A Handful Of Leaves New Edition

A Handful of Leaves (the new edition)

Supawan Green

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Dedication çFor my Father, Mother and Humankindé

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Acknowledgement I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to these people who lent me a hand to perfect this book. They are Ian and Sally Timm, Jess Koffman, Roselyn Debhavalya, Christopher Oakland and Nuanrat Padung. Appreciation also goes to all my Thai staff who have belief in me and volunteer to help me propagate the Buddhaûs message of leaving the prison of life (samsara). I canût manage without these kind people. Supawan Green

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Foreword Those of us who have had the precious opportunity for training and practising in Thailand in accordance with the teachings of the Lord Buddha, feel an enormous gratitude to the wise monks and generous lay people of the country. Mrs. Greenûs book ùA Handful of Leavesû is excellently presented and well thought-out. It is, no doubt, the skilful result of Mrs. Greenûs many years of practice and reflection on life, the meaning of life and the practical means for the realisation of the Ultimate Truth. Her vision and hope for humanity are most uplifting. Her recognition of the superb opportunity we all share to find the inner peace which lies at the heart of all religions and indeed all human beings is both practical and inspiring. Even though Mrs. Green says herself that we may accuse her of ùnaivety and foolishnessû; in fact, the vision she presents offers hope as well as some clear directions for realising the Truth.

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The Buddhaûs teaching is simply about ùawakeningû- it is not about becoming a Buddhist. Therefore, all the teachings are for encouraging and directing our attention, investigating and examining experience in the present moment. To do this, you need to be fully awake. You have to pay attention to life as it happens. A Handful of Leaves' is a guide. Mrs. Green is writing from her insights, therefore it is not just another rehash of Buddhist teaching by someone who has not practised it. It has a freshness and a confidence that can only come from direct insight knowledge. I was fortunate enough to have lived for ten years in North East Thailand, training and practising as a bhikkhu.1 So I was able to immerse myself in the changing and fading Buddhist culture - The Enlightened Culture - in its relatively classic and traditional form. I can't help but agree with Mrs. Green's respect and appreciation for that culture. All conventions, however, are subject to change and there is no way back to the past. Our faith is in the timeless reality. In Europe, the awakening is taking place. In spite of 1

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A Buddhist monk

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the usual depressing news on the mass-media, I still have only confidence in the goodness of humanity and rejoice in the ùinconceivably vast oceans of good actions performed by conscious beings since beginningless timeû. Mrs. Greenûs reflection helps us to establish a positive relationship with one another and encourage in us the energy to cultivate an open and responsive attitude to our daily life experiences, our habits and emotions which otherwise might intimidate us and lead to cynicism and negativity. Mrs. Greenûs ùA Handful of Leavesû is a most welcome addition to the library of Buddhist literature. Ven. Ajahn Sumedho September 1999 Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, Great Gaddesden, Hemel Hemstead, Hertfordshire. HP1 3BZ UK

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Introduction The first edition Three months ago, I went through a long episode of mental turmoil, which lasted for eighteen hours, but it seemed like a lifetime to me. Not only could I feel every twist and turn in my heart but I could also feel the pain seeping through every living cell of my body. It seemed to me that such an extraordinarily painful experience was almost purposeful because once I had come out of it, I gained so much strength that I told myself I must reach out to more people and share with them the way to overcome suffering. No matter how strange it may sound, that was indeed the incident leading to the birth of this book. I have been through quite a significant milestone in my life time. I was initially ignorant about the ultimate purpose of life, and then went through the struggling of trying to get the practice right so that I could be at peace. At the present stage, I finally have a clearer vision of how I can help others to speed up their journey to eternal peace. I attempt to share

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with you what I have learned in this book in exactly the way I would have wanted to be taught myself. The approach of this book aims at the modern generation which is of a logical mind and may be caught up in between the two worlds of science and religion. I hope that this book can help to encourage readers to take their first step of a long journey towards the ultimate destination of life. Supawan Green 17 May 1999

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Introduction The new edition This book was first published in 1999 and sold out some time ago. A great deal of significant events have happened around the globe in the past nine years including the 9/11 attacks, the Asian tsunami, cyclones and earthquakes, new wars, environmental destruction, climate change and the aftermath of a global economic crisis. Even the super power like the United States, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the president-elect, swept to victory as a beacon of hope and inspiration for real change, faces massive challenges as he assumes the presidency. Never before in the history of humankind have so many people had so much wealth, knowledge, information and so many tools at their disposal, yet at the same time, so many people from all walks of life have been forced to go through mental turmoil and suffering one way or another. It is beyond any doubt that a sizable group of individuals would feel insecure, fearing a bleak future due to financial stress and the on-going social, political and environmental upheaval. This book is aimed to help this particular group of people who feel strongly that they need to find a mental and spiritual refuge so that they can find inner peace while struggling with their daily lives.

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The content of this book is to present a message that there is a universal entity which is called ùthe ultimate truthû and it is the same nature as our ùtrue selfû. Those who havenût yet found their true selves are often trapped in a predicament of discontent, lack of fulfilment, feeling empty and at times not knowing if they are coming or going. On the contrary, once the true self is found, peace and true happiness is in our reach. This book will give you a clear perspective about the real purpose of life, presented in plain words and simple analogies, suitable for all believers, religious and scientific alike. In this edition, I have removed the chapters about the four foundations of mindfulness and the enlightening culture (which were in the original version) so they can be expanded in my next book titled: ùBringing the Mental Self Back Homeû. However, all the chapters of the original edition of A Handful of Leaves are in my website. I hope very much that this book will be the first stepping stone leading you to find your ùtrue selfû and enabling you to attain long lasting inner peace amidst the turmoil engulfing the world. Supawan Green 15th November 2008

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Contents Chapter one Chapter two Chapter three Chapter four Chapter five Chapter six Chapter seven Chapter eight Chapter nine Chapter ten

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My Eureka Experience The Buddhaûs Gospel The Ring Road of Samsara The End Justifies the Means Where is Nirvana Where is the Ultimate Truth Life Map The Universal Truth The End Without the Clear Means Correcting Bad Mental Habits

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Chapter one My eureka experience It happened in a spur of a moment and most unexpectedly, on one Tuesday afternoon of October 1997 while I was in the Dojo teaching my Tai chi students at the University of Birmingham. I had been teaching my students meditation skills for quite some time without telling them that the teaching was, in fact, based on the Buddhaûs knowledge. Since that class was my dedicated advanced students, I thought it would be to their advantage to know the proper Buddhist terminology, in case they were to come across it in books or passing conversations. At least, they would know that they had actually engaged in this Buddhist practice from my Tai chi class. I decided to write ùthe four foundations of mindfulnessû and ùvipassanaû in a bracket on the white board and also put down a short description of each foundation. As I was writing the description of the fourth foundation of mindfulness, unlike the first three foundations of which I had confidence in my knowledge, I told myself that I would 14

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have to come clean with my students by telling them the truth that I didnût have a clue what is meant by ùdhammanu-passanaû and they would have to accept the original description without additional help from me. I usually am able to simplify the difficult concepts, putting them into plain words but not this one, since I didnût quite understand it myself. Finished with the writing, I then walked away from the white board to stand in front of my students. As I was opening my mouth, I also glanced back to the white board some five or six small steps away to my right; that was the moment when all the heavens broke lose. It was the most magical moment and I had to whisper softly to myself in front of the students: çOhÇmy god, I know it!é Suddenly, it was as if a tidal wave of acute wisdom was rushing through my mind which allowed me to KNOW the answers to a few really significant questions I had been searching for many years earlier. One of the pieces of knowledge was, of course, the meaning of the fourth foundation of mindfulness that just moments ago I was totally in the dark about. Supawan Green

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The knowledge, flowing through my mind at that moment, gave me the most powerful and insightful illumination, one that I had never experienced before in my entire life. The combined brightness of ten suns still cannot be compared to the light of such wisdom I was stumbling upon at that moment. The scattered pieces of jigsaw-puzzles about life and death and beyond suddenly clicked into place. That significant knowledge came along with an enormous sense of great relief. I strongly felt that I had every right to say to myself: çI am free at last!é › freed from the bondage of ùnot knowing.û Overwhelmed by this most awesome encounter and trying to take in the knowledge that suddenly presented itself to me, I began to realize that seven pairs of eyes were staring at me expectantly and that I still had a tai chi class to run. I resolved to tell my students I was going to confront them with the truth about not knowing the focus point of the fourth foundation of mindfulness but something had just happened to me and I now had the answer for them. I then conducted the class as normal but with more confidence in the knowledge I delivered. 16

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From that moment on, my knowledge has grown steadily. All my literary works are the direct result of that eureka experience happening on that autumn Monday afternoon. The significant quality of a person who claims to have the eureka experience is the ability to simplify and shrink the difficult, profound, scattered and confusing concepts of life into manageable sized knowledge as ùa handful of leaves.û

Standing by the Munrow Sport Centre at the University of Birmingham, UK.

With my students by Standing by the white board the entrance into the in the Dojo at the University Dojo at the University of Birmingham. of Birmingham.

A few steps away from the white board and talking to my†students in the Dojo.

