Right Understanding in Daily Life

What is the effect of the Buddha’s teachings on people’s actions? In what way could the Buddha’s teachings effectively help people to perform wholesome deeds? Is it possible to do good deeds because a person with authority tells us: “Be detached and do good deeds”?

From experience we know that a good example might help to some extent, but the source of the good deeds is within ourselves: our mentality determines our actions. If someone wants to do his utmost to help other people he should understand himself first. He should understand the causes which make him act in this or in that way. If he develops right understanding of these causes he will be able to lead a more wholesome life and to help other people in the most effective way.

Mentality is the source from which deeds spring; it is therefore not possible to determine the degree of wholesomeness from the outward appearance of deeds alone. There are many gradations of wholesomeness depending on the mentality which motivates a good deed.

Some people give money to needy people, but that does not mean that there may not still be conceit or other selfish motives. Others give without conceit, but they may still have attachment: they give only to people they like. There are people who give out of pure loving-kindness, without any thought of attachment. This is a more wholesome way of giving.

We may wonder whether the study of so many details is necessary. In daily life we will see that it is very helpful to know the different kinds of citta and to know which citta motivates which kind of action. Cittas change all the time, succeeding each other very rapidly. If we learn to distinguish different kinds of citta, we will see that even while we are performing a wholesome deed, unwholesome cittas can follow very closely upon the wholesome cittas.

“Wholesome” is the translation of the Pāli term “kusala”. A wholesome deed in its widest sense means a deed which brings no harm to oneself nor to other people at the moment the deed is done or later on.

In the Discourse on the Foreign Cloth (Middle Length Sayings II, no. 88) we read about wholesome deeds, wholesome speech and wholesome thoughts. King Pasenadi questions Ānanda about the nature of unwholesome and wholesome deeds. As to wholesome or “skilled” bodily conduct we read the following conversation:

“But what, revered sir, is skilled bodily conduct?” “Whatever the bodily conduct, sire, that has no blemish.” “But what, revered sir, is the bodily conduct that has no blemish?” “Whatever the bodily conduct, sire, that is non-injurious.” “And what, revered sir, is the bodily conduct that is non-injurious?” “Whatever the bodily conduct, sire, that is joyous in result.” “And what, revered sir, is the bodily conduct that is joyous in result?” “Whatever bodily conduct, sire, does not conduce to the torment of self and does not conduce to the torment of others and does not conduce to the torment of both, and by which the unskilled states dwindle away, the skilled states increase much...”

The same is said about wholesome speech and wholesome thinking. These words render the meaning of wholesome or “kusala” in its widest sense. There are many kinds and intensities of kusala. In developing “right understanding” or wisdom there can be kusala of a higher degree.

Wisdom or understanding is a translation of the Pāli term “paññā ”. Paññā does not only mean knowledge acquired from the study of books, paññā also includes insight, right understanding of the realities of daily life. Paññā can be developed in daily life. When paññā accompanies kusala citta, wholesome citta, there is a higher degree of wholesomeness. There are many degrees of paññā and each degree brings its result accordingly.

It is a typical Buddhist approach to investigate and to be aware of the different mental phenomena and physical phenomena which can be experienced through eyes, ears, nose, tongue, bodysense and mind. If one is not used to this approach one might feel somewhat bewildered at first. However, after we have investigated more these mental and physical phenomena, we will find out that only thus it is possible to understand the different ways in which we ourselves and other people behave, and to know which causes bring which effects in life. It makes no sense to speak in vague, general terms about realities, because the real understanding of our experiences in life can never be developed in that way.

Someone told me about a monk who was preaching in a way which was of great help to people in their daily lives. When I asked what the monk was preaching, the answer was that he was speaking about “citcai”. “Citcai”(7) is the word in Thai for “state of mind”, in Pāli: citta. This monk had the right approach to life. One should follow the example of the Buddha; one should not only tell people to do good deeds, but one should teach them as well how to do good deeds. In order to know how to do good deeds, we should go back to the source of the good deeds: the mental states or “cittas”. It is preferable to use the Pāli term “citta” rather than a translation from the Pāli since translations do not render the meaning of the terms adequately. For example, the English translation of “citta” as “state of mind” or “mental state” implies something which stays, which does not change. But this is not the characteristic of citta. When we have learned more about cittas we will find out that there is no citta which stays, even for a second. Each citta which arises falls away immediately, to be succeeded by the next citta. Cittas determine our life and the lives of other people; they condition the actions we perform in life.

