                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                   LIVING IN THE WORLD WITH DHAMMA
                                        
                                        
    Most people still don't know the essence of meditation practice. 
 They think that walking meditation, sitting meditation and listening 
 to Dhamma talks are the practice. That's true too, but these are 
 only the outer forms of practice. The real practice takes place when 
 the mind encounters a sense object. That's the place to practice, 
 where sense contact occurs. When people say things we don't like 
 there is resentment, if they say things we like we experience 
 pleasure. Now this is the place to practice. How are we going to 
 practice with these things? This is the crucial point. If we just 
 run around chasing after happiness and away from suffering all the 
 time we can practice until the day we die and never see the Dhamma. 
 This is useless. When pleasure and pain arise how are we going to 
 use the Dhamma to be free of them? This is the point of practice.
    
    Usually when people encounter something disagreeable to them they 
 don't open up to it. Such as when people are criticized: "Don't 
 bother me! Why blame me?" This is someone who's closed himself off. 
 Right there is the place to practice. When people criticize us we 
 should listen. Are they speaking the truth? We should be open and 
 consider what they say. Maybe there is a point to what they say, 
 perhaps there is something blame-worthy within us. They may be right 
 and yet we immediately take offense. If people point out our faults 
 we should strive to be rid of them and improve ourselves. This is 
 how intelligent people will practice.
    
    Where there is confusion is where peace can arise. When confusion 
 is penetrated with understanding what remains is peace. Some people 
 can't accept criticism, they're arrogant. Instead they turn around 
 and argue. This is especially so when adults deal with children. 
 Actually children may say some intelligent things sometimes but if 
 you happen to be their mother, for instance, you can't give in to 
 them. If you are a teacher your students may sometimes tell you 
 something you didn't know, but because you are the teacher you can't 
 listen. This is not right thinking. 
    
    In the Buddha's time there was one disciple who was very astute. 
 At one time, as the Buddha was expounding the Dhamma, he turned to 
 this monk and asked, "Sariputta, do you believe this?" Venerable 
 Sariputta replied, "No, I don't yet believe it." The Buddha praised 
 his answer. "That's very good, Sariputta, you are one who us endowed 
 with wisdom. One who is wise doesn't readily believe, he listens 
 with an open mind and then weighs up the truth of that matter before 
 believing or disbelieving."
    
    Now the Buddha here has set a fine example for a teacher. What 
 Venerable Sariputta said was true, he simply spoke his true 
 feelings. Some people would think that to say you didn't believe 
 that teaching would be like questioning the teacher's authority, 
 they'd be afraid to say such a thing. They'd just go ahead and 
 agree. This is how the worldly way goes. But the Buddha didn't take 
 offense. He said that you needn't be ashamed of those things which 
 aren't wrong or bad. It's not wrong to say that you don't believe if 
 you don't believe. That's why Venerable Sariputta said, "I don't yet 
 believe it." The Buddha praised him. "This monk has much wisdom. He 
 carefully considers before believing anything." The Buddha's actions 
 here are a good example for one who is a teacher of others. 
 Sometimes you can learn things even from small children; don't cling 
 blindly to positions of authority.
    
    Whether you are standing, sitting, or walking around in various 
 places, you can always study the things around you. We study in the 
 natural way, receptive to all things, be they sights, sounds, 
 smells, tastes, feelings or thoughts. The wise person considers them 
 all. In the real practice, we come to the point where there are no 
 longer any concerns weighing on the mind. 
    
    If we still don't know like and dislike as they arise, there is 
 still some concern in our minds. If we know the truth of these 
 things, we reflect, "Oh, there is nothing to this feeling of liking 
 here. It's just a feeling that arises and passes away. Dislike is 
 nothing more, just a feeling that arises and passes away. Why make 
 anything out of them?" If we think that pleasure and pain are 
 personal possessions, then we're in for trouble, we never get beyond 
 the point of having some concern or other in an endless chain. This 
 is how things are for most people.
    
