SELECTED DISCOURSES of WEBU SAYADAW

Translated by Roger Bischoff

Introduction

Image Gallery of Venerable Webu Sayadaw

Introduction

The Setting

Pali Terms Used in the Discourses

The Four Noble Truths

The Thirty-One Planes of Existence

The Four Stages of Nibbana

The Ten Paramis

INTRODUCTION

Burma is one of the few countries in the world where Theravada Buddhism still survives in its original form. The bhikkhus (monks) of Burma make every effort to preserve the Theravada Buddhist teachings. Buddha Gotama’s Teachings deal mainly with the way the human mind works and the relationship between the mind and body. The nature of the human mind has not changed since the Buddha discovered the path leading to the understanding of the absolute truth about mind and matter. This ultimate reality and the practice leading to its realization are, and will always remain, the same, regardless of economic or social conditions, so people today who put into practice what the Buddha taught can discover this reality for themselves. If one aspires to the end of suffering as taught by the Buddha, it is essential not to add or subtract anything from his teachings, in order that they will remain as effective today as they were during the time of the Buddha.

The foundation of the teachings is the Four Noble Truths:

the truth that all conditioned phenomena (physical and mental) are unsatisfactory;
the truth that there is a cause for this;
the truth that there is an end to this unsatisfactoriness or suffering; and
the truth that there is a path leading to the end of suffering.

The path to the end of suffering is called the Eightfold Noble Path as it is divided into eight parts which are grouped under the threefold training of sila (morality), samadhi (control over the mind, concentration), and panna (insight, wisdom).

In Buddhism, morality is conceived differently than in the Judeo-Christian tradition. There are actions which are called skilful, because they support an individual's progress towards Nibbana, and there are unskilful actions which have the contrary effect. All actions based on greed, aversion, and ignorance of the Law of Kamma are unskilful.

The most unskilful actions are:

to kill a sentient being;
to steal;
to have unlawful sexual relations;
to speak untruth; and
to take intoxicants.

Generally the Buddhist lay person undertakes to abstain from these five courses of action by taking the five precepts.

Once an action has been done there is no way to avoid its effect. The effects can be minimized through the awareness of impermanence, which is the object of insight meditation, or they can be counteracted to some extent through a powerful action of the opposite type.[1] There is, however, no one, not even the Buddha, who can give an "absolution from sin", as effects are determined by the Law of Kamma, which is applicable to all sentient beings.

Ven. Webu Sayadaw emphasized the practice of meditation as the only way to bring the teachings of the Buddha to fulfilment. The study of the scriptures, though helpful, is not essential for the realization of Nibbana, the summum bonum of Buddhism. Ven. Webu Sayadaw was believed to be an Arahat, i.e., a person who has in practice understood the Four Noble Truths and attained the end of suffering.

The technique of meditation taught by Ven. Webu Sayadaw is one of forty techniques mentioned in the scriptures for the development of samadhi or concentration. It is called Anapana-sati and requires one to be aware:

that he is breathing in while he is breathing in;
that he is breathing out while he is breathing out; and
of the spot or area in the region of the nostrils where the stream of air touches while he is breathing in and out.

In the Visuddhimagga[2] Ashin Buddhaghosa describes sixteen ways of approaching Anapana meditation, but Ven. Webu Sayadaw kept reminding his disciples that they did not need to know about all of these, all they really needed to know was the reality of in- and out-breathing.

Though Anapana is basically a way of developing samatha (tranquillity of mind), samadhi (concentration of mind to one-pointedness) and jhana (absorption states), Ven. Webu Sayadaw said that when concentration is developed to a sufficient degree, the meditator automatically gains insight into the three characteristics of nature, anicca, dukkha, and anatta, if his mind is open to recognize them. Anicca means "impermanence" or "instability", "change", and is characteristic of all conditioned phenomena, be they physical or mental. Dukkha denotes the unsatisfactory nature of all these phenomena: nothing that is impermanent or changing can ever give lasting satisfaction. Anatta means non-self, non-soul, and applies to all phenomena conditioned and unconditioned.

