How I see - practicing KN and belief (Tinh/信)

All religions talk about their beliefs. They believe there is a creator, heaven or a better place waiting for them. In Theravada Buddhism, Chan/Zen/Thien and TTK also have their belief. Once a meditator tastes the benefit of their practice, they 'believe' they can achieve their goal of liberation from suffering based on their hardwork. They 'believe' they are the creator of their problems and happiness.

Here I have quoted my famous Kalama Sutta from Anguttara Nikaya 3.65. Here is the text:
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

A quote from Digha Nikaya, Mahaparinibbana Sutta 16, 2.26 "Therefore, Ananda, you should live as islands unto yourselves, being your own refuge, with no one else as your refuge, with the Dhamma as an island, with the Dhamma as your refuge, with no other refuge. ..."

TTK's teachings are based on what Buddha has taught us. This is very clear and concise. We have to work for our liberation/Salvation and enlightenment. From Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta: Analysis of Dependent Co-arising SN 12.2 there is no creator/belief involved in the practise. We are the ones who create suffering for ourselves. We are also the ones who can liberate ourselves from suffering.

How I see - practicing Không Nói (Do Not Talk = no self inner dialogue) and precepts/morality/Shila (Giới/戒)

We need to know what the precepts are in Buddhism before we can talk about them. These precepts indicate the basic norms of human behaviour to which all people naturally aspire. The five basic precepts in Buddhism are:
1. Abstain from killing
2. Abstain from stealing
3. Abstain from adultery
4. Abstain from lying
5. Abstain from intoxicants

These precepts protect us and help us to lead peaceful and happy lives. Let's say we are committed to lying. When we lie we always have to find a way to cover ourselves. We will make up stories or excuses. Today we make up this story and tomorrow we might forget. We then make up further stories to cover the first story we had. Our mind is like a storm which we brew because we don't want the truth to come out. This will repeatedly appear in our minds until one day the truth comes out and we regret what we have done.

In most of the Buddhist's sects, precepts play a big part in their practice. If we observe these precepts strictly then we will not commit to killing, stealing, adultery, lying and intoxicants. 

People question why Thien Tanh Khong (TTK) does not place importance in precepts. The most traditional way of practice is morality, samadhi/concentration and wisdom. In Nikaya Buddha mentioned "Morality, Samadhi and Wisdom" throughout his teachings in Nikaya. There are two good examples: Subha Sutta (Digha Nikaya 10) and Mahaparinibbana Sutta (Digha Nikaya 16).

As a practitioner of KN, I understand why TTK does not talk much in morality. This can be explained. If we practice KN correctly our minds should be in a state of wordless cognitive awareness. This implies we don't have inner self dialogue.

Now let us talk about each precept while we practice KN:
1) when we want to kill someone, we must have anger, hatred, jealousy or some sort of negative feelings towards the target. Our minds are toying how to commit this action. This means we have inner self dialogue. If we have practice KN then how can we have these negative feelings in our mind let alone form the idea of killing.

2) when we want to steal something, our minds are controlled with thoughts of desire and want. If we practice KN then our minds will not react when we see the object. We should not have the thoughts of want, the thought of owning and the thought of stealing. Thus we will not have the action of stealing. This applies to 3), 4) and 5) precepts.

By practicing KN our mind will become an objective mind when we contact outer and inner phenomenon. We will no longer have a judgemental, subjective and differential mind. In a higher level of practice KN, we will see the truth of nature, the emptiness of nature, the illusory nature and the interconnection of inter-beings. With these understandings of phenomenon, how can we break these precepts? By practicing KN it is morality itself. We cannot separate from morality because we are morality. 

Do you know our true nature is not evil nor good, not dirty nor clean? Therefore the true nature needs no precepts to observe.

A mother and her spiritual path

My son gave me a hand-painted silk painting when he was 15 years old. The painting has a mother tortoise leading her son to a moon. He said the moon means our spiritual path. I didn't think much at that time he presented this painting to me.

