Sermon 13: The Rain of Lust

Even as rain penetrates
a house that's badly thatched,
So likewise lust penetrates
the mind uncultivated.
As rain does not penetrate
a house that is well thatched,
So lust does not penetrate
the mind well cultivated.

(Dhp. 13-14).

Today, so that there may be an increase of awareness and wisdom, these two verses of the Buddha-word will be explained. The reasons for listening carefully to what is said are because one may agree that a mind awake to what is going on is a useful mind to have-and this is to have awareness. Perhaps one may also agree that a mind wholesome, bright and relatively free from desires and aversion, is also useful sort of mind to have-and this is called a mind of wisdom. It is for awakening awareness of oneself and wisdom regarding oneself that this Dhamma was taught by the Exalted Buddha and is it is for these two reasons that it continues to be taught in the present time. By becoming more aware, and therefore more awake, one becomes better able to appreciate the value of this Dhamma for one's own life and circumstances and it is only those who are to some extent aware and awake, who can profit from Buddhist Teachings. Now, this awareness and wisdom will be understood from the explanation of these two verses, as will also their opposites: carelessness and stupidity.

To come now to these verses. As it is now both the Rainy Season and the Rains-residence of Bhikkhus, it seems appropriate to take some verses of the Buddha-word which deal with the subject of rain. The rains that we usually think of come on, in this country, only once a year and so we have a rainy-season, and a monastic period of three months called the Rains-residence which: roughly coincides with the wet weather and is the time for intensive Buddhist practice. But here in these verses the Exalted Buddha points out another sort of rain, which goes on falling in torrents all the year round-yet few people ever notice it though they become soaked, cold and miserable as a result. This special sort of rain is called desire, attachment, or as translated in these verses: lust. The word 'lust' here refers to all sorts of cravings, as we shall see in a minute. Let us look at the first verse more closely. The first two lines read: "Even as rain penetrates a house that's badly thatched" and the application of this simile to ourselves follows in the next two lines: "So likewise lust penetrates the mind uncultivated." There are certain words and expressions here, which it will be interesting to examine and the first of these is this special rain, or desire. Pali language has the word 'kama', meaning sensuality, which is often paired with the word 'raga' or desire occurring in our verses. This kama or sensuality is composed of two elements: objective sensuality and defilement sensuality. The first of these, as vatthu-kama is the basic object upon which desire arises. It is perceived by way of one of our sense eyes, ears, and so on, and it may be either part of our persons, attached to ourselves or something belonging to others, or having no owner at all. These bases of sensuality are then sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches, which are pleasing. Now the other pole of this sensual desire lies within ourselves and is called the defilements or stains often listed as three in number: greed, aversion and delusion. If these three were not present, even though we were surrounded by the most enticing bases for sensuality, that sensual desire could not arise in our hearts. So this rain, spoken of in the verse, is falling upon our senses as we go about the world and encounter pleasing sights and sounds, and so forth; and it is also falling upon our hearts within and causing there the floods of various kinds of passions to arise and subside. Perhaps one might say, 'Well, what is the harm in this? The world is naturally endowed with all sorts of beautiful and enjoyable things while it is natural for men to love and to hate.' This sort of view which is one sided arises from a mind very much swayed by the passions. Besides being endowed with all sorts of beautiful and enjoyable things, our world contains an abundance of horrible and terrible things. One needs conformation? Newspapers will give one some illustration of this and one could go to hospitals, prisons, concentration camps, battlefields, epidemic areas and so on, and so on. And if one thinks that there is no harm in desire, aversion and delusion, or at least that greed and hate are natural, then it might be well to consider that all the strife and trouble ever suffered by humanity has been brought about by these so-called ‘natural' passions, whether it be a family quarrel or an international war, it has no roots apart from these passions in the hearts of men. So remove the passions and at least all this sort of trouble would be extinguished.

