Excerpt from a talk by Venerable Acariya Maha Boowa
Ñanasampanno Translated from the Thai by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Those who practice the Dhamma will begin
to know the Dhamma or to gain a feel for the Dhamma in the area of meditation
more markedly than in other areas, and more extensively. For example,
the gratification that comes from being generous is moving in one way,
the gratification that comes from maintaining the precepts is moving
in another way, the feelings of gratification that come from the different
forms of goodness are moving in their own separate ways. This is called
finding gratification in skillfulness.
But all of these feelings of gratification
converge in the practice of meditation. We begin to feel moved from
the moment the mind begins to grow still, when the heart gathers its
currents together to stand solely on its own. Even though we may not
yet obtain a great deal of stillness from the inward gathering of the
mind, we still find ourselves gratified within, in a way we can clearly
sense. If the mind or the Dhamma were a material object, there wouldn't
be anyone in the world who wouldn't respect the religion, because the
goodness, the well-being, and the marvels that arise from the religion
and from the practicing in line with the teachings of the religion are
things desired the world over.
Goodness, well-being, marvels: These are
things the world has always desired from time immemorial - with a desire
that has never lost its taste - and they are things that will always
be desired until the world loses its meaning, or until people become
extinct, having no more sense of good and evil. That's when the world
will no longer aspire for these great blessings. The well-being that
comes from the marvels - the Dhamma in the area of its results - is
something to which all living beings aspire, simply that their abilities
differ, so that some attain their aspirations, while others don't.
But the Dhamma can't be displayed for the
world to perceive with its senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, or
touch in the way other things can. Even though there may be other immaterial
phenomena similar to the Dhamma - such as smells - still they aren't
like the true Dhamma that is touched by the hearts of those who have
practiced it. If the Dhamma could be displayed like material objects,
there is no doubt but that the human world would have to respect the
religion for the sake of that Dhamma. This is because the Dhamma is
something more marvelous than anything else. In all the three levels
of existence, there is no greater marvel than in the Dhamma.
The Dhamma can appear as a marvel, conspicuous
and clear in the mind. The mind is what knows it - and only the mind.
It can't be displayed in general like material objects, as when we take
things out to admire or to show off to others. The Dhamma can't possibly
be displayed like material objects. This is what makes the world lack
interest - and lack the things that could be hoped from the Dhamma -
in a way that is really a shame.
Even those who want the marvel of the Dhamma
don't know what the marvel is, or what the profundity of the Dhamma
is, because the mind has never had contact with that profundity. The
eye has never had contact with the marvel. The ear has never obtained
any marvel from the current of the Dhamma, because the Dhamma can't
be displayed as a current of sound as other things can. This is one
obstacle that prevents people from becoming moved by the Dhamma, that
prevents them from fully believing and fully entrusting themselves to
the Dhamma in a way consistent with the world's long-felt hunger for
well-being and prosperity.
Each of the Buddhas who has gained Awakening
and taught the Dhamma to the world has had to reflect to the full extent
of his intelligence and ability on the myriad ways of teaching the Dhamma
to the world so that the world could see it as a marvel, inasmuch as
the Dhamma can't be put in shop windows or in public places. This is
because the true Dhamma lies in the heart and reveals itself only in
words and deeds, which doesn't excite a gratifying sense of absorption
in the same way as touching the Dhamma directly with the heart.
Because there is no way to display the Dhamma
directly, the Buddhas display it indirectly through teaching. They point
out the causes - the Dhamma of conduct and practices leading to the
Dhamma of results at this or that point or this or that level; and at
the same time they proclaim the results - the excellence, the marvels
of the stages and levels of the Dhamma that can be touched with the
heart, all the way to the highest marvel, vimutti, the mental
release called nibbana within the heart.
Every Buddha has to devise strategies in
teaching the Dhamma so as to bring that marvel out to the world by using
various modes of speech and conduct - for example, describing the Dhamma
and showing the conduct of the Dhamma as being like this and that -
but the actual Dhamma can't be shown. It is something known exclusively
in the heart, in the way in which each Buddha and each arahant possesses
this marvel. None of the Buddhas, none of the arahants who possess this
marvel are in any way deficient in this regard.
The marvel lies in their hearts - simply
that they can't take the marvel that appears there and display it in
the full measure of its wonder. Thus they devise strategies for displaying
it in their actions, which are simply attributes of the Dhamma, not
the actual Dhamma itself. For instance, the doctrine they teach in the
texts is simply an attribute of the Dhamma. Their act of teaching is
also just an attribute of the Dhamma. The actual Dhamma is when a meditator
or a person who listens to their teachings about the Dhamma follows
the Dhamma in practice and touches it stage by stage within his or her
own heart. This is called beginning to make contact with the actual
Dhamma, step by step. However much contact is made, it gives a sense
of gratification felt exclusively within the heart of the person who
has gained that contact through his or her own practice.