    But these days they don't often talk about the mind when teaching 
 the Dhamma, they don't talk about the truth. If you talk the truth 
 people even take exception. They say things like, "He doesn't know 
 time and place, he doesn't know how to speak nicely." But people 
 should listen to the truth. A true teacher doesn't just talk from 
 memory, he speaks the truth. People in society usually speak from 
 memory, he speaks the truth. People in the society usually speak 
 from memory, and what's more they usually speak in such a way as to 
 exalt themselves. The true monk doesn't talk like that, he talks the 
 truth, the way things are.
    
    No matter how much he explains the truth it's difficult for 
 people to understand. It's hard to understand the Dhamma. If you 
 understand the Dhamma you should practice accordingly. It may not be 
 necessary to become a monk, although the monk's life is the ideal 
 form for practice. To really practice, you have to forsake the 
 confusion of the world, give up family and possessions, and take to 
 the forests. These are the ideal places to practice.
    
    But if we still have family and responsibilities how are we to 
 practice? Some people say it's impossible to practice Dhamma as a 
 layperson. Consider, which group is larger, monks or laypeople? 
 There are far more laypeople. Now if only the monks practice and 
 laypeople don't, then that means there's going to be a lot of 
 confusion. This is wrong understanding. "I can't become a monk..." 
 Becoming a monk isn't the point! Being a monk doesn't mean anything 
 if you don't practice. If you really understand the practice of 
 dhamma then no matter what position or profession you hold in life, 
 be it a teacher, doctor, civil servant or whatever, you can practice 
 the Dhamma every minute of the day.
    
    To think you can't practice as a layman is to lose track of the 
 path completely. Why is it people can find the incentive to do other 
 things? If they feel they are lacking something they make an effort 
 to obtain it. If there is sufficient desire people can do anything. 
 some say, "I haven't got time to practice the Dhamma." I say, "Then 
 how come you've got time to breathe?" Breathing is vital to people's 
 lives. If they saw Dhamma practice as vital to their lives they 
 would see it as important as their breathing.
    
    The practice of dhamma isn't something you have to go running 
 around for or exhaust yourself over. Just look at the feelings which 
 arise in your mind. When the eye sees form, ear hears sounds, nose 
 smells odors and so on, they all come to this one mind, "the one who 
 knows". Now when the mind perceives these things what happens? If we 
 like that object we experience pleasure, if we dislike it we 
 experience displeasure. That's all there is to it.
    
    So where are you going to find happiness in this world? Do you 
 expect everybody to say only pleasant things to you all your life? 
 Is that possible? No, it's not. If it's not possible then where are 
 you going to go? The world is simply like this, we must know the 
 world -- //Lokavidu// -- know the truth of this world. The world is 
 something we should clearly understand. The Buddha lived in this 
 world, he didn't live anywhere else. He experienced family life, but 
 he saw its limitations and detached himself from them. Now how are 
 you as laypeople going to practice? If you want to practice you must 
 make an effort to follow the path. If you persevere with the 
 practice you too will see the limitations of this world and be able 
 to let go.
    
    People who drink alcohol sometimes say, "I just can't give it 
 up." Why can't they give it up? Because they don't yet see the 
 liability in it. If they clearly saw the liability of it they 
 wouldn't have to wait to be told to give it up. If you don't see the 
 liability of something that means you also can't see the benefit of 
 giving it up. Your practice becomes fruitless, you are just playing 
 at practice. If you clearly see the liability and the benefit of 
 something you won't have to wait for others to tell you about it. 
 Consider the story of the fisherman who finds something in his 
 fish-trap. He knows something is in there, he can hear it flapping 
 about inside. Thinking it's a fish, he reaches his hand into the 
 trap, only to find a different kind of animal. He can't yet see it, 
 so he's in two minds about it. On one hand it could be an eel, [*] 
 but then again it could be a snake. If he throws it away he may 
 regret it...it could be an eel. On the other hand, if he keeps 
 holding on to it and it turns out to be a snake it may bite him. 
 He's caught in a state of doubt. His desire is so strong he holds 
 on, just in case it's an eel, but the minute he brings it and sees 
 the striped skin he throws it down straight away. He doesn't have to 
 wait for someone to call out, "It's a snake, it's a snake, let go!" 
 The sight of the snake tells him what to do much more clearly than 
 words could do. Why? Because he sees the danger -- snakes can bite! 
 Who has to tell him about it? In the same way, if we practice till 
 we see things as they are we won't meddle with things that are 
 harmful.
 