This sensuality, which has its two poles in the world of sense-objects and in the hearts of people, is brought into full action by a series of processes mentioned many times in the Discourses of the Exalted Buddha. First, for some person there arises the experience of a pleasing and endearing sight-object-it could be a person, a piece of jewellery, a new car, a cake in a shop window. The perception of this implies the presence of visual sense-awareness for if it is not functioning then that object cannot come into the range of the eye. From the presence of these two, there is visual contact, meaning the striking of the object upon the sensitive areas of the eye. When this has taken place, there arises the feeling born of visual contact. In the present case since we are assuming a pleasant sight-object, the feeling will almost certainly be a pleasant sensation. Now, all these processes so far have been automatic and their functioning depended on the sort of sense organs possessed and ultimately upon the sort of kamma made in the past, which has become the basis of the present life. But here is the turning-point between automatic processes and intentional processes for the next process is called memory of physical form, which is the referring back into the mind for some relevant information about the newly-arisen sight-object. This process is the search to link the present object with past objects and so establish the pattern, which is appropriate for dealing with it. Memory here may play a stronger or weaker part in deciding which pattern should be adopted. Following naturally upon this there is decision regarding physical form, this being the bare volition to do according to this or that memory, feeling and so on. Reinforcing this there is craving regarding physical form and at this point there is a heavy fall of rain in the heart of the person so affected. But these processes do not stop at that. Further strengthening the craving there is examination of the physical object in the mind and discursive thought about it, all these processes from decision onwards being volition or intentional actions and thus becoming new kamma and a new bond for the future. Had the object in the first place been unpleasant, then the processes would very likely have ended not in discursive thoughts relating to greed but would have had thoughts of aversion for it. Moreover, only the processes related to the eye and sight-objects have been dealt with briefly here but similar courses of psychological activity are followed in the case of the ear and sounds, and so on. Nor is the whole process so straightforward as it might seem since one of these processes-from sight-object, say, to discursive thought about its desirability or otherwise, takes only a split second-and since the sense of sight is rarely isolated from other sense bases, there will be other process-streams flooding in from the ear, from the nose, from the tongue, from the body and from the mind which is itself counted as a sense in Buddhist psychology. These streams mingled together give us our picture of the world, give us our picture of all that we experience and give rise to the various defilements of mind, which bring about the interior disturbances in ourselves and the exterior disturbances in our relations with other human beings and animals.

This is the way in which rain of sensuality falls and drowns us if we are not careful. Having looked at 'rain' we should consider the 'house.' In the first verse it is "a house that's badly thatched", that is, a house that is not well-protected. This is compared to a person having no restraint, or little sense of knowing what is good for himself, benefiting others; or evil for himself, harming others. This "badly thatched roof" is an inadequate restraint from harmful and evil things and inability to choose the good and beneficial. Now if human beings were born destined to do good or evil, or if their characters were unalterably fixed, this would be an end to it, for nothing could be done. But we know from our own experience that both mind and body are changing at all times and what the Exalted Buddha teaches us to do, in the case of mind, is to give direction to that change away from states of deterioration and towards states of higher development. While this benefits ourselves primarily, all others must share in these benefits indirectly, for when one person becomes less greedy, less angry, less stupid, then others about him will have less burdens to bear. The more people begin to practice Dhamma, the happier will be the world.

Remembering those two aspects of sensuality-the base 'out there' and stains within let us examine how the house is badly thatched in some detail. The chain of processes that were mentioned above began with: the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body and the mind. This is where being unguarded, the thatch wears thin and the rains of desire pour in. Guarding or restraining the senses is a part of Buddhist training. It is not that these various organs are evil, or that the world is evil, but it is just commonsense that one should not become overwhelmed by the weight of sense impressions flooding in from without, or be distracted by the force of mental impressions in the mind. If a person is completely at the mercy of the senses, he is little better than an animal. Watch a dog for confirmation of this. It goes around with head turning this way and that looking, its pricks up its ears, it snuffles and it licks and gobbles and rubs itself against this and that. It makes off in the direction, which promises pleasures and displays animosity when it does not get what it wants. Finally, it sleeps a great deal. All this has its counterparts in human behavior and the special thing about most people is that they have the potentials to go beyond these narrow limits. They can choose to train themselves in some way making for development if they wish to do so. Part of this training is to know moderation in sensual pleasure. Buddhist laymen are expected to practice this for they should be wise enough to know their own good. It is not only Buddhist monks who should strive to grow beyond sense attractions by finding something much superior. But the wise person, whether Bhikkhu or layman, should limit his roving eyes and the other senses and by this effort alone he or she will gain some peace of mind. Those who practice this excellent restraint of the senses are instructed neither to seize upon the general form nor the special characteristics of sense objects, but for the ordinary layperson this will not be possible and certainly not for all the time. However, even busy people will find restraint of the senses useful from time to time. By this discipline at least the roof of the house will be strengthened and less rain will leak in.