Leading a Tai chi qi gong class in the Dojo at the University of Birmingham. Supawan Green

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Chapter TWO The Buddhaûs gospel It is important for you to know that the real wisdom among humankind arose on the night of the Buddhaûs enlightenment which was some 2595 years ago. On that night, the Buddha found out that there are two significant natures in life. They are: 1. Life in a prison called samsara 2. Life out of a prison called Nirvana Upon his enlightenment, the Buddha found out that there is indeed an absolute entity in nature. This unconditional nature is also the ultimate goal of every human being on this planet, no matter who you are and in what you believe. For your easy understanding and in order to accommodate humansû diverse values, both religious and non-religious alike, I will therefore give you a list of words or terms representing the same ultimate experience in nature. 18

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They are as follows: 1. The ultimate enlightenment 2. Nirvana 3. The Kingdom of God 4. The Tree of Life 5. Godhood 6. Tao 7. Eternity 8. Immortality 9. The ultimate (absolute) truth 10. The ultimate reality 11. The grand ultimate (the meaning of Tai chi) 12. The absolute ruling point in nature (Einsteinûs concept, the run-up to the Theory of Relativity) 13. The absolute simplicity 14. The absolute ordinariness 15. The absolute normality 16. The ultimate certainty 17. The true self 18. The real self 19. The non-self 20. The eternal peace Supawan Green

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21. The absolute harmony 22. The ultimate freedom 23. The end of suffering 24. The true (real) happiness 25. Here and Now 26. The final frontier 27. Life out of prison 28. The innocent perception (my coinage) This wide range of terminologies can reduce your confusion and help you to have a better perspective concerning the ultimate destination of life. You can now clearly see that humankind, both God believers and non-believers, share a common goal in life. Our religious differences, which often lead to political conflicts and violence, in my view, are merely the result of misinterpretation of different jargon due to the lack of true ultimate experience (mainly among religious leaders).

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The Buddhaûs gospel Gospel means good news. The enlightenment of the Buddha simply means that he knew for certain that there is another life outside the prison walls. He therefore propagated the good news to people about the true freedom of life and how to get out from this life confinement › that is how to reach Nirvana. This piece of good news is indeed ùthe Buddhaûs gospel.û Three groups of people You will learn there are three groups of people in the world. They are: 1. Those who know nothing about the good news regarding life outside the spiritual prison walls. 2. Those who know about the good news, believe in or have confidence in the gospel of the Buddha, and are trying their very best to walk out of their spiritual bondage. They are mainly the committed Buddhists who are on different stages of their spiritual journey heading towards the epic exit of this cell of life. They have bought a oneway ticket to Godûs kingdom and will not stop walking this unique path until their spiritual mission is accomplished. Supawan Green

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3. Those who have accomplished their spiritual mission, already left the life prison and live happily ever after outside the prison walls. These people are called arahant meaning the one who has reached the ultimate enlightenment and become a knower. Basically, they know what the ultimate truth is along with all the rest of the terminologies listed above. These people have therefore become local guides who can successfully take you to the destination of life better than anyone else. The first spiritual knower was the Buddha and from his time knowers have been all his fully enlightened followers. The Buddha said that as long as there are people walking the noble eightfold path, this world would not lack arahants. One answer This following story might enhance your understanding of the Buddhaûs gospel. Once there was a hermit who used his magic wand to instantly change a man into a tiger. The question then arose: What is the most important thing for this cursed tiger? Should 22

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he carry on living as a tiger, or should he quickly find a way to change himself back into a man again? Obviously, there is only one sound answer. He must return to his normal self (true self). But as a tiger, how could he do this? It means someone else has to do this for him. For the man to get such help, someone must know that this tiger is not truly a tiger but is a person under a spell. Luckily, a wise man did know, and with the power of his loving-kindness and compassion, he searched extensively until he found the magic wand and the magic words. He then came back to the tiger and changed the man back to his normal self at last. This story portrays the essence of Buddhism. The man refers to our true self. The tiger represents our deluded self. The kind and compassionate man is the Buddha. Metaphorically speaking, we were all tigers until the Buddha came along, found the magic wand and helped us to return to our normal enlightened or true self again. Supawan Green

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Chapter Three The ring road of samsara Before the enlightenment of the Buddha, no one knew that being human meant living in a mental and spiritual prison, which the Buddha called samsara or the cycle of rebirth.1 Rebirth, a ring road and samsara The best way to understand samsara is to compare it to a ring road, but in a much profound sense because it has no concrete walls. Samsara and rebirth amount to the same thing. You can think very simply that we all have an original soul or a true self. Due to the lack of true wisdom, this real self has been turned into a deluded self or the metaphoric tiger mentioned earlier. This original self is conditioned by our karmic force (our own actions which give consequences) and therefore subjected to rebirth › the experience of traveling around the ring road of samsara. 1

This topic has been intensively tackled in The User Guide to LifeÇThe Law of Karma written by Supawan Green, distributed by Amarin. 24

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The longest road Why do I compare the ring road of samsara to a spiritual prison? The truth is that a ring road is the longest road in the world even though it stretches only a few kilometers, because there is no beginning and no end. You can stay on the ring road for as long as it takes. Should you be lost in a ring road, like the M25, circling London, you can orbit around in it for days or until you finally find your exit. Likewise, our deluded selves have also been traveling around the ring road of samsara for eons, which is the experience or nature of constant rebirth, unable to find the right exit to leave samsara for good. For this reason, samsara is a profound spiritual and mental prison. Bouncing around To some people, rebirth might not sound quite so bad. In fact, it sounds like an eternity, doesnût it? The trouble is that there are six kingdoms, each of which is like a gigantic cul-de-sac, dotted around this ring road of rebirth. These kingdoms can be grouped into two main characteristics: bearing more suffering (hell) and bearing less suffering (heaven) of which earthly people are in one bearing less suffering. Supawan Green

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On the day we depart from this human kingdom, our consequential karmic database will take us to wherever we deserve to go. We shall live in that realm until our life span is up and will be then thrown back into this ring road of rebirth once again. This process has been repeating itself endlessly for eons. Bouncing from one kingdom to another around this ring road of samsara, in the eyes of the Buddha, is a life of imprisonment. It is as if we have been shifted from one prison wing to another for eons and unable to escape from this enormous prison of life. East and West wings An overview of the concept of living in samsara is that if you behave well, you will be sent to the West wing where a prison guard will give you a bit of luxury; a soft bed, television, private toilet and so on. But if you behave badly, you will be sent to the East wing where you will be punished further: no bed, isolation, no visitation and so forth. The point is that no matter whether you are in the East or the West wing, you cannot escape from the fact that you are being imprisoned. The reason for all the pain and suffering in the mind of prisoners is because you havenût yet had the real freedom of walking out from the prison itself! 26

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The human kingdom and the animal kingdom are two of these false six exits dotted around samsara. Comparatively speaking, the human is grouped under the West wing, whereas the animal is in the East wing.2 Thatûs why it is very difficult to find a ùtruly happy personû in this world no matter whether one is rich or poor, famous or unknown, of high or low social status. If you are very honest, you will say life is full of ups and downs. As people get older and face illness and death, they often feel more and more isolated and terribly lonely. They canût help but be afraid of the unknown, not knowing what might be awaiting in the future. Such downbeat feelings are the result of leading a life in this metaphoric profound jail. Enlightenment › jail breaking! The huge significance of the Buddhaûs enlightenment is that he had at last found the exit to leave the ring road of samsara for good. He found the way to break out of this enormous jail of life so that we can have real freedom. This 2

The six kingdoms around the samsara are grouped into 2 major realms: 1) The positive or the bearable spheres are a) human b) heavenly beings (god or devas) c) the higher sphere of heavenly beings known as Brahma world. 2) The negative or the unbearable spheres are: a) animal b) hungry-ghost (peta) c) hellish being. Please note that the state of heaven in the Buddhist sense is very different from the Christian concept. The Buddhist heaven is still in the imprisoned predicament whereas the Christian heaven symbolises eternity. Supawan Green

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is indeed the best news ever, for all the population trapped in this epic ring road of samsara. This Buddhist gospel has been passed on from the Buddha to his disciples, from one generation to the next, all through the history of Buddhism until it reaches us. Now that I found out this truth myself on that autumn afternoon, I canût help but pass it on to you. Prime duty and one problem Our prime duty in life is, therefore, to walk out of this prison of samsara or leaving the tiger status behind and returning to our normal self by accepting the help of a wise man like the Buddha. There is, however, a problem. When the kind man came to tell the tiger about the good news and asked him to stand still so that he could undo the curse, some tigers refused to believe the wise man and said that they had always been tigers and there was no need for them to return to anything else. These are the type of people who have no faith in this piece of good news. Out of ignorance, they are led to believe that there is only one life and one death. 28

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They take each day as it comes believing everything, especially all the heart-aches, will vanish after death. Hence, they believe there is no need for spiritual pursuit. There are also people who are not content with their lives for all sorts of reasons that cause them to think that going to heaven or probably to the Brahma world is the answer to their unfortunate lives. So, these people will pray daily for a better rebirth in heaven › choosing to live in the West wing of the prison of life. By making such a wish, they hope to live happily ever after, which, once again, they believe wrongly. According to the real knower, there is only one real salvation and one true freedom › getting out of this tedious roundabout of samsara to the ultimate exit called ùNirvanaû. Two fields of knowledge For easy understanding, you can view worldly knowledge including science (from gravity, e=mc2 to Mona Lisa and climate change) as knowledge gathered in the prisonfiwhich is all about life in the prison environment. In contrast, the Supawan Green

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Buddhaûs wisdom is the knowledge about leaving the prison for real freedom. These are the differences between the two fields of knowledge, knowledge of the world and the Buddhaûs wisdom. The Buddhaûs wisdom allows us to see the overall structure (view) of life at which point we realize the predicament of our imprisonment. It is, therefore, much more profound than intellectual knowledge, which merely focuses on details within the prison setting. The Buddha compared his grand knowledge to lifting a dome-shape bowl up and the light of true wisdom rushing into the dark place for the first time allowing humankind to know that there is a much better life outside this gloomy dome-shape bowl after all! Whether you want to remain a cursed tiger or reclaim your normal self, it is entirely your choice. I am only a messenger.

