Chua Duoc Su

The Buddha's liberating teachings are profound and mysterious, capable of bringing people out of the sea of sufferings of birth and death. For those who have faith, they can generate bodhicitta or paramita. But for those who have doubts, according to the Madhyamagama, it is called the wild mind, that is, the kind of mind that is barren, hesitant, and directionless, so they cannot make any effort to practice to pray for rescue. The mind of doubt is also called the mind of the hindrance. The bondage mind is the kind of mind that binds liberated developments. According to the Madhyamagama, the Buddha taught:

- A bhikkhu who has not abandoned the five wild minds and the five obscurations cannot thrive in his teaching.

Or:

- A bhikkhu who has not eradicated the five defilements and the five hindrances, cannot grow, cannot mature, cannot flourish in this Dhamma and Discipline. This event did not occur. The Five Wilderness Minds, also known as the five types of doubtful minds, are:

- Doubtful mind of the guru (Buddha)

- Doubts about the Dharma

- Doubts about the Sangha

- Doubts about the teachings

- Doubt and anger towards a fellow practitioner.

Because of these cittas, you are often hesitant, without effort, without diligence, without perseverance, without determination, without peaceful satisfaction.

1- Mind doubts Buddha

As said, in the religious history of mankind, the cardinal, and also the most active, persistent, simple, and compassionate missionary, could not be anyone other than the Buddha. This is not ambiguous but can be experienced, when going back in history through documents, scriptures, reviews, comments, etc., from nearly twenty-six centuries ago.

Buddha is a guru, a teacher full of immense compassion and transcendental wisdom capable of helping you transform the sufferings and troubles in life and get rid of samsara. However, many people now misunderstand the Buddha as a god who has the power to bless and bring disaster. That is a misconception!

The Buddha evangelize the dharma non-stop for forty-nine years, from rich to poor people. Wherever he goes, he also depends on fate, showing the way to find the ultimate liberation, ending from birth and death.

As a monastic or lay disciple of the Buddha, anyone who has doubts about his or her teacher... Because of a lack of trust, he is hesitant, unsteady in his practice, and unwilling to make efforts—strength, perseverance, and diligence. Therefore, eternal life drifts according to the arrangement of fate.

On the contrary, if you do not doubt the Master, so that you do not hesitate, are pure in body and mind, diligent in studying, working hard, and diligently, so that sins are eliminated, blessings are born, and good roots are developed.

2- Mind doubting the Dharma

As the scriptures tell you:

- The leading basic teachings of Buddhism, express the view of the universe, the world view, and the view of life. Dependent origination is the dependence on each other for formation, development, existence, and destruction. In that process, predestined conditions are the premise and prerequisite. Any phenomenon in the universe, whether physical or mental, is formed by a collection of causes and conditions, depending on each other for existence, and nothing exists by itself.

- The second basic teaching of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism is mentioned in many sutras, especially in the Dhamma-chakka-ppavattana-sutta. This teaching is established on the basis of cause and effect with a parallel form in its dialectical process. Studying the Four Noble Truths, you see two great aspects:

* The presence of suffering and the cause of suffering.

* Happiness when suffering has ceased and the path to peace.

- The third basic is the teaching of the Eightfold Path of Buddhism is the path of the eight principles of right action. These eight principles exist in a causal relationship and are closely linked to daily practice:

- Looks right

- Right thinking

- Right talking

- The right action.

- Live a true career.

- Diligence and genuine effort.

- Right concept.

- True meditation.

If you apply the above eight principles of right action to daily life, you will find them established on the basis of the law of cause and effect, reciprocity. One principle is both the effect and the cause of another.

As a disciple of the Buddha, whether monastic or layperson, anyone who has doubts about the Dharma taught by his or her teacher does not believe. Because of a lack of confidence, therefore, the mind is hesitant, unstable in the practice life, not making efforts, persevering, and diligent. Therefore, eternal life drifts according to the arrangement of fate.

