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    There are two ways to support Buddhism. One is known as 
 //amisapuja//, supporting through material offerings. These are the 
 four requisites of food, clothing, shelter and medicine. This is to 
 support Buddhism by giving material offerings to the //Sangha// of 
 monks and nuns, enabling them to live in reasonable comfort for the 
 practice of Dhamma. This fosters the direct realization of the 
 Buddha's teaching, in turn bringing continued prosperity to the 
 Buddhist religion.
    
    Buddhism can be likened to a tree. A tree has roots, a trunk, 
 branches, twigs and leaves. all the leaves and branches, including 
 the trunk, depend on the roots to absorb nutriment from the soil and 
 send it out to them. In the same way as the tree depends on the 
 roots to sustain it, our actions and our speech are like "branches" 
 and "leaves", which depend on the mind, the "root", absorbing 
 nutriment, which it then sends it out to the "trunk", "branches" and 
 "leaves". These in turn bear fruit as our speech and actions. 
 whatever state the mind is in, skillful or unskillful, it expresses 
 that quality outwardly through our actions and speech.
    
    Therefore the support of Buddhism through the practical 
 application of the teaching is the most important kind of support. 
 For example, in the ceremony of determining the precepts on 
 observance days, the Teacher describes those unskillful actions 
 which should be avoided. But if you simply go through the ceremony 
 of determining the precepts without reflecting on their meaning, 
 progress is difficult. You will be unable to find the true practice. 
 The real support of Buddhism must therefore be done through 
 //patipattipuja//, the "offering" of practice, cultivating true 
 restraint, concentration and wisdom. Then you will know what 
 Buddhism is all about. If you don't understand through practice you 
 still won't know, even if you learn the whole Tipitaka.
    
    In the time of the Buddha there was a monk known as Tuccho 
 Pothila. Tuccho Pothila was very learned, thoroughly versed in the 
 scriptures and texts. He was so famous that he was revered by people 
 everywhere and had eighteen monasteries under his care. When people 
 heard the name "Tuccho Pothila" they were awe-struck and nobody 
 would dare question anything he taught, so much did they revere his 
 command of the teachings. Tuccho Pothila was one of the Buddha's 
 most learned disciples.
    
    One day he went to pay respects to the Buddha. As he was paying 
 his respects, the Buddha said, "Ah, hello, Venerable Empty 
 Scripture!"...just like that! They conversed for a while until it 
 was time to go, and then, as he was taking leave of the Buddha, the 
 Buddha said, "Oh, leaving now, Venerable Empty Scripture?"
    
    That was all the Buddha said. On arriving, "Oh, hello, Venerable 
 Empty Scripture." When it was time to go, "Ah, leaving now, 
 Venerable Empty Scripture?" The Buddha didn't expand on it, that was 
 all the teaching he gave. Tuccho Pothila, the eminent teacher, was 
 puzzled, " Why did the Buddha say that? What did he mean?" He 
 thought and thought, turning over everything he had learnt, until 
 eventually he realized..."It's true! "Venerable Empty Scripture" -- 
 a monk who studies but doesn't practice." When he looked into his 
 heart he saw that really he was no different from laypeople. 
 Whatever they aspired to he also aspired to, whatever they enjoyed 
 he also enjoyed. There was no real //samana// [*] within him, no 
 truly profound quality capable of firmly establishing him in the 
 Noble Way and providing true peace.
 
 * [One who lives devoted to religious practices. The term is used 
 also to refer to one who has developed a certain amount of virtue 
 from such practices. Ajahn Chah usually translates the term as "one 
 who is peaceful."]
 
 
    So he decided to practice. But there was nowhere for him to go 
 to. all the teachers around were his own students, no-one would dare 
 accept him. Usually when people meet their teacher they become timid 
 and deferential, and so no-one would dare to become his teacher.
    
    Finally he went to see a certain young novice, who was 
 enlightened, and asked to practice under him. The novice said, "Yes, 
 sure you can practice with me, but only if you're sincere. If you're 
 not sincere then I won't accept you." Tuccho Pothila pledged himself 
 as a student of the novice.
    
