Direct Knowledge for A Sick One

Monks, if five things do not slip away from a weak and sick Monk, it can be predicted of him: In no long time, with the destruction of the taints, he will realize for himself with direct knowledge (experience), in this very life, the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, and having entered upon it, he will reside in it.

What five?

Here, a Monk resides reflecting on the unattractiveness of the body, perceiving the dissatisfaction of food, perceiving non-excitement in the entire world, reflecting on impermanence in all conditioned objects; and he has the perception of death well established internally.

If these five things do not slip away from a weak and sick Monk, it can be predicted of him: In no long time, with the destruction of the taints, he will realize for himself with direct knowledge (experience), in this very life, the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, and having entered upon it, he will reside in it.

(Reference: AN 5.121)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares here are “five things” that need to be retained in the mind and if they “do not slip away” when “weak and sick” that one will experience for themselves the Enlightened mind.

1.) Unattractiveness of the body: The fetter/taint/pollution in the mind of “sensual desire” is one of the most challenging aspects of the mind to eliminate on The Path to Enlightenment. One of the strongest cravings/desires/attachments the mind has related to sensual desire is the craving for sexual contact. In order to attain the third or fourth Stage of Enlightenment, a Practitioner would need to eliminate the fetter/taint of sensual desire which includes the elimination of sexual contact. When or if a Practitioner decides to do this is their personal choice.

A Practitioner progressing on this path might decide to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings progressing to the first or second Stage of Enlightenment where discontentedness is significantly reduced and one’s mind and life is quite peaceful while still retaining sexual contact. In the first and second Stages of Enlightenment a Practitioner would not yet have eliminated the fetter/taint of sensual desire and could choose to approach this at a later time.

Once a Practitioner has decided to eliminate sensual desire, thus sexual contact, a technique used to train the mind to accomplish this goal is to develop “unattractiveness of the body”.

The reason human beings have craving for sexual contact is instinctive but also driven by the mind’s ignorance/delusion/unknowing of true reality as it relates to many topics including being able to see the body as it truly is. The unEnlightened mind does not see the human body as it truly is. We see the beautified hair, clothing, jewelry, skin, makeup, etc. and are driven to chase pleasant feelings associated with the sense base of the body - the mind is triggered to chase after bodily contact for sexual intercourse.

Through training the mind to see true reality, thus, the “unattractiveness of the human body” this would involve observing the body as it truly is without the beautified hair, clothing, jewelry, skin, makeup, etc. The techniques employed to develop this are found in the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1) and you can seek guidance with a Teacher to help you establish this in the mind when ready.

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

2.) Dissatisfaction of food: With the fetter/taint/pollution in the mind of “sensual desire” being one of the most challenging aspects of the mind to eliminate on The Path to Enlightenment as described related to sexual contact, another strong sensual desire in the mind is the craving/desire/attachment to food.

While the mind needs food to sustain one’s life, oftentimes the unEnlightened mind develops mental longing and strong eagerness for specific types of food that if they are not acquired, the mind is discontent.

A Practitioner will need to train the mind to eliminate any mental longing with a strong eagerness towards specific foods and train the mind that food is purely to sustain the health of the physical body. There is no other purpose for food.

This does not mean that one cannot enjoy a good tasting meal, but if the mind finds happiness, excitement, elation (pleasant feelings) based on this impermanent condition, then when that impermanent condition does not exist, the mind will experience discontentedness of painful feelings like sadness, anger, frustration, irritation, annoyance, anxiety, stress, etc.

To eradicate the discontentedness associated with craving/desire/attachment to specific foods, one will need to understand and train the mind to observe contentedness no matter what food is available to eat. Ordained Practitioners collect food from Household Practitioners on alms rounds where they can only eat what food is given. They do not have any choice in the foods they ingest at a given meal. But Household Practitioners choose their own food so you will need to employ your own discipline to eliminate any cravings/desires/attachments to specific foods.

One way a person might choose to do this is through having someone else choose their food for them for an extended period of time, 6-12 months, giving a person full range to select foods that are healthy yet not influenced by your personal choices. During this time, observe the mind and whether it is pulling towards any specific foods and if it becomes discontent when specific foods are not available. If you observe this, then you know there is craving/desire/attachment to specific foods and one should train the mind to distance itself from those foods for a period of time training it to ingest food for the sole purpose of maintaining the health of the physical body until the mind has fully eliminated the craving/desire/attachment for specific foods.

You can seek guidance from your Teacher on other options and ideas for eliminating cravings/desires/attachments to food to thin then eliminate the fetter/taint of sensual desire.

Additionally, the mind can understand “dissatisfaction of food” as understanding that as it relates to a discontent mind, food is not the solution. Oftentimes when the mind is unwell experiencing pleasant feelings, painful feelings, or feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant, a human being will eat food in an attempt to cure the unwelcomed feelings. The mind needs to understand that emotional eating is not the solution to solving the discontentedness that exists in the mind cultivating “dissatisfaction of food” or in other words “understanding that food is not the solution” to the discontentedness experienced in the unEnlightened mind.

3.) Non-excitement in the entire world: There are many enticing and alluring pleasures in the world that the mind may have come accustomed to finding happiness, excitement, and elation in while unaware it was causing its own discontentedness off The Path to Enlightenment. Once a Practitioner understands the cause of the discontent mind is craving/desire/attachment, they will need to “let go” of the entire world to attain Enlightenment choosing to not seek or chase excitement in the world developing “non-excitement in the entire world”.

