                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                        STILL, FLOWING WATER
                                        
                                        
    Now please pay attention, not allowing your mind to wander off 
 after other things. Create the feeling that right now you are 
 sitting on a mountain or in a forest somewhere, all by yourself. 
 What do you have sitting here right now? There are body and mind, 
 that's all, only these two things. All that is contained within this 
 frame sitting here now is called "body". The "mind" is that which is 
 aware and is thinking at this very moment. These two things are also 
 called "//nama//" and "//rupa//". "//Nama//" refers to that which 
 has no "//rupa//", or form. All thoughts and feelings, or the four 
 mental //khandhas// of feeling, perception, volition and 
 consciousness, are //nama//, they are all formless. When the eye 
 sees form, that form is called //rupa//, while the awareness is 
 called //nama//. Together they are called //nama// and //rupa//, or 
 simply body and mind.
    
    Understand that sitting here in this present moment are only body 
 and mind. But we get these two things confused with each other. If 
 you want peace you must know the truth of them. The mind in its 
 present state is still untrained; it's dirty, not clear. It is not 
 yet the pure mind. We must further train this mind through the 
 practice of meditation.
    
    Some people think that meditation means to sit in some special 
 way, but in actual fact standing, sitting, walking and reclining are 
 all vehicles for meditation practice. You can practice at all times. 
 //Samadhi// literally means "the firmly established mind." To 
 develop //samadhi// you don't have to go bottling the mind up. Some 
 people try to get peaceful by sitting quietly and having nothing 
 disturb them at all, but that's just like being dead. The practice 
 of //samadhi// is for developing wisdom and understanding.
    
    //Samadhi// is the firm mind, the one-pointed mind. On which 
 point is it fixed? It's fixed onto the point of balance. That's its 
 point. But people practice meditation by trying to silence their 
 minds. They say, "I try to sit in meditation but my mind won't be 
 still for a minute. One instant it flies off one place, the next 
 instant it flies off somewhere else...How can I make it stop still?" 
 You don't have to make it stop, that's not the point. Where there is 
 movement is where understanding can arise. People complain, "It runs 
 off and I pull it back again; then it goes off again and I pull it 
 back once more..." So they just sit there pulling back and forth 
 like this.
    
    They think their minds are running all over the place, but 
 actually it only seems like the mind is running around. For example, 
 look at this hall here..."Oh, it's so big!", you say ... actually 
 it's not big at all. Whether or not it seems big depends on your 
 perception of it. In fact this hall is just the size it is, neither 
 big nor small, but people run around after their feelings all the 
 time.
    
    Meditating to find peace...You must understand what peace is. If 
 you don't understand it you won't be able to find it. For example, 
 suppose today you brought a very expensive pen with you to the 
 monastery. Now suppose that, on your way here, you put the pen in 
 your front pocket, but at a later time you took it out and put it 
 somewhere else, such as the back pocket. Now when you search your 
 front pocket...It's not there! You get a fright. You get a fright 
 because of your misunderstanding, you don't see the truth of the 
 matter. Suffering is the result. Whether standing, walking, coming 
 and going, you can't stop worrying about your lost pen. Your wrong 
 understanding causes you to suffer. Understanding wrongly causes 
 suffering..."Such a shame! I'd only bought that pen a few days ago 
 and now it's lost."
    
    But then you remember, "Oh, of course! When I went to bathe I put 
 the pen in my back pocket." As soon as you remember this you feel 
 better already, even without seeing your pen. You see that? You're 
 happy already, you can stop worrying about your pen. You're sure 
 about it now. As you're walking along you run your hand over your 
 back pocket and there it is. Your mind was deceiving you all along. 
 The worry comes from your ignorance. Now, seeing the pen, you are 
 beyond doubt, your worries are calmed. This sort of peace comes from 
 seeing the cause of the problem, //samudaya//, the cause of 
 suffering. As soon as you remember that the pen is in your back 
 pocket there is //nirodha//, the cessation of suffering.
    
