Monday 22 August 2022

Commentary on the Dasadhamma Sutta

This talk was given at the UK & Ireland Triratna Order Convention August 2022

Commentary on the Dasadhamma Sutta

Dasadhamma Sutta (AN 10.48): Ten Things translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

 

"There are these ten things that a person gone-forth should reflect on often. Which ten?

The first thing to note is that this is a practice, a reflection practice, and it is being recommended to those who have made a definite commitment. It is an appropriate practice within the context of that commitment. For the purposes of this talk I am assuming that Order Members have gone forth. There is an effective going forth which is the flipside of effective going for refuge. In this teaching the Buddha is pointing towards what we could call a Real going forth, which is the twin of Real going for refuge.

So, my rendering of the opening line is:

These are ten things that should be reflected on again and again by an Order Member.

 

1.  'I have become casteless': a person gone forth should often reflect on this.

Bhante in giving a talk in India on the Yogachara located the origins of caste in the klishto- mano vijnana, the defiled mind consciousness. Caste is a human creation and a wrong view. It’s a human creation that is designed to be divisive. Of course, we, in the West, don’t have caste, but that doesn’t mean that the defiled mind consciousness is not busy expressing wrong views through the creation of divisive ideas and structures. For instance, the nation state is a human construct and is also often the source of divisiveness. How would it sound if the Buddha had said, ‘stateless’ or ‘nationless’ instead of ‘casteless’.

One of the many ways in which we create and consolidate our sense of self is by identifying strongly with some particular section of humanity, who become ‘us’ as opposed to the rest who are ‘them’. In this way we reinforce our delusions. Group identity also perpetuates divisions and hatreds and leads to conflict. When reflecting on ones group identity, it is important to remember that this is not about other people’s identity with particular groups, which may be important or even essential for them – especially if they don’t have the context of a spiritual commitment and spiritual community. This is a reflection for those who have gone forth. Envy, jealousy, pride, and a host of other little ‘maras’ are given fertile ground to breed in through our tendency to identify with a group or identify ourselves as a member of a group. So, this is about letting go of group identities, whether they are based on physical characteristics or in ideologies.

This first reflection about not having a caste is also about how we see and treat other people. The ideal is to be aware of each other person as a person, in their own right, regardless of our views about them or their status in society and even regardless of what group identity they are attached to. This is very difficult to achieve – if we are honest with ourselves, we will probably have to admit that more often than not we are relating to our interpretation of another person rather than to them in all their complexity. It is difficult to know another person, even those we assume we know well.

My rendering of this is:

 I no longer hold to any group identity, such as nationality, gender, sexual orientation, family, skin colour, class, ethnic origin, the wealthy, the poor, socialist, capitalist and so on. This should be reflected on again and again by an Order Member.

2.  "'My life is dependent on others’: a person gone forth should often reflect on this.

The second point is about the fact that the lay people feed the Bhikkhus because they trust that by feeding those who are pure they will gain merit. So the Bhikkhu is being exhorted to be worthy of that trust and of his free meal. As Order Members we become an example of a committed spiritual practitioner, whether we like it or not. We become the ‘Fourth Sight’ for others. This means we have a certain responsibility thrust upon us. We are seen as representatives of Buddhism and of the Triratna Order and exemplars of going for refuge to the Three Jewels, because we have made a public statement of faith in and commitment to the Three Jewels and confidence in the Order as a context for giving expression to that faith and commitment. If we tell lies, swear, eat meat, drink alcohol, or if we give generously, speak kindly, respond with patience or with anger; whatever we do or say or write will reflect on the Order and on the Dharma.

Also we depend on each other. The Order is the context in which we practise, and we trust each other to carry on going for refuge, so that the Order continues to be a genuine spiritual community. Our spiritual practice, our skilfulness and our unskilfulness affects the integrity of the Order and its effectiveness as a context for others to practise in.

My rendering:

Others put their trust in me because I have been ordained. I should live and practise in such a way as to be worthy of their trust, generosity and receptivity. This should be reflected on again and again by an Order Member.

 

3.  "'My behaviour should be different [from that of householders]’: a person gone forth should often reflect on this.

If we go forth from group identity and no longer identify ourselves in terms of roles and norms of the society around us, we will stand out as different. We will be noticeably more honest, friendly, helpful, and straightforward. Our views and behaviour will not necessarily be those of the majority. Our views and behaviour will not be quite so predictable, habitual and without subtlety as group views and behaviour. And we will be more open to changing what we think when there is reason to. The world and its views and concerns are powerfully impinging on us all the time and if we permit it, we will be receiving an immersive conditioning in views, attitudes, opinions, and behaviours that are not based on the Dharma. This can be quite insidious, and it requires a lot of awareness to notice this gradual process. The slow stain of the world. It’s not just our behaviour that needs to be different from those who have not gone forth, it’s also our communication and even out thinking.

I have vowed to live by the ten precepts. I should observe the precepts so that it is noticeable to others that my behaviour, communication and attitudes are ethical and governed by deeply held principles. This should be reflected on again and again by an Order Member.

 

4.  "'Can I fault myself with regard to my virtue?’: a person gone forth should often reflect on this.

This could be seen as an example of the sometimes negative bias of the Pali Canon. We could add ‘can I rejoice in myself with regard to my virtue?’. This fourth reflection is one that we may be tempted to give only a passing thought to, but it is actually quite demanding. It’s about being ethically sensitive. To really become ethically sensitive we need to quieten, to become more tranquil and equanimous, so that we can look objectively at our own behaviour, thought patterns and communication and assess them candidly. For many of us this implies a reduction of input and being more discriminating about what we input into our minds, as Bhante mentions in his sets of fifteen points for Order Members. The speed at which we live our lives, the volume of information we take in and the kind of information we expose ourselves to all have an impact on our ethical sensitivity.  This reflection is related to Hri (hiri) but that word is not mentioned in the text. The word used here is upavadati, which means blame and also something like ‘to tell (secretly) against’. The idea is that you have your own internal spy who knows what’s really going on and can tell you the truth if you are willing to listen. This is your conscience. Just by the way, I have noticed sometimes in discussions of the precepts that people like to talk about the ethics of others or of the Order, but shy away from scrutinising their own ethical life too closely. Sometimes this is because people don’t know how to go further with ethical practice and sometimes it’s avoidance. In this teaching the Buddha is asking us to take a good look at our own ethical lives. If we do, we may find that we are doing very well and therefore have a sound foundation to build on and take further.

