(The following is adapted from the lecture given by Goenkaji at the Fourth World Buddhist Summit, Yangon, Myanmar on 10 December 2004.)

Most Venerable Sangha and Dhamma friends:

Let me first thank the organizers of this conference for kindly inviting me. I would also like to congratulate the organizers for choosing Myanmar as the host for the Fourth World Buddhist Summit that aims at uniting the followers of the Buddha in order to spread the peaceful message of the Buddha all over the world. We unite and make a collective effort not to dominate the world, not to exploit the world, not to boost the supremacy of one religion over another but to help in a great conversion of humanity—conversion from bondage to liberation, from cruelty to compassion, from discord to concord, from misery to happiness. This is the Buddha’s way. The Buddha spread the message of peace and harmony. Emperor Asoka helped to disseminate it further in many countries. And today, I am happy to see the World Buddhist Summit is working in the same direction for the benefit of many.

It may seem that there are many divisions of the followers of the Buddha but the differences are superficial. All these branches follow the same basic principles of the Four Noble Truths including the Noble Eightfold Path and the Paṭiccasamuppāda, the Chain of Conditioned Arising. I am very happy that this effort is getting a new impetus in this Summit in Myanmar.

Myanmar is my motherland. I was born here. In some families, as in my family, it was a tradition to bury the umbilical cord in the ground of the building where one is born. My umbilical cord is buried here in the soil of Myanmar. A part of me will always remain in the soil of Myanmar. It is not my motherland just because a part of my physical being has become one with the soil of Myanmar—it is also my spiritual motherland. Myanmar gave me two births. The second birth is more important for me because I got Dhamma here. As the bird has got two births: one birth coming out of the mother’s womb and the second birth coming out of the shell of the egg. So my mother gave me the first birth and Sayagyi U Ba Khin gave me the second birth—I received Dhamma, broke the shell of ignorance and a new Goenka came out of it.

This is such a powerful Dhamma land that it attracted me to the Saddhamma in spite of my upbringing, which was totally opposed to the Buddha’s teaching. Throughout my childhood and early adulthood, it was drilled into me that one may worship the Buddha but one must stay away from his teaching. I was told that the Buddha’s teaching was deceptive and leads to hell!

How could I come to Saddhamma in spite of such deep prejudices? What attracted me to the Buddha Dhamma?

I remember the first time I met my teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin. I had great attachment to my beliefs. I had many misgivings about the teaching of the Buddha. Sayagyi knew that I was a leader of the local Indian Hindu community. He asked me, “Do you Hindus have any objection to sīla — a life of morality, to samādhi — mastery over the mind and to paññā—wisdom to purify the mind?” How could I object! How could anybody object! He continued, “Well, this is what the Buddha taught. This is all I am interested in and this is all that I am going to teach you.” How can anyone have objection to sīla, samādhi and paññā? Years later, when I started teaching Dhamma to those who came from diverse religious backgrounds, I used the same way as Sayagyi to explain Dhamma to them.

Sayagyi’s interpretation of Dhamma was universal and non-sectarian. He was not interested in converting me to “Buddhism”. He used to say, “For me, if someone follows sīla, samādhi and paññā, for all practical purposes, he or she is a Buddhist”. And if a Buddhist doesn’t practice sīla, samādhi and paññā, I feel sorry for him or her!

My first Vipassana course introduced me to the teachings of the Buddha and transformed my life forever. His logical, practical, pragmatic, universal and non-sectarian teaching pulled me like a magnet. There was nothing objectionable in it. I had been hearing about and talking about the eradication of defilements and purification of mind. When I started observing sensations, initially there were moments of doubt, “How is this going to help me?” But very soon I realised that by observing sensations, I am working at the root of the problem. I was actually walking towards the goal of full liberation. Whatever Sayagyi taught me was not merely to develop devotion or to satisfy the intellect though both are important. He taught me the way to know the truth at the experiential level. What convinced me and gave me results here and now was the experience of the truth through bodily sensations. The Buddha’s teaching is akāliko.