According to the Buddha, there is no permanent ego, soul or personal entity, but only physical and mental phenomena interrelating. In Buddhism the understanding of these three characteristics of anicca, dukkha, and anatta is called panna or wisdom and panna is the quality which enables a meditator to reach Nibbana.

It is significant that a monk of such high standing as Ven. Webu Sayadaw, rather than teach Abhidhamma philosophy which is intellectually fascinating and taxing, should spend his life teaching the basics of practical Buddhism to all who are inclined to listen. U Hte Hlain, the collector of some of the discourses contained in this book, writes:"Ven. Webu Sayadaw preached sometimes five, sometimes ten times a day. Seven main points were always included in his discourses. If Ven. Webu Sayadaw gave 10,000 discourses in his life, then these points were expounded by him 10,000 times. He always included them, even if he had to repeat them again and again. He always explained the teachings in simple terms, so that the ordinary person could understand. He tried to explain the Dhamma in such a way that the most difficult thing became easy."

The seven Points are:

One can only expect the fulfilment of one's aspirations if one is perfect in morality.
When practising generosity (dana) in the religion of the Buddha, the mental attitude and volition involved are very important.
Believing in the law of cause and effect (i.e., the Law of Kamma) one should always act with a upright mind.
One should not aspire to any happiness of either the human or celestial worlds which are impermanent but only to Nibbana.
Because of the arising of the Buddha we have the opportunity to practise right conduct (carana) and wisdom (panna) fully and therefore benefit greatly.
from the moment we are born to the moment we die, there is the in-breath and the out-breath. This is easy for everybody to understand. Every time we breathe in or out, the breath touches near the nostrils. Every time it touches we should be aware of it.
While we are walking, working, doing anything, we should always be aware of the in- and out-breath.

These seven points illustrate that in practical Buddhism faith does not play such a major role. Paramount importance is given to right action and the experience and understanding drawn from it. As we shall see in the discourses, Ven. Webu Sayadaw wants his audience to realize the teachings through their own experience, for themselves, rather than through hearing them, and he says that in this way, as they begin to see the teachings as a reality, people can pass beyond doubt.

Ven. Webu Sayadaw was born on the sixth day of the waxing moon of Tabaung of the year 1257 (Burmese Era) (February 17, 1896) in Ingyinbin, a small village near Shwebo in upper Burma. He was ordained as a novice at the age of nine and was given the name Shin Kumara. All boys in Buddhist Burma become novices at their local monastery at some time in their teens or even earlier, but usually return home after a predetermined span of time. Shin Kumara, however, decided to stay at the monastery to receive a religious education. At the age of twenty, he was ordained as a full member of the Sangha, the Buddhist order of monks, receiving the Upasampada ordination, and was thereafter addressed as U Kumara.[3]

U Kumara went to Mandalay to study at the famous Masoyein monastery, the leading monastic university of the time. In the seventh year after his full ordination, he abandoned the study of the Pali scriptures and left the monastery to put into practice what he had learned about meditation.

Buddhist monks can choose between two activities: the study of the scriptures (pariyatti), or the practice of Buddhist meditation (patipatti). While scholarly monks tend to live in centres of learning in order to be able to pass on their knowledge to younger monks, meditating monks leave the busy atmosphere of the monasteries to retire to a solitary life in the jungle. They often live in caves or simply under trees and come into contact with people only on the occasion of their morning alms-rounds.

After leaving the Masoyein monastery in Mandalay at the age of twenty-seven, U Kumara spent four years in solitude. Then he went to his native village of Ingyinbin for a brief visit. His former teacher at the village monastery requested U Kumara to teach him the technique of meditation he had adopted and U Kamara did so. "This is a shortcut to Nibbana," he said, "anyone can use it. It stands up to investigation and is in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha as conserved in the scriptures. It is the straight path to Nibbana."