How ethically sensitive am I? Am I aware of my conscience being troubled in any way? Could I rejoice in my ethical sensitivity? This should be reflected on again and again by an Order Member.

 

5.  "'Can my knowledgeable fellows in the holy life, on close examination, fault me with regard to my virtue?’: a person gone forth should often reflect on this.

The fifth reflection is about the impression our behaviour would make on the rest of the sangha if they knew about it. It is referring to apatrapya (ottapa). This could give rise to further questions. Are there some things we keep secret from our friends in the Order? Do we have the opportunity to confide and confess to friends in the Order? Are we willing to be questioned and even admonished by our friends in the Order with regard to our observance of the precepts? Could we make greater use of the Order to help us to refine our ethical sensitivity and become more scrupulously skilful? Perhaps a paraphrase of something Bhante once said about living in communities could be applied here – being an Order Member is an opportunity, not an achievement. In other words, the Order is a context in which to practise and it is only meaningful when we use it in that way. It is worth noting that these last three reflections are all about ethical behaviour or skilfulness. This is a reminder that the ten precepts, which we vow to uphold at the time of our ordination are a very important practice if our effective going for refuge is going to blossom into Real going for refuge. The ten precepts include ethics, meditation and wisdom and are therefore an essential and sufficient practice, which is why they are so central to our ordination.

Would other Order Members or my preceptor(s) be troubled by any of my actions, words or attitudes, if they were aware of them? Or would they rejoice in my actions, communication and attitudes? This should be reflected on again and again by an Order Member.

 

 

6.  "'I will grow different, separate from all that is dear & appealing to me’:  a person gone forth should often reflect on this.

This sixth reflection is about both impermanence and separation. Our attachments are so comfortable and intimate, so much part of who we are, that it is often difficult for us to notice them. The fundamental attachment is, of course, the attachment to self and we can become aware of that through its grosser manifestations, sometimes. But often we will simply rationalise our egocentricity with, what to us, is a completely reasonable conceptualisation of our delusions. Arising out of our self-attachment, is attachment to possessions, status, groups and views. This sixth reflection is encouraging us to let go of our mental and emotional clinging, because the reality is that everything will be snatched from us by impermanence. This goes to the heart of how we cause ourselves pain. It may be obvious that generosity and a sense of abundance is the natural expression of non-attachment.

I will be separated from all that I hold dear, either at death or before. Am I aware of my strong attachments and how they hold me back? This should be reflected on again and again by an Order Member.

 

7.  "'I am the owner of my actions (kamma), heir to my actions, born of my actions, related through my actions, and have my actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir’: a person gone forth should often reflect on this.

The seventh reflection reminds us that we can rely on the law of karma. All of our skilful actions, such as our meditation or devotion will definitely have consequences and we will experience the fruits of our efforts. If we want to experience contentment and happiness or become wise, we need to set up the conditions and undertake the actions that are appropriate, and the consequences will follow. In spite of knowing this in theory, I have always found myself surprised when I do actually experience the results of persistent practise. But it is what happens.

I experience the consequences of my own actions of thought, word and deed, good and bad. I should not depend on others for my contentment, and I should not blame others for my dissatisfaction.  This should be reflected on again and again by an Order Member.

 

8.  "'What am I becoming as the days & nights fly past?’: a person gone forth should often reflect on this.

“I wasted time and now doth time waste me”, Richard II. This is perhaps one of the most challenging of these reflections. There are two aspects to the reflection. Firstly, there is the relentless passing of time, taking us rapidly to the edge of a cliff where we cannot stop or pause, but are pushed onwards to plunge into ---what? – whatever arises in dependence on the conditions we are setting up as time races relentlessly on. Which of course brings us to the second part of the reflection – how are we spending our time? Or to put it another way, what conditions are we setting up? What are our minds engaged with predominantly? What is the usual tenor of our emotions? What do we do most of the time? How do we express ourselves verbally? What effect do we have on other people? Do we notice the effect on us of the internet, TV, radio, shopping, our conversations, our reading and so on? Are we content or restless? These reflections can lead us to further reflections on the nature of the spiritual path, the discipline needed, the motivations that drive us and how strong our commitment to the Three Jewels is ongoingly. These could be very challenging reflections and also very rewarding. They can take us into depth from the starting point of our very mundane activities.

The days and nights pass without pause. How do I spend my time? This should be reflected on again and again by an Order Member.

 

9.  "'Do I delight in an empty dwelling?’: a person gone forth should often reflect on this.

This is about spending time in solitude. Whether we delight in solitude or not it is necessary to have some solitude if this practice of reflection is going to be effective. Based on my own experience, which is of course limited, I do not believe I can continuously go for refuge effectively unless I have time away on solitary retreat frequently, i.e., at least once a year. Solitude is a very clear mirror, which shows us who we are in fine detail. This self-knowledge is the essential fuel of spiritual progress. Solitude is not simply a matter of being alone. Being alone comes easy to introverts. Solitude as a spiritual practice is about looking into our hearts and minds unflinchingly, seeing what is there, both the good and the bad, owning it as our own and learning about the next steps of our spiritual path. It is about reflecting on our life in the light of the Dharma and allowing the Dharma to permeate and shape our lives.

In solitude I can become deeply aware of myself:  my habits, my conscience, and my spiritual progress. Do I spend sufficient time in solitude? This should be reflected on again and again by an Order Member.

 

10.                "Have I attained a superior human attainment, a truly noble distinction of knowledge & vision, such that — when my fellows in the holy life question me in the last days of my life — I won't feel abashed?': a person gone forth should often reflect on this.

The tenth reflection imagines someone who is dying, with just a short time left to live and they are asked by others in the Sangha what all their years of practice have amounted to. What has it all meant? What is there to show for it? Have they evolved to a state of consciousness that is higher or more refined or more insightful than that of ordinary folk who have not taken up Dharma practice? Have they experienced some liberation from craving, ill-will and delusion? There are two aspects to this reflection: What has happened as a result of all the years of spiritual practice and am I aware of what has happened? Just as at the beginning of the path there is Dukkha and there is the awareness of Dukkha, at every stage of the Path, there is the breaking of the bonds that bind us to the wheel and there is the knowledge of the destruction of those bonds. Awareness of the fruits of practice at every stage along the way is a source of inspiration for further practice. As Order Members we can gain encouragement from what we have established so far and build on what is positive and insightful in our lives, rather than worrying about what we have not yet achieved.