    So you must contemplate in order to find peace. What people 
 usually refer to as peace is simply the calming of the mind, not the 
 calming of the defilements. The defilements are simply being 
 temporarily subdued, just like grass covered by a rock. In three or 
 four days you take the rock off the grass and in no long time it 
 grows up again. The grass hadn't really died, it was simply being 
 suppressed. It's the same when sitting in meditation: the mind is 
 calmed but the defilements are not really calmed. Therefore, 
 //samadhi// is not a sure thing. To find real peace you must develop 
 wisdom. //Samadhi// is one kind of peace, like the rock covering the 
 grass...in a few days you take the rock away and the grass grows up 
 again. This is only a temporary peace. The peace of wisdom is like 
 putting the rock down and not lifting it up, just leaving it where 
 it is. The grass can't possibly grow again. This is real peace, the 
 calming of the defilements, the sure peace which results from 
 wisdom.
    
    We speak of wisdom (//panna//) and //samadhi// as separate 
 things, but in essence they are one and the same. Wisdom is the 
 dynamic function of //samadhi//; //samadhi// is the passive aspect 
 of wisdom. They arise from the same place but take different 
 directions, different functions, like this mango here. A small green 
 mango eventually grows larger and larger until it is ripe. It is all 
 the same mango, the larger one and the ripe one are all the same 
 mango, but its condition changes. In Dhamma practice, one condition 
 is called //samadhi//, the later condition is called //panna//, but 
 in actuality //sila//, //samadhi//, and //panna// are all the same 
 thing, just like the mango.
    
    In any case, in our practice, no matter what aspect you refer to, 
 you must always begin from the mind. Do you know what this mind is? 
 What is the mind like? What is it? Where is it?... Nobody knows. All 
 we know is that we want to go over here or over there, we want this 
 and we want that, we feel good or we feel bad... but the mind itself 
 seems impossible to know. What is the mind? The mind hasn't any 
 form. that which receives impressions, both good and bad, we call 
 "mind". It's like the owner of a house. The owner stays put at home 
 while visitors come to see him. He is the one who receives the 
 visitors. Who receives sense impressions? What is it that perceives? 
 Who lets go of sense impressions? That is what we call "mind". But 
 people can't see it, they think themselves around in circles..."What 
 is the mind, what is the brain?" ... Don't confuse the issue like 
 this. What is it that receives impressions? Some impressions it 
 likes and some it doesn't like... Who is that? Is there one who 
 likes and dislikes? Sure there is, but you can't see it. That is 
 what we call "mind".
    
    In our practice it isn't necessary to talk of //samatha// 
 (concentration) or //vipassana// (insight), just call it the 
 practice of Dhamma, that's enough. And conduct this practice from 
 your own mind. What is the mind? The mind is that which receives, or 
 is aware of, sense impressions. With some sense impressions there is 
 a reaction of like, with others the reaction is dislike. That 
 receiver of impressions leads us into happiness and suffering, right 
 and wrong. But it doesn't have any form. We assume it to be a self, 
 but it's really only //'namadhamma'//. Does "goodness" have any 
 form? Does evil? Do happiness and suffering have any form? You can't 
 find them. Are they round or are they square, short or long? Can you 
 see them. These things are //namadhamma//, they can't be compared to 
 material things, they are formless...but we know that they do exist.
    
    Therefore it is said to begin the practice by calming the mind. 
 Put awareness into the mind. If the mind is aware it will be at 
 peace. Some people don't go for awareness, they just want to have 
 peace, a kind of blanking out. So they never learn anything. If we 
 don't have this "one who knows" what is there to base our practice 
 on?
    
    If there is no long, there is no short, if there is no right 
 there can be no wrong. People these days study away, looking for 
 good and evil. But that which is beyond good and evil they know 
 nothing of. All they know is the right and the wrong -- "I'm going 
 to take only what is right. I don't want to know about the wrong. 
 Why should I?" If you try to take only what is right in a short time 
 it will go wrong again. Right leads to wrong. People keep searching 
 among the right and wrong, they don't try to find that which is 
 neither right nor wrong. They study about good and evil, they search 
 for virtue, but they know nothing of that which is beyond good and 
 evil. They study the long and the short, but that which is neither 
 long nor short they know nothing of.
    