This does not mean that one needs to eliminate relationships, occupations, possessions, etc. It just means the mind needs to eliminate the “mental longing with a strong eagerness” that exists in the mind towards relationships, occupations, possessions, etc. learning how to practice non-craving, non-desire, and non-attachment. In this way, the mind can be trained to experience unconditioned joy. Unconditioned joy is not associated with impermanent objects, so the Practitioner is not attaining it by craving/desire/ attachment and, therefore, unconditioned joy is permanent.

Practicing non-attachment does not mean one needs to eliminate relationships, occupations, or possessions necessarily. Non-attachment means that one needs to “let go” of the longing with strong eagerness in the mind that it is chasing after the objects of its affection. One can still enjoy relationships, occupations, and possessions while on The Path to Enlightenment and once Enlightened. But if the mind is chasing after sensual desires through craving/desire/attachment/wants/expectations etc. then it will cause itself to experience discontentedness.

The unEnlightened mind will oftentimes remedy boredom or loneliness with chasing after pleasant feelings. It also tends to chase pleasant feelings anytime it experiences painful feelings. Existing in the world and enjoying life activities is not the problem. The problem is the mind chases after the objects of its affection, obsessing over what it wants, and if it does not acquire the objects of its affection will then experience painful feelings or feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant. The mind does not realize that permanent peacefulness and joy cannot be found in chasing after impermanent objects. This is the unEnlightened mind’s ignorance/delusion/unknowing of true reality keeping it trapped in the unEnlightened state.

The unEnlightened mind will oftentimes attempt to control people and situations in the world thinking that is going to remedy the discontent mind, but it never does. Instead, the true problem lies in the defilement of craving/desire/attachment where the mind is longing for excitement and pleasures in the world.

Training the mind to be peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy permanently is to train the mind to be “satisfied with what is”. The mind cannot permanently experience heightened excited experiences and if the mind longs for excited feelings in the world, then at some point it is going to crash into sadness, anger, or worse.

Training the mind to “let go” of pursuing excitement in the world which would condition the mind to only experience happiness, excitement, and elation based on some impermanent condition, means that as excitement arises, a wise Practitioner will cut it off and let it go so that the mind can be inwardly peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy no longer basing its internal feelings on impermanent conditions. This will develop “non-excitement in the entire world”.

Additionally, some Practitioners will oftentimes be holding on to the world so tightly that their craving/desire/attachment to the world itself causes discontentedness. The mind can worry about all the problems in the world seeing so much harm being caused by human beings. If the mind has craving/desire/attachment for things to happen a certain way in the world and those things are not happening the way the mind “wants”, then it will cause itself to be discontent.

Instead, the mind can have loving-kindness and compassion for “all beings” in the world not wanting, expecting, or desiring for things to be a certain way, but coming to realize that each individual is making their own decisions and it is impossible for you to control those decisions. All you can do is train the mind to be unaffected by others’ intentions, speech, actions, and livelihoods. Have compassion that others are lacking the wisdom, moral conduct, and mental discipline to learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings to experience the results of an Enlightened mind that is peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy - permanently.

A worried mind sees the problems and is discontent.

A concerned mind sees the solutions to the problems and is content.

The solution to the world’s problems is for everyone to learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings. But when or if an individual chooses to do that is their own choice. If a Practitioner craves/desires/attaches/wants/expects this to happen when they want it and how they want it, it will never happen in that way and, thus, the mind is attached to a certain outcome and will cause itself to be discontent. The mind is not liberated experiencing freedom. Instead, it is burdened by the craving that is causing the painful feelings from seeing all the harm in the world wanting things to be different but lacking the ability to truly implement any change for everyone in the world. All you can do is focus on your own learning, reflecting, and practice of these Teachings allowing each individual to make their own decisions and experience the results therein. That is their Kamma - the results of their decisions.

As long as the mind is attached to what the world is or is not doing, the mind is not liberated experiencing freedom. Instead, it is trapped in this Cycle of Rebirth continuously experiencing untold amount of discontentedness because things are not occurring in the way the mind “wants”. Let go….the world will be fine. Seek your own liberation of mind by practicing “non-excitement in the entire world” training the mind to “let go” of the world.

Cultivate and practice loving-kindness and compassion for “all beings” in the entire world.

Loving-kindness: is active goodwill towards all beings without judgment. A genuine interest in seeing all beings be well.

Compassion: is concern for the misfortunes of others.

4.) Impermanence in all conditioned objects: Understanding The Universal Truth of Impermanence in all conditioned objects is a fundamental and core Teaching required to get started on The Path to Enlightenment and to make any sort of progress in the direction of Enlightenment.

This Teaching can be found in the chapter “The Four Noble Truths: Establishing Right View” (Chapter 4) in the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1) of this same book series. Please see the content for learning, reflecting, and practicing this Teaching in that book.

5.) Perception of death: Please see the book “Walking The Path with The Buddha” (Volume 2 - Chapter 34) to understand the development of the perception of death.

If these five aspects of the mind are retained, along with a well developed practice of The Eight Fold Path through seeking guidance with a Teacher, a Practitioner can be predicted to attain Enlightenment in this life. Through cultivation of the entire Path to Enlightenment, a mind can be trained to experience liberation.