Chapter Seven

Can a caterpillar be perfect ?

In the previous chapters, I have talked about the host mind and its visitors, alternatively, the state of sanity and insanity. I also talked about viewing the world from the head or the secondary experience and viewing the world from the heart or the primary experience, alternatively innocent perception.

First of all, I would like to go into a bit more detail about viewing the world from the head or secondary experience. What do I mean by secondary experience ? In my previous chapter, I only talked about uttering the names of objects we perceive as far as viewing the world from the head is concerned. In this chapter, we go into a bit more depth about secondary knowledge.

To understand the secondary knowledge, we must listen to what the Buddha explains to us about the three ways of acquiring knowledge. According to the Buddha, there are three ways of gaining knowledge. They are:

1) Sutamaya-panna; knowledge that is learnt from others.

2) Cintamaya-panna; knowledge that is thought out.

3) Bhavanamaya-panna; knowledge that is gained by mental development.

As far as the intellectual world is concerned, we use the first two ways to gain more knowledge. Reading is a way we acquire knowledge from others, therefore it isn't first hand knowledge and quite often not second hand either. It could pass through hundreds or even thousands of hands before it reaches us. The knowledge of the people in the past becomes the stepping stones for later generations. Our knowledge nowadays will become the stepping stones for future knowledge. Those who read extensively may appear to be knowledgeable simply because they have a lot in their memory box. They can hardly claim that the knowledge belongs to them. Teachers and lecturers are simply the people who read more in their own field of knowledge and transfer this to their pupils.

People read and absorb different levels of the knowledge which the authors wished to pass on. Some can comprehend less knowledge than the authors, some can comprehend exactly the same level of knowledge as the authors but some can comprehend more knowledge than the authors had offered.

The different levels in absorbing knowledge lie in the Cintamaya-panna. Some people can read a book and do not think any further than what the book says whilst others can think and relate this knowledge to other information already stored in their memory box and can create new knowledge of their own. To be able to think out one's own knowledge or Cintamaya-panna, initially one has to read extensively (Suttamaya-panna) and be able to retain the information in the memory. Mind mapping is a way to assist people to maintain better memory as well as to retrieve the memory when it is needed. Those who read more and have a big memory or a good mind map will have a higher ability to think out their own knowledge. Vice versa, those who read less will have a very limited ability to think out their own knowledge. This is simply a process of mental concoction. However, when these two abilities, Suttamaya-panna and Cintamaya-panna blend in together, it will create a unique intellectual in one's own field of knowledge. The more often people use their thoughts, the better they will become. These people's brains (I would rather call it thinking function) will become very sharp and very quick to respond to whatever they want to work out. Mathematicians can work out complicated sums or equations at a speed that others can't. Artists can always see the outcome of the creation in their minds even before any work begins. We like to say that if we don't use our brain, it will become rusty and will become slower than those who constantly use theirs. This fact encourages a lot of people to do something so that they can get their brain working and not let it become rusty.

Some unique individuals can be extremely intelligent, a genius and fascinating. They are able to think about things which others can't even follow, let alone understand. However, people can only have talents in their own field of knowledge, from academic to entertaining. A humble housewife may not be able to follow what is going on in the intellectual world but she can be very talented in her house work and cooking. She would be able to offer different useful tips and shortcuts in doing different things around the house. Most men find that what seems to be easily done by their wives is a total disaster for them. Recently, I went to visit a Thai friend of mine who came to the UK a few months earlier and she showed me her new invention in her bathroom. Since there was no shower, she got herself a tap mixer with a shower on the end. I am sure we all know that they are useless. The water never mixes very well and the water never comes out in the way we want. My friend tried to think of a way to mix the hot and cold water, ignoring the shower. Finally, she came up with the ingenious idea of using a long plastic bottle, two holes upwards to fit in with the two taps, one big hole in the middle downward for the mixed water to come down in her bucket. With a plastic scoop, she can have her Thai bath which is the way we scoop up water and pour it onto our body. It uses much less water than filling the whole bath tub up. Thai people do not like the idea of soaking in a bath tub. However, I was very impressed with her invention ! There is no need to mention all the names of talented people. Apart from those famous ones, we also often bump into one from time to time. Nowadays, we even try to create a genius from a very young age or even while the baby is still in the womb.