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Caption: All intellectual knowledge happens within the boundary of a prison cell, whereas the Buddhaûs wisdom offers a single and direct route to ultimate freedom which Supawan Green

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he calls Nirvana. To accommodate people of all beliefs, I have given 24 terminologies to represent this unique experience which includes God, Tao, The Tree of Life, the ultimate truth and the innocent perception.

Caption: The ring road of samsara is made up of six main kingdoms which accommodate their beings (populations). Samsara is compared to a prison made up of the West wing and the East wing. An overview of the concept of living in 32

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samsara is that if you behave well, you will be sent to the West wing where a prison guard will give you a bit of luxury. But if you behave badly, you will be sent to the East wing where you will be punished further. The point is that no matter whether you are in the East or the West wing, you cannot escape from the fact that you are being imprisoned. The reason for all the pain and suffering in the mind of prisoners is because you havenût yet had the real freedom of walking out from the prison itself!

Supawan Green

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Chapter Four The end justifies the means In order to grasp the essence of Buddhism, people must understand a significant point: when the Buddha attained enlightenment, it meant he was able to see the goal before the path. This story might help us to gain a clearer picture. A man was lost in a jungle. Suddenly, he stumbled upon a pond of holy water which could offer people eternal life. When he knew that this holy water was magical and should be shared with humankind, he slowly and carefully came away from that pond while remembering the way to get back there. Before the enlightenment of the Buddha, all sentient beings were living in a total darkness of spiritual ignorance. No one knew what life was all about, let alone its purpose. Is there such a thing as the ùthe ultimate truth?û Is it possible to put an end to all suffering and misery? What is the cause of illness, aging and suffering? Prince Siddhartha was born during the time when Indian society was at the peak of 34

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searching for the answers to those questions in all sorts of ways from self-indulgence to self-mortification, and exploring into highest levels of meditation. Nonetheless, no one had convincingly come forward and proclaimed himself to be a ùknowerû: meaning the one who knew the ùultimate truth.û Drawn by the social and spiritual landscape at the time, Prince Siddhartha abandoned his royal life and joined the spiritual movement to search for ultimate knowledge and enlightenment.1 Just like the others, he tried various methods in hopes of finding a way to end all sufferings. The ascetic prince committed to a strict regime of self-torture for six years and until he was on the verge of losing his own life. All those spiritual activities (self-indulgence and selftorture) can be compared to the man who got lost in a dense jungle, whereas the enlightenment of the Buddha is associated with the man in that story, who by chance, came across a pond of everlasting holy water. The enlightenment of the Buddha meant that his mission had been accomplished. 1

The Buddha (or Prince Siddhartha before his enlightenment) was born into a royal family in Northern India 623 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Supawan Green 35

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The ascetic prince could at last proclaim himself as ùa Buddhaûfithe knower, the awakened and the joyous. The ultimate truth or the end to all suffering had finally been found. The Buddha subsequently called that unique, newly found experience: Nirvana. Having discovered this ultimate nature, he realized this is also the ultimate goal of life for all sentient beings. Before that, no one knew the truth that we were not tigers because everyone on earth looked like tigers all the same. The Buddha found something exceptional that no one ever realized before. After his enlightenment, he also realized that it would be extremely difficult to convince people about the recently found knowledge. The Buddha was inclined not to teach. However, he subsequently thought that people had different levels of spiritual abilities; those who have little dust in their eyes might be able to understand and would believe the news about their non-tiger status. With great compassion and loving-kindness to all sentient beings, he carefully worked out the path to the pond of holy water: the ultimate truth. This is the reason why, in this case, the fruit (goal) comes before the path (means) or the end justifies the means. 36

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The first sermon the Buddha preached to his five disciples at the Deer Park in Vanarasri was called: the Four Noble Truths. They are: 1. Suffering (exists) 2. The cause of suffering 3. The end of suffering (the fruit) 4. The noble eightfold path (the means) An issue has been raised by some Buddhist scholars as to why the Worthy One placed the end of suffering before the noble eightfold path. It seemed illogical because the means should justify the end just as the cause should lead to an effect. But it cannot be wrong because this is spoken from the Buddhaûs experience. The Four Noble Truths are the result of the Buddhaûs first extraordinary experience just like the story of the man who found the magic pond by chance. Itûs also like Christopher Columbus finding America for the first time; he would certainly know the route to America better than any other previous explorer. The American continent became the end result which justified/verified the route (means). Finding the new land also made Columbus become a ùlocal guideû, he knew the shortcut to America. Supawan Green

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Likewise, the Buddha was also the local guide who knew the shortcut to Nirvana or the ultimate truth. If no one ever discovered the fact that we are not tigers, there would be no way we could know the truth about returning to our true self. We would then live and struggle like tigers, being uninformed and totally ignorant, for eons. Without the help of the Buddha, we wouldnût be so lucky as to know the truth and the purpose of our existence. I mention this issue, although it might mean very little for some readers, because it will certainly help followers to judge a spiritual guide who claims to be a knower. The endjustifies-the-means format is often lacking in the teaching methods used by teachers of today. It has been 2551 years since the Buddha passed away. There are many followers of the Buddha who have become teachers or guides leading devout Buddhists to the ultimate truth. But only local guides, who have seen and tasted the holy water in the jungle, will be able to guide or teach effectively. Significantly, they can use first-hand language and share their vivid personal experience, whereas the non38

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local guide will have to cling tightly to holy books as their map and subsequently use the second-hand language.2 A non-local guide with a map in his hand can still get lost in the spiritual jungle while a local guide can offer you short-cuts to the destination without getting lost because they have been there before.3

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Speakers using the first-hand language will speak from their first-hand experience whereas those with no experience will have to copy the words of those who have the experience, or using the second-hand language. The impact is significantly different. 3

Please read The two types of guides in chapter two of The User Guide to LifeÇThe Moral Diet written by Supawan Green, distributed by Amarin Supawan Green

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Chapter Five Where is Nirvana? When I was a little girl, I used to imagine that Nirvana was the most beautiful place in heaven where handsome gods and gorgeous goddesses in their glittering costumes lived. I believed we normal people could never get there because it was beyond our reach. I thought that only the Buddha and all the old privileged Buddhist monks would have access to Nirvana. I think that maybe 99% of devout Buddhists still think in this way even today, which is a great shame. My mythical image of Nirvana changed drastically when I learnt about the teachings of the late teacher Venerable Buddhadasa of Suan Mokkh, a forest monastery 300 miles south of Bangkok. I was very surprised to hear that Nirvana was not a glittering heaven as I had understood, but it meant coolness › referring to the mind, with no greed, anger and hatred. I was then twenty years of age and a student at the renowned Thammasat University in Bangkok. On top of 40

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that, I had just gone through one of the worst political upheavals in the history of Thai politics › the horrific crackdown on students, the event of October 14th 1973. As a result, my heart was consumed by numerous questions about life in general. I was desperate for someone to tell me why those good-hearted, young and ambitious students, who wanted the best for their motherland, were cold-bloodedly murdered. I also seriously questioned what exactly was the true meaning of life? I especially wanted to know what the ultimate truth was. Having come to the peaceful Suan Mokkh and despite having no clear perspective, for some unknown reason, I did have a strong feeling that I was a bit closer to that eternal truth. The political unrest plus my own personal problems had plunged me into a deep depression and gave me so much pain that I needed to relieve it by whatever means I could lay my hands on. Thank God I found Suan Mokkh before the left wing movement scooped me up! I then held on tightly to the meditation technique that Suan Mokkh had taught me because it really did the job for me. Through constant meditation practice, my mental torture was Supawan Green

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gradually eased away › to my great relief! It has now been more than 30 years. Although not every question has been answered, and global problems in all shapes and form still continue to this day, I have managed to answer some of them. Meditation practice has, however, been enough for me to lead a fulfilled life. I also realize how lucky I am to be born as a human and bump into Buddhism. To pass on my knowledge is one way that I can show my humble gratitude to all my spiritual teachers, especially the Buddha. I now know for certain that the ultimate truth and Nirvana are, in fact, the same nature. Is Nirvana a glittering place in the highest level of heaven or not, your guess might be better than mine. We should put this impossible question aside for now and focus on something that we can tackle with rational arguments. Following my Eureka experience, I know for certain that Nirvana is right here on this living blue planet and is much closer to us than we think. Nirvana or the ultimate truth is actually engulfing us right now and right here! 42

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What is it that has two in a week and one in a year? Most people will fail to see the obvious answer to this riddle if they think too much. Likewise they might fail to know Nirvana. Without a local guide, everyone will certainly overlook the obvious answer right under their nose.1 Thatûs why the Buddha said that those who had only little dust in their eyes could see it. The following comparison may help you to gain a better understanding. I believe you know about the magic eye pictures in which a beautiful three-dimensional picture is hidden within a two dimensional pattern. If we place such a picture in front of us, although the three-dimensional image is right here in front of us, we canût see it. Should we want to see it for the first time, we need to learn a skill. One of the popular techniques is by placing the whole picture close to our face, relaxing the eyes and slowly moving the picture away from our face. Gradually the beautiful three-dimensional picture will be revealed. The unskillful person might not be able to sustain the three-dimensional picture very long before it disappears from sight. The skillful people, 1

If you havenût tackled that riddle, itûs the ùeû by the way! Supawan Green

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who quite often are children, might only need to relax their eyes a bit and they can easily see the hidden three-dimensional picture. Nevertheless, there are some people who can never master the skill and cannot appreciate the beauty of the hidden picture.2 One of those frustrated people was my husband!

