THE MOONLIGHT
Today, May 28, 2021, I woke up around 4 a.m. The moon was slanting and illuminating the vast quiet space and got through the glass window into the room. It was still the full moon but it seemed to be a little bit smaller than yesterday. Last night, suddenly opening my eyes, I saw it so bright outside. Startlingly, I assumed to be oversleeping. A quick look at the clock, it was 3 am. Through the glass window, I saw the round and radiant moon hanging alone in the dim space that I could not see any trees or houses. From afar, the mountain range was still hidden in the dark night. At the silent moment of watching the beauty of the nature, I could not express how my mind was then. Something seemed cool and innocent. It seemed I was entirely engufled in the immensity of heaven and earth that was soundly sleeping in the deep darkness. Only the shining moon awoke, quietly spreading gentle and calm light into the mundane world which is murky in the long night. Suddenly I remembered the Vesak moon, the moon at a certain night. I had to take some shots to hold the time. The Vesak moonlight came into the room and slightly woke me up.
Recalling the Vesak, we all know the important events in the Buddha’s life. His Holy came down to the Lumbini garden in a spring on our planet. The Lord was completely enlightened at a spring night under a long-lived tree in the wilderness on the bank of the Nirañjanā River. And he immersed into the Nirvana at Kushinagar in the spring as well. All of them happened during the month of Vesak in the ancient Indian calendar.
Later on, the Buddhist communities in the world agreed the full moon day of May every year as the Vesak, the celebration day. This year, the Vesak holiday falls on May 26.
The moon tonight was brilliant and alone amidst the dark night. It is similar to the radiant Buddha, solely in the thick of the obscure life full of ignorance. The moon tenderly generated its light evenly to steer the lonely travelers on the way back home. It looks like our Lord who scatters his wisdom and gives the directions for those who are equally preconditional to recognize the trails the ancient Buddhas had passed so that the former could awake in time and follow the latter in the path of enlightening.
Watching the shining moon, we remember the old days. On a moonlit night at the Cow Horn forest fragrant with the variety of flowers in full bloom, the Buddha’s great disciples discussed the way of mind cultivation: which Bhikkhu could brighten up this forest. Each of them took turn addressing their attainment gimmicks. Then, they all came to report it to the Buddha who praised them all for their concise answers. And only our Lord owned the ultimate seeing which is so unique because of its simplicity. But is is very vital and useful for all of us. We can refer to it in the Middle Sutra numbered 32, the Mahàgosinga Sutta.
Whenever looking at an image or seeing an event in daily life, we recollect the Lord and his Sangha in the old time. Our mind immediately calms down again. That is a means of mind training. At all the time, we continue “contemplating the Buddha, contemplating the Dharma and contemplating the Sangha.”
There are some meanings in the Buddhist term “mindfulness”. It may be the repetitions of the names of the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. It also means the recollection of the Buddhas, the Dharma or the secular truths our Lord taught. Those two methods simultaneously bring the same objective: right at that time, our mind does not create “ evil or unwholesome” thoughts even though the know- with-speech is in use. With it, neither dormant taint nor bad karma is generated. Our mind, then, stays stable and is slowly bettered.
Besides, the term “ mindfulness” indicates the lucidity of mind. It is the Know-without-speech. When we know something, we realize it only without further thinking, reasoning, judging, differentiating or anticipating. Thus, the Know-without-speech is featured with silence, sincerity, objectiveness, emptiness, no competition, no goal, no greed, no anger and no ignorance.
When we concern the characteristics of the Know, we will definitely get the way to enter it with our own ability. With it, when we have the targets to reach, the Know is no longer empty and objective. In another words, our mind is disturbed because it is interfered by our personalized ego.
Our mind is very delicate. Only those who get wisdom can study, clearly manifest, and adjust it. Our mere work is to observe our own mind. When it generates avarice, rage, or delusion, we should terminate all those evil thoughts. How can we do it? Depending on each person. In the sutras “Pacifying mind direction” or “Dual mind directions”, the Buddha taught us when we understand the consequences of those poisonous intentions, stop and end them up right away. Or we can start kind thinking to finish them.
We do know one of mind traits is that at one time only one thought arises, stays shortly, then fades. Another one continues and disappears in the same process. From that, if we deliberately create the kind and useful ideas for us and other people, there is no way for bad, wicked ones appear. When our mind is decent, so are our words and actions.
