Ashin Sandadhika - Examine your own mind

Absolutely true 

Look at the cover art of the reissued book "The Battle of Myself."

It depicts a text inside that says, “Examining yourself is like looking in a mirror.” It depicts a lotus flower looking in a mirror. The lotus flower thinks it is a lotus flower and looks in the mirror. To its surprise, it sees a lotus bud in the mirror.

People think that they have reached the lotus blossom stage, but when they look carefully at the Buddha's "mirror of the Dhamma", they realize that they are still only at the lotus bud stage.

Most human beings' minds are at the lotus bud stage. However, many people think that their own minds have reached the lotus blossom stage.

Since the qualities of the mind are different, the lotus buds and lotus flowers that are allowed to bloom in the heart can also be of different forms. Some qualities of the mind are at the level of the lotus bud, some qualities of the mind are at the level of the lotus flower. There are different kinds of minds at the level of the lotus bud, and there are different kinds of minds at the level of the lotus flower.

I think I can love everyone even though I can't really love them, I think I can see everyone even though I can't see them, I think I can forgive everyone even though I can't... These are just my own thoughts regarding the lotus bud stage as the lotus blossom stage.

Whenever we witness some of the immature and shallow attitudes of those who publicly declare, “Now I, my mind is mature,” we must remember the image of the lotus flower and try to examine our own minds by examining the minds of others.

The human mind is not good to those who want to be good and bad to those who want to be bad. It is not good to those who want to be good and bad to those who want to be bad. It is very rare for a person to be consistently good to every person and every situation.

But they often think that they are good to everyone and good to every situation. When asked who they are bad to or in what situation they are bad, they make excuses like, "This is..." and "This is..." and pretend to cover up their bad nature.

If you always think of your immature mind as mature and leave the immature parts of your mind uncorrected, your mind will no longer be a mind of lotus flowers alone, but a mind of both lotus buds and lotus flowers.

To truly know which nature of the mind is bad and which nature is good, there is no other source of truth than the Buddha's "True Dhamma."

Everyone knows the basic principle that a mind that intends to harm others, a mind that wants to do evil, a mind that wants to do evil, a mind that wants to accomplish good deeds, a mind that wants to fulfill virtue, a mind that wants to fulfill merit, is a good mind.

If we want a higher level of mental quality, we must also recognize the mind that is associated with the passions such as attachment, greed, anger, pride, arrogance, jealousy, envy, jealousy, and hatred as bad thoughts and try to eliminate them from our lives.

It's not just a matter of doing meritorious deeds as a token of appreciation... we must strive to make it a good habit to wear it regularly and do meritorious deeds, to meditate regularly every day, and to have a good heart and mind for everyone we meet and experience.

"If we want to build the highest level of mental quality, we must understand even the subtle and subtle passions that are not considered vices in society as bad traits, and strive to eliminate them as much as possible, and ultimately eradicate them completely."

Not only doing the obvious good deeds that everyone knows about, but also doing the daily routine work of daily life, with a good attitude and a good mind based on mindfulness and love, responding to every sense and person with goodness, not only in a "daily way" but also in a "daily way", whatever your physical behavior, whatever your mental state, whatever your time

After six years of practicing the Dukkarasariyya, the body's dry skin was replenished with nutrients, and the skin became smooth and shiny, and I thought, "Oh... how can a body that is so thin and emaciated be restored to its original state?" The Buddha's body, thinking, "This is the result of sensual pleasures," was immediately dismissed.

Seeing deer and deer, birds such as peacocks and wild chickens, lakes filled with white, red and various kinds of lotuses, forests with various flowers such as jasmine and jasmine, beautiful and peaceful rivers with clear water, clean sand, and streams, I thought, "Oh... how peaceful it is with the birds, the lakes and forests, the streams and rivers, how peaceful it is, living in the forest and mountains is so nice." When I saw this, the Buddha said, "This is not a life of pleasure," and contemplated it.

The Buddha in this life, who was slightly disturbed by the harsh natural conditions such as heavy rain, hot sun, and cold wind, thought to himself, "This is just a bad situation," and he rejected it.

When I saw large animals like lions and tigers killing small prey like deer and pigs, and animals like cats catching and eating chickens and rats, I thought, "...even in such a safe forest, do animals have their own enemies? Are strong animals killing weak animals?" The Buddha in this life thought, "This is the Vihamsa-vitaka," and contemplated it.

While out begging, I saw the princes arresting and torturing the civilians, and I thought, "... shouldn't the people be allowed to do their jobs, such as trade and farming, and live in peace?" The Buddha in this life, thinking, "This is the Vihamsa Viṭaka," thought to himself and rejected it.

No one would consider the thoughts that the Buddha had during his meditation practice in this life before becoming a Buddha to be sensual, delusional, or delusional. No one would consider these thoughts to be thoughts of greed or anger. The Buddha himself considered them and abandoned them.

Anyone who wants to improve their mental quality should imitate the Buddha's "self-defense method." How much more worthy of praise is the Buddha, who did not allow even the most subtle mental impurities to be held in his mind. When it comes to judging whether a mind is good or bad, people usually judge it by their own opinion. Since opinion is just opinion, there is no way to achieve true good and pure mind.

If you want to know the true way to distinguish between a good and bad mind in your own life, you must study the teachings of the Buddha extensively. Only by examining yourself in the light of the Buddha's 'true Dhamma' can you truly know your own mind. In order to prevent your mind from thinking that you are "good" but actually being "bad", you must be aware of the mental defilements that surround your mind. If we were to briefly summarize the 37 mental defilements...