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ings also are derived from people who managed 
to train themselves in meditation until they at-
tained the 'form absorptions' [rupajhana]. When 
they passed away, their body was buried or cre-
ated, but their mind (astral body) had no further 
attraction for the Sphere of Sensual Pleasure so 
they escape from this Sphere into the Sphere of 
Form and take rebirth as a form-Brahma. 
3. The Formless Sphere Iarapabhaval is the dwell-
ing place of formless-Brahmas rarapabrahma]. 
Such beings also are derived from people who 
managed to train themselves in meditation un-
til they attained the 'formless absorptions' 
[arapajhana]. They were those who were at-
tached neither to sensual pleasure or to the pleas-
ure of the form-absorptions — but they enjoyed 
the pleasure of the formless realms. 
To imagine the relationship between the three 
Spheres so far discussed, you should picture three 
concentric spheres — one the size of a football, the 
second in the centre of the football, but the size of a 
tennis ball and the third inside the tennis ball, but 
the size of a ping-pong ball. If you were to use the 
analogy to explain the relationship between the 
three Spheres, you can compare the ping-pong ball 
to the Sphere of Sensual Pleasure. The tennis ball 
can be compared to the Sphere of Form and the foot-
ball can be compared to the Sphere of the Form-
less. 
B.3.2 Subdivisions within the Three Spheres 
of Existence 
The world system consists of thirty-one realms. 
They are arranged within the three spheres of ex-
istence already described. The sensual sphere 
[komabhava] includes the hells, the human realm 
and all the realms of heaven. In this sphere, the in-
habitants spend nearly all of their time fulfilling 
themselves by the pleasure of the senses. If we can 
escape the sensual realm then we enter upon the 
sphere of form [rlipabhava] which is known as the 
Brahma-world because it is inhabited by Brahmas 
or gods. However there is a third sphere of exist-
ence which is even more refined and this is called 
the formless sphere [arapabhava] which is inhab-
ited by formless Brahmas. 
sphere 
realms of existence 
transfer,- 
dental 
Nirvana 
formless- 
plants 
• Realm of neitherperception nor non-perception 
iNevatafirianasarifitryatanal 
• Realm of nothingness Wificarinityalanal 
• Realm of infinite consciousness [viriniman-
cciyatanal 
• Realm of infinite space lakosenalwayatanal 
form-planes 
• Realm of the supreme Brahmas Weanirrhcil 
- Realm of Brahrnas who are clear-sighted 
[Sudassi] 
Realm of Brahmas who are beautifidISudassed 
• Realm of Brahmas who are serene IAtappaJ 
• Realm of Brahmas who do not fall from pros-
perity IAvihaJ 
• Realm of non-percipient beings lAsorisliscittaI 
• Realm of Brahmas with abundant reward 
Tehapphalid 
Realm of Brahmas with steady aura 
fSubhakiphirri 
Realm of Brahmas with infinite aura 
fAppamarresubheri 
Realm of Brahmas with limited aura 
Parittasubhird 
Realm of Brahmas with radiant lustre 
lAbhassaral 
Realm of Brahmas with infinite lustre 
fAppamarroblall 
Realm of Brahmas with limited lustre 
(Parittabhaj 
• Realm of Great BrahmasIMahobrahmal 
• Realm of Great Brahma's ministers 
Prahnzapurnhita] 
• Realm of Great Brahma's attendants 
Prahmaperriasajal 
sensual- 
planes 
Fortunate Realms Rantasugatil: 
• Heaven Realms: 
• 
Heaven of the Angels who lord over the 
creations of othersIParanimmitavasavaltil 
• 
Heaven of the Angels who rejoice in their 
own creations INimmernaratil 
Heaven of the Satisfied Angels rusitEr] 
Heaven of the Angel of Death [Yuma] 
- 
Heaven of the Thirty Three rcivatirpard 
• 
Heaven of the Four Great Kings 
[Caturnahorajikal 
Hunan Realm (Manussaj 
The unhappy realms (Apirfa): 
• Animal Realm ITiracchartayoni] 
- Monsters lAsurakayal: 
• Hungry Ghosts IPittivisayal 
• Hell Realms Plizeryal 
TABLE 32.4: The ThirtyOne Realms of Existence 
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BA Rebirth 
B.4.1 lf Rebirth is so obvious why should we 
believe otherwise? 
Another new concept which comes with moving 
around between realms of existence is 'rebirth'. For 
doctrinal reasons the teaching of rebirth has been 
suppressed and intentionally removed from Bibli-
cal Christian literature. Only during the reign of 
Constantine the Great with the finalizing of the 
scriptures to be included in the Bible, was the doc-
trine of transmigration as preached by the Gnostics 
decreed to be heretical and received criticism from 
Greek philosophers such as Hyppolitus, Irenaeus 
etc. In fact the main problem for Christians with 
the concept of rebirth seems to be that they don't 
see animals as sentient beings. If man can be born 
as an animal sometimes, it devalues his spiritual 
'worth' in the eyes of God. 
Before this time doctrine of rebirth is not so alien 
to western thinking as you may think. In the early 
days of Christianity as still recorded in some of the 
apocryphal (non-Biblical) scriptures and commen-
taries on the Bible, rebirth of the soul was accepted 
up until about 280 
In the Gnostic tradition who 
emphasized inner insight as the main source of rev-
elation they found no difficulty in fitting reincar-
nation into their plan of salvation. Far from think-
ing that reincarnation is alien to gospel-teaching, 
they elaborately interpret certain of the most strik-
ing sayings in this sense, and give graphic details 
of how Jesus, as the First Mystery, brought to re-
birth the souls of John the Baptizer and of the disci-
ples, and supervised the economy of his own in-
carnation. In this respect the Great Seth scriptures 
offer richer material for those interested in this an-
cient and widespread doctrine than can be found 
in any other old-world document in the West. Gnos-
tic teachings like Buddhist ones have regarded re-
incarnation as a calamity to be overcome by libera-
tion. 
B.4.2 Rebirth as reincarnation 
At this point it is necessary to point out a small dis-
tinction in the use of language between the words 
'rebirth' and 'reincarnation'. In Buddhism we usu-
ally use the word 'rebirth' to describe the continu-
ity from life to life. It indicates that the 'soul' or 'en-
tity' that is reborn between one life and the next 
might not be the same in nature but will have a qual-
ity which will differ according to the actions most 
recently performed by that being. Hindu tradition, 
by contrast, uses the word 'reincarnation' which in-
dicates that a person reborn, has an unchanging 
character or soul, but the new form of being at birth 
might change to be a frog or a cat or an elephant, 
but the soul is still John Smith etc. 
C. PRINCIPLES OF LIBERATION 
The Three Spheres together are like a three-layered 
prison which traps the beings in the world in a cy-
cle of rebirth. Returning to our model with three 
concentric spheres, we realize that even now, we 
are still in that prison, rattling about inside the ping-
pong ball. Even if we were to be born as angels we 
would not escape the ping-pong ball. We get in a 
spaceship and go to the moon, thinking that we can 
escape from the prison of the world — but in fact, 
the moon is just a satellite of the earth. Even if we 
make it to the sun or the stars, we are still in the 
same old galaxy, the same old universe — and we 
are still in the most basic level of prison — the sen-
suous realm. No matter how far we travel, we can-
not escape. What must we do to escape from our 
prison? The key to gaining liberation of our being is 
to gain liberation of mind. Body has mind as its gov-
ernor. Liberation in Buddhism entails permanently 
extricating one's mind out of states within the mun-
dane [lokiya] plane and elevating one's mind per-
manently into the transcendental llokuttara] plane. 
If one's mind is liberated into the transcendental 
plane it will have access to happiness which is 
qualitavely different from the worldly state. 
The people of old had a metaphor for the degree 
of happiness attained in each of the levels of mind. 
In the four different levels, the level of happiness is 
not the same. In higher levels there is more happi-
ness and this is why we have to make the effort to 
improve our level of mind. 
1. The happiness of the sensual sphere (the happi-
ness of having a family and of sense pleasure) is 
like the happiness of a newborn child playing 
with mud or dung. 
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2. The happiness of the form sphere (the happiness 
of attaining the form absorptions) is the satisfac-
tion of someone who fulfills himself by perform-
ing his work well. 
3. The happiness of the formless sphere (the happi-
ness of the formless absorptions) is like the sat-
isfaction of seeing the success of others who you 
have raised up, such as the happiness of raising 
one's children into responsible members of sod-
ety, when you once again have the freedom to 
live your own life again. 
4. The happiness of the transcendental (the happi-
ness of removing all defilements) is happiness 
beyond comparison. 
Furthermore, the states of mind on the transcen-
dental level will be beyond the touch of the worldly 
vicissitudes (see Blessing Thirty-Five) — the reason 
for this difference is the radically reduced number 
of defilements inthe mind. 
If we can permanently raise our mind to the high-
est level, then when dying from the human realm 
we will gain entry to a purer existence, or better 
still, will not be reborn any more. 
