The following are letters that Luang Por Thoon wrote to his followers in America. Each one contains special and detailed teachings of Luang Por Thoon. Click here for the translations to Contemplations , Khippapanyo Gatha , Majjhima Gatha
Contemplation
1. Think about desire Think about undesirables
2. Think about contentment Think about discontentment
3. Think about ownership Think about how ownership cannot exist
4. Think about bliss Think about suffering
5. Think about gain Think about loss
6. Think about love Think about hate
7. Think about being happiness Think about being sadness
8 Think about staying together Think about parting ways
9 Think about happiness Think about sadness
10. Think about wealth Think about being poverty
11. Think about right Think about wrong
12. Think about good Think about evil
13. Think about permanence Think about impermanence
14. Think about the sense of self Think about the sense of no self
15. Think about birth Think about death
16. Think about this life Think about the next life
17. Think about merit Think about demerit
In practicing proper discernment, we must contemplate the cause and contemplate the result that will follow. Do not contemplate solely the cause on its own nor merely the result by itself. Contemplate how the cause will lead to the result and contemplate the result back to the cause. Contemplate often and your mind will begin to understand and experience the truth.
-Acāriya Thoon Khippapanyo
Khippapanyo Gatha
“Even as our tangible bodies are considered to be us, which we have cared for, nurtured and protected since our birth until the present, our remains will be left for those still living to cremate and dispose of. How could you ever expect anything from worldly possessions that are external to your body?
We must use discernment to contemplate in order to discover the truth.
The object of our greed, the object of our anger, the object of our delusion, does actually exist in this world. The issue of greed, the issue of anger, the issue of delusion, resides within our minds. The cause of our greed, the cause of our anger, the cause of our delusion, are issues of worldly conventions.
In order to pull away from the world, our minds must know and have experience of the truth of the world. Therefore, this cultivation, is using discernment to train your mind to be able to know and experience the truth.
See the true way the world exists with clarity, and see the truth of the worldly conventions. See the things that cause stress and stress itself. Know the stress that comes from the misperception of the ego and its sense of ownership.
The wrong understanding, the wrong perception, causes our minds to cling and attach itself to the concept of ego and its sense of ownership, without a means by which to fix [our understanding, our perception].
This is called avijja, that is, our minds do not know the truth. In order to wipe out avijja, which is ignorance, we must use proper discernment to train our minds, teach our minds to understand and know the truth. Once the mind has repeatedly been trained to see and experience the truth, our minds will develop wisdom and intelligence. Using the proper discernment, our minds will understand the world correctly. In the end, our minds will relinquish our ignorance and wrong understanding.
All that will remain in our minds is wisdom and insight that is sharp and astute. No matter what you contemplate, it will all be according to the truth. All you will see and experience is truth.
Once we train our minds to this level, the concept of avijja does not have to be addressed. The knowledge of the truth the way it exists in the world will take care of avijja automatically. Just as if we were to prepare a lamp, wherever darkness existed, we could shine the light there and the darkness would immediately disappear. Just as such, once we have proper discernment in our minds, once our minds have proper discernment, we will destroy avijja with ease.”
-Acāriya Thoon Khippapanyo
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Majjhima Gatha
“Happiness in this world comes from moderation. If one understands moderation, that person will be able to have happiness in this world.
But there is no happiness in this world that is real or eternal. There is only momentary happiness alternating with suffering. Nothing is precisely as we want it to be and thus, we are constantly disappointed.
One cannot find moderation within this world, because moderation does not exist within this world.
Moderation only exists within our minds. If we have moderation within our minds, we will be able to have some happiness. In order to have moderation, we must also know of immoderation so that we can identify the difference between moderation and immoderation. Just as if we wanted food with flawless flavor, we must first know of flawed flavor. Once we know the qualities of flawed and flawless flavor, we can make the adequate choice. Just as such, a mind that does not have moderation will encounter stress and will not be able to find happiness, whether in this life or the next.
Even if we are reborn into this world for another 100 incalculable periods or 1000 eons, we will never get a taste of happiness of the mind. At the moment, our minds are lost in the emotions of the world. Our minds are unwittingly trapped underneath desires and greed.
Being accustomed to this, it has become second nature. This type of understanding has come to be considered normal. Birth is normal. Ageing is normal. Sickness is normal. Even death is considered normal. Everything that happens is considered normal. Therefore our minds do not understand or know of any other way to be.
Our minds are buried within the concept of normal with no end in sight. We have no concept of when our minds will awaken. Minds that are dull and muted, without any aim or intention of searching for an end, are called minds that are lost along the current of the world. They are continuously being born and reborn in the three realms, according to the concept of normal in which the mind is confined. In order to fix this, we must develop proper discernment in order to understand and experience the truth.
We must clearly understand the concept of normal, understanding and experiencing with proper reason and common sense, so that we understand it according to Aniccam (impermanence) Dukkham (suffering) Anatta (cessation of being), using your own wisdom and discernment.
Think often, contemplate often. The misperceptions and misunderstandings will gradually dissolve from your mind.
Just as light overtakes darkness, proper discernment overtakes ignorance in the same manner.
Develop proper discernment so as to be an eye for your mind, so that you can generate knowledge according to the truth. The understanding and experiencing of the truth, will rid moha-avijja (ignorance and delusion) from your mind.
Thus, proper discernment is the way to solve problems, both in the world, and in our lives.
May you practice and develop proper discernment to fix the problems of your mind, from this moment on.”
-Acāriya Thoon Khippapanyo
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