    The novice then told him to put on all his robes. Now there 
 happened to be a muddy bog nearby. When Tuccho Pothila had neatly 
 put on all his robes, expensive ones they were, too, the novice 
 said, "Okay, now run down into this muddy bog. If I don't tell you 
 to stop, don't stop. If I don't tell you to come out, don't come 
 out. Okay...run!"
    
    Tuccho Pothila, neatly robed, plunged into the bog. The novice 
 didn't tell him to stop until he was completely covered in mud. 
 Finally he said, "You can stop, now." ... so he stopped. "Okay, come 
 on up!"... and so he came out.
    
    This clearly showed that Tuccho Pothila had given up his pride. 
 He was ready to accept the teaching. If he wasn't ready to learn he 
 wouldn't have run into the bog like that, being such a famous 
 teacher, but he did it. The young novice, seeing this, knew that 
 Tuccho Pothila was sincerely determined to practice. 
    
    When Tuccho Pothila had come out of the bog, the novice gave him 
 the teaching. He taught him to observe the sense objects, to know 
 the mind and to know the sense objects, using the simile of a man 
 catching a lizard hiding in a termite mound. If the mound had six 
 holes in it, How would he catch it? He would have to seal off five 
 of the holes and leave just one open. Then he would have to simply 
 watch and wait, guarding that one hole. When the lizard ran out he 
 could catch it.
    
    Observing the mind is like this. Closing off the eyes, ears, 
 nose, tongue and body, we leave only the mind. To "close off" the 
 senses means to restrain and compose them, observing only the mind. 
 Meditation is like catching the lizard. We use //sati// to note the 
 breath. //Sati// is the quality of recollection, as in asking 
 yourself, "What am I doing?" //Sampajanna// is the awareness that 
 "now I am doing such and such". We observe the in and out breathing 
 with //sati// and //sampajanna//.
    
    This quality of recollection is something that arises from 
 practice, it's not something that can be learnt from books. Know the 
 feelings that arise. The mind may be fairly inactive for a while and 
 then a feeling arises. //Sati// works in conjunction with these 
 feelings, recollecting them. There is //sati//, the recollection 
 that "I will speak", "I will go", "I will sit" and so on, and then 
 there is //sampajanna//, the awareness that "now I am walking", "I 
 am lying down", "I am experiencing such and such a mood" with these 
 two things, //sati// and //sampajanna//, we can know our minds in 
 the present moment. We will know how the mind reacts to sense 
 impressions.
    
    That which is aware of sense objects is called "mind". Sense 
 objects "wander in" to the mind. For instance, there is a sound, 
 like the electric planer here. It enters through the ear and travels 
 inwards to the mind, which acknowledges that it is the sound of an 
 electric planer. That which acknowledges the sound is called "mind".
    
    Now this mind which acknowledges the sound is still quite basic. 
 It's just the average mind. Perhaps annoyance arises within this one 
 who acknowledges. We must further train "the one who acknowledges" 
 to become "the one who knows" in accordance with the truth -- known 
 as Buddho. If we don't clearly know in accordance with the truth 
 then we get annoyed at sounds of people, cars, electric planer and 
 so on. This is just the ordinary, untrained mind acknowledging the 
 sound with annoyance. It knows in accordance with its preferences, 
 not in accordance with the truth. We must further train it to know 
 with vision and insight, //nanadassana//, [*] the power of the 
 refined mind, so that it knows the sound as simply sound. If we 
 don't cling to sound there is annoyance. The sound arises and we 
 simply note it. This is called truly knowing the arising of sense 
 objects. If we develop the Buddho, clearly realizing the sound as 
 sound, then it doesn't annoy us. It arises according to conditions, 
 it is not a being, an individual, a self, an "us" or "them". It's 
 just sound. The mind lets go.
 
 * [Literally, "knowledge and insight (into the Four Noble Truths)."
 
