1.Mind, Wisdom, Happiness and the Path

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Happiness is the greatest wealth (santuṭṭhiparamaṃ dhanaṃ), but it is hard to find. Why is it so? It is because our approach to happiness is flawed, owing to lack of knowledge and wisdom. Happiness is a mental state that changes along with the mind. If one’s mind is happy, one is happy regardless of material possessions. Similarly, if one’s mind is unhappy, one is unhappy regardless of material possessions. Because the mind changes rapidly, happiness and unhappiness fluctuate accordingly. Given that, unless someone has a stable and happy mind, he won’t be happy. These are the reasons for happiness being hard to find.

How can one pursue happiness? If someone develops his mind through knowledge and wisdom, he gains happiness, enjoys it, and remains happy.

If the mind is not developed through knowledge and wisdom, it is like a container that holds infinite perceptions, or a pool of water that is cloudy, turbid and muddy1.1. Perceptions are essentially dead feelings, called or described as mirages. No one can be happy, living in the past or pursuing mirages. Perceptions are the source of sadness. If not overcome quickly, sadness becomes sorrow. Overwhelming sorrow disturbs a person’s ability to think rationally. To overcome sorrow, the minds of worldly people return to perceptions. Unfortunately, that effort makes the situation worse by trapping them in a cycle of unhappy states of mind; this standard practice of worldly beings to overcome sorrow is just a delusion

The mind is the most important faculty of a being. All the other faculties – eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body – and their functionalities are linked to and dependent on the mind. They cannot even exist without the mind. Further, the eye, for example, produces a feeling after making contact with an external object. That feeling is not produced and cannot be sustained without the mind. The mind maintains that feeling, but it is merely a perception. The mind maintains all the feelings that are produced by the eye in this way. Likewise, any feelings produced by the rest of the faculties (ear, nose, tongue, and body) are also maintained by the mind. But they are all essentially perceptions rather than realities. This is why it has been said that an undeveloped mind is like a container that holds infinite perceptions or a pool of water that is cloudy, turbid and muddy. How can a person with such a mind be happy? No, he certainly cannot be happy. If someone thinks they are happy, that person is simply living in a delusion or chasing a mirage.

These are experiential realities that a wise person can verify through their own direct experience of the mind. When one recognises these mental practices within, it is his wisdom gained through knowledge and reflection. Undoubtedly, he marks the beginning of a remarkable journey that arahants have completed. That wisdom remains within him forever, and it will provide immense support for further wisdom as well as his welfare and happiness.

But, that is not all. Someone with knowledge and wisdom, quite beyond the ordinary level, can see for himself that a person’s verbal and bodily behaviours are linked to his mind. He knows bad verbal and bodily conduct stems from an unhappy mind, and good verbal and bodily conduct stems from a happy mind. But worldly people think they can use the rule of law to control bad conduct. It is only a partial and temporary solution. This applies to everyday worldly life as well as to those who follow Buddhism. The first precept is an example in which a disciple undertakes to refrain from killing living beings – Pāṇātipātā veramaṇīsikkhāpadaṁ samādiyāmi”. Because of this undertaking, he refrains from killing living beings. But he cannot keep his undertaking all the time as there is no support from his wisdom. This is a temporary arrangement for him until he gets a foothold in the Dhamma. The lasting solution is to make his mind happy through development. When that happens, all these precepts are included in his wisdom and will not be broken.  When people are happy, their verbal and bodily conduct naturally becomes harmonious. The highest of these qualities is loving-kindness, which is a divine state of mind. One who maintains loving-kindness through skills, would never say any word that hurts others or engage in any behaviour that harms others bodily or mentally. That is because of his wisdom regarding the value of happiness and the consequences of unhappiness.

