Categories: Maintaining Mindfulness
May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you all! Today, as we continue our spiritual exploration, I wish to share a insight about the nature of the mind a quality you can recognize through the practice of mindfulness. As we develop the mind and establish mindfulness, we begin to notice certain patterns.
Whether we are moving through society, living our family life, interacting with friends, or at our workplace, there is something that a mindful person consistently begins to detect: the nature of their own mind, and its flaws.
Simply put, you start to see your own faults. As you practice the method taught by the Buddha, you will inevitably encounter this stage. The practice begins to show you your own errors, one by one. Things you always believed were right, ways you thought you were correct in every situation these convictions begin to crumble.
If you held the attitude that you were always right, you might now be arriving at a place where you can admit, ‘No, I was wrong.’ In a disagreement or conflict, you might now recognize, ‘I was the one at fault there.’ This realization happens because of your mindfulness. It is due to what is called Sati Sampajañña mindful awareness with clear comprehension that you begin to see these hidden aspects of yourself. Without this practice, they remain invisible.
External Events, Internal Reactions: Where Does the Disturbance Truly Lie?
As you continue this practice over time, you will come to a profound understanding. You will see that no matter how many injustices, faults, or unfair situations occur in the external world, their impact is felt in one place: your own mind. Consider an example: suppose you face an injustice in society.
You suffer a loss, perhaps a significant one. Where do you feel that loss? If you observe with simple mindfulness, you will understand that the feeling arises in your mind, in your consciousness. The mind feels it intensely. The event was external, but the injustice happened to you, and the resulting feeling a shock, a sadness, a sorrow arises within.
If you look at this situation mindfully, you can see how an external fault highlights something dormant within you. Let’s take it a step further. Imagine you are walking down the street and witness an injustice happening to someone else. You find it difficult to bear. You, as an observer, see the unfairness clearly. In today’s world, you don’t even need to be there; you can see such events constantly on the internet, on platforms like Facebook. People record and share these incidents widely.
Think about how many people watch these videos and, seeing the injustice, not only support the victim but also use terrible language against the perpetrators. They use harsh, abusive, or obscene words. The provocative state that arises in their minds is expressed in the comments section. Witnessing something happen to a stranger brings out this intense reaction. If you were to face such a situation in person, that inner provocation could even lead to a physical fight or, in the extreme, a homicide. These things can happen.
For a wise person, for someone practicing mindfulness as taught by the Buddha and cultivating Sati Sampajañña, these situations offer a powerful opportunity to examine the mind. Whether you are on YouTube or Facebook, browsing social media, you see all kinds of news and world events. As you watch, observe your own mind. Does a shock arise within you? Does it trigger intense anger, lust, or a state of agitation? This is a key part of understanding the internal source of suffering.
The Trap of Comparison: Envy and the ‘Luxury Life’
Social media also presents another test. You see actors, celebrities, and influencers living beautiful lives, going to hotels, and sharing details of their family life. They film everything except the most intimate moments. Even a simple phone call is recorded and posted. These videos get millions of views.
When you see these things people enjoying a ‘luxury life’ with their spouses and children in lavish hotels do you feel sadness that you don’t have that? Look at your mind. Do you feel envy for what another person is experiencing? Here lies a powerful opportunity to examine your own mind. You can see how things in society can become tools for self-reflection.
If you see these feelings arising jealousy, sadness that you don’t have such possessions it reveals the presence of what we call kilesas, or mental defilements. A young person sees another with a new bike or a beautiful car. Does their mind, looking at that, feel sorrow? Do they feel sad about their inability to acquire such things? If you look with mindfulness, you will see it. Inevitably, in these situations, a feeling of sadness or sorrow does arise.
This is the nature of the mind, not just in the human world but even in the celestial realms. For any human who has not attained a stage of awakening or truly understood the mind, this is the natural reaction. Look with sharp mindfulness to see if this happens to you.
You might catch yourself thinking, ‘It’s true. My mind does feel this sorrow, this sadness. I feel regret that I can’t get those things. No matter how hard I work, how much I struggle, I can’t enjoy that. I can’t buy that car, that bike, that helmet. I can’t afford the accessories to make it beautiful. I don’t have the money.’