There is a set of thirteen practices called the dhutanga[4] that are often taken up by monks living in solitude. They are designed to combat laziness and indulgence. One is never to lie down, not even to sleep. Monks taking up this particular practice spend the nights sitting and meditating or walking and meditating to rid themselves of sleepiness. The thirteen dhutanga may be taken up individually or together.

Ven. Webu Sayadaw is said to have followed this practice of never lying down all his life. He taught that effort was the key to success, not only in worldly undertakings, but also in meditation, and that sleeping was a waste of time. I was told by one of his disciples that on the occasion of his ordination under Ven. Webu Sayadaw, he had a mosquito net and a pillow, in addition to the monks requisites. Ven. Webu Sayadaw, pointing at them, asked him what they were. "A pillow and a mosquito net, sir." "Are these part of the monks requisites?"[5] "No, sir." And the newly ordained monk decided to give these "luxuries" back to his family.

Ven. Webu Sayadaw undertook pilgrimages to the Buddhist sites of India and of Ceylon. He passed away on June 26, 1977, in the meditation centre at Ingyinbin, his native village.

The Setting

Most of these discourses were given before large audiences during Ven. Webu Sayadaw's travels in lower Burma. The person or persons answering Ven. Webu Sayadaw are lay-people sitting up front and close to him.

Some of the discourses are translated from a collection of discourses collected and introduced by U Hte Hlain and published by the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Burma. Others have been transcribed from tape by the translator and then rendered in English.

Because they were delivered extemporaneously the discourses are repetitive and were edited slightly so that they lend themselves better to reading. Care was taken, however, to edit only obvious repetitions and only when they had merely rhetorical value. The reader may still find the discourses repetitive, but with some patience and "mindfulness" he will discover in them many insights into practical Buddhism.

Ven. Webu Sayadaw was not a scholar and his discourses are not meant for the intellectual who prefers the study of Buddhist philosophy to the practice. His refreshing simplicity, his patience, his lovely sense of humour, and his humility; all of which are revealed in the dialogues with his audience - illumine a side of Buddhism which cannot be perceived through reading treatises and texts. Moreover, the statements of the people in the audience offer us a glimpse of how Buddhism is practised in Burma today.

Pali Terms Used in the Discourses

To understand the discourses, the reader should be familiar with some basic teachings of Buddhism. The explanations given or the points selected for explanation do not attempt to give a complete picture of the teachings of the Buddha, but they should enable the reader to understand the discourses included in this collection.

The Theravada Buddhist scriptures can be divided into "Three (ti) Baskets (pitaka)" and are therefore called the Tipitaka in Pali, the language in which they were originally written.

The three baskets are:

Vinaya-pitaka: The books of monastic discipline.
Suttanta-pitaka: The books of discourses of the Buddha and his major disciples.
Abhidhamma-pitaka: the books of ultimate truths; an analysis of physical and mental phenomena into their ultimate components.

Scholarly training (pariyatti) in Theravada Buddhism consists of the study of these scriptures. Practical training (patipatti), with which these discourses mainly deal, is concerned with the practice of sila (morality), samadhi (concentration) and panna (insight) and culminates in the attaining of the four stages of Nibbana (pativedha).

The word Dhamma can have many different meanings, but in the context of these discourses it is always used as meaning the teachings of the Buddha.

Sila: For the monks, the training in morality consists of the observance of 227 rules. The collection of these rules is called the Patimokkha and is part of the Vinaya.

Lay-people have to observe five or eight rules of training: the Five silas (panca-sila), or the Eight silas (Uposatha-sila).

Panca-sila:
1. to abstain from killing any living being;
2. to abstain from taking what is not given;
3. to abstain from sexual misconduct;
4. to abstain from telling untruths;
5. to abstain from intoxicating drink, drugs.
Uposatha-sila:
The field of sila is, of course, much wider. These precepts are but the absolute basics of Right Conduct (carana) a Buddhist layperson is expected to observe. The purpose of sila or carana is to bring physical and verbal action under control.

