Sunday, January 15, 2006

Kilesas, the Enemy

Kilesas, the Enemy
[Excerpt from a recorded talk with LuangPaw Pa~n~nava.d.dho: (FDN=my comments)]
(FDN) Basically, this seems to be the unknown, conditioning of the Citta, by the resultants of past Kamma, as they ripen in the present moment, of which the Citta is totally & completely unaware.
Thus the perceived need to create skilful Kamma in this lifetime, over & above any good Kamma, so as to have skilful Kilesas in a future lifetime.
Needless to say, the most skilful Kamma is Bhikkhu ordination so as to develop the Path, i.e. the Bhikkhu life. This makes the Bhikkhu a virtual field of merit for anyone else to share in, simply by choosing to support his practice.
--
(FDN)The dialogue below seems to be consistent with the results of developed mindfulness. In that, going against the K's, going towards fear, awkwardness etc., is possibly the best exercise in mindfulness that there is.
Q:
How does one begin to know if ones efforts are having an effect on reducing the Ks? Is there something, especially for beginners?

LP P:
One finds, I would say, one's own estimation of one's self-importance, I don't mean in theory, but one's feeling of it becomes greater. In the sense that - I don't mean in the bad way - of one's own worth, in oneself, quite regardless of what anyone else thinks. One's worth in oneself, one doesn't feel that one's like an old foot-rag. Inside one feels that one has something that's valuable. And that thing of value starts growing. And one finds also that there's firmness inside. There's a firmness that is capable of fighting the Ks and going against them. All these things do show externally, but the external thing is not what matters, that's just a by-product: it's the internal thing that matters all the time.

No comments: