Where the Dhamma Begins...

An audio talk, given in Poland, on how to discern the "right level" of your mind where the fruitful endurance can begin.
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Recently, we visited Poland for a few days to meet with Ajahn Kondanno, one of our monks, who is trying to establish a small monastery/hermitage there, in the style of Hillside and Samanadipa. We met with several people who were very interested in the practice and answered their questions on Dhamma over the following few days.
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Your help is much appreciated! Anumodana.

[@shelinahetherington4661]

Fruitful endurance. Artistic video.

[@miroslavpetkov3832]

At the end of the video clip regarding the part about staying with the mind-are we talking about mano, citta, or both?

[@kzantal]

Very practical question : as I am listening to this video, my right ear is itching a lot. I want to scratch it to find relief from this unpleasant feeling. That is aversion, isn't it? So I should restrain myself. But where do you draw the line when it comes to bodily pain ? To me, whether mild or severe, if you want to get rid of it, that is aversion. Yet it is also basic survival instinct to avoid harm. How can you try to eliminate bodily pain or unpleasantness without giving in to aversion? In my mind, if I have absolutely no aversion towards bodily pain, why would I want to decrease it in any way? Why would I try to protect myself? Just intellectual knowledge that this pain is dangerous?

[@HillsideHermitage]

It could be a subtle aversion, yes. But the point is: have you already dealt with all the other coarser forms of lust and aversion in your experience? The answer is no, of course, otherwise you would have no doubt about what to do when your ear itches, and you feel aversion towards it. Think of the simile of the goldsmith purifying gold, mentioned several times in the Suttas. You won't be able to clearly see the subtler impurities and dust trapped in the gold until you have first removed the larger and more obvious ones. Because of this, set aside your worry and theorizing about subtler aversions, and instead focus on addressing the more obvious manifestations of lust, aversion, and distraction.

[@kzantal]

@@HillsideHermitage Yes, of course, you're right! I can be so blind. This is why associating with true people is so beneficial. In fact this is what I am doing! And, yes, it is exactly as you said: I have doubt about subtle forms of aversion or greed but not coarser ones. This theorising as you said is just my mind trying to coerce me to just give up the whole thing when I restrain it with what I know to be coarse manifestations of greed, hatred and delusion. I'll try to catch my mind trying to deceive me better from now on. As you said, if my mind is not acting out then restraint isn't on the right level. I should see this irrational acting out as a sign of progress and restrain it too. Thank you Bhante, it's very useful.

[@gravityfalls8439]

How much control do we really have? Let's say my mind is distracted(mental formations, sankharas) and I(what is this "I" before the insight of annata that is dismissing the false sense of self) cannot calm it down, but if I(what is this "I") am unable to do so then it is not really mine but there has to be some part of the mind(awareness, vijnana perceiving, samjna) that sees it this way, that the distracted mind is not mine. Can we say that 5 %(I mean a very small amount) of the mind(awareness,vijnana and perception, samjna) we have control over that says this and 95% of the mind is not ours(mental formations, sankharas and feelings, vedana)?

[@HillsideHermitage]

Percentages are irrelevant. You could even say that none of the mind (citta) is yours, but for everything that the mind does you will be the one paying the price for it. So, although it isn't yours, it is in your best interest to train it and calm it. This is not done through forceful control but by indirectly teaching it which behaviours are beneficial and which are not. So, while you have no direct control over the citta, you have full control over what you choose to 'feed' it, and therefore, you have full control over whether you suffer or not.

[@gravityfalls8439]

@@HillsideHermitage When you say, "you have full control over what you choose to 'feed' the mind(citta)", what is "you" here? Is it the underdeveloped false sense of self before the insight of anatta? or is it yoniso manasikara? Also, as far as I understand it, yoniso manasikara is like a light bulb through which all experience is experienced, more like the light that illuminates the foreground but the light bulb doesn't need any light to reveal itself as it is self-illuminating and the presence of light on everything else(attention to the foreground) is the proof of the existence of the light bulb(yoniso manasikara). Like all that is seen is proof of the existence of the eye. In this sense, yoniso manasikara is the right combination of Perception (saññā) and Consciousness/Awareness (viññāṇa). Is this correct? Thank you for the reply, Bhante.

[@stefanvidenovic5095]

@@gravityfalls8439 Self ("You") is real, but as a mistake; that's the starting point. It is paramount not to deny this or try to explain away/rationalize. So by "You" what is meant is, practically, the owner of choices (ownership is a mistake too, but it takes time to undo that, and it also must not be denied). Choices, as phenomena, are where the control is. And they too will be disowned as the practice progresses, but that will only come on properly when the necessary basis in virtue is set up and perfected sufficiently, and sufficient time has elapsed. Uprooting of the Self-View is an indirect thing, kind of like losing weight.