These thoughts, and the painful feelings that come with them, arise within you. When you see someone else has these things, does jealousy arise? Or do you feel genuine goodwill, wishing them even more success? Reflect on this. Only by looking with mindfulness can you catch it. Those who have been practicing this will have already noticed it.
A Lesson from the Classroom: How Jealousy Takes Root
This tendency toward jealousy can be overwhelming. I have met many schoolchildren, particularly girls in all-girls schools, who cannot bear the jealousy they feel. In the competitive education system, there are students who always get high marks and come first or second in the class. Imagine a student who is always first. One term, by some chance, she comes in third, and another student takes the top spot.
I have seen countless cases where the student who lost her position cannot bear it. You have likely seen the tragic results of this on the news. What does this child do? She might hide or destroy the other student’s notebooks, trying to sabotage her opportunity to learn. This happens frequently in prestigious schools in major cities.
Why does a person reach this state? It is because they have no way of recognizing the jealousy and miserliness the kilesas within their own minds. An external event causes them to be deeply shaken and tormented. Why can’t we think, ‘Oh, she should also have a chance to be first’? Why is this generosity absent from our minds? In today’s society, some school principals and teachers not all, but some foster this competitive mindset.
The child might become an educated person, but they become a person full of envy and jealousy, lacking moral values. This is how we create a generation that can lead a country to ruin. No matter how educated they are, if they lack virtue, their knowledge is useless. A person without a sense of right and wrong, even a scientist, can use their intellect to create nuclear weapons or other instruments of destruction.
If that same scientist understood the harm, that this creates bad karma, that it is wrong to create things that kill beings, their knowledge could be directed toward the betterment of humanity. But without virtue, the intellect is often used for harm. This is what we must understand. If we don’t teach children about wholesome and unwholesome actions, about virtue, some may even be driven to suicide over academic pressures. This is why we must teach these principles.
The Buddha’s Insight on Desire: It’s Not Them, It’s You
So, we must understand from all this that when the student came in first, and the other student couldn’t bear it, the fault was not with the external event. The fault was internal. Her own mind was not developed to withstand it. As I explain this further, the points I have made will become clearer to you. The Buddha illustrated this from a particular angle with a verse: ‘Na te kāmā yāni citrāni loke, saṅkappa rāgo purisassa kāmo.’ You can look up this verse and its deeper meaning. I will explain it simply.
In society today, we see women wearing various styles of clothing, some of which are very revealing. In major cities and among affluent families, this has become normal. But for someone who has never seen this, perhaps someone from a village or a more traditional family, it can be a strange sight. When some men see a woman dressed this way, a signal of lust, or rāga, arises in them.
It can become overwhelming. The Buddha presented that verse to explain this phenomenon. The meaning is this: the fact that the woman came dressed that way is true, and it is not illegal in this country or any other. But the lust arose in your mind. If we thought the woman was the problem, then to get rid of our lust, we would have to kill her.
That is pointless. Or we would have to kill every woman who dresses that way, or destroy all such clothes. We can’t do that. It is a person’s human right to dress as they choose, though dressing appropriately for the occasion is another matter. If looking at her gives rise to lust, the fault lies within you.
The problem is in your mind. This is what the Buddha pointed out in that verse. The internal source of suffering is not out there; it is in here. An arahant, a fully liberated one, could look at the same scene and feel nothing. No lust would arise. It’s just a natural phenomenon to them. To someone who understands the mind, there is no magic in it. A woman’s body has a certain shape, with minor variations in size. That is all. It is no magical thing to an enlightened being. Therefore, they always look at their own mind.
Practical Mindfulness: Transforming Anger and Lust
As someone on this path, you too can practice this. If you are a man listening to this, and you find that lust arises when you see attractive or revealingly dressed women, understand this: no matter how she is dressed, even if she were naked, there is no lust inherent in her. The lust is entirely within you. To think that she *causes* your lust is pure foolishness.
A person can be completely covered, like a Muslim woman in a burqa, but for the man in whom lust arises, it will still arise. Perhaps it will be triggered just by her eyes. A signal will arise in your mind: ‘There is a woman inside that clothing.’ And lust can arise even for her eyes alone. Remember, lust doesn’t just arise for the body; it can arise for the eyes, ears, or voice. It is connected to all five senses. And it arises within your mind.
