Four Types of People

The Buddha said: “I see four types of people in this world. The first type is running from darkness towards darkness. The second is running from brightness towards darkness. The third is running from darkness towards brightness. And the fourth is running from brightness towards brightness.”

The Buddha did not speak in riddles. His teaching is clear and well-explained. Svākkhāto bhagavatā dhammo. Whenever he said something that people might not understand properly, he explained it immediately. What is darkness? What is brightness? How does one keep on running from one to the other?

1. From darkness to darkness: 

All around there is darkness, a life of darkness, a life of misery. One is suffering in different ways—physically, mentally, materially and because of problems in the family or society. There is no happiness at all. And yet, there is no trace of wisdom within. So every moment, this person is generating nothing but anger, hatred and ill will.:

“I am suffering because of this person, because of this incident, because of this cause.” One generates aversion towards that person or cause. This misery is the result of past kammas of aversion, and now, one is planting more seeds of aversion. There is already so much darkness in one’s life and one is planting more seeds of darkness. These seeds of anger, hatred, ill will bring nothing but misery in the future. So the future will also be full of misery. The present is misery, the future is misery. The present is darkness, the future is darkness. So such a person is running from darkness to darkness.

2. From brightness towards darkness:

There is brightness all around in one’s life. There is happiness today because of material wealth, good health and prestige in society. But there is no wisdom within. So one becomes arrogant because of all this wealth, power and status and feels contempt for others. 

“These poor people are all useless. I am so smart; I have got so much money, position, power, status.”

Because of some good kammas of the past, there is brightness all around. Sooner or later, this will come to an end. But every moment, one is planting seeds of egotism, seeds of aversion, seeds of misery, seeds of darkness. These seeds of negativity will result in darkness in the future, misery in the future. Thus this person is running from brightness towards darkness.

3. From darkness towards brightness: 

The third type of person is in exactly the same position as the one in the first group. There is hardship all around, darkness all around in the present but there is wisdom inside. One keeps on smiling.

“Oh, this hardship has come because of some past bad kammas of mine. Somebody seems to be the apparent cause of my misery. Certainly, this person is not the real cause of my misery. This person has just become a vehicle. May he or she not have to suffer because of these misdeeds! This hardship was bound to come through this person or through some other person because of my own past kammas. Now I will not plant new seeds of misery.”

So one generates only love and compassion towards such people. One is planting seeds of love, of compassion. Now there is darkness, but the future is full of brightness. Sooner or later this darkness will go and then there will be only brightness. One is planting seeds of brightness, which will bring brightness in the future, happiness in the future. 

4. From brightness towards brightness: 

At present, one’s life is filled with brightness, filled with happiness. One enjoys the happiness of material wealth, all worldly comforts, and prestige in society. But there is wisdom and one keeps on understanding:

“All this success is because of some good kammas of the past. And whatever good kamma I might have done, they are not eternal, their fruit is not eternal, sooner or later it will come to an end. So, I must make best use of all this money, position, power, status that I have now for the good of others. As a householder, it is my duty to use my wealth for the maintenance of my family and those who depend on me. Whatever remains, I must use for the good of others, for the benefit of others. May more and more people get pure Dhamma! May more and more people develop wisdom! May more and more people be liberated from their suffering!”

So one generates love, compassion, and goodwill all the time. All actions—vocal, physical, and mental—are for the good of others. One plants seeds of brightness. From happiness one is running towards happiness; from brightness, one is running towards brightness. 

We should not be like the people in the first or the second group. We must be like the people in the third or the fourth group. Whether third or fourth, this is not in our control. Sometimes, life may be full of darkness, full of suffering because of the past kammas. At other times, life may be full of brightness because of the past kammas. There is happiness or unhappiness in life because of the results of past good and bad kammas. Irrespective of whether there is happiness or sorrow, brightness or darkness, we will develop brightness within. We will not make any new saṅkhāras that will produce suffering in the future, darkness in the future. This is what we learn from Vipassana.

The Buddha said: 

Attā hi attano nātho, attā hi attano gati.

One is one’s own master; 

One is the master of one’s own future. 

The present is nothing but the child of the past. Whatever you have done in the past is done. But you are the master of the present. Try not to generate a single saṅkhāra that will bring misery for you. The future is the child of the present. Be master of the present. Let your present be full of Dhamma. Then, the future will automatically be full of happiness. There will be no darkness in the future.

Develop this mastery of the present moment. This is Vipassana. Understand the technique properly and get established in the technique. You have to be aware of the sensations and be equanimous to the sensation. Leave the rest to Dhamma. The results are bound to be good. Keep growing in Dhamma, keep growing in Dhamma. Dhamma is so great, so wonderful.

May you all get the best fruits of Dhamma! May you all enjoy real happiness, real peace, real harmony!

Bhavatu sabba maṅgalaṃ—May all beings be happy!

SSayings of Sayagyi U Ba Khin

* The world is facing serious problems. It is just the right time for everyone to take to Vipassana meditation and learn how to find a deep pool of quiet in the midst of all that is happening today.

