Question and Answer and Dhamma Discussion
with Overseas Disciple from USA
(Part V)
(Part V)
Sayadaw : Yes.
Power to 'abandon all the actions' in your mind. The power to perform real dana, sila and bhavana. The power of 'abandoning' is the real power
of mind. Power of 'doing' is not real
and genuine.
In terms of doing dana, 'how much
you can donate' is a created power, which you do actions on purpose.
In terms of observing sila, 'how long
or how much precepts you can take' is a created power since you have to put in
efforts to do this action.
In terms of 'bhavana', 'how much
you can contemplate on and how long you can concentrate' are created powers
attained by 'doing'.
What I am talking about is not the
power of 'doing' but 'abandoning'. You
can attain real and genuine power only by continuously contemplating 'abandoning'
in your mind.
QUESTION : How to contemplate that way on daily
basis? According to this concept, if you
are doing something, it is for 'doing-only'. Do we need to practice by
contemplating on that concept or as a beginner, how should we contemplate on daily
basis? For example, if we are going to
do start a new project, we need to have some idea about it and mentally prepare
for it. Should we follow the same way in
practicing meditation?
Sayadaw : Yes.
You have to do all your actions with right understanding in mind. If the
leader 'understanding' is 'right', the followers 'your actions' will
automatically be 'right'.
If your understanding is based
only on 'doing', since the understanding is not correct, you will always need
to do endless of actions.
If you do actions with the
understanding of 'abandoning' in your mind, you will not develop any grasping
on your actions.
If you do not have 'right
understanding' in your mind, you will always be doing actions with habitual created
understanding such as ... you have to work hard to earn for decent living till
you die, you have to look after your health till you die, etc ... your mind
will be paying central emphasis only on 'doing' actions and not on
'abandoning'.
Like Myanmar proverb 'There is no such
thing as being too old to learn', people tend to study till death, people take care of themselves and protect
themselves from dangers till death, etc.
The above examples highlighted only on 'doing'. They do not pay the slightest emphasis on carrying
out 'abandoning' in your mind.
Original Truth will
still be obscured, until Created Truth can be used in the right way,
using-only and experiencing-only.
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To be
continued