..续本文上一页 birth and death, actually manifests a condition of fundamental ignorance we call avijja. This point of focus is the highest state of avijja, the very pinnacle of the citta in samsara.

　　 Since nothing else remained at that stage, I simply admired avijja”s expansive radiance. Still, that radiance did have a focal point. It can be compared to the filament of a pressure lantern. The filament glows brightly, and the light streams out to illuminate the surrounding area. That was the crucial consideration, the one that so amazed and struck me with awe then, causing me to wonder, “Why is my citta so incredibly bright

　　” It seems as though it has completely transcended the world of samsara. Look at that!” Such is the magnificent power that avijja displays when we reach the final stage of practice. I didn”t yet realize that I had fallen for avijja”s deception.

　　 Then suddenly, spontaneously, a maxim of Dhamma arose, as if someone had spoken in my heart. How could I ever forget: If there is a point or a center of the knower anywhere, that is the nucleus of existence. Just like the bright center in the filament of a pressure lantern. Look at that! It told me exactly what I needed to know: this very point is the essence of existence. But even then, I could not grasp the meaning. I was bewildered. A point, a center … it meant the focal point of that radiance.

　　 I began investigating that “point” after the Venerable Acariya Mun passed away: If there is a point or a center of the knower anywhere, that is the nucleus of existence. Had he still lived then, my confusion would immediately have elicited this answer from him: It”s that focal point of the radiance! And then, that point would have instantly disintegrated. For as soon as I understood its significance, I would also have known its harmfulness, thus causing it to vanish. Instead, I was still carefully protecting and preserving it.

　　 The Ultimate Danger, then, lies right there. The point of Ultimate Danger is the core of brilliant radiance that produces the entire world of conventional reality. I will remember always. It was the month of February. Venerable Acariya Mun”s body had just been cremated, and I had gone into the mountains. There I got stuck on this very problem. It completely bewildered me. In the end, I gained no benefit at all from the maxim of Dhamma that arose in my heart. Instead of being an enormous boon to me, it became part of the same enormous delusion that plagued me. I was confused: “Where is it, this point

　　” It was, of course, just that point of radiance, but it never occurred to me that the center of that radiant citta could be the Ultimate Danger. I still believed it to be the Ultimate Virtue. This is how the kilesas deceive us. Although I had been warned that it was the Ultimate Danger, it still cast a spell on me, making me see it as the Ultimate Virtue. I”ll never forget how that dilemma weighed on me.

　　 Eventually I left Wat Doi Dhammachedi and went to Sri Chiang Mai in Ban Pheu district. I stayed there for three months, living deep in the forest at Pha Dak Cave, before returning to Wat Doi Dhammachedi with that mystery still weighing heavily on my mind. Then, while staying on the mountain ridge there, the problem was finally solved.

　　 When that decisive moment arrives, affairs of time and place cease to be relevant; they simply don”t intervene. All that appears is the splendid, natural radiance of the citta. I had reached a stage where nothing else was left for me to investigate. I had already let go of everything—only that radiance remained. Except for the central point of the citta”s radiance, the whole universe had been conclusively let go. So, can you understand what I mean: that this point is the Ultimate Danger

　　 At that stage,…

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