At this stage, I would like to make a blunt statement that the knowledge resulting from Suttamaya-panna and Cintamaya-panna is secondary knowledge. Even though that knowledge is based on facts, has been scientifically proven to be correct as in physics, biology, chemistry, astonomy, etc. and we all benefit from it, we still call it secondary knowledge. What makes it secondary is because they go through the process of the mind's function. It merely indicates the mental manner of delving into our tubes of thoughts, in other words, using the faculty of thoughts. That is the process of reading, gathering information, creating a mind map, retrieving memory and trying to think out new knowledge by relating it to different information. This is the natural process of learning and acquiring new knowledge which leads to all kinds of creations, inventions and ends up with high technology such as we have now. Thought is a gift from God and is there for us to use. I have to use the term secondary knowledge so that I can compare this to what I want to talk later about Bhavanamaya-panna, the knowledge resulting from mental development.

The term secondary knowledge may have negative implications but that is not the case at all as I have explained. It is the way which people use their knowledge which can be for positive or negative reasons. Some knowledge turns out to be quite positive and even indispensable as far as our well-being is concerned such as: medicine, hygiene, weather forecasts and so on. On the contrary, some knowledge can be used in the most destructive way and harms all humanity and even the planet we live on. That is the knowledge which leads to the building of weapons, intoxicants, drugs and so on. This is the reason why intellectual knowledge has to go hand in hand with spiritual knowledge. That is because the intellectual knowledge resulting from Suttamaya-panna and Cintamaya-panna does not involve the issues of the ultimate purpose of life along with the means to that objective whilst Bhavanamaya-panna is linked directly to this important issue of life.

Bhavanmaya-panna is the knowledge resulting from mental development. This can be a bit difficult to understand because it is a totally new concept to the western mind. One may ask questions like: what exactly is mental development; how it can be practised and what exactly is the knowledge one can gain from it ? Well, first of all, we must know that this way of gaining knowledge does not come from reading, nor thinking like the other two ways. Alternatively this is the way of gaining knowledge without the help of the brain function or using the faculty of thought. This can be a rather shocking idea for western people who adore the use of their brain. And the ultimate answer to the last question has to be gaining the knowledge of how to end human suffering as in birth, ageing, illness and death and therefore, not just any knowledge. That's why the Buddha didn't talk about the weather, the stars, planets, medicine, etc. His knowledge pinpoints one definite area which is about how to end mental suffering. According to the Budddha, this handful of knowledge is the priority and has the utmost significance to our lives.

Once the Buddha and his disciples were walking past a forest. The Buddha bent down and grabbed a handful of leaves in his hand. He then asked his disciples which had more leaves; those in his hand or those on the forest ground. One of his disciples answered that those on the forest ground were definitely more than those in his hand. The Buddha then said that likewise, the knowledge he knew was as much as those leaves on the forest ground but what he taught was only a handful.

It is this definite objective which conditions the means to the end result. And to guarantee the correct objective, we are not allowed to use our brain function. Once we go into that area of knowledge by means of mental development, we find that the knowledge we have achieved is not limited to only curbing mental suffering as claimed but affects absolutely everything else from our inner universe as thoughts and feelings to the end of the outer universe as well as the unknown knowledge of the law of karma and reincarnation, etc.

There is always no easy way to explain this part of the Buddha's knowledge because we are dealing with the ultimate function of our life form which is thought. That's why it needs to be explained over and over from different angles and by using different metaphors and parables for better understanding. I would like to ask readers to be patient with me.

Basically, Bhavanamaya-panna is about the knowledge resulting from seeing the host mind, the frame of mind which has no trace of thoughts or visitors. The trouble is in trying to see the host mind; one cannot achieve this by way of thinking at all. That is because the host mind and the thought overlap each other.

