SILA, SAMADHI, PANNA
(Morality, Concentration, Wisdom)

By: Traipitra Visityuthasart

Transcribed and edited by: John Stella

SILA: In Pali, means morality or moral conduct, such as the eight precepts; the means by which morality is kept.

SAMADHI: In Pali, means concentration, one-pointedness of mind; mental discipline.

PANNA: In Pali, means insight, discernment.

The noble, eightfold path consists of right views and right thought (panna); right speech, right action, right livelihood (sila); and right effort, right concentration, and right mindfulness (Samadhi). The noble eightfold path is the last of the Four Noble Truths, the path leading to the cessation of suffering. The eightfold path is just like a rope of eight strands, all of which work together.


Suffering means something we cannot bear or something subject to change. Everything in nature is subject to the laws of nature, arising and passing away; all is subject to the three characteristics of existence: impermanence, dissatisfaction, and the lack of self-existence. Suffering arises because things do not happen the way we want them to; we don’t get what we want. But we do, in many cases, get what we don’t want. Being absent from someone we love or in the company of someone we dislike, we want that state to change. If the situation were reversed, we would want it to stay the same.

Defilement is the impurity of the mind, caused by wrong thought or views. In Buddhism, we divide defilement into three categories: clinging to anything we want, hatred towards anything we want to be rid of, and ignorance of what is right or wrong- the inability to see things the way they are.

A human being has twelve minds of defilement: eight minds of desire, two of hatred, and two minds of ignorance. Whenever person becomes a stream-enterer, he can uproot some of these defiled minds.

Prince Siddharta became enlightened and attained Buddhahood because he discovered the Four Noble Truths:

1) There is suffering, that which is hard to endure;

2) There is a cause of suffering;

3) There is the cessation of suffering; and

4) There is a way to the cessation of suffering.

The Four Noble Truths employ the scientific method – it investigates a problem, that is, suffering. In order to solve a problem, we must first determine its cause; and in order to extinquish the problem, we must eliminate its cause. In order to do that we must know the method by which it can be accomplished. Through this four – fold process, the problem (namely suffering) will be uprooted completely.

We cannot have peace of body or mind as long as we have defilements. If we want to live peacefully in this world, we should practice the path towards the cessation of suffering, that is, all eight components of the noble eightfold path. If we have a full meal, we take in several things – perhaps water, bread, meat, etc. If we just had a glass of water, we wouldn’t call that a meal. On the other hand, if we don’t have water at all, we will be dehydrated. In the same way, concentration and wisdom are food for the mind, and so on. We should attend to all three categories of the eightfold path.

Some people are strict about keeping the five or eight precepts (not stealing, lying, killing, drinking intoxicants, or committing sexual misconduct), but they are still subject to defilements. They might still become very angry at hearing something they do not like. (Thus, the five or eight precepts can help you to behave, to have good manners in society, but they do not purify the mind, and thus, they do not cure suffering.) They might be able to suppress the anger by sitting with eyes closed and concentrating, blocking out the world. But when they return to daily life, that anger may have even more power.

Worldly wisdom can be gained from study: from learning, listening, and so on. Another form of wisdom results from reflection, from mulling over something. These two types of wisdom existed before the Buddha appeared; they cannot, however, uproot defilement. If they could, of course, there would have been no need for the Buddha’s enlightenment. A worldly person could obtain all sorts of advanced degrees at the most prestigious universities, but if he lacked the wisdom that could only be obtained through self-knowledge, he would never purify the mind.

Sila, Samadhi, and Panna – morality, concentration, and wisdom – come only from observing the eightfold path, which is composed of the following constituents:

PANNA (WISDOM)

1) Right view, right understanding

a. Knowing the four noble truths

b. Seeing the three characteristics of impermanence, suffering, & non-self

c. Knowing wholesomeness and unwholesomeness and their causes

2) Right thought: wholesome thoughts, thoughts of renunciation, free from desire, hatred, violence, or cruelty.

SILA (MORALITY)

3) Right speech: abstention from lying, gossiping, harsh words, and vain (empty frivolous) words.

4) Right action: abstention from killing, from taking what is not given, and from sexual misconduct.

5) Right livelihood: making an honest living; refraining from immoral livelihood (selling arms, alcohol, live animals, etc.)

SAMADHI (CONCENTRATION)

6) Right Effort:

a. Effort to avoid or prevent unwholesomeness;

b. Effort to abandon or overcome unwholesomeness once it has arisen;

c. Effort to develop wholesomeness;

d. Effort to maintain wholesomeness once it has arisen.