2

When I first wrote this book in 1999, the magic eye pictures were very popular. Everyone knew of this product. When rewriting this book for the second edition in 2005, the magic eye pictures were no longer popular, so some people might not know what they are. With a bit of searching, I am sure you can get hold of one such picture. I had a book with a beautiful collection of magic eye pictures which I took to Cameroon in 2002. My Cameroonian students had never seen them before. After teaching them the viewing technique and the mature students had mastered the skill for the first time, it was such a joy to experience the most innocent childlike reactions when the three dimensional pictures were finally revealed. They were so genuinely excited, thrilled and happy - the type of reactions that I had never seen before among grown-up western people! Although I did intend to save that book for future reference when I would talk about this chapter, I could not resist in leaving that book behind for them to cherish when they asked for it. That was also the last time I saw such pictures too. 44

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Similarly, Nirvana can be seen as another dimension available to us now; it is merely hidden behind every daily sight we perceive. Nirvana is definitely not a topic that is subjected to debate or be tackled by reasoning or thinking. There was a three dimensional picture of ten tulips in that book I left behind in Cameroon. You can think and imagine whatever you want about the image of the ten red tulips in 3-D. And even though you have seen such an extraordinary sight before, you must know that what you picture in your head is no way near the actual sighting you can perceive here and now. The same goes for Nirvana. This ultimate nature cannot be accessed by means of intellect or thinking alone. For a better perspective, I will replace Nirvana with my coinage: the innocent perception.3 Using this term, it is easier to understand that a unique skill is involved. Whether you can perceive sense objects innocently or not depends entirely on your mental skills. In the wider spectrum, such

3

Please refer to chapter 2 in this book where I gave you a list of 28 terminologies referring to the ultimate nature. Supawan Green

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a unique skill is the noble eightfold path, which can be condensed to vipassana, a practice I will call çbringing the mental self back home.é4 Briefly, there are four homes to which our mental self can return. The fourth home is the ability to perceive everything innocently.5 If we sit two people down in front of a vase filled with a bunch of daffodils, a vipassana practitioner and a person with no acquaintance with vipassana, the result of their perceptions will be tantalizing different. A person with no acquaintance with vipassana will always see a vase filled with daffodils, whereas the vipassana practitioner (depending on the level of attainment) might profoundly perceive

4

Vipassana has the same meaning as the four foundations of mindfulness, insight meditation and bringing the mental self back home. Once vipassana is practised, the practitioner is walking (deploying) the noble eightfold path. They are: 1. right view, right understanding 2. right thought, right intention 3. right speech 4. right action 5. right livelihood 6. right effort 7. right mindfulness 8. right concentration. 5

Bringing The Mental Self Back Home, which is made up of the theory volume and the practice volume, is being written. The update about the publication of this book will be on my website: www.supawangreen.in.th Joining the Here and Now Retreat will be the best way to learn the skill of bringing the mental self back home especially entering the 4th home or having the innocent perception. 46

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the immediate sight as it is › having the innocent perception! This latter experience is analogous to the ability of viewing a three dimensional picture hidden in a two dimensional form › an experience which a non-practitioner can neither produce nor understand. This is exactly how one can access Nirvana. This is the reason why all knowers of the ultimate truth or Nirvana often regard this matter as one single strand of hair holding back a whole mountain. Knowers often say: if the ultimate truth is not right here in front of you, where do you think you can find it? Nirvana is very easy to reach if you have the know-how skills; but without such skills, it will take you eons just to find a real teacher who can teach you such a unique ability so that you can see the colossal mountain right under your nose! I shall raise just one significant question: Have you developed this skill allowing you to have the innocent perception yet?

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Chapter Six Where is the ultimate truth? If Nirvana is right here in front of us like the hidden three-dimensional picture, the ultimate truth is also right here, because it refers to the same nature or experience. For easy understanding, letûs replace the word ùtruthû with ùrealityû and leave the term ùultimateû aside for now. First, I will explain the term ùrealityû. If you want to understand the words ùtruthû and ùrealityû in holy books, you must not think too deeply or look for complexity. Always bear in mind the answer to that riddle: çtwo in a week and one in a year.é So I am not talking about reality in terms of real fact about a situation, person, or real events happening in the world right now from domestic troubles to wars and global warming. Neither am I talking about the words of truth or honesty. In fact, the truth in the holy sense doesnût involve our thoughts and the use of language at all. Instead, it involves our fundamental perception. 48

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We are going to look at something much closer to us; so close that it is a matter of here and now. It doesnût matter where you are and what you are doing right here and right now. I would like you to look around yourself at this very immediate moment. Your sensory experience right now is the exact reality/truth I talk about. Your sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch right now are the only real things to you, are they not? In other words, your sensory perceptions and experience is the only real experience right now. The rest is not real, not immediate, not perceivable with your senses. Therefore, by this meaning, the real world is engulfing you. Hence, every person has his/her own real world. Your sensory encounters (sights, sounds, smellsÇ) are the actual reality, they are not imaginations, dreams, thoughts or concepts. They are absolutely, visibly and tangibly real. Your sensory experiences are real enough that you need no confirmation. Consequently, what you cannot experience right now is not reality according to this definition. Suppose you are doing your routine chores in the kitchen right now. Reality is therefore your immediate sensory encounters, which are everything you can sense in the kitchen. Supawan Green

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Things outside your kitchen, even all the objects behind you in the kitchen that you cannot see or perceive, are not real. For example, you have cabinets around the kitchen. If you stand working at the sink, everything in front of you is real but not the cabinets behind you. Once you finish your sink business and turn your face to the room, everything behind you, which was real moments ago, is no longer real. It means that everything that you cannot perceive right now and right here is not real. These things are not real because you perceive them through your thoughts and memories, which can be twisted. You know about the other three rooms next to the kitchen, where you are now, and at one end of the living room (out of your sight) your children are watching television. Those are merely facts (judging from your previous thoughts or memories); then, they are not reality in this sense. Everything apart from your immediate perceptions is fact, which exists in your head, in your memory box. They are not real and they can be twisted and faulty too because anything could happen and change those facts from the moment you last perceived till this very moment of here and now. 50

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While you are washing up dishes in the kitchen, you may think that your children are watching television at that very moment. That is the image when you last saw your boys before you went to the kitchen. Those images were from a previous reality, but are only images, not current reality. You can think wrongly because your children might be in a bathroom or have gone out with their friends after you went into the kitchen. Your living room might be on fire or flooded while you think everything is all right. That is only the image of your last memory you have of your living room. Anything could happen to your children and living room while you are working at the sink. Therefore, all the facts stored in your thoughts and memories are not actual reality and are subject to changes and errors. So is everything about yesterday and tomorrow including our precious intellectual knowledge. These are equal in the sense of being not real no matter how accurate the knowledge is. Those past and future accounts are not reality because they are not your immediate sensory experience, which is happening right here and right now. Supawan Green

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According to this meaning, reality moves along with your senses or moves along with you. Reality, as the immediate moment, is therefore not of a static nature but of a dynamic character. This dynamic characteristic can be equated to the second hand on a clock › the type which constantly sweeps around the face and never stops even for a brief moment. Once you finish your business in the kitchen and walk into the living room, your reality changes. The events in the kitchen have become the immediate past which are no longer real. As you are moving along from the kitchen to your living room and then to your bedroom and back to the kitchen, your reality is constantly changing and moving along with you (your senses), just like the moving of the second hand on a clock. Now, itûs time to replace the word ùrealityû with the word ùtruthû again. If you want to understand the ultimate truth (reality) in all holy books, you must first of all understand truth in this simple meaning. You will get closer to the real truth or the ultimate truth. Wherever your individual truth is, the ultimate truth is also there. It cannot be elsewhere. The following true story 52

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might help those with one or two grains of dust in their eyes to understand the ultimate truth (reality) of the universe. Once, a boy of 7-8 years old asked my teacher a very direct question. They were living on a remote island in Songkhla province, Thailand at the time. çVenerable Uncle sir, why does everything have a name?é You may think this is an innocent question of a child. Some may even think: çWhat kind of a stupid question was that? Of course, everything has got a name.é I bring this story up every now and again in my writing because this question is the answer to the nature of the ultimate truth. To be more precise, this boy could see the ultimate reality of the universe and thatûs why he asked such an intriguing question. Please refer to chapter two in this book where I gave you a long list of terminologies regarding the nature of the ultimate truth. Supawan Green

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The ultimate truth is the same experience as ùthe innocent perception.û When your sensory experience is innocent, there is no word in your head. Words in your head are mere thoughts and memories, the formless nature before the transformation into language. Thoughts and languages are the same but situate on different end, like two sides of the same coin. Once you utter those words (thoughts) in your head, they become languages. We then use our languages to call (label) everything we see, hear, smell and so on. Childrenûs minds are not complex and they have less thoughts and memories. When they view the sea, sky, clouds, sand, and so forth, they view all those matters innocently as they fundamentally are, that is they have no names (labels) attached to them. In other words, children view their sights innocently or with innocent perception. For this very reason, this boy on the island cannot understand why things have names. He canût understand why adults keep on calling the vast blue liquidy surface, ùseaû and the carpet of blue, white and grey, ùskyû and ùcloudû. As a matter of fact, the boyûs question has turned out to be one of the most profound subjects that only wise persons with true wisdom can answer. 54

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Indeed, if humans never walked on this blue planet, all the natural existence › sky, trees, sea, sand, stones and so forth - would have no names attached to them. They are what they actually are. The innocent perception is the exact experience when Pahiya begged the Buddha to teach him the essence of Buddhism. The Buddha kindly told him: çPahiya, when you see sights, just see; when you hear sounds, just hear; when you smell smells, just smell; when you taste tastes, just taste; when you feel something, just feel. If you can do all these things, Nirvana is not far from you.é Pahiya was instantaneously enlightened following that brief teaching. The heart of this concise sermon is nothing more than the Buddhaûs telling Pahiya to have the innocent perception. The reason why Pahiya reached enlightenment in an instant is because he had found the ultimate truth or Nirvana. The innocent perception is indeed the ùmissing linkû of all knowledge, intellectual and spiritual alike.

