The Living Computer
Photo: Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives C01195
“Is it correct to think that genuine true mindfulness and wisdom can only be found in Buddhism?”
~ Response by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu ~
No, it’s not correct. Outside of Buddhism – in other traditions and schools – there is mindfulness and there is understanding. It is not for us to judge whether the mindfulness and understanding according to the other traditions are correct or not. All we can say is that there are both sammā-sati and micchā-sati, right mindfulness and wrong mindfulness; there are sammā-diṭṭhi and micchā-diṭṭhi, right view and wrong view; and there is not only right wisdom but there is wrong understanding. And further there is the degree of mindfulness and wisdom – there can be a little bit of mindfulness or a lot, a little bit of wisdom or a lot. These things are not just a matter of Buddhism. In fact just to live in this world, everyone needs mindfulness and wisdom. So even if we set aside religious and spiritual matters, one needs mindfulness and wisdom just to live. If you totally lacked mindfulness and understanding you would have been dead long ago. But this ordinary mindfulness and wisdom – the kind all of us are born with or that we learned from our parents or school – isn’t enough to solve our spiritual problems. It’s good enough for physical survival but it’s not enough to make an end of dukkha. And so this ordinary mindfulness and wisdom must be trained until it has the ability to end all dukkha.
(From the retreat “The Living Computer,” as translated from the Thai by Santikaro)
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Dhamma Questions & Responses sessions were offered by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu in 1990-1991 to foreign meditators attending Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage courses.
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