Cutting the Roots of Craving

Desire is beginningless. Yet through right mindfulness we can learn to abandon it.

By Bhante Henepola Gunaratana and Veronique Ziegler

Part 2 of 2

How to Abandon Craving

People sometimes say that they want to experiment with sensual pleasures: trying a particular kind of food or drink or indulging in a certain sensory experience. Before his enlightenment the Buddha experimented too. However, he had the insight to conclude that there would be no end to this exercise and that this type of behavior would keep him in bondage indefinitely. He understood that there is a great danger in sensual pleasures—not that they cause immediate harm or risk to one’s life (although some sensory pleasures can definitely be lethal) but that sense enjoyments are impermanent. And because they are impermanent they can never be satisfactory.

And so, understanding this, the Buddha began searching for something else. His deep insight led him to the complete abandonment of sensual pleasures. This point must be properly understood: This abandonment is not the forceful shunning of pleasurable sensation as in sense mortification. Rather, it is the wisdom to see the danger and degradation in these pleasures.

When we acquire a possession with greed, we stingily hold on to it and go to great lengths to protect it, thereby accumulating much stress. Craving is the cause of many personal and social problems. Therefore, the solution to these problems is to remove craving, which is attained by abandoning our attachment to sensual pleasures. Note that the key word here is attachment. Letting go of attachment does not mean that we must torture ourselves and make abstractions of what is necessary to live a happy and healthy life. We must use our senses, but we must do so with wisdom, because with wisdom we understand how the influxes of sensual pleasures, becoming, ignorance, and wrong views operate in us. The mind should always be ready to apply itself to restraining the influxes. And mindfulness is the tool we use to apply it.

Mindfulness has become a cliché, but it must be properly understood for one to avoid practicing it the wrong way. And what is the difference between right and wrong mindfulness? When planning an unwholesome deed, the mind can be focused and concentrated in order to achieve the goal at hand, but this is still wrong mindfulness. Right mindfulness, on the other hand, is always wholesome and beneficial.

If you have practiced mindfulness your entire life, constantly thinking about its practice, focusing on the breath at every moment, and have not reduced greed by one iota, then you have been wasting your time and practicing wrong mindfulness. But if your mindfulness leads to reducing your greed, hatred, and delusion, it is right mindfulness, and every minute of this practice is beneficial. Practicing right mindfulness does not mean that you have to sit in one place all day long. It can be practiced anytime, anywhere. Anytime greed arises, one becomes aware of it and lets it go.

Ideally mindfulness is present all the time, whether we sit with our eyes closed in meditation or are fully involved in activities. Right mindfulness is therefore a constant practice, a personal attainment that has nothing to do with mere theory. This repeated practice makes mindfulness strong and so powerful that one day one is able to overcome greed, hatred, and delusion. Of course this does not happen suddenly but bit by bit, moment by moment.

Mindfulness is a means for overcoming craving. It is not always present; it arises and passes away depending on the situation. When whatever conditions responsible for the arising of craving pass, so too does craving. Consider the following analogy laid out by the Buddha. Suppose there were a great tree with all its roots going downward and across. That tree would be sustained and well nourished by its sap, and it would stand for a long time.

In the same way, sense gratification, born out of ignorance, keeps us in a state of suffering, going endlessly through the cycle of birth and death. Now, suppose that someone cut the tree down at the base and put the trunk back in place so that the tree would look whole once more: that tree would still never grow again. Cutting down the tree can be likened to the destruction of craving. This reflection on the arising and ceasing of craving is of the utmost importance to help us understand craving and so put an end to it.
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Excerpted from Bhante Gunaratana and Veronique Ziegler, Dependent Origination in Plain English.

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana is a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka and the author of Mindfulness in Plain English. He is president of the Bhavana Society in High View, West Virginia, an organization that promotes meditation and monastic life.
Veronique Ziegler earned her doctorate degree in experimental high-energy physics from the University of Iowa working on the BaBar experiment at SLAC National Laboratory in Menlo Park, California. In 2018, she started attending Bhante Gunaratana’s dhamma classes. She has been an avid dhamma student ever since.
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Part 1 of 2:

https://news.1rj.ru/str/wordsofbuddha/2713


Part 2 of 2:

https://news.1rj.ru/str/lorddivinebuddha/2258

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Words of the Buddha channel:

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Dhammapada Verse 281
Sukarapeta Vatthu

Vacanurakkhi manasa susamvuto
kayena ca nakusalam kayira
ete tayo kammapathe visodhaye
aradhaye magga' misippaveditam.