Am I aware of the fruits of my spiritual practice? Could I say that I have become more aware, kind, confident, wise, positive, compassionate, and free? This should be reflected on again and again by an Order Member.

 

"These are the ten things that a person gone-forth should reflect on often."

These are the ten things to be reflected on again and again by one who is effectively going for refuge to the Three Jewels.

 

Sunday 6 September 2020

What is Buddhist Faith?

This talk was given in El Centro Budista Triratna de Barcelona, Sangha Night, March 10th 2020 and again at Mid-Essex Centre, Sangha Night, Jan 20th 2021

There are many different ways to talk about what faith means in Buddhism. The word in Sanskrit is Shraddha or Saddha in Pali. This word comes from a similar root to the Latin 'cor', meaning heart. To have faith in something is to have a heart response. In other words faith is primarily emotional.

The Buddhist scholar Dr. Conze talks about faith as having four elements Emotional, Volitional, Intellectual and Social. Elsewhere faith is spoken of as consisting of intuition, reason and experience and traditionally it is talked about under the headings of Deep Conviction, Lucidity and Longing. (Way to Wisdom seminar and Know Your Mind) It would take far too long for me to go into all of these. What I am going to do is talk about faith as I have experienced it in my own life and try to relate my own experience to some of these aspects or elements I have mentioned.

But first I should perhaps say that faith in the Buddhist sense has nothing to do with blind belief. I grew up in Ireland in the 1950's and 60's. Almost everyone was Catholic and Catholicism was often referred to simply as The Faith. The three principal virtues in Christianity are faith, hope and charity. This already tells us something about the difference between Christian faith and Buddhist faith. Buddhist faith is primarily faith in the law of karma. Because the law of karma, actions have consequences, operates without any outside agency such as a creator God, there is no question of hope. Hope is not a virtue in Buddhism because it means there is a lack of faith. At the age of fifteen or sixteen I stopped believing in the existence of a creator God. This would have been seen as losing my faith.

However, it is probably not possible for anyone to lose their faith. We always have faith in something or in many things. Even if it's only faith that the Metro will be running when you want to go somewhere. Bhante Sangharakshita has an aphorism – “faith is innate, doubt is acquired.”

If you are familiar with the Tibetan Wheel of Life you will know that at the centre of the wheel the is an image of a cock, a snake and a pig going around in a circle biting each other's tales. This image represents greed, hatred and delusion at the heart of unenlightened consciousness. But this is not the whole story. If Humans were just prone to greed, hatred and spiritual ignorance then there would be no possibility of spiritual growth and development, there would be no possibility of Awakening or Enlightenment. Above the wheel of life a Buddha is depicted and he is pointing to the path of Dharma practice. This represents the extra element that is present, which could be called faith, or as Bhante has called it “the response of what is highest in us to what is highest in the universe.”

Faith is innate but it needs to be activated. For that to happen we need to be inspired. We need to be in touch with inspiration. We need to know and love whatever we have faith in. It's not really possible to have faith in something you don't know and love. To have faith in yourself, for instance, you need to know yourself and love yourself. Similarly, to have faith in the Buddha's teaching we need to know and to love the Dharma. This of course implies learning,discussing, reflecting and practising. If we act on our faith, then faith will grow.

Initially this faith may just be felt as dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction with our current life implies that we have an inkling or intuition that there is something more to life. This was certainly the case for me. I lost faith in God but I was left with dissatisfaction with the lack of meaning in my life. I felt that there must be more to life than continuation of the species or accumulation of possessions or status. Therefore I was searching for meaning. I spent five or six years doing that.

In the course of my questing I came to live in Berlin ( West Berlin, as it was then) and after a couple of years there I encountered a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk called Maha Dhammanisanthi. My meeting with him was a turning point in my life. He told me about the five precepts and the Metta Bhavana meditation. I was very impressed by what I heard, but even more than that I was impressed by him; I was impressed by the congruency between what he was saying and how he lived his life.

Immediately I felt I had found what I was looking for. I became a Buddhist there and then! This was an experience of faith that was definitely emotional. But it was also volitional: I wanted to act on it. I didn't have any knowledge of Buddhism, so there was no intellectual, rational or reasoning element to my faith then. A year later, in London, I cam across a book called Buddhism for Today by Subhuti. That book laid out the Buddhist path and, in particular, the Buddhsit path as practised in the Triratna Community and Order. I responded very strongly to the ideas expressed and to how people were trying to live out those ideas. From that book I gained a more intellectual understanding of the Buddhist path.

As a result I got involved in Triratna and began to study the Dharma more systematically. I also started making friends and learning from and being inspired by the example of others. This could be seen as the social aspect of faith.

It wasn't all easy, however, and after a couple of years I had a very difficult time. One of the things about becoming more aware is that you can encounter difficulties. You can encounter aspects of yourself that you were never aware of before. That's what happened to me and it was probably somewhat dramatic because I was so enthusiastic. I became aware of low self esteem. I had feelings of worthlessness and felt I was a burden on others. I became depressed. I felt that I was incapable of practising the Dharma. When I was at my worst I realised that I still had faith in the Dharma and I reasoned with myself that the Dharma says that everybody is capable of Awakening, therefore if I have faith in the dharma I have to have faith in myself. This then is faith by reasoning.

In the last couple of decades I have many times felt happy, even blissful for no particular reason. This is the fruits of practice and it gives me a sense of deep conviction in law of karma. I know now that the Dharma works. Actions do have consequences. There is no need to be concerned with the goal of Awakening, we just need to set up good conditions and practise. Everything else follows.This is faith based on experience.

Dr Conze talked about faith as being emotional and volitional. In a sense these are inextricably tied together. It is because we are moved by something that we act. Faith is what gives us the energy to take action. If we have no faith in meditation we won't meditate. If we have no faith in the efficacy of ethical practice we will have no incentive to be ethical. Faith is the dynamo, the fuel, that enables us to keep going even when we are having a difficult time.