On the other hand, if you don't doubt the Dharma of the Master, so you don't hesitate, your body and mind are pure, you study diligently, you work hard, and you are diligent so that sins will be eradicated, blessings will arise, and good roots will arise develop.

3- Mind doubting the Sangha

Besides Buddha and Dharma, the Sangha includes monks and nuns who have abandoned their family home and live a celibate life. Vow to live in the spirit of harmony and purity, to support each other to realize the liberation life and the ideal of enlightenment. The Sangha is one of the three treasures, representing the presence of Buddhism, and is the person who directly replaces the Buddha to transmit the Dharma to both monks and lay Buddhists. The Sangha are considered disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, as well as present-day Buddhists, who are practicing the righteous Dharma, keeping the precepts based on the spirit of solidarity, mutual affection, mutual love, and living according to the spirit of the six harmony laws. The Five Venerables, known as the Five Brothers Venerable Kaundinya, were the first Sangha of Buddhism.

As a disciple of the Buddha, monastic and layman, anyone who doubts the way of life of the monks is a disciple of the Buddha. Doubt this lifestyle is not pure, not beneficial to oneself and others. Therefore, you have a mind of hesitation, unsteadiness in the practice of life, no effort, perseverance, and diligence. Therefore, eternal life drifts according to the arrangement of fate.

On the contrary, you do not doubt your Master's path and discipleship, so you do not hesitate, your body and mind are pure, you study diligently, make efforts, and diligently work, so that sins are eliminated and blessings are born, good roots develop.

4- The mind doubts the Dharma

The Dharma is only for the cultivation methods of the Buddha. The practices include 84,000 different ways. The term Dharma is also combined with the term Vinaya (law) and forms the phrase Dharma-Law for the teachings and precepts taught by the Buddha and prescribed for his disciples to practice.

But the concept of Dharma in Buddhism is not limited to that scope, but also has broader connotations, ...

As a monastic and lay disciple of the Buddha, anyone who has doubts in his mind that the Methods of practice said by his or her Master have no practical benefit in life. Therefore, you have a mind of hesitation, unsteadiness in the practice of life, no effort, perseverance, and diligence. Therefore, eternal life drifts according to the arrangement of fate.

On the contrary, you do not doubt the cultivation methods taught by your master, so you do not hesitate, your body and mind are pure, you study diligently, work hard, and diligently, so that sins are eliminated, blessings are born, good roots develop

5- Mind doubts, anger, opposition to fellow practitioners

Fellow initiates are those who share the same ashram, one aspiration, one ideal of liberation...

As a monastic and lay disciple of the Buddha, whoever it is, always causes difficulties and indignation towards fellow holy ones, with no joy, opposition, discomfort, and discord. Because it is not in harmony, it does not direct the mind to effort, perseverance, and diligence. Then, day by day, the ordinary mind remains unchanged.

On the contrary, with a harmonious mind, you do not resent your fellow holy ones, rejoice, your mind does not oppose, on the contrary, you actively support each other…. That's why your mind is oriented toward effort, perseverance, and diligence. Thanks to that, the moral force is increasing day by day.

In addition to the five types of Doubtful Mind or Wild Mind in Madhyamagama, there are five other types of Attachment Mind which are:

1- Craving, wanting, yearning with desires

2- Craving, infatuated with body form (internal form)

3- Craving, infatuated with rupa (external form)

4- Craving, infatuated with eating, sleeping ...

5- Live a holy life but wish to be born in the heavenly world.

1- Craving, wanting, yearning with desires

In the world, money, wealth, and fame make people calculate greed. If you win, you will be happy, if you lose, you will be sad. As a monastic and lay disciple of the Buddha, whoever it is, for the desires, cravings, longings with ambitions, lusts... Because you keep dreaming and chasing after lust, so your mind no effort, perseverance, or diligence, so must suffer in craving, lust.