Let's suppose an unclaimed seat or the empty space of a chair is the host mind and a person who sits on it is a thought. So, when a person sits on the chair, the chair will lose its emptiness right away. Likewise, once the thought comes into the mind, the host mind will disappear too. This is the reason we cannot use our thoughts to know the host mind; in other words, we cannot achieve the state of host mind by way of thinking. As far as the technique of reaching the host mind is concerned, initially, every trace of thought has to be eradicated. If the readers can follow, they will know that we are talking about the ultimate entity of our existence. The issue here isn't about the use of our thoughts but we are questioning the thought itself.

If we are going to give a scale to the whole process of learning from beginning to the end, let's suppose that thought is no.1 and the end result as high technology is no.10. Intellectual people use no.1 right away without any questioning but the Buddha's knowledge questions no. 1 itself first. Metaphorically speaking, some people see a pair of glasses, pick them up, put them over their eyes and see through them right away whilst some people will inspect them to see whether they have any damage or not before using them. This is what this issue is about. The Buddha inspected the thought itself first and he found out that no.1 is faulty. Consequently he went beyond no.1 to zero. The Buddha's enlightenment was the direct result of seeing the zero. He then realised that zero was what everyone must know. All his teaching therefore, was about revealing zero to people. In trying to reveal zero to people, he had to use no.1 as a tool of communication. I don't know whether this example makes any sense to the readers or not. I simply want the readers to know the scale of detail we delve into.

However, once the host mind has been acknowledged and fully comprehended and the knower wants to tell people about it (the host mind), that person has to come back to use his or her thoughts or intellect as a means of communication. Otherwise, how can people learn about the host mind and its visitors at all ? I would like the readers to understand which stage we are talking about and not get mixed up. If we talk about the technique of meditation itself, all thoughts have to go out of the window. If we talk about the theory, the concept of Nibbana, the host mind and its visitors and even the technique of meditation, we have to use our thought or no.1. Thought is our mental organ, it is there for us to use for the purpose of communication, making plans for our life as well as think out new knowledge. This is the part where most people often get confused. When I talk about getting rid of all the thoughts, people cannot understand why and how they are going to live without using their thoughts. The confusion lies with the actual technique of meditation and the explanation about the technique of meditation.The host mind is quiet and empty and cannot explain itself.

The whole of the Buddha's teaching is the result of him using his thoughts and indeed his intellect. Being a prince to the throne, he was educated with all the necessary knowledge which was suitable for a future king. This intellectual knowledge became a great help to the Buddha in terms of planning his strategy for teaching after his ultimate enlightenment. The Buddha was the only person who could explain the path and the fruit in the most systematic way despise its difficulties. Every topic was categorised and carefully clarified. The bravest thing that the Buddha did was to abandon the concept of God entirely and create a totally new approach to the ultimate truth. This was what other holy people couldn't afford to do. Ever since ancient times, India has been a country which has always been inundated with the belief of Gods and Goddesses. It couldn't have been easy for the Buddha to propagate his teaching without having to rely on God. This could be the main reason for Buddhism to disappearing almost totally from India. The Buddha's followers, who had the ability to teach others, also had to be well equipped with different levels of Suttamaya-panna and Chintamaya-panna. Those, who read more and are clever in using their thoughts and language, can find better and quicker ways to explain about the host mind and its visitors to others. During the Buddha's time, on one hand, it was Pra-Salibutta, the Buddha's right hand disciple, who was reputable for having the highest wisdom. He could endlessly generate the Buddha's teaching. On the other hand, there were some followers, who knew the Buddha's teaching right to the core, who could not teach at all, simply because they didn't have the ability to use their intellect like others. All individual Buddhas (the ones who can reach the ultimate enlightenment without any help from others) cannot teach others. Some Pra-Arahants during the Buddha's time could utter only one sentence about the practice which lead to Nibbana. Some Taoists kept their mouths shut totally tight when people wanted them to describe Tao. If there is any utterance of words, it cannot be Tao. Finally, it is always beneficial for others if the teachers have a good means of communication as far as this practice is concerned.