Faith is innate. We don't have to manufacture it, but we do need to be clear about what we have faith in. We need to try to be clear what we are responding to emotionally, what are we moved by, what is motivating us to act. It is easy to fool ourselves, because so often we allow ourselves to be ruled by our intellect and reason and remain alienated from what we truly feel, what our deepest needs really are. Our task is to get to know ourselves deeply and become clear about what really, truly, deeply moves us, what motivates us. What we will often discover is that we are complicated and may be moved by many different things, sometimes contradictory things. When this happens we are making progress and becoming more integrated, because we are becoming more aware.

We can become more aware of what we have faith in through communication with friends, through study, through reading; especially through reading about the life of the Buddha and the lives of his followers down the generations. Devotional practice is also very important because it helps us to bypass our intellectual barriers to faith. Also of course meditation and reflection helps us to know ourselves and know what we have faith in. Sometimes if we don't know what we want to do with our lives, we just have to act and by doing so we discover what we really want to do.

Faith (shraddha) is the motivating factor. It is what motivates and energises us to look into ourselves, into our behaviour and thoughts deeply and thoroughly. It is what energises and motivates us to transform ourselves and it is what motivates and energises us to engage and participate and co-operate within the spiritual community. It is what energises and motivates us to be open-hearted and open-handed in our empathy and generosity towards others.

We speak of faith in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, but what does it really mean? What really motivates us? When we are convinced that it is possible to grow and develop, to transform ourselves for the better and when we are convinced that the methods of Buddhism will enable us to grow and develop and when we have a conviction that change is not just possible but highly desirable, is the most desirable thing, then we will be motivated. This needs to be more than just an intellectual conviction. It needs to be in our hearts. It is being emotionally convinced as well as intellectually and rationally convinced. When we have a yearning or longing to emulate the Buddha and the great Buddhists who have gone before us, then we will be motivated. Strong conviction and yearning towards something higher is what we need. If we just have a vague feeling that Buddhism is nice and Buddhists are nice and the Buddha was a nice man, it probably won’t motivate us hugely.

However shraddha or faith is innate, it is part of human consciousness and it can be further developed. We can develop shraddha through reflection, study, meditation and spiritual friendship. And if we practise like that, then from our own experience we will have the evidence on which our conviction can be based and out of which a longing for even greater wisdom and compassion can emerge.

Our faith is our conviction, our confidence in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha as the medicine for the worlds sickness. This is the flame that has to burn within us and the flame that has to burn within our community if we are to avoid the worshipping of ashes. Good intentions, good works and being nice people are the ashes that are left when a Sangha ceases to burn and flame with a strong conviction of the supreme wisdom of the Buddha and his teachings.

I would say that it is my deep and abiding faith in the Dharma that has sustained me through difficulties. It is what has motivated me to shoulder responsibility, it is what has allowed me to be unconcerned about personal material security. It is why I have immersed myself in the work of the Triratna Order; that work being the passing on of the spirit of the Dharma as taught by the Buddha and elucidated for us by Bhante Sangharakshita. My faith in the Dharma began long before I knew anything about the Dharma. It began as a conviction that there must be deeper meaning and a bigger purpose to life than material security and procreation. When that faith encountered Buddhism it found a channel to flow through. It found expression. And when I encountered the teaching of Bhante Sangharakshita my faith was augmented by clarity and by the inspiring beauty of the vast vision of the Buddha and the concrete way it was expressed by Bhante. I wish that you all may be inspired to practise the Buddha's teachings and I hope these few words on faith in the Buddhist context will be of some help to you.

Tuesday 24 December 2019

The Three C's of Spiritual Community

This talk was given at Nottingham Buddhist Centre, Sangha Day 2019

Sangha Day is one of my favourite Buddhist festivals. It is a celebration of the spiritual community – both the existence and the activity of the spiritual community. We can become very accustomed to our festival days and maybe take them for granted. So it can be helpful to take a fresh look at why we have a particular festival day – how did it originate, what is the purpose, what do we want to achieve? Why are we here today?

There are three traditional Buddhist festivals celebrated by Buddhists in Asia which all have some connection to Sangha Day. There is the Magha Puja which is observed in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. This happens in the third lunar month ( corresponding to March) and is sometimes called Sangha Day. It is reputed to commemorate an incident that happened not long after the Buddha's Enlightenment when at the end of a rainy season his disciples all spontaneously came to visit him. The festival celebrates 'the creation of an ideal and exemplary community'.

Another Festival that has a connection to spiritual community is the Elephant Festival in Thailand. ( Has anybody seen this – it is supposed to be spectacular) This is an ancient festival that was originally something to do with elephant hunts but has been turned into a Buddhist festival. The story that makes it Buddhist may be just legend. It is said that the Buddha used the example of a young elephant being trained by it's elders as an illustration for his disciples of how the newer or younger disciples need to be mentored or trained by the more experienced. This is what we call Kalyana Mitrata or spiritual friendship. So the elephant festival is a celebration of spiritual friendship. It takes place on the third weekend of November.

Then there is the Katthina Festival. This marks the end of the rainy season retreat, the time just before all of the wanderers set off wandering again. It is a time for confession, apology, forgiveness; a time for mending robes; a time for the householders to give gifts to the wanderers – usually new robes.

Our Sangha Day is based on this last festival. Perhaps the fact that it is traditionally characterised by confession, apology, forgiveness and the giving of gifts is something for us to reflect on and maybe even act on. In this talk I want to draw lessons from each of these festivals, which are all concerned in one way or other with spiritual community, Sangha.

The Magha festival is about coming together, congregating , which is the foundation for a spiritual community, an ideal and exemplary community. The elephant festival is about spiritual friendship which is what creates spiritual community. The Katthina festival is about harmony and co-operation. That gives us our three C's of the title – congregating, creating and co-operating and that's what I'd like to talk about today.

Congregating means simply coming together, assembling. The important thing is being physically present. A person is not just a voice or a moving image on a computer screen. A person is something whole and complete that cannot be fully experienced except by being physically present. So for our communication to be whole or complete we have to actually meet each other in the flesh, so to speak. Communication is the essence of spiritual community and the more thorough and complete our communication the stronger and more stable is our community.

In the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, which is the story of the Buddha's last days before his death, the Buddha talks about the conditions for the stability of the Sangha. ( Digha Nikaya, Sutta16) The very first of these conditions is meeting together frequently and in large numbers, in other words congregating. Congregating regularly and in large numbers is then a foundation for the building of spiritual community – you can't build anything without good foundations.