On the contrary, you have no desire for greed, profit, fame, love, etc. Thanks to that, you strive, persevere, and diligently, so your life is relaxed and peaceful.

2- Craving, infatuated with body form (internal form)

If you have a body, you have to take care of it, the most important thing is to be healthy. However, there are people who like makeup and editing. There are people who can stand in front of the mirror for hours on end wearing makeup….

As a monastic and lay disciple of the Buddha, whoever it is, with respect to his body, because he thinks it's beautiful, then he becomes arrogant and conceited. So you don't make efforts, persevere, diligently cultivate virtue, and therefore suffer in craving and desire.

On the other hand, those of you who have no self-need, no craving, no desire, no attachment. Thanks to that, your mind makes effort, perseverance, and diligence, so life is relaxed and peaceful

3- Craving, infatuated with rupa (external form)

Although the external scenes are beautiful, life needs beauty, and everyone living in the world needs beauty, but to a certain extent.

As a monastic and lay disciple of the Buddha, whoever is, for the desires, cravings, wanting with desires for the external environment. Because you keep dreaming after lust, running after external circumstances, you do not make efforts, persist, and diligently, so you have to suffer in lustful desires.

On the contrary, for you, there is no craving, no desire, no attachment to the external. Thanks to that, you work hard, persevere, and diligently, so life is relaxed and peaceful

4- Craving, infatuated with eating, sitting, lying, sleeping...

In life, there are five kinds of entertainment called the five desires, which are:

- Money, beauty, fame, eating, sleeping...

As a disciple of the Buddha, if you indulge in sensual pleasures, eat until you are satisfied, until your stomach is full, life values pleasure, sitting, lying, and sleeping pleasure. Because you keep dreaming according to lust, you don't make an effort, persevere, and strive, so you have to suffer in lustful desires.

On the contrary, you do not indulge in sensual pleasures, do not eat until you are satisfied until your stomach is full, and live without regard to the pleasures of sitting, lying, the pleasures of sleeping, etc. Thanks to that, you strive, persevere, diligent, so life is relaxed and peaceful

5- Live a holy life but wish to be born in the heavenly world

Of course, studying is about seeking liberation, or at least not being born in the realms of the Buddhas, you will also be born in the heavens, but that doesn't mean you just sit there and dream.

As a monastic or lay disciple of the Buddha, whoever lives a holy life with the desire to be born in the heavenly world with the thought:

- I, with this precept, with this conduct, with this austerity, or with this holy conduct, will be reborn as these or other gods.

Because you keep dreaming according to lust, you don't make an effort, persevere, and strive, so you have to suffer in lustful desires.

On the contrary, you live a holy life, but do not wish to be born in the heavenly world with the thought:

- I, with this precept, with this conduct, with this austerity, or with this holy conduct, I will not need to be reborn as this or that deity.

Thanks to that, you make efforts, perseverance, and diligence, so life is relaxed and peaceful.

In short, as a disciple of Buddha, or anyone, who wants to live a relaxing and peaceful life. To be liberated from samsara, or at least to promote the Buddha's teachings, you must first be determined to put an end to the five doubts and to put an end to the five bonds of craving, then one has the ability to attain enlightenment.

When you put an end to all doubts, no longer attached to cravings, just as the Dharma that you learn, you will surely get unquestionably good results, like the achievement of a hen that hatches an egg but In Madhyamagama, for example:

As there are about eight, ten, or twelve eggs in a hen, these eggs are well incubated by the hen, sat on it, warmed well, and well nourished, even though the hen does not give rise to desire:

- May my chicks, having pierced the eggshell with their sharp paws, or with their beaks, can come out safely.

Then, at the right temperature, at the right time when those chicks mature, pierce the eggshell with their sharp hooves or with their beak, they are able to escape safely on their own.

You too, once you have put an end to all the attachments of doubt, then you have enough power to break through ignorance, enough power to attain enlightenment that no need to arise any desires.