Wisdom for uprooting greed and hatred
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 9:00 pm
Hi friend, I searched for the means for conquering sensual desire and ill will, and found the following methods from "The Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest" by Nyanaponika Thera (in addition to Satipatthana and Anapanassati, especially 4 establishments of mindfulness):
1. Learning how to meditate on impure objects / metta;
2. Devoting oneself to the meditation on the impure / metta;
3. Guarding the sense doors; Avoid unwise attention to the things causing craving or aversion, and cultivate wise attention to the things subduing them.
4. Moderation in eating (wholesome eating);
5. Noble friendship;
6. Suitable conversation (avoid talks that are “not leading to detachment, not to freedom from passion, not to cessation, not to tranquillity, not to higher knowledge, not to enlightenment, not to Nibbana”).
However, I feel these means are not really cutting the roots of the hindrances of greed and dejection. Probably it could work better if one can analyze the cause of each his clinging/aversion in addition to the general root cause of ignorance and delusion, for instance:
a. Clinging to money: the root cause is uncertainty about the future (for future security), which is the hindrance of worry/anxiety/insecurity.
-- Try to penetrate that money is anicca (it is conditioned and beyond control)
-- Try to penetrate that "all acquisitions are the root of dukkha"; money is "poisonous snake" and "prison". When we really see the harm in it, it'll become easier to give up.
-- Remind oneself that money is not "MINE", is void, and there's no "I" to own it.
-- Need to cultivate the faith in Karma law and “fate”?
b. Greed for gain (benefits, status) and reluctance to give: the root cause is selfishness
–-Need to uproot the notion of “self” and cultivate the compassion and altruistic joy for others (metta/karunaa/muditaa/upekkhaa meditation);
--Need to realize that neither “gain” nor “loss” is real, but are only delusions/papanca that the mind has created to fool itself;
--No matter “gain” or “loss”, the actual net gain or net loss is zero anyway;
--Need to realize that these conditioned things are all just Annica/Dukkha/Anatta and "double stupidity" (positive and negative stupidity), not worth grasping;
--Need to consider them as the “bait” of Mara to get one attached to the samsara, and should contemplate the danger and escape from it:
Contemplation of Danger: image the “burning aggregates” in the “burning mansion” – burned with passion/aversion/delusion and dukkha;
“No fire like passion, no loss like anger”.
Contemplation of Bless of escape: contemplate the release, peace and safety resulted from letting-go.
c. Clinging to physical sensual pleasures (beauty, nice music, pleasant aroma, delicious food and tactile sensation): the root cause is pleasant, comfortable feeling
--Need to realize that all sensual pleasant feelings are only delusions of mind, like water bubble;
need to realize that these conditioned things are all just Annica/Dukkha/Anatta, not worth grasping;
--Need to consider them as the “bait” of Mara to get one attached to the samsara, and should contemplate the danger [all forms of sensual desire cause bodily and mental suffering] and escape from it.
--Compared to the bliss of higher mind and Nibbana, such pleasures are not really interesting.
d. Clinging to mental (intellectual) pleasures (ideas, views): the root cause is for satisfaction of curiosity about things and mental thirst for knowledge/understanding of the unknown
--Need to consider them as "the poisonous arrow" one was shoot with, and contemplate the danger of exploring the useless things about the "arrow" instead of getting cured of the wound.
--The Buddha warned us: as long as our minds are not free from defilements, we should not trust our thoughts (which are all distorted delusions).
e. Ill will/hate: I once thought that I don't have ill will and hate; however, I realized that any irritation, resistance, dislike, opposition, dejection are kind of "diluted derivatives of hate"; their root cause -- uncomfortable or even painful feeling.
--Need to realize ill will and hate are "poison" which destroy our own happiness and well being; contemplate the danger and escape from them.
--Need to realize that all disagreeable feelings are only delusions of mind, like water bubble;
--Need to cultivate the compassion for others (metta/karunaa/muditaa/upekkhaa meditation); realize that all unwholesome deeds are caused by ignorance which will bring the doers dukkha: what a pity for them!