Again, as already noted above, by giving careful attention to feelings which are a guide to the general direction which thoughts will take, more holes may be stopped up and less rain drench the dweller in that house. Let us look at the process here. Feelings precede thoughts. If one has not seen this for oneself then a close examination of one's own mental-emotional processes are needed. When one has pleasant feelings about something then this is a warning signal: Look out for greed arising! On the other hand, feelings of an unpleasant nature are very liable to be forerunners of anger. The other kind of feelings which are neither pleasant nor unpleasant frequently lead on to that underlying mental stain-delusion or dullness. This is another occasion when one's house or personality may be made more secure by blocking up the holes, which let in desire.

Lastly, when the whole process above from sight-object to discursive thought about it, has run its course, if one is mindful, it is still possible to lessen the grip of desires by changing the nature of one's thoughts from unwholesome types to thoughts directed at the development of oneself and the benefit of others. There are five ways in which a train of thought may be stopped and a substitution made. The Exalted Buddha has explained them like this: first, there is substitution of an object connected with evil such as greed, aversion delusion, by an object, which is wholesome. For instance, lust may be subdued by reflection on the repulsiveness of live or dead bodies; anger and hatred may be removed by loving-kindness; or delusion may by remedied by trying to reflect upon cause and effect. There is an appropriate wholesome object for the mind for whichever of the mental stains beset it. One should hold on to that wholesome mental object with determination not to be shifted from it.

But it sometimes happens that evil and unwholesomeness are too strong and one will not be successful, so the Exalted Buddha recommends instead reflecting upon the disadvantages of those unwholesome thoughts. One may ponder-this greed and lust may bring me to experience loss as a being whose desires are never fulfilled, or this anger and hatred make for a very hell in this world what to speak of elsewhere, or this dullness and delusion cause me to become like an animal even now and drive people to behave like animals. And in this and other ways one may consider the disadvantages of those thoughts.

Now supposing that they are so persistent that even then they do not disappear, then one should endeavor to give no attention to them, not reflecting upon them. One might turn to do something else, turn to a friend or some other occupation, which ensured that no attention was given them so that they died away.

If this also was not successful, then one should resort to a fourth method, which is based upon the conditioned nature of all phenomena as taught by the Exalted Buddha. As thoughts are not unrelated events, they do not exist by themselves. They are related in various ways to other phenomena and they arise only dependently upon causes and conditions. At this stage one should examine these causes and conditions and so come to see that evil, unwholesome thoughts only arise when the appropriate supporting factors of greed, aversion and delusion are present. Now examination of mental factors is a wholesome mental activity, in the same mental state there is no room for both wholesomeness and its opposite. Thus, if examination in this way is strong enough and determined, unwholesome thoughts must be ended.

But a case might occur when this was not achieved and for such an emergency one should just subdue, restrain and beat down the evil thoughts by the mind's powers of goodness. This should be done even with clenched teeth and tongue pressed against the palate-a last resort measure when everything better than suppression has failed. These five methods need not be used in this order and some people will find one better than the others in their particular case. It is good to remember them for they are very helpful. In brief, they are: substitution, disadvantages, non-attention, causes, and lastly subduing. And above we have mentioned the three places for stopping up the roof and making it watertight, and these are: restraint of the senses, mindfulness of feelings and restraint of initial and discursive thought. Anyone who wishes to take seriously this training of the mind away from domination by desires must apply these methods for patching his roof.

