"...Regardless of time and place, the whole practice of Dhamma comes to completion at the place where there is nothing. It”s the place of surrender, of emptiness, of laying down the burden..."
Convention and Liberation
The things of this world are merely conventions of our own making. Having established them we get lost in them, and refuse to let go, giving rise to clinging to our personal views and opinions. This clinging never ends, it is samsara, flowing endlessly on. It has no completion. Now, if we know conventional reality then we”ll know Liberation. If we clearly know Liberation, then we”ll know convention. This is to know the Dhamma. Here there is completion.
Take people, for instance. In reality people don”t have any names, we are simply born naked into the world. If we have names, they arise only through convention. I”ve contemplated this and seen that is you don”t know the truth of this convention it can be really harmful. It”s simply something we use for convenience. Without it we couldn”t communicate, there would be nothing to say, no language.
I”ve seen the Westerners when they sit in meditation together in the West. When they get up after sitting, men and women together, sometimes they go and touch each other on the head! 19 When I saw this I thought, "Ehh, if we cling to convention it gives rise to defilements right there." If we can let go of convention, give up our opinions, we are at peace.
Like the generals and colonels, men of rank and position, who come to see me. When they come they say, "Oh, please touch my head." 20 If they ask like this there”s nothing wrong with it, they”re glad to have their heads touched. But if you tapped their heads in the middle of the street it”d be a different story! This is because of clinging. So I feel that letting go is really the way of peace. Touching a head is against our customs, but in reality it is nothing. When they agree to having it touched there”s nothing wrong with it, just like touching a cabbage or a potato.
Accepting, giving up, letting go — this is the way of lightness. Wherever you”re clinging there”s becoming and birth right there. There”s danger right there. The Buddha taught about convention and he taught to undo convention in the right way, and so reach Liberation. This is freedom, not to cling to conventions. All things in this world have a conventional reality. Having established them we should not be fooled by them, because getting lost in them really leads to suffering. This point concerning rules and conventions is of utmost importance. One who can get beyond them is beyond suffering.
However, they are a characteristic of our world. Take Mr. Boonmah, for instance; he used to be just one of the crowd but now he”s been appointed the District Commissioner. It”s just a convention but it”s a convention we should respect. It”s part of the world of people. If you think, "Oh, before we were friends, we used to work at the tailor”s together," and then you go and pat him on the head in public, he”ll get angry. It”s not right, he”ll resent it. So we should follow the conventions in order to avoid giving rise to resentment. It”s useful to understand convention, living in the world is just about this. Know the right time and place, know the person.
Why is it wrong to go against conventions
It”s wrong because of people! You should be clever, knowing both convention and Liberations. Know the right time for each. If we know how to use rules and conventions comfortably then we are skilled. But if we try to behave according to the higher level of reality in the wrong situation, this is wrong. Where is it wrong
It”s wrong with people”s defilements, nothing else! People all have defilements. In one situation we behave one way, in another situation we must beh…
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