..續本文上一頁got faith in the doer any more. You can let go.

　　The last place, which is hard for a person to see, is the consciousness itself, the mind. This mind which a lot of people talk about, which I talk about a lot, to actually see it in its purity is very, very difficult. You see it in jhanas. What”s important after having a jhana is having known what the citta is, the mind. What the Buddha talked so much about in the suttas, having seen that then to apply the satipatthana. Reflect on the mind and ask yourself "is this me

　　" That which knows, that which is hearing this, which feels all the aches and pains in the body, which sees the sights around, which sees the flowers and the sunsets, that which sees and experiences. "Is that what I take to be me

　　" And look at this whole process of consciousness, the screen on which experience is played out. Like the television simile which I gave yesterday. A television is a screen on which all these images from all these channels are played out. When we”re looking at the images we cannot really be noticing the screen. When it”s just images there, the screen has disappeared. We”re just focussing on the images. When the five senses are playing around, that”s all we see. We cannot see the screen on which all these images are being played out.

　　In jhanas, you see the screen, and also you start to see the screen dismantle itself. The screen which we call consciousness begins to disappear. Higher and higher in the jhanas, more of the screen goes, until in the last of the jhanas, nirodha - cessation, is the cessation of the screen. Consciousness is now gone. To see the consciousness going is a very powerful experience. According to the suttas, anyone who experiences that state, the cessation of consciousness through these jhanas (I don”t mean the cessation of consciousness through going to sleep at night!), when you emerge from that state you”re either a non-returner or a fully-enlightened Arahat. There are only those two possibilities. Because having see the cessation of consciousness itself, you will never, ever, it”s impossible, to be able to take that as a self, as a me. You”ve seen that thing, the thing we were talking about yesterday, the claw (that”s a good simile which I should have mentioned yesterday… you know the "thing" in the Addam”s family, the hand, always grabbing onto things

　　 That”s attachment. That thing is attachment), consciousness or the doer, is not you, it cannot be. And the last citadel of the illusion of self is broken into, seen to be empty, and then you know that that which you took to be a self for so long was just an empty process, that”s all.

　　That insight into anatta is the insight which arises in a stream-winner, entering the stream. It”s the insight which sees that you have taken something to be the self, something to be me or mine for so many years, and you just could not see it before but now you can. That”s what insight is. And again that insight is very beautiful and wonderful, because once you realise that there”s no-one here then the whole idea of nibbana being just a flame going out, never scares you any more. Instead of being something completely stupid and awful, something you”re not really interested in at all… because after all, what”s the point of being enlightened if you”re not there to enjoy it

　　 What”s the point of just snuffing out and going

　　 There”s too many things to do in the world! Too many things to achieve, too many things to experience. But the idea of nibbana as just snuffing out, going out, only makes sense and become attractive, becomes the obvious thing, only when one sees the truth of not-self. There”s no-one here anyway. That which you take to be you is just an illusion. Once you see that then that is the insight, the powerful deep insight, upon which all the subsequent insights which lead to the higher states of enlightenment are based. This is what one should be doing, this is the purpose of jhanas, the purpose of all those reflections.

　　To ask yourself, "What do I take to be me

　　 Who do I think I am

　　 What do I perceive, think and view of myself

　　" in terms of the four satipatthanas. The afterwards you become enlightened. And if you think, those people have had happiness or jhanas or nimittas during this retreat, if you think that”s happiness, then wait until you get into a nice, powerful, enlightenment insight. That”s much more happiness. So the best is yet to come.

　　So that”s insight, and what”s actually happening, through the factors of the Eightfold Path you get samma-nyana, the correct deep insights, and samma-vimutti, freedom.

　　[1] Five Hindrances: sensual desire, ill-will, sloth and torpor, restlessness, and doubt.

　　[2] Seeing the Way - Buddhist Reflections on the Spiritual Life. Amaravati Publications, U.K., 1989

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