Verse 281: One should be careful in speech, be well-restrained in mind, and physically, too, one should do no evil. One should purify these three courses of action and accomplish the practice of the Path of Eight Constituents made known by the Buddhas.

The Story of a Swine-Peta

While residing at the Veluvana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (281) of this book, with reference to a swine-peta.

Once Thera Maha Moggallana was coming down the Gijjhakuta hill with Thera Lakkhana when he saw a miserable, ever-hungry peta, with the head of a swine and the body of a human being. On seeing the peta, Thera Maha Moggallana smiled but did not say anything. Back at the monastery, Thera Maha Moggallana, in the presence of the Buddha, talked about the swine-peta with its mouth swarming with maggots. The Buddha also said that he himself had seen that very peta soon after his attainment of Buddhahood, but that he did not say anything about it because people might not believe him and thus they would be doing wrong to him. Then the Buddha proceeded to relate the story about the swine-peta.

During the time of Kassapa Buddha, this particular peta was a bhikkhu who often expounded the Dhamma. On one occasion, he came to a monastery where two bhikkhus were staying together. After staying with those two for some time, he found that he was doing quite well because people liked his expositions. Then it occurred to him that it would be even better if he could make the other two bhikkhus leave the place and have the monastery all to himself. Thus, he tried to set one against the other. The two bhikkhus quarrelled and left the monastery in different directions. On account of this evil deed, that bhikkhu was reborn in Avici Niraya and he was serving out the remaining part of his term of suffering as a swine-peta with its mouth swarming with maggots. Then the Buddha exhorted, "A bhikkhu should be calm and well-restrained in thought, word and deed."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 281: One should be careful in speech, be well-restrained in mind, and physically, too, one should do no evil. One should purify these three courses of action and accomplish the practice of the Path of Eight Constituents made known by the Buddhas.

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Dhammapada, beloved and favorite teachings of the Buddha channel:

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Big Buddhas of Wat Pha Sorn Kaew Buddhist temple, Phetchabun, Thailand

Free Buddha Dharma ebook

Food for Thought: Eighteen Talks on the Training of the Heart, by Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo. (revised Dec. 15, 2018) The noscript of this collection reflects how it invites the reader to fill in the spaces suggested by the talks to reflect on how the images and teachings they contain relate to one another and to one’s own situation in life.

Free download here:

https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/FoodforThought_181215.pdf
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Dhammapada Verse 282
Potthilatthera Vatthu

Yoga ve jayati bhuri
ayoga bhurisankhayo
etam dvedhapatham natva
bhavaya vibhavaya ca
tatha ttanam niveseyya
yatha bhuri pavaddhati.

Verse 282: Indeed, wisdom is born of meditation; without meditation wisdom is lost. Knowing this twofold path of gain and loss of wisdom, one should conduct oneself so that wisdom may increase.

The Story of Thera Potthila

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (282) of this book, with reference to Thera Potthila.

Potthila was a senior bhikkhu who knew the Pitaka well and was actually teaching the Dhamma to five hundred bhikkhus. Because he knew the Pitaka, he was also very conceited. The Buddha knew his weakness and wanted him to mend his ways and put him on the right path. So, whenever Potthila came to pay obeisance, the Buddha would address him as 'Useless Potthila'. When Potthila heard these remarks, he pondered over those words of the Buddha and came to realize that the Buddha had made those unkind remarks because he, Potthila, had not made any serious effort to practise meditation and had not achieved any of the Maggas or even any level of mental absorption (jhana).

Thus, without telling anyone Thera Potthila left for a monastery at a place twenty yojanas away from the Jetavana monastery. At that monastery there were thirty bhikkhus. First, he went to the most senior bhikkhu and humbly requested him to be his mentor; but the thera, wishing to humble him, asked him to go to the next senior bhikkhu, who in his turn sent him on to the next. In this way, he was sent from one to the other until he came to a seven year old arahat samanera. The young samanera accepted him as a pupil only after ascertaining that Potthila would obediently follow his instructions. As instructed by the samanera, Thera Potthila kept his mind firmly fixed on the true nature of the body; he was very ardent and vigilant in his meditation.

The Buddha saw Potthila in his vision and through supernormal power made Potthila feel his presence and encouraged him to be steadfast and ardent.

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 282: Indeed, wisdom is born of meditation; without meditation wisdom is lost. Knowing this twofold path of gain and loss of wisdom, one should conduct oneself so that wisdom may increase.

