MIND ABANDONING
---“Most Reverend Anuruddha, what’s the way you and other Bhikkhus can stay in joy and harmony like milk mingled into water and look at each other in the eyes of loving-kindness?
---Yes, Utmost Lord, here’s what I think “How beneficial for me! How smartly beneficial for me when I can live with the monastics of virtuous merits around. Thank to that, Utmost Lord, towards those fellows of holy lifestyle, I generate wholesome bodily karma in their presence and absence; I generate verbal karma rooted from loving-kindness in their presence and absence; I generate wholesome mental karma in their presence and absence. Therefore, Utmost Lord, each of us does think “Let’s abandon our own mind and live in the best alignment with those venerables’ one.” And Utmost Lord, with that, I leave my own mind and stay harmonious with theirs. Utmost Lord, we are of different bodies, but our mind is unified.”
(Majjhima Nikāya 128 — Upakkilesa Sutta)
What could we learn from this short sutra piece?
It’s the story about Most Reverend Anuruddha who lived with two other monks. Realizing the benefits when living with other monastics of pure lifestyle among the wild jungle, and from this joyfulness, all the three rose the Loving-Kindliness. But why not Compassion, Joyce or Equanimity? They were all steady, diligent mind cultivators. None of them needed help, external supports or someone’s compassion. There was neither suffering nor worry, so equanimity wasn’t necessary. Thus, only Empathy was the most appropriate from each of them. They mutually exchanged their sincere love-kindness, respect, gentleness and appreciation from their mind, speech and body. This lens is shown in the resolution:
“Let’s abandon our own mind and live in the best alignment with those venerable ones.”
How should we understand “abandoning our own mind”?
Commonly, human mind, or thinking, is a single or collective thoughts, emotions or feelings not shown in words or action yet. This is the general area of mind imbued by subjectivity which mostly causes misunderstanding, controversies and disagreements. The so-called “Self” always thinks it’s right. So, the Self-Consciousness prefers asserting itself. Understanding this, firstly, we should chill out and restrain this mind and prevent it from manifesting through negative speech or bad action. That’s our protection from unwholesome bodily and verbal karma. Then, with wisdom, we transform our mind by the following explanations:
- Everyone possesses the sam potential of enlightenment. Everyone is the Buddha-to-Be.
Respect and cherish everyone.
- Everyone is deeply affected by their dormant defilements, especially cravings, and subject to be reborn. Every practitioner is currently in their mind culture process, then, their mind is still tainted. So we are. We understand it compassionately. It’s Loving-Kindliness to everyone.
Those two truths provide a solid foundation for us to stay in the Middle Way and avoid both inferiority and superiority complexes.
Oh, yeah! When we drop down our worldly mind, it will surely and gradually weaken and unwholesome thinking will not often arise. When the mind is transparent, the other two karmas are naturally purified.
But what if ours is clean, the others’ around is not? How could we let go of our mind to be well-aligned with them?
Y’all, this is even easier.
Yeah! You guys might reason like this: “Our mind is pure, good and correct. How could we live in rapport with the others’ worldly mind? If not, just conflict and argument.” When we assume we’re right, it’s subjective. We might be right with ourselves but not with the others. The principles of harmony state that folks should adapt themselves accordingly to circumstances and interdependent conditions. Practitioners should be tolerant and accept losing, failing or defeating even when it’s unfair; and when being misjudged, no excuse and explaining. How come, guys? When excusing, it means “I’m correct. You’re wrong.” In the Buddhist views, right and wrong are both dualistic chatters. It’s means the two parties are incorrect, and the “temple gonna ditch them both.”
With that, when folks are inappropriate in words and behaviors, we treat them with the Four Subduing Dharama: Generosity, Kind Speech, Useful Actions and Multi-Cooperations. It’s uneasy for Bodhisattvas to perform their tasks in life. The Lotus Sutra lays down the three prerequisites:
“Coming into the Tathagata’s adobe, wearing the Tathagata’s robe, sitting on the throne of the absolute Emptiness”.
It can be simply interpretated like this:
- Complying the Monastic Rules for self-protection (entering the adobe of the Tathagata)
- Maintaining Concentration: staying in the placid and undisturbed mind of the Thusness
(wearing the robe of the Tathagata)
- Achieving Wisdom: realizing the nature of mundanity is Void (sitting in the Tathagata’s throne of the absolute Emptiness)
Shortly, every path for mind practice aims at the full demeanors and moral conducts of Buddhist religious figures and true insights for thorough realization of all worldly and trans-worldly aspects of phenomena in order to overcome thorny challenges in life.
Back to the theme of “letting go of our mind”. It’s well- accomodated with every Buddhist approach, shares the same goals but presented differently. It appears like a simple, natural answer from Most Reverend Anuruddha to the Buddha’s question. This well-known Buddhist figure was a prince in the Sakka royalty and a paternal cousin of Prince Siddhattha. He attained the Arahatship with the Divine Vision Power. We’re unable to trace back the time of this conversation on his path. But we can assure the reply resulted from his true insight. It’s not similar to the Buddha’s preaching before but best-adapted with those methods.
Earlier, while listening to the Nikāya, I grabbed the three words “abandoning the mind”. I was stunned like catching a diamond among the vast Dharma Forest. Wow, y’all! An art of living! I wanted to write it out but couldn’t find its original sutra. Search and search but in vain. I can’t write those words without its source. Yesterday, I opened the Nikāya. Boom! I got’em, the sutra with the very phrase of three words, just after some moments of listening! So amazing, isn’t! It’s the little gift to you guys today.
“Let go of our mind.” It means in a communal life, monastic or social, to stay in rapport with others, we must drop our ego and flow with the others instead. Listen to Reverend Anuruddha before raising any question.
“I abandon my own mind and live in the best alignment with those venerables’ one.” And Utmost Lord, we are of different bodies, but our mind is unified.”
Being in a “unified mind”, then how could drama happen? Yeah! The best accommodation for inner peace and serenity! Or, in worldly spoken, you find your ride-or-die companions.
Sounds simple but tough to practice. “Mind abandoning” doesn’t mean only blindly going with others’opinions and passively following the world. But it indicates that:
- Not clinging to your own opinions
- Respecting others’ views
- Not speaking your voice unless asked
- No argument
- Staying well with others disagreeing
- Knowing that when you have your own views, others have theirs, too.
In brief, mind abandoning is to refine the ego to get softened and weakened till it vanishes in the air.
It’s also the status of “flexible-melting mind, easily-used and directed” in the Buddha’s description of the As-Is Mind.
It’s also means No Mind arisen or keeping ourselves Intact for any external circumstance.
It’s also states the ending of all discursive thoughts and abiding in mindfulness.
At this point, have you seen the shining diamond of “Abandoning the mind”? It’s a full-on spiritual path as deep and effective as any other approach and a gift from Most Reverend Anuruddha’s treasure for us. Earlier, I also picked up another diamond from Most Reverend Sariputta. Anyone remember its name? It’s the “My mind is like the earth.” Yup, this one is as sharp as the sword of Pañña Wisdom, able to cut off the network of Desire and Craving, smash the bulky ego and break down the long-lasting flow of rebirth.
Today, I offer you two diamonds from two of the Buddha’s greatest disciples. One attained Wisdom (Sariputta). The other, the divine vision power (Anuruddha). They’re seen as diamonds because they came from insights of the two greatest monastic figures. They’re not collected from the Buddha’s treasure full of innumerable jewels, precious gems, diamonds with academic, common and systematic features as we’ve known. These two diamonds are truly simple, creative but not copies from the Buddha’s stereotype. They’re merely the two instant responses to the Lord’s questions, naturally honest and accurate like flowing from the fount of trans-wisdom. In Zen Buddism, it is spoken from “chest and chest side”, the deep, inner awareness.
Bhikkhuni Thích Nữ Triệt Như
Sunyata Monastery, Aug 10, 2021
English version by Ngọc Huyền
Link to Vietnamese article: https://tanhkhong.org/a2618/triet-nhu-snhp023-tu-bo-tam
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