If someone develops his wisdom even further, he gains insight into consciousness1.2, its role in this life, and its contribution to the Saṃsāric cycle of rebirths. As a part of that, he sees beings as consisting of the five aggregates of clinging: form, feelings, perceptions, mental-formations (thoughts), and consciousness. Consciousness holds these five together by constantly living in the other four. When consciousness leaves, all five components disunite (khandhānaṃ bhedo). This is called death1.3. This is how beings are composed of the five aggregates of clinging. As these five aggregates of clinging are impermanent, beings live in the past and feel sad most of the time. These factors create a chain of negative consequences, causing beings to suffer in this life and beyond. That is why the five aggregates of clinging are said to be ‘suffering’ or the Noble Truth of suffering. This is a brief overview of consciousness and its role in this life.

Sadness develops into sorrowfulness in worldly beings who do not gain insight into the five aggregates of clinging and also dependent co-arising (Paṭiccasamuppāda). Persistent sorrowfulness causes beings to develop three unwholesome roots called greed, hatred, and delusion. These three unwholesome roots are the powerhouse of the Saṃsāric cycle of rebirths, causing beings to be born in bad destinations most of the time. Supporting each other, the three unwholesome roots continue to arise interdependently, with delusion as the leading factor. This is a brief overview of the role of consciousness in a being’s Saṃsāric cycle.

Worldly people are unable to see and escape from this trap, as delusion – also known as darkness – keeps blocking their wisdom eye (paññācakkhu). Only the Buddha, or a disciple of the Buddha who has realised the Buddha’s teaching, can help someone see and escape from the trap of greed, hatred, and delusion by helping them realise five aggregates of clinging. If someone realises the impermanent nature of the five aggregates of clinging, he is a disciple of the Buddha who has attained the state of stream entry. If someone realises the five clinging-aggregates as suffering, he is a disciple of the Buddha who has attained the state of a never-returner. If someone realises the five clinging-aggregates as non-self, he is a disciple of the Buddha who has attained the state of arahantship. This is the depth of wisdom and the noble outcomes that someone gains from realising the five aggregates of clinging.

Only wisdom, also called light or illumination, can help people escape from delusion. Just as darkness disappears when the sun rises, delusion vanishes when wisdom arises. The wisdom mentioned here is vast and goes beyond the ordinary state of human beings. But a person can begin the journey where he can see and understand dhamma with his sensory faculties and intellect. He develops wisdom gradually with the help of true Buddhist teachings (saddhamma). Delusion fades away to the extent that wisdom increases, as they are opposites, and wisdom is superior. Greed is subdued to the extent that wisdom arises. Hatred is subdued to the extent that greed fades away. Subduing greed and hatred helps melt delusion, thereby fostering a conducive environment for wisdom to grow further. In this way, he is cultivating three wholesome roots: non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion. Through this process, he gradually becomes happy and pure, and attains various noble states. His mind is liberated at different levels in each of these states, becoming calmer and more serene through wisdom. Since his mind is calm and serene, he is happy and stays that way longer.

Only wisdom can alleviate and finally defeat delusion in beings. That is why the Buddha is a teacher only for divine and human beings, as they are the only beings who can develop wisdom. The primary objective of the disciples of the Buddha is to develop wisdom. Once developed, wisdom brings them to various skilful and profitable states. This is the reason the Buddha said that the wisdom faculty is the greatest among the five faculties (Faith faculty, Energy faculty, Mindfulness faculty, Concentration faculty, and Wisdom faculty) that disciples should develop. The disciples of the Buddha who develop wisdom remain on the path until attainment of Nibbāna. The disciples who follow the instructions of the Buddha practise the teaching to achieve this goal. They become happier day by day as their wisdom develops. Otherwise, no one would succeed. Anyone who does not develop wisdom through their practice is not truly following the Buddha’s teachings (saddhamma). Anyone in this situation needs to reassess what they have learned and adhere to the Dhamma in the Sutta Piṭaka.

Given below are the Buddha’s instructions to his disciples on how to achieve this goal, as mentioned in Abhiññā sutta1.4. Disciples should practise to fulfil these dhamma, in this order, aiming to reach these levels.