At the end of the discourse Potthila attained arahatship.


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Buddha dharma teachings channel:

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Kyaiktiyo Pagoda over the Golden Rock, Mon state, Burma

Wat Na Khu Ha Buddhist Temple, Phrae city, Thailand. Access to the temple is through bamboo bridge above the fields. In dry season, the rice fields are changed to sunflowers.

Dhammapada Verses 283 and 284
Pancamahallakabhikkhu Vatthu

Vanam chindatha ma rukkham
vanato jayate bhayam
chetva vananca vanathanca
nibbana hotha bhikkhavo.

Yava hi vanatho na chijjati
anumattopi narassa narisu
patibaddhamanova tava so
vaccho khirapakova matari.

Verse 283: O bhikkhus, cut down the forest of craving, not the real tree; the forest of craving breeds danger (of rebirth). Cut down the forest of craving as well as its undergrowth and be free from craving.

Verse 284: So long as craving of man for woman is not cut down and the slightest trace of it remains, so long is his mind in bondage as the calf is bound to its mother.

The Story of Five Old Bhikkhus

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verses (283) and (284) of this book, with reference to five old bhikkhus.

Once, in Savatthi, there were five friends who became bhikkhus only in their old age. These five bhikkhus were in the habit of going together to their old homes for alms-food. Of the former wives of those five, one lady in particular, by the name of Madhurapacika was a good cook and she looked after them very well. Thus, the five bhikkhus went mostly to her house. But one day, Madhurapacika fell ill and died suddenly. The old bhikkhus felt their loss very deeply and together they cried praising her virtues and lamenting their loss.

The Buddha called those bhikkhus to him and said, "Bhikkhus! You all are feeling pain and sorrow because you are not free from greed, hatred, and ignorance (raga, dosa, moha), which are like a forest. Cut down this forest and you will be freed from greed, hatred and ignorance."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Verse 283: O bhikkhus, cut down the forest of craving, not the real tree; the forest of craving breeds danger (of rebirth). Cut down the forest of craving as well as its undergrowth and be free from craving.


Verse 284: So long as craving of man for woman is not cut down and the slightest trace of it remains, so long is his mind in bondage as the calf is bound to its mother.

At the end of the discourse the five old bhikkhus attained Sotapatti Fruition.
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Words of the Buddha channel:

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Free Buddha Dharma ebook

Divine Mantra
By Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, translated from the Thai by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

I have written this book, The Divine Mantra, as a means of drawing to purity those who practice the Dhamma, because the chant given here brings benefits to those who memorize and recite it, inasmuch as it deals directly with matters that exist in each of us. Normally, once we are born, we all dwell in the six properties.
These properties are brought together by our own actions, both good and evil. This being the case, these properties can give a great deal of trouble to those who dwell in them, like a child who can be a constant nuisance to its parents.
Repeating this chant, then, is like nourishing and training a child to be healthy and mature; when the child is healthy and mature, its parents can rest and relax. Repeating this chant is like feeding a child and lulling it to sleep with a beautiful song: the Buddhaguna, the recitation of the Buddha’s virtues.

Free download available:

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/divinemantra.pdf

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The Wounded Swan

In this imaginative retelling from the late Thich Nhat Hanh, Gautama Buddha recalls an episode from his childhood.
By Thich Nhat Hanh

Part 1 of 2

Early the next morning, Svasti led his buffaloes to graze. By noon he had cut enough grass to fill two baskets. Svasti liked to let the buffaloes graze on the side of the river that bordered the forest. That way, when he finished gathering grass, he could stretch out in the cool breeze and not worry about the buffaloes wandering into someone’s rice fields. He carried only his sickle, the tool by which he earned his living. Svasti opened the small fistful of rice Bala had wrapped in a banana leaf for his lunch, but as he was about to eat, his thoughts turned to Siddhartha.

“I could take this rice to the hermit, Siddhartha,” he thought.

“Surely he won’t find my rice too humble.” Svasti wrapped the rice, and, leaving the buffaloes at the forest’s edge, followed the path to where he had met Siddhartha the day before.

From a distance he saw his new friend sitting beneath the great pippala tree. But Siddhartha was not alone. Before him sat a girl just about Svasti’s age, dressed in a fine white sari. There was food already placed before him, and Svasti stopped abruptly. But Siddhartha looked up and called to him, “Svasti!” He motioned for the boy to join them.