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Once you have mastered the crucial skill of bringing the mental self back home and can have the innocent perception, you become the ultimate truth yourself. That is the moment when this tiny human life form is being equal to everything else in the cosmos. We are all equally small parts (diversity) of the whole. Human thoughts, memories and intellect are the only obstruction barring us from seeing the real truth. The ultimate truth is already right in front of your eyes but you canût see it, just like the 3-D picture hidden in the 2-D image, and it is because your thoughts hinder you from seeing it. You must cast away your immediate thought and that last piece of jigsaw puzzle will be clicked into place right away. The whole picture of life will then be clear to you. There is only one question left. How exactly can you ditch your thoughts? It may not be easy at first, but it is not impossible. The answer is, you must practice the skill of ùbringing your mental self back homeû. When you reach the fourth home, all your thoughts will be cast away then. Donût worry, it doesnût mean that you become a ùcabbage!û 56

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The actual process is that you will still use your thoughts in the normal manner when you must. When you finish with your stressful thinking or life activities, most people donût know how to switch off their thoughts when they no longer want to think. To switch off your thoughts temporarily is the time when you must apply the skill of bringing your mental self back home so that your mind (mental self) can have a rest, be healed and recover from stress. Once you reach the fourth home or having the innocent perception, you will also come face to face with the ultimate truth › two birds with just one stone! Once again, if the ultimate truth is not right under your nose, where do you think you can find it?!

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Chapter seven Life map I hope you have a clear idea by now that the sole purpose of being thrown into this world is for you to get out of this epic prison of life (samsara). Now itûs time to talk about the means to do this. In the same way that you need to have a birdûs eye view when you want to draw a large scale road map, so does this spiritual ùlife mapû need a similar view. The enlightenment of the Buddha is compared to his arriving at the peak of a high mountain where he can see the overall view of the valley. This was the vantage point from which he drew his ùlife mapû which now helps us know ùthe structure of lifeû. Having seen the picture of the whole valley from the mountain above, the Buddha knows exactly how to guide people, who are scattered in the valley below, to reach the peak of the mountain. If the zenith is to come face to face with the ultimate truth where you find your true self and 58

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attain eternal peace, you must first of all climb the morality ladder. This will take you half way up the mountain. If you want to get to the peak very quickly, you must then climb the meditation ladder. The triangle below represents the whole structure of humansû lives. Knowing the ultimate truth, our true self, eternal peace

Morality ladder

Meditation ladder

According to real knowers,1 eternal peace can be easily attained by means of observing the moral diet and practicing meditation, which doesnût involve gaining more wealth, accumulating knowledge, sustaining eternal youth, having high social status or controlling power. 1

The term ùknowerû may not be recognised in English usage but it has been widely used since the enlightenment of the Buddha who is considered the first knower. Therefore, whenever I use this term in my writings, I donût mean the knower of just any type of knowledge but rather at those who know the ultimate truth or have left the spiritual life prison › the enlightened ones. Supawan Green

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This is very interesting indeed. Judging from the accumulated disorders, devastations, havoc and suffering happening in the world society from domestic violence, poverty and wars; it is obvious that humanity doesnût have much of a clue about the Buddhaûs teachings. The immoral way of life engulfing humanity right now is similar to people in the valley heading in the opposite direction of the zenith (leaving the prison of life which is the real purpose of our existence). Letûs come back to the allegory of a prison environment again and suppose there are three sections in this prison, zones A, B and C. The exit leading to the ultimate freedom outside the jail is next to zone A. People who believe in the Buddhaûs gospel (finding the true self) must at least make their journey to zone B which brings them nearer to the epic door of true freedom. To come closer to the exit, you must do the following: 1. Have faith or confidence in the Buddhaûs gospel; want to leave the prison of life; make a commitment to cross the life border from zone C to zone B 60

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2. Listen to and have faith in a knower who guides your way to the exit of the prison of life. Observe moral principles while in zone B and take interest in meditation practice. 3. Seriously practice meditation or bringing the mental self back home while in zone A

You must, first of all, choose to cross the border from zone C to zone B before you are qualified to leave this spiritual prison from zone A. If there are more people living in zone B, humanity is bound to live in peace. There are fewer problems in society because people have moral responsibility, including having shame and guilt. On the other Supawan Green

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hand, if there is more chaos and mayhem in the world society, logic suggests that there is a severe lack of morality. The severe lack of shame and guilt among humans is the root cause of violence and atrocities toward individuals and all the way to genocides. The Buddha says that there are very few people who have managed to leave the life prison; the rest enjoy living in the prison purely out of ignorance. It means that the majority of people in the world are obliviously trapped in zone C. They have no way to know or understand their predicament of imprisonment, not until they stumble onto a knower. Allegorically speaking, people in zone C are in the full form of a cursed tiger. Either they do not believe in the good news about returning to be a normal human or they havenût yet heard about the good news. As a result, they are leading a tortured way of life. As for those who have heard of and truly believe in the Buddhaûs gospel, they will have to choose the new way of life by crossing the border into zone B where moral principles are strictly observed. This stage equates to this cursed tiger beginning its changing process › returning from a tiger to a man. As the tiger is moving 62

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deeper into zone B towards zone A, the spell is gradually undone. By the time it reaches the exit door of the prison, this cursed tiger will be fully returned to a man › mission accomplished at last! What has really gone wrong in our society is that we have no real wisdom that can guide us to the real purpose of life. This massive misdirection of life results in an utter confusion › the state of ùnot knowing if we are coming or going.û Without a clear and definite aim, people donût know the reason why they have to be morally good because in the reality of life, there are indeed corrupted people who manage to make a success out of dirty money and the misuse of power. Fueled by the powerful media and high technology, this false image of success has become the new aim (standard) of life for many. This is the very reason that morality has been brought to its knees. It is much easier for mentally weak individuals to abandon the classic moral principles than to stick to the moral rules which appear to get them absolutely nowhere on societyûs highly competitive social Supawan Green

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and financial ladder. Never before has humanity had such a moral crisis as we are facing now. Looking from another perspective, the lack of true wisdom (not knowing the ultimate goal) results in our compromising with secondary happiness involving gaining more wealth, higher status and power. We think that as long as we have money and power, we can buy happiness. As a result, the whole of human civilization is nothing more than a machine trying to stabilize this false standard of living. It is a false aim because it defies the law of change. As the poor and the unprivileged struggle up the social ladder, trying to earn their piece of joy, the rich and the powerful already know that there is no such thing called ùhappinessû at the other end of the ladder. If there is, it is only temporary and not long lasting because absolutely everything in the universe except Nirvana is subjected to the law of change. So we are back to square one again. Furthermore, the struggle for false happiness and peace has ironically become the very reason for increasing turmoil, restlessness, boredom and the endless complexities of life › the nature of living in zone C of this colossal spiritual prison. 64

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Letûs explore further why the wisdom from the past adores morality. You need to know that a completely still and placid mind is the mind of a fully enlightened one who has reached the end of all suffering (fully transformed from a tiger to a man). If this is the goal you want to achieve, you will understand more clearly the relationship between morality and meditation. The human mind is far from being still and placid especially for those living in zone C of this spiritual prison. The more bad deeds one does, the more troublesome oneûs mind will become because of the fear of being caught and losing the gains achieved by dishonest or amoral means. To help the mind to be still and less shaky, you need to cross this spiritual border into zone B by taking moral responsibility. This will settle your mind by half because you donût have to worry about the consequences of wrong doing. Immoral people have to look over their shoulders all the time and their minds become very stressful and restless as a result. If the mind is like a piece of a rough diamond, morality will take the rough edges off this gem waiting for further refinement. Supawan Green

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However, the unsettled mind is not related only to whether you are a good or a bad person. You can even be whiter than white but this doesnût stop you from having fear, e.g. fear of darkness, fear of old age, fear of being mocked, fear of being poor, fear of having cancer, fear of losing loved ones and fear of your ultimate death. Besides, no matter how good you are, you cannot deny the fact that you have jealousy, envy, resentment, disappointment, hatred and anger. Of course, you donût have these foul moods all the time but, when they arise, your mind is everything but normal › causing lots of grief and unhappiness. How about desire, no matter how good a person you are, you may also want to be noticed when doing something good and extraordinary. You may still want praise and recognition. You wouldnût be human if you didnût have these feelings. When people fail to be noticed, a fragile ego is dented, leaving a mental scratch. Ultimately, when you lose your loved ones through illnesses or accidents or any tragic events should happen to you, mental pain is inevitable. Life is not as easy as you would hope, is it?

