ALL DHAMMAS COME DOWN TO THE HEART

 ALL DHAMMAS COME DOWN TO THE HEART

"The Dhamma, you know, can be said to be broad, but can also be said to be narrow because it all comes down to one point – the heart. The heart is what experiences both good and evil. The heart is what does good and evil, and the results – good and bad, pleasant and painful – all come down to the heart. This is why the Buddha taught,

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mano pubbaçgama dhammã

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“The heart comes first,” the heart is chief, the heart is the principle factor. All dhammas come down to the heart. They don’t lie anywhere else. So this is where we should straighten things out. Get so that the heart is shining and bright.

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The body is something filled with suffering and discontent, but the heart can be filled with happiness. This is where they differ. The body is pitch dark in line with the crudeness of its elements, but the heart can be dazzlingly bright through the power of the Dhamma. This is where the heart becomes a ‘Dhamma element’, when it’s fully bright within itself because absolutely nothing is left to obscure it.

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So. Get rid of its stains. Wash them away. It will then be fully bright in a way that blankets the cosmos. 

This one heart is the only thing with a power this great. It blankets the whole cosmos, with no sense of too near or too far. It’s always just right through its own gentleness, its own brightness. So gentle that there’s no word to describe it, so bright that it blankets the cosmos in radiance by day and by night. This is called ‘ãloko udapãdi:’ The dawning of light within the heart.

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Everything within us, everything in the world, comes down to this one heart. The important essence lies here and nowhere else. So make an effort to free this heart, to straighten it out in line with your abilities – or to the utmost of your abilities. You’ll then come to possess a rewarding treasure within the heart – the great, extremely rewarding treasure of the heart’s own purity."

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A Life of Inner Quality

Ajaan Mahã Boowa Ñãõasampanno

Translated by Thãnissaro Bhikkhu

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http://www.forestdhamma.org/ebooks/english/pdf/A_Life_of_Inner_Quality.pdf