I'm also using Anapanasati (combining the four frames of mindfulness in both Anapanasati and Satipatthana) to contemplate the "disenchanting, fading, quenching, and lettingo" of the attachment to the 5 aggregates and six sense objects.
Hope more friends can contribute some more wisdom and means on how to uproot the hindrances of sensual desire and illwill ...
With Metta,
Starter
"A heart infiltrated by greed, anger and delusion is burning and painful day and night."
"Grasp nothing.
Resist nothing"
So that the "fire" can be put out.
PS: the particularly helpful sutta verses concerning sensual desire and ill will I've found (in addition to Satipatthana and Anapanassati suttas)
"Bhikkhus, desire & lust for seeing forms (hearing sounds, smelling odors, tasting flavors, speculating on mental objects) obstructs & corrupts the mind!
When a bhikkhu has overcome & left all these obstructing mental corruptions, his mind inclines towards inward withdrawal!
A mind prepared by withdrawal becomes fit & open for those higher mental states, that are to be realized by direct experience and true knowledge..." (SN 27(1+2) III 232)
"And what is unyoking from sensuality? There is the case where a certain person discerns, as it actually is present, the origination, the passing away, the allure, the drawbacks, & the escape from sensuality. When he discerns, as it actually is present, the origination, the passing away, the allure, the drawbacks, & the escape from sensuality, then — with regard to sensual objects — he is not obsessed with sensual passion, sensual delight, sensual attraction, sensual infatuation, sensual thirst, sensual fever, sensual fascination, sensual craving. This is unyoking from sensuality." - AN 4.10
Vangisa: "I burn with sensual desire, my mind is enflamed (with passion). Out of pity please tell me the effective extinguishing of it."
Ananda: "Your mind is enflamed because of distorted perception. Shun the aspect of beauty associated with passion. See constructions as other, as painful, not as self, (and thus) extinguish strong passion; do not burn again and again." - Thag 21
"Monks, any desire-passion with regard to craving for forms is a defilement of the mind. Any desire-passion with regard to craving for sounds... craving for aromas... craving for flavors... craving for tactile sensations... craving for ideas is a defilement of the mind." - SN 27.8
1. Learning how to meditate on impure objects / metta;
2. Devoting oneself to the meditation on the impure / metta;
3. Guarding the sense doors; Avoid unwise attention to the things causing craving or aversion, and cultivate wise attention to the things subduing them.
4. Moderation in eating (wholesome eating);
5. Noble friendship;
6. Suitable conversation (avoid talks that are “not leading to detachment, not to freedom from passion, not to cessation, not to tranquillity, not to higher knowledge, not to enlightenment, not to Nibbana”).
However, I feel these means are not really cutting the roots of the hindrances of greed and dejection. Probably it could work better if one can analyze the cause of each his clinging/aversion in addition to the general root cause of ignorance and delusion, for instance:
a. Clinging to money: the root cause is uncertainty about the future (for future security), which is the hindrance of worry/anxiety/insecurity.
-- Try to penetrate that money is anicca (it is conditioned and beyond control)
-- Try to penetrate that "all acquisitions are the root of dukkha"; money is "poisonous snake" and "prison". When we really see the harm in it, it'll become easier to give up.
-- Remind oneself that money is not "MINE", is void, and there's no "I" to own it.
-- Need to cultivate the faith in Karma law and “fate”?
b. Greed for gain (benefits, status) and reluctance to give: the root cause is selfishness
–-Need to uproot the notion of “self” and cultivate the compassion and altruistic joy for others (metta/karunaa/muditaa/upekkhaa meditation);
--Need to realize that neither “gain” nor “loss” is real, but are only delusions/papanca that the mind has created to fool itself;
--No matter “gain” or “loss”, the actual net gain or net loss is zero anyway;
--Need to realize that these conditioned things are all just Annica/Dukkha/Anatta and "double stupidity" (positive and negative stupidity), not worth grasping;
--Need to consider them as the “bait” of Mara to get one attached to the samsara, and should contemplate the danger and escape from it:
Contemplation of Danger: image the “burning aggregates” in the “burning mansion” – burned with passion/aversion/delusion and dukkha;
“No fire like passion, no loss like anger”.