C.1 Relinquishing as a relay 
We have to throw off the temptations of sensuality, 
and the temptations of satisfaction with the form 
or formless absorptions. You have to sever the at-
tachments sequentially. This point is difficult to un-
derstand — it has been very widely misunderstood 
even amongst monks. You don't give up everything 
all at once. According to the Rathavinita Sutta 
145ff.), the process is a relay. For the mind it is 
e same, in order for the mind to escape a lower 
level, we need to build up a higher state of mind 
ready and waiting to receive the outgoing mind. If 
you plan to remove sensual interest from the mind 
and you just try to sever the ties without anything 
in the way of replacement you will never succeed. 
The mind needs something as the object of its at-
tention. If you have no new (better) object of inter-
est as a replacement, the mind will never give up 
its old ways. This is why you have to train yourself 
in meditation to the degree that you attain the first 
absorptions of the mind (brightness within) before 
you can hope to sever the ties of sensual tempta-
tion. Your mind has to be completely absorbed in 
the happiness of meditation attainment before it 
will be able to give up the happiness derived from 
sensual fulfillment. 
If you have sweet dreams of graduating and find-
ing a cute husband or wife to marry, and having a 
cute little house and one or two cute little children 
of your own, and someone comes along and says 
— give up all interest in sensual pleasure — it'll be 
good for you— you would probably think that kill-
ing yourself might be a more viable possibility. If 
you really want to give up sweet dreams of sensual 
fulfillment, you have to meditate until brightness 
arises within, there is a possibility of finding alter 
native forms of fulfillment. Without an alternative 
you cannot force people to give up sensuality. Thus, 
anyone who decides to give up sensual attachment 
without doing meditation to build up a better al-
ternative for themselves is doomed to failure. 
1). RAC 1S1N6 THE BRAHMA-FARING 
EVERYDAY LIFE 
D.1 Attitude to Sensuality 
How can it be that a person already had a spouse 
or a partner or a boyfriend or a girlfriend or chil-
dren and the Buddha still insisted that sensual ful-
filment is a mistake? The Buddha gave many rea-
sons, but in these pages, just ten of his metaphors 
will suffice, to make the point. If you cannot com-
pletely sever the ties, you can prevent yourself from 
increasing them. Howevet. if you can release your-
self fromall the ties of sensuality it is the best of all. 
Someone wishing to extricate themselves from sen-
suality should remind themselves regularly of the 
following metaphors: 
1. Sensuality is like a hungry dog chewing a dry 
bone (the dog exhausts itself with its chewing 
but will never satiate its appetite). Married life 
is just the same. It never fulfills us. Love is never 
what it promises; 
2. Sensuality is like a piece of meat fought over 
fry vultures. (It is said if you choose a wife, never 
choose a beautiful one, because she will be a 
source of attraction to other men in the future 
too, and that will become the bane of your life.); 
3. Sensuality is like carrying a torch of fire while 
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walking into the wind. (As it burns down, the 
fire comes closer and closer to burning your 
hand and in the end you have to throw it away. 
In the same way however much you may love 
your spouse, both of you get older year by year 
and in the end one of you has to be the first to 
the deathbed); 
4. Sensuality is like a pool of burning fuel (Every-
one knows if they fall in the pool they will never 
get out alive, but they cannot help being at-
tracted to walk along the edge of the pool until 
they eventually fall in — even though they 
know the saying 'wherever there is love there 
will be tears') 
5. Sensuality is like a dream (You dream of hap-
piness, but before long you have to wake up to 
the real world. Try asking a married couple what 
the happiest day of their marriage was. They 
will always reply that it was the first and since 
that day the causes of suffering have been in-
creasing day by day. When you were single you 
could please yourself, but since you got mar-
ried that has had to change. In the old days we 
thought it was hard work to look after our par-
ents, now you have to look after your partners' 
parents too— and perhaps their extended fam-
ily too and any children inherited from previ-
ous marriages! You end up saying to yourself, 
"If only I had known I would never have got 
married!" but you will be saying that to the end 
of your days.) 
6. Sensuality is like borrowed jewelry (When you 
wear it, it looks good and everyone admires you, 
but as soon as you meet the lendet, they will ask 
for that jewellry back. Before marriage we take 
special care to choose the best of beauty or hand-
someness in our partner. People will admire you 
when you first marry saying 'What a lovely cou-
ple!' but that beauty and handsomeness will 
gradually be 'returned to its lender' with the 
passing years leaving only wrinkles in its place. 
Even the most handsome filmstar ends up with 
a bald head. The best of beauty wears off after 
five or ten years. Supposing you are twenty-five 
when you marry. From the age of thirty-five to 
the end of your days, you have to live with some-
one to whom you are no longer physically at-
traded) 
7. Sensuality is like a fruit tree in the forest (The 
fruit of a tree in the forest is public domain. The 
fruit it bears is there to be taken by anyone who 
has the time to pick it. If you are good at climb-
ing the tree or knocking off the fruit or even at 
cutting down the tree, the fruit is yours. The 
climber half way up the tree will be hurt when 
the tree cutters come along — but there is noth-
ing in the way of compensation because none 
of them own the tree for themselves. In the same 
way, you cannot become the exclusive owner 
of the life of another person. If anyone else puts 
in the time and the effort to make they love them 
more than they love you, then your spouse be-
comes your ex-spouse. If you get beaten up by 
other suitors, who can you complain to?) 
8. Sensuality is like a steak hammer. (Anyone who 
gets involved with sensuality will be putting 
their own life at risk.) The more beautiful or 
handsome you spouse, the more risky is your 
marriage. You know your husband finishes 
work at four in the afternoon. Why is he still 
not home at six o'clock? Has there been an acci-
dent or is he having a secret affair? The more 
attractive they are, the more you have to worry 
about. As the result, instead of your marriage 
bringing you happiness, the ensuing worry ages 
you before your time. 
9. Sensuality is like a spear. (It has the tendency 
to wound you). It is like teeth and a tongue 
which share the same mouth. Sooner or later 
you will end up biting your tongue. The fights 
which grow up within a marriage are some of 
the most painful to all concerned, and eventu-
ally you end up dividing up the children be-
tween you as if they were nothing more than 
puppies or kittens. 
10. Sensuality is like a snake head. (If you have 
anything to do with it, you have always to be 
on your guard. There is no time you can be off 
your guard. You have to be thinking all the time, 
"Do they really love me or are they just pretend-
ing to love me? Did they have an ulterior mo-
tive in loving me?" Suspicion grows like a can-
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cer in a marriage. Especially when your spouse 
is not a particularly moral person, the level of 
suspicion will be all the greater and the suffer-
ing greater too, as the result.) 
In fact the Buddha had many more metaphors for 
sensuality than this. Thus if you are yet to get your
a boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse, train your-
self in meditation more and more and when you 
attain inner brightness, you will soon find a happi-
ness which is superior. The thought of marriage will 
disappear of its own accord. As for those who are 
already married, there is no need to go encourag-
ing divorces. If someone doesn't yet have any chil-
dren, maybe they would prefer to keep in that way. 
If someone has a certain number of children already, 
maybe they can be content with the number they 
already have. Chastity can offer a bright future to 
all who can practice it. 
13.2 Ways to Practise the Brahnialisring 
Many of the ways of practising chastity have al-
ready been covered in previous Blessings. Howevet, 
we come back to these again because chastity can 
be practised at many levels. There are ten ways of 
practising chastity and as usual they range from 
the easy to the difficult: 
The Brahma-faring at the Lowest Level 
• Generosity [anal: Once your mind is already 
purified by austerity, the first thing you must do 
is to practise generosity. The reason why we must 
be generous, because possessions surplus to our 
needs will be chinks in the armour via which sen-
suality can form attachments. An excess of pos-
sessions will attract people to love us for our 
wealth. 
• Service: [veyyavajja] To give our time and effort 
to help with good works or do favours to others 
in need. If there is an ordination then you should 
do your best to help them. If the neighbours are 
making a new road you should help them. Pick 
up litter that has fallen at the side of the road 
and help to put it in the bin. Help them when 
they are organizing Kathina offerings or the of-
fering of 'forest robes'. If they are building a new 
hospital or library, see what you can help with. 
If you see someone's car has broken down, you 
should help to push it. In a word, it is using 
strength surplus to our needs to help others. 
Often if we have too much effort unused, it be-
comes sensually directed instead, so you have 
to be quick to use it for more constructive ends. 
• Keeping the Five Precepts: You should keep the 
Five Precepts purely. You will notice that keep-
ing the Five Precepts seems to be included in al-
most every form of Dhamma study. The Precepts 
are unlike many other items of virtue which can 
be compared to steps on the stairway of Bud-
dhist practice, the Five Precepts can be compared 
to the banister. The banister is always as long as 
the stairway itself— unlike the steps which each 
only extend a little way. Thus whenever you 
speak of another virtue, you always take for 
granted that that virtue comes within the guide-
lines of the Five Precepts (whether they are spe-
cifically mentioned or not). Concerning chastity, 
in the Five Precepts, the third Precept about not 
committing adultery is most obviously the most 
crucial. Supposing we would like to practice 
chastity, but we still have responsibilities to our 
own family, then proper attention to the Five 
Precepts is our best inroad to practice. Even if 
we are still single and we are not yet brave 
enough to sever the ties of sensuality completely, 
we should establish ourselves firmly in the Five 
Precepts so that we don't go messing about with 
other people's husbands and wives and creat-
ing trouble for ourselves in the long term. 
