The Munificent Nature of Dhamma
- by S. N. Goenka
(The following article was originally published in the Vipassana Journal, second edition, September 1985. It has been slightly adapted.)
Man is a social being. It is neither possible nor profitable for him to live separate from society. His contribution to make the social fabric more peaceful and harmonious is the true yardstick of his merit as a useful member of society. The basis of any healthy, harmonious society is always the healthy and harmonious inpiduals who populate it. Disharmonious people not only remain tense and unhappy themselves, but also make others around them unhappy because of their tension and disharmony. Therefore, it is obvious that a society can be happy, healthy and harmonious only when each inpidual in it is happy, healthy and harmonious. Only if each inpidual has a pure, peaceful mind can we expect peace in the society. Dhamma is a unique way for attaining peace for the inpidual, and hence a way to attain peace and harmony for the society and the world.
Dhamma does not mean a particular sect. Sects, dogmas and creeds always build barriers and pisions, and create differences between people. Dhamma, on the other hand, breaks all such barriers and differences and removes these pisions between people. Otherwise, it no longer qualifies to be called Dhamma.
True Dhamma uproots the sense of superiority as well as the sense of inferiority from different sections of society; it eliminates the impurities of the mind and establishes it on a sound foundation of equality where neither of these unhealthy complexes can exist. This purity of mind imparts the quality of equanimity. One gains the ability to view every situation, every inpidual and every state of existence in its true nature, in its true colour; one is able to see things as they really are. Such purity also frees the mind of false exaggeration and blind dependence, which is often characteristic of inpiduals, steeped in emotional devotion to some supernatural power. The ability to see things as they really are, without clouding one”s vision with the conditioning of the mind, imparts insight, wisdom and understanding of the Truth. One is able to become an objective witness of the truth within; one”s insight is freed from the veil of ignorance.
The conditioning of the mind, which is a result of our past experiences, becomes a barrier to our ability to see things in their true nature. Our traditional beliefs and convictions colour our vision so thoroughly that we see objects and situations in a distorted light and fail to see their untarnished reality. In the name of Dhamma, we have bound ourselves with these golden chains of dogma and blind belief, which in ignorance we begin to regard with pride as ornamental achievements and erudite understanding. However, to be totally liberated from all our ignorance and suffering, we will have to break asunder all emotional and intellectual bondages of dogma and creed.
If we wish to be liberated from hate, greed, delusion, antagonism, envy, fear and other negativities that defile the mind, it is necessary to set aside all our philosophical beliefs, delusions, and emotional devotion and learn to live in the present moment, as it is. To live in the present moment means to live in the reality of the present moment. Those moments that have passed are no longer real; there can only be the memory of those moments. Similarly, the moments that are yet to come are not real, as we can only have expectations, hopes and fears about them. Living in the present moment means to be totally aware of whatever is being experienced at this very moment. The pleasant and unpleasant memories of the past as well as the pleasant and unpleasant hopes and fears about the future take us away…
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