Dhamma Is Reachable, Practical and Verifiable

T: This is a Sutta called ‘A Wanderer’. So a certain brahmin approaches the blessed one and says to him: “Master Gotama, it is said ‘a directly visible Dhamma, a directly visible Dhamma.’” I think you translated that ‘sandiṭṭhiko’ as ‘verifiable’. So we could say ‘a verifiable Dhamma, a verifiable Dhamma’. “In what way is the Dhamma verifiable, immediate, reachable, inviting one to come and see, practical, and to be personally experienced by the discerning?” And the Buddha says: “Brahmin, one excited by lust, overcome by lust, with a mind obsessed by it, intends for his own affliction, for the affliction of others, or for the affliction of both, and he experiences mental suffering and sadness. But when lust is abandoned, he does not intend for his own affliction, for the affliction of others, or for the affliction of both, and he does not experience mental suffering and sadness. One excited by lust, overcome by lust, with a mind obsessed by it, engages in misconduct of body, speech, and mind. But when lust is abandoned, he does not engage in misconduct. One excited by lust, overcome by lust, with a mind obsessed by it, does not understand as it really is his own good, the good of others, or the good of both. But when lust is abandoned he understands as it really is his good, the good of others, the good of both. It is in this way, brahmin, that the Dhamma is directly verifiable.” And so on with hate and delusion. So, the Dhamma is directly visible, here and now, you don’t have to wait.

N: Exactly. You don’t have to wait, and you don’t have to take it on mere faith alone either. Because it’s not about… Like, the whole Dhamma, the whole nibbāna, the enlightenment, the whole experience of enlightenment, it’s nothing other than complete uprooting of lust, aversion, and delusion/distraction. It’s not a mystical experience of some great heavenly reward. The only reason you’re subject to suffering, misery, and everything else in this life, it’s lust, aversion, delusion. And if you remove that, in this life, you will not be subjected to those things anymore, and you would see that directly, for yourself. And that’s the relief, that’s the release, that’s the enlightenment. That’s the ‘quenching’ of the mind, cooling down and so on, all the similes in the Suttas for nibbāna.

And that is directly verifiable. You can experience it here and now, if you are the discerning one. If you make the effort to discern things, and then obviously apply that discernment. Because many religions or teachers, even back in the Buddha’s time, would be teaching you one thing or the other, with future results that you kind of have to take on faith. In the sense of, well, next life I guarantee you heavenly rebirth, like the whole Christianity. The idea of heaven for example. That is the ultimate reward. There are rewards you get in this life by being virtuous, in other religions as well, but the ultimate reward, it’s what’s after.

Well, not in the Dhamma. The Dhamma, the ultimate reward is here and now, visible, you can not be touched by suffering of any kind, it doesn’t apply to you any more. Plus there are future rewards, sure, but you don’t need to worry about that. They will become apparent, either through your practice here and now, or even if they don’t, it doesn’t matter. What is directly verifiable, it’s to be known individually, by any individual who is discerning enough, and obviously who makes enough effort in that direction. And what is that verifiable thing? It is that removal of lust, removal of aversion, removal of distraction. Not perpetuating it through the actions by body, speech, or mind, will liberate you here and now, visibly, you will see it, it cannot be doubted, it cannot be shaken, it cannot be taken away. So you cannot have more immediate proof.

In one Sutta, maybe Venerable Ānanda, somebody, was asking the Buddha: “Does an arahant, a person who became fully enlightened, do they enjoy the pleasure of enlightenment, the pleasure of release, the freedom? Does that stay all the time with them, or do they kind of go back to normal, so to speak, in terms of, they don’t feel that elation any more, of the great release and relief?” And the Buddha said no, it doesn’t stay, you get used to it, it becomes your norm, the enlightened mind. But you would re-experience it, the joy of your freedom, of your release, and relief, and cooling down every time you were to encounter things that used to induce lust, aversion, or distraction in your mind. So you might accidentally stumble upon things that used to make you angry or something, and now you realise that not just is there no more anger, there is no more basis, there is no more possibility for anger, or lust, or any perturbing of the mind. And that reminds you of how free you are, and you experience the joy of freedom again, every time these things pop up. There’s nothing that can come between you and that, if you have uprooted lust, aversion, delusion.

So it’s the most verifiable thing that you can access. That’s why it’s reachable, that’s why it’s sort of encouraging, inviting, and so on. “Yeah, look, I’m not saying you must follow me at face value and then in ten lifetimes you’ll be rewarded or something, no no no. You need to take my teaching on faith in the sense of, you need to take a doctor’s instructions on faith. But soon enough, you will see if it’s the right instruction or not.” If you start applying it rightly, you should be curing yourself, and that is something you cannot doubt. And that’s why the people who did develop the right view and free themselves from suffering, in the Suttas, they said “if the whole world says the Buddha was wrong, I know he’s right.” And it wasn’t because of some misguided fundamentalism or something, or conviction. No, it’s because “I am literally cured, I cannot suffer, on account of his instruction. So the world is wrong if they say that that’s not right. Because I have verified it for myself, I am incapable of experiencing dukkha again.” Because of uprooting of lust, aversion, delusion. So the world is wrong then, if they disagree with that. That’s it. Not like, “oh I’ll fight the whole world and I’ll defend my teacher out of my faith!” No no no, it’s “I have directly verified it for myself, and it just cannot be doubted, cannot be taken away.” That’s why it’s the ‘unshakable liberation’ that the Suttas refer to.

T: The Dhamma is practical, it’s a practical teaching.

N: Exactly. The only way to see whether the Dhamma is what the Dhamma says it is, whether the Dhamma will result in freedom from suffering, the best way is to apply it. To actually do it. And that’s an important thing.

T: Because if it remains an abstract theory, it cannot be verified.

N: Exactly. If you are not practically applying it, applying yourself, you’re not doing it. And if you’re not doing it, you can’t verify it. And if you cannot verify it, it’s not the Dhamma.