6. 4
Saeng Dhamma
Bhumija Sutta
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
“In the same way, any brahmans or contemplatives endowed with right view, right resolve, right
speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort,
right mindfulness, & right concentration: If they follow the holy life even when having made a wish [for
results]... having made no wish... both having made
a wish and having made no wish... neither having
made a wish nor having made no wish, they are capable of obtaining results. Why is that? Because it is
an appropriate way of obtaining results.
“Suppose a man in need of milk, looking for
milk, wandering in search of milk, would twist the teat
of a newly-calved cow. If he were to twist the teat of a
newly-calved cow even when having made a wish [for
results]... having made no wish... both having made a
wish and having made no wish... neither having made
a wish nor having made no wish, he would be capable
of obtaining results. Why is that? Because it is an appropriate way of obtaining results.
“In the same way, any brahmans or contemplatives endowed with right view, right resolve, right
speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort,
right mindfulness, & right concentration: If they follow the holy life even when having made a wish [for
results]... having made no wish... both having made
a wish and having made no wish... neither having
made a wish nor having made no wish, they are capable of obtaining results. Why is that? Because it is
an appropriate way of obtaining results.
“Suppose a man in need of butter, looking for
butter, wandering in search of butter, would sprinkle water on curds in a crock and twirl them with
a churn-stick.[3] If he were to sprinkle water on
curds in a crock and twirl them with a churn-stick
even when having made a wish [for results]... having made no wish... both having made a wish and
having made no wish... neither having made a wish
nor having made no wish, he would be capable of
obtaining results. Why is that? Because it is an appropriate way of obtaining results.
“In the same way, any brahmans or contemplatives endowed with right view, right resolve, right
speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort,
right mindfulness, & right concentration: If they follow the holy life even when having made a wish [for
results]... having made no wish... both having made
a wish and having made no wish... neither having
made a wish nor having made no wish, they are capable of obtaining results. Why is that? Because it is
an appropriate way of obtaining results.
and rub it into a dry, sapless piece of wood. If he
piece of wood even when having made a wish [for
results]... having made no wish... both having made
a wish and having made no wish... neither having
made a wish nor having made no wish, he would be
capable of obtaining results. Why is that? Because it
is an appropriate way of obtaining results.
“In the same way, any brahmans or contem-
7. 5
Saeng Dhamma
platives endowed with right view, right resolve,
right speech, right action, right livelihood, right
effort, right mindfulness, & right concentration: If
they follow the holy life even when having made a
wish [for results], they are capable of obtaining results. If they follow the holy life even when having
made no wish, they are capable of obtaining results.
If they follow the holy life even when both having made a wish and having made no wish, they
are capable of obtaining results. If they follow the
holy life even when neither having made a wish nor
having made no wish, they are capable of obtaining
results. Why is that? Because it is an appropriate
way of obtaining results.
“Bhumija, if these four similes had occurred
to you in the presence of Prince Jayasena, he would
Ven. Bhumija delighted in the Blessed One’s words.
Notes
1.According to the Commentary, Ven. Bhumija was Prince Jayasena’s uncle.
2.These brahmans & contemplatives are probably the proponents of non-action, annihilation, and
non-relatedness as presented in DN 2.
3.To this day, this is the way butter is obtained
in rural north India. The churn-stick is a small stick
that has attached to its end blocks of wood resembling an orange with alternate sections removed.
This is twirled in the curds. The water sprinkled
on the curds dilutes the buttermilk, which helps in
separating it from the milk fat left on the blocks of
the churn-stick.
you.”
“But, lord, how could these four similes have
occurred to me in the presence of Prince Jayasena,
as they are natural to the Blessed One and have never before been heard from him?”
To be Continued
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.
12
57
8. 6
Saeng Dhamma
healthy doubt and a healthy belief. Doubting everything
“If we compare ourselves with chickens we’ll
see, / They don’t have headaches, sleeplessness, or sick
stomachs. / They’re free of nervousness and mental
problems. / Chickens don’t go crazy as we do every day.
/ The world’s people take drugs by the ton, / While the
chickens don’t even take a little bit. / They sleep well,
should live a moral life because this is what brings us
simple path to health of the mind and heart, the simple
form of the Noble Eightfold Path. This means that we
should keep a watch over our sense doors (eyes, ears,
Dhamma before it is too late, To live happily, no longer
embarrassed by the chickens . . .”
should live healthfully in the present moment. This is
the Chickens,” in 100th Anniversary of the birth of
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu edited by Du Wayne Engelhart.