Samadhi:

Concentration of the mind and control over the mind. The Buddha taught forty techniques to achieve samadhi, of which Anapana is one. The Buddha taught that sila is a prerequisite for samadhi.

Panna:

Panna, the understanding through personal experience of the characteristics which the Buddha said were in the nature of all conditioned things, i.e., anicca (impermanence), dukkha (unsatisfactoriness), and anatta (absence of a permanent personal entity such as an ego, self or soul), is achieved through Vipassana meditation. In Vipassana meditation the mind is set to a perfect state of balance, and then the mind's attention is projected to the changing nature (anicca), or the unsatisfactory nature (dukkha), or the impersonal nature (anatta) of all physical and mental phenomena.

Sila, samadhi, and panna are called the three sikkhas, the threefold training. In addition to this threefold division, we often also find a twofold one: 1) carana: Right Conduct (sila); and 2) bhavana: mental development (samadhi and panna). Another method of enumeration is 1) dana (Generosity, otherwise included in sila); 2) sila, and 3) bhavana.

What is normally called a being, i.e., Devas, Brahmas, humans, animals, etc., is seen in Buddhism as nothing but a combination and continuous arising and dissolution of mental and physical phenomena. "Mind" in Pali is nama and "matter" rupa.

Mind and matter (nama and rupa) are both impermanent or unstable. "But in expounding the theory of anicca, the Buddha started with the behaviour that makes matter, and matter as known to Buddha is very much smaller than the atom that science of today has discovered. The Buddha made it known to his disciples that everything that exists, be it animate or inanimate, is composed of kalapas (very much smaller than atoms), each dying out simultaneously as it becomes. Each kalapa is a mass formed of the eight nature elements, namely, solidity, liquidity, heat, motion, colour, odour, taste, and nutriment. The first four are called material qualities which are predominant in a kalapa. The other four are merely subsidiaries which are dependent upon and born out of the former. A kalapa is the minutest particle in the physical plane; still beyond the range of science today.

"It is only when the eight nature elements (which have merely the characteristic of behaviour) are together that the entity of a kalapa is formed. In other words, the co-existence for a moment of these eight nature elements of behaviour makes a mass, just for a moment, which in Buddhism is known as a kalapa.[6]" A being is also defined as the coming together of the Five Aggregates (panca khandha). In this case, one aggregate is rupa or matter, while nama or mind is divided into four aggregates: 1) vinnana: consciousness; 2) sanna: perception; 3) vedana: sensation, feeling; 4) sankhara: force of past action. (It can be seen from this that the term nama is wider than the English term mind.)

Sankhara (or kamma in popular terminology) is the force left behind by actions in the past, the "past" meaning here billions and billions of lives in samsara, the cycle of births and deaths. Sankhara causes us to experience sense impressions. What we see, hear, taste, smell, feel or think; in other words the contact of one of the six organs of sense with an object, (mind being regarded as an organ of sense); arises mainly because of the force of past sankhara or kamma. What is not necessarily connected with our past kamma is how we deal with these sense impressions.

There are three possible ways of reacting to a sensory contact or sense impression: kusala (skilful reaction); akusala (unskilful reaction) and abyakata(neutral reaction). Practically speaking, neutral reaction is possible only for an Arahat, i.e, for someone who experiences no wanting (lobha) or dislike (dosa) and whose mind is not clouded by any form of delusion (moha) about the Four Noble Truths as taught by the Buddha. Every intelligent being, however, is capable of kusala rather than akusala reactions. In order to be able to react skilfully, one has to have control not only over one's physical and verbal actions, but also over one's mind. Every physical and verbal action begins in the mind and the action that results in sankhara or kamma is the mental volition accompanying this physical and verbal action.

