Xylophone mallets and xylophone balls

Practitioners will have heard the terms, “the knower and the known.” Before entering the practice, people will not have a knower and a known person. Because in life, there is only the feeling of “mine” and “mine” all the time. For example, if someone makes a loud noise, we get angry and dislike it. This becomes “I am angry because someone else did it.” There is no “knower, the known.” Then we start to practice, have mindfulness, awareness, learn to meditate, and begin to have a “knower” to observe the “breath.” The breath then becomes the “known.” When we do it frequently and skillfully, it begins to develop into daily life. When someone makes a loud noise and we feel dissatisfied, at that time mindfulness arises, so the “knower” arises to observe the “emotion of anger.” The angry emotion becomes the known. When this happens frequently, we begin to see the details of the “known.” For example, the “known” arises and then ceases. Sometimes we see that when something impacts it, This being known also arose following, or perhaps the same impact, but why is the “being known” this time not the same as the last time, etc. Like this, the “knower” begins to learn about the “being known” until one day he understands and makes a decision from continuous learning (at this time the precepts must be complete, otherwise he will see with his own wisdom that if he continues to break the precepts, suffering will occur all the time, making it very difficult to lead to stable peace). The “being known” does not have a self, it is just something that arises and ceases. It arises because there are causes and conditions, and it ceases when the causes and conditions are exhausted. Whoever sees clearly all the time like this, that person will eventually abandon the wrong view of being a self. Even during the practice, this kind of seeing also occurs even if one has not yet reached the Dhamma to abandon wrong view. Even though sometimes it returns to having a self, it is normal because the mind has not yet seen completely white. So do not worry. From the ceaseless practice of meditation, it will see the truth more and more until it completely pushes out the wrong view of being a self (sakkayaditthi) completely. Then there will be no more wrong view. Which means that right view is born. Now, when the “knower” continues to observe the “known”, the determination in right concentration will increase, making him begin to notice that the “knower” himself is also arising and ceasing. In the past, because of the focus on observing the “known”, the “knower” itself gradually emerged as a self. He began to gradually feel that “I” understood. “Wisdom” arose. Then what would automatically follow, which the person might not be aware of, is the clinging to “wisdom” as “mine” immediately and increasingly more firmly at a subtle level. Even though the wrong view of the self is abandoned, the clinging to the aggregates still exists. As long as the mind still has ignorance, the stupid mind will cling to everything. Because the cause of everything is because the mind clings to itself. The development of the path will lead to the realization of the Four Noble Truths. When the realization of the Noble Truths arises, it will lead to the seeing and realization of Dependent Origination. Since they are the same thing, it leads to right view at a deeper level, until the person sees that consciousness itself is arising and clinging. Now the mind begins to see the truth more and more, leading to the right view that even the “knower” also arises and ceases. If the “knower” and the “known” are compared to a xylophone and its mallets, the xylophone and its mallets are in a set, but they are not the same. They have different functions. However, the mallet misunderstood and believed that the mallet was its own. The sound that was produced was made by it. However, when observing with determination and neutrality, the mallet began to discover the truth that the sound of the mallet was only from the impact, it did not belong to the mallet. It was only the impact because there was a cause. Because the mallet misunderstood that both the mallet and the sound of the mallet were its own, this had always led to suffering. Finally, all of the deepest misunderstandings arose from the identity of the mallet itself. Everything is natural, empty of the meaning of identity, because of the misunderstanding that mindfulness is mine, wisdom is mine, we have already known clearly. Even though right view exists, it still cannot let go of right view. Finally, from the ultimate realization of the Noble Truths, right view is the cause and result in right insight and right liberation. Here, it is true insight (knowledge, wisdom) that is free from anyone clinging. This is true liberation, empty of the liberated (liberated), it is a return to nature without any self that previously caused any clinging at all. When right view arises, the xylophone mallet, the xylophone, the sound of the xylophone, are all free and empty of self. In truth, they are already empty. It is just a feeling that was created by itself out of ignorance. This then creates the cause of the arising of the aggregates, the continual existence, and the non-stop birth. On that day, both the “knower” and the “known” are truly one thing. They are all nature that is empty of self. At that time, any causes and conditions for the arising of suffering will be eliminated, because the causes are eliminated. The creation of any birth will stop. This is the end of suffering, which is Nirvana. 2013-09-04