From the above verses we learn that "lust penetrates the mind uncultivated" while, in the second verse "lust does not penetrate the mind well cultivated." The first thing to comment on here is the term "mind." English language is in the unfortunate position of having no one word with the great range of the Pali 'citta.' If 'citta' is translated by 'mind', this, although general, seems to be too intellectual while not fully covering the emotions, but if we use only 'heart' this is open to the objection that thinking is associated with the brain in the head. Citta means in Pali 'that which knows or reflects' and is divided into feelings which may be pleasant, unpleasant or neither, memories, thoughts and sense consciousness, all of which are functions of the citta. Thus the citta is not itself one thing but is a word for a stream of processes, which are forever changing. Because both mental and emotional processes are included in the citta, so it can be called "the heart and mind." This heart and mind may be well developed or undeveloped and its cultivation may proceed in a number of different ways. The undeveloped heart and mind is, as we have seen, constantly swayed by greed, aversion and delusion and because of this it is a citta held in bondage, not able to develop until they are partly removed. By the complete destruction of greed and so on, the citta becomes truly free and possessed of great wisdom and compassion based upon that purity. This is called a cultivated mind and heart for it is no longer swept by the storms of passions and has found peace and happiness, which do not rely upon the so-called satisfaction of desires. Development of the heart and mind is a dynamic aspect of Buddhist training, commonly known as meditation. But this word is misleading since development of the citta can go on all the time when one is awake, whether one is walking, standing, sitting or lying-down, for every time and place presents an opportunity for the practice of Dhamma.

This means, in the beginning the famous instruction of the Exalted One: "Every evil never doing, and in wholesomeness increasing." (Dhp. 183). The first aspect here is restraint from evil, the second is effort made to grow in the good which is called wholesome because it aids one along the path of Dhamma-practice as a walking-stick might do, or as a boat would help one to cross over a great river. Neither processes complete without the other, for a person who merely makes effort to do no evil will be dry and sterile and produce no fruits. His effort could even be called selfish since others will benefit little from such negative and self-centered activity. On the other hand, a person who was out to increase the good in himself but neglectful of restraint from evil, would be undermining his own endeavors and could not get anywhere. When taken together, these two aspects of development in Dhamma are for both the benefit of the individual practicing them and for society in general. The more people there are in any society who display kindness, gentleness, generosity, helpfulness, reverence, uprightness, gratitude and contentment, the happier will that society be. Such qualities as these, which are the marks of the 'heart and mind well cultivated", cannot be taught in schools or learnt from books. They can only be acquired by persistent work knowing that their possession and practice leads to happiness while their absence and neglect is the cause of all sorts of sufferings. When a few people undertake the development of their cittas, a certain amount of happiness and peace is brought about and when many people do so there is a corresponding increase in peace and happiness-which many wish to find but do not know where to look for it. By Dhamma-practice one protects oneself and by doing so one protects others. As a verse spoken by the Exalted Buddha in a previous existence says: "Certainly the Dhamma protects the Dhamma-practitioner, as a great umbrella in the time of rains." (jat. 447).

This protection, this keeping off the rains which really do not come from without at all but are produced from internal storms, is well illustrated by the events which caused the Exalted One to speak the two verses here in the first place. His half-brother, Nanda, was not leading the Bhikkhu-life with enjoyment since his mind and heart were constantly obsessed by memories of and thoughts about the princess whom he was to have married. Distracted and confused by desires, the life of a Buddhist monk appeared uninteresting to him and he longed to return to the pleasures which he had formerly known when a prince. The first verse applied to his state then and so the Exalted One said: Even as rain penetrates a house that's badly thatched, so likewise lust penetrates the mind uncultivated". But by using a skilful means, the Teacher of gods and men was able to show him the relativity of all beauty and cause him to aspire first for the beauties said to be found in the heavens. But Nanda found that he got no respect from other Bhikkhus who were set upon the full course of Dhamma-development involving the destruction of all desires. They admonished him not to aim low at the merely transitory happiness of the heavens but to aim for the sublime unchanging happiness of Nibbana, beyond desires. Taking this advice to heart, he practiced ardently and himself became an Arahant, one who has come to the end of the training, who has no conflicts within, nor is he at conflict with others. Won to peace, he has discovered the peak of all development for beings. So, of Nanda now become an Arahant like this, the Buddha who is the Incomparable Trainer said: "As rain does not penetrate a house that is well thatched, so lust does not penetrate the mind well cultivated."

EVAM

Thus indeed it is.