Initially Anapana meditation is but a tool to concentrate the mind. At this stage no attention is given to sensations, thoughts, emotions, and similar mental phenomena. The attention of the mind is meant to stay with the simple awareness of the physical touch of air brushing over the skin below the nose, above the upper lip. In this case the Three Unwholesome Roots, i.e., lobha (greed), dosa (anger, aversion), and moha (delusion), are held in abeyance and what is left are the Three Wholesome Roots: alobha (non-greed), adosa (non-anger), and amoha (knowledge, understanding). This momentary concentration of the mind on physical phenomena results in a temporary mental purity which in Buddhism is called samadhi.

To come to a lasting purity of mind, according to Buddhism, matter and mental aggregates have to be observed in the light of their constant change (anicca), their unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), and the absence of an "I," a lasting personality or soul (anatta). By experiencing these haracteristics, or indeed, any one characteristic, a person can attain freedom from all attachment, and thus reach the end of suffering.

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

The Truth of Suffering (dukkha);
The Truth of the Origin of Suffering (samudaya);
The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering (nirodha);
The Truth of the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering (magga).

The term dukkha is traditionally translated as "suffering" (and is the same term we rendered as "unsatisfactoriness" above). The Noble Truth of Suffering states that all conditioned states are unsatisfactory or connected with suffering. The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering declares the origin of suffering as being Craving (lobha). The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering teaches that suffering ceases as soon as all craving ceases, i.e., when there is no wanting left, even of the most subtle type. The Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering gives us the Noble Eightfold Path which consists of eight limbs arranged in three groups: sila, samadhi and panna.

 

   Sila:    samma-vaca      Right speech
            samma-kammanta  Right action
            samma-ajiva     Right livelihood 
 
   Samadhi: samma-vayama    Right effort 
            samma-sati      Right attentiveness
            samma-samadhi   Right concentration 
 
   Panna:   samma-ditthi    Right view 
            samma-sankappa  Right thinking

THE THIRTY-ONE PLANES OF EXISTENCE

The Buddha taught that the universe is composed of innumerable world systems and each world system in turn is composed of thirty-one planes of existence.

These are

Four arupa planes of Brahmas (these planes, where mind but no matter exists, are attained through the highest absorption states, jhana).

Sixteen Fine-material planes of Brahmas (attained through absorption states).

Six Deva planes (attained through the practice of sila and of generosity).

The human plane (attained through the practice of sila and of generosity).

Four Lower planes: Animals, Ghosts, Demons, Hell (attained through bad deeds).

The thirty-one planes of existence are divided into three spheres (loka): the arupa-loka, which consists of the four highest Brahma planes; the rupa-loka, which consists of the remaining sixteen Brahma planes; and the kama-loka, which is the sphere of sensual desires (kama) and includes the four lower planes, the human plane and the six Deva planes.

Beings are reborn in the different planes according to the mental action or kamma created at the moment of death (cuti). A good, pure mental action gives rise to a being in the human or Deva planes. The practice of the absorption states (jhana) leads to rebirth in the Brahma planes. If, at the moment of death, the mind is impure, i.e., clouded by anger, greed, fear, worry and similar conditions, the force produced by this impure mind will result in rebirth in one of the four lower planes of existence.

What the mind perceives at the moment of death is a result of actions done in the past, i.e., kamma. The way an individual deals with this perception depends on his skill, in other words, on the amount of control he has over his mind. A person who has not reached one of the four stages of Nibbana cannot be sure what type of mind object will arise at the moment of death. In Buddhism, therefore, the training of the mind is deemed of paramount importance: if a person has achieved control over the mind, he can keep the mind focused and calm even in a moment of fear and can thus approach death with confidence.

THE FOUR STAGES OF NIBBANA

To attain the pure state of Nibbana, the end of all suffering in conditioned existence, an individual has to free himself of the ten fetters that tie him to conditioned existence. This process of liberation comes about in a sequence of four stages.

The ten fetters are: 1) belief in the existence of a permanent ego, self or soul; 2) doubts about the Eightfold Noble Path and the Four Noble Truths; 3) attachment to rites and rituals; 4) sensual desire; 5) anger and aversion; 6) craving for fine material existence; 7) craving for non-material existence; 8) pride; 9) agitation; and 10) incomplete understanding of the Four Noble Truths.