I feel very fortunate that I was born in this land of Dhamma. I feel very fortunate that I came in contact with Sayagyi U Ba Khin. Here was a person who had the technique in its pristine purity. Sayagyi was a saintly person who taught with great compassion without expecting anything in return.

Now the same teaching is attracting people from all over the world. Vipasssana courses have been held in about 70 countries and people from more than 130 countries have participated in the courses. Why are people from all over the world getting attracted to the Buddha Dhamma?

The teaching of the Enlightened One is so simple and yet so deep. He has explained his teachings in a few words:

Sabbapāpassa akaraṇaṃ, kusalassa upasampadā;
Sacittapariyodapanaṃ,etaṃ buddhāna sāsanaṃ.
(Dīgha Nikāya, II, Mahāpadānasutta)

Etaṃ buddhāna sāsanaṃ. This is the teaching of all the Buddhas, not just that of Gotama the Buddha. Everyone who becomes the Buddha will teach nothing but only these three: sabbapāpassa akaraṇaṃ — abstain from all unwholesome actions, evil actions, sinful actions; kusalassa upasampadā — perform wholesome actions, pious actions; and sacittapariyodapanaṃ — keep on purifying your mind, keep on purifying the totality of your mind. That’s all. So simple and yet so deep, so profound.

At the surface level it looks so simple. Any religion worth the name will say: “Abstain from sinful action.” Every religion will say that. “Perform good actions.” Every religion will say that. “Purify your mind.” Every religion will say that. Then what was unique about the Buddha? Let us understand.

If it was just a question of giving sermons, then the Buddha stands on the same level as other religious teachers. But the Buddha does not merely give sermons. He gives us a way, a technique, a practice by which one can actualise those sermons to enable one to live the life of Dhamma.

To live the life of morality is acceptable by one and all at the intellectual level: “Yes, I must live a life of morality. I accept it.” Or one accepts it at the devotional level because the Buddha said so or the founder of this religion or that religion says so and: “I am from that particular sect, from that particular religion, from that particular tradition. Therefore, I must live a life of morality.” One accepts this at the devotional level. One accepts this at the intellectual level. “I must perform wholesome actions, good actions. I must purify my mind.”

But it is so difficult to accept it at the actual level, the experiential level. The experiential level is missing and if that is missing, everything is missing. When one becomes a Buddha, he teaches the experiential aspect of Dhamma.

Abstain from sinful actions. How to abstain? Perform good actions. How to perform good actions? Purify the mind. How to purify the mind in its totality? This is where the Buddha made a unique contribution to humanity. He discovered and showed the way to totally purify the mind.

The first part is sīla: abstain from sinful actions. Some religious teachers tell people that if they perform sinful actions, they will go to hell. If they abstain from sinful actions, they will go to heaven. Yes, it is true. But there are many who just laugh at it: “Who cares for the next life. Where is hell? Where is heaven? If I enjoy this life, it is good for me.”

Then another argument is given. A human being is a social being. One has to live in the society. One has to live with the members of the family. One has to live with others. Even a recluse or a monk or a nun remains in contact with the other members of the society. If one performs any action, which disturbs the peace and harmony of the society, how can one have peace and harmony within oneself? “Yes,” intellectually one starts understanding, “If I ignite fire all around me, I will have to suffer the heat of this fire around me. I will suffer from this heat that I have generated all around.”

Yet another explanation is given, often to children:

“If someone comes to kill you or someone hits you do you like it?”

“No, I don’t like it.”

“Then if you hit somebody and try to kill somebody, that person won’t like it, will he?”

“No, that person won’t like it.”

“Then you should not do something which you don’t like others to do to you!”

“Yes, I should not kill. You are correct.”

Similar arguments are presented for all the moral precepts.

All these five sīlas are quite acceptable at the logical level, at the rational level, at the intellectual level. Yet people do not lead the life of sīla. They may understand: “I must live a life of sīla. Sīla is so important for me. A life of morality is so good for me, so good for others.” Yet, they do not live a moral life. Why? The Buddha understands it properly. Because one has no control over the mind. One is not the master of one’s own mind.