Besides the popular and highly encouraged approaches for mind practice like the Four Noble Truths, the Four Areas of Mindfulness, Listening-Thinking-Cultivating, or Contemplating, Ceasing, Concentration, Wisdom or The Seven BodhYanga ( the Seven Bodhi Sections) that all sound “academic” and are seemingly appropriate for the practitioners of mastering the Buddhist doctrines and of advanced-spiritual backgrounds; but we, with middle-spiritual level, are also able to train our mind along with our own foundations. Now, let us consider about “reflex of the Buddha, reflex of the Dharma and reflex of the Sangha.”
For instance, watching the moonlight tonight, I reminisced the Buddha. Our Lord’s spirit was extraordinary when he renounced his happy family, his glorious future of inheriting the king father’s throne and his royal, luxurious life. How many of us could have such wisdom and vigorous determination? Knowing more of those, we will surely be more strong-minded to cut off the desires in worldly materials and reduce the attachment of cravings.
We might be criticized, insulted, or defamed. Let remember the Buddha and his Sangha. On the path of Dharma teachings in the old days, our Lord and the holy disciples of tranquil minds in his Buddhist Congregation merely had the expectation of assisting people to get more awaken and less sorrow. Ironically, our Buddha and the entire Order suffered too many incorrect judgments. They were blamed of killing people and hiding their corpses in the Jetavana, making a female heresy pregnant. They were often followed and offended by groups of thugs. The Lord and the entire sangha, who achieved so much virtue, suffered too many misjudgments. Then thinking of us, lay people, we will see it is not abnormal when we get plenty of finger-pointing. But it helps us to understand more about the principles of conflicts that are the ones of mundanity. Wherever they are, struggles, contradictions and distress happen. We will definitely go over our anguishes and initiate our compassion to those who launched cruelty to us.
When recalling the Buddha’s simple life full of patience before all challenges, the Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis’ peaceful life of staying far away from the world, voluntarily accepting all disadvantages and ready to dedicate their wisdom and explicit empathy to everyone who welcomes them, then, there would be no bad and unwholesome karma starting in our mind. This approach of mind training is very modest. During a day you practice it, during that day your mind is undisturbed and dormant defilements cannot arise from your subconscious.
The summer came with fiery sunlight. The winter was back with chilly winds. We remember the Buddha who did not mind his six years of asceticism in which he deliberately tortured his body and mentality. Later on, after 45 years of walking everywhere, our Lord and his sangha were still bare-headed and barefooted, kept moving from place to place on long roads under the blazing sun or the steady rain. They had their meals, took their nap or temporarily sheltered themselves at night in the jungles, at the graveyards, in mountain caves or under trees. Such a frugal life helps us instantly endure the summer burning heat or the winter icy wind without any complaining.
Sometimes the meals were not delicious but too cold and either flat or salty, let us think of the Bhikkhus who long time ago had to go alms begging every day. They ate whatever given. Hunger and fullness rotated day after day. With those images, we will find out that we have enjoyed too much and have not repaid life gratitude yet. So, this bowl of cooked rice is better in taste. Just due to our calm mind.
If we always think of the Buddha, the sangha, the worldly truths, our mind gradually gets free from agitation; we can accept all situations; our empathy simultaneously develops; we can love both good and not-good-yet people. About those who are happier and more successful than us, we can share their pleasure and satisfaction without jealousy or the feeling of pity for ourselves. Finally, we drop down everything, every attachment. It is the mind of renunciation. Wow! Here we are! We do reach the last destination of the Path without referring to “the forest of Buddhist terms” such as the Four Areas of Mindfulness, the Four Noble Truths, the Seven Bodhi Sections, the Four Sufficiencies and so on.
Today, I would like to introduce a simple practice for mind training without the requests of “Concentration or Wisdom.” It is the “Reflection on the Buddha, Reflection on the Dharma, Reflection on the Sangha.” It can be considered as Contemplation in which we use our insights to know the life of the Buddha and the Sangha, and the secular truths as well. Every day, we review and screen our mind and modify it in accordance with the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. Eventually, our mind will stop moving in front of life changes. It also means that Concentration, Samadhi, and Wisdom surely develop when “we keep our mind intact before earthly phenomena.”
Bhikkhuni Thích Nữ Triệt Như
Written at the Sunyata Monastery, May 28, 2021
English version by Ngọc Huyền
Link to Vietnamese article: https://tanhkhong.org/a1929/triet-nhu-snhp02-sang-trang
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