Many people are not used to this approach; they are used to looking at the outward appearance of things. Scientists are very advanced in the study of outer space, but little is known about what goes on inwardly in man. People are used to paying attention to the things they see and hear, but they are not used to attending to seeing-consciousness and to hearing-consciousness. They do not think of the cittas which perform the functions of seeing and hearing.

Seeing-consciousness and hearing-consciousness are realities and therefore it is important to know more about them. That part of the Buddhist teachings which analyses and explains in detail mental phenomena and physical phenomena is called the “Abhidhamma”. The Abhidhamma deals with everything which is real. Studying the Abhidhamma can change one’s life.

Many Thais listen to lectures about Abhidhamma, and not only those who have been educated at a college or university, but also those who have never received a higher education. I have heard of cases in which the study of different cittas has helped people to lead a more wholesome life. I heard of someone who was at first inclined to have feelings of revenge towards other people, but who was gradually able to overcome those feelings by understanding what those feelings were. Many Thais know about the realities taught in the Abhidhamma, and they are able to apply their knowledge in daily life. Foreigners do not usually hear about this because people do not often speak about Abhidhamma to foreigners.

Unwholesome mental states or “akusala cittas” and wholesome mental states or “kusala cittas” are realities of daily life. In order to know more about these realities we should try to understand ourselves first: if we do not understand ourselves we cannot help other people. This does not mean, however, that we have to wait our whole life before we can start helping other people. Even those who are just beginning to understand things as they are can help others to have right understanding too.

Paññā, wisdom or understanding, is the opposite of ignorance, the root of all defilement and sorrow. Paññā is important for the development of kusala cittas. It is possible to do good deeds without paññā , but if there is understanding of what is unwholesome and what is wholesome, and understanding of what the result is of unwholesome and wholesome deeds, one is able to lead a more wholesome life. Thus, the development of paññā is of great benefit both to ourselves and to others.

There are many degrees of paññā . When a teacher explains to his pupils that kusala cittas with gratitude or honesty will bring a pleasant result and that unwholesome deeds motivated by greed or anger will bring an unpleasant result, the explanation may be the condition for them to have some degree of paññā . With paññā they may be able to develop kusala cittas and to perform more wholesome deeds.

There is a higher degree of paññā when people realize the impermanence of all the things they enjoy in life. When people see how short human life is, they will try not to be attached too much to the pleasant things of life. This understanding will stimulate them to a greater generosity and to more readiness to help other people. They will be less selfish.

Some people who have this degree of paññā might change their way of life and live contentedly without any luxury. Others might decide to “go forth from home into homelessness”; they might decide to become a monk. A monk’s life is not an easy life. He lives without family and is one who is “contented with little”. In the Discourse on the Sixfold Cleansing (Middle Length Sayings III, no. 112) we read that the Buddha spoke about the monk who told of his renunciation of the world:

“So I, your reverences, after a time, getting rid of my wealth, whether small or great, getting rid of my circle of relations, whether small or great, having cut off my hair and beard, having put on saffron robes, went forth from home into homelessness...”

The Buddha explained that people are too much attached to the sense-impressions received through eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body. He spoke about the “five strands of sense-pleasures”. We read in the Discourse with Subha (Middle Length Sayings II, no. 99) that the Buddha spoke with Subha about the five strands of sense-pleasures:

…These five, brahman youth, are the strands of pleasures of the senses. What five? Material shapes cognizable by the eye, agreeable, pleasant, liked, enticing, connected with sensual pleasures, alluring. Sounds cognizable by the ear…Smells cognizable by the nose…Tastes cognizable by the tongue…Touches cognizable by the body, agreeable, pleasant, liked, enticing, connected with sensual pleasures, alluring. These, brahman youth, are the five strands of sense-pleasures. Brahman youth, the brahman Pokkharasāti of the Upama––a (clan) of the Subhaga forest glade, is enslaved and infatuated by these five strands of sense-pleasures, he is addicted to them, and enjoys them without seeing the peril (in them), without knowing the escape (from them)...

