Why the Monkeys Washed out Their Ears
Photo: Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives C02185
“What should one do when personally faced with murder, rape, robbery, etc.?”
~ Response by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu ~
Once again problems are of two kinds: there is the more superficial, shallow kind of problem which is external and then there’s the more subtle profound problem which is internal. That someone would try to kill us or rape us or something is of the first kind, the more superficial, shallow, material kind of problem. We should find the kind of knowledge and skills which will prevent such things happening to us. If we are intelligent we will live in a correct way so that these things will not encounter us. But even if they do happen to us, then we will find an appropriate way so that they are no danger to us. If we have mindfulness and wisdom, if we are mindful and intelligent, then we can find the kind of knowledge and skill necessary to prevent these external problems from being of any real danger to us. But then there is the inner problem, the more refined and subtle one.
When we speak of the inner problem, then we can say that we are being murdered all the time – we are being constantly murdered – and we are being raped violently all the time. The criminals which are murdering us and raping us all the time are the defilements – greed, anger, and ignorance, stupidity. These defilements are murdering us and raping us all the time. This is the problem which is truly important. This is the problem that we need to solve. The external materialistic problems are not so difficult to solve. They can be dealt with using ordinary worldly knowledge which is quite easy to find if one looks. That’s not a serious problem. The serious problem is the spiritual murder and rape which is going on constantly in each of us. This is what we must protect against.
(From the retreat “Why the Monkeys Washed out Their Ears,” as translated from the Thai by Santikaro)
- - ❖ - -
Dhamma Questions & Responses sessions were offered by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu in 1990-1991 to foreign meditators attending Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage courses.
Listen to this teaching on Soundcloud
Listen to other English retreat talks by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu
For more information and free ebooks, visit Suan Mokkh – The Garden of Liberation