"Didn't the venerable Mogok Sayadaw, the Aggamahapandita, teach that (1) Understanding Dhamma comes first, and (2) Earning livelihood comes second? Think about it. #By_understanding_Dhamma_one_escapes_from_lower_realms. Those who don't understand Dhamma spend their time only on livelihood. Isn't it worth examining how long this has been going on?
Like the sand grains in the Ganges River - one Buddha for each grain of sand. Have any of today's Dhamma listeners ever encountered these countless Buddhas? Think about it. Why haven't we met them? #Because_we_were_in_hell.
If we fall into hell, into lower realms, isn't it clear how we miss encountering countless Buddhas? We can miss them, you see. Isn't this worth examining? Doesn't each Buddha liberate twenty-four asankheyyas and eighty kotis and hundred thousand followers?
Yet we haven't met even one Buddha. How much have we lost? #We_spent_time_only_on_livelihood, understand? Isn't this worth examining? Think about it. Thinking is called practicing.
During the Buddha's time, didn't Venerable Ananda ask about the proportion of wholesome and unwholesome deeds among beings? Excluding noble ones among humans, devas, and brahmas,
Didn't the Buddha say the wholesome deeds of remaining beings are like dust on his fingernail? That's very little, isn't it? And unwholesome deeds are like the earth itself? #Like_the_whole_earth! Wholesome deeds are like dust on a fingernail - extremely little. Isn't this frightening? Worth contemplating. #The_unwholesome_deeds_are_so_vast, understand?
Let's compare human lifespan with brahma lifespan. The highest brahma lives for 84,000 world-cycles. Not just one or two years, but 84,000 world-cycles, understand?
Isn't the brahma's lifespan long? Human lifespan then was just 100 years. During the Buddha's time, can we even compare? See how different it is? Human life is so short.
Now, comparing brahma life with hell realm time - take a stone, throw it up with all your might. Doesn't it go up and fall back? The brahma's entire lifespan compared to hell realm time is just like that single throw! Compared to human life, brahma life is 84,000 world-cycles, but compared to hell realm time, how insignificant it becomes!
How tremendously long is hell realm time? Isn't it frightening? We need to contemplate this, understand? Think about it, think about it. Remember, thinking is practicing..."