    This knife has a blade, a rim and a handle. Can you lift only the 
 blade? Can you lift only the rim of the blade, or the handle? The 
 handle, the rim and the blade are all parts of the same knife: when 
 you pick up the knife you get all three parts together.
    
    In the same way, if you pick up that which is good, the bad must 
 follow. People search for goodness and try to throw away evil, but 
 they don't study that which is neither good nor evil. If you don't 
 study this there can be no completion. If you pick up goodness, 
 badness follows. If you pick up happiness, suffering follows. The 
 practice of clinging to goodness and rejecting evil is the Dhamma of 
 children, it's like a toy. Sure, it's alright, you can take just 
 this much, but if you grab onto goodness, evil will follow. The end 
 of this path is confused, it's not so good.
    
    Take a simple example. You have children -- now suppose you want 
 to only love them and never experience hatred. This is the thinking 
 of one who doesn't know human nature. If you hold onto love, hatred 
 will follow. In the same way, people decide to study the Dhamma to 
 develop wisdom, studying good and evil as closely as possible. Now, 
 having known good and evil, what do they do? They try to cling to 
 the good, and evil follows. They didn't study that which is beyond 
 good and evil. This is what you should study.
    
    "I'm going to be like this," "I'm going to be like that,"... but 
 they never say "I'm not going to be anything because there really 
 isn't any "I'"...This they don't study. All they want is goodness. 
 If they attain goodness, they lose themselves in it. If things get 
 too good they'll start to go bad, and so people end up just swinging 
 back and forth like this.
    
    In order to calm the mind and become aware of the perceiver of 
 sense impressions, we must observe it. Follow the "one who knows". 
 Train the mind until it is pure. How pure should you make it? If 
 it's really pure the mind should be above both good and evil, above 
 even purity. It's finished. That's when the practice is finished.
    
    What people call sitting in meditation is merely a temporary kind 
 of peace. But even in such a peace there are experiences. If an 
 experience arises there must be someone who knows it, who looks into 
 it, queries it and examines it. If the mind is simply blank then 
 that's not so useful. You may see some people who look very 
 restrained and think they are peaceful, but the real peace is not 
 simply the peaceful mind. It's not the peace which says, "May I be 
 happy and never experience any suffering." With this kind of peace, 
 eventually even the attainment of happiness becomes unsatisfying. 
 Suffering results. Only when you can make your mind beyond both 
 happiness and suffering will you find true peace. That's the true 
 peace. This is the subject most people never study, they never 
 really see this one.
    
    The right way to train the mind is to make it bright, to develop 
 wisdom. Don't think that training the mind it simply sitting 
 quietly. That's the rock covering the grass. People get drunk over 
 it. They think that //samadhi// is sitting. That's just one of the 
 words for //samadhi//, but really, if the mind has //samadhi// in 
 the sitting posture, in the walking posture, in the standing and 
 reclining postures. It's all practice.
    
    Some people complain, "I can't meditate, I'm too restless. 
 Whenever I sit down I think of this and that... I can't do it. I've 
 got too much bad //kamma//. I should use up my bad //kamma// first 
 and then come back and try meditating." Sure, just try it. Try using 
 up your bad //kamma//...
    
    This is how people think. Why do they think like this? These so 
 called hindrances are the things we must study. Whenever we sit, the 
 mind immediately goes running off. We follow it and try to bring it 
 back and observe it once more...then it goes off again. This is what 
 you're supposed to be studying. Most people refuse to learn their 
 lessons from nature...like a naughty schoolboy who refuses to do his 
 homework. They don't want to see the mind changing. How are you 
 going to develop wisdom? We have to live with change like this. When 
 we know that the mind is just this way, constantly changing...when 
 we know that this is its nature, we will understand it. We have to 
 know when the mind is thinking good and bad, changing all the time, 
 we have to know these things. If we understand this point, then even 
 while we are thinking we can be at peace.
    
    For example, suppose at home you have a pet monkey. Monkeys don't 
 stay still for long, they like to jump around and grab onto things. 
 That's how monkeys are. Now you come to the monastery and see the 
 monkey here. This monkey doesn't stay still either, it jumps around 
 just the same. But it doesn't bother you, does it? Why doesn't it 
 bother you? Because you've raised a monkey before, you know what 
 they're like. If you know just one monkey, no matter how many 
 provinces you go to, no matter how many monkeys you see, you won't 
 be bothered by them, will you? This is one who understands monkeys.
    