There is something special about meeting face to face. Skype or Zoom is okay, WhatsApp is okay but actually meeting is very different. There is an intimacy to meeting – the intimacy of touch – hugging etc., the intimacy of conversation , nuances, jokes – so much of which is non-verbal. Also when we meet we see and experience each other practising meditation and puja. It can alter our view of another person just seeing them make offerings to the shrine or seeing them meditate. Perhaps with someone we don't like or find difficult – it can change our perspective – seeing our common devotion, our common practice. It makes a difference.

Congregating is the foundation for spiritual community, what gives it stability. This is true when you already have a spiritual community,but before that it is the common commitment to spiritual practice which is the basis for spiritual community. The spiritual community is made up of all those who are committed to practising ethics, observing the five or ten precepts, meditating and reflecting. The practice of ethics, meditation and wisdom is the common ground on which Sangha is built. This is important: so often we will relate to others on the basis of shared politics or shared interests or even just a sharing of preferences. But this is not what a spiritual community is based on. We may have the same views about Brexit, or the same concerns about climate change or the same preference for music or movies and that may bring us closer to people but that is not spiritual community in the Buddhist sense. It is the shared practice of going for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha that makes a spiritual community possible. For us in the Triratna Buddhist Community this means ethical practice, it means going on retreat, it means regular meditation, it means spiritual friendship, it means Dharma study and discussion, it means reflecting on our lives, it means working with whatever mental states arise to transform the negative into positive, the unskilful into skilful. When we then relate to each other on the basis of this practice we have spiritual communion. And the more intensively we practice, the more dedicated we are the more alive will our spiritual community be.

It is important to come together, to congregate. This means attending classes, festivals, retreats and so on. I would like to particularly emphasise the importance of the whole Sangha going on retreat together from time to time – that is a very crucial practice for the health and well-being of any local Sangha. If you can I would recommend that you make it a priority. It is one of the ways we can create an ideal and exemplary community, which is what the Magha Puja festival celebrates.

Now let's move on to the second of the three C's – Creating. When we come together we meet those we don't know so well or those we don't know at all. But we also meet our closer friends – people we know from study groups, or retreats, or being on a team together. We meet our Sangha pals . The spiritual community is essentially a great web of friendships, a network of friendships. It is spiritual friendship that creates spiritual community. If congregating is the foundation then spiritual friendships are the building blocks of Sangha.

The Elephant Festival in Thailand celebrates a particular kind of spiritual friendship – what Bhante Sangharakshita has called vertical friendship. This is the friendship where someone more experienced on the Path is helping and guiding someone less experienced just as the bigger elephants guide and help the smaller ones. Of course the less experienced have to be receptive if they are to receive help. As Bhante puts it “ Receptivity is the first requisite of the disciple and indeed of anyone who wants to learn anything.” (In case your wondering gratitude is the second requisite)

As well as vertical friendship there is of course horizontal friendship -friendship between peers – being mutually helpful, mutually supportive and encouraging. This is also of great importance. It is both the building blocks of spiritual community and the cement that holds it together.

Spiritual friendship was greatly praised by the Buddha: there is the famous occasion when he told Ananda that spiritual friendship was the whole of the spiritual life. Here is a passage from the Pali Canon where the Buddha is talking to King Pasenadi and he is telling him about the incident with Ananda, “ On one occasion Great King, I was living among the Sakyans, where there is a town of the Sakyans named Nagaraka. Then the bhikkhu Ananda approached me, paid homage to me, sat down at one side and said: 'Venerable Sir, This is half of the holy life, that is, good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship'. When this was said Great King, I told the Bhikkhu Ananda: Not so, Ananda! Not so, Ananda! This is the entire holy life, Ananda, that is good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship.” (The Connected Discourses (Samyutta Nikaya), trans. Bodhi,1:3:18, p.180)

In another place the Buddha says “With regard to external factors I don't envision any other single factor like friendship with admirable people as doing so much for a monk in training. A monk who is a friend with admirable people abandons what is unskilful and develops what is skilful.” (Itivuttaka 17)

Bhante Sangharakshita adds to this. He says: “ We can't be with our spiritual teacher all the time but we can be with spiritual friends all the time or at least much of the time. We can see them regularly, perhaps live with them, perhaps even work with them. If we spend time with spiritual friends in this way, we will get to know them better and they will get to know us better. If we have spiritual friends they will try to relate to us with metta and will expect us to relate to them with metta. Learning to relate to our friends in this way we will gradually learn to respond to the whole world with metta, with unselfishness. It is in this way that spiritual friendship is indeed the whole of the spiritual life.” (The Essential Sangharakshita, p.512)

This flow of metta between friends and out to the rest of the world is how a spiritual community is created. This is my experience over the last 35 years in the Triratna Community; I experience myself as being in a great and growing web of friendships, which is beautiful to see and beautiful to experience.

The third C is Co-operating. The Katthina festival which our Sangha Day is based on is a time to celebrate and foster harmony. Traditionally the wanderers confessed their failings and unskilfulness and apologised and extended forgiveness where appropriate. And the householders and supporters gave them gifts of new robes and provided for their basic needs. We don't have wanderers and householders, monks and laypeople – we just have people committed to living the spiritual life as fully and wholeheartedly as possible – Order Members, Mitras and Friends. But we do need to continually foster harmony.

Harmony does not mean everyone agreeing with everyone else. Harmony does not mean a total absence of conflict. Harmony is a movement, a process. It's a movement towards agreement, towards accord, towards congruence, towards a coincidence of wills. Harmony includes assonance and dissonance and is a movement between the two towards a higher unity. When there is disagreement, dialogue is a harmonising factor. When there is angry conflict, taking responsibility for one's own mental states is a harmonising factor.

Harmony isn't something fixed, a final state in which we all exist, like some dream of paradise. Harmony is the movement towards unity and that movement requires constant effort, constant direction, a constant exercise of will. When all of us are moving towards a unity of consciousness, through an effort of will, then there is a coincidence of wills, there is harmony. So for harmony to exist, there needs to be a common goal or common ideal. The co-operative movement of many individuals towards that ideal or goal is harmony.

