Inner Strength and Parting Gifts Quotes

“kāyānupassanā—we focus on the body in and of itself, but we don’t understand the body. We think that the body is the mind or the mind is the body. This is ignorance. It’s dark. It closes off the body and closes off the mind, so that we think that they’re one and the same thing. We can’t separate the body from the mind or the mind from the body. This is called not knowing our path. [...] Cittānupassanā: We focus on the mind in and of itself, but we aren’t really acquainted with the mind. What is the mind? Actually, there are two aspects to the mind. There’s mental consciousness, and then there’s the mind itself. We think that consciousness is the mind, that the mind is consciousness. Actually, consciousness is what goes. Say that we see a sight in Bangkok: Cakkhu-viññāṇa—eye-consciousness —is what goes to the sight, but the mind doesn’t go. The act of going is what’s called consciousness, but there’s no substance to it.”
― Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, Inner Strength and Parting Gifts

“As for stream-winners, no matter how many times shoddy impulses may occur
to them, the goodness of nibbāna acts as a magnet on their hearts. This is what draws
them to keep on practicing until they reach the end point. When they reach the end
point, there can be no more birth, no more aging, no more illness, no more death.”
― Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, Inner Strength and Parting Gifts

“To practice meditation is one sort of food for the heart. Food for the body isn’t anything lasting. We eat in the morning and are hungry by noon. We eat at noon and are hungry again in the evening. If we’re full today, tomorrow morning we’ll be hungry again. We keep eating and defecating like this, and the day will never come when we’ve had enough. We’ll have to keep looking for more and more things to eat. As for food for the heart, if we prepare it really well, even for a little space of time, we’ll be full for the rest of our life.”
― Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, Inner Strength and Parting Gifts