Introduction. If a person has a sick body, the doctor
can help. If a person has a sick mind, the psychologist
can help. If a person has a sick mind and heart (mindheart, the religious or ethical “part” of a human being,
like the Thai
present in the Dhamma can help. Simply speaking,
just as the doctor can bring back health to the body and
the psychologist can bring back health to the mind, the
Buddha, through the Dhamma, can bring back health to
the mind and heart.
about the past and of worry about the future. In general,
we should use our mindfulness to keep us focused on
by moment so we can gain insight into the way things
are and correct any thinking or speaking or acting of
ours that makes suffering for us. We can try practicing
The discussion that follows considers each of
these things that should be done for the development of
a healthy mind and heart. All these things are healthy
things to do because they help develop the health of the
mind and heart.
to a healthy mind and heart. Such a mind-heart is free
of the many kinds of dissatisfactions of life (suffering,
peace.
If we want to have a healthy mind and heart,
should be concerned about only the problem of how
suffering arises in our lives and how we can get rid of
it. In other words, we should live according to the Four
Noble Truths. We should not get involved in speculative
thinking, that is, conjecture, thinking that has little or no
relation to our direct experience, which does not help us
about. In our thinking, we should be concerned about
only the problem of how suffering arises in our lives and
how we can get rid of it. In other words, we should live
by the Four Noble Truths: there is suffering, suffering
comes from craving, getting rid of craving is getting rid
of suffering, and the way leading to the end of suffering
is the Noble Eightfold Path.
speculative matters, that is, about things that cannot
be related to our direct experience, for example, about
9. 7
Saeng Dhamma
whether the universe is eternal or not. Speculative
thinking is conjecture, thinking that does not lead to any
about only things as they are in our direct experience,
particularly about how suffering arises and how it is
possible to get rid of it.
We can say there are three important ideas for
can be understood in terms of the law of conditionality
is the material world and all the things that show
follows: “‘Depending on This, arises This. / If this does
not exist, then this does not exist’” (Ajahn Varadhammo,
an apple seed, for example, you do not get a mango tree,
and there is a reason why a man has high cholesterol
never say “Good morning” to you. Things are as they
are because of conditionality.
understand all the conditions for the way things in the
world turn out. In other words, we cannot understand
or wishes, and we cannot expect it to act the way we
want. Tathata limits what we can say or wish about the
world. We accept the world as it presents itself to us, not
speculating about reasons, not expecting the world to act
in terms of what we think or what we feel. We accept
things as they are without complaining: Things are such
as they are.
his or her “own light.” What he is saying is that if we
want to know what leads to suffering in our lives (and
of our own direct experience. We have to test things for
ourselves to see what works and what does not to get
rid of suffering. Regarding religion and morality, we
doubt what others tell us in the sense of not just blindly
accepting the words of others. Similarly, we do not
accept something as true just because it seems to hold
up logically.
Furthermore, it is clear from what the Buddha says
that we should pay attention to what wise men have said
we should not do. Wise men can help point the way for
us as we try to see for ourselves what causes suffering
and what does not. The wisdom they have obtained can
be of use to us.
We should have a healthy doubt and a healthy
belief. We do not believe too quickly: too much belief
is unhealthy. We do not doubt everything: too much
doubt is also unhealthy. We respect the wisdom of wise
a kind of doctor, a doctor for the mind and heart, whose
medicine is the Dhamma. We develop a healthy mind
and heart with the help of the Dhamma teacher. But
ultimately it is up to us to practice the Dhamma (to take
practice that, with the help of the Dhamma teacher,
moves from faith to wisdom through insight into how
things in the world really are. Through the insight that
we gain, we are able to get to the point where we can
clearly understand our sickness.
of ourselves so that we are healthy. The parts of healthy
living are the following: keeping the body healthy
question about the existence of a personal God. Is
Just as smoking is unhealthy for the body and job stress
is unhealthy for the mind, so, too, getting angry, for
is asked, “Is there a God in heaven Who loves me,” the
question that you ask. Why? Because that question does
not help me in any way to deal with the only problem
I am really interested in: the problem of suffering and
getting rid of suffering.” The question is set aside as
speculative.
then, is about doing certain healthy things that develop
health of the mind and heart.
minds and hearts, not about following rules:
- The Five Precepts are not rules (like the Christian
heaven commands us to obey if we want to be free from
sin.
- The Five Precepts are things we should do that
10. 8
Saeng Dhamma
experiencing the world with the senses but grasping at
wholesome, and auspicious. For example, we practice
yoga so we have a healthy body. In a similar way, we
follow the Precepts so we have a healthy mind and heart.