It would be good if we take seriously that Sangha Day is an opportunity to move towards greater harmony. We can do this by taking up the challenge to confess or own up to any unskilfulness and also an opportunity to forgive those who may have offended us. Forgiveness is a free gift we can give without losing anything. It is very important that any division between Sangha members is not allowed to fester like an open wound. In confessing we are taking responsibility for our own actions, speech and states of mind regardless of whether others do the same. In forgiving we are letting go of any need to get even or even be recompensed in any way. We are simply letting go of the state of feeling offended and moving on. We are in a sense giving ourselves the gift of freedom from a difficult state of mind as well as giving the other person the gift of freedom from guilty feelings.

It is worth noting that as Bhante Sangharakshita said in a letter a couple of years ago:true forgiveness is unconditional. There should be no question of our laying down terms and conditions, such as that we will forgive the person their trespasses against us only if he or she repent and apologise for what they have done. Otherwise our so-called forgiveness is no more than a sort of bargaining. The granting of forgiveness is a free act of the true individual, and it has nothing to do the reactive mind.”

Elsewhere he invokes William Blake : “What William Blake says about mutual forgiveness could hardly be more suitable as a motto for a spiritual community like Triratna.” Mutual Forgiveness of each vice', 'such are the Gates of Paradise' (from The Gates of Paradise) Alexander Pope makes forgiveness a definite spiritual practice and quality when he says 'To err is human, to forgive divine '

Perhaps in the lead up to Sangha day this practice of confession, forgiveness and apology could be done ritually in our study groups, Order chapters, Going for Refuge groups and so on. It could be either specific, in relation to particular instances, or general – a general confession of any unskilfulness we may have committed and a general forgiveness for any offences caused.

As well as fostering harmony by clearing the air of disharmony and resentments, we can also create harmony by giving gifts. So we should perhaps take seriously that Sangha Day is our day for giving gifts – a kind of Buddhist Christmas – except without any expectation of reciprocity. We can give gifts to friends and we can give gifts to the Centre. The Centre is our point of contact with the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and we should cherish it and lavish our abundance on it. I know the Centre here is on a very tight budget, without enough reserves for building maintenance etc., This is a great shame and I'm sure the Sangha here could do something about it. Don't wait to be asked, don't wait for fundraising appeals – just give. That is the Buddhist tradition – giving as a practice.

We co-operate by creating harmony between us through confession, forgiveness and by giving gifts and from that basis we can offer our friendship and guidance to others. In this way the spiritual community thrives.

What is the purpose of a spiritual community – what is the point of it all? There are two aspects to this. Firstly a spiritual community is a condition which is necessary to enable most of us to live a spiritual life, to practise the Dharma. The mutual support and mutual inspiration is crucial in helping us to practise intensively and effectively. This is the aspect of friendship, guidance, learning and personal transformation.

The second purpose of the spiritual community is to enable us to give to others, to make the Dharma, the Buddhist teachings, available in an understandable and practical form. The Dharma is Ehipassiko. Ehipassiko means 'come and see', it's an invitation to try out the practices for yourself and the invitation is given by the sangha. The sangha, the spiritual community of those who are already practising is, in effect, saying to everybody else - here is something worthwhile, here is something really valuable and beneficial, come and see for yourself.

The spiritual is doing the inviting; we are the hosts – inviting people to our Centres and tending to their spiritual needs as best we can. The spiritual community has an altruistic purpose as well as a personal one.

The Katthina festival marks the end of the rainy season. Now that the rain has stopped the wanderers are going to set out wandering again. Why are they wandering? For two reasons – to practise meditation and living a simple life and to teach the Dharma to whoever wants to listen. They are wandering so that they can give the gift of the Dharma for the welfare of the many – as the Buddha asked them to do. He said to his early followers “Wander for the blessing of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit and welfare, blessing and happiness of gods and men.” (The Life of the Buddha, Nanamoli, p.52)

We don't wander, but we set up Buddhist Centres. Why do we have Buddhist centres? For two reasons - to create conditions for our own practice and to give the gift of the Dharma for the welfare of the many – as the Buddha has asked us to do. This is why we should do everything we can to support our local Buddhist Centre – it is vital to following through on the Buddha's request to his followers – to share the Dharma with others.

I'll leave the last word with the Buddha. In the Pali Canon he says:  "Of two people who practise the Dhamma – one who practises for his own benefit and that of others and one who practises for his own benefit but not that of others – the one who practises for his own benefit but not that of others is, for that reason,blameworthy; the one who practises for his own benefit and that of others is, for that reason, praiseworthy.” (The Numerical Discourses,Anguttara Nikaya,trans. Bodhi, 7:68, P.1080)




Friday 29 November 2019

A Fish out of Water: Commentary on Dhammapada, Chapter 3

This talk was given at Nottingham Buddhist Centre, Sangha Night, Nov 2019

The word 'mind' is a noun, a countable noun. Now that is a problem. Language is often a problem when it comes to trying to express Buddhist ideas. Because we have a word, 'mind', which is a noun, we can naturally enough think that the mind is a thing. And if it is a thing then it is something that can be possessed or owned. We have the concepts of 'my mind' or 'your mind' or 'the mind'. But what are we really talking about when we use the word 'mind'. Is it a thing? Can we possess it? Who would do the possessing? I will leave these questions hanging there and perhaps the rest of the talk will go some way to answering them.

In this talk I am going to look at the nature of mind as it is described in the Dhammapada, chapter 3. The word in Buddhist texts that is translated as mind is often chitta and that is the word used in the Dhammapada in the chapter on Mind. According to the Pali–English dictionary, 'chitta' means 'heart'. It says chitta is “the centre and focus of our emotional nature as well as that intellectual element which inheres in and accompanies it's manifestation.” In other words chitta means emotions and intellect. The Pali dictionary goes on to say that chitta is best understood by referring to familiar phrases like 'with all my heart' or 'I have no heart to do it' or 'blessed are the pure in heart'. It is not primarily concerned with intellectual thought or reasoning. It is much broader than that. Chitta means both emotion and thought. This is what the word 'mind' indicates in the Dhammapada.

The Dhammapada is very practical. It is not interested in sophisticated analysis of mind and mental states. Basically the Dhammapada says; you're in a mess, get yourself out of it. And the method is repeated over and over in different ways. But it all comes back to what we think and feel and the actions and speech we engage in as a result of what we think and feel. The Dhammapada is concerned to get us to look into our minds and take steps to improve them. The very first verse of the Dhammapada says : “All experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind.” (trans. Fronsdal)

This emphasis on improving how we think and feel – becoming more positive and skilful and undermining our tendencies to negativity and unskilfulness – this emphasis is also found in other parts of the Pali Canon. In particular there is a discourse (Dvedhavitakha Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 19) where the Buddha talks about his own practice before he gained Enlightenment. He says he observed his own mind closely and noted when he had unskilful thoughts and when he had skilful thoughts. He was always paying attention to his own inner process and with that awareness he gradually transformed himself. That's the Buddhist method in a nutshell!