An addict of alcohol knows very well, “I should not take alcohol, alcohol is not good for me.” Yet, when the time comes, he succumbs. He can’t control himself. A gambler knows very well, “I should not gamble, gambling is not good for me.” Yet, when the time comes, he starts gambling. One keeps on performing evil deeds while understanding very well that these are not good for one. This is because one is not the master of one’s own mind. One has become a slave of one’s own unwholesome habit patterns.

Therefore, the Buddha teaches the second part of Dhamma: samādhi, mastery over the mind. Again the Buddha’s samādhi differs from that taught by other teachers. He teaches sammā samādhi.

All right, one has practised samādhi. One has developed mastery over the mind. One is living a life of sīla and is not performing any unwholesome action that will disturb the peace and harmony of other beings. One has developed samādhi. But if there are impurities in the depth of the mind, anusaya kilesa (sleeping volcanoes of impurities at the deepest level of the mind), one does not know when one of these sleeping volcanoes will erupt. One will again get overpowered by the impurity and will again start living a wrong life.

The Bodhisatta Gotama realised this. He practised all the eight jhānas, lokiya-jhānas. He realised that even after perfecting these jhānas, the impurities at a very deep level of the mind were still not eradicated. Unless these deep-rooted impurities are destroyed, one cannot be a liberated person.

So he worked for the third part of Dhamma: paññā, wisdom, insight, purification of the mind at the deepest level. We have a vast canvas with the spectrum of the entire Indian spirituality and we see so many teachers announcing the same thing: “Come out of craving, come out of aversion. Don’t indulge in craving and aversion towards sensual objects.” But when we go deeper in this subject, we find that the Buddha’s contribution was unique. No other teacher could reach the depth that the Buddha reached. The path he showed takes everyone to that depth.

The Universal Appeal of the Buddha Dhamma : A Personal Experience - II
- by S. N. Goenka
(The following is the concluding part of the lecture given by Goenkaji at the Fourth World Buddhist Summit, Yangon, Myanmar on 10 December 2004. It has been adapted for the Newsletter.)

One can purify the mind at the surface level. One can even purify the mind at a little deeper level. But the way to purify the mind at the deepest level, at the root level, was missing. The Buddha discovered how to eradicate all the anusaya kilesas (latent mental impurities). The roots of these impurities have to be taken out. So long as these kilesas are there, as explained in the Chain of Conditioned Arising (paṭiccasamuppāda), craving (taṇhā), clinging (upādāna) and the process of becoming (bhava) follow. One keeps on rolling in misery; one cannot come out of misery. One may keep on taking births in very high celestial or brahmic planes. Still, one is living in the field of suffering.

The anusaya kilesas are the seeds of bhava. They give rise to one bhava after another, one bhava after another. One does not come out of misery as long as the anusaya kilesas are not eradicated.

The Buddha said that Dhamma is paripuṇṇaṃ. Nothing else needs to be added. The entire Dhamma is included in it. Nothing is missing. In these three-”sīla, samādhi and paññā-”nothing is missing. Dhamma is parisuddhaṃ-”so pure that nothing needs to be removed. Nothing needs to be taken out and nothing else needs to be added. It is complete and pure-”kevalaparipuṇṇaṃ parisuddhaṃ.

Now we see that Vipassana, this technique of the Buddha, has travelled round the world. Intellectuals, scientists, engineers, doctors, psychiatrists-”all have learnt it and benefited from it. People from different sects come to these courses: Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Jews, Parsis, Sikhs, and Buddhists. Even people from communities that have been traditionally opposed to the Buddha, when they come to Vipassana courses, find it acceptable.

This is the beauty of the Buddha’s teaching. It is so simple, pragmatic, universal, and acceptable to all. One just practises sīla, samādhi and paññā. Enough. It is so pure that nothing needs to be taken out. Nobody can point out anything wrong in sīla. Nobody can point out anything wrong in samādhi. Nobody can point out anything wrong in paññā.