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These are the reasons why you need to cultivate your mind further by means of meditation. This is the stage when this rough diamond is being refined further after the initial smoothing of the rough edges by means of moral behavior. You cannot live your life as half-tiger and half-man; you must earn your full transformation and reclaim your complete human status. Thatûs why you cannot be happy in living in zone B and not moving towards zone A. You have bought yourself a one-way ticket as far as this life journey is concerned. Your mental anxiety or desires can only be resolved by means of different meditation techniques. The four foundations of mindfulness (vipassana or bringing your mental self back home) is the very mental skill that can guarantee a full transformation, send you right to the zenith of the mountain or to the exit of this spiritual prison. The Buddha highly recommended this meditation practice and skill to his followers. This spiritual life map has been passed down and kept alive through the generations of teaching and Buddhist culture. This book is one of my attempts to pass on this precious life map to you so that you can reach the zenith and Supawan Green

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free your tortured soul. It may be difficult to climb this spiritual mountain at first but it isnût at all impossible. If I can do it, I see no reason why you canût. I was climbing this high mountain while I was a housewife, a mother of three boys, a cleaning lady, a waitress and a Tai chi teacher. Thatûs why I have the courage to come forward and offer you this epic life map.2

2

After this book, you should read The User Guide to LifeÇThe Moral Diet and The User Guide to LifeÇThe Law of Karma. These two books are the more detailed life map which will give you a much better idea of how to walk out of this spiritual prison. As for The User Guide to LifeÇVipassana (bringing the mental self back home), although this book is being written, it cannot be effectively communicated because it is dealing with the formless nature of the mind. It must be taught face to face so that you can see my use of objects, pictures and role play portraying the working of humansû minds allegorized with Tom and Jerry (the sense and the sense object). My annual Here and Now retreat is to suit this purpose. Updated details are on my website. 68

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Chapter eight The universal truth Having found Suan Mokkh and the late Ven. Buddhadasa, it was like finding a pot of wisdom, which allowed me to understand life in a way that I had never experienced before. I am grateful for everything he taught me. There was, however, a concept that I had doubted for many years. The late teacher often said that Nirvana, God and The Tree of Life share the same nature. At that time, I could not see how Buddhism and Christianity could possibly have anything in common. I was not convinced by this çtheoryé at all. I am sure a great number of Buddhists in Thailand shared my view. This theory made even less sense when I moved to England and lived in a Christian society. I realized that my teacherûs concept was too far fetched for the rest of the world. I kept my doubts for many years, thinking, no one could possibly agree with this! Supawan Green

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It wasnût until I had my own eureka experience in that autumn afternoon when I saw the world with a totally different perspective. Only then did I realize that this once doubtful concept had an element of truth. For the first time in my life, I was able to use my own language and approach to confirm the wisdom of the past. Having seen that society had been plunged into turmoil and bloodshed due to the conflicts among different faiths, I realized it was high time for real wisdom to make a stand. Whether the rest of the world would want to listen is another matter. My duty is to put this message across first, from there itûs entirely up to you, you who are reading this very sentence, to help me spread this good news. All God-based believers are keen to claim that their very own God is the ultimate, the best and the only absolute truth. Likewise, the non-divine religions such as Buddhism and Taoism also claim the supremacy for their idealistic Nirvana and Tao respectively. Surely, everyone cannot be right or maybe they all are right. Why is this?

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Logic suggests that if there were an ultimate truth, there must be one, and only one truth. There could not be more than one ultimate truth, and therefore, different versions of the ultimate truth could not exist. We cannot say that the ultimate Buddhist truth is different from the Christian, the Jewish or the Islamic absolute truth or any ultimate entity claimed by other religious believers. Whenever there is a reference to the very absolute truth, it has to be that one universal truth. Thanks to my eureka experience, I now know what has caused all the unnecessary arguments and fighting among religions. It is nothing more than ùwordingsû and the misinterpretation of those words carried forth by different languages and religions. The more words are used to explain the ultimate truth, the further away from it you go. Inversely, removing all words and languages, the ultimate truth is immediately right in front of your nose. It is as simple as that. The best way to explain this religious conflict is to equate the ultimate nature with ùspaceû. Please allow me to physically demonstrate this to you. Hold this book with Supawan Green

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one hand and feel the texture of space surrounding you with the other hand. Then, keep your mind extremely simple. (Several of you around the world might be doing this simultaneously!) Do you think each one of you is feeling the same texture of space? If you donût quite understand my question, please let me ask you in a different way. Say I am in my apartment in Bangkok right now and you are in London, there are others in New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and Buenos Aires, also examining the consistency of the texture of space in front of them. Although we all are in different locations, isnût what we are feeling exactly the same. Please do not philosophize and over-analyze this simple question! What is the feeling of space? The very honest and direct answer is, nothing! Space has no texture whatsoever in all those different places. Even though you might have a holiday home on the moon, on Mars, on Jupiter or even on a remote planet in another galaxy, the texture of space there is still exactly the same as the space you are touching in front of you right now › nothing! Please feel free to ask any 72

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astronauts who have been into space. Although they havenût been to Mars or Jupiter, they can tell you the space outside the Earthûs atmosphere has the same consistency as the space on Earth › nothing! The simple reason is because there is only one magnificent gigantic sheet of space stretching from one end of the universe to the other end. We › meaning everything else but space › are the extra bits floating amid this awesome carpet of space. Letûs characterize further that this enormous carpet of space is woven at one sole factory by using exactly the same transparent yarns and results in the ùnothingû texture. We now all have shared the same ùnothing experience.û The trouble begins when you want to share your ùnothing experienceû with someone else. Sharing experiences is a matter of initially translating your own personal encounter into your own thoughts and feelings or emotions. You must arrange your thoughts or talk in your head first about your personal experience. Secondly, you will have to translate your inner thoughts and feelings into words of your mother Supawan Green

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tongue. Thirdly, should there be widespread interest in your first-hand experience, your words of your mother tongue will then be translated into other languages. This depends entirely on who want to know about your real encounter. The whole point is that sharing oneûs first-hand experience requires the use of words and languages, which are always secondary. Words and language are not the real experience; they are only the means for communication. When the space and the nothing experience are shared through communication, the key words of ùspaceû and ùnothingû will be represented by countless different languages. If the experience is unique, significant and extraordinary, it is natural that more and more people will want to hear about it, thus requiring its translation into yet even more languages. The point is that those who repeat the words of the first personûs authentic experience may or may not have had the first-hand experience themselves. Saying the ùnothing experienceû was originally experienced by Adam, who shared his unique encounter with Barry, who passed it to Carl and 74

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then to David and to Eve and so forth. Can you see how this easily can be turned into a†ùChinese whisper?û Apart from Adam, who truly felt the space and had the ùnothing experience,û the rest cannot possibly know what the real texture of space is if they have not personally touched it. And we all enjoy a good story: as the message passes through different languages, it is very likely that the speakers, who have never touched space before, would spice up the original words. If they donût do this, they even might interpret the original words from their own understanding and beliefs. This could result in the original experience of ùspaceû easily being turned into an ùalien encounterû, which is nowhere near the ùnothing experienceû at all! Unfortunately, this is what happens in the attempt to describe the nature of the ultimate truth. The fighting amongst religious factions is nothing more than fighting over the different words representing exactly the same universal nature or experience, because there can only be one ultimate truth. In the same way that space has only one texture and salt has one taste, the universal ultimate entity therefore also Supawan Green

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has one taste. To accommodate the huge diversity of peopleûs beliefs and different ways of thinking, I therefore listed 28 terminologies in chapter two of this book that represent one sole nature › the ultimate truth. Those who have truly witnessed the ultimate and absolute truth will share the same experience just like knowing the texture of space. When they need to tell others about this absolute entity, they will describe it with more or less similar words. Knowers of the ultimate truth often tell people to abandon words or language or even knowledge! Thatûs why it is very difficult to know this universal truth because words, languages, knowledge are the very tools (vehicles) we need to have access to the truth. But by using these tools, they become huge barriers themselves! To confirm this, Lao Tzu says that Tao has no name; that which has a name is not Tao. This famous first verse from Tao Te Ching refers to the abandonment of words and language.1 1

Lao Tzu, lived in the 6th century BC, was a philosopher in ancient China, a central figure in Taoism. He left only one book for humankind called: Tao Te Ching. Tao means the ultimate truth. 76 A Handful of Leaves (the new edition)

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I also believe that whoever wrote the Book of Genesis must also have seen the ultimate truth. In this case, the blessed Tree of Life in Godûs kingdom is the absolute nature, whereas the poisonous Tree of Knowledge is the obstruction of the real truth. The author strongly condemned the use of knowledge (words), which is a deterrent to the truth (God). Thatûs why knowledge becomes poisonous in the authorûs eyes › a very contradictory concept indeed. As I see it, the book of Genesis is a story which intends to illustrate the true wisdom of the two trees. If you can take away the content regarding God created the world in seven days along with the making of Adam and Eve › which is a strong clue telling people this is merely a story › you will come much closer to knowing the real God. Then came Jesus Christ who said that God is behind a closed door, you must knock and he will open the door for you. This very door that bars you from seeing God as the ultimate truth again is nothing more than words or language. The Buddha directly said that Nirvana is the state of void and non-self which I coined ùthe innocent perceptionû. Supawan Green

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I have no doubt whatsoever that the saints in the past were trying to tell us the same universal message about the ultimate truth. Thatûs why they all made similar claims about setting humanity free from the bondage of spiritual ignorance (prison).