 
    This knowing is called Buddho, the knowledge that is clear and 
 penetrating. With this knowledge we can let the sound be simply 
 sound. It doesn't disturb us unless we disturb it by thinking, "I 
 don't want to hear that sound, it's annoying." Suffering arises 
 because of this thinking. Right here is the cause of suffering, that 
 we don't know the truth of this matter, we haven't developed the 
 Buddho. We are not yet clear, not yet awake, not yet aware. This is 
 the raw, untrained mind. This mind is not yet truly useful to us.
    
    Therefore the Buddha taught that this mind must be trained and 
 developed. We must develop the mind just like we develop the body, 
 but we do it in different way. To develop the body we must exercise 
 it, jogging in the morning and evening and so on. This is exercising 
 the body. As a result the body becomes more agile, stronger, the 
 respiratory and nervous systems become more efficient. to exercise 
 the mind we don't have to move it around, but bring it to a halt, 
 bring it to rest.
    
    For instance, when practicing meditation, we take an object, such 
 as the in and out breathing, as our foundation. This becomes the 
 focus of our attention and reflection. We note the breathing. To 
 note the breathing means to follow the breathing with awareness, 
 noting its rhythm, its coming and going. We put awareness into the 
 breath, following the natural in and out breathing and letting go of 
 all else. As a result of staying on one object of awareness, our 
 mind becomes refreshed. If we let the mind think of this, that and 
 the other there are many objects of awareness, the mind doesn't 
 unify, it doesn't come to rest.
    
    To say the mind stops means that it feels as if it's stopped, it 
 doesn't go running here and there. It's like having a sharp knife. 
 If we use the knife to cut at things indiscriminately, such as 
 stones, bricks and grass, our knife will quickly become blunt. We 
 should use it for cutting only the things it was meant for. Our mind 
 is the same. If we let the mind wander after thoughts and feelings 
 which have no value or use, the mind becomes tired and weak, If the 
 mind has no energy, wisdom will not arise, because the mind without 
 energy is the mind without //samadhi//.
    
    If the mind hasn't stopped you can't clearly see the sense 
 objects for what they are. The knowledge that the mind is the mind, 
 sense objects are merely sense objects, is the root from which 
 Buddhism has grown and developed. This is the heart of Buddhism.
    
    We must cultivate this mind, develop it, training it in calm and 
 insight. We train the mind to have restraint and wisdom by letting 
 the mind stop and allowing wisdom to arise, by knowing the mind as 
 it is.
    
    You know, the way we human beings are, the way we do things, are 
 just like little children. A child doesn't know anything. To an 
 adult observing the behavior of a child, the way it plays and jumps 
 around, its actions don't seem to have much purpose. If our mind is 
 untrained it is like a child. We speak without awareness and act 
 without wisdom. We may fall to ruin or cause untold harm and not 
 even know it. A child is ignorant, it plays as children do. Our 
 ignorant mind is the same.
    
    So we should train this mind. The Buddha taught to train the 
 mind, to teach the mind. Even if we support Buddhism with the four 
 requisites, our support is still superficial, it reaches only the 
 "bark" or "sapwood" of the tree. The real support of Buddhism must 
 be done through the practice, nowhere else, training our actions, 
 speech and thoughts according to the teachings. This is much more 
 fruitful. If we are straight and honest, possessed of restraint and 
 wisdom, our practice will bring prosperity. There will be no cause 
 for spite and hostility. This is how our religion teaches us.
    
    If we determine the precepts simply out of tradition, then even 
 though the Master teaches the truth our practice will be deficient. 
 We may be able to study the teachings and repeat them, but we have 
 to practice them if we really want to understand. If we do not 
 develop the practice, this may well be an obstacle to our 
 penetrating to the heart of Buddhism for countless lifetimes to 
 come. We will not understand the essence of the Buddhist religion.
    
    Therefore the practice is like a key, the key of meditation. If 
 we have the right key in our hand, no matter how tightly the lock is 
 closed, when we take the key and turn it the lock falls open. If we 
 have no key we can't open the lock. We will never know what it is in 
 the trunk.
    
