..續本文上一頁onventional realities, that pure nature is a nature that stays fixed.

　　What we see at that point is called release. Things are opened so that we see release, or natural purity. The burden of the task is ended right here. When the mind is pure, it doesn”t confer any titles on itself. As for external things, the worldly phenomena (loka-dhamma) connected with external things, they”re far away. The worldly phenomena that we used to say were good or bad, pleasant or painful in the heart, are no longer a problem once that point has disintegrated.

　　When we investigate to this level, it”s not wide-ranging. If we can derive an approach from the explanations given by a meditation master who has known and passed this stage, we can make quick progress — but it”s important that we not set up any expectations. Expectations are not the path. Whatever appears, keep investigating and understanding that point — each successive thing as it appears. That”s the correct path.

　　”Unawareness” refers to the nature I have just explained. That”s genuine unawareness. All other things are just its branches. Like a vine whose stem grows in one place but that creeps to who-knows-where: No matter how long it is, it keeps creeping and climbing. When we catch hold of it, we follow it in, follow it in, until we reach its stem. Here”s the stem. Here”s the root. Once we pull up the root, the whole thing dies.

　　In the same way, the branches of unawareness are many and long, so that when we actually reach unawareness, we don”t know what it is. But we investigate it. Discernment probes on in. Even though we don”t know that this is unawareness, our investigation is on the right path, and so unawareness opens up of its own accord, in the same way as when we eat: Fullness appears clearly for us to see step by step all on its own.

　　So to summarize the issue of whether unawareness is a factor of rebirth or a factor of kamma: It creates levels of being, it creates kamma relentlessly. These are both matters of the same cycle. It keeps creating levels of being within itself. The mind can”t lie still. It simply keeps creating being and birth all the time. It works at accumulating these things for itself, but for the most part it accumulates things that weigh it down constantly, making it sink to lower levels.

　　When people talk about destroying the wheel of kamma, this unawareness is what”s destroyed. Once this is destroyed, there are no more connections to create further levels of being and birth. Even though the things that used to be involved with us continue to become involved as they normally did, they pass by. They don”t seep in. They don”t set up house and move into this spot the way they used to. They simply pass by. And we know that this pure nature doesn”t connect with anything. We have seen the connections of the mind, step by step, and when we reach the level where it doesn”t connect with anything, we know.

　　As for knowing the question of levels of being and birth, as to whether or not we”ll be reborn, there is no need to speculate, because the present already tells us clearly that when there are no connections to levels of being and birth inside us, as we plainly see, there are no levels of being or birth to continue into the future. The factory has been destroyed, and there is no way it can rebuild itself. There is no way it can produce issues as it used to. The factory that produced suffering has been destroyed once and for all.

　　The phrase ”khandhas pure and simple” refers to this stage. The khandhas are khandhas pure and simple, without any defilements. If the mind isn”t defiled, the khandhas aren”t defiled. They are simply tools. If the central part — the mind — is defiled, each khandha follows it in being defiled. The body becomes a means for increasing defilem…

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