The Precepts deserve to be followed because they help
develop our health.
us and what is not: kusala, skillful, happy, prosperous,
good, meritorious, healthy, versus akusala. Kusala here
the idea of health, “of good health” (see Nyanatiloka,
different from that of Christians insofar as we do not
get a God’s help to free ourselves from sin so we can be
we can move along the path to the perfect happiness that
is Enlightenment.
stuck in original sin in the way they are in the JudeoChristian tradition. If the sin of Adam and Eve in the
Old Testament of the Bible is disobedience against God,
Buddhism that is healthy for the mind and heart means
life brings, no matter what. Ajahn Chah says, “The heart
of the path is so simple . . . Give up clinging to love and
hate, just rest with things as they are . . . / Do not try to
become anything. Do not make yourself into anything.
Do not be somebody who meditates. Do not become
enlightened. When you sit, let it be. When you walk,
let it be. Grab at nothing. Oppose nothing . . . / [I]t all
If we can truly let go of everything in the world
and oppose nothing, we will achieve Enlightenment, that
special happiness beyond limit and that special peace that
are true health of the mind and heart. Enlightenment is a
reality available through the experience of a world empty
of the “I” and “mine,” which bring the state of suffering.
shows itself in the experience of emptiness, or voidness
opposing things, for example in terms of good and evil
choose, one thing over another because we move beyond
all preferring into a state in which there is no self making
a choice.
the Noble Eightfold Path, as traditionally developed,
easier way to understand the Noble Eightfold Path, a
simpler way, so we can see more clearly what we have
to do to become holy?
There is an easier, simpler, more basic way to look
at the Noble Eightfold Path. As Ajahn Chah shows us,
eyes, two ears, two nostrils, our tongue, and our body
taste, and touch. This path is the path of guarding,
keeping watch over, the doors, the sense doors (indriyes
ear, the nose, the tongue, and the body. It is the path of
Getting rid of the “I” and “mine” brings voidness into
our lives. The self ceases to exist insofar as the mind
is void, and the world, in turn, is seen for the voidness
the center, however, is voidness.
Enlightenment means remaining cool, calm, and
difference between an inner world versus an outer world
in a pure world. Enlightenment means not attaching
to feelings of pleasure or displeasure that arise in life,
thereby getting rid of clinging to anything in the world. In
void of an inner-worldly or outer-worldly self. One
experiences a world beyond positive and negative, even
beyond good and evil. One watches a self-less world go
by without taking it seriously or getting upset about it.
Enlightenment is seeing the world for what it is in direct
knowledge and experiencing this world in a noble way,
that is, as the saint experiences it.
Enlightenment is returning to the original mind,
11. 9
Saeng Dhamma
furthering not just health of the mind-body but also health
of the body itself (see, for example, a “Special Report”
‘luminous,’ and ‘non-suffering.’ The Buddha discovered
several areas in medicine in which mindfulness can be
in the management of chronic pain (pain that lasts a long
(Ajahn Varasak Varadhammo, Suffering and No
useful in preventing depression from coming back once
original health of the mind and heart following the
up a healthy weight.
present moment, we have no cares about the past (it is
way of life, not a once in a while kind of activity. It is
mindfulness in action, day in and day out, every day,
whatever we are doing, saying, thinking, or feeling.
in the present moment. Venerable Chanya Khongchinda
says, “The present moment is very good for all. Suffering
does not arise for a person whose mind lives only in the
present moment. Suffering is caused by the mind going
back to things that have been liked and disliked in the
past. Or suffering is caused by the mind jumping to
different things in the future. The present moment is the
safe place for the mind to rest in a peace that is free from
suffering” (Dhamma for You, pp. 38-40, edited by Du
There is so much sadness and regret and worry in
is overcoming the suffering of sadness and regret about
the past and of worry about the future.
heart by helping us see behavior that causes suffering in
our lives so that we can make the necessary corrections
learn to let go of the world. We let go of everything
and everybody because we come to understand that
we must live beyond all opposites, even the opposite
of good versus evil. This is what it means to totally
of unattached living in the world but not being of the
We have learned from Phra Promhbundit that
concentration meditation can be as simple as listening
careful attention to what is going on in our thoughts,
words, and actions so that we are always ready to think
and say and do what is proper in terms of right behavior.
This is how we keep ourselves out of trouble in our
daily activities, how we keep suffering from arising in
Washington, D.C., on June 8, 2013, in Report on
simple as keeping a journal. We can use a journal to
our mind and heart, the guard who will keep the wrong
kinds of people from coming in, the people named, for
example, Greed, Anger, and Delusion (compare Phra
Said another way, sati is that attention that is paid
in our life and how we can get rid of them. We can
existence. In each case we gain insight into how things
in the world truly are. We can correct our behavior in
of the sense doors to keep us healthy and free of suffering
So mindfulness is very important in the
medicine, then, sees the importance of mindfulness in
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