    Actually there are two kinds of knowledge. One who knows the 
 Dhamma doesn't simply speak from memory, he speaks the truth. 
 Worldly people usually speak with conceit. For example, suppose 
 there were two people who hadn't seen each other for a long time, 
 maybe they had gone to live in different provinces or countries for 
 a while, and then one day they happened to meet on the train..."Oh! 
 What a surprise. I was just thinking of looking you up!"... Actually 
 it's not true. Really they hadn't thought of each other at all, but 
 they say so out of excitement. And so it becomes a lie. Yes, it's 
 lying out of heedlessness. This is lying without knowing it. It's a 
 subtle form of defilement, and it happens very often.
    
    So with regard to the mind, Tuccho Pothila followed the 
 instructions of the novice: breathing in, breathing out... mindfully 
 aware of each breath...until he saw the liar within him, the lying 
 of his own mind. He saw the defilements as they came up, just like 
 the lizard coming out of the termite mound. He saw them and 
 perceived their true nature as soon as they arose. He noticed how 
 one minute the mind would concoct one thing, the next moment 
 something else.
    
    Thinking is a //sankhata dhamma//, something which is created or 
 concocted from supporting conditions. It's not //asankhata dhamma//, 
 the unconditioned. The well-trained mind, one with perfect 
 awareness, does not concoct mental states. This kind of mind 
 penetrates to the Noble Truths and transcends any need to depend on 
 externals. To know the Noble Truths is to know the truth. The 
 proliferating mind tries to avoid this truth, saying, "that's good" 
 or "this is beautiful", but if there is Buddho in the mind it can no 
 longer deceive us, because we know the mind as it is. The mind can 
 no longer create deluded mental states, because there is the clear 
 awareness that all mental states are unstable, imperfect, and a 
 source of suffering to one who clings to them.
    
    Wherever he went, the one who knows was constantly in Tuccho 
 Pothila's mind. He observed the various creations and proliferation 
 of the mind with understanding. He saw how the mind lied in so many 
 ways. He grasped the essence of the practice, seeing that "This 
 lying mind is the one to watch -- this is the one which leads us 
 into extremes of happiness and suffering and causes us to endlessly 
 spin around in the cycle of //Samsara//, with its pleasure and pain, 
 good and evil -- all because of this one." Tuccho Pothila realized 
 the truth, and grasped the essence of the practice, just like a man 
 grasping the tail of the lizard. He saw the workings of the deluded 
 mind.
    
    For us it's the same. Only this mind is important. That's why 
 they say to train the mind. Now if the mind is the mind, what are we 
 going to train it with? By having continuous //sati// and 
 //sampajanna// we will be able to know the mind. This one who knows 
 is a step beyond the mind, it is that which knows the state of the 
 mind. The mind is the mind. That which knows the mind as simply mind 
 is the one who knows. It is above the mind. The one who knows is 
 above the mind, and that is how it is able to look after the mind, 
 to teach the mind to know what is right and what is wrong. In the 
 end everything comes back to this proliferating mind. If the mind is 
 caught up in its proliferations there is no awareness and the 
 practice is fruitless.
    
    So we must train this mind to hear the Dhamma, to cultivate the 
 Buddho, the clear and radiant awareness, that which exists above and 
 beyond the ordinary mind and knows all that goes on within it. This 
 is why we meditate on the word Buddho, so that we can know the mind 
 beyond the mind. Just observe all the mind's movements, whether good 
 or bad, until the one who realizes that the mind is simply mind, not 
 a self or a person. This is called //cittanupassana//, Contemplation 
 of Mind.[*] Seeing in this way we will understand that the mind is 
 Transient, Imperfect and Ownerless. This mind doesn't belong to us.
 
 * [One of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness: Body, Feelings, Mind, 
 and Dhamma.]
 
 
    We can summarize thus: The mind is that which acknowledges sense 
 objects; sense objects are sense objects as distinct from the mind; 
 the one who knows both the mind and the sense objects for what they 
 are. We must use //sati// to constantly cleanse the mind. Everybody 
 has //sati//, even a cat has it when it's going to catch a mouse. A 
 dog has it when it barks at people. This is a form of //sati//, but 
 it's not //sati// according to the Dhamma. Everybody has //sati//, 
 but there are different levels of it, just as there are different 
 levels of looking at things. Like when I say to contemplate the 
 body, some people say, "What is there to contemplate in the body? 
 Anybody can see it. //Kesa// we can see already, //loma// we can see 
 already...hair, nails, teeth and skin we can see already. So what?"
    