* Just as the light of a candle has the power to dispel darkness in a room, so also the light developed in one man can help dispel darkness in several others.

* What is happiness? For all that science has achieved in the field of materialism, are the peoples of the world happy? They may find sensual pleasures off and on, but in their hearts of hearts, they are not happy when they realise what has happened, and what may happen next. Why? This is because, while man has mastery over matter, he is still lacking in mastery over his mind.

* A balanced mind is necessary to balance the unbalanced minds of others.

* To imagine that good can be done by the means of evil is an illusion, a nightmare.

* For progress in Vipassana meditation, a student must keep knowing anicca as continuously as possible. ...Continuous awareness of anicca, and so of dukkha and anattā, is the secret of success. The last words of the Buddha just before he breathed his last and passed away into mahaparinibbāna were: “Decay (or anicca) is inherent in all component things. Work out your own salvation with diligence.” This is, in fact, the essence of all his teachings during the forty-five years of his ministry. If you will keep up the awareness of the anicca that is inherent in all component things, you are sure to reach the goal in the course of time.

The Four Noble Truths

The Noble Eight fold Path

(The Fourth Noble Truth :  Magga : The Path)

7. Right Mindfulness

Buddha said ‘ O monks, I know of no other single thing that brings such great loss a heedlessness. I know of no other single thing that brings such great profits as heedfulness. Heedfulness , verily, brings great profits.

Meditation is fulfilled by the conjunction of the three factors of the Path v; Right Effort, Right Mindfulness & Right Concentration. Mindfulness , plays an important role in the acquisition of both calm and insight.  Now this right Mindfulness should be applied to each and everything one does. In all our movements, one is expected to be mindful, whether we walk, stand, or sit, whether we speak, keep silent, eat drink or answer the call of nature – in all these and in all other activities, we should be mindful and wide awake.

Right Mindfulness is a mental factor, that sharpens the power of observation and assist right thinking and understanding. The five senses used by the conscious mind as instruments, provide food for thought. The suitability or not of the food we take , depends on our mindfulness.

Unwholesome thoughts interfere with concentration and the function of Right Effort , is to put aside such thoughts and promote and maintain healthy ones: but this is not possible , if we lack Mindfulness or constant watchfulness. Right Effort & Right Mindfulness go arm in arm , to check the arising of Evil thoughts and to develop & promote good thoughts.

Right mindfulness is cultivated through a practice called "the four foundations of mindfulness" , the mindful contemplation of four objective spheres: the body, feelings, states of mind, and mind objects.

The contemplation of the body makes us realize its true nature, without any pretence, by analyzing it right down to its ultimates, into its fundamental elements. This mental scrutiny of our own bodies helps us to realize , what kind of a phenomenon the human body is , to realize , that it is a process without any underlying substance or core that may be taken as permanent and lasting. This is done by the breathing exercises – in-breathing and out breathing consciously and with awareness.

In the contemplation of feelings- one is expected to analyse ones feelings or sensations.

The contemplation of Mind , tells us the importance of studying our own mind, of becoming aware of our diverse thoughts .

The contemplation of Mind objects  is divided into five sub-sections, each devoted to a different set of phenomena: the five hindrances, the five aggregates, the six inner and outer sense bases, the seven factors of enlightenment, and the Four Noble Truths. Among these, the five hindrances and the seven enlightenment factors are dhamma in the narrower sense of mental factors.

The five hindrances and seven factors of enlightenment require special attention because they are the principal impediments and aids to liberation. The hindrances -- sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and worry, and doubt -- generally become manifest in an early stage of practice, soon after the initial expectations and gross disturbances subside and the subtle tendencies find the opportunity to surface. Whenever one of the hindrances crops up, its presence should be noted; then, when it fades away, a note should be made of its disappearance. To ensure that the hindrances are kept under control an element of comprehension is needed: we have to understand how the hindrances arise, how they can be removed, and how they can be prevented from arising in the future.

A similar mode of contemplation is to be applied to the seven factors of enlightenment: mindfulness, investigation, energy, rapture, tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity. When any one of these factors arises, its presence should be noted. Then, after noting its presence, one has to investigate to discover how it arises and how it can be matured. When they first spring up, the enlightenment factors are weak, but with consistent cultivation they accumulate strength. Mindfulness initiates the contemplative process. When it becomes well-established, it arouses investigation, the probing quality of intelligence. Investigation in turn calls forth energy, energy gives rise to rapture, rapture leads to tranquillity, tranquillity to one-pointed concentration, and concentration to equanimity. Thus the whole evolving course of practice leading to enlightenment begins with mindfulness, which remains throughout as the regulating power ensuring that the mind is clear, cognizant, and balanced.

The Noble Eight fold Path

(The Fourth Noble Truth :  Magga : The Path)

6. Right Concentration

All religious systems teach some kind of meditation or mental exercise for man’s inner development. It may take the form of silent prayer, reading individually or collectively from some ‘Holy scripture’  or concentrating on some sacred object, person or idea. And it is believed that these mental exercises, at times , result in seeing visions or some similar mysterious occurrences. Whether they are illusions, imaginations, hallucinations, mere projections of the sub-conscious mind, or real phenomena, one cannot say with certainty. Mind is an invisible force and is quite capable of producing all these phenomena.