The Brahma-faring at the Middle Level 
• Spreading Loving Kindness limitlessly 
[apamailita]: This is the spreading of good 
wishes and forgiveness to all without exception 
— even if they are enemies or those who have 
hurt us in the past. Thinking to yourself, that we 
are all in the same predicament of old age, sick-
ness and death, so why create further suffering 
for ourselves by disharmony? Be careful to dis-
tinguish between spreading loving kindness and 
spreading affection [raga]. If you spread loving 
kindness properly it will give the feeling as if 
the whole of the world is like our own children 
Blessing Thirty-Two: Practising the Brahma-Faring 365 
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— because we wish that all of them could enjoy 
happiness. Don't go mistakenly spreading the 
feeling that you would like everyone in the world 
to fall in love with you. This is no longer loving 
kindness. Loving kindness has no admixing of 
sensual desires. 
• Contentment with one's own spouse [sadara-
santusa]: Whether you still find your spouse at-
tractive or not, or less attractive than the neigh-
bours is something you have to put behind you 
now because you have gone ahead and married 
them. You were the one who chose your spouse 
for yourself. You don't have to blame anyone 
else. Cultivating limitless loving kindness to-
wards others without exception and content-
ment with your spouse will limit the scope of 
our sensual desires. 
• Abstention from sexual relations [nzethunaviratil: 
This item applies specifically to those who do 
not yet have a family or a spouse of their own 
— or who are religiously ordained in some 
sense. If you are single or an ordained person, 
you should think to yourself, "■ strong 
enough to be independent— I don't need to rely 
on anyone else to do my ironing or to replace 
me as the bread-winner" and keep yourself sin-
gle. Reflecting on the ten comparisons for sen-
sual desire we have already mentioned, you will 
soon see that sensual restraint is the key to your 
own freedom. 
The Brahma-faring at the Highest Level 
• Persistence [viriyaj: This is the fortitude to prac-
tice meditation continuously for the whole of 
your life. This refers to the four components met 
in the previous blessing i.e. not doing evil that 
you have never done; giving up evil you have 
already done; doing all the good things you have 
not yet done, and; continuing to do the good 
things you have done before. 
• Keeping Eight Precepts [iposatha]: For those who 
are single, this means keeping the Eight Precepts 
the whole of the time. Those who are married 
or who have their own family, they might start 
by keeping the Eight Precepts on the quarter-
moon days, then on the quarter moon days and 
the day before the quarter moon days too, then 
on the quarter moon days and the day before 
the quarter moon days and on the day (i.e. Mon-
day, Tuesday, Wednesday...) of your birthday 
and your spouse's birthday. The people of old 
lent a lot of importance to keeping the Eight 
Precepts on one's birthday — reasoning that oth-
erwise, you might never have a clear mind to 
think seriously about your life. They said that 
anyone who has sexual relations on their birth-
day will be someone who will never know suc-
cess in their lives. If a child is born as the result, 
it will be the sort of child who doesn't appreci-
ate its debt of gratitude to its parents— because 
the parents haven't ever taken any trouble to ap-
preciate with gratitude the preciousness of at-
taining human birth. If you can build up your 
Eight Precepts, you will already be keeping 
Eight Precepts for four days of the week (or three 
days of the week if both husband and wife were 
born on the same day). Another approach might 
be to keep the Eight Precepts throughout the 
rainy season. 
• Following the Eightfold Path Priyamagga]: This 
will be discussed in more detail in Blessing 
Thirty-Three. 
• Following all available teachings isasana-
dhammaj: This means following all Buddhist 
teachings available. It is like an amalgamation 
of all the practices already mentioned. 
At all levels of the brahma-faring, the Precepts are al-
ways present. At the lower level, it is the Five Precepts, 
at the mid-level it is the Eight Precepts and at the High 
level, it will be Eight Precepts or 227 Precepts. 
Thus if you are going to practice at this high level, 
you should start by performing dhutanga practice as 
mentioned in the previous Blessing. Once you have 
completed your dhutwiga practice,you shouldn't just 
go home and go back to bed! You need to further your 
practice by practising generosity every day, keeping 
the Precepts at a level appropriate to your marital sta-
tus and train yourself in meditation for the rest of your 
life. You should seek to train yourself in every virtue 
that exists in the world and this is the true meaning of 
chastity. 
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D.3 Possibilities for practising celibacy 
1. Temporary or Permanent Ordination: There has 
long been the tradition in Thailand that every 
man should ordain as a monk at some time in 
their life. Usually at the age of twenty, young men 
will ordain for one month, two months or three 
months. Some ordain for the rest of their lives. 
2. Ordaining as Nuns: Although there are no fe-
male monks', it is possible to ordain as a nun 
who keeps the Eight Precepts for a temporary 
period or permanently. 
3. Staying celibate in your everyday life: It is pos-
sible to keep the Eight Precepts while earning 
your living in the proper way. All that is needed 
is to ignore those who would persuade you to do 
otherwise. Never forget that they are persuad-
ing you to turn yourself into a dog chewing a 
dry bone! There is nothing dishonourable about 
being an old maid. The people of old said that to 
remain unmarried is like to retain your freedom 
like a bird that flies free in the open sky. Once 
married, you are no longer a bird but more like 
a pet dog that has been put on a chain at home. 
Thus, if anyone tries to chat you up or to pinch 
your bottom, you can tell them where to go. 
4. Staying celibate once your eldest child gets mar-
ried (or the first child in family gets married): 
there is an old tradition amongst the country 
people of Thailand that as soon as the oldest child 
in a family gets married, the parents must keep 
chastity (at low /mid /high level) from that time 
onwards. 
5. Staying celibate once you are widowed: Instead 
of thinking to remarry once your old spouse had 
died, you should start to think of your long term 
benefits and keep the Eight Precepts for the rest 
of your life. 
D.4 Practical knowledge about ordination 
It is a Buddhist tradition for all young men to or-
dain temporarily as monks at the age of twenty as 
a way of self-training in chastity. In practicality, 
however, many hesitate to take the opportunity to 
ordain because of unfamiliarity with the require-
ments. Accordingly, please find some hints and in-
1. in orthodox or Thcravaada Buddhism 
formation about ordination below: 
• Age at ordination: Those who ordain between 
the age of 15 to 20 will ordain as 'novices' (who 
keep the Ten Precepts). Those who ordain at the 
age of 20 upwards usually take full ordination 
as monks (who keep 227 Precepts). The latter is 
the superior form of ordination — but one should 
not provaricate about ordaining early in life be-
cause limitations of health may make ordination 
at a later age difficult. Also it is hard to teach an 
old dog new tricks and those ordaining late in 
life are notoriously hard to instil with new vir-
tues; 
• Period of ordination: It is usual to ordain for the 
whole of one rainy season (three months) — or 
to ordain in the university summer vacation for 
one or two months. One might otherwise take 
ordination when it is convenient to take leave 
from work or taking lifelong ordination is also 
possible. Ordination should not be for less than 
one month, however because it does not allow 
sufficient time for the study of the Dhamma; 
• Choosing a place of ordination: The amount we 
learn while ordained is entirely dependent on 
the quality of the training given by a temple or 
institute. You should choose a place of ordina-
tion which emphasises strictness in Dhamma 
education and monastic discipline. At a good 
place of ordination, the preceptor will take di-
rect and intimate responsibility for training the 
monks he ordains — giving an abundance of 
teachings and criticism to his students. This is in 
contrast to places which leave new monks to do 
whatever they like after their ordination. In some 
places, from the day of ordination to the day of 
disrobing, the ordinand doesn't get to converse 
a word of Dhamma with his preceptor. Really, 
what we are seeking from our ordination is to 
maximise the opportunity to be trained at the 
hands of our preceptor — don't go thinking that 
the magic of ordination comes from wearing saf-
fron robes! — it is the training that counts; 
• Monastic Discipline: We should think to our-
selves that it is monastic discipline that sets us 
apart from household life. Without monastic dis-
cipline, we are no more than a householder with 
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a shaven head and saffron robes. To masquer-
ade as a monk is no better than to steal from the 
faithful — therefore, once ordained we must be 
strict in keeping the monastic discipline other-
wise we will regret it at a later date; 
• Meditation Practice: Once ordained, one should 
consecrate one's time entirely to studying the 
Dhamma and meditating rather than chattering 
idly or looking for amusement; 
• Helping Society: When ordaining for three 
months, one should give first priority to train-
ing and benefitting oneself - if there are oppor-
tunities to help with humanitarian or social work 
while ordained — it is a good opportunity, but 
one should not become so involved with this that 
one diminishes the time available for meditation 
and Dhamma study. Welfare work doesn't re-
quire us to be ordained to do it—we can always 
do it later after our disrobing. The true way to 
help society as a monk is to teach Dhamma for 
others' benefit — however as a newly ordained 
monk, our knowledge will not yet be enough to 
teach others —all we can do for society is to con-
duct ourselves well, go on almsround in an or-
derly fashion, concentrating on making our be-
haviour worthy of faith — to be a good exem-
plar of the monastic discipline and knowing 
sense-restraint. 
