Categories: Eradicate the Fear of Meditation
May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you all!
Welcome. These spiritual teachings are dedicated to those of you who are on a journey of practical spiritual exploration. Our primary focus is on insight, on the path to crossing over the endless cycle of suffering, and on eradicating the inner defilements. We have been showing you how to identify your thoughts and, by maintaining continuous mindfulness, to move forward step by step.
Through this series of teachings, we have offered a way to gain a certain understanding of your own mind to recognize the thoughts, the mental defilements, and the various forms of greed, hatred, and delusion that reside within. Our goal is to help you see your ‘good’ and ‘bad’ thoughts for what they are.
It is essential that you engage with these concepts practically. By doing so, you will find the ability to truly comprehend them. There are many who have followed these teachings and gained significant firsthand experience. They have begun to study the greed and aversion in their own minds, the moments when the mind feels uncontrollable, and the difficult thoughts of jealousy, anger, and hatred that arise.
They have explored the many troublesome thoughts that emerge concerning others. Through this self-study, they have come to a practical understanding of their inner world. This is the foundation of our path.
How to Measure Your Spiritual Progress
As you continue on this path, take a moment to reflect. Look back at all the teachings you have explored and ask yourself: How much understanding have I truly gained? And more importantly, how did I gain it? You now have the ability to determine this for yourself. How? By looking directly at your own mind. Your practical experience has given you a measure of your own mental state.
You have likely come to understand how stained or ‘dirty’ your mind can be. You may have seen whether you can control it or not. By applying mindfulness what in Buddhism is called Sati and the clear comprehension that arises with it, known as Sampajañña, you have begun to engage in this work. This direct insight is what truly matters.
With this growing awareness, look at the journey you have taken so far. Are you a different person than you were before? Have there been changes in the patterns of your thoughts? Perhaps some thoughts that used to stick in your mind have now vanished or diminished.
Or have they increased? Have they become uncontrollable, or have they come under your gentle guidance? Have they stopped arising altogether? You alone have the ability to practically decide and see this for yourself. These are truths you can directly realize. This is the essence of practical Buddhism, the very teaching the Buddha delivered over 2,500 years ago.
Understanding Your Own Mind is Understanding the World
So long as this path remains theoretical, we cannot understand any of it. But when you begin understanding your own mind, you understand everything. A person who truly understands their own mind has no need to study anything else in this world in great depth. To know your own mind is to know all of humanity. In fact, to say they are ‘equal’ isn’t quite right—you simply know.
Such a person doesn’t need to take a course in psychology or seek external validation, unless they need a certificate for a job. The one who has understood their own mind has the capacity to understand everything in this world. Once this becomes your direct experience, you earn the right, given by the Buddha himself, to share and point out this path to others.
Have My Defilements Truly Decreased? A Self-Inquiry
Today’s topic is intended to help you understand whether your mental defilements have truly decreased. These defilements, known as Kilesa in Pali, are the unwholesome states that cloud the mind. Think about the mindfulness practice we’ve discussed, such as the teaching on ‘silently watching the mind,’ which is a practical application of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, or Satipaṭṭhāna. I presented it without using the formal Pali terms, focusing only on the practical method.
As you engage in this practice, compare the person you are now to the person you were before. Has the greed, or Rāga, within you lessened? Or does it remain the same? Some of you may still be in the process of identifying greed. Others now know for certain, ‘I have greed.’
They might say, ‘When I started meditating and practicing mindfulness, I realized my greed is still there. It hasn’t decreased. The attachment to sexual pleasure, whether alone or with another, is still present. But for so long, I couldn’t even recognize that I had it.’
Lifting the Veil of Ignorance (Moha)
What prevents us from seeing our own defilements? The Buddha taught that the primary obstacle is delusion or ignorance, known as Moha. In the teachings, Moha is the root of all unwholesome states. It is the darkness that prevents us from recognizing even the most obvious greed (Rāga) and hatred (Dvesha) within ourselves. It’s a force that is so powerful it hides the fact that we even have unwholesome thoughts. You can think of it as a thick fog or a deep, black darkness that completely envelops us.
Many people have told me that this Moha has started to lessen for them. They don’t use the word ‘Moha‘ they don’t know the term. Instead, they say, ‘Venerable Sir, for so long I never realized I had these greedy thoughts, these jealous feelings, or this anger inside me. I never knew such things were part of me.’
They speak of the shocking realization of seeing their own tendencies to undermine others, to feel jealousy at another’s success or beauty, and the unwholesome actions they took to obstruct them. ‘These things are still here,’ they admit, ‘but for all this time, I never saw them as a problem. Because of this mindfulness practice, I can finally recognize them.’ This is a monumental step in understanding your own mind.
The Courage to Acknowledge Your Flaws
This recognition is their practical achievement. Do you see? Through their own practice, they have dispelled a great deal of the darkness of delusion. This is a huge accomplishment. Now that they see their flaws, don’t you think they will strive to correct them? You should see how much effort they put in. We must respect such a person. Even celestial beings, or Devas, respect, honor, and bless a person who strives to overcome their own faults, because they are making the effort to get free.
As they continue this effort, their wholesome qualities accumulated over many lifetimes what we call Pāramitā or perfections begin to surface. Their wholesome karma, or Puñña, starts to shine. Many people are at this very stage. This is a crucial part of the journey of understanding your own mind.
Specific Remedies vs. The Universal Path
Naturally, the next question people ask is, ‘Venerable Sir, isn’t there a way to get rid of this greed? Isn’t there a way to control this anger?’ They wonder if they should try a different meditation technique. My answer is yes, other methods exist. For intense greed, there is meditation on the unattractiveness of the body (Asubha Bhāvanā). For anger, there is loving-kindness meditation (Mettā Bhāvanā).