  1. There are dhamma to be fully comprehended by supernormal knowledge; they are five aggregates of clinging.
  2. There are dhamma to be abandoned by supernormal knowledge; they are Avijjā (ignorance) and Bhavataṇhā (craving-for-existence).
  3. There are dhamma to be developed by supernormal knowledge; they are Samatha (serenity) and Vipassanā (insight).
  4. There are dhamma to be realised by supernormal knowledge; they are Vijjā (total knowledge and wisdom) and Vimutti (liberation).

The readers will notice what the Dhamma is and at what level a disciple should learn to attain the fruits of the practice. The correct attitude towards the Dhamma should be maintained all the time. Below are brief explanations of these four dhamma.

  • Five aggregates of clinging are the dhamma that disciples of the Buddha learn to attain their aspirations. They attain what they aspire to by fully comprehending these five aggregates of clinging through supernormal knowledge. During the course of their journey, the disciples gradually develop an insightful knowledge which is above the ordinary human state (uttarimanussadhammaṃ alamariyañāṇadassanaṃ) and it is capable of penetrating the five aggregates of clinging. They realise that the five aggregates of clinging are dependently arisen and are instances of dependent co-arising (Paṭiccasamuppāda). They do not treat this dhamma lightly. Their life’s motto (mantra) is the following words of the Buddha to Venerable Ānanda, when Ven. Ānanda said to the Buddha: “It’s amazing, lord, it’s astounding, how deep this dependent co-arising is, and how deep its appearance, and yet to me it seems as clear as clear can be.” in Mahānidāna Sutta (DN 15).

“Do not say so, Ānanda. Do not say so, Ānanda. Deep is this dependent co-arising, and deep its appearance. It’s because of not understanding and not penetrating this Dhamma that this assembly of beings is entangled like a ball of string, an entangled skein, matted rushes and reeds, and does not go beyond transmigration which includes lower realms, states of horrendous suffering.”

  • Disciples of the Buddha practise abandoning ignorance and cravings-for-existence. They understand by their supernormal knowledge that: abandoning ignorance and cravings-for-existence is a challenging task as these two co-exist supporting each other, one must weaken them systematically to abandon them, and the true dhamma offers to disciples a powerful method to break these two apart, allowing for their total abandonment.

They understand that, although it is a challenging task, the disciples of the Buddha can abandon them with sufficient exertion by following the instructions of the Buddha correctly. They also understand that once these two are abandoned, the task is done and nothing more remains to be done. 

  • Disciples of the Buddha understand by their supernormal knowledge that serenity (Samatha) and insight (Vipassanā) do not develop separately. But they develop when they are together, as they support each other to counter the co-existence of ignorance and craving-for-existence. The disciples of the Buddha know that it works in three stages as outlined below1.5:
  • When a disciple’s mind is fully occupied by the dhamma (five aggregates of clinging in this case) and remains thoroughly focused on it, that is his serenity. With that serenity he investigates the five aggregates of clinging as impermanent, suffering, non-self, etc. Whatever he understood during this process is his insight. In this way he develops insight with serenity acting as the leading factor.
  • By reflecting on the dhamma as impermanent, suffering, and non-self-etc., a disciple gains insight. As long as he remains thoroughly focused on insight, he stays serene. In this way he develops serenity with insight acting as the leading factor.
  • At some point, his serenity and insight become yoked together. That brings an unprecedented opportunity for him to realise dhamma that surpasses the ordinary human state. In this way he develops serenity and insight simultaneously, yoking them together.

This amazing practice, which is unique to Buddhism, is capable of destroying ignorance and craving-for-existence through wisdom, leading to their total abandonment. The disciples of Buddha attained all their achievements through the wisdom, which is the most fundamental aspect of the Buddhist teachings 1.6. This is how disciples of the Buddha develop serenity and insight together through supernormal knowledge to gain wisdom to abandon ignorance and cravings-for-existence.

Seeking to cultivate serenity without the support of insight or seeking to cultivate insight without serenity is fruitless, as these practices fail to sustain and produce key objective of knowledge and wisdom.  Those who do this cannot be considered Buddha’s disciples, as they fail to follow his most valuable instruction and do not recognise the role of knowledge and wisdom in the practice1.7. They are like a carter trying to pull a cart designed for two oxen with only one ox. They are wasting the opportunity and failing to make progress towards the goal. If they claim to be practitioners of Buddhism, they disparage the Buddha and his teaching, the Dhamma.