E. ILLUS I RA I IN't, EXAMPLES 
E.1 E.c Mahn Kassapa (A.A.L92ff., 
ThagA.it 134ff, Ap.11.578ff., Ap.i.33ff.) 
There once was a young brahmin called Pipli. When 
he was young, he was very handsome, but was not 
interested in the married life. He was interested only 
in the study ofthe Dhamma. His father was a wealthy 
man and was worried that he would have no-one to 
look after the family fortune when he was gone. His 
father was so anxious to see his son married that he 
went looking for suitors himself. Eventually, the fa-
ther found another daughter of a millionaire who lived 
in a distant town. It happened that the daughter like 
Pipli was disinterested by the subject of marriage. The 
parents of this young girl were the same as Pipli's 
parents — they were afraid that she would be an 'old 
maid'. As soon as they heard that Pipli was to be a 
suitor, they were quick to give her hand in marriage. 
Little did the parents of both sides know that both 
sides were already in communication with one another 
by letter. Both Pipli and the millionaires daughter had 
independently written letters to one another saying 
the same thing (i.e. please inform your parents to can-
cel the marriage, because with all due respect, I am 
not interested in marriage and would prefer to remain 
single for the rest of my life). The messengers bearing 
the letters met one another on the mad between the 
two towns. Both were scared that if they brought bad 
news to the respective parents, they would get no re-
ward for their efforts so the two of them read each 
other's letters then rewrote the letters to say that both 
sides were ready and waiting to marry. So it came to 
pass that Pipli and the millionaire's daughter were 
married, but because both had cultivated chastity for 
many lifetimes, they had no interest in sensual pleas-
ures. Both had the latent ability to bear:lizards and even 
though they were forced to sleep in the same bed, both 
of them felt completely indifferent They would put a 
garland of jasmine flowers between them on the bed 
and each of them would meditate in the sleeping po-
sition throughout the night Even after ten years when 
the parents on both sides of the family had passed 
away, they were still living their married life in the 
same way. Once the last of their parents had passed 
away, they gave away all the family legacy. They both 
obtained the robes of an ascetic and left the home life. 
When they came to a fork in the mad, the wife said, 
"Now we are ascetics, to go around as a couple is no 
longer appropriate." Therefore the wife paid her last 
respects to her husband and both asked forgiveness 
for any mutual trespasses in the past, before the wife 
took the left hand fork and the husband took the right 
hand fork. It is said that through the power of the de-
cision by such young people to go their own separate 
ways, at that time their was an earthquake in the vi-
cinity. It is said that they were doing something very 
difficult to do. The Buddha detected the earthquake 
while he was meditating and looked for the reason. 
When he saw the reason was the ordination of Pipli, 
he went to meet him along the way and in a single 
sermon could elevate Pipli to the level of an arahant 
in seven days. As for the wife . . . she met with a 
bhikkhuni arahant who taught her to the degree that 
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she could attain arahantship within seven days in the 
same way. Ultimately, Pipli, under the ordained name 
of Mahakassapa Thera was the monk praised by the 
Buddha as unsurpassed in the practice of dhutariga 
because he kept the dhutariga practices throughout 
the whole of his life. After the passing away of the 
Buddha, because he was one of the most senior of the 
monks in the community, he was the monastic presi-
dent for the First Council. 
£2 Ex. Malta Matti (DhA.i.293) 
In the time of the Buddha there was a group of sixty 
monks who having made sufficient study of Buddhist 
theory, went to take leave of the Buddha before going 
into the deep forest to practise meditation. In the for-
est they came across an old woman who was the 
mother of the village mayor. The old woman was very 
pleased to see such a large number of monks coming 
to practice in the neighbourhood and so she provided 
for all the catering needs of the monks. One day she 
asked the monks, "Is it possible only to practice chas-
tity as a monk or can women and householders also 
practice?" The monks answered that it was also pos-
sible for householders to practice chastity - it is pos-
sible for anyone who wants to come to an end of de-
filements. The monk taught the lady all about medi-
tation and keeping the Eight Precepts and the remain-
der of the ten components of chastity. The lady trained 
herself strictly in accordance with what she had been 
taught and found she could make progress even more 
quickly than the monks themselves. The reason she 
could make more progress was because she had built 
up such habits over the course of many lifetimes and 
she could also see the value of such practice after com-
ing across many disappointments during her life. She 
was able to attain the form-absorptions, the formless-
absorptions and the Dhammakiya to the level of 
anagami. Through the power of her meditation, she 
was able to read the minds of others. She was able to 
know that her own progress in meditation was more 
than any of the sixty monks for whom she brought 
food. She meditated further and found that the rea-
son that they weren't making progress in meditation 
was because the monks were unfamiliar with the sort 
of food they provided for them. Instead of meditating 
without any concerns, their minds were always dis-
tracted by the thought of the food they were used to. 
Thus from that day onwards, if the lady knew that 
there was a particular food that the monk was wish-
ing for that day, she would provide the self-same food 
for the next meal. The monks were constantly sur-
prised by the fact that whatever food they happened 
to be interested in, it would always be the next meal 
on their plates. Before long the monks were meditat-
ing better because they were no longer worrying about 
food and in seven days, fifty-nine of the sixty could 
become arahants. The fifty-nine returned to the tem-
ple where the Buddha was residing. The remaining 
monk who had not been practising so hard was not 
only hindered in his meditation, he also guessed that 
the lady was able to read his mind so he was scared of 
her. He knew if he should happen to think of any-
thing wicked he would be ashamed to death of that 
lady. This last monk ran away back to the Buddha and 
asked permission to pursue his meditation somewhere 
else. The Buddha asked the reason, and the monk said, 
"The supporter is a mind reader — supposing I think 
anything evil, what will she think of me?" 
The Buddha said, "To have shame even of your 
thoughts might just be your advantage!" The monk 
was sent back to where he had been before, but now 
he took such care even of his thoughts that he was 
able to become an arahant. As an arahant, he looked 
back into his past lives to see if this was the first life-
time in which that lady had helped him. He found 
that in a previous life the lady had been his wife —
she had been unfaithful and had murdered him —
however in other lifetimes, the lady had sacrificed her 
life for his benefit. The reason why the woman had 
become only an anagami was because in the past she 
had not paid enough attention to the practice of 
dhutariga. 
£3 Ex. Bahiya Darudriya DhA.ii.209ff. 
Many kappas ago, the teaching of a previous Buddha 
was almost disappeared from the world. There were 
seven monks who still practised well. They saw that 
society had degraded to to a level where no-one was 
interested to learn the Dhamma any more. The seven 
monks decided to disappear into the forest to practice 
in earnest instead of wasting their time with society 
any more. They found a mountain which was sur-
rounded by cliffs on all sides. The mountain in the 
forest which was suitable for meditation. They agreed 
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amongst themselves to meditate on the top of the 
mountain until they could attain mental powers. They 
climbed a ladder up the cliff and when all had reached 
the top the kicked the ladder away — intending that 
if they couldn't attain enlightenment in their medita-
tion, they would rather die than give in. They medi-
tated without eating and without moving for five days 
before the first of the monks could attain transcenden-
tal states. He was able to become an tankard and float-
ing in the air, flew down the mountain to go for 
almsround. Returning from almsround, he brought 
enough food for all the other monks too. However, 
the other monks were resolute in their meditation and 
refused his food. On the seventh day a second monk 
attained anagamin. The two enlightened monks went 
for almsround, but the remaining five still refused to 
eat the food they had brought. Eventually the remain-
ing five died of physical exhaustion in their medita-
tion. The arahant entered parinibbirna. The anagami 
entered the Form-Brahma realm and the rest of the 
monks were reborn in heaven. 
After spending the requisite time in heaven one 
of the five monks was reborn in the human realm as 
a merchant called Bahiya Daruciriya. While trad-
ing in a ship, it was wrecked and he was the only 
survivor. He got hold of a plank and eventually came 
to land at the port of Supparaka. As he was naked, 
he tied a piece of bark to his body, and sat in a place 
where people could see him. Passers-by gave him 
food. Some thought that he was a holy man and paid 
respects to him. Some brought clothes for him to 
wear but he refused, fearing that by wearing clothes, 
people would give him less respect. Besides, because 
some said that he was an arahant, he mistakenly came 
to think that he really was one. Thus, because he was 
a man of wrong views who was wearing a piece of 
bark as his clothing, he came to be known as Bahiya 
Daruciriya. 
At about this time, Maha Brahma, who had been 
the friend who had attained aringami in one of his 
previous existences, saw Bahiya's views going 
astray and felt that it was his duty to put him on the 
right path. Thus, the Brahma came to him in the 
night and said to him, "Bahiya, you are not an 
arahant yet, and what is more, you do not have the 
qualities that make one an arahant " Faced with the 
truth, Bahiya looked up at the Brahma and said, 
"Yes, I must admit that I am not an arahant, as you 
have said. I now realise that I have made a great mis-
take. But is there anyone in this world now who is 
an aralrant?" The Brahma then advised him to go 
and seek help from the Buddha who was staying in 
Savatthi. 
Bahiya, realized the enormity of his guilt, felt very 
much distressed and travelled all the way to 
Savatthi to see the Buddha. Bahiya found the Bud-
dha going on an almsround with other bhikkhus and 
respectfully followed him. He pleaded with the Bud-
dha to teach him the Dhamma, but the Buddha re-
plied that since they were on an almsround it was 
not yet time for a religious discourse. And again, 
Bahiya pleaded, "Venerable Sir! One cannot know 
the danger to your life or to my life, so please teach 
me the Dhamma." The Buddha knew that Bahiya's 
mental faculties were not yet ready to completely 
realize the Dhamma. The Buddha also knew that 
Bahiya's mind was not receptive at that time because 
he had just made the long journey and also because 
he was overwhelmed with joy at seeing him. 
The Enlightened One did not want to expound the 
Dhamma immediately but wanted him to calm down 
to enable him to absorb the Dhamma properly. Still, 
Bahiya persistentlypleaded. So, while standing at 
the roadside, the Buddha said to him, "Bahiya, when 
you see an object, be conscious of just the visible ob-
ject; when you hear a sound, be conscious of just the 
sound; when you smell or taste or touch something, 
be conscious of just the smell, the taste or the touch; 
and when you think of anything, be conscious of just 
that mind-object." 
Bahiya did as he was told and because of his deep 
concentration, the accumulated karmic force of his 
past good deeds became dominant and he attained 
Arahanthood. He asked permission from the Bud-
dha to join the Order. The Buddha told him first to 
collect the robes, the bowl and other requisites of a 
bhikkhu. On his way to get them, he was gored by a 
mad cow and died. This is said to be one of the only 
examples of those to attain arahantship before ordi-
nation — but without ordination, he could not sup-
port such a high mental state and so passed away 
within seven days of his enlightenment. 
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Blessing Thirty -Three: 
Seeing the 
Four Noble Truths 
A. INTROMM-11()N 
A.1 Blessing Thirty-three in the order of things 
This blessing and the remaining five blessings of 
the Mafigala Sutta are the culmination of all the 
previous thirty-two blessings. It is not to say that 
there was nothing gained from the foregoing bless-
ings, but those previous blessings have not yet man-
aged to raise us to liberation or transcendental pu-
rity. 
In the Blessing Thirty-two we discussed cosmol-
ogy saying that our current sphere of existence can 
be compared to 'life in a ping-pong ball' (!), i.e. the 
Sphere of Sense-Pleasure. Our sphere of existence 
is enclosed within a larger sphere like a tennis ball, 
which is called the 'sphere of form-Brahma?. This 
tennis ball is enclosed within a larger football which 
is called the 'sphere of formless-Brahmas'. Some-
times we think that our cosmos is incomprehensi-
bly large, but to a meditator, it is no more cosmi-
cally significant than a ping-pong ball. We refer to 
all three of these spheres together as the 'ti-bhumis 
or 'Triple World'. The knowledge of anything any 
further than this 'Triple World' is unique to Bud-
dhism amongst world religions. Buddhism, has spe-
cialized in the fad that its implicit knowledge ex-
tends further than the Triple World into experiences 
that truly transcend the mundane world [lokuttara] 
and concern Nirvana. 
Of all the blessings we have studied, those which 
have emphasized earnest practice the most are 
blessings Thirty-One and Thirty-Two. Those who 
practice must use austere techniques to burn up the 
defilements in the mind — overcoming laziness and 
their habitual bad habits concerning use of cloth-
ing, food and shelter. In the blessing concerning the 
'Brahma-faring' we sowed the seeds of goodness 
in the pure mind. The process of sowing virtue is 
like smelting a metal to purity. We have already said 
that overcoming impurities in the mind can only 
take place if we have transcendental happiness to 
replace our mundane happiness. As we change the 
staple diet of the mind from mundane happiness 
to transcendental happiness, eventually when this 
becomes habitual, it will dictate our rebirth in the 
corresponding transcendental realm orlead to no 
further rebirth. 
As you practice more and more according to the 
prescribed stages, the clarity and brightness of the 
mind will increase. As the brightness of your mind 
increases, the mind will have the ability to appreci-
ate the reality of life and the world. If you are able 
to appreciate such a reality, in that way you can 
come to an end of all suffering — and attain real 
happiness. Buddhism refers to 'seeing reality in the 
way that can bring you to an end of suffering' as 
'Seeing the Noble Truths' — which is the subject of 
this blessing. 
A.2 Definition: The Noble Truths 
The word 'noble' is used to describe the truths ex-
amined in this Blessing. The reason for them being 
noble is threefold — they are: 
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• Noble in themselves: Seeing these truths, you dis-
cover the key to the nature of reality. Simply 
knowing the truth about certain key issues, you 
will be able to appreciate the truth of everything 
— in contrast to the knowledge of mundane 
matters which does nothing to transform us for 
the better; 
• Discovered by someone who was noble: The 
Noble Truths can be discovered only by those 
who are really noble — not by birth but by the 
utter purity of their minds; 
• Will make the attainer noble: Whosoever attains 
the noble truths will gain penetrating knowledge 
of all things and that in itself will make that per-
son noble. 
We might ask ourselves, having studied the forgo-
ing blessings, why we have not yet see the Noble 
Truths as a result. The reason is because we have 
not yet trained ourselves to the utmost. First, we 
have to ask ourselves honestly whether we have 
really practiced the forgoing blessings in earnest or 
not? Once satisfied with our efforts to study the pre-
ceding blessings, it is also pertinent to remind our-
selves that even if we are not yet at the point where 
we can see the Noble Truths for ourselves, the study 
of this blessing is still essential, even if only to know 
what we are looking for. 
To see the Noble Truths is not the work of a single 
day. Even if we cannot reach this spiritual destina-
tion today, at least we can know the route to take 
us there — so that in the future we can orientate 
ourselves in the right direction. Thus, this blessing 
will deal with 'knowing about the Noble Truths' so 
that we know what they comprise. When we have 
practised further, then we will be able to recognize 
the Noble Truths when we see them for ourselves. 
A.3 Noble Truths: overlooked for epochs 
The Four Noble Truths are Truths which have ex-
isted as long as the Earth or longer. However, even 
though they existed, no-one ever noticed them. 
Their discovery had to wait for many aeons (an aeon 
being defined as the time it takes to wear a 16km x 
16km x 16 km solid stone mountain down to the 
ground by rubbing it once every hundred years 
with a light cloth 1Pabbata Sutta S.ii.181J). Not just 
a single epoch, but a period of the order of 1070 ae-
ons. This is how long it takes for someone to train 
themselves sufficiently well in the thirty-eight bless-
ings to discover the Noble Truths anew. If such a 
person has not arisen in the world, the world will 
remain in ignorance conceming those truths. How-
ever, once such a person has seen the Noble Truths, 
even though they might be able to teach those No-
ble Truths for the benefit of others, it doesn't mean 
that others will necessarily be able to see the Noble 
Truths in the same way. 
The Noble Truths are difficult to see or appreci-
ate because our relationship to them (especially suf-
fering) is like a fish's relationship to water. A fish is 
so used to the water it lives in, that it fails to notice 
the presence of that water. In the same way, our 
human condition is so intimately in contact with 
the Noble Truths that without penetrative insight 
we fail to see the patterns or the reasons behind 
them. 
13. THE NOBLE TRU1 HS 
The Buddha's first teaching, the Dhammacakka-
pavattana Sutta (S.v.420ff.), which is the main source 
of our knowledge about the Noble Truths is one of 
the most important teachings for Buddhists to 
know. Its importance lies in the fact that it acts like 
a blueprint for all the subsequent teachings on Bud-
dhism given during the Buddha's lifetime. Even if 
the Lord Buddha were to teach the 
Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta and never to teach 
another word of Dhamma for the rest of his life, 
His duty in proclaiming the Dhamma to the world 
would have been fulfilled. Just as each country of 
the world has a Constitution as the blueprint for 
the rest of the laws of the country to expand upon, 
similarly, the other teachings of the Buddha, the 
teachingsof the arahants and the teachings of dis-
tinguished Buddhist teachers down to the present 
time are simply enlargements upon the Noble 
Truths of the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta. The 
Noble Truths are fourfold and consist of: 
1. The Noble Truth of Suffering Idukkha-
ariyasacca]; 
2. The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering 
Isamudaya-ariyasacca]; 
3. The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering 
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Inirodha-ariyasaccat and; 
4. The Noble Truth of the Path to the Cessation of 
Suffering 1magga-ariyasacca or dukkha-
nirodha-gamini-patipada-ariyasocca]. 
