VP: Right, you are seeing the discontinuity of pheno-

mena. Once we see the discontinuity and are seeing
things arising and falling, we have entered the practice
of vipassana. It’s the first of the vipassana insights. But
not to worry, there are nine more insights before we get
to equanimity towards all formations, the doorway to
enlightenment. We don’t have to pass through each of
the nine individually, however. Some come in groups.
There is nothing more worthy to do than to
practice the Dhamma. I can say this with full confidence
because I was a regular person in the world for a long
time. I had everything that people in the world were
looking for. I had a comfortable home with air conditioning.
I had a comfortable car that was nice and smooth
to drive. I worked in a comfortable job in a nice office.
I had all the comforts and forms of happiness that
people strive for but all of it was empty and meaningless.

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Eventually, it gets old and so do we. We get sick and we
die. So there are worldly types of happiness, sure, but
they are all ultimately meaningless, superficial and
incomparable to the happiness of Dhamma in which we
understand the purpose of existence. In the world, as
we continue to do things, we find that we get worse at
them as we age. Our skills fade. But if we continue
to practice as we get older, we become better and
better practitioners.
I studied with many of the old monks of the day.
They were all in their 80s and 90s, with the exception of
Luangpor Phud who was about my age now. I could see
that these elderly monks had so much happiness and
peace in their being. When we see most elderly people in
the world we can see that they look old and tired, often
ornery. But let’s not blame elderly people because
they’re not asking to be ornery or angry. They can’t control
it. Their minds are just that way out of habit. So, any of
you youngsters, if you are already moody, then if you
don’t practice the Dhamma and become aware of your
own mind, this moodiness will continue and become a
very powerful habit. You’ll be one of those older people

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who are ornery as well.
However, if we practice the Dhamma from now on,
our minds get more and more beautiful and more and
more bright. And this brightness radiates throughout our
whole energy field. These elderly monks who have freed
their minds from suffering have so much joy and so much
happiness inside that when they tell their stories, tears
of joy run from their eyes. Once I was receiving advice
from Luangpu Lian, an elderly monk, who saw me as a
good practitioner. He looked at me and said, “You have to
fight to the end. You have to fight to the end,” and tears
ran down from his eyes, as if he was an old triumphant
warrior looking back on the days of battle. So let’s not
be lazy. In order to free ourselves from suffering, we
have to do the work.

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ABOUT VENERABLE
PRAMOTE PAMOJJO

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 Venerable Father “Luangpor” Pramote is a Buddhist
monk residing in Sriracha, Chonburi, Thailand. He is the
abbot of Suan Santidham Temple, (The temple of
Sanctuary for Peaceful Dhamma). He is rapidly
gaining popularity, being one of the most effective
teachers of Dhamma in Thailand. He manages to relate
the Buddha’s teachings, on meditation and Dhamma
practice towards spiritual enlightenment (nirvana),
in ways that are easy to understand and are appropriate
for our modern, fastpaced society.

He teaches the Dhamma to avid practitioners

looking to truly understand the middle way and progress
in their practice. Bangkok residents set out on an hour-
and-a-half drive in the darkness of the early morning in
order to arrive at his temple before sunrise, and secure
a good seat in the main hall, where they can listen to
his teachings, express their concerns regarding their own
practice and receive individual advice - a custom that
has been coined “submitting their homework” for the
headmaster to finetune or modify.

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 He travels tirelessly around Thailand and abroad,
teaching and helping to “wake up” the minds of his
followers as he goes, in what is quickly becoming one
of the biggest Buddhist enlightenment movements in
recent times.

Luangpor Pramote became a monk in 2001, at the

age of 48, after having been an efficacious meditator and
avid Dhamma practitioner since he was seven years old.
He has had many teachers along the way, but considers
himself primarily a disciple of Venerable Grandfather
Dune, from North Eastern Thailand’s forest monk lineage
of Master Mun Bhüridatto.

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Map to Wat Suan Santidham