The essence of the Buddha’s teaching-”sīla, samādhi and paññā-”is acceptable to all. This is because all religions have an inner core, an inner essence that focuses on the purification of mind. All religions also have an outer shell that is concerned more with appearances, festivals, rites, and rituals. So long as one gives importance to the inner essence, it doesn’t matter if the outer shell differs from one religion to another. However, when the outer shell is given all importance, the inner core is lost and a religion fails to bring peace and harmony. The Buddha’s teaching helps to live according to the inner essence. It gives benefits here and now.

I benefited so much from the practice of Vipassana that I started reading the words of the Buddha as per my teacher’s advice. I had been told from childhood that the Buddha incorporated good points from the Hindu tradition in his teaching and then added delusion to it; and that he had not discovered anything new. Since I found the Buddha’s teaching to be very beneficial, I further explored the truth about these statements. Reading the words of the Buddha (Tipiṭaka) gave me so much joy! How wrong my earlier information turned out to be! It showed me how the Buddha’s emphasis was on actual experience of the truth. The Tipiṭaka is so inspiring and there is such a wonderful description of the Dhammakāyā of the Buddha in it.

When the Buddha taught Dhamma to people, he said: "I have no interest in making you my disciples. I have no interest in snatching you away from your old teachers. I have found the way out of misery. Give it a trial." At one time, while talking to some ascetics who were sceptical of Dhamma, he exhorted them to give a trial only for seven days.

If more and more people in the world start calling themselves Buddhists, how will they benefit? Yes, if they start practising sīla, samādhi, paññā then yes, they will surely get the best fruit of the Buddha’s teaching. If one calls oneself a Buddhist, but does not practise sīla, samādhi and paññā, how will one benefit from the teaching of the Buddha?

The Buddha had no interest in changing the names of his disciples. Moggallāna remained Moggallāna; Kaccāna remained Kaccāna; Bhāradvāja remained Bhāradvāja. These were brahmin names, the names of brahmin clans.

The Buddha’s teaching is so simple and yet so profound. But to actually practise Dhamma, one has to work hard. My Sayagyi used to say, "It is very easy. And yet, it is so difficult!"

Listening to discourses or reading scriptures is very beneficial-”Kālena dhammassavanaṃ etaṃ maṅgalamuttamaṃ1. Discussing Dhamma is wonderful-”kālena dhammasākacchā etaṃ maṅgalamuttamaṃ2. But if one just keeps on discussing and debating, and one doesn’t practise Dhamma, then it doesn’t work. One has to start walking on the Path. If one doesn’t walk on the path of Dhamma, one doesn’t get any benefit.

The Buddha teaches Dhamma, the law of nature, the universal law of nature, which is applicable to one and all. He teaches in such a simple language and in such a lucid manner. When we don’t practise it we make a philosophy out of it and we start fighting: "Your belief is wrong. My belief is all right. Your belief is wrong, my belief is correct." What do we gain? Even if my belief is all right, very good, yet if I don’t practise, what is the use of this belief?

I was born in Myanmar. I feel very grateful, and proud also, that I was born in this Dhamma land. More than eighty percent of the people here do not believe that there is a soul inside. They do not believe that there is a creator of this universe, a God Almighty. Now, for the last more than three decades, I have been living in a country and I often have been travelling in countries, where more than eighty percent of people believe that there is a soul inside. They believe in God Almighty as the creator of the universe.

There could be thousands of arguments to prove that there is no soul and an equal number of arguments to prove that there is an eternal soul. Similarly, there may be arguments for and against the existence of God Almighty. These arguments are useless.

When one practises Dhamma, one experiences oneself that the entire phenomenon is nothing but the interaction of mind and matter. At the apparent level, it looks so solid, so substantive, and so lasting. This is paññatti; it appears to be so. The Buddha’s teaching is a journey from the apparent truth (paññatti) to the ultimate truth (paramattha). One has to go beyond the apparent truth to reach the ultimate truth. This is what Vipassana is-”paññatti ṭhapetvā visesena passatī’ti vipassanā3. When one looks within, one starts to realise that everything in the field of mind and matter is impermanent-”anicca. Everything keeps changing.