If you were to compare these with our system of 
curing illness, you can compare: 
1. Suffering to the condition of being ill 
2. The Origin of Suffering to the pathogen, bacte-
ria or virus 
3. The Cessation of Suffering to the condition of 
being healed from the illness 
4. The Path to the medicine that can cure one of 
the said disease. 
To take the metaphor further, it can be said that 
everyone in the world is ill with the disease of 
suffering — but it is as if no-one really knows 
what the nature or the cause of the illness — let 
alone the cure. The purpose of this blessing is to 
allow us to know the real nature of Suffering and 
how we can extricate ourselves from it. 
B.1 The Noble Truth of Suffering 
The Pali word used for this Truth is idukkhas which 
means the (truth of the existence of) Suffering. 
Suffering in general means 'awkwardness' or 
'discomfort' of body or mind. Over the course of 
many existences, when the Buddha had devel-
oped inner brightness sufficient to see the reality 
of the world, he saw that every living being in 
the world is plagued by suffering. Even multi-
millionaires are suffering. No matter if they are 
the president, members of parliament, the king, 
the emperor or even monks — all are plagued by 
suffering. All are suffering to a greater or lesser 
extent. As the result of extended self-training, the 
Buddha was able to see the nature of suffering 
and even to analyze it into its different compo-
nents. There are eleven major categories of suf-
fering under the two headings of inevitable and 
miscellaneous (to a greater degree avoidable) suf-
fering: 
B.1.1 Inevitable Suffering Isvabhavoclukkha]: 
It doesn't matter what sort of birth you take, you 
cannot escape this type of suffering — even if you 
are a man, an angel or a god, for as long as you are 
still within the Three Spheres you cannot escape: 
1. Birth IjataJ: Most people wonder why the Bud-
dha designated birth as a form of suffering — in 
contrast to most religions of the world which 
conclude that it is a pleasure to be born. The 
Buddha, by contrast, taught that birth is suffer-
ing because it is the starting point for all the other 
sorts of suffering. In addition birth is fraught 
with the following ten aspects all of which lead 
to suffering: 
1. the Suffering of Internment in the Womb 
2. the Suffering of Physical Shocks to the Womb 
3. the Suffering of Unnatural Childbirth 
4. the Suffering of Undergoing Childbirth (for 
the baby) 
5. the Suffering of Being Cleaned-Up after birth 
6. the Suffering of Curtailed Life 
7. the Suffering of Wounds in Combat 
8. the Suffering of Birth in the Hell Realms 
9. the Suffering of Birth in the Animal Kingdom 
10. the Suffering of Birth in the Realm of Hun-
gry Ghosts 
2. Aging &Gra): Aging is a form of suffering easily 
seen from the sighs and moans of old people each 
time they have to get up from their chairs. In-
deed, most people think that aging starts when 
you are seventy or eighty years old. However, 
the worst aspects of aging are not the grey hair 
and wrinkles, but the hidden part which works 
in the background from the day we were born 
— compared to an unseen fire which reduces a 
forest to cinders or storm which leaves nothing 
but debris in its wake; 
3. Death [marayal: All living beings have to un-
dergo death before they leave one existence for 
the next — no matter whether they are rich or 
poor, have led a good life or a bad one. When 
the mind must depart from one's body at the end 
of one's life, it is only those who have managed 
to attain transcendental Ilokuttara] mental states 
who don't fear oncoming death. This is why the 
Lord Buddha referred to death as suffering. The 
suffering of dying brings excruciating misery 
because of: 
• the scorching sensation when dying which 
seems to penetrate the whole of our body 
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• having to face pre-death omens and visions 
• the struggle of clinging to possessions in vain 
• the struggle of clinging to loved ones in vain 
• special torment of death in the case of execu-
tion 
B.1.2 Miscellaneous Suffering [pakiaakka-
dukkha]: 
This is suffering which is caused when the mind is 
lacking in quality. It is a category of suffering which 
you have the opportunity to escape — but for those 
who don't make the effort to escape, they will meet 
up with a lot of it. If you know the method to avoid 
this sort of suffering, you can reduce your misery 
— especially by changing your attitudes at a deeper 
level: 
1. Sorrow [soka]: This is the 'dry-minded' suffer-
ing — for example, that of a mother with a new 
baby who cannot take her baby to work (or she 
will be fired), but must leave the baby in the 
creche or with a maid despite her misgivings. 
He anxiousness leads to sorrow for the situation. 
With the anxiety of whether the maid will take 
proper care of the baby or whether they will leave 
the baby to be bitten by ants. 
2. Lamentation [parideva]: This is sorrow that drives 
you to tears. If the mother in the last example 
should worry herself to tears it would be counted 
as lamentation. 
3. Pain [clukkha]: This is physical suffering. The 
Buddha characterized this sort of suffering as 
that which makes the mind depressed and de-
jected. The cause of the suffering might be ill-
ness, physical torture, punishment, imprison-
ment or having hands or feet cut off. As the suf-
fering must be endured alone— friends and rela-
tives can do nothing to help us, or else we are 
separated from them. Some people feel such pain 
as a result of their poverty — being unable to 
afford clothes and jewelry to wear like more for-
tunate people. The mental anguish which comes 
from the resentment of the unavoidability and 
seeming unfairness of one's circumstances can 
also be ascribed to this form of suffering. 
4. Feeling slighted [domanassa]: This is when one 
has a 'chip on one's shoulder' (to be aggressively 
sensitive about a particular thing or bear a 
grudge). Some people bear a grudge against their 
parents for not having showed them enough 
love. Some wives bear a grudge against their 
husbands for receiving less affection than they 
think they deserve. 
5. Despair lupayessal: This is when you give up any 
hope of success in something. You might see a 
task which is so great that you give up hope of 
ever completing it. 
6. Exposure to hateful things [apiyehi sampayoga]: 
The Buddha characterized this form of suffering 
as the sort of cloudedness of mind, grief and mel-
ancholy which result from coming into contact 
with those things to which we are averse. The 
things which make us feel averse may come via 
our five senses — we feel aversion and would 
like to remove those hateful things or escape 
from their grasp — but when we can't it only 
adds to the suffering in our mind. 
7. Separation from loved ones and treasured things 
[piyehi vipayoga]: If we are the sort of person 
who wishes for fulfilment by the sense-pleasures 
and habitually indulges the senses, when we are 
eventually separated from such sources of pleas-
ure, the heartbreak of parting is the characteris-
tic of this sort of suffering. Separation from loved 
ones (like close relations who pass away) or from 
treasured things (possessions, home or honours) 
will bring us misery for as long as we still har-
bour these attachments in our hearts. 
8. Disappointment [alabha]: The Buddha divided 
this category of suffering into two parts—physi-
cal disappointment and spiritual disappointment. 
Supposing in spite of working hard and having 
all the necessary patience in the face of hardship, 
a person still doesn't manage to earn their living 
successfully—physical disappointment is what they 
feel as the result. If a person hankers after more 
abstract things like honours, but is unable to pro-
cure all that they are looking for, spiritual disap-
pointment is what they feel as the esult. For as 
long as we still harbour such disappointment in 
our hearts, they will continue to bring us misery. 
For people in general who never studied the 
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Dhamma or listened to sermons concerning suffer-
ing, when they are overtaken by old-age, sickness 
or death, it comes as a major shock. As for those 
who have achieved some level of enlightenment or 
have heard the teaching of the Lord Buddha, the 
inevitability of such suffering presents no surprise. 
Faced by suffering, the wise reflect that all beings 
are subject to suffering, irrespective of whether they 
are possessed of supra-normal powers — no mat-
ter how rich or influential a person might be, one 
doesn't feel one is being singled out for particular 
bad luck — all are equal in the face of suffering. 
Thus, to realize the reality of suffering for what it 
really is, to know the Noble Truth of Suffering, is 
indeed one strength of the Enlightened Ones. 
The realization of the Noble Truth of Suffering 
has been achieved independently by all the Bud-
dhas and yaccekabuddhas. As for the arahants and 
various enlightened disciples of the Buddha — it 
has only been as the result of the teaching of the 
Buddha that such an insight has been attained. 
£2 The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering 
The Pali word used for this Truth is ' samudaya' 
which means the 'origin' of Suffering. When peo-
ple are ignorant of the real reason behind their suf-
fering, they tend to dutch at straws — blaming any-
thing they can think of (but themselves). Some 
blame the gods and deities, some say 'that it is God's 
way of testing one's patience' or 'that it is God's 
punishment'. Some say the victim has 'fallen prey 
to the local spirits or to the Devil'. It is like people 
who don't know the reason for an economic crisis 
will blame anything they can think of — e.g. the 
government or foreign countries — but they never 
think of blaming themselves or the laziness of their 
fellow countrymen. Some people will always find 
someone to blame whether it is their husband or 
wife or the government. If they fail their examina-
tions they blame their teachers. They will do any-
thing to make sure that they pass the buck. 
