71. Mindfulness-Concentration-Wisdom: When Established, One Sees Reality
By Luang Pu Thate Desaraṅsī
March 21, 1989 (B.E. 2532)
We practitioners should firmly establish mindfulness and investigate thoroughly. There is mindfulness, there is clear comprehension (sampajañña), there is concentration, there is wisdom. Investigate these three well.
Mindfulness means recollection, steadiness, and carefulness. When we investigate this, we focus exclusively on one thing — that is called mindfulness. Clear comprehension is inherent within that; we have mindfulness and clear comprehension together. Without mindfulness, there is no clear comprehension — they go together.
Concentration means being firmly focused on one thing, one object. When there is concentration, wisdom arises. That investigation is called wisdom. Concentration is steady; whatever it investigates, it remains steady in that one thing — that is wisdom. They are one and the same.
Mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom — these three cannot be separated. Without mindfulness, there is no concentration; without concentration, there is no wisdom. They must all be present right there. Investigate thoroughly. When you investigate, steadying yourself exclusively on one thing, other mental objects cannot intrude — then wisdom, knowing and discernment, arises. It’s not that wisdom is a separate lump, a separate group or category. It gives knowing right there, it gives steadiness right there. That true knowing and true seeing is called wisdom.
For example, when investigating the noble truth of suffering (dukkha-sacca) — that is, seeing suffering itself — we investigate only suffering. That investigation sees the whole mass of suffering. When we see that suffering, we also see the origin (samudaya): what causes that suffering? The knowing arises — that very knowing gives rise to samudaya within itself. Therefore the Buddha taught: “Whatever suffering, that is its origin; whatever cessation, that is its path.” Investigate only suffering, and samudaya arises within. As described, investigating a single object — with mindfulness, clear comprehension, concentration, wisdom — they all arise simultaneously. When we speak, we separate them out, but in actual practice they converge into one. One sees clearly right there. We get attached to theoretical study (pariyatti) and conventional truths (sammuti). The teachings explain mindfulness as one thing, clear comprehension as another, concentration as another, wisdom as another. We explain thus, then get lost in conventions and designations. But in reality, they arise as one, at the very same moment. Do not mix up those conventional designations. When you investigate the Dhamma, it becomes clear exactly like that.
When mindfulness is present, you know yourself continuously, you are established continuously. You know that you are established, you know that you have mindfulness, you know thoroughly all things — that it is wisdom, that it is concentration. Then where could other things come from? Where could other mental objects come from? When mindfulness and concentration are present, no other things disturb you — you remain steady in one thing. Being one object, with mindfulness and concentration, you become steady in that one thing and wisdom arises. No need to cleanse defilements, no need to cleanse mental objects — you don’t have to fight elsewhere. The defilements are all around right there. No need to fight them. They are in one place, clear in one place, steady in one place — that itself is concentration with wisdom.
Theoretical study describes defilements broadly — sensual craving, craving for existence, craving for non-existence — it expands widely. But that is not the same as our direct investigation. When you settle down into the present, into the single mind itself, becoming one, everything is contained right there. You investigate and see everything right there. The more you investigate, the clearer you see the mind and heart. Whatever you investigate becomes deeper — you see it in that one place. Therefore it is said that wisdom arises from concentration. It is not wisdom from thinking (cintāmayā-paññā) — that kind of reflection is not wisdom from learning (sutamayā-paññā), listening to what others say or what teachers have explained, which goes out elsewhere. When you settle into wisdom born of cultivation (bhāvanāmayā-paññā), you see it arising right there. You don’t need to look elsewhere. Thus, the single mind becoming steady right there, on that single object — that itself is concentration and wisdom inherently.
All things arise from the mind. I have told you before: when the mind is established, first it sees the mind as established as one thing. Then there is nothing at all — it is completely empty, nothing exists. It does not think or ponder, so there is no mental object. Then one might say there is no wisdom — not thinking, not pondering, no wisdom. Set that aside for a moment. First, let it see “the one thing.” Let it be neutral first. The mind becomes neutral, not leaning, without past or future — that is certain. Dhamma is neutral. It is neutral toward all things — no sin, no merit. Then, when there is no past, no future, no sin, no merit, no good, no evil — then one sees reality. One sees the very nature of sin and merit. If defilements are present — if there is merit and sin, good and bad, virtue and fault — they cover everything. You don’t know yourself, you don’t know what is what. They conceal everything.
Compare with external things: water that is perfectly clear and still — when you look, you see your own undistorted reflection. It appears as a reflection within. But if the water ripples, no matter how clear it is, you won’t see the reflection. Even clear water, if disturbed, shows no reflection. But when the mind is steady as one, with a single object, remaining neutral, then defilements appear right there. These matters — if a person cannot investigate, if the mind is not in concentration, not neutral — they won’t see them. No matter how much you speak, they won’t understand, won’t know anything. Only when the mind becomes neutral and equanimous does one begin to see: “Ah! So this is how it is.”
The phrase “So this is how it is” — one sees clearly with one’s own heart that it is exactly like this, and then one truly knows oneself. Then one takes delight in Dhamma practice. As long as one has not reached “the middle,” one is not delighted, not satisfied, still chasing after this and that, never seeing. The more one searches, the more turmoil and disturbance, because the mind is not established, not neutral. When the mind becomes neutral and equanimous, you see the reflection within — that is wisdom arising.
Do not go looking elsewhere. Do not go searching for defilements elsewhere. Search within that reflection which appears as the neutral one. Whatever goes outward is not neutral, not the heart; it is the mind thinking and concocting. If it appears within neutrality, that itself is wisdom. That itself is called the arising of light — that is, knowledge arises. That is reality. We should grasp that as our foundation, our steadfast base for further practice. Enough.