Whatever keeps changing cannot be a source of lasting happiness. One realises that whatever happiness one experiences, sooner or later, turns into unhappiness. Unhappiness is inherent in transient happiness. As one continues on the path, one realises that suffering is inherent in every experience in the field of mind and matter-”yaṃ kiñci vedayitaṃ taṃ dukkhasmiṃ4.

As one observes the phenomenon objectively, the way the Buddha taught, one will find that there is no solidity. One’s own investigation of the mind-matter phenomenon leads to the discovery that everything is mere vibration. Sabbo pajjalito loko, sabbo loko pakampito5. The entire universe is nothing but combustion and vibration. There is no lasting substance in it. One has no control over it. There is nothing that one can point out as "I" or "mine" or "my soul"

The experience of anicca at the experiential level changes saññā to anicca-saññā, which naturally leads to anattā. This leads to the experience of nibbāna-”Aniccasaññino hi, anattasaññā saṇṭhāti, anattasaññī asmimānasamugghātaṃ pāpuṇāti diṭṭheva dhamme nibbānan’ti.6

This has to be experienced. One may keep on saying: "There is no soul," but if one is full of ego, the Buddha’s teaching doesn’t help. One’s ego is so strong. If one doesn’t experience anattā but makes a philosophy out of it, it won’t help. But when one experiences this oneself, one is liberated. That is anattā.

Paññā takes one to the stage where the ego naturally gets dissolved by experiential understanding. It is neither an intellectual game nor an emotional or devotional game. It is not a blind belief; it is not a dogma; it is not a cult; it is not a philosophy. It is a truth that can be realised by one and all: a Christian or a Muslim, a Hindu or a Jain, a Myanmar or a Thai, an Indian or a Pakistani, an American or a Russian or a Chinese. It makes no difference. The law of nature is universal-”it is applicable to everyone.

This was the discovery made by the Buddha. Some accepted it in the past and some didn’t. The Buddha shows the path. He doesn’t want you to accept blindly. He gives you a way to find out the truth for yourself.

Galileo discovered that the earth is round. He also discovered that the earth is rotating on its own axis. Some believed it; some didn’t believe it. Later on, all people accepted this as the truth. The earth was round even before Galileo. The earth was round at the time of Galileo. The earth remains round after Galileo. Newton found out that there is a law of gravity. He announced it. The law of gravity was there even before Newton, at the time of Newton, and will remain after Newton.

Similarly, the law of paṭiccasamuppāda was there-”even before the Buddha, at the time of the Buddha, and it will remain after the Buddha. This is the law of nature. Whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, Dhamma niyāmatā remains eternal. The Buddha said: Uppādā vā tathāgatānaṃ anuppādā vā tathāgatānaṃ, ṭhitāva sā dhātu dhammaṭṭhitatā dhammaniyāmatā idappaccayatā.7

Due to ignorance (avijjā), one does not know what is happening within the framework of mind and matter (nāma-rūpa). Every moment there is some sensation or the other, throughout the body. Wherever there is life, there is a sensation. All these six sense organs come in contact with their respective objects; there is a sensation (vedanā)-”phassa-paccayā vedanā. If one does not have the ability to feel the vedanā, how can one understand that with the base of sensation, craving and aversion arise-”vedanā-paccayā taṇhā.

Vedanā-paccayā taṇhā was there before the Buddha, at the time of the Buddha and it will also remain after the Buddha. That is why this law, the Dhamma, is eternal-”esa dhammo sanantano.

The Buddha discovers it and makes use of it for his own liberation, and with all compassion, distributes it to others. "Look, this is how you are miserable. Vedanā-paccayā taṇhā, vedanā-paccayā taṇhā. I will teach you a way by which you can come out of it. Now vedanā is there, but no more taṇhā. Every time you experience vedanā, paññā must arise. Oh anicca, anicca. This vedanā or that vedanā, it is anicca."