We would like to have pleasant sense-impressions and we are inclined to attach too much importance to them. We are so absorbed in what we see or hear that we forget that sense-impressions are not true happiness. In the Discourse to Māgandiya (Middle Length Sayings II, no. 75) we read that the Buddha said to Māgandiya:

Now I, Māgandiya, when I was formerly a householder, endowed and provided with the five strands of sense-pleasures, revelled in them... But after a time, having known the coming to be and passing away of sense-pleasures and the satisfaction and peril of them and the escape as it really is, getting rid of the craving for sense-pleasures, suppressing the fever for sense-pleasures, I dwelt devoid of thirst, my mind inwardly calmed. I saw other beings not yet devoid of attachment to sense-pleasures who were pursuing sense-pleasures (although) they were being consumed by craving for sense-pleasures, burning with the fever for sense-pleasures. I did not envy them: I had no delight therein...

People who understand that there is a higher happiness than the pleasures which one can enjoy through the five senses might apply themselves to the development of calm or “samatha”. The calm which is developed in samatha is temporary freedom from attachment, anger and other defilements. There are several meditation subjects of samatha, such as recollection of the Buddha’s virtues, mindfulness of breathing or loving-kindness. It depends on a person’s accumulations which subject conditions calm for him. Samatha is not a matter of just trying to concentrate on an object. Most important is right understanding of the meditation subject and of the way to attain the calm which is wholesome by means of the meditation subject. If one does not know the difference between kusala citta and akusala citta one is likely to take attachment to silence for kusala and then samatha cannot be developed. One has to know the characteristic of calm which is wholesome, free from akusala. Then there can be conditions for more calm. Calm in samatha can reach such a high degree that one becomes totally absorbed in the meditation subject. There are different stages of this calm absorption or “jhāna”. During jhāna one does not receive impressions through the five senses and thus one is at those moments not enslaved to them. One enjoys a higher happiness. In higher stages of jhāna one attains a greater tranquillity of mind until one no longer feels rapture or joy; one transcends happy feeling and there is equanimity instead. When, however, the citta is not jhānacitta, there are sense-impressions again.

Samatha is a means for the cultivation of wholesomeness. People who apply themselves to samatha may become very peaceful and amiable. They can be of great comfort to people who are restless. However, in samatha defilements are not eradicated. Although one is not enslaved to sense-impressions during the time of jhāna, one still clings to them when the citta is no longer jhānacitta. The jhānas do not last; they are impermanent. Moreover, there is a more subtle form of clinging, a clinging to the happiness of the jhānas. One might think that one is without clinging when one does not indulge in sense-pleasures. However, one might still cling to the joy of jhāna which is not associated with sense-pleasures, one might cling to pleasant feeling or equanimity which can accompany jhānacitta.

For the development of samatha paññā is necessary, but this kind of paññā cannot eradicate defilements. There is a higher paññā which can eradicate all defilements, even the most subtle forms of clinging. This paññā is developed in “insight meditation” or “vipassanā”. In vipassanā, paññā gradually eliminates ignorance, the root of all defilements. One learns more about the realities which present themselves through eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body­sense and mind at any moment. We know so little about the most common things of daily life. How often are we aware of bodily movements during the day? How often are we aware of bodily phenomena such as hardness or softness while we are stretching or bending our arms, or when we are moving our lips while talking? We do not really know what sound is, what hearing is or what it is we take for “self” while hearing. We do not know the phenomena which appear at the present moment.

When we are absorbed in the outer appearance and the details of things, we will not be able to be aware of the realities of the present moment. So long as we are carried away by like or dislike of what we see and hear, it is impossible to see things as they are. It is as if we are asleep; we are not yet awake to the truth. The Buddha was perfectly mindful and he had complete knowledge of all the different kinds of mental and physical phenomena. Therefore he could call himself “the Awakened One”; he was fully awake to the truth. We, too, should wake up to the truth.