  • Finally, by experiencing total knowledge and wisdom (Vijjā), disciples of the Buddha achieve liberation (Vimutti) for themselves. They achieve this through supernormal knowledge, gained by going through several stages in their journey.

What do the dhamma disciples of the Buddha need to go through to develop their supernormal knowledge?

They are: four  foundations of mindfulness, four right exertions, four bases of Iddhi, five faculties, five powers, seven factors of Enlightenment, noble eightfold path, lovingkindness, compassion, appreciative joy, equanimity, foulness  of the body, perception of impermanence and mindfulness on in-breathing and out-breathing.

Disciples need to develop all these, in this order, beginning with the four foundations of mindfulness. The four foundations of mindfulness are fundamental to all these attainments of the disciples. Hence, they cannot afford even the slightest mistake in developing the four foundations of mindfulness as all dhamma is included in them. The disciples can see these facts by paying due attention to the following opening statement of the Buddha in the ‘Great sutta of Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

 “Monks, there are these four foundations of mindfulness, which is the one and only path for purifications of beings, for overcoming of sorrow-lamentation, for disappearance of pain-discontent, for realisation of the noble theory of dependent co-arising, for the attainment of total unbinding.”

What are the requirements disciples need to fulfil to support Vijjā to arise in them?

They need to: associate with worthy men, hear true dhamma (saddhamma), be faithful to Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha, develop wise attention (yonisomanasikāra), develop mindfulness & sound judgement(satisampajañña), restraint of the senses, develop three forms of right conduct, develop four foundations of mindfulness and develop the seven factors of Enlightenment.

Those who follow these instructions are the followers of the Buddha, and they will certainly achieve the goals set forth in these greatest teachings.

We are so fortunate that the Buddha’s teachings have been preserved in their original purity through the centuries and are available to us intact in the Sutta Pitaka. We are grateful to the arahants in the Buddha’s time as well as to those in the post-Buddha periods who made this possible.

What is the first step of this great journey that a prospective disciple of the Buddha should take? As the Sutta Pitaka answers this question, a disciple begins this great journey by going for refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha.

By sourcing directly from the Sutta Pitaka, this website provides comprehensive guidance to help disciples achieve their aspirations. While taking readers through the step-by-step process of going for refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha, this website explains the relevant dhamma at each point in a way that is understandable to beginners, without compromising the core teachings of Buddhism. It also provides invaluable insights for readers to achieve noble states in this very life. Therefore, this website is named ‘xxxxxxxxxxxx’.

Notes:

  1. Perception is defined here as an individual’s subjective view of something, based on their previous experiences and feelings.
    1. Consciousness is a more advanced stage of the mind. The readers will learn it later.
    1.  Birth is the opposite of the death and is not explained here due to its complexity. Disciples will learn it later.
    1. AN 4.6.1
    1. Reference: Mahāsaḷāyatanikasuttaṃ (MN 3.6.7), Yoked together sutta (AN 4. 4. 2. 10), chapter of Yoked together – Patisambhidāmagga and section 539 of ‘The Pitaka-Disclosure’- Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, translation of Peṭakopadesa.
    1. Refer to ‘Yoking serenity and insight together’ for full explanation (need to write Yoking serenity and insight together based on notes in සාරාංශය ‘සමත විදර්ශනා යුගනද්ධ භාවය’.
    • They fail to develop wisdom, which is the prime objective of a disciple. Wisdom is the truth that a disciple arrives at by contemplation of the wrong practice he, as a worldly person, does against the correct practice that the Buddha proposes. Those who read the Sutta Pitaka find how many instances where the Buddha said: “Whatever should be done by a compassionate teacher out of compassion for his disciples, seeking their welfare, I have done for you. There are feet of trees, there are empty dwellings. Contemplate, Bhikkhus. Do not be heedless. Do not have cause to regret later. This is our instructions for you.”