    If we understand monkeys then we won't become a monkey. If you 
 don't understand monkeys you may become a monkey yourself! Do you 
 understand? When you see it reaching for this and that, you shout, 
 "Hey!" You get angry..."That damned monkey!" This is one who doesn't 
 know monkeys. One who knows monkeys sees that the monkey at home and 
 the monkey in the monastery are just the same. Why should you get 
 annoyed by them? When you see what monkeys are like that's enough, 
 you can be at peace.
    
    Peace is like this. We must know sensations. Some sensations are 
 pleasant, some are unpleasant, but that's not important. That's just 
 their business. Just like the monkey. all monkeys are the same. We 
 understand sensations as sometimes agreeable, sometimes not -- 
 that's just their nature. We should understand them and know how to 
 let them go. Sensations are uncertain. They are Transient, Imperfect 
 and Ownerless. Everything that we perceive is like this. When eyes, 
 ears, nose, tongue, body and mind receive sensations, we know them, 
 just like knowing the monkey. Then we can be at peace.
    
    When sensations arise, know them. Why do you run after them? 
 Sensations are uncertain. One minute they are one way, the next 
 minute another. They exist dependent on change. And all of us here 
 exist dependent on change. The breath goes out then it must come in. 
 It must have this change. Try only breathing in, can you do that? Or 
 try just breathing out without taking in another breath ... can you 
 do it? If there was no change like this how long could you live for? 
 There must be both the in breath and the out breath.
    
    Sensations are the same. There must be these things. If there 
 were sensations you could develop no wisdom. If there is no wrong 
 there can be no right. You must be right first before you can see 
 what is wrong, and you must understand the wrong first to be right. 
 This is how things are.
    
    For the really earnest student, the more sensations the better. 
 But many meditators shrink away from sensations, they don't want to 
 deal with them. This is like the naughty schoolboy who won't go to 
 school, won't listen to the teacher. These sensations are teaching 
 us. When we know sensations then we are practicing Dhamma. The peace 
 within sensations is just like understanding the monkey here. When 
 you understand what monkeys are like you are no longer troubled by 
 them.
    
    The practice of Dhamma is like this. It's not that the Dhamma is 
 very far away, it's right with us. The Dhamma isn't about the angels 
 on high or anything like that. It's simply about us, about what we 
 are doing right now. Observe yourself. Sometimes there is happiness, 
 sometimes suffering, sometimes comfort, sometimes pain, sometimes 
 love, sometimes hate...this is Dhamma. Do you see it? You should 
 know this Dhamma, you have to read your experiences.
    
    You must know sensations before you can let them go. When you see 
 that sensations are impermanent you will be untroubled by them. As 
 soon as a sensation arises, just say to yourself, "Hmmm...this is 
 not a sure thing." When your mood changes..."Hmmm, not sure." You 
 can be at peace with these things, just like seeing the monkey and 
 not being bothered by it. If you know the truth of sensations, that 
 is knowing the Dhamma. You let go of sensations, seeing that they 
 are all invariably uncertain.
    
    What we call uncertainty here is the Buddha. The Buddha is the 
 Dhamma. The Dhamma is the characteristic of uncertainty. Whoever 
 sees the uncertainty of things sees the unchanging reality of them. 
 That's what the Dhamma is like. And that is the Buddha. If you see 
 the Dhamma you see the Buddha, seeing the Buddha, you see the 
 Dhamma. If you know //aniccam//, uncertainty, you will let go of 
 things and not grasp onto them.
    
    You say, "Don't break my glass!" Can you prevent something that's 
 breakable from breaking? If it doesn't break now it will break later 
 on. If you don't break it, someone else will. If someone else 
 doesn't break it, one of the chickens will! The Buddha says to 
 accept this. He penetrated the truth of these things, seeing that 
 this glass is already broken. Whenever you use this glass you should 
 reflect that it's already broken. Do you understand this? The 
 Buddha's understanding was like this. He saw the broken glass within 
 the unbroken one. Whenever its time is up it will break. Develop 
 this kind of understanding. Use the glass, look after it, until 
 when, one day, it slips out of your hand... "Smash!" ... no problem. 
 Why is there no problem? Because you saw its brokenness before it 
 broke!
    
