“The Mind That Goes Out” This Sunday with Benjamin at Minneapolis Insight

Dear Community,

This Sunday, Benjamin will lead a practice and exploration of “The Mind That Goes Out,” based on Luang Pu Dun's reformulation of the Four Noble Truths. Here’s a translation of this teaching from Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro’s book The Island (freely available here):

The mind that goes out in order to satisfy its moods is the Cause of Suffering (II);
The result that comes from the mind going out in order to satisfy its moods is Suffering (I);
The mind seeing the mind clearly is the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering (IV);
The result of the mind seeing the mind clearly is the Cessation of Suffering (III).
~ Luang Pu Dun, ‘Atulo,’ collected teachings compiled by Phra Bodhinandamuni

Another translation comes from the book Gifts He Left Behind (freely available here), a collection of Luang Pu Dun's teachings compiled by Phra Bodhinandamuni and translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu:

The mind sent outside is the origination of suffering.
The result of the mind sent outside is suffering.
The mind seeing the mind is the path.
The result of the mind seeing the mind is the cessation of suffering.

Below is a passage by Ajahn Ahiṃsako in More Than Mindfulness (freely available here) reflecting on this teaching:

So, what does that mean, the mind sent outside? Using those words as a reflective tool, I ask myself, where is my mind going and why is it doing that? What came up for me is that when my mind loses its centre, when my mind goes outside of its peaceful stillness, when it starts to inhabit the things that I see, hear, smell, taste, touch or think – perceptions relating to the six sense bases – then my mind has been ‘sent outside’.
…

With Luang Por Dune’s expression, ‘The mind seeing the mind is the path’, the way I reflect on it seems to me to be in line with what Ajahn Mun and so many of the great Forest Masters of the past and present are pointing to, that knowing quality of mind. In Thai there’s an often-used phrase, poo-roo, which is generally translated as ‘the one who knows’, that knowing quality. So how do we develop that? All this meditation we’re doing, all the Dhamma practice, all the sitting quietly, quieting the mind so that we can get to the point where we start to see, to taste that quality of knowing, to get familiar with it and also learn how to use it as our refuge.

We have the Three Refuges, Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. When we talk of Buddha as a refuge, it’s that very quality of knowing. Yes, there is the Buddha as a historical figure. But I don’t take refuge in Buddha so much as an entity. It’s more his teachings and his example. But it’s also the experience of that awakened quality of knowing that I find most useful in my own practice. All this practice, learning how to notice it, how to turn to it, and how it can be our refuge; for it to be our base programme that is running in the background, and the other stuff is arising and ceasing within that. Now, I can say these things. I can talk about it. But can I do it all the time? It’s a work in progress. This is why I’m practising.

All are welcome to join this exploration on Sunday! Registration and Zoom information available here.

With mettā,
Minneapolis Insight

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