The Middleness of the Middle Way

　　Informal remarks after a talk, August 5, 1981

　　I can tell a resolute person when I see him -- like our Ven. Acariya Mun. It was intimidating just to look at him. How could the defilements not be intimidated by him

　　 Even we were intimidated by him, and the defilements are smarter than we are, so how could they not be intimidated

　　 They had to be intimidated. That”s the way things have to be. A teacher who possesses the Dhamma, who possesses virtue, has to be resolute so as to eliminate evil. He has to be resolute. He can”t not be resolute. The stronger the evil, then the more resolute, the stronger his goodness has to be. It can”t not be resolute and strong. Otherwise it”ll get knocked out. Suppose this place were dirty: However dirty it might be, we couldn”t clean it just by splashing it with a glass of water, could we

　　 So how would we make it clean

　　 We”d have to use a lot of water. If this place were filled with a pile of excrement, we”d have to splash it with a whole bucket -- and not just an ordinary bucket. A great big one. A single splash, and all the excrement would be scattered. The place would become clean because the water was stronger.

　　Being resolute is thus different from being severe, because it means being earnest toward everything of every sort in keeping with reason. Take this and think it over. If you act weakly in training yourself, you”re not on the path. You have to be strong in fighting with defilement. Don”t let the strong defilements step all over you. If we don”t have any way of fighting defilement -- if we”re weak and irresolute -- we”re good for nothing at all.

　　Those who want what is clean and good from the Dhamma: What is the Dhamma like

　　 What did the Buddha teach

　　 What sort of defilements are eliminated by what sort of Dhamma so that it deserves to be called the middle way

　　 The Buddha taught, ”The middle way realized by the Tathagata -- producing vision, producing realization -- leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to nibbana.” This is in the Discourse on Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion. The middle way is what can cause all these forms of knowledge to arise. Realization: This is penetrative knowledge that”s very subtle and sharp. Even discernment is less penetrating and sharp than it is. Self-awakening. Nibbana: This path leads to nibbana. All of these things without exception come from this middle way. They don”t lie beyond range of this middle way at all.

　　What does it mean, the word ”middle”

　　 Middleness as it is in reality and the middleness we hear about, study, memorize, and speculate about: Are they different

　　 Very different. I”ll give you an example. Suppose there are two soldiers, both of whom have studied the full course of military science. One of them has never been in the battle lines, while the other has had a lot of experience in the battle lines, to point where he has just barely escaped with his life. Which of the two can speak more accurately and fluently about the reality of fighting in a war

　　 We have to agree without hesitation that the soldier who has been in battle can speak of every facet in line with the events he has seen and encountered to the extent that he could come out alive. If he were stupid, he would have had to die. He had to have been ingenious in order to survive.

　　So the middle way: How is it ”middle”

　　 We”ve been taught that following the middle way means not being too lax, not being too extreme. So what way do we follow so that it”s not too lax or too extreme, so that we”re in line with the principle of middleness aimed at by the genuine Dhamma

　　 When we”ve sat a little while in meditation, we get afraid that we”ll ache, that we”ll faint, we”ll die, our body will be crippled, or we”ll go crazy, so we tell…

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