Again, if it becomes a philosophy that every vedanā is anicca, one doesn’t gain anything, it is merely one’s belief. But if one experiences: "Look, a sensation has arisen. Sooner or later, it passes away. However unpleasant a sensation may be, it is bound to pass away. However pleasant a sensation may be it is bound to pass away."

One has to remain aware of this arising and passing away-”Samudaya-dhammānupassī viharati, vaya-dhammānupassī viharati.8 It seems that vedanā stays for some time but sooner or later it passes away. However, a meditator realises with his or her own experience that every moment it arises and passes away without any gap. As it arises so it passes away with great rapidity-”samudayavaya-dhammānupassi viharati.9

Vedanā is there all the time. It arises and passes away. One keeps on reacting to it. If it is pleasant, one reacts with lobha. If it is unpleasant, one reacts with dosa. This is what one does for the whole life and creates more and more misery for oneself. One keeps on multiplying one’s misery. Look, there is a way to come out of misery. With the cessation of sensation, craving and aversion cease; with the cessation of craving and aversion, attachment ceases-”vedanā-nirodhā taṇhā-nirodho. Taṇhā-nirodhā, upādāna nirodhā.10 One reaches the stage where one transcends the field of mind and matter.

The Buddha did not merely give sermons. Mere sermons would have made him just one among so many philosophers in the world. He experienced the ultimate truth himself to become the Buddha and taught others to experience it.

The Buddha’s teaching fascinated me because of its practical aspect. If it were only an intellectual exercise, I doubt that I would have gone on the path taught by the Buddha. I would have said: "Very good. Our Gita also says so. Our Upanishads also says so. This is wonderful." I would not have walked on this path. I was convinced because I was given the way: "Look, this is how you can come out of craving and aversion."

I feel very fortunate that I was born in this wonderful land, the land of Dhamma. I am very fortunate to be born in a country where the teaching of the Buddha is preserved in its pristine purity. Vipassana-”the way it should be practised-”is maintained here. I feel very fortunate that I came in contact with a saintly person who taught so compassionately without expecting anything in return.

Myanmar has a special place in the life of the Buddha. After his enlightenment, after enjoying the bliss of enlightenment for seven weeks, the first meal he took was Myanmar rice and honey offered to him by two businessmen from Myanmar, Tapassu and Bhallika. They became the first lay devotees by taking refuge in the Buddha and the Dhamma (dvevācika upāsakas). This was the first and only dvisaraṇa gamana (refuge in the Buddha and Dhamma). The Buddha plucked out a few strands of his hair (kesa-dhātu) and gave them to the two Myanmar businessmen.

The dhātu given in his own lifetime, personally gifted by him, and that too the only time he ever gave such a gift in his lifetime is very special indeed. This Buddha-dhātu that was gifted in his very lifetime came to Myanmar-”and the Shwedagon is such a glorious tribute to that fact. Myanmar preserved more than just the kesa-dhātu of the Buddha. Through the millennia, it preserved the Saddhamma, pariyatti as well as paṭipatti, especially the practice of Vipassana.

Now Vipassana is spreading round the world. Whether one is from Myanmar, from India, from other Theravadin countries, from a Mahayana country or from any other part of the world-”the most important thing is to take actual steps on the path of Dhamma.

May all of you get the opportunity to taste pure Dhamma at the experiential level! May all of you come out of your misery! May all of you enjoy real peace, real harmony, real happiness!

Bhavatu Sabba Maṅgalaṃ - "May all beings be happy!"

Notes:

1. Khuddaka Nikāya, Khuddakapāṭha, Maṅgalasutta 2. Ibid.

3. Paṭisambhidāmagga Aṭṭhakathā, Ñāṇakathā

4. Majjhima Nikāya. III, Mahākammavibhaṅgasutta

5. Saṃyutta Nikāya, Sagāthāvagga, Upacālāsutta

6. Aṅguttara Nikāya, Navakanipāta, Sambodhisutta

7. Saṃyutta Nidānavagga, Nidānasaṃyutta, Paccayasutta

8. Dīgha Nikāya II, Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta 9. Ibid. 10. Ibid.