16. Method of Purifying the Mind
By Luang Pu Thate Desaraṅsī
September 25, 1984
You should set your intention firmly. The expressions "set the heart firmly" and "set the mind firmly" are different. The mind is bound to waver—that's its nature. The heart must be steady. The mind wavers, but the heart does not waver. Once you reach the heart that does not waver, all emotions and everything in the environment that strikes you—things that constantly make the mind waver—will no longer disturb you. As long as it is disturbed, you don't see the heart itself.
First, try to maintain the heart. Establish it firmly in the heart. Then try to observe the affairs of the mind—how it goes out a little here and there toward various objects. That is the affair of the mind. The mind and the heart exist as a pair like this at all times. When we want to suppress any emotion, that emotion arises from external things. It arises externally and then strikes the mind, causing the mind to waver. If we can anchor ourselves in the heart, there's nothing to it. We know it thoroughly, understand it, and it remains peaceful. That peace—cherish it as much as you can. Do your utmost.
For those who meditate, when they have become well-calmed, some become bold, courageous, and resolute, thinking they have reached the Path, Fruition, and Nibbāna. The mind sees all things as exhausted, sees their true nature. At that time, it no longer wavers. It sees all things as merely existing in that way—that is, the heart stands firmly apart. Then they misunderstand, thinking they are already good, already done, that there is no more wavering. But it's still there. Whoever says they no longer waver will certainly waver again. Whoever says their heart is good—that person will certainly become not good. There will come a day, without warning, when an emotion arises without their knowing it. The mind goes out, and only then do they become aware. Once it has become the mind, there is nothing to hold onto; it wanders aimlessly because the heart is not firmly established. When the heart is firmly established, it doesn't go anywhere. What goes out is the mind's affair. If the heart is firmly established, it is not troubled or involved in anything.
Therefore, maintain the heart a great deal. Whatever you do, whatever you think—everything involves the mind. Know the mind thoroughly, know its affairs. Sometimes we know thoroughly, but when something strikes, we don't recognize it because we don't truly know it. Then we follow the mind's natural disposition. If you know everything thoroughly, the heart stands firmly in place and does not waver along with it. Train until you are skilled. You don't need to contemplate anything else far beyond this. Just contemplate the matter of "mind" and "heart"—that will suffice.
Minor, trivial details are another thing entirely. Even if they arise—small things—you still have to contemplate them. To know that matter, there is another aspect. For example, when various emotions arise, they arise from the mind. They arise at the mind. Whatever emotion arises, it arises at the mind. Is that emotion appropriate or not? Should it be purified or left alone? What should be purified is defilement—the cause of turmoil and distress. That should be purified. By setting the intention straight, you purify the defilement, and the mind disappears.
But after purifying it once and it disappears, that is not yet enough. You must go on to purify the mind itself. The mind thinks and scatters toward various emotions. For instance, anger arises, conceit and views arise. They arise at the mind, not at the heart. The heart has nothing; it is neutral, remaining neutral as its normal state. It is the heart. Views arise from the mind; conceit also arises from the mind. Greed, anger, delusion arise from the mind. Discontent, elation—all arise from the mind. That is what you must know and understand thoroughly. From what cause does it arise? That's when aversion arises. Track it with full understanding. Contemplate until you know and understand completely, until it exhausts its bounds and its story, then it will settle down and come into the heart. Let it rest for a while, staying at that stage.
Conceit—that is, hardness and self-importance. Views—that is, opinions. When they arise, what is there? When conceit and views take hold of you, you don't see things universally. If they take hold, you become rigid. If you see universally, you are not rigid. That is, you see the condition of every person—that everyone exists that way, all the same. We and others are alike. Conduct, practice, living—all must proceed together. Views and conceit exist everywhere because you can't forbid them. To calm the mind—that is, to reach the heart—that is knowing the matter once. Later, when it arises again, it's the same old thing. You must contemplate it repeatedly, over and over, until finally you know it through and through. That is why it is said: bhāvito bahulīkato—cultivated, developed repeatedly, again and again, until it is finally done.
Therefore, the Buddha, when he attained enlightenment to the Path, Fruition, and Nibbāna, reaching the highest, was said to have contemplated thoroughly, completely understanding everything. When he went to stay in seclusion, Lady Rāga, Lady Taṇhā, and Lady Aratī came to seduce him, to test his defilements. He already knew—why could they still seduce him? Because he possessed sharp, keen wisdom, he contemplated and purified down to the point that Lady Rāga, Lady Taṇhā, and Lady Aratī became old, decrepit, broken-down, and disappeared entirely. We are not yet at that point. Therefore, whoever thinks they are already done—that is not yet done. Whoever thinks they are already good—that is not yet good. If you think you are good, that is called conceit arising. As when Venerable Sāriputta taught Venerable Moggallāna: Venerable Moggallāna said that he considered himself to possess psychic powers and marvels. That is called conceit—it arises from attaining special, extraordinary states. If he considered himself to know everything thoroughly, that is views. He was told to abandon those views and that conceit, then he would live happily. Consider this.
He had extraordinary attainments to that degree—psychic powers, marvels, the ability to fly through the air, to dive into the earth, to walk in the sky—it was truly so. He truly had those abilities. But if he held onto them, that becomes conceit and views within himself. Abandoning that conceit and those views—that is what leads to coolness and happiness.
To abandon conceit and views—there is nothing special. The heart is neutral, nothing at all. You must reach the true state of neutrality. Can that neutrality really remain neutral for long? The heart, as long as it is not yet thorough and fully knowing, must contemplate and purify at this very mind, constantly reaching the heart, repeatedly, until you become skilled. Then it becomes fluent. That is our happiness.