Now, we know that we all have to use our thoughts or intellect anyway. The next question is the difference between those who know the host mind and its visitors and those who don't know. Those who don't know anything about the host mind and its visitors will tend to use their intellect or knowledge for the sake of fulfilling their curiosity which leads to building up to more or higher technology, hopefully for the sake of humanity's well-being but as I said earlier some knowledge can turn out to be very destructive. When the host mind is not seen, people will not know what the purpose of life is. This lack of the supreme knowledge can make life become messy and painful whilst searching for more intellectual knowledge. As for those who know about the host mind and its visitors, they will only use their intellect for the sake of making people know the best thing in the world and that is how to end their mental suffering.

Metaphorically speaking, the way that we try to develop our thoughts and perfect our intellect is very much like trying to create a fatter caterpillar or a nice, cosy and safe holosuit to live in. And the way that we try to achieve the ultimate purpose of life, seeing and maintaining the host mind, is like trying to make this caterpillar become a butterfly or trying to exit the program which creates the hologram so that we can come out into reality. This is a fact about our lives that we cannot afford to ignore because we will be living in the dark for as long as it takes. We are not talking about just one life time; this is when the concept of re-incarnation begins to make some sense. As long as our soul cannot be totally free, we still have to come back and swim along this realm of samsara or re-incarnation until we are lucky enough to meet someone who can tell us about the host mind and its visitors, about the path and the fruit. All this knowledge has been recorded in Buddhism only and only lucky people can truly understand it. One must not take this too lightly.

Once this is understood, I will go into a bit more detail about gaining knowledge from Bhavanamaya-panna. I would like to remind the readers that we are now talking about the actual techniques of meditation. The word Bhavana means practice. The practice involves two different stages with two different techniques.

The first technique is called samadha-bhavana meaning the process of calming down the activity of thoughts (or brain if we believe thoughts are the result of the lumps of grey matter.) The second technique is called vipassana-bhavana meaning insight development which involves the observation of the arising and the passing away of thoughts.

I would like to urge my students not to be afraid of the Pali terms. They do look intimidating but it isn't beyond our ability to understand. Besides, if we can fully understand the meaning, it will make things much clearer. That is because each word does represent a very precise function or different actual mental state once the bhavana or the practice is proceeding. We cannot find the equivalent English term to represent what the Buddha wanted to express, therefore we must try to go back to the Pali language which successfully preserves the essence of Buddhism.

samadha-bhavana has everything which goes against or reverses the way we gain knowledge from Suttamaya-panna and Cintamaya-panna. In other words, it goes against the nature of our thinking manner. Naturally, we go along with the flow of our thoughts. It is easier to swim with the current. In trying to calm down the activity of our thoughts, we cannot float along with the chains of thoughts any more. We must try to swim against the current or resist our thinking manner and this makes the whole practice extremely difficult at times especially for beginners. Please try not to quickly make any judgement that this is about suppressing our thoughts. This is nothing like that at all. We use the term suppressing the thought wrongly anyway simply because we cannot see the true nature of thought. We can only suppress something if it is there all the time but thought is not there all the time for us to suppress. We can begin to see that these explainations do not make much sense in terms of reasoning or logic. This can only make sense and be fully understood when the practice is carried out.

As far as samadha-bhavana is concerned, a good teacher would advise his or her students not to read and think too much to begin with if they want to have a good result from the practice (bhavana). Some meditation schools in Thailand would ban students from reading altogether while the practice is in progress and that includes books about Buddhism and meditation. Silent vows are also imposed as part of the rules during a meditation retreat. Reading books and excessive talking can become a great barrier as far as the initial practice is concerned because they can generate more unnecessary thoughts whilst the practice tries to calm them down.

Students will be taught to perpetually pin their minds with something such as breathing or movement as in walking or doing Tai chi. When the thought begins to wander off, the students will be constantly warned by their teacher to bring their mind back to the pole (breathing or movement) once again even though they have to do this millions of time over. I am sure my students have grown used to my nagging about bringing their mind back to know their Tai chi movements. I also teach my students how to focus their mind while they are walking at their normal pace and even at faster speeds like running, as well as how to handle a conversation while still observing the state of their minds. All these different details of techniques are the ability of each individual teacher. These techniques might not even be mentioned in the Buddhist canon. It relies purely on the fresh knowledge of the teachers who know the way to the destination and try to find a shortcut which enables the students to reach the goal as quickly as possible.

Once the samadha-bhavana is well established, meaning that the movement of thoughts has slowed down drastically and the mind has reached a high level of calmness, then the second stage or vipassana-bhavana has to be introduced. If our target is the cessation of all suffering, vipassana-bhavana has to be seriously practised. vipassana-bhavana is known as the source of the highest wisdom and insight in Buddhism. Actually the term “in-sight” can explain a great deal about the involvement of the practice. When I put the hyphen in between the word and break it up, we can clearly see the word “in” and “sight”. It literally means that seeing the view, sight or scenery inwardly. The most obvious view or sight inwardly can only means the arising and the passing away of our own thoughts and feelings. And this is what vipassana-bhavana is all about.

Indeed, the actual practice of vipassana-bhavana involves the observation of the arising and the departing of thoughts. We can begin to understand why samadha-bhavana has to be introduced first. That is because the natural speed of human thoughts runs staggeringly fast. It is so fast that we, as the owner of our thoughts, cannot catch the beginning and the end of it. As a result, whether we like to believe it or not, we have become the victims of our own thoughts. Our mental suffering is the consequence and the clear indication which confirms that we are the victims of our own thoughts and emotions. It is impossible for anyone to even suggest observing our own thoughts. This cannot happen because there is no way humans can begin to look at their own thoughts independently or detachedly. When we use terms such as: think carefully, think about it, trying to be objective, etc., it does seem like we try to correct our thoughts and know exactly what we are thinking and doing. But that is not the meaning at all; that is not the sign of knowing the thought independently or detachedly. I am sure some readers may begin to find it difficult to understand. Please do not be put off. It isn't easy for me to explain either, especially not with my handicapped English.

The idea of making observations of our own thoughts belongs to the Buddha only. This ability does not come naturally to man, no matter how clever we think we are. As a matter of fact, the cleverer we are, the greater the barrier is in trying to observe our own thoughts. This knowledge, therefore, has to be told and passed on by the ones who know. After samadha-bhavana, the function of thoughts has been slowed down quite drastically. It is only in this frame of mind that the independent observation of thoughts or vipassana-bhavana can be practised. Students will be trained to catch the arising and the passing away of each individual thought (the visitors). Those who have reached this level of practice would be able to distinguish clearly between the host mind and its visitors. Of course, not by thinking about it (Cintamaya-panna) but by literally seeing it (Bhavanamaya-panna). Through the practice (bhavana), the students will realise for themselves that the host mind is actually there all along but most people cannot see it clearly and long enough to make a big issue out of it and gain benefit from it. If the host mind is the bright full moon, the visitors as thoughts and feelings are like the passing banks of cloud which run very fast. But they are actually two separate entities.

It is important that we know this fact about our mental nature and it is often known as good news in Christianity. Once the host mind and its visitors are revealed, we will have enormous hope in living and life will never be the same again. We will know what the states of sanity and insanity are. Basically the state of insanity is the moment when we (Tom) cannot catch the passing thoughts and feelings and go along with them. In this sense, it could mean the simple and unharmed feelings like boredom, agitation, embarrassment, proud, excitement, overjoy, etc. Once vipassana-bhavana is in progress, people can comprehend life along with its ups and downs. They would stop asking questions especially those that begin with why this and why that. This is just the beginning of the enlightened state or the beginning of the journey towards the ultimate freedom of life. Only Pra Arahants can maintain the state of permanent sanity, their spiritual journey has been completed. Consequently, Pra-Aranhants do not have to do any practice (bhavana) at all. Their whole lives are normality. If the practice is a boat which helps us to get to an island, once we have reached the island, we can abandon the boat. In Buddhism, we also have a saying that as long as there are people who carry on with the practice of samadha-vipassana-bhavana, the world will not be void from Pra-Arahants. I find this saying very encouraging. A Pra-Arahant is indeed a role model of the best human being, yet maintains his absolute normality and ordinariness. It is very comforting to know that we too can follow in their footsteps. As long as we keep on rolling this boat, there will be one day when we will reached the island and lead an eternal life.

