In todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyteand#8221; Sangharakshita speaks on the positive counterparts of the Three Fetters: Creative, Committed andamp; Clear.and#8221; From the talk and#8220;Entering the Sanghaand#8221; given on Sangharakshitaand#8217;s first visit to the Buddhafield Festival, Devon 2007.
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Creative, Committed and Clear
[Music] Dharma Bites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for your life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donate. Thank you and happy listening. [Music] The third and last fetter I'm going to say anything about and then draw to a close is usually called what in parley or south grid is "bitchy kitsa". And this is usually translated as doubt, but it's much more than doubt. It's a sort of skeptical doubt. That's one of the translations, skeptical doubt. You don't just doubt, you don't really want in your heart of hearts to find out the truth of that particular matter. You're resistant. And you've put forward all sorts of excuses and your mind wavers. And you go from this idea to that, you change your mind. For instance, you may be engaged in some kind of meditation. But you start having doubts about the efficacy of that meditation. And you start wondering, well, maybe some other meditation would be better. Maybe some other practice altogether. So the doubt produces a sort of wavering, a sort of uncertainty, which prevents you. Again, from committing yourself wholeheartedly to what you are doing. So all these sort of things, all these sort of wrong attitudes are fetters. And all of them can inhibit our practice of the dharma and prevent us in the end from realizing the mutit of freedom. So I like to give my own message where version of these three fetters are not just one version of the three fetters, but they're positive counterparts. So I've come up with what I call three C's. I want you to try to be first of all creative, committed and clear. Creative in the sense of constantly working on oneself and trying to create and recreate oneself. A better self, a higher self, a kinder self, a more universal self, a more spacious self. Try to create from day to day that kinder self. So be creative and then commit it. Whatever you do, commit yourself to it, especially any form of religious practice, any form of meditation, any relationship or friendship. Commit yourself to it wholeheartedly without reservations. Be committed and then clear. Try to clarify your ideas. Don't be fuzzy in your thinking. Don't be vague. Don't be woolly. Don't allow yourself to be overpowered by doubts, especially skeptical doubts. But be clear. So if you can be on higher and higher levels, and be creative, committed and clear, then you can be sure that before long you'll be able to achieve the much freedom in the high spiritual sense. And if you achieve that freedom, then of course you'll have a deep understanding into the meaning of the Buddhist teaching. And be able to benefit from that understanding yourself and benefit others with it. [Applause] [Music] We hope you enjoyed today's Dharma Bight. Please help us keep this free. Make a contribution at freeBuddhistaudio.com/donate. And thank you. [Applause] [BLANK_AUDIO]