    But usually people say, "I love this glass so much, may it never 
 break." Later on the dog breaks it..."I'll kill that damn dog!" You 
 hate the dog for breaking your glass. If one of your children breaks 
 it you'll hate them too. Why is this? Because you've dammed yourself 
 up, the water can't flow. You've made a dam without a spillway. The 
 only thing the dam can do is burst, right? When you make a dam you 
 must make a spillway also. When the water rises up too high, the 
 water can flow off safely. When it's full to the brim you open your 
 spillway. You have to have a safety valve like this. Impermanence is 
 the safety valve of the Noble Ones. If you have this "safety valve" 
 you will be at peace.
    
    Standing, walking, sitting, lying down, practice constantly, 
 using //sati// to watch over and protect the mind. This is 
 //samadhi// and wisdom. They are both the same thing, but they have 
 different aspects.
    
    If we really see uncertainty clearly, we will see that which is 
 certain. The certainty is that things must inevitably be this way, 
 they cannot be otherwise. Do you understand? Knowing just this much 
 you can know the Buddha, you can rightly do reverence to him.
    
    As long as you don't throw out the Buddha you won't suffer. As 
 soon as you throw out the Buddha you will experience suffering. As 
 soon as you throw out the reflections on Transience, Imperfection 
 and Ownerlessness you'll have suffering. If you can practice just 
 this much it's enough; suffering won't arise, or if it does arise 
 you can settle it easily, and it will be a cause for suffering not 
 arising in the future. This is the end of our practice, at the point 
 where suffering doesn't arise. And why doesn't suffering arise? 
 because we have sorted out the cause of suffering, //samudaya//.
    
    For instance, if this glass were to break, normally you would 
 experience suffering. We know that this glass will be a cause for 
 suffering, so we get rid of the cause. All //dhammas// arise because 
 of a cause. They must also cease because of a cause. Now if there is 
 suffering on account of this glass here, we should let go of this 
 cause. If we reflect beforehand that this glass is already broken, 
 even when it hasn't, the cause ceases. When there is no longer any 
 cause, that suffering is no longer able to exist, it ceases. This is 
 cessation.
    
    You don't have to go beyond this point, just this much is enough. 
 Contemplate this in your own mind. Basically you should all have the 
 Five Precepts [*] as a foundation for behavior. It's not necessary 
 to go and study the Tipitaka, just concentrate on the Five Precepts 
 first. At first you'll make mistakes. When you realize it, stop, 
 come back and establish your precepts again. Maybe you'll go astray 
 and make another mistake. When you realize it, re-establish 
 yourself.
 
 * [The basic moral code for practicing Buddhists: To refrain from 
 intentional killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and imbibing 
 of intoxicants.]
 
    
    Practicing like this, your sati will improve and become more 
 consistent, just like the drops of water falling from a kettle. If 
 we tilt the kettle just a little, the drops fall out slowly 
 ...plop!...plop!...plop!...If we tilt the kettle up a little bit 
 more, the drops become more rapid ... plop, plop, plop!!... If we 
 tilt the kettle up even further the "plops" go away and the water 
 flows into a steady stream. Where do the "plops" go to? They don't 
 go anywhere, they change into a steady stream of water.
    
    We have to talk about the Dhamma like this, using similes, 
 because the Dhamma has no form. Is it square or is it round? You 
 can't say. The only way to talk about it is through similes like 
 this. Don't think that the Dhamma is far away from you. It lies 
 right with you, all around. Take a look ... one minute happy, the 
 next sad, the next angry ... it's all Dhamma. Look at it and 
 understand. Whatever it is that causes suffering you should remedy. 
 If suffering is still there, take another look, you don't yet see 
 clearly. If you could see clearly you wouldn't suffer, because the 
 cause would no longer be there. If suffering is still there, if 
 you're still having to endure, then you're not yet on the right 
 track. Wherever you get stuck, whenever you're suffering too much, 
 right there you're wrong. whenever you're so happy you're floating 
 in the clouds...there...wrong again!
    
