Anatta Teachings
Anatta
or Selfless Teachings or Motto Quotes
of
Thabarwa Sayadaw U Ottamasara
Part - One
Benefits Realized By Own
Efforts
- Your actions (kamma) will give you the same results.
- The action of killing will give you the result of being killed.
- The action of blame will result in being blamed.
- The action of anger will result in suffering from anger.
- Do not utter vile and indecent speech, because you will suffer the same reaction.
- Do not quarrel, for it will cause only suffering.
- Ill deeds do not result in quick reaction like fresh milk, which do not turn sour immediately. It is like fire cinders covered with ash, which burn and follow the evil doers.
Reduce Talking
- One good spoken word is much better and brings peace and virtue, than one thousand useless words.
- Quarrelling and arguing will not bring inner peace and tranquility. It will only bring spite, conceit, and jealousy.
- Those who accuse others of being a rogue, villain and fool is never a person of virtue. Because they vainly believe that only their policies are right and others are wrong.
Emphasize On One’s Own Power
When
one meets an industrious and virtuous person or friend, who chooses the right
path of virtue and morality, you should make company with him although you will
meet difficulty or troubles.
You Will See What You Look
- In this mundane universe, there is no one free from praise or blame in the past, in the present or in the future.
- There are some who regards Dhamma which is virtuous as immoral, and Dhamma which is immoral as virtuous. All these people are egoistic self-centered people. As such who can say which policy is justifiable or which policy is wrong?
- If a person were to become evil, or faulty, there will be no one in the universe whose policy is good at all. Everyone will say only their policy is good and all others are evil.
- Giving emphasis to the defined wrong is truly defilement and passion (Kilesa). Giving emphasis to the defined right is also defilement and passion.
- If you breed evil mind, whatever you see will be wrong.
- If you breed good mind, whatever you will see will be good.
- What you see depends on your mind formation.
- Change of mind will effect change of your insight.
- Even though your deed is good, if you look with an evil mind, you will see evil.
- Even though your deed is evil, if you look with a good mind you will see no evil.
The Bondage That Binds Without
Knowing
- Those who believe and say that only their doctrine and policy is pure, right and noble, they bind themselves with various dogmas and doctrines.
- All doctrines with future promises and prophesies shall be used as objects to be discarded finally. All doctrines pointing future time and place shall be used as objects to be discarded finally.
Rely Only On Noble Practice As
True Support
- Grief and worry can bring futility in life. It will not bring peace of mind but increase suffering.
- Only by contemplating on good thought, deeds and words, you will solve the problem of suffering. There is no other way to root out such evil.
- Those who do not regard materials as my own possession, or his own possession, has no attachment and craving, will not suffer for loss of those which truly is not his own.
- It is not proper or right to do things you will later suffer or weep.
- You should do deeds which will bring no future regret or remorse, but bring only joy and happiness.
- You should not kill any living being intentionally, even when you know that it will harm you, you do so in self-defense.
- Revenge will never bring peace. Only by lovingkindness (metta) enmity can be solved. This is the immutable natural law.
- There is no other noble practice like forbearance and patience in this universe.
- Only through self admonition and noble practice you will have true support.
- The best and safest protection is your meritorious deed.
- You must know how to perfect yourself only through practicing what is perfect. You must know how to train yourself in the ways of perfection only through self training.
- You must know how to walk the true perfect path only by practicing how to walk on the true perfect path.
Purification Is The Main
Criteria
- When you are soiled with dirt of attachment, lust and passion, it will be useless only by washing your exterior physical body (rupa khanda).
- You can hope to achieve noble purity, only by contemplating on true noble Dhamma and practice.
Beware Of Misusing Your Mind
- Beware of the misconception of the mind and strive towards freedom from errors.
- Problems of the mind occur because of dogmatic misuse of the true state of mind.
- What is more important than the resulting effects of the mind is the causation.
Cause And Effect
- The more you place high expectation the more you will be frustrated.
- The more you love, the bitter is your hatred.
- Do not be too attached. Learn to sacrifice.
- Do not be greedy. Increase your merit and generosity.
- Things do not happen because of desire only. It happens because we make it happen.
- Merit, virtue and good deeds always accrue equal returns without fail. Evil always accrue equal returns without fail.
- You will not get anything by just wishing for it. Do good deeds always. If you deserve, you will get it.
- Nothing will happen if you just wish it to be. You must work hard, do good deeds and make it happen. It will happen if you deserve it.
- If you do good deeds, you will surely enjoy the benefits.
- Try to cultivate good deeds with your own free will and determination to fulfill the common will, and you will surely enjoy fulfillment.
To be continued