Today when I was vacuuming the carpets I look at the painting. I have such deep feeling about it. To my son I am the one who leads him to the right path. I am his sun and moon.

One thing he doesn't know is he leads me to my spiritual path instead of I lead him. He helps me to see myself and learn about acceptance, toleration, loving kindness and compassion. He teaches me to love without judgement, to love without expectation, to love within the present moment, to love tenderly (not harsh - attach) and to love for the sake of loving.

The value of our ultimate goal for a Buddhist

As a Buddhist we need to know our goal. What do we want to achieve? We know Prince Siddhartha Gautama sat under the Bodhi tree and attained enlightenment. What does it mean to reach enlightenment? Why do we want to reach the goal as prince Siddhartha had reached?

Here are two definitions from the Internet that I have found:
Enlightenment is a state of perfection wisdom and entails insight into Sunyata. (www.amtfweb.org/english/understandhtml/english-wisdomintro.htm )

The person who has perfected this insight and abandoned all defilements is an arhat, one who is liberated from the cycle of samsara. While alive he enters a sort of conditional nirvana, and at death he enjoys the peace of complete nirvana. (http://buddhism.about.com/od/enlightenmentandnirvana/a/What-Is-Enlightenment.htm)

A state of perfection wisdom can lead us to liberation from suffering. So this is our goal as a Buddhist. Thien Tanh Khong (TTK) has techniques which can help us travel from this shore (our worldly mind= intellect, mind-base and consciousness) to another shore (enlightened mind=Precuneus). From the most basic techniques such as listening to a bell, being objective by using our natural awareness through to the most advanced techniques such as seeing the phenomenon as such (The truth of nature), attaining the understanding of sunyata (non-self) or seeing the phenomenon as an illusion. The 'Don't Talk' is the most unique technique from TTK and uses science to explain how meditation can affect the human body. The founder of TTK Venerable Thich Thong Triet used his own meditation experience and his brain to prove we can enlighten as Buddha if we practise the RIGHT way. All his hard work and effort has proved the Buddhist goal is achievable through scientific research done at the University of Tuebingen in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013 using fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging).
 
Someone said to me once we have experienced the suchness/thusness mind that we requite to search for more, ie Theravada Buddhism. Now we understand what we want to achieve and the value of our goal – the perfection wisdom. Once we have attained this stage of perfection of wisdom, do we want to search on for more? Should we even need to ask this question? To me once we have attained this stage, we see as Buddha sees, we hear as Budhha hears and we feel as Buddha feels. By attaining this stage all the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana suttas should ultimately be clear and understood for that person. What more do we want? If a person asks this question after s/he has attained this stage, should we ponder if this person has reached this particular stage?

Sibling's love and hate

煮豆燃豆萁, 豆在釜中泣。
本是同根生,相煎何太急。

by Cao Zhi (192－232)
Three Kingdoms（220-265）

Burning the beanstalk to cook beans,
The beans are crying in the pot:
" Originally we were grown from the same root,
Why are you boiling me so urgently? " 

This Quatrain of seven steps poem described sibling’s quarrels and the fights between them similar to animalistic behaviour, it is against justice and it should not be allowed in human nature, especially as a Buddhist.

As siblings we ought to love, care, tolerate and accept each other even more than people outside the family. We are not wild animals who consume our siblings. We are human beings. Human beings have love, compassion and understanding. As a Buddhist we promote these human values, we love our neighbours let alone our siblings. As humans we also make mistakes and make wrongdoings causing pain to others. However it is important to forgive each other and move on. For those who have hurt us we should show compassion rather than seek retaliation. This will only cause more suffering

I hope whoever is suffering can use it as an experience to learn and reflect and be able to face the problem and come out of the experience with confidence and understanding. I have a mantra which I created for my husband to chant as followed: 
“If anything beyond our control, we have to let go.”
 
We can’t change others but we can change ourselves. So please accept our own siblings as siblings and be a happy family.