 * [Considered a delicacy in some parts of Thailand.]
    
    
    People don't usually practice in this way, they usually practice 
 for other things. They don't contemplate things, they don't reflect 
 on old age, sickness and death. They only talk about non-aging and 
 non-death, so they never develop the right feeling for Dhamma 
 practice. They go and listen to Dhamma talks but they don't really 
 listen. Sometimes I get invited to give talks at important 
 functions, but it's a nuisance for me to go. Why so? Because when I 
 look at the people gathered there I can see that they haven't come 
 to listen to the Dhamma. Some are smelling of alcohol, some are 
 smoking cigarettes, some are chatting... they don't look at all like 
 people who have come out of faith in the Dhamma. Giving talks at 
 such places is of little fruit. People who are sunk in heedlessness 
 tend to think things like, "When he's ever going to stop talking? 
 ... Can't do this, can't do that ..." and their minds just wander 
 all over the place.
    
    Sometimes they even invite me to give a talk just for the sake of 
 formality: "Please give us just a small Dhamma talk, Venerable Sir." 
 They don't want me to talk too much, it might annoy them! As soon as 
 I hear people say this I know what they're about. These people don't 
 like listening to Dhamma. It annoys them. If I just give a small 
 talk they won't understand. If you take only a little food, is it 
 enough? Of course not.
    
    Sometimes I'm giving a talk, just warming up to the subject, and 
 some drunkard will call out, "Okay, make way, make way for the 
 Venerable Sir, he's coming out now!" -- trying to drive me away! If 
 I meet this kind of person I get a lot of food for reflection, I get 
 an insight into human nature. It's like a person having a bottle 
 full of water and then asking for more. There's nowhere to put it. 
 It isn't worth the time and energy to teach them, because their 
 minds are already full. Pour any more in and it just overflows 
 uselessly. If their bottle was empty there would be somewhere to put 
 the water, and both the giver and the receiver would benefit.
    
    In this way, when people are really interested in Dhamma and sit 
 quietly, listening carefully, I feel more inspired to teach. If 
 people don't pay attention it's just like the man with the bottle 
 full of water... there's no room to put anymore. It's hardly worth 
 my while talking to them. In situations like this I just don't get 
 any energy arising to teach. You can't put much energy into giving 
 when no-one's putting much energy into receiving.
    
    These days giving talks tends to be like this, and it's getting 
 worse all the time. People don't search for truth, they study simply 
 to find the necessary knowledge to make a living, raise families and 
 look after themselves. They study for a livelihood. There may be 
 some study of Dhamma, but not much. Students nowadays have much more 
 knowledge than students of previous times. They have all the 
 requisites at their disposal, everything is more convenient. But 
 they also have a lot more confusion and suffering than before. Why 
 is this? Because they only look for the kind of knowledge used to 
 make a living.
    
    Even the monks are like this. Sometimes I hear them say, "I 
 didn't become a monk to practice the Dhamma, I only ordained to 
 study." These are the words of someone who has completely cut off 
 the path of practice. There's no way ahead, it's a dead end. When 
 these monks teach it's only from memory. They may teach one thing 
 but their minds are in completely different place. Such teachings 
 aren't true.
    
    This is how the world is. If you try to live simply, practicing 
 the Dhamma and living peacefully, they say you are weird and 
 anti-social. They say you're obstructing progress in society. They 
 even intimidate you. Eventually you might even start to believe them 
 and revert to the worldly ways, sinking deeper and deeper into the 
 world until it's impossible to get out. Some people say, "I can't 
 get out now, I've gone in to deeply." This is how society tends to 
 be. It doesn't appreciate the value of Dhamma.
    
