Having Fulfilled and Not Having Fulfilled One’s Duty Towards The Ascetics (Ordained Practitioners)

Monks, last night, when the night had advanced, a number of heavenly beings of stunning beauty, illuminating the entire Jeta’s Grove, approached me, paid homage (respect) to me, and stood to one side.

Those heavenly beings then said: In the past, Venerable Sir, when we were human beings, Monks approached our homes. We rose up for them but did not pay homage (respect) to them. Not having fulfilled our duty, full of regret and remorse, we were reborn in an inferior class [of heavenly beings].

Some other heavenly beings approached me and said: In the past, Venerable Sir, when we were human beings, Monks approached our homes. We rose up for them and paid homage (respect) to them, but we did not offer them seats. Not having fulfilled our duty, full of regret and remorse, we were reborn in an inferior class [of heavenly beings].

Some other heavenly beings approached me and said: In the past, Venerable Sir, when we were human beings, Monks approached our homes. We rose up for them, paid homage (respect) to them, and offered them seats, but we did not share things with them to the best of our ability and capacity … … we shared things with them to the best of our ability and capacity, but we did not sit close by to listen to The Teachings … … we sat close by to listen to The Teachings, but we did not listen to it with eager ears … … we listened to it with eager ears, but having heard it, we did not retain The Teachings in mind … … having heard it, we retained The Teachings in mind, but we did not examine the meaning of The Teachings that had been retained in mind … … we examined the meaning of The Teachings that had been retained in mind, but we did not understand the meaning of The Teachings and then practice in accordance with The Teachings. Not having fulfilled our duty, full of regret and remorse, we were reborn in an inferior class [of heavenly beings].

Some other heavenly beings approached me and said: In the past, Venerable Sir, when we were human beings, Monks approached our homes. We rose up for them, paid homage (respect) to them, offered them seats, and shared things with them to the best of our ability and capacity. We sat close by to listen to The Teachings and listened to it with eager ears; having heard it, we retained The Teachings in mind; we examined the meaning of The Teachings that had been retained in mind; and we understood the meaning of The Teachings and then practiced in accordance with The Teachings. Having fulfilled our duty, free of regret and remorse, we were reborn in a superior class [of heavenly beings].

These are the feet of trees, Monks, these are empty huts. Meditate, Monks, do not be complacent. Do not have cause to regret it later, like those prior heavenly beings.

(Reference: AN 9.19)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how human beings who were complacent in their learning and practice of these Teachings were reborn into an inferior class of heavenly beings due to lacking determination, dedication, and diligence to develop their life practice based on The Teachings of The Buddha.

But, human beings who were not complacent in their learning and practice of these Teachings were reborn into a superior class of heavenly beings due to their determination, dedication, and diligence to develop their life practice based on The Teachings of The Buddha.

Can you explain complacency and how to eliminate it from the mind?

Complacency is a hindrance to Enlightenment and will obstruct an individual from attaining this mental state.

Complacency is experienced in the mind where it is dull, lethargic, and unmotivated, it will hinder a Practitioner from the attainment of Enlightenment.

Complacency includes: being disinterested to learn and practice The Teachings of The Buddha. This can be experienced as a disinterest to read books, come to classes, seek guidance from a Teacher, meditate, etc. The Buddha describes complacency to the point where, if the mind experiences an unwholesome thought/idea/feeling and the Practitioner does nothing about it, then the mind is complacent. What a Practitioner is taught to do on The Path to Enlightenment is to “cut off and let go” of all unwholesome thoughts/ideas/feelings, therefore, if one does nothing about an unwholesome thought/idea/feelings, the mind is complacent.

Again, this will hinder an individual from the attainment of Enlightenment, which is a purification of the mind.

If the mind is unEnlightened, then there is the fetter/taint/pollution of mind described as ignorance (unknowing of true reality) still in the mind. A Practitioner does not understand things as they truly are, the mind lacks wisdom of The Natural Laws of Existence. This is an all encompassing pollution of mind and is the last one that will be eliminated from the mind prior to Enlightenment.

As long as one’s mind is unEnlightened, it does not have the needed wisdom to attain Enlightenment because it is not yet practicing The Teachings (i.e. The Natural Laws of Existence), thus, there is ignorance, confusion, misunderstanding, misperception, a lack of wisdom, or “the unknowing of true reality” still in the mind. Ignorance is eliminated through learning, reflecting (i.e. independently verifying), and practicing The Teachings of The Buddha to acquire wisdom. Wisdom is just the opposite of “the unknowing of true reality” and will eradicate the mind’s fetter/taint/pollution of mind described as ignorance.

While ignorance is involved in all the fetters/taints/pollutions, the fetters that are directly involved in complacency are “Doubt” and “Sensual Desire”.

The mind doubts The Teachings of The Buddha and their ability to guide an individual to Enlightenment. And, the mind is having sensual desire, in that, it is holding on to certain things with craving/desire/attachment being unmotivated to learn and practice The Teachings while also indulging in unwholesome thoughts/ideas/feelings.

Doubt (Elimination of doubts about The Teachings and the ability of them to attain Enlightenment. Confidence in The Buddha, The Teachings, The Community, your Teacher, and your own ability to attain Enlightenment.)

Sensual desire (Elimination of the desire for pleasures from The Six Sense Bases: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and the mind.)

There is a remedy, or solution to eliminate complacency, that can be implemented to ensure the mind is able to overcome this obstacle and continue its journey to Enlightenment.

The solution is to practice The Eight Fold Path to include, the Enlightenment factors of investigation, energy, and joy from The Seven Factors of Enlightenment. The Enlightenment factors of investigation, energy, and joy are just the opposites of the dullness, lethargy, and lack of motivation that exists in the mind during the time of complacency. Some older texts use the phrase “sloth and torpor” for complacency but, “complacency” is a much better way to understand this aspect of the unEnlightened mind with language we use today.

Investigation: (Dedicated examination, exploration, research, study, and questioning to learn The Teachings.)

Energy: (Effort, determination, ambition, initiative, motivation, vigor, and enthusiasm; willingness to do something.)

Joy: (Pleased and delighted not associated with any specific object; unconditioned gladness; the Practitioner is not attaining it by craving/desire/attachment.)

Meditate, Monks, do not be complacent, lest you will regret it later. This is my instruction to you. (Reference: SN 43.1)

You can learn more about complacency and its remedy using these resources.

Volume 1 - Chapter 3 and the recorded classes where I teach The Five Hindrances, this is one of those.

Free Books - The Words of The Buddha

https://www.buddhadailywisdom.com/freebuddhabooks

The Five Hindrances & The Seven Factors of Enlightenment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t6VKPshUn0