    This is how people are. They can see the body alright but their 
 seeing is faulty, they don't see with the Buddho, the one who knows, 
 the awakened one. They only see the body in the ordinary way, they 
 see it visually. Simply to see the body is not enough. If we only 
 see the body there is trouble. You must see the body within the 
 body, then things become much clearer. Just seeing the body you get 
 fooled by it, charmed by its appearance. Not seeing Transience, 
 Imperfection and Ownerlessness, //kamachanda// [*] arises. You 
 become fascinated by forms, sounds, odors, flavors and feelings. 
 Seeing in this way is to see with the mundane eye of the flesh, 
 causing you to love and hate and discriminate into pleasing and 
 unpleasing.
 
 *[//Kamachanda//: Sensual desire, one of the Five Hindrances, the 
 other four being ill will, doubt, restlessness and worry, and 
 doubt.]
 
 
    The Buddha taught that this is not enough. You must see with the 
 "mind's eye". See the body within the body. If you really look into 
 the body...Ugh! It's so repulsive. There are today's things and 
 yesterday's things all mixed up in there, you can't tell what's 
 what. Seeing in this way is much clearer than to see with the carnal 
 eye. Contemplate, see with the eye of the mind, with the wisdom eye.
    
    People's understandings differ like this. Some people don't know 
 what there is to contemplate in the Five Meditations, head hair, 
 body hair, nails, teeth and skin. They say they can see all those 
 things already, but they can only see them with the carnal eye, with 
 this "crazy eye" which only looks at the things it wants to look at. 
 To see the body in the body you have to look much clearer than that.
    
    This is the practice that can uproot clinging to the Five 
 //Khandhas//. [*] To uproot attachment is to uproot suffering, 
 because attaching to the Five //Khandhas// is the cause of 
 suffering. If suffering arises it is here, at the attachment to the 
 Five //Khandhas//. It's not that the Five //Khandhas// are in 
 themselves suffering, but the clinging to them as being one's 
 own...that's suffering.
 
 * [The Five //Khandhas//, or "heaps": Form, feeling, perception, 
 conception, and consciousness.]
 
    
    If you clearly see the truth of these things through meditation 
 practice, then suffering becomes unwound, like a screw or a bolt. 
 When the bolt is unwound, it withdraws. The mind unwinds in the same 
 way, letting go, withdrawing from the obsession with good and evil, 
 possessions, praise and status, happiness and suffering.
    
    If we don't know the truth of these things it's like tightening 
 the screw all the time. It gets tighter and tighter until it's 
 crushing you and you suffer over everything. When you know how 
 things are then you unwind the screw. In Dhamma language we call 
 this the arising of //nibbida//, disenchantment. You become weary of 
 things and lay down the fascination with them. If you unwind in this 
 way you will find peace.
    
    The cause of suffering is to cling to things. So we should get 
 rid of the cause, cut off its root and not allow it to cause 
 suffering again. People have only one problem -- the problem of 
 clinging. Just because of this one thing people will kill each 
 other. All problems, be they individual, family or social, arise 
 from this one root. Nobody wins...they kill each other but in the 
 end no-one gets anything. I don't know why people keep on killing 
 each other so pointlessly.
    
    Power, possessions, status, praise, happiness and 
 suffering...these are the worldly dhammas. These worldly dhammas 
 engulf worldly beings. Worldly beings are led around by the worldly 
 dhammas: gain and loss, acclaim and slander, status and loss of 
 status, happiness and suffering. These dhammas are trouble makers, 
 if you don't reflect on their true nature you will suffer. People 
 even commit murder for the sake of wealth, status or power. Why? 
 Because they take them too seriously. They get appointed to some 
 position and it goes to their heads, like the man who became headman 
 of the village. After his appointment he became "power-drunk". If 
 any of his old friends came to see he'd say, "Don't come around so 
 often. Things aren't the same anymore."
    