Contemplation of Bless of escape: contemplate the release, peace and safety resulted from letting-go.
c. Clinging to physical sensual pleasures (beauty, nice music, pleasant aroma, delicious food and tactile sensation): the root cause is pleasant, comfortable feeling
--Need to realize that all sensual pleasant feelings are only delusions of mind, like water bubble;
need to realize that these conditioned things are all just Annica/Dukkha/Anatta, not worth grasping;
--Need to consider them as the “bait” of Mara to get one attached to the samsara, and should contemplate the danger [all forms of sensual desire cause bodily and mental suffering] and escape from it.
--Compared to the bliss of higher mind and Nibbana, such pleasures are not really interesting.
d. Clinging to mental (intellectual) pleasures (ideas, views): the root cause is for satisfaction of curiosity about things and mental thirst for knowledge/understanding of the unknown
--Need to consider them as "the poisonous arrow" one was shoot with, and contemplate the danger of exploring the useless things about the "arrow" instead of getting cured of the wound.
--The Buddha warned us: as long as our minds are not free from defilements, we should not trust our thoughts (which are all distorted delusions).
e. Ill will/hate: I once thought that I don't have ill will and hate; however, I realized that any irritation, resistance, dislike, opposition, dejection are kind of "diluted derivatives of hate"; their root cause -- uncomfortable or even painful feeling.
--Need to realize ill will and hate are "poison" which destroy our own happiness and well being; contemplate the danger and escape from them.
--Need to realize that all disagreeable feelings are only delusions of mind, like water bubble;
--Need to cultivate the compassion for others (metta/karunaa/muditaa/upekkhaa meditation); realize that all unwholesome deeds are caused by ignorance which will bring the doers dukkha: what a pity for them!
I'm also using Anapanasati (combining the four frames of mindfulness in both Anapanasati and Satipatthana) to contemplate the "disenchanting, fading, quenching, and lettingo" of the attachment to the 5 aggregates and six sense objects.
Hope more friends can contribute some more wisdom and means on how to uproot the hindrances of sensual desire and illwill ...
With Metta,
Starter
"A heart infiltrated by greed, anger and delusion is burning and painful day and night."
"Grasp nothing.
Resist nothing"
So that the "fire" can be put out.
PS: the particularly helpful sutta verses concerning sensual desire and ill will I've found (in addition to Satipatthana and Anapanassati suttas)
"Bhikkhus, desire & lust for seeing forms (hearing sounds, smelling odors, tasting flavors, speculating on mental objects) obstructs & corrupts the mind!
When a bhikkhu has overcome & left all these obstructing mental corruptions, his mind inclines towards inward withdrawal!
A mind prepared by withdrawal becomes fit & open for those higher mental states, that are to be realized by direct experience and true knowledge..." (SN 27(1+2) III 232)
"And what is unyoking from sensuality? There is the case where a certain person discerns, as it actually is present, the origination, the passing away, the allure, the drawbacks, & the escape from sensuality. When he discerns, as it actually is present, the origination, the passing away, the allure, the drawbacks, & the escape from sensuality, then — with regard to sensual objects — he is not obsessed with sensual passion, sensual delight, sensual attraction, sensual infatuation, sensual thirst, sensual fever, sensual fascination, sensual craving. This is unyoking from sensuality." - AN 4.10
Vangisa: "I burn with sensual desire, my mind is enflamed (with passion). Out of pity please tell me the effective extinguishing of it."
Ananda: "Your mind is enflamed because of distorted perception. Shun the aspect of beauty associated with passion. See constructions as other, as painful, not as self, (and thus) extinguish strong passion; do not burn again and again." - Thag 21
"Monks, any desire-passion with regard to craving for forms is a defilement of the mind. Any desire-passion with regard to craving for sounds... craving for aromas... craving for flavors... craving for tactile sensations... craving for ideas is a defilement of the mind." - SN 27.8