It is only the Buddha who taught us to blame our-
selves — to blame ourselves for not having com-
pletely dealt with the craving that remains in the 
mind. The Buddha taught that we suffer because 
we still have defilements in the mind. The defile-
ments in the mind create craving [tazzlia] which ex-
presses itself in different ways. The Lord Buddha 
taught the existence of three sorts of craving 
(A.iii.445): craving for sense-pleasure Rantatanha], 
craving for the form realms Iblictuatanha] and crav-
ing for the formless realms [vibhauatanha]. 
1. Craving for Sense-Pleasure: Craving for sense-
pleasure is the grasping of the mind when it is 
under the influence of greed or desire for the 
objects of the senses i.e. images, sounds, per-
fumes, tastes and touching. It is the craving of 
those who think that true happiness can be ob-
tained via sense pleasures. Thus such people 
wish to be reborn in the human realm or one of 
the heavens, all of which are in the Sphere of 
Sense Pleasure [ltamobhava]. Skilful-minded 
people with such an attitude to life, try to do as 
many meritorious actions as possible (e.g. keep-
ing the Precepts or being generous) in order to 
be reborn in heaven. Such an attitude is one 
driven by craving for sense-pleasure and the 
Lord Buddha enumerated it as one of the Noble 
Truths of the Origin of Suffering. 
2. Craving for the Form Realms: Craving for the 
Form Realms is the attitude of those who wish 
to be reborn in the Brahma-world or the Realms 
of Form [ritpabhauct]. Such people believe that 
being able to attain the Brahma-world (to be reu-
nited with God etc.) will allow them to escape 
from the suffering of birth, old age, sickness and 
death. Such people devote all their efforts to the 
attainment of the form-absorptions Waal in 
order to pass away into the Brahma-world at 
death. Spiritual practitioners who subscribe to 
this attitude, having developed a certain degree 
of meditation, will acquire the ability to recol-
lect their previous lives and will know what form 
they had taken in previous lives. When passing 
away, the highest realm in which they can be re-
born will be the Form-Brahma world. Such an 
attitude is one driven by craving for the Brahma-
world and the Lord Buddha enumerated it as 
one of the Noble Truths of the Origin of Suffer-
ing. 
3. Craving for the Formless Realms: Craving for 
the Formless Realms is the attitude of those who 
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wish to be reborn in the formless Brahma-world 
or the formless Realms larepabhava]. Such peo-
ple believe that being able to attain the formless 
Bralunit-world will allow them to escape eter-
nally from rebirth in lower realms and that it will 
allow them to attain Nirvana. Spiritual practi-
tioners who subscribe to this attitude, who have 
developed a certain degree of meditation, will 
acquire the ability to know what awaits them 
after death. The limit of the knowledge of such 
practitioners are the Formless-Brahma Realms 
— knowledge gained as the result of developing 
the formless absorptions [Grupa-jhana]. Such as-
cetics misunderstand that being reborn in the Form-
less Brahma-world will release them from suffer-
ing — thus all their time in the human world is 
spent trying to develop the formless absorptions 
in order to try to be born in the Formless-Brahma 
Realms. Such an attitude is one driven by craving 
for the Formless-Brahma world and the Lord Bud-
dha enumerated it as one of the Noble Truths of 
the Origin of Suffering. 
The wise recognize these three forms of craving as 
the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering because 
they are the prime-mover for all subsequent forms 
of suffering. Craving for sense pleasure is the origin 
of all the suffering connected with rebirth in the 
Sphere of Sensual Pleasure. Craving for the Brahma 
world or the Formless Brahma World are the origins 
of all the suffering connected with rebirth in the 
Spheres of the Form-Brahmas and the Formless-
Brahmas respectively. It is for this reason that crav-
ing is explained as being the sole cause of all forms 
of suffering — suffering cannot be blamed on any 
other thing. If craving can be avoided, the suffering 
of birth, old age and death will be escaped. 
Craving has been responsible for keeping beings 
in the endless cycle of birth and rebirth in the cycle of 
existence without offering any possible refuge. It is 
for this reason that craving has been called ' sanaidayd 
the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering. 
B.3 Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering 
The Pali word used for this Truth is inirodlia' which 
means the 'extinction' oecessation' of Suffering. The 
Buddha found that craving can only be overcome if 
craving is extinguished. The way that craving can be 
extinguished is by eradicating the defilements in the 
mind. If defilements are reduced, craving is reduced. 
If craving is reduced, suffering will be reduced. If you 
can bring craving to an end, there is nothing to cause 
you to be reborn any more. If there is no birth any 
more, then that will eradicate suffering at its roots. 
Furthermore, cessation of suffering is something we 
can find for ourselves. We don't have to wait for an 
unknown 'factor' or external agent or deity to do the 
work for us. 
BA Noble Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering 
The Pali word used for this Truth is 'Inagga' which 
means the 'Path' or 'dukkhanirodha gamini 
patipada' which means the 'path leading to cessa-
tion. It refers equally to the 'Middle Way' and to the 
Noble Eightfold Path. 
The 'Middle Way' Inzajthinte patipadal doesn't 
mean 'moderation in all things' but to cultivate the 
cessation of craving by steering between the extremes 
of sensual indulgence Ramasukallikenayoga] and 
self-mortification [attakilanzathanuyoga] in one's 
spiritual practice. Such cultivation is a way of train-
ing ourselves until the mind can wriggle itself free of 
craving — something achieved by freeing the mind 
of all the thoughts that cause it to move. If the mind 
is not still it has no way of extinguishing craving. Fur-
thermore, if the mind is still, it will be sufficiently 
clear and bright to identify the defilements remain-
ing in the mind, and it will be possible to banish these 
defilements from the mind. This way or path of prac-
tice to bring the mind to a standstill consists of eight 
components — which is why it is called the Eight-
fold Path. 
The Noble Eightfold Path can be found at all levels 
of advancement, whether it be the Sensual Sphere 
[kamavacarabhumi], the Form Sphere [repo-
vacarabhumi], the Formless Sphere larispavacara-
bhumil or the Transcendental Level [lokuttara-
bhlimi]. If it arises at the Transcendental Level then 
it is called the Transcendental Path [lokuttarantagga]. 
If it arises in the Triple World then it is called the Mun-
dane Path Ilokiyanzagga]— although the way it is ap-
plied changes with the level of practice (see Table 331. 
right) 
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TABLE 33.1: Practising the Eightfold Path on Mundane and Transcendental Levels 
Mundane itoiciyal 
Transcendental lloilaataral 
Right View 
Confidence in the working of the law of Karma 
Fiercely accurate understanding of life and the 
isamnid dittht j 
and the power of the Triple Gem. Overcoming 
world based on thorough understanding of the 
Eight Sorts of False View 
Four Noble Troths and without further influence 
of ignorance or the defilements. Insight into the 
becoming of the Five Aggregates 
Right Intention 
The wholesome intention to remove oneself from 
Release from the three types of wrong preoccupa-
[samosa sankappa j 
the influence of sensual desire, vengefulness and 
aggression by being generous, keeping Five Pre-
cepts and meditating 
tion lakusala-vitakkal and bias [agatij 
Right Speech 
Avoiding telling lies, divisive speech, harshspeech 
Every word as artful speech or else maintaining 
[samosa vaccil 
and idle chatter. 
noble silence. 
Right Action 
Refraining from killing and cruelty towards living 
Practice for the removal of every last trace of igno-
Ise:mina kammantaj beings, stealing and sexual relations outside mar- 
riage. Doing things by the rules. 
rance and craving. 
Right Livelihood 
Refraining from earning one's living by selling 
Earning one's living in a compassionate way. 
[samosa (diva] 
weapons, slaves, animals to the slaughterhouse, 
alcohol, drugs, poison or prostitution, 'fixing' 
weights and measures used for business or other-
wise misleading customers. 
Right Effort 
Avoiding evils not yet done, breaking of bad hab- 
Dedicating oneself actively to the attainment et 
[samosa voyamal 
its, development of virtues not yet done and main- 
tenance of virtues already mastered. 
Nirvana. 
Right Mindfulness 
Keeping our mind on wholesome thoughts with- 
Cultivating the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. 
[samosa sad] 
out any deviation, especially by practising medi-
tation until attaining one-pointedness of mind 
Right Concentration Following the absorption of the mind onto equa- 
Seeing and knowing the Four Noble Truths and 
[summa sanzadhil 
nimity. 
theThree Universal Characteristics in the Five Ag-
gregates until releasing oneself from the action of 
the defilements. Attainment of Cessation of Suf-
fering and entry upon Nirvana. 