The crucial tool which makes the vipassana-bhavana possible is the high level of self awareness or consciousness. I use Tom, the cat, as a character to represent the awareness or consciousness and Jerry, the mouse, as the visitors or thoughts whom Tom has to catch up with. As far as vipassana-bhavana is concerned, we have to train Tom to run as quickly as Jerry. I have already talked about it in the chapter called Fighting in the right battle field.

Vipassana-bhavana results in the knowledge which enables the practitioner to understand the root of all human problems or suffering and how to end the suffering. Human suffering begins from the point of having unwanted thoughts which generate unwanted feelings which at times generate unwanted action. Quite often, if anyone has produced any bad thoughts, the consequent actions can be immoral or even atrociously violent. We have seen enough examples in our daily papers. The Buddha's knowledge aims at eradicating the root of the problem which is the thought itself. This results in the ultimate practice which is vipassana-bhavana or observing the nature of thought.

We may ask once again why do we need to observe our own thoughts ? What's wrong with them anyway? The reason I have mentioned many times previously in my Tai chi class and in my literary work. That is, if we want to know about an object or a phenomenon or anything at all, we must first of all study that object or that phenomenon. We can study it by means of observation, by using our five sense organs perpetually looking, smelling, listening, touching or tasting according to what is applicable. This is the scientific way of learning something. If we want to know how different kinds of weather and climate come about, we have to keep on observing the nature of those phenomena such as rain, lighting, thunder, snow, wind, and so on. The observations enable us to relate different factors and find out about the causes and the effects of the phenomena. Only then can we be allowed to say we truly understand the nature of those phenomena and know how to handle them, should any related situations occur. This is how scientists can predict and forecast the weather as well as warning people should any disaster be about to happen. Before we could witness the enormous power of nuclear energy, scientists had to build tools which could enable them to delve in to study the nature of an atom. Consequently, they learnt about the nuclear reaction, nuclear fusion, nuclear fission, etc. and finally nuclear bombs as well as other nuclear energy related are built. All these inventions could not be possible if scientists did not observe the nature of an atom.

Studying the nature of thought is much more complex than studying the weather, an atom or any object. Apart from studying our physical body almost inside out, we are very clever at studying the things which are away from ourselves even into the unlimited universe but when it comes down to studying our inner universe, our minds, we don't even know when and how to start. That is because, to begin with, we cannot put our thoughts in a test tube and observe them just like we do with all other objects and phenomena. What makes it more difficult still is that we always use our thoughts as the ultimate tool to study absolutely everything. We always have to use a tool or a means to study something. The question is what tool can we use to study the thought which in itself, is our ultimate tool ? This is the point when we have to surrender to the wisdom of the Buddha because the ability of man has come to an end. Only the wisdom of the Buddha could tell us that, the tool which can be used to observe the thoughts is the self awareness or consciousness (Tom). For us, this is the tool which doesn't look like a tool at all.

I have a lot of reservations when people tell me that by using different approaches from the Buddha, scientists have reached the ultimate state as the Buddha did. I don't know whether I understood them correctly. It sounds very much like scientists have created yet another delusion. How can it be possible if thoughts are used ? I hope I don't judge them wrongly. However anyone who sees what the Buddha saw will automatically have great respect for the Buddha anyway. They will not claim they have found their own way. This is just simply not the nature of people who know the ultimate truth. Having respect and unlimited loyalty to one’s spiritual teacher is most significant in the eastern culture.