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Chapter nine The end without the clear means Knowing the road to Rome is as significant as knowing the existence of Rome. If you know your destination but you have no idea how to get there, then the journey cannot be accomplished. Likewise, knowing the gospel about life beyond a prison wall but not knowing how to exit from the prison, then, knowing the good news is of little value. I bring back the triangle representing the structure of life (life map) so that you can understand my teaching in this chapter. Knowing the ultimate truth, our true self, eternal peace

Morality ladder

Meditation ladder

Nirvana, Tao, God, Ultimate Truth

Morality Wisdom

Meditation Supawan Green

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This life map can help evaluate the ability of the different great teachers in the past. The witness of the absolute truth always proclaims the ultimate goal of life first. The very first sentence in the Tao Te Ching says: Tao has no name; that which has a name is not Tao. Such a unique sentence depicts a clear witness to the ultimate truth. This supreme wisdom is mentioned throughout both the Old and the New Testaments. In the Book of Genesis, the almighty God warned people from day one to eat plenty of the fruits from the tree of life (Tao) and not to go near the tree of knowledge (not Tao) as the fruits were poisonous. But as to how exactly we can avoid eating the fatal fruit and how, rather, to eat the blessed apple, is not made clear at all! Consequently, even these days, humankind has no idea that we are still eating the poisonous fruits and has totally abandoned the holy apple which can offer them eternal life (life outside the prison wall). Christ came along to confirm the existence of the only God by telling people to love God more than anything else in the world and said God was behind the closed door: we must knock and the door will open. Christ even took a step 80

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further by telling people that he was the Son of God. If anyone wants to know God, they have to go through him. All these extraordinary words and this overwhelming courage can exist only in those who truly witness the ultimate truth. Yet, how exactly can we knock on the almighty front door so that God opens the door to greet us and invites us into his eternal kingdom? Once again, the method is unclear, isnût it? It means that wisdom towards the ultimate goal of life (middle arrow) has been established by saints, like Lao Tzu, the author of the book of Genesis, and by Christ. Although the goal is apparent, it does not give people clear enough guidelines as how to penetrate or experience such profound wisdom. Tao Te Ching simply tells people to harmonize with nature. But how exactly can you live in harmony with nature (Tao)? By thinking, believing or what and how exactly must we do? Do you know the precise skill to be with Tao? It is easier said than done, isnût it? Compared to the triangle representing the structure of life, the Tao Te Supawan Green

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Ching stresses only one arrow in the middle and still lacks the arrow on each side. With Christianity, the emphasis is on two arrows, wisdom and morality, which causes the triangle to lean or tilt to the left-hand side. The concepts about loving enemies and neighbors just as we love ourselves, turning the other cheek, running after people and giving them our shirt too are the set of the very unusual moral principles which prepare people to enter the kingdom of God or to exit the life prison. I donût mean to disrespect Christûs teaching. But please be very honest with yourself. How many Christians can truly love their enemies just like they love themselves? Not to mention loving your foul-mouthed neighbors, people nowadays even find it difficult to love their own family members. Thatûs why a husband can kill his wife, children can kill their parents or vice versa. As a matter of fact, Holy wars have become an on-going phenomenon for the past two millennia, havenût they? We must not be afraid to admit that such high moral principles are nearly impossible to follow because of one reason › they are difficult! If it were easy to love enemies and the taxmen like we love ourselves, 82

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the world community would not be in this huge mess right now. World peace should have been established within mankind long ago! Morality has evaporated from humanity because there is no clear guideline telling people how exactly we can love our enemies, our nosey neighbors and the greedy taxman. Neither do we know how to turn the other cheek. I believe that deep in the heart of each and everyone of us, we all want to do the good and the right thing by Godûs standard, but it can be very difficult to resist the temptations; neither can we easily control our rage, hatred and envy, can we? When people are consumed by burning anger, all hell easily breaks loose. This is the main reason for all evil actions in the world, from domestic violence to the holocausts, causing endless mayhem and immense unnecessary suffering of humankind. This is the reason why the Buddha included meditation in his life map, which forms a better balanced structure for life (a perfect triangle). Meditation (vipassana or bringing the mental self back home) is the very skill that can strengthen Supawan Green

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your inner self and give you the power to resist temptation, cool your burning anger and reduce your hatred, jealousy and envy. To strengthen the mind by means of meditation is still very much lacking in mainstream Christianity. Vipassana is also the very method which allows one to live in harmony with the Tao as well as offering the insight as to how to spit out the poisonous fruits from the tree of knowledge so that one can enter Godûs kingdom. Through bringing the mental self back home, you will be able to love your enemies, neighbors and taxmen in the same way as you love yourself. It is not about forcing your mind to love someone against your will or bending over backward to love someone. The secret will be revealed when you reach the fourth home through vipassana (having the innocent perception). That is the moment when your ego will be eradicated and which is also the time when you can blend in with nature (Tao). Your life-form becomes a teeny part of the whole (mother nature). The last piece of the jigsaw puzzle (missing link) has finally found its place and the whole life picture is subsequently complete!

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The extraordinary innocent perception will allow you to view everyone with equal value (very tiny parts of nature) including your enemies, nosey neighbors and taxmen. Only then, will you be able to love the previously disliked people like you love yourself. In practice, you donût have to bend over backward to love them or talk to them. You just donût hate them, and be your true self. This exceptional vipassana practice is not recorded clearly in either the Tao Te Ching or the Bible. The ultimate truth cannot be reached by thinking and imagination; it must be attained through developing a mental skill just like looking at the hidden three dimensional pictures. Vipassana or the four foundations of mindfulness has been expounded in remarkably greater detail in the Buddhist texts and widely practiced among the committed Buddhists all over the world. This is one of the reasons why countries in which the Buddhaûs teaching is predominant are less often in political conflicts with other religions. There are exceptions, of course. Curbing anger and hatred in normal circumstances (as in a democratic-based society) is already very difficult. People Supawan Green

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under dictatorial rule will find it a hundred times more difficult to practice vipassana because their lack of freedom to move and speak always gives them unnecessary grief. In this day and age, dictatorship is unacceptable. All tyrants must be banished so that people can cope better with their personal suffering such as illnesses, financial worries, losing loved ones and so on. Godûs kingdom is not as far away as you think; it is right here in front of your nose. When the life map (the path) is clear, it can speed up your mental journey quite drastically. You can advance to Godûs kingdom (Tao) in no time at all. But if your map is unclear, you can get lost in a spiritual jungle for as long as it takes. This will unnecessarily prolong your stay in the life prison (samsara). There is only one ultimate truth! If the ultimate truth is not right here in front of you, where do you think you can find it? If we can agree with the above maxims, I am convinced that humanity can easily be united in the pursuit and 86

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self-discovery of the real truth. The only important task we must do is making sure people have a chance to walk the path by adopting the vipassana practice. The reason I invented my terms such as ùbringing the mental self back homeû for vipassana and ùthe innocent perceptionû for the ultimate truth is to make sure this crucial practice is non-religious so that it can accommodate all believers. I want to think that if ùbringing the mental self back homeû is successfully implemented in main-stream culture, humanity will be able to live in harmony, and eternal peace will definitely be with us at long last. We must try to reduce our religious differences so that our souls can penetrate and experience this universal truth. If this is the first time you have heard about vipassana, I really hope that you will be able to find a good teacher to guide you through this crucial practice very soon.1

1

I use Tai chi as a means to help you bring your mental self back home. If you are interested in my Here and Now Retreat, please see the current information on my website: www.supawangreen.in.th Supawan Green

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Chapter ten Correcting bad mental habits Nearly every problem in the world today can be traced back to one cause. That is, the excessive thinking of an individual and the failure to switch off illusive thoughts. The thinkers subsequently materialize their unwholesome thoughts into actions, which eventually create the effect of more havoc in the world community. When people cannot switch off their angry and hateful thoughts, they actualize this negative built-up energy into different levels of action starting from minor offences, domestic violence, violent crime, up to the worst scenarios, such as a war. A fierce battlefield and the senseless acts of terrorism are nothing more than many individualsû hateful and angry thoughts put together. Mahatama Gandhi said that the natural resources in the world are sufficient to feed every single human on earth, but they are not enough to satisfy even one greedy person. We only need to look around to see that Gandhi was absolutely 88

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right. Poverty in the world is certainly man-made. The world has only a few wealthy people, yet they have the power to engineer the destiny of so many people. This unjust reality can be traced back to the greedy thoughts of a handful of people. Greedy and angry thoughts are related by nature, in that if we cannot have what we want or crave for, we get angry and hateful. However, both greedy and angry thoughts are ruled by delusion. Delusive thought does not have a distinctive nature like greed and anger. Nonetheless, delusion reflects itself in the following thoughts and feelings, e.g. embarrassment, uncertainty, doubt, insecurity, discontentment, boredom and fear. Among those feelings, fear is the most dangerous of all, e.g. fear of ghosts, poverty, being ridiculed, ageing, illness, death and so on; all create causes of unpleasant effects. We all have experienced how excessive thinking can make our problems more difficult to solve. Agonizing, persistent thoughts themselves become a problem in which we are trapped and which forms a vicious circle. As a result, people seek all sorts of ways to try to stop thinking about Supawan Green

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their problems. If the problem is not a major one, people can go out, enjoy themselves and soon forget about it. If the problem is serious, people need to take some stronger measures. The most popular solution these days is by grabbing some form of anti-depressant or taking illegal drugs, and expecting an immediate result of ending oneûs misery. Eating disorders and heavy drinking are also other ways to try to forget oneûs troubled thoughts. If all those measures fail to work and the mental pain is too severe, many people choose what they think is an ultimate solution: suicide, ignoring the suffering this can cause to loved ones and others. It is beyond any doubt that stress leading to depression is one of the most common illnesses of our modern society. This serious mental condition which hits one in four Britons, costs Britain more than eight billion pounds a year in health care, loss of productivity and social security benefits. The World Health Organization predicts that in 20 years time, depression will be the second most burdensome illness in the world.1 So when we see where greed, anger, delusive 1

Daily Mail Thursday 22 April 1999 page 15

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thoughts and depression can really lead, and that trying to escape them is stressful in itself, we can really understand the value of finding a way to control our thoughts. Every day, we hear the phrase, çdonût think about it!é We are either the one who dishes out this advice or we take the advice ourselves. It is easier said than done, especially if we are lectured by others. When we are face to face with a bombardment of painful thoughts shooting at us like machine guns, we feel powerless and unable to switch them off, do we not? This is the condition that the Buddha compared to humans as being like dust trapped in a cartûs wheel. To free ourselves from that vicious circle is the most difficult task on earth. Without the help of the Buddha, we are still being trapped in the cartûs wheel for as long as it takes. However, the sad truth is that the majority of people in the world still do not know that there is indeed a way out of that vicious circle. This is the main benefit of studying all these words. Supawan Green