TABLE 33.2: Correlation between Eightfold Path Factors & the Threefold Training 
Eightfold Path Factors 
Threefold Training 
Right View 
Right Intention 
Wisdom 
Right Speech 
Right Action 
Right Livelihood 
Self-Discipline 
Right Effort 
Right Mindfulness 
Right Concentration 
Meditation 
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For as long as a meditator cultivates the Noble 
Eightfold Path purely, completely and according to 
the principles of the Middle Way (i.e. with the mind 
entering continuously upon the pathway at the cen-
tre of the body), the mind will be liberated from 
mood influences in the outside world. Once the 
mind has adjusted itself, the meditator will see the 
diamond clear Patharna Magga Sphere (Dhamma-
nupassanisatipatthina Sphere) at the centre of his 
or her body. At its smallest it will be the size of a 
star. Medium-sized, it will be the size of the full 
moon. At its largest it will be the size of the midday 
sun. The Pathama Magga Sphere arises when all 
eight components of the Noble Eightfold Path are 
present and fuse into unity [magyasamaityi]. This 
is the trailhead of the pathway to Nirvana. You need 
to train yourself simultaneously in all eight of the 
following the Noble Eightfold Path. 
The Eightfold Path can be expanded into the 
whole of the 84,000 teachings of the Buddha or con-
tracted into the Threefold Training Isikkha] of self-
discipline Isilaj, meditation Isantadhi] and wisdom 
[pa fie] — (as shown in Table 33.2. p.377) 
C. SEEING I HI; FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS 
C.1 How the Noble Truths can be seen 
At this point we now know how many sorts of 
suffering exist — but so far this is only theoretical 
knowledge. In fact, for the ariyasacca to work, we 
must see them twelve times — three cycles in 
twelve characteristics. (See Table 33.4) Seeing the 
Noble Truths is different from seeing other things 
because seeing them, one's self is transformed by 
the act of seeing. Seeing, for example 'craving', one 
immediately will relinquish craving and having 
relinquished it, you see that one has done so. It is 
equivalent to seeing 'this is the medicine', while 
automatically realizing 'this medicine should be 
taken' and eventually recognizing 'this medicine 
has already been taken'. This is possible only be-
cause it is not the physical eye or imagination 
which we use to see the truths but the Eye of the 
Dhammakiya or ediramma-cakkhus. 
Of course the other inner bodies of experience 
already mentioned in Blessing Thirty-two also 
have their equivalent form of 'inner eye' but, as 
we shall see, (See Table 33.3) these eyes are not suf-
ficiently refined to be able to see the Four Noble 
Truths in the way described: 
The comparative wisdom of available to the in-
ner bodies at each level was described by the Great 
Abbot of Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen (Phramonkol-
thepmuni) as follows: 
"If you are able to attain the body of enlighten-
ment (Dhammakaya) you will find that it is 
many tens of times wiser than our human 
physical body. 
If you attain the subtle human body it is already 
twice as wise. 
Attaining the angelic body, it is twice as wise 
again. 
Attaining the subtle angelic body, it is three 
times wiser. 
Attaining the form-brahma body, it is four times 
wiser. 
Attaining the subtle form-brahma body, it is five 
times wiser. 
Attaining the formless-brahma body, it is six 
times wiser. 
Attaining the subtle formless-brahma body, it 
is seven times wiser 
Attaining the body of enlightenment and sub-
tle body of enlightenment, they are eight and 
nine times wiser respectively. 
This is the nature of their successive wisdom 
— you should familiarize yourself with their 
relative wisdoms." 
What is the true meaning of 'insight' [tiipassana] 
meditation? In fact insight is insightful vision or 
seeing things according to their true nature, seeing 
them thoroughly from every perspective. The 
'Dhamma' eye is the eye of the 'Body of Enlighten-
ment' which has the ability to penetrate to the truth, 
especially to know the origins of defilements, how 
they come to enslave the mind and how we can 
overcome them. This is a major difference from the 
eyes of bodies belonging to the mundane levels of 
mind to which the defilements are invisible. 
C.2 Characteristics of the Body of Enlighten-
ment 
Luang Phaw Wat Paknam explained that the 
Dhamma Body is similar in shape and form to a 
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TABLE 33.3: Correlation between state of mind, inner eaperience & capacity for insight 
sphe e 
subjective experience 
equivalent inner eye 
mundane 
states of 
mind 
ilokiyal 
sensual 
Physical Body: 
physical eye 
imamsa-eakkhui 
Angelic Body 
angelic eye 
[dibba-cakkhu] 
form 
Form-Brahma Body 
the eye of wisdom 
fpafiriet-cakkhu I 
formless 
Formless-Brahma Body 
all-seeing eye 
kimaista-rakkhui 
transcendental 
states of mind 
Vokuttarai 
Dhammakaya Gotrabhii Body 
of Enlightenment and higher 
Buddha eye 
lbuddha-rakkhul 
TABLE 33.4: Seeing the Four Noble Truths - Three Cycles with Twelve Characteristics 
Ariya- 
sacca 
Dukkha 
Samudaya Ariyasacca 
Nirodha Ariyasacca 
Nirodhagamini 
Ariyasacca Patipadci 
Ariyasacca 
Sacea- 
nana 
knowledge of 
the 
existence of suffering 
knowledge of theexistence 
of the origin of suffering 
knowledge 
of 
the 
existence of the cessation 
of suffering 
knoveledgeof the existence 
of the path to the cessation 
of suffering 
Kiera- 
nana 
knowledge of what 
should be done in 
relation to suffering 
knoveledgeof what should 
be done in relation to the 
origin of suffering 
knowledge of what 
should be done in relation 
to the cessation of 
suffering 
knowledge of what should 
be done in relation to the 
path to the cessation of 
suffering 
Kata- 
nana 
knowledge that what 
needs to be done has 
been done in relation to 
suffering 
knowledge that what 
needs to be done has been 
done in relation to the 
origin of suffering 
knowledge that what 
needs to be done has been 
done in relation to the 
cessation of suffering 
knowledge that what 
needs to be done has been 
done in relation to the path 
to the cessation of suffering 
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TABLE 33.5: Stages of Inner Attainment at which fetters are uprooted 
attainment/practice 
remaining fetters (sarpyojanal 
destroyed fetters lsamyojanal 
Dhammakitya Gotrabhu Body 
using the Dhamma eye of this body to examine 
the Noble Truths as they pertain to the 
physical body. the Dhammaktiya Sotapana 
Body can be attained 
self-view Isakkayadilihi) 
doubt fricikkehai 
attachmentumitesandritualsisikblximparansisul 
sensual grasping lhomaroga I 
annoyance [ponchoI 
attachment to the form realms [rap° ir'ga] 
attachment for the formless realms 
[crime regal 
stubbornness [menet 
absent-mindedness luddhareal 
ignorance [arta) 
none 
Dhammakitya Sotapana Body 
using the Dhamma eye of this body to examine 
the Noble Truths as they pertain to theangelic 
body. the Dhammakaya Sakiditgami Body can 
be attained 
sensual grasping Romania' 
annoyance Ranched 
attachment to the form realms [samaras° i 
attachment for the formless realms 
lorfmartigal 
stubbornness [menet 
absent-mindedness luddharcal 
ignorance [arum 
self-view Isakkapodinhil 
doubt Iticikiethal 
attachment 
to 
rites 
and 
ritual -. 
Isilabbataparamiima) 
DhammakAya SakidagAmi Body using the 
Dhammaeye of this body toexamine the Noble 
Truths as they pertain to the Form Brahma 
body, the Dhammakitya Anagami Body can 
be attained 
sensual grasping Ramaragal 
annoyance [conchal 
attachment to the form realms Iroparaga) 
attachment for the formless realms 
Laraparagal 
stubbornness (mined 
absent-mindedness Itufelha deal 
ignorance larilia) 
desire Irdalldiminisheth 
hatred (dose) (diminished) 
delusion Imohakdiminishedi 
self-view Isakkayaditthil 
doubt foirikkchal 
attachment 
to 
rites 
and 
ritual -. 
Isilabbataparamcimo) 
Dhammakitya AnaagAmi Body using the 
Dhantmaeye ofthis body toexamine the Noble 
Truths as they pertain to the Formless 
Brahma body, the Dhammakaya Arahant 
Body can be attained 
attachment to the form realms Iroparagai 
attachment for the formless realms 
larOpa ar'ga' 
stubbornness (maned 
absent-mindedness Itufelha deal 
ignorance larilid] 
self-view Isakkayadillhil 
doubt foirikkchiel 
attachment 
to 
rites 
and 
rituals 
Isiiaboamparamata) 
desire lhamaraal 
annoyance Ipir fightil. 
Dhammakitya Arahant Body 
none 
self-view Isakkayadiffhil 
doubt luicikkchal 
attachment 
to 
rites 
and 
rituals 
kalabbataparamtioal 
sensual grasping lkiimardgel 
annoyance latighel 
attachment to the form realms Inipartigo I 
attachment for the formless realms 
lorfmaragal 
stubbornness [mina' 
absent-mindedness luddhaera I 
ignorance lariffli) 
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