7) Right mindfulness:

a. Contemplation of the body and mindfulness of it;

b. Contemplation of the feelings and mindfulness of them;

c. Contemplation of the mind and mindfulness of it;

d. Contemplation of mind-objects (thoughts) and mindfulness of them.

(The above, then, are the four foundations of mindfulness which the Buddha discovered as the path to freedom from suffering.)

8) Right Concentration:

a. Momentary concentration

b. Acccess concentration;

c. Attainment concentration

While in a retreat, a meditator’s only responsibility is to be mindful of the four foundations of mindfulness. He is mindful of the four major bodily positions: standing, sitting, walking, and lying down. He should be in this state all day long, from the moment he awakens until the moment he falls asleep; he should not talk to anyone except the teacher, nor should he read or write or listen to the radio, etc. And, while in the intensive practice of the retreat, he will have the opportunity to put into practice all eight aspects of the noble eightfold path:

SILA (MORALITY)

The meditator, while in the retreat, will be observing the three aspects of the eightfold path which are designated under the category of SILA, or morality.

A .RIGHT SPEECH. The meditator should observe silence during the retreat, and only talk to the teacher, or someone giving services in the center, if he needs something for his own use. If he talks to another student, even if his words are not false, malicious, or frivolous, he will take time away from the practice. The reason for being in the center is to practice mindfulness, and he should stick to that intention, and every needless word will make him or her stray from it.

B. RIGHT ACTION. The meditator has to do one thing only: he must be mindful, mindful all of the time of the four foundations – namely: the body, the sensations, the mind, and mind-object (thoughts) – in short, the body and the mind. He should be aware of the four postures of standing, sitting, walking, and lying down; and of the minor positions of getting up, sitting, eating, and going to the bathroom. Whenever he experiences a wandering mind, it means that he is not with any of the positions. At that time, he should direct his awareness to the mind or to the heart, and when the wandering stops, he can go back to the body again.

C. RIGHT LIVELIHOOD. In a retreat, a meditator lives by eating. He should accept whatever is given to him. He eats in order to maintain the body and thus to continue the practice. He should be aware of every movement of the hand and arm while reaching for the food, and also of chewing, tasting, and swallowing. He should be able to eat anything without liking or disliking it.

SAMADHI (CONCENTRATION)

A. RIGHT EFFORT. The meditator needs to practice the fours kinds of effort described before

THE EFFORT TO AVOID UNWHOLESOMENESS. Using the effort to avoid, or prevent, the meditator “catches” the wandering mind (which is caused by ignorance), does not get ruffled by it, and brings it back to the meditation object.

THE EFFORT TO ABANDON UNWHOLESOMENESS, ONCE ARISEN. In order to practice meditation correctly, the meditator knows that wandering mind is also unwholesome mind, and he tries to catch this wandering mind. The wandering mind can go very far away, even to a place as far away as the other side of the world. As the meditator practices, the distance that his mind wanders becomes shorter and shorter, and as mindfulness becomes stronger, it can “catch” wandering mind sooner and sooner, and, eventually, immediately. Just as when a person, holding the hand of a child, senses that the child is beginning to let go, immediately holds on to the hand more tightly.

THE EFFORT TO DEVELOP WHOLESOMENESS. The meditator cultivates mindfulness along with concentration. After the meditator experiences the “catching” of wandering mind by mindfulness, then mindfulness itself comes back to contemplating the body or the mind. The meditator experiences that when mindfulness falls off from contemplating the mind or body only, the defilements (hatred, greed, and delusion) will arise; therefore, it is important for mindfulness to return to the body or the mind right away. Just as a cyclist, after falling from his bicycle, gets going again, the meditator also balances himself under the coordination of mindfulness and concentration.

THE EFFORT TO MAINTAIN WHOLESOMENESS. Once we achieve this balance, all we have to do is to keep going, and to avoid obstacles, such as doubt or discouragement. This is the effort, simply put, to maintain mindfulness in the present

moment.

B. RIGHT MINDFULNESS

Right mindfulness entails being mindful of the four foundations of mindfulness only: the body, sensations, the mind, and mind-objects, as they are in the present moment. This is the mindfulness necessary to remove the defilements in the mind itself. This is NOT the same as every-day mindfulness needed to do daily tasks, such as crossing the street or driving a car.

C. RIGHT CONCENTRATION.

Lastly, the meditator needs to observe right concentration. If he hears talking, for instance, he simply notices with momentary concentration; that’s all he needs. He should observe mindfulness with it, or course, not blocking out the world, not neglecting awareness of the body’s arising and passing away. He doesn’t want to go so deep into concentration that he creates mental images or get so attached to the sensation of happiness which can arise from states of deep concentration. Just as the solution for the wandering mind is to go back to the four foundations of mindfulness, so, too, the solution for falling into too-deep concentration is also to return to the four foundations again.