    The value of Dhamma isn't to be found in books. those are just 
 the external appearances of Dhamma, they're not the realization of 
 Dhamma as a personal experience. If you realize the Dhamma you 
 realize your own mind, you see the truth there. When the truth 
 becomes apparent it cuts off the stream of delusion.
    
    The teaching of the Buddha is the unchanging truth, whether in 
 the present or in any other time. The Buddha revealed this truth 
 2,500 years ago and it's been the truth ever since. This teaching 
 should not be added to or taken away from. The Buddha said, "What 
 the //Tathagata// has laid down should not be discarded, what has 
 not been laid down by the //Tathagata// should not be added on to 
 the teachings." He "sealed off" the Teachings. Why did the Buddha 
 seal them off? Because these Teachings are the words of one who has 
 no defilements. No matter how the world may change these Teachings 
 are unaffected, they don't change with it. If something is wrong, 
 even if people say it's right doesn't make it any the less wrong. If 
 something is right, it doesn't change any just because people say 
 it's not. Generation after generation may come and go but these 
 things don't change, because these Teachings are the truth.
    
    Now who created this truth? The truth itself created the truth! 
 Did the Buddha create it? No, he didn't. The Buddha only 
 //discovered// the truth, the way things are, and then he set out to 
 declare it. The truth is constantly true, whether a Buddha arises in 
 the world or not. The Buddha only "owns" the Dhamma in this sense, 
 he didn't actually create it. It's been here all the time. However, 
 previously no-one had searched for and found the Deathless, then 
 taught it as the Dhamma. He didn't invent it, it was already there.
    
    At some point in time the truth is illuminated and the practice 
 of Dhamma flourishes. As time goes on and generations pass away the 
 practice degenerates until the Teaching fades away completely. After 
 a time the Teaching is re-founded and flourishes once more. As time 
 goes on the adherents of the Dhamma multiply, prosperity sets in, 
 and once more the Teaching begins to follow the darkness of the 
 world. And so once more it degenerates until such a time as it can 
 no longer hold ground. Confusion reigns once more. Then it is time 
 to re-establish the truth. In fact the truth doesn't go anywhere. 
 When Buddhas pass away the Dhamma doesn't disappear with them.
    
    The world revolves like this. It's something like a mango tree. 
 The tree matures, blossoms, and fruits appear and grow to ripeness. 
 They become rotten and the seed goes back into the ground to become 
 a new mango tree. The cycle starts once more. Eventually there are 
 more ripe fruits which proceed to fall, rot, sink into the ground as 
 seeds and grow once more into trees. This is how the world is. It 
 doesn't go very far, it just revolves around the same old things.
    
    Our lives these days are the same. Today we are simply doing the 
 same old things we've always done. People think too much. There are 
 so many things for them to get interested in, but none of them leads 
 to completion. There are the sciences like mathematics, physics, 
 psychology and so on. You can delve into any number of them but you 
 can only finalize things with the truth.
    
    Suppose there was a cart being pulled by an ox. The wheels aren't 
 long, but the tracks are. As long as the ox pulls the cart the 
 tracks will follow. The wheels are round yet the tracks are long; 
 the tracks are long yet the wheels are merely circles. Just looking 
 at a stationary cart you can't see anything long about it, but once 
 the ox starts moving you see the tracks stretching out behind you. 
 As long as the ox pulls, the wheels keep on turning...but there 
 comes a day when the ox tires and throws off its harness. The ox 
 walks off and leaves the empty cart sitting there. The wheels no 
 longer turn. In time the cart falls apart, its components go back 
 into the four elements -- earth, water, wind and fire.
    
    Searching for peace within the world you stretch the cart wheel 
 tracks endlessly behind you. As long as you follow the world there 
 is no stopping, no rest. If you simply stop following it, the cart 
 comes to rest, the wheels no longer turn. Following the world turns 
 the wheels ceaselessly. Creating bad //kamma// is like this. As long 
 as you follow the old ways there is no stopping. If you stop there 
 is stopping. This is how we practice the Dhamma.
    
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