1.3.6

Lesson 1.3.6 Tamotamasuttaṃ - From Darkness or Brightness to Brightness or Darkness

Every participant in the meditation courses taught by S.N. Goenka has heard a reference to this stirring Tamotamasuttaṃ. It is thanks to the dissemination of the teaching that everyone is offered the option to pick one’s own fate, independently from one’s starting point which is determined by past actions. Any current situation always allows and invites one to choose one’s destiny towards brightness and can be understood as the categories of tamo jotiparāyaṇo or joti jotiparāyaṇo. Surveying the world, the Buddha compared beings with lotus flowers (or water roses or white lotus flowers) that either remain under water, rise just to the water’s surface or rise above the surface and stand upright and untouched by the water. Similarly, there are people who realize the essence of the Dhamma immediately (ugghaṭitaññū), some who need a little explanation (vipañcitaññū), others who should be taught over an extended period to grasp the teaching (neyyo), while the pada paramo would gain a foothold in Dhamma during this present existence but gain full realization in further existences. Learn the tools for moving towards brightness as depicted in the Tamotamasuttaṃ.