The Buddha taught this practical Dhamma over 2,500 years ago: the fault is not in the external world; the fault is within us. So, how do we practice with this? When someone scolds you, and you feel anger arising from their words, realize the fault is within you. Their words are just sounds, but you have a reaction to them. Your mind constructs a response: ‘I have to scold him back, or he will think I’m a coward.’
These thoughts are all generated within your own mind, based on the social conditioning you’ve absorbed since childhood. The fault is yours. The victory is when you can refrain from getting angry in that moment. Anger doesn’t just appear naturally; it is triggered. A contractor sees his workers doing a poor job, and anger arises. In all these cases, the anger arises in the mind. You must watch it: ‘Ah, anger has arisen in me.’
If you see a driver driving recklessly, like a slithering snake, what can you do? You cannot fix the country’s laws or that person in that moment. You might ask, ‘Venerable Sir, if the fault is within me, how should I respond to injustice?’ The answer is this: normally, you would call the police (dial 119) filled with intense hatred.
But can you take the lawful action without the hatred? Can you call 119 and calmly report, ‘That driver is driving dangerously,’ simply to uphold the law? That is action without anger. Even the Buddha worked within the legal frameworks of the kings of his time. Ordinary people report crimes out of anger. An enlightened being acts out of compassion, without any aversion, to uphold the law for the good of society. You too can train your mind in this way through mindfulness.
Everyday Practice: Observing the Mind at Home and on the Street
You can apply this in all aspects of your daily life. Consider a conflict between a husband and wife. A wife is scolding her husband, and he is actually innocent. This is a great opportunity for practice. As the husband, just listen to what she is saying. Watch how much anger arises in you.
Does your mind tell you to shout back? What arguments does your mind present to prove your innocence? Just watch all of this. As you continue to watch, her words, spoken without cause, will eventually cease. If you practice this every time she gets angry, your mind will gradually become less and less reactive. Eventually, she could scold you for an hour, two hours, or even a whole day, and as a practitioner observing your mind, no anger toward her will arise. A wife can use this same method.
Likewise, when you are on the street and lust arises upon seeing someone, as I explained, don’t blame the woman. Even if her underwear is visible, do not blame her. There is no fault in her. As a follower of the Buddha’s practical path, see that the lust is arising in your own mind. When you see her, watch the lust that arises for her with sharp mindfulness.
Does your mind want to behave lustfully with her? What scenarios does your mind present? When you are on the bus or the street, does your mind want to turn and look again and again? Does the mind direct the eye, that sense door, to turn toward that object? Watch this closely. As you watch, you will feel the burning and pain of your own lust, the way your hormones activate, and the way your body reacts.
You will see for yourself: ‘The lust is in me, not in her. She could come naked, and there is no lust in her. It is only in me.’ Once you understand this and practice with it for days, months, a significant period, then no matter how anyone is dressed, you will no longer feel a special lust that makes you turn your head. That defilement will be greatly reduced, and eventually, it can be eliminated entirely. Your mind can reach this state.
Conclusion: The World Is Not Wrong, The Fault Is Within You
Throughout this teaching, you may now understand what I have explained in different ways before: there is no fault in the external world. The world is not wrong. The people, the animals, nature none of them are wrong. You can see now how we create a world through our five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. The whole world exists within us.
All the faults are within us. By now, you should be able to grasp that there are no faults outside; they are only within oneself. I have used various contemporary examples to demonstrate this.
This is something you can experience for yourself, whether you live abroad, work a job in Sri Lanka, attend a university, or go to school. This applies to everyone, because everyone has these tendencies. You can correct them.
It is not impossible. As I said, if it were, I would not be teaching this. Therefore, there is no fault in external society. The fault lies with you. This should now be confirmed for you. I will not prolong this teaching further. Please continue to engage practically with the methods I have mentioned at the end.
I conclude this teaching, titled ‘There is no external fault; the fault is within, let us recognize it with mindfulness.’ Through the power of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha the Triple Gem may you all gain the ability to understand these points clearly and to apply mindfulness in your lives. May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you all!
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!