The four stages are:

Sotapatti (stream-entry): An individual is freed of the first three of the ten fetters that tie beings to the round of birth and death: 1) belief in the existence of a permanent ego [self or soul], 2) doubts about the Eightfold Noble Path and the Four Noble Truths, and 3) attachment to rites and rituals.
Sakadagami (once-returner): An individual attenuates the fetters of 4) sensual desire and 5) anger.
Anagami (non-returner): An individual is freed completely from 4) sensual desire and 5) anger and ill-will.
Arahat: An individual is freed completely, once and forever, from 6) craving for fine-material existence, 7) craving for non-material existence, 8) pride, 9) agitation, and 10) incomplete understanding of the Four Noble Truths.

Each one of the four stages are attained through a Path Stage (magga) and a Fruition stage (phala). These are technical terms, but are popularly used in Burma as synonyms for Nibbana. Persons who have attained to one of these four stages are known as Ariyas, Noble Ones. These stages can only be attained through Vipassana (insight) meditation.

THE TEN PARAMIS

The ten paramis are a set of ten qualities in which an individual has to perfect himself in order to be able to attain Nibbana. A good act amounts to parami only if it is performed with the aspiration to attain Nibbana. Otherwise it is merely a meritorious deed which, though giving good results, does not directly support one’s efforts towards Nibbana.

The ten paramis are :

Charity (dana)
Morality (sila)
Renunciation (nekkhamma)
Understanding (panna)
Effort (viriya)
Patience (khanti)
Truthfulness (sacca)
Determination (adhitthana)
Loving Kindness (metta)
Equanimity (upekkha)

With the help of the introduction, it should not be difficult to understand the discourses. Special care was taken not to use Pali terms except those that are used so often that it seemed wiser if the reader integrated them into his vocabulary; I mean terms such as sila, samadhi, etc. At the end of the book the reader will find an index of Pali words to refresh his memory. The Pali terms that are commonly used in Burma and generally not translated into the Burmese vernacular are given and explained in footnotes for the interested reader.

I would like to add that there is no necessity for the reader to understand the philosophical underpinnings of Buddhism before reading these discourses; he should rather try to keep his mind open to the profound simplicity and sincerity that are the characteristics of the speaker and his words.

Many of the explanations in this introduction are drawn from the booklet Dhamma Texts by Sayagyi U Ba Khin (Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Trust, U.K., Dhamma Texts Series 1, 1985; revised ed., 1991). Roger Bischoff

Footnotes:

 [1] An example of this is found in the Dhammapada Commentary: 
      Venerable Anuruddha (one of the disciples of the Buddha) admonishes 
      his sister Rohini, who suffers from a skin eruption, to do works of merit. 
      She erects an assembly hall for the order of monks and serves the Buddha 
      and his company of monks food in  the hall. Through this meritorious 
      deed her disease is cured. See: Dhammapada-atthakatha, III 295ff.; 
      Burlingame, Buddhist Legends (Pali Text Society [PTS], London 1979), 
      III, pp. 95, 96. 

 [2] The Path of Purification, (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1975; 3rd ed.,       
       Shambala Publications, 1976). 

 [3] "Webu Sayadaw" is a title meaning the noble teacher from Webu. Though the           
      title "Sayadaw" is used as a form of address without adding a proper name,       
      every monk still keeps his monk's name, which in the case of Webu Sayadaw      
      was Venerable Kumara. 

 [4] For a description of the dhutanga (ascetic practices) see, Visuddhimagga, chap.II  

 [5] A monk's requisites are: robes, alms food, shelter, medicine. 

 [6] Sayagyi U Ba Khin, Dhamma Texts, 1985, p. 92.

Published by the Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Trust, IMC-UK,
Splatts House, Heddington, Calne, Wiltshire SN11 0PE, England,
Tel: +44 1380 850 238, Fax: +44 1380 850 833.
Registered Charity No 280134.