The observation of the arising and the passing away of thoughts or vipassana-bhavana is a practice which has to be guided and explained clearly by a qualified teacher to guarantee the right result. It is very easy for students to take a wrong turn as we have seen so many times when people took the practice wrongly. Cult movements are the example of practising meditation wrongly. Even in Thailand, there are many meditation schools which focus only on samadha-bhavana and do not move any higher to vipassana-bhavana or the observation of the arising and the passing away of thoughts. I would like to believe that samadha-bhavana is also the main stream of meditation practice in western society. We seem to focus on emptying the mind and move no further. As a result, the cessation of suffering has not yet happened and anything can go wrong. Metaphorically speaking, samadha-bhavana is merely putting a big stone over the growing grass. It does make the practitioners feel like they have achieved their inner peace and tranquillity but without talking about the host mind and its visitors, their spiritual age hasn't really begun yet even though they are so close to the right track. If getting rid of the grass is our aim, by putting stones over the growing grass, we haven't solved the problem just yet. We must pull the grass out by the root and eradicate every single root to guarantee a good result. In this case, vipassana-bhavana is the way to annihilate all suffering. Vipassana-bhavana cannot be explained and understood without the practical side. It is impossible for a person to fully comprehend what a durian tastes like if he has never tasted one. Without a good teacher guiding the way, a novice can easily get lost in another spiritual jungle which is much more difficult to get out than a material one. To find a qualified teacher who can teach vipassana-bhavana right to the core is not an easy matter either.

Before I go any further, I would like to make a brief conclusion here that Bhavanamaya-panna is the knowledge resulting from mental development or mental cultivation. Mental development initially involves samadha-bhavana, the technique to calm the speedy thoughts down and vipassana-bhavana, the observation of the arising and the passing away of thoughts. Through vipassana-bhavana, practitioners can clearly distinguish between the host mind and its visitors. It is from this host mind that practitioners can have the primary experience or innocent perception. The readers can see that I don't mention feelings and emotions much. That is because feelings and emotions are merely the direct result of thoughts. Please also read the chapter called Fighting in the right battle field.

I would like to spend a little bit more time explaining why we cannot be humble with the practice and be satisfied only with the samadha-bhavana which to a lot of people seems quite enough. If we know the story of the Buddha while he was an ascetic Gotama searching for the end of all suffering, we can understand why.

Before the enlightenment of the Buddha, samadha-bhavana already existed and was practised widely among the yogis of different schools in ancient India. However, there was no one who could actually claim that they had reached the ultimate enlightenment, found the ultimate truth and put an end to all suffering. When Prince Sidhartha left the palace after he saw the sorrow and pain among people due to the fact that all human have to age, get ill and die, he determined to find the way to end suffering for mankind. Ascetic Gotama joined in with the samadha-bhavana culture. His teachers taught him everything they knew, about the highest level of samadha-bhavana which uses the air or emptiness as a focus point, but that knowledge wasn't enough to bring an end to human suffering. In the end, the prince left all his spiritual teachers and tried to find his own way to end the suffering for mankind. After six long years of self-torturing and hoping to find a way to end all birth, ageing, illness and death, on the brink of losing his own life, ascetic Gotama realised that self mortification was not the way to find the ultimate truth and the end of suffering either. Then, he resumed eating his meals and concentrated on building his strength up again. When his body and mind were in good working order once again, he began to see that he might have been pursuing the wrong way altogether which was following the stream of his own thoughts.

On the eve of his ultimate enlightenment, ascetic Gotama was offered milk rice on a silver tray by a noble lady, Suchada. After he finished the meal, the prince took the silver tray to the bank of the Neranchara river and made a wish that he could find the way to end the suffering. Then, he floated the silver tray in the river. An extraordinary event happened; instead of running down stream, the tray went up stream. Ascetic Gotama knew then that it was a sign telling him that ultimate enlightenment was coming near. He, later on, crossed the river and found himself a Bodhi tree which he could sit under. He then made a very strong vow that he would not get up from this seat if he couldn't find the way to end birth, ageing, illness and death. Ascetic Gotama went into a deep concentration, pursuing his mental development and at an early hour of the next morning, he attained ultimate enlightenment.

There were three different stages concerning the Buddha's enlightenment.