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Temple-goers in Thailand nowadays are regarded as having personal problems and needing to seek help from monks. Very few people can link their mental illness (unable to stop the unwanted painful thoughts) to the enlightenment of the Buddha. As a matter of fact, the enlightenment of the Buddha can directly help us to cure this most fundamental problem; that is, to be able to stop thinking when we want to. Vipassana, which I coin ùbringing the mental self back home,û is the exact practice of creating such a new mental habit of switching off unwanted or rubbish thoughts whenever they arise. This is the precise mental habit that people do not have. Inability to turn off harmful thoughts is the root cause of all problems in the world today. People do not realize that letting their minds drift away with troubled thoughts is a bad mental habit which needs to be corrected. Apart from painful thoughts, people also have dreams and fantasies, which are yet another type of thought on which people are hooked. A great number of people are literally 92

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living in their dream world of fantasy and imagination all the time. The next thing is a degree of weirdness which adds to the shocking results of horrendous crimes. I am sure readers begin to get the picture of crimes created by or related to bizarre fantasies. Paedophiles and serial killers are the obvious examples of people who did not stop thinking such weird thoughts. In the case of the two teenagers at Columbine High School who gunned down 15 youngsters in a high school including themselves, this is also an example of the result of being unable to stop their hate-filled thoughts, plus a few other factors which made such a massacre possible. One large contributing cause is Hollywood movies, which encourage individuals with weak minds to build a fantasy of killing hated people, just like the heroes in films they idolize. Another main factor is that guns are readily available in the US. If those two boys were in Britain, that chilling incident might not have happened, because they would not have been able to get a hold of guns so easily. Supawan Green

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Another crucial factor to make this crime so horrendous is the availability of the Internet. I donût know whether I should use the term fortunate or unfortunate, that our modern society has such advanced technology as the Internet, which was meant to unite humanity. Now, we can see the very dark side of this technology. Without the Internet, many boys and terrorists would not easily have had access to the resources for producing bombs. However, we must understand that Hollywood, the gun laws in the US and the Internet are only subsequent factors. The root of this problem still comes back to the failure to switch off bizarre and destructive thoughts, showing how dangerous bad mental habits can be. The suffering of modern people everywhere is the result of unhealthy mental habits, in which we not only inflict suffering upon ourselves, but also on others. The trouble is, it doesnût take very many people to exercise their destructive fantasies to cause mayhem. During the past seventy years, four persons (Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung and Pol Pot) were responsible for the tragic death of more 94

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than 50 million innocent people. We must not take this realization (the effects of bad mental habits) too lightly. A bad mental habit (drifting away with thoughts and fantasy) is not something that people can easily detect and put right by themselves. We know that biting fingernails or grinding teeth are bad physical habits, but it is still difficult to change even though it is visible. What chance do we have to change our bad mental habits, something which we cannot see? Finally, we must admit that we need help. The arrival of all great teachers in the past, the Buddha and Christ for example, was meant for this very purpose; however, most people cannot understand their holy words well enough to benefit from them and turn to their teachings as a refuge. This huge lack of understanding of the holy teachings has led people to find their refuge in entertainment, drugs and alcohol instead. This is a terrible shame and disaster can be imminent at any time!

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The four foundations of mindfulness (bringing the mental self back home) is the very practice that can correct bad mental habits. This practice allows you to put destiny into your own hands instead of in the grip of doctors and chemists. If you can meet me halfway by learning from me and seriously engaging in this method, I am sure that you will have your life back in no time at all. The choice is entirely yours!

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Glossary Arahant : One who has reached the ultimate enlightenment and become a knower. Bringing the mental self back home : Home refers to practicing the four foundations of mindfulness, i.e. having Tom (consciousness) observing Jerry (thoughts, memories feelings, emotions, and so forth). Devas :

Heavenly beings.

Dojo :

A school for training in the Japanese arts of self defense.

Eureka experience : See chapter one. Four foundations of mindfulness : Four awarenesses (satipatthana): contemplation of the body, con templation of feelings and sensations, contem plation of mental processes, contemplation of mind objects. Supawan Green

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Four homes : The four foundations of mindfulness. Innocent perception : Supawanûs coinage referring to the 4th foundation of mindfulness, the ultimate truth, God, Nirvana, Tao. Jail-breaking : Referring to the ultimate mental freedom, Nirvana or God › the disconnecting between Tom and Jerry by bringing the mental self back home. Knower : An arahant. Law of action : See law of Karma. Law of karma : A universal law of cause and effect as in wholesome actions (physical, verbal or mental) have a wholesome effect and unwholesome actions have an unwholesome effect. Mental self : The 6th sense. Nirvana : See chapter five. Petas : 98

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The beings in one of the lower realms in the Buddhist cosmology, hungry-ghosts.

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Ring road of samsara : An analogy describing the experi ence of continuous rebirths. Samsara : The life environment conditioned by our karmic force (past actions or causes) and therefore subjected to rebirth. Sentient : Responsive to or conscious of sense impressions. Sixth sense : The consciousness, the subject part of the mind that observes the object parts of the mind. Suan Mokkh : A monastery and meditation center in Southern Thailand founded by Venerable Buddhadasa. Ultimate truth, ultimate reality : See the list of 28 syn onyms on the first page of chapter two. Venerable Buddhadasa : A Thai monk and an innovative and fearless teacher of vipassana meditation; one of Supawan Greenûs teachers.

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Vipassana : Insight; direct meditative observation of oneûs own bodily and mental processes with the 6th sense, and using the four foundations of mind fulness. .....................................................

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Supawan Greenûs works In Thai Language 1. ®”π√√®“ª√– “§π‰°≈∫â“π

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12. æ“μ—«„®°≈—∫∫â“π μÕπ ºŸâÀ≠‘ߧππ’ȧ◊Õ„§√À√◊Õ? ®—¥®”Àπà“¬‚¥¬Õ¡√‘π∑√å 13. æ“μ—«„®°≈—∫∫â“π μÕπ §√Õ∫§√—«...«—ß«π·Ààߪí≠À“™’«‘μ ®—¥®”Àπà“¬‚¥¬Õ¡√‘π∑√å 14. æ“μ—«„®°≈—∫∫â“π μÕπ ∏√√¡–°—∫‡√◊ËÕß‡æ» (∑’Ë “¡¥â«¬) ®—¥®”Àπà“¬‚¥¬Õ¡√‘π∑√å 15. æ“μ—«„®°≈—∫∫â“π μÕπ ¶à“엫쓬∑”‰ª ¶à“§«“¡∑ÿ°¢å„®‰¡à¥’°«à“À√◊Õ ∑”Õ¬à“߉√„ÀâÀ“¬°≈ÿâ¡„®, ‡√‘Ë¡·°âªí≠À“∑’Ë≈¡À“¬„® ®—¥®”Àπà“¬‚¥¬Õ¡√‘π∑√å 16. æ“μ—«„®°≈—∫∫â“π μÕπ »“ π“·≈–°“√‡¡◊Õß

®—¥®”Àπà“¬‚¥¬Õ¡√‘π∑√å Supawan Green

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In English language 1. Dear Colin: What is the Meaning of Life?

Minerva Press

2. Can a Caterpillar be Perfect?

Mental Health Publication

3. A Handful of Leaves (the 2nd edition)

Distributed by Amarin

4. The User Guide to LifeÇThe Moral Diet

Distributed by Amarin

5. The User Guide to LifeÇThe Law of Karma

Distributed by Amarin

6. Do You Know What A Normal Mind Is?

Skybook

7. Einstein Questions, Buddha Answers

Skybook

8. Buddha Answers, Einstein Questions (the collection of title no. 6 and no.7 put together)

Released soon, distributed by Amarin

9. Understanding Buddhism and the 6th sense

Free distribution

10. A New Hope for Humankind

Free distribution

11. Bringing the Mental Self Back Home

Released soon

12. Many more unpublished articles and mail answering in the website forum, please visit www.supawangreen.in.th

Audio CDs Thai/English ®¥À¡“¬∂÷ߢ«—≠ ∑”Õ¬à“߉√®÷ßÀ“¬°≈ÿâ¡„® æ“μ—«„®°≈—∫∫â“π°—π‡∂‘¥ Õ«¥Õÿμ√‘¡πÿ ∏√√¡∑’Ë¡’„πμπ 102

58-104.p65

A Handful of Leaves (the new edition)

102

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°“√Õ∫√¡¢—Èπæ◊Èπ∞“π‡ªìπ‡ ’¬ß®√‘ߢÕßÕ“®“√¬å»ÿ¿«√√≥ °“√Õ∫√¡¢—Èπ°â“«ÀπⓇªìπ‡ ’¬ß®√‘ߢÕßÕ“®“√¬å»ÿ¿«√√≥ The User Guide To Life (can be downloaded from website)

DVD The User Guide to LifeÇVipassana (in Thai language) The User Guide to Life ÇBringing the Mental Self Back Home (in English) Bringing the Mental Self Back Home with Tai Chi and Qi Gong (in Thai) Bringing the Mental Self Back Home with Tai Chi and Qi Gong (in English)

Supawan Green

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More information Should you want to find out more of Supawanûs works, please visit the following websites and contact. www.supawangreen.in.th www.hereandnowholiday.com (purchasing Supawanûs books online) http://supawangreen.wordpress.com (Supawan gave interviews on national Thai TV) http://www.supawangreen.in.th/indexeng.html http://www.squidoo.com/supawangreen Downloading free of Supawan Green MP3 (Thai and English) http://www.supawangreen.in.th/mp3/index_eng.html Email :

[email protected]; [email protected]

Address : PO Box 2034 Post Office Branch Rama V (Chulalongkorn University) 10332 Bangkok, Thailand Tel. 089-0195656, 086-6100001, 086-5639031, 081-8066009 (speaking to Thai staff)

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58-104.p65

A Handful of Leaves (the new edition)

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