3. The Highest Blessing

　　Nibbaana Sacchikiriya Ca

　　The Dhamma of the Lord Buddha was revealed correctly and properly. It was neither hidden nor obscured but was clearly presented on every level according to the truth. For example, it states that virtue and wrongdoing,1 heaven and hell, Nibbaana, all really do exist. It continues unequivocally to maintain that the defilements are also things present and extant. These truths can”t be denied. Yet why do such things pose a problem for us

　　The Dhamma was openly and forthrightly presented. There was nothing esoteric and mysterious about it, for it was expounded entirely in accordance with truth — the reality that”s present now. It was offered from every aspect and level of truth, and yet we still can”t understand it. It”s as if the Lord Buddha is saying to the blind and the deaf, "Look here! Look at this!". Apparently we must be like those blind people who can only grope around but can”t actually see. Even though we know that the Lord has already explained all about it, we still always seem to bump into suffering. We”ve been told that suffering isn”t something to welcome and yet we are constantly caught up by it. This is because our motives — the causes we put into effect — become aimed entirely at amassing the fire of suffering to heap on ourselves.

　　One quality of Dhamma that the Lord has pointed out is that it is visible here and now — sandi.t.thiko. Happiness and suffering can both be seen and experienced within ourselves. Death is one example of this. The other qualities of ehipassiko and opanayiko are also very important principles. Ehipassiko means ”calling one to come and see” the genuine Dhamma. This though does not mean that we should go out calling other people to come and see it. ”Ehi” refers to teaching the one listening to Dhamma and practicing it, so turn your heart to look inwards to where the truth is found.

　　Using more worldly terms, we can say that the truth is constantly proclaiming itself, constantly inviting and challenging — because of its candour and honesty it challenges us to, "look here!". This ”ehi!” invites you to look, rather than getting other people to come and see. How can others see, when they neither know the truth nor where to look for it. The truth is in themselves but if they don”t search for it there then they are certainly not going to find the truth inside us.

　　Ehipassiko — the Lord taught us to look at the truth, the truth about ourselves that is right here.

　　Opanayiko means to ”bring within”. Whatever we see or hear or touch needs leading inside so that we can make good use of it. Anything coming into contact through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body, or appearing in the heart, must always be opanayiko — brought inward. Whether it is concerned with goodness or wickedness, happiness or suffering, the internal or external, past or future, it must all — opanayiko — incline towards the heart. For this is the principle source of all internal affairs.

　　The heart is preeminent and nothing surpasses it in importance. The issue of the heart is therefore pressing and critical: "All dhammas originate from the heart".2 This statement alone is enough to shake up the entire physical world. One”s slightest movement must originate in the mind, and in fact, all dhammas must look to the heart as being foremost.

　　Only the heart is able to know about all the various things. What are these various kinds of dhamma

　　 There are wholesome dhammas and unwholesome dhammas,3 These are only found in the heart. Wholesome dhammas come from the resourcefulness and cleverness of the heart, which enables it to respond quickly and appropriately to the ongoing situation. In fact, the various issues and consequences of these ongoing events spring from our own heart. When unw…

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