The first stage is called Pubbe-niva-sanus-sati-nana. This involved the knowledge of seeing and remembering the Buddha's own previous life.

The second stage is called Cutu-papata-nana. This is the knowledge dealing with the death and rebirth of all beings. Alternatively, it is the ability to see the previous and the future lives of all individuals.

These two stages of the Buddha's enlightenment are basically paranormal knowledge and therefore cannot be proved scientifically. The knowledge and the experience belonged to the Buddha only. They cannot be taught and passed on. We can only take his word for it. Only the born Buddhist can wholeheartedly believe in this paranormal part of Buddhism. Nevertheless, the young intellectual Buddhists still can't help doubting and question whether the previous lives of the Buddha were factual and had any element of truth at all. The Buddha talked about his previous ten lives before being born as Prince Sidhartha in the Jataka which is a section in the Buddhist canon. I don't, therefore, expect people, who do not have any Buddhist background to believe at all since the concept of re-incarnation is totally alien to western society. If anyone has faith in the Buddha and wants to believe in what he said, that's fine. I must admit though it is wiser to have belief in rebirth than not to believe. That is because we will live a life in which we will always be aware of its consequences. If re-incarnation really existed, we could at least put our mind at rest knowing that we had done reasonably good deeds. Wherever we go after this life cannot be that bad. I am sure a lot of people don't want to think that those really bad people who have done evil deeds and are never punished in this life can really get away from the consequences of their actions. However, if anyone finds it a bit too difficult to take in, that is quite understandable as well. I think the point is that there is no way we can know whether there is any rebirth or not. Nevertheless, the essence of Buddhism does not rely on these first two stages of the Buddha's enlightenment. It is the third stage of his enlightenment which gives all these explanations and the reason to write this book.

The third stage of the Buddha's enlightenment is called Asavak-khaya-nana. This is the knowledge about the cessation of mental suffering. This is the stage in which the Buddha claimed that he had found the ultimate truth. And it is related to the way of how to end all birth, ageing, illness and death. Only then could he proclaim himself as a Buddha, meaning the knower, the awakened and the joyous. It was the last stage of the Buddha's enlightenment which produced the practice called vipassana-bhavana. This unique practice had not yet happened before the enlightenment of the Buddha.

Due to the above reason, we can see that Vipassaana-bhavana exists only in Buddhism and not in other religions. There were no holy people in the past who could clearly explain about the practice of reversing the flow of thoughts. This shows the Buddha's unique ability in being an intellectual as well as being a spiritualist.

Whether the floating of the silver tray in the Neranchara river was an actual event or

not, no one can possibly know the truth. It could be an additional metaphor created by later followers. However, the meaning behind this metaphor enables us to understand what exactly happened in the last stage of the Buddha's enlightenment. The Buddha literally found out that the cause of all human suffering was due to following the stream of our own thoughts. In other words, we tend to go deeper into our tube of thoughts (delusion) and cannot get away from it. The ultimate consequence of going into our thoughts is mental suffering or mental turmoil. The way to end the suffering or end our mental turmoil is to go back to the point before the thought began. This is the hidden meaning of the tray floating up stream and results in the vipassana-bhavana practice.

Finally, the title of this chapter is only trying to encourage the readers to think a bit more seriously about the real freedom of life. After the enlightenment of the Buddha, there was a brief moment when he thought that this supreme knowledge was far too difficult for anyone to understand and he decided not to teach. Then, on second thought, he realised that people had four different levels of spiritual mentality. He compared them to four different stages of lotuses. The first type is just about to bloom after a bit of sunlight. The second type needs a bit more sunlight and the third type needs even more sunlight still before it can bloom. The fourth type is those who are stuck in the mud and cannot bloom at all. Basically, it ranges from those who have very little dust in their eyes to those who are totally blind. The Buddha said that the essence of Buddhism as in vipassana-bhavana can only be understood by those who have very little dust in their eyes. This group of people has been reduced to a very small handful nowadays. I sincerely hope that this chapter can help that small handful of people to understand life a bit better. As for the journey itself, I cannot do it for anyone. This is the most I can do.