In vipassanā, paññā will gradually develop and it will know things as they are. In being aware of the reality which appears at the present moment we learn that there are two kinds of reality: physical phenomena or rūpa and mental phenomena or nāma. Rūpa does not know anything whereas nāma experiences something; it experiences an object. For example, visible object is rūpa; it does not know anything. Seeing is a type of nāma; it experiences an object: visible object. Hearing and thinking are other types of nāma, different from seeing. There are many different types of nāma and rūpa, and in vipassanā we learn to experience their characteristics.

In the development of vipassanā the impermanence of nāmas and rūpas will be directly known. One may have reflected before on the impermanence of all things in life. Reflection on the truth is necessary, but it is not the same as the direct knowledge of the impermanence of all realities in and around oneself. In the beginning the arising and falling away of nāma and rūpa cannot be realised. However, if we learn to be aware of different characteristics of nāma and rūpa which appear one at a time, and if we realize that each nāma or rūpa which appears now is different from preceding nāmas and rūpas, we will be less inclined to think that nāma and rūpa last, and we will be less inclined to take them for “self”.

In the Greater Discourse of a Full Moon (Middle Length Sayings III, no. 109) we read that the Buddha, while he was staying near Sāvatthī in the palace of Migāra’s mother in the Eastern Monastery, said to the monks:

“…What do you think about this, monks? Is material shape permanent or impermanent?”

“Impermanent, revered sir.”

“But is what is impermanent painful or is it pleasant?”

“Painful, revered sir.”

“And is it right to regard that which is impermanent, suffering, liable to change, as ’This is mine, this am I, this is myself’?”

“No, revered sir.”

The Buddha asked the same about mental phenomena.

In the Discourse on Mindfulness of the Body (Middle Length Sayings, III, no. 119) we read that the Buddha, when he was staying near Sāvatthī, at the Jeta Grove, spoke to the monks about mindfulness of the body and the advantages of it. Some of these are the following:

…He is one who overcomes dislike and liking, and dislike (and liking) do not overcome him; he fares along constantly conquering any dislike (and liking) that have arisen. He is one who overcomes fear and dread, and fear and dread do not overcome him; and he fares along constantly conquering any fear and dread that have arisen. He is one who bears cold, heat, hunger, thirst, the touch of gadfly, mosquito, wind and sun, creeping things, ways of speech that are irksome, unwelcome; he is of a character to bear bodily feelings which, arising, are painful, acute, sharp, shooting, disagreeable, miserable, deadly...

We will gradually learn to give in less to attachment and to anger or aversion when we have realized that these are only different types of nāma which arise because of conditions and then fall away again immediately.

We should not wait to develop insight, right understanding of realities, until we are old or have retired from our work. When we develop this wisdom we will know ourselves better, we will be aware more often of the moments of akusala cittas which arise, even while we are doing good deeds. Conceit about our good deeds may arise or we may expect something in return for our good deeds, such as praise or a good name. When we gradually see more clearly that there are only nāma and rūpa which arise because of conditions, there will eventually be less clinging to a concept of self who performs kusala or akusala. When there is less clinging to the self good deeds will become purer. The paññā developed in vipassanā is the “Right Understanding” of the eightfold Path which leads to nibbāna. Everyone has to tread this Path by himself. One can only purify oneself. One cannot be purified by other people; other people can only help one to find the right Path. There will be no lasting world peace so long as there is craving, ill-will and ignorance. It is very necessary to take part of the world organisations which promote the peace and the welfare of nations, and to give material aid to those who are in need. However, we should realize that this is not enough, that it will only help to a certain degree. The real causes of war are craving, ill-will and ignorance. Only in developing paññā can we eliminate craving, ill-will and ignorance.

The eightfold Path leads to nibbāna. Nibbāna is the end of all defilements. It can be realized here and now, in this life. When paññā has been developed stage by stage it can reach the degree that enlightenment can be attained. At that moment nibbāna is experienced(8). When one has realized nibbāna one understands what it means to be “awakened to the truth”.