..續本文上一頁ople are poor that they become ingenious and resourceful. If you don”t let yourself be poor, you”ll never gain discernment. In other words, you don”t have to be afraid of being stupid or of missing out on things. You don”t have to be afraid that you”ve hit a dead end. You don”t want any of the insights you”ve gained from listening to others or from reading books, because they”re concepts, and therefore inconstant. You don”t want any of the insights you”ve gained by reasoning and thinking, because they”re concepts, and therefore not-self. Let all these insights disappear, leaving just the mind, firmly intent, leaning neither to the left, toward self-torment or displeasure; nor to the right, toward sensual indulgence or being pleased. Keep the mind still, quiet, neutral, impassive -- set tall. And there you are: Right Concentration.

　　When Right Concentration arises in the mind, it has a shadow. When you can catch sight of the shadow appearing, that”s vipassana: insight meditation. Vipassana-nana is the first branch of knowledge and skill in the Buddha”s teaching. The second branch is iddhividhi, the power of mind over matter. The third is manomayiddhi, the power of mind-made images. The fourth is dibba-cakkhu, clairvoyance. The fifth is dibba-sota, clairaudience. The sixth is cetopariya-nana, the ability to read minds. The seventh is pubbenivasanussati-nana, knowledge of previous lifetimes. And the eighth, asavakkhaya-nana, knowledge of the ending of mental fermentations. All eight of these branches are forms of knowledge and skill that arise from concentration. People without concentration can”t gain them: that”s an absolute guarantee. No matter how smart or clever they may be, they can”t gain these forms of knowledge. They have to fall under the power of ignorance.

　　These eight branches of knowledge come from Right Concentration. When they arise they”re not called thoughts or ideas. They”re called Right Views. What looks wrong to you is really wrong. What looks right is really right. If what looks right is really wrong, that”s Wrong View. If what looks wrong is really right, again -- Wrong View. With Right View, though, right looks right and wrong looks wrong.

　　To put it in terms of cause and effect, you see the four Noble Truths. You see stress (dukkha), and it really is stressful. You see the cause of stress arising, and that it”s really causing stress. These are Noble Truths: absolutely, undeniably, indisputably true. You see that stress has a cause. Once the cause arises, there has to be stress. As for the way to the disbanding of stress, you see that the path you”re following will, without a doubt, lead to Liberation. Whether or not you go all the way, what you see is correct. This is Right View. And as for the disbanding of stress, you see that there really is such a thing. You see that as long as you”re on the path, stress does in fact fall away. When you come to realize the truth of these things in your heart, that”s vipassana-nana.

　　To put it even more simply: You see that all things, inside as well as out, are undependable. The body is undependable, aging is undependable, death is undependable. They”re slippery characters, constantly changing on you. To see this is to see inconstancy. Don”t let yourself be pleased by inconstancy. Don”t let yourself be upset. Keep the mind neutral, on an even keel. That”s what”s meant by vipassana.

　　Sometimes inconstancy makes us happy, sometimes it makes us sad. Say we hear that a person we don”t like is going to be demoted, or is sick or dying. It makes us gleeful, and we can”t wait for him or her to die. His body is impermanent, his life is uncertain -- it can change -- but we”re glad. That”s a defilement. Say we hear that a son or daughter has become wealthy, influential, and fam…

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