Vipassana meditation requires only the first level of concentration (momentary concentration). We don’t need to concentrate too deeply. Bliss, happiness, and mental images are indications that the concentration is too deep. Strive for the concentration which stays with each passing moment.

PANNA (WISDOM)

How does wisdom arise in the meditator? As we said before, one type of wisdom comes from study, from reading, going to school, listening to others, etc. Another comes from reflection, from building upon what we have learned. The third kind of wisdom comes from the process of purifying the mind.

A. RIGHT THOUGHT

After the meditator understands how to practice from the instructions of the teacher, this would be the first kind of wisdom (ie, listening to others).

After the five hindrances calm down (the hindrances of desire, hatred, laziness, restlessness, and doubt), the meditator can see for himself the teachings of the Buddha. He will know without conditioning and without prejudice, because the wisdom can arise directly, without the defilements to cloud the mind. This would represent the second kind of wisdom, reflection, self-explanation. This is also Right Thought, or the second aspect of the noble eightfold path.

B. RIGHT VIEW, RIGHT UNDERSTANDING.

After the meditator stays with nama (mind) and rupa (body), for the time that the mindfulness is with the mind and the body, the defilements cannot get in. Thus, the meditator actually up-roots those defilements. This is the third kind of wisdom. By learning to stay in the present moment, he then moves into the first aspect of the eightfold path, Right Understanding. Wisdom is already there. But in order to see it and experience it, we must remove the hindrances. Once we have freed ourselves from them, we will see things as they really are; we will have experienced Right Understanding for ourselves.

It is on this path that we can live our lives happily. At the same time, we uproot old defilements, and prevent the arising of new ones, simply by keeping our focus on nama and rupa. The more we look with right understanding, the easier it will be to keep the five or eight precepts, or to retain concentration.

Someone who purifies his mind and uproots some of the defilements is called a first stream-enterer. He eliminates four desire minds (which would lead to the breaking of the precepts), and one ignorance mind (which doubts the teaching). He then fulfills the precepts by first becoming a stream-enterer, not the other way around. The cause must come before the effect. The unwholesome mind must be overcome before one can realize and practice pure precepts.

We cannot remember our previous lives. However, the Buddha taught that we have lived many lives, and that our tears from all our sadnesses and joys would fill the oceans of the earth; all our bones put together would make more mountains than have ever been climbed. We have been human and non-humnan; we have done countless good deeds and bad deeds. He taught that our lives will work out according to the kamma we have accumulated from those past actions. That kamma cannot be changed by anyone- even the Buddha cannot change anyone’s kamma. For this reason, we should beware of the unwholesome mind, because it will bring about unfavorable consequences later one, and perhaps lead to a woeful rebirth. Only mindfulness will prevent the arising of unwholesomeness that leads to bad kamma, and the falling away from the four foundations.

When we look unfavorably upon others or concern ourselves with their motives, or if we gossip about them, we can be sure that we have lost mindfulness. When we do this, we simply create unwholesomeness (cause) and this will produce brand new bad kamma, and we will automatically have to experience the result of that cause.

Sila, Samadhi, and Panna – these are the attainments of the person who purifies the mind. The person who has attained the perfect sila, is the first stream-enterer (Sotapanna). The one who has attained the perfect Samadhi is the non-returner (Anagami). The person who has attained perfect panna is the Arahant.

When we are mindful, Sila, Samadhi, and Panna (morality, concentration, and wisdom) will work together to achieve the Dhamma. The Buddha said that mindfulness is like the elephant’s footprint – it can contain the footprint of any other animal in the forest. If we cultivate minfulness, we will be safe. As when we raise an infant properly, so that he will first be a good boy, and later, a good man, who will eventually be able to take care of us, so, too, we train the mind, so that the mind itself will be able to take care of us.

Only mindfulness can show us when we have fallen into unwholesome states of mind – anger, hatred, judgment of others, delusion, etc. When we are not mindful of the four foundations, there is no possibility of uprooting the defilements of hatred, greed, and delusion. Then, we cannot possibly free ourselves from our own self-made slavery to these defilements.

A meditator does not have to memorize much. It is the practice itself which uproots the defilements. The meditator does not need to think constantly about precepts, as if they could purify the mind. He does not concentrate too hard. He practices mindfulness. By practicing mindfulness, he practies dhamma, and he who practices dhamma will be protected by the dhamma