    If you practice like this you will have //sati// at all times, in 
 all postures. With //sati//, recollection, and //sampajanna//, self 
 awareness, you will know right and wrong, happiness and suffering. 
 Knowing these things, you will know how to deal with them. 
    
    I teach meditation like this. When it's time to sit in meditation 
 then sit, that's not wrong. You should practice this also. But 
 meditation is not only sitting. You must allow your mind to fully 
 experience things, allow them to flow and consider their nature. How 
 should you consider them? See them as Transient, Imperfect and 
 Ownerless. It's all uncertain. "This is so beautiful, I really must 
 have it." That's not a sure thing. "I don't like this at all" ... 
 tell yourself right there, "Not sure!" Is this true? Absolutely, no 
 mistake. But just try taking things for real..."I'm going to get 
 this thing for sure" ... You've gone off the track already. Don't do 
 this. No matter how much you like something, you should reflect that 
 it's uncertain.
    
    Some kinds of food seem so delicious, but still you should 
 reflect that it's not a sure thing. It may seem so sure, it's so 
 delicious, but still you must tell yourself, "not sure!" If you want 
 to test out whether it's sure or not, try eating your favorite food 
 every day. Every single day, mind you. Eventually you'll complain, 
 "This doesn't taste so good anymore." Eventually you'll think, 
 "Actually I prefer that kind of food." That's not a sure thing 
 either! You must allow things to flow, just like the in and out 
 breaths. There has to be both the in breath and the out breath, the 
 breathing depends on change. Everything depends on change like this.
    
    These things lie with us, nowhere else. If we no longer doubt 
 whether sitting, standing, walking, or reclining, we will be at 
 peace. //Samadhi// isn't just sitting. some people sit until they 
 fall into a stupor. They might as well be dead, they can't tell 
 north from south. Don't take it to such an extreme. If you feel 
 sleepy then walk, change your posture. Develop wisdom. If you are 
 really tired then have a rest. As soon as you wake up then continue 
 the practice, don't let yourself drift into a stupor. You must 
 practice like this. Have reason, wisdom, circumspection.
    
    Start the practice for your own mind and body, seeing them as 
 impermanent. Everything else is the same. Keep this in mind when you 
 think the food is so delicious...you must tell yourself..."Not a 
 sure thing!" You have to slug it first. But usually it just slugs 
 you every time, doesn't it? If you don't like anything you just 
 suffer over it. This is how things slug us. "If she likes me, I like 
 her," they slug us again. You never get a punch in! You must see it 
 like this. Whenever you like anything just say to yourself, "This is 
 not a sure thing!" You have to go against the grain somewhat in 
 order to really see the Dhamma.
    
    Practice in all postures. Sitting, standing, walking, lying...you 
 can experience anger in any posture, right? You can be angry while 
 walking, while sitting, while lying down. You can experience desire 
 in any posture. So our practice must extend to all postures; 
 standing, walking, sitting and lying down. It must be consistent. 
 Don't just put on a show, really do it.
    
    While sitting in meditation, some incident might arise. Before 
 that one is settled another one comes racing in. Whenever these 
 things come up, just tell yourself, "not sure, not sure." Just slug 
 it before it gets a chance to slug you.
    
    Now this is the important point. If you know that all things are 
 impermanent, all your thinking will gradually unwind. When you 
 reflect on the uncertainty of everything that passes, you'll see 
 that all things go the same way. Whenever anything arises, all you 
 need to say is, "Oh, another one!"
    
    Have you ever seen flowing water?...have you ever seen still 
 water?...If your mind is peaceful it will be just like still, 
 flowing water. Have you ever seen still, flowing water? There! 
 You've only ever seen flowing water and still water, haven't you? 
 But you've never seen still, flowing water. Right there, right where 
 your thinking cannot take you, even though it's peaceful you can 
 develop wisdom. Your mind will be like flowing water, and yet it's 
 still. It's almost as if it were still, and yet it's flowing. So I 
 call it "still, flowing water". Wisdom can arise here.
                                        
                           * * * * * * * *
