The End of the World (Part 06| Final) Interest and Rest (An Epilogue)

Interest and Rest 

(An Epilogue)

Interest takes you half the way. That is the 'root' of the 'matter' – where we butt in with a 'But the thing is...”

To 'get - interested' in something is to find a 'perch' in the fleeting trend of thought, the rapidity of which the Buddha declared – has no parallel ''.

''It is not easy to give a simile to show how rapidly thought changes, ''A. N. I.10.

Then how does 'interest' come in?

Interesting as it may seem, interest ('chanda') is a euphemism for craving ('tan. hā').   It is a seemingly innocuous representative of craving- the lightest shade of it, as it were. It works almost unseen like the root of a plant. It is the 'mouse' which controls the 'cursor' - attention ('manasikāra')

Where interest rests, you find yourself attending to some point of contact (phasso) and you become aware of three grades of feeling (vedanā)- pleasant, unpleasant and neutral (sukha, dukkha, adukkamasukha).

Your concentration now picks up the thing of your choice – and there you are!

Concentration is the harbinger of the 'thing' and you are either happy, unhappy, or bored.

You are now fully involved in  it  with  'mind–fulness”  (sati) That is, you can be mindful of your pleasure, pain or boredom.

According to the Buddha, the uninstructed wording  is  always  'see sawing' between pain and  pleasure.  It  is  the  'blind  alley  he finds himself in - ignorant as he is.

' ……..on being touched by painful feeling, he delights in sense pleasures, and why is that? The uninstructed worldling, monk, knows no way out of painful feeling, other than sense pleasures '… S I 208

But is there an exit from this blind alley? Is there an end to this 'see-sawing'?

'Yes' says the Buddha, you have  to move towards the middle -  the fulcrum - leaving the extremes of pain and  pleasure.  You have to find an interest in the neutral. though it may appear 'boring' . In fact you have to go on boring at the middle. If you delve deeper at the middle, you can get at the Truth  and find    an Exit.

It is true that we are  usually  not  'interested”  in  the  neutral.  We simply ignore it. We are indifferent. All the same , ignorance lurks there. However , If we delve deeper at this point with right attention (yoniso manasikara) ignorance gets transformed into wisdom. That is the light in which you see the exit.

At one time the Buddha instructed the monks as to how they should reply to a series of questions likely to be raised by wandering ascetics of other sects, concerning, the origin, behavior and purpose of 'all things ' (sabbe dhammã)

“……. when thus questioned, monks, you may reply to those wandering ascetics as follows''

'Rooted in interest (desire) are all things. 

Born of attention are all things

Arising from contact are all things' 

Converging on feeling are all things 

Headed by concentration are all things 

Dominated by mindfulness are all things 

Surmountable by wisdom are all things

Yielding Deliverance as essence are all things Merging in the Deathless are all things Terminating in Nibbana are all things.

''When thus questioned monks, You may reply in this way to those wandering ascetics of other sects”

-A V 106f

So, after all, interest takes you only half the way, and it is wisdom that takes care of the rest. In fact, you are fully 'at rest' when there is no 'inter-rest' !*

*Sate of rest