This is what the Dhammapada is recommending too. It is recommending that we pay attention to our inner life, our thoughts and emotions. And not just pay attention but make a judgement and acknowledge honestly to ourselves whether what is going on is skilfull or unskilful, positive or negative, beneficial or not beneficial. Often these days we may hear people say that it is a bad thing to be judgemental. What they mean is that it is a bad thing to condemn either oneself or others and that is very true. But we must exercise judgement, we need to make distinctions, we need to be able to make a judgement about whether a particular course of action is helpful or a whether a particular conversation is going to be useful. And we need to make a judgement between what is skilful, ethical and what is not ethical. This is the basis for practice and this is the purpose of bringing awareness or mindfulness to our inner world. Mindfulness that is divorced from ethics is like a sense of taste that cannot distinguish between what is edible and what is poisonous. It is just as likely to be harmful as beneficial. Buddhist mindfulness is never divorced from ethics.

Coming to the chapter of the Dhammapada entitled The Mind we find the Buddha recommending awareness of the thoughts and emotions and introducing the idea of controlling or taming the mind. Some of this needs to be teased out to avoid misunderstanding. I'll read a few verses and then comment on them. There are only eleven verses in total in this chapter.

The restless, agitated mind,

Hard to protect, hard to control,

the sage makes straight.

As a fletcher the shaft of an arrow.


Like a fish out of water,

Thrown on dry ground,

This mind thrashes about,

Trying to escape Mara's command.


The mind, hard to control,

Flighty – alighting where it wishes-

One does well to tame.

The disciplined mind brings happiness.

Here we have a few different images and metaphors giving a vivid picture of our minds as restless, agitated, unsteady, thrashing about, flighty or frivolous. The first image is of a mind that is not straight like an arrow. This means that thoughts can't be directed towards anything in particular, like a crooked arrow that can never reach its target. This is the agitated, restless mind, not able to stay with anything, always jumping to something else, reacting to every stimulus indiscriminately. I think we are probably all familiar with this kind of mind. And the Buddha says that a wise person will straighten this out, make it capable of being properly directed. That is why we do practices like the Mindfulness of Breathing.

Then there is the mind that is like a fish out of water. This is a bit further on. This when we are practising and trying to be more skilful and trying to focus our minds. We could see this as being like a meditation practice where we are trying focus or concentrate and our mind keeps on thrashing about. But at least we are making an effort and with practice it will quieten down.

Then we have the image of a flighty mind, alighting wherever it wishes. The image that comes to my mind is a butterfly fluttering about. This is a bit more subtle and less violent than the image of the fish out of water. This is a quieter mind, but still not calm. Mara is a symbol for all the negative states such as greed, illwill, anxiety and so on. The opposite to these states is talked about in terms of protecting, controlling, taming and disciplining, which don't immediately bring to mind very attractive images. But let's look at them a bit more closely.

First of all protecting; the verse says the restless agitated mind is hard to protect. Something that is not protected is exposed to all sorts of influences. If your hands are not protected with gloves when cleaning you may suffer from the cleaning chemicals. If you are not protected by an overcoat when it's cold and wet you will be very uncomfortable and may catch a cold. If your mind is exposed to all sorts of unhelpful input you will be agitated and restless. Unhelpful input is anything that gives rise to craving, grasping, ill-will, hatred, fear and so on. If we can protect our minds from these things then it is sensible to do so, especially if we want to have a calm and tranquil mind.

Then there is the image of controlling the mind. The verse says the the mind is hard to control. Control sounds a bit harsh, like imprisonment or an authoritarian government dictating what people can and cannot do. But there is a more positive image of control. For instance if you are driving a car it is good to be in control; in control of the car and of you're own body and mind. If we are travelling by train or air we trust that someone is in control. We consider this kind of control a very positive thing. If we apply this to the mind we are talking about the kind of control that keeps us out of danger, out of harms way. We want to foster a mind that is not harmful to ourselves or others. The kind of control that is needed is something that allows us to have thoughts and emotions without having to launch missiles or hide ourselves in a dark room. We become familiar with the broad expanse of the mind and by maintaining awareness we can look steadily at what is going on and have the ability to intervene and change our minds as needed, change ourselves.

Then we come to the image of taming. I think we probably need to go back in imagination to ancient India to appreciate what a positive thing a tame animal might be. In a world without machinery a tame elephant could cope with huge weights and a tame horse is a very effective mode of transport. A tame buffalo can do the fieldwork of many men. A more contemporary image might be a guide dog. Taming means usefulness, taming means friendly as opposed to savage or dangerous. A tame mind is one that is useful or helpful and not wild and dangerous. A tame mind is friendly to self and others, this suggests metta, loving-kindness.

Then we come to the image of discipline. The verse says a disciplined mind is a happy mind. Do we associate happiness with discipline. Or do we think of discipline as being like being in the military. I think the kind of discipline the verse is talking about is much more like the discipline of a sports person; daily training and eating well. Or for any of us, if we want to be healthy, we need to be disciplined in taking exercise and eating well. And that leads to our physical well-being which is a basis for mental well-being. It is easy to see why a disciplined mind is a happy mind. It is a mind that is in training and is taking in or consuming whatever nourishes it and avoiding whatever poisons it. Just as we can feed our body well or badly, we can also feed our mind well or badly.

The next three verses are very similar to the first three.

The mind, hard to see,

Subtle- alighting where it wishes-

The sage protects.

The watched mind brings happiness.


Far-ranging, solitary,

incorporeal and hidden,

Is the mind.

Those who restrain it

will be freed from Mara's bonds.


For those who are unsteady of mind,

Who do not know true Dhamma,

And whose serenity wavers,

Wisdom does not mature.

We are introduced to a few more images here: We have the watched mind or in another translation it is referred to as the well-guarded mind. Then we have some characteristics of the mind; far-ranging, solitary, (sounds like Clint Eastwood in a Western!) and incorporeal and hidden. There is the image of restraining. And we have the image of something unsteady and wavering.