    The Buddha taught to understand the nature of possessions, 
 status, praise and happiness. Take these things as they come but let 
 them be. Don't let them go to your head. If you don't really 
 understand these things you become fooled by your power, your 
 children and relatives...by everything! If you understand them 
 clearly you know they're all impermanent conditions. If you cling to 
 them they become defiled.
    
    All of these things arise afterwards. When people are first born 
 there are simply //nama// and //rupa//, that's all. We add on the 
 business of "Mr. Jones", "Miss Smith" or whatever later on. This is 
 done according to convention. Still later there are the appendages 
 of "Colonel", "General" and so on. If we don't really understand 
 these things we think they are real and carry them around with us. 
 We carry possessions, status, name and rank around. If you have 
 power you can call all the tunes..."Take this one and execute him. 
 Take that one and throw him in jail" ... Rank gives power. This word 
 "rank" here is where clinging takes hold. As soon as people get rank 
 they start giving orders; right or wrong, they just act on their 
 moods. So they go on making the same old mistakes, deviating further 
 and further from the true path.
    
    One who understands the Dhamma won't behave like this. Good and 
 evil have been in the world since who knows when... if possessions 
 and status come your way then let them simply be the possessions and 
 status, don't let them become your identity. Just use them to 
 fulfill your obligations and leave it at that. You remain unchanged. 
 If we have meditated on these things, no matter what comes our way 
 we will not be fooled by it. We will be untroubled, unaffected, 
 constant. Everything is pretty much the same, after all.
    
    This is how the Buddha wanted us to understand things. No matter 
 what you receive, the mind adds nothing on to it. They appoint you a 
 city councilor..."Okay, so I'm a city councilor...but I'm not." They 
 appoint you head of the group..."Sure I am, but I'm not." Whatever 
 they make of you..."Yes I am, but I'm not!" In the end what are we 
 anyway? We all just die in the end. No matter what they make you, in 
 the end it's all the same. What can you say? If you can see things 
 in this way you will have a solid abiding and true contentment. 
 Nothing is changed.
    
    This is not to be fooled by things. Whatever comes your way, it's 
 just conditions. There's nothing which can entice a mind like this 
 to create or proliferate, to seduce it into greed, aversion or 
 delusion.
    
    Now this is to be a true supporter of Buddhism. Whether you are 
 among those who are being supported (i.e. the Sangha) or those who 
 are supporting (the laity) please consider this thoroughly. 
 Cultivate the //Sila-Dhamma// [*] within you. This is the surest way 
 to support Buddhism. To support Buddhism with the offerings of food, 
 shelter and medicine is good also, but such offerings only reach the 
 "sapwood" of Buddhism. Please don't forget this. A tree has bark, 
 sapwood and heartwood, and these three parts are interdependent. The 
 heartwood must rely on the bark and the sapwood. The sapwood relies 
 on the bark and the heartwood. they all exist interdependently, just 
 like the teachings of Moral Discipline, Concentration and Wisdom. 
 [**] Moral Discipline is to establish your speech and actions in 
 rectitude. Concentration is to firmly fix the mind. Wisdom is the 
 thorough understanding of the nature of all conditions. Study this, 
 practice this, and you will understand Buddhism in the most profound 
 way.
    
 * [//Sila-Dhamma//: The Teaching and Discipline, another name for 
 the teaching of Buddhism, but on the personal level meaning "virtue 
 and (knowledge of) truth."]
 
 ** [//Sila//, //samadhi//, //panna//.]
 
 
    If you don't realize these things you will be fooled by 
 possessions, fooled by rank, fooled by anything you come into 
 contact with. simply supporting Buddhism in the external way will 
 never put an end to the fighting and squabbling, the grudges and 
 animosity, the stabbing and shooting. If these things are to cease 
 we must reflect on the nature of possessions, rank, praise, 
 happiness and suffering. We must consider our lives and bring them 
 in line with the Teaching. We should reflect that all beings in the 
 world are part of one whole. We are like them, they are like us. 
 They have happiness and suffering just like we do. It's all much the 
 same. If we reflect in this way, peace and understanding will arise. 
 This is the foundation of Buddhism.
                                        
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