When we say we're listening to Dhamma, practicing Dhamma, and studying Dhamma, it means we need to align our understanding with the Dhamma present in our own aggregates. The existing Dhamma refers to the five aggregates that arise when sense objects meet sense doors. These are the objects to be observed.
The observing wisdom consists of five Path factors: Right View and Right Thought (2 wisdom factors), Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration (3 concentration factors). Together these make five factors of the observing mind. The object being observed is the five aggregates, and the observing wisdom consists of these five Path factors.
At the moment of seeing, are there beings, devas, or brahmas - or just five aggregates? At the moment of hearing, are there cities and countries - or just five aggregates? When we truly understand these as just five aggregates, don't the wrong perceptions of beings, devas, and brahmas disappear? When true understanding arises, wrong understanding vanishes. #When_wrong_view_vanishes_doesn't_identity-view_fall_away?
Don't these five aggregates cease after seeing? After hearing? When we understand this impermanence, can we still hold the view of permanence? When we see impermanence, doesn't the eternalist view fall away? When we understand that new aggregates replace the old ones, can we hold the view of annihilation? When we understand this replacement, doesn't the annihilationist view fall away?
When we understand the replacement, the annihilationist view falls away. When we #truly_understand the five aggregates clearly arising at the six sense doors when contacted by objects, doesn't identity-view fall away? When these views (eternalist, annihilationist, identity-view) fall away through understanding, one becomes a lesser stream-enterer. When they fall away through both development and elimination, one becomes a greater stream-enterer, isn't that what's taught?
Isn't it worth examining how much happiness comes from becoming a stream-enterer? Could all the gold, silver, gems, rice, and wealth in the entire country of Burma be exchanged for the wisdom of one Path and Fruition moment?
Can all the country's wealth prevent aging? Prevent sickness? Prevent death? No escape from these, right? #Can_one_be_certain_about_avoiding_lower_realms? But doesn't the wisdom of one Path and Fruition moment guarantee freedom from lower realms? Whether mindful or unmindful at death, one is free from lower realms. Doesn't King Mahanama serve as proof?
Did King Mahanama know he was a stream-enterer? When traveling to foreign lands and encountering armies with many soldiers, elephant troops, and cavalry, didn't he admit to the Buddha that he was so frightened that #he_couldn't_remember_any_Dhamma?
Didn't he ask, "If I were to die trampled by elephants at that time, what realm would I be reborn in?" He didn't know he was a stream-enterer, but #he_had_eliminated_what_needed_to_be_eliminated. The Blessed Buddha then said to King Mahanama, "Let me explain with an example, pay attention.
Suppose there's a large jar filled with butter oil crossing the Ganges River. When it reaches mid-stream, it hits thorns and stakes and breaks. Wouldn't the jar sink? But what about the oil inside - would it sink or float?
The Buddha taught that King Mahanama's body, from feet to head, the entire body with its 32 parts, is like that jar. If trampled by elephants, it would be crushed. But isn't his wisdom like the butter oil? Wouldn't it naturally stay free from lower realms?
That's why the highly venerable Aggamahapandita Mogok Sayadaw, with his great wisdom, taught: Understanding Dhamma is priority number one, seeking livelihood is priority number two. In other words, understanding Dhamma comes first, acts of charity come second. Isn't this worth considering?
Isn't it worth examining how crucial it is to understand Dhamma? #Understanding_and_elimination_happen_together. Without understanding, can we eliminate defilements? That's why we need to strive to understand. We need to understand the aggregates (khandha), the Noble Truths (sacca), and Dependent Origination (Paṭiccasamuppāda). Only through understanding can we eliminate..."
Didn't he ask, "If I were to die trampled by elephants at that time, what realm would I be reborn in?" He didn't know he was a stream-enterer, but #he_had_eliminated_what_needed_to_be_eliminated. The Blessed Buddha then said to King Mahanama, "Let me explain with an example, pay attention.
Suppose there's a large jar filled with butter oil crossing the Ganges River. When it reaches mid-stream, it hits thorns and stakes and breaks. Wouldn't the jar sink? But what about the oil inside - would it sink or float?
The Buddha taught that King Mahanama's body, from feet to head, the entire body with its 32 parts, is like that jar. If trampled by elephants, it would be crushed. But isn't his wisdom like the butter oil? Wouldn't it naturally stay free from lower realms?
That's why the highly venerable Aggamahapandita Mogok Sayadaw, with his great wisdom, taught: Understanding Dhamma is priority number one, seeking livelihood is priority number two. In other words, understanding Dhamma comes first, acts of charity come second. Isn't this worth considering?
Isn't it worth examining how crucial it is to understand Dhamma? #Understanding_and_elimination_happen_together. Without understanding, can we eliminate defilements? That's why we need to strive to understand. We need to understand the aggregates (khandha), the Noble Truths (sacca), and Dependent Origination (Paṭiccasamuppāda). Only through understanding can we eliminate..."
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