The girl in the white sari looked up, and Svasti recognized her as someone he had often passed on the village road. As Svasti approached, she moved to her left to make a place for him, and Siddhartha gestured him to sit down. In front of Siddhartha was a banana leaf, which held a fistful of rice and a small amount of sesame salt. Siddhartha divided the rice into two portions.

“Have you eaten yet, child?”

“No, Mister, I haven’t.”

“Well then, let’s share this.”

Siddhartha handed Svasti half the rice, and Svasti joined his palms together in thanks, but refused the rice. He took out his own humble rice and said, “I’ve also brought some.”

He opened his banana leaf to reveal coarse grains of brown rice, unlike the soft white grains on Siddhartha’s leaf. He had no sesame salt. Siddhartha smiled at the two children and said, “Shall we put all our rice together and share it?”

He took half the white rice, dipped it in sesame salt and handed it to Svasti. Then he broke off half of Svasti’s rice ball and began to eat it with obvious delight. Svasti felt awkward, but seeing Siddhartha’s naturalness, he began to eat as well.

“Your rice is so fragrant, Mister.”

“Sujata brought it,” answered Siddhartha.

“So her name is Sujata,” thought Svasti. She looked a bit older than Svasti, perhaps a year or two. Her large black eyes twinkled. Svasti stopped eating and said, “I’ve seen you before on the village road, but I didn’t know your name was Sujata.”

“Yes, I am the daughter of the village chief of Uruvela. Your name is Svasti, isn’t it? Teacher Siddhartha was just telling me about you,” she said, adding gently, “Svasti, it is more correct to call a monk, ‘Teacher,’ than ‘Mister.’”

Svasti nodded.

Siddhartha smiled. “Well then, I don’t need to introduce you two. Do you know, children, why I eat in silence? These grains of rice and sesame are so precious, I like to eat silently so that I can appreciate them fully. Sujata, have you ever had a chance to taste brown rice? Even if you’ve already eaten, please taste a bit of Svasti’s rice. It is quite delicious. Now then, we can eat together in silence, and when we’ve finished, I’ll tell you a story.”

Siddhartha broke off a piece of brown rice and handed it to Sujata. She joined her palms like a lotus and respectfully accepted it. The three of them ate quietly in the deep calm of the forest.

When the rice and sesame were gone, Sujata gathered the banana leaves. She took a jug of fresh water from her side and poured some into the only cup she had brought. She lifted the cup to offer water to Siddhartha. He took it in his two hands and offered it to Svasti.

Flustered, Svasti blurted, “Please, Mister, I mean, Teacher, please, you take the first drink.”

Siddhartha answered in a soft voice, “You drink first, child. I want you to have the first drink.” Again he lifted and offered the cup to Svasti.

Svasti felt confused but didn’t know how to refuse such an unaccustomed honor. He joined his palms in thanks and took the cup. He drank all the water in one long gulp. He handed the cup back to Siddhartha. Siddhartha asked Sujata to pour a second cup. When it was full he raised it to his lips and sipped the water slowly, with reverence and deep enjoyment. Sujata’s eyes did not stray from Siddhartha and Svasti during this exchange. When Siddhartha finished drinking, he asked Sujata to pour a third cup. This one he offered to her. She put down the water jug, joined her palms, and accepted the cup of water. She lifted it to her lips and drank in slow, small sips, just as Siddhartha had done. She was aware that this was the first time she had ever drunk from the same cup as an untouchable. But Siddhartha was her Teacher, and if he had done so, why shouldn’t she? And she noticed that she had no feeling whatsoever of being polluted. Spontaneously, she reached out and touched the buffalo boy’s hair. It was such a surprise, Svasti didn’t have a moment to move out of the way. Then Sujata finished drinking her water. She placed the empty cup on the ground and smiled at her two companions.

Siddhartha nodded. “You children have understood. People are not born with caste. Everyone’s tears are salty, and everyone’s blood is red. It is wrong to divide people into castes and create division and prejudice among them. This has become very clear to me during my meditation.”

Sujata looked thoughtful and she spoke, “We are your disciples and we believe your teaching. But there does not seem to be anyone else like you in this world. Everyone else believes that the shudras and the untouchables came forth from the Creator’s feet. Even the noscriptures say so. No one dares to think differently.”

“Yes, I know. But the truth is the truth whether anyone believes it or not. Though a million people may believe a lie, it is still a lie. You must have great courage to live according to the truth. Let me tell you a story about when I was a boy.
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Ajahn Chah, Buddhist teacher of Thai forest meditation of Theravada Buddhism channel:


https://news.1rj.ru/str/ajahnchah_buddhism
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