The Meditation taught in Buddhism is neither for gaining union with any supreme being nor for manifesting any mystical experiences nor is it for any self-hypnosis, but to bring calm and insight for the sole purpose of attaining unshakable deliverance of mind and supreme security from bondage through the total extirpation of all mental defilements.

Meditation as practiced and experienced by the Buddha , before and after his enlightenement, is divided into two forms or systems:

 Concentration of the mind or Samadhi(samatha) that is unification of the mind ’ and ‘insight(vippasana)’. 

Of these two forms, Samadhi or concentration has the function of calming the mind. Calming of the Mind implies unification or ‘one pointedness’ of the Mind. Unification is brought about by focusing the mind on one salutary object to the exclusion of the others. The development of concentrative calm , however, is never an end in itself. It is only a means to something more sublime which is of vital importance, namely Insight , (vipassana) . Vipassana means seeing beyond what is ordinary,  clear vision, i.e., seeing things as they really are, which means seeing the three characteristics of all phenomenal existence (Impermanence, Unsatisfactoriness & No-Self) . It is this insight, with calm concentration of mind as its basis, that enables one to purge his mind of all defilements and see Reality – Nirvana.

The Buddha , identified five hindrances that obstruct Right Concentration. They are : Sense Desire, Ill-Will, Sloth & torpor, restlessness and worry & Sceptical doubt. 

extracts from The Buddha's Ancient Path by Thera Piyadasi

The Noble Eight fold Path

(The Fourth Noble Truth :  Magga : The Path)

5. Right Mindfulness

Meditation is fulfilled by the conjunction of the three factors of the Path : Right Effort, Right Mindfulness  and Right Concentration. These form the three strands of the rope; they are intertwined and interrelated. Mindfulness, however is considered as the strongest strand, for it plays an important role in the acquisition of both calm and insight. Without this all important factor of mindfulness, one cannot cognize sense objects, one cannot be fully aware of one’s behavior. It is called Right Mindfulness, because , it avoids misdirected attention, and prevents the mind from paying attention to things in a false way.

Right mindfulness is instrumental not only in bringing concentrative calm, but in promoting right understanding and right living.

The Buddha has pointed out that the four fold Arousing of Mindfulness, as the one and only way that  the liberated ones have taken.

In his discourse on the Arousing of Mindfulness, (Satipatthana-sutta), which may be called , the most important discourse by the Buddha on mental development or Meditation, the Buddha has identified four references for establishing mindfulness (satipatthana): body, sensations (or feelings), mind (or consciousness) and mental contents. These are then further broken down into the following sections and subsections:

1.    The Contemplation of the Body (Kāyā)

·         Mindfulness of Breathing ( Anapanasati Sutta)

·         Mindfulness of Postures (Walking, Standing, Sitting, Lying Down)

·         The four fold Clear Comprehension

·         Reflections on Repulsiveness of the Body

·         Reflections on Material Elements

·         Cemetery Contemplations

2.   Sensations/Feelings (Vedanā)

·         Mindfulness of pleasant or unpleasant or neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant (neutral) feelings

·         Mindfulness of worldly or spiritual feelings

3.   Mind/Consciousness (Cittā)

·         Mindfulness of lust or without lust

·         Mindfulness of hate or without hate

·         Mindfulness of delusion  or without delusion

·         Mindfulness of shrunken state of mind or  distracted state state  of Mind

·         Mindfulness of the developed state of mind  or undeveloped state of mind

·         Mindfulness of surpassable mind or unsurpassable mind

·         Mindfulness of the concentrated Mind  or not concentrated Mind

·         Mindfulness of the liberated or the unliberated mind

4.   Mental Contents (Dhammā)

·         The five Hindrances : sense desires, ill-will, sloth & stupor, restlessness and worry and skeptical doubt.

·         The Five Aggregates of Clinging : material forms, feelings, perception, mental formations and consciuosness

·         The Six Sense-Bases and their Fetters : eyes & visible forms, ears & sound forms, nose & smell forms, tongue & taste forms, body tactile objects  and mind and mind-objects.

·         The seven Factors of Enlightenment :

·         The Four Noble Truths

 (for the detailed study of the above refer -The Budhha’s Ancient Path by Ther Piyadassi)

As stated above, Mindfulness is specially concerned with just four things : Body, Feeling, Mind and mind-objects., all pertaining to human being. The contemplation of the body makes us realize its true nature, without any pretence, by analyzing it right down to its ultimates, into its fundamental elements. This mental scrutiny of our own bodies helps us to realize, what kind of a phenomenon the human body is , to realize that it is a process without any underlying substance or core that may be taken as permanent and lasting.

The description of each type of Mindfulness in the sutta ends with the words :’he lives independent clinging to nothing in the world’  This is the result aimed at by the meditator.