However, cultivating these is a temporary solution. They work through suppression, which is characteristic of tranquility meditation, or Samatha. I often use the analogy of a lake with sediment. These practices are like letting the mud settle to the bottom, making the water clear for a while. If you stop the practice, the mud gets stirred up again. They can be useful if you find your defilements completely overwhelming, but remember this: if you stop practicing Asubha or Mettā, after some time, the greed and anger will inevitably resurface.
Interestingly, when you begin these specific practices, the very thing you’re trying to eliminate might temporarily increase. Someone practicing Asubha meditation, perhaps even living a celibate life, might find their greed surging at first before it subsides. Similarly, someone practicing Mettā might initially feel even more anger toward their enemies before it begins to cool.
You must persist through this initial phase. But to eradicate these defilements completely to attain the stages of awakening and reach liberation, or Nibbāna you must eventually return to the practice of mindfulness and clear comprehension (Sati-Sampajañña). You cannot reach Nibbāna through Asubha or Mettā alone. They are merely tools to build a foundation.
The Danger of Spiritual Labels and External Validation
Some people tell me, ‘I have attained the first stage of awakening (Sotāpanna)’ or ‘I am a Non-returner (Anāgāmī).’ When I ask how they know, they say, ‘My teacher told me after looking at my aura’ or ‘I saw a light.’ You cannot confirm these states by looking at auras or lights. A person’s mental purity fluctuates, and even those practicing only tranquility meditation can experience bright lights. Be very careful here. Sometimes, even teachers can be deceived.
Therefore, do not go searching for labels like ‘stages of awakening’ or ‘Nibbana.’ On this path, you must eventually let go of even those words. They are just expectations. Instead of chasing labels, focus on the practical reality of understanding your own mind. Ask yourself: ‘I used to see greed arise X number of times. Has that number systematically decreased?’ Have you recognized your good and bad thoughts, and is there a consistent, gradual reduction in the unwholesome ones? That is the only question that matters.
A Practical Test: How the Five Precepts Reveal True Progress
Here is a concrete way to measure your progress, a practical test for understanding your own mind. The first stage of awakening has a distinct characteristic: the Five Precepts are naturally upheld. This is not forced; it becomes your nature. Let’s take the precept against sexual misconduct.
If you are married, and you used to engage in infidelity, practice this mindfulness for a significant time. After a year, or two, or more, observe your mind. Do you still feel the desire to have relations outside of your marriage? Has the thought of betraying your spouse to seek pleasure elsewhere even arisen?
If you find that you are content within your committed relationship, and the desire for other partners has completely vanished, you can consider that you may have reached a significant step, perhaps even a fruit of the path (Magga Phala). But do not jump to conclusions.
Continue to observe for a long time. If for years you remain steadfast, without straying from your spouse, and your sexual desire is confined to your relationship, then you can conclude that your practice of mindfulness has borne real fruit. You have reached a new stage in your practical journey. This is a very clear indicator of progress in understanding your own mind.
Distinguishing True Change from Willpower and Past Habits
Now, we must be careful not to confuse this with other things. This can be complex, as some people uphold the precepts for different reasons. This particular teaching is for those aiming for full liberation in this very life.
There are three main scenarios: Here is a helpful analogy to grasp the difference. Imagine you love to eat a rich, unhealthy dish like kottu, but you also have high cholesterol and gastritis. In one case, you crave it badly but force yourself not to eat because you know it will make you sick. The desire is strong, but you resist.
This is like the second person, upholding morality (Sīla) through willpower. In another case, after years of healthy living, your body and mind have changed so much that you genuinely have no desire for that unhealthy food anymore. The thought of eating it doesn’t even appeal to you. This is like the first person, who has achieved a true inner transformation.
The Ultimate Measure: Resilience and Moving Forward
This process of self-measurement must continue for your entire life. This is how even the enlightened ones (Arahants) and Buddhas continually verify the state of their own minds. If, after a period of time, you find yourself regressing if you fall back into killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct, or using intoxicants it means your practice was likely based more on temporary calm (Samatha) than on true insight (Vipassanā). If an old friend comes along and you easily fall back into old habits, or if you hear about them and feel a longing to return to that life, then these are signs you can use to measure yourself.
As you continue to train the mind, whether you are a layperson or a monastic, these thoughts and tests will come. But the true practitioner sees them, understands them, and continues to move forward with mindfulness. By moving forward in this way, you realize these truths for yourself, and you will never turn back.
Even when temptations arise which I sometimes refer to as the coming of ‘Mara’ (the tempter) they will not be able to grab you. This is why I constantly say in these teachings that if you are grounded in this practice, nothing can hold you down. True understanding your own mind gives you unshakable stability.
Conclusion: The Unfolding Path of Self-Realization
If you can grasp this principle, you can undoubtedly move forward on this path with practical, direct experience. You will understand these matters more and more deeply, realizing the truth from within yourself. I will not prolong this teaching further; this is sufficient for now. Please continue to work in this practical way.
In the future, we will speak more about mindfulness and clear comprehension, so we can correct our faults and continue our journey forward. For today, I will conclude this teaching.
May the powerful blessings of the Triple Gemthe Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha be with you. May you all gain the ability to study and know for yourselves whether the defilements in your own minds have increased or decreased.
We invite you to walk this path with us. Read our teachings, and most importantly, apply them practically in your own life. as you practice, questions will naturally arise. Please feel free to share your experiences and questions in the comments below, via email or contact form. I will do my best to offer guidance in future talks based on your progress. For now, begin this practice with an open heart and a mind free from expectation. Cultivate it correctly, and may you find the clarity and peace you seek.
Thank you for joining us. We hope this blog will be of great benefit to your spiritual journey.
May you all be well and happy.
May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you all!