The image of guarding the mind is a common one in Buddhist texts. Again it conjures up images of being safe from danger and of protecting something valuable. It is often spoken of in terms of guarding the gates of the senses. In other words being careful or discriminating about what you expose your mind to. The image of restraining the mind is about seeing the mind as being like a infant that doesn't know what is harmful and what is pleasant. Restraint is applied for it's own good and for the sake of others. Again it is like discipline or protection or guarding. All of these images are getting at the same thing. Our mind is not a thing it is an ongoing process and that process is dealing with memories, current input and imaginings and fantasies.

We can have some influence on memories because as we grow in awareness we may come to see the past differently. We may revise our story. This happened to me. I made up an aphorism – we can be optimistic about the past. The present is much more under our influence and all of these metaphors are encouraging us to pay attention to what we allow into our minds; what we read, what movies we see, what people we hang out with. Because our mind is largely what we feed it and how we respond to that.

In a talk given to Triratna Order Members in 1993 Bhante Sangharakshita encouraged us to reduce input and be discriminating about what we introduced into our minds. Among other things he said: “We are a sort of receiving station all the time, but we don't have to allow all of these different outside factors and influences to play on us constantly without any sort of control or restriction. So reduce input. Be more selective and try to make sure that the influences that are impinging on you are positive rather than negative.” (Fifteen Points for Order Members,p.2 www.padmaloka.org.uk/shop/booklets) He went on to recommend solitary retreats and meditation as ways of getting an experience of reduced input. Nowadays when many of us have the internet in our pocket all the time it is much more difficult to reduce input or be selective about it and that means it is much more important now that we make strenuous efforts to reduce input and be selective about what we allow to influence us.

The images of the mind as far-ranging and solitary are interesting. There is virtually no limit to what we can imagine or think about. This makes it possible for us to imagine things like an expanding universe and it also makes it possible for us to contemplate Awakening or Enlightenment. The mind is solitary, according to the commentary, because it can only experience one state of consciousness at a time and also because it is not directly accesible by others.

The mind is incorporeal and hidden. Incorporeal means having no material body or form. This is a statement of the Buddhist view that consciousness is not tied to the body, not just a product of brain chemicals and electrical impulses. The mind is hidden. According to the commentary the word used here means literally 'lying in a cave' and the cave in question is the cave of the heart. The heart is seen as the seat of consciousness. This is another image emphasising that the mind is not just about thinking and reasoning.

The image of restraint is similar to control or discipline. The text says those who restrain the mind 'will be freed from Mara's bonds'. This is implying that we are already restrained or in bondage to Mara. Mara represents greed, hatred and delusion. The kind of restraint that is being recommended is to ensure our freedom. It is like saying that if we restrain ourselves from committing crimes we will be free from the need to be imprisoned. If we are restrained about about all that we put into our minds, we are free to do other things. An artist will sometimes restrict their palette in order to enhance creativity.

The image of a mind that is unsteady and wavering refers specifically to saddha or faith and confidence in the Dharma. It is saying that if there is a lot of doubt then it is much more difficult to direct the mind. Just as if you headed into town without having any idea of where you were going or maybe having two or three ideas of where you are going. It would be more difficult to decide which direction to take than if you were clear about your destination and how to get there.

Let's move on to the next three verses:

For one who is Awake,

Whose mind isn't overflowing,

Whose heart isn't afflicted

and who has abandoned both merit and demerit,

Fear does not exist.


Knowing this body to be like a clay pot,

Establishing this mind like a fortress,

One should battle Mara with the sword of insight,

Protecting what has been won,

Clinging to nothing.


All too soon this body

Will lie on the ground,

Cast aside, deprived of consciousness,

Like a useless scrap of wood.

Again we have a lot of rich imagery here. The Dhammapada is really quite poetic! I won't go into so much detail here. The first of these three verses is saying in effect that fear arises because we want something or we are averse to something. If we are free from craving and hatred and don't even want merit for ourselves then we will have nothing to fear. It is saying that one of the delightful characteristics of an Enlightened mind is freedom from fear. This is depicted in later Buddhism in the figure of the Buddha Amoghasiddhi, who has the abhaya mudra, the gesture of fearlessness. Right hand held at the heart palm facing outwards.

The second verse reminds us of the fragility of the body,like a clay pot, which we can't do much about. And it then contrasts this with the image of the mind like a fortress. And it brings in the martial image of battling Mara with the sword of wisdom. The sword of Wisdom appears in later Buddhism in the iconography of Manjughosha. It is a most subtle sword that cuts through all delusions and ignorance without effort. The image of a battle suggests that we need to be alert and have our wits about us or we will be overwhelmed by Mara. In other words we need to maintain awareness of our thoughts, feelings, imaginings and so on or we will find ourselves immersed in egotistic pursuits. The verse ends with the exhortation to protect with mindfulness whatever spiritual gains we have made and to give up clinging, both in the sense of not settling down in our current spiritual life and level of attainment and in the sense of not clinging to mundane concerns.

Then the third of these verses reminds us that we will die. This is in order to give us some sense of urgency about making the best use of the opportunity we have here and now. It says “All too soon”, in other words, before you feel ready, “this body will lie on the ground.”

The last two verses are a strong statement of how important it is to have what it calls a 'well-directed mind'. This reminds us again of the image in the first verse of straightening an arrow.

Whatever an enemy may do to an enemy,

Or haters, one to another,

Far worse is the harm

From one's own wrongly directed mind.

The harm is far worse because it is harm to the mind, not just to the body. In Buddhism our consciousness is hell or heaven, so a wrongly directed mind is on the road to hellish experience.

Neither mother nor father,

Nor any relative can do

one as much good

as one's own well-directed mind.

We are not dependent on others for our happiness, it is in our own gift to make for ourselves a mind that is on the road to heavenly experience of happiness and freedom.

That's what the Dhammapada has to say about the mind and I hope you find it interesting and even useful. I would just like to finish where I began and remind you that the mind is not a thing. It is all too easy to think that somehow apart from our thinking, feeling, willing, perceiving and imagining there is something else called the mind that is behind it all, activating it all. But that is just the delusion of a fixed Self under another name. It is because what we call mind is fluid and ever changing that we can direct it and transform it, until we become awakened ones - Buddhas.