I had a colleague who didn’t talk to his sister for more than 10 years as a result of a family piano. His mother had passed away and his sister had wanted the piano. The two siblings eventually went to court and at the end his sister won the court case. However she lived in Canberra and it was too expensive to move the piano from Adelaide to Canberra so she left it at her brother’s house. Until now the piano is still at my colleague’s place. He told me this story and I said to him to make the first move, to forgive his sister and visit his sister as a surprise. He did and now they are happy brothers and sisters again. I just could not comprehend how something so small could stop two siblings from talking to each other for more than 10 years. Is it even worth it?

We only have this lifetime to be brothers or sisters. Is it not sad to see this relationship deteriorate? Buddha has said to be with another person is a result of affinity. Please do not waste this affinity that we are given and let it go to waste.

Who am I?

A monk asked me to tell him " who am I?" and demanded to have my answer straight away. Here was my answer:

Who am I?

I am my mother's smile

I am Nicholas' anger and unsure

I am a white cloud high up in the blue sky

I am the sunshine

I am your mind while you reading this

I am the computer I am working with

I am Greg and Martin, even Thay (Spiritual teacher)

I am a cup of tea

I am nothing and yet everything, everywhere, as you said who am I not?

27/7/2005

To be free or not to be free

There are many, many things that bind (sannojana-gocchakam/結使/ kiết sử) us, that fetter us since we were born till we died. We cannot be free even though we live in a free country. Here are the ten fetters from the Pali canon's Sutta Pitaka (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetter_(Buddhism))

1. belief in a self (Pali: sakkāya-diṭṭhi)
2. doubt or uncertainty, especially about the Buddha Dharma (vicikicchā)
3. attachment to rites and rituals (sīlabbata-parāmāsa)
4. sensual desire (kāmacchando)
5. ill will (vyāpādo or byāpādo)
6. lust for material existence, lust for material rebirth (rūparāgo)
7. lust for immaterial existence, lust for rebirth in a formless realm (arūparāgo)
8. conceit (māna)
9. restlessness (uddhacca)
10. ignorance (avijjā)

We often let these fetters lead our nose to form our actions, thoughts and speech; because of these invisible chains, we are not free.

In the year 2000 I started learning Buddhism. My husband was against with the idea of me going to the temple. I was very depressed and unhappy. I started to see these fetters in my life. This took me a whole year to work out how to get out from these invisible chains.

These invisible chains are only present in our mind when we think about them. The thought of these chains are the chains themselves. Although we are bound to sickness, old aged and death because of this body, but for other bondages we can come out of it if we truly understand its origin. Where is the root of these bondage?

Behind all these bondages there is ego (’I’); because of this ego there is desire and crave from the outside world. The outside world consists of six external objects: visible forms, sounds, odours, tastes, tactile and mental objects.

For example: I see a rose.
‘I’ = Self
See = External six senses: eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin and mind
           Internal six senses: see, hear, smell, taste, touch and thought
Rose = one of the six external objects (visible objects, sound, odor, taste, touch and mental objects).

In the Satipatthana Sutta Buddha taught us when our six senses meet the six external objects, we understand how the arising of the non-arisen fetters comes to be; we understand how the abandoning of the arisen six internal senses come to be; and we understand how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned the six internal senses come to be.

A technique from Thien Tanh Khong is ‘Don’t Talk’. ‘Don’t Talk’ doesn’t mean verbal speech, this means no mental dialogue. ‘Don’t Talk’ is a complete silent in our mind, no judging, no comment and no self-talk. By using this technique we can have our six senses as six senses and external objects as external objects. There isn’t a connection between six senses and six external objects.

Without this connection we are free. We are free from our six internal senses; we are free from the six external objects and we are free from these ten fetters. Thus we see the world in an objective way. Without this ‘I’ and without this connection between senses and objects, we are truly free from all these bondages.

To be free or not to be free, it is in your own hands. No one can free you! It is you who bind yourself to all these fetters. It is you, who are the master of yourself not these fetters.