The Freedom of Never Building the House of Birth and Death Again
Sentient beings build a house with ignorance, keep that house going with craving, and build a new house again through attachment. As ignorance, craving, and attachment link one to another, they bring about birth and death again and again. When you cling to one thought, another thought arises; when one desire is fulfilled, a new desire is born. In this way, confined within a house of your own making, you go through birth, death, and rebirth over and over.
The Buddha practiced through many lifetimes, searching for the builder of the house. When he finally attained awakening, he saw clearly who the builder was. He thoroughly realized that the builder is craving, and that the fundamental cause holding up the house is ignorance.
All the rafters were broken, and even the ridgepole of the roof collapsed. No materials for building a house remained, and no attachment that wished to build one. It was not only that one house had fallen; the very causes that lead to building a house again had been completely extinguished.
No-thought does not simply mean getting rid of thoughts; it means not being bound by thoughts. And the ultimate no-thought is the state in which the root of ignorance is completely cut and the house of birth and death is never built again. The collapse of a house alone does not complete awakening. Only when the causes that would build a house again do not arise is there true liberation.
Therefore, as a practitioner, do not stop at removing each stray thought one by one. Look thoroughly at where that stray thought arises and what it relies on to continue. Then remove its fundamental cause.
When ignorance finally disappears and craving is exhausted, there is nothing to grasp and nothing to cast away. You arrive at a free state with no place to dwell and no one dwelling there. This is complete liberation.
"Builder of the house, I have seen you. You shall not build a house again."
This declaration holds the realization that one will never again be dragged into the cycle of rebirth, and has fully departed from it. You can also look at this teaching in connection with the Seon Buddhist teaching of the true lineage of no-thought. No-thought, freed from all stray thoughts, is connected to the awakening of seeing one's true nature. The declaration of seeing the builder of the house and ensuring that it will not build again can also be taken as revealing the meaning of the true lineage of no-thought.
Building a house requires many materials. Just as a house is not raised without materials, there are causes for the cycle of birth and death in which you receive this body, are born, and die. Stray thoughts, ignorance, and attachment become the materials for building the house and keep the cycle turning again and again. As long as those causes remain, you cannot be free from suffering.
Yet if you remove those causes down to the root, you will not be reborn again and can be completely liberated. This is looking at the meaning of liberation the Buddha taught in connection with the true lineage of no-thought. At the place where a thought arises, look at the attachment and ignorance that hold that thought, and cut the root that makes you build the house of birth and death again.
Today, when a thought or desire grips your mind, rather than rushing to remove it, pause and look at it. Look back at where this thought arose and what it holds on to in order to continue.
Notice, too, the mind that moves on to another desire after fulfilling one. What matters is not the fact that a thought is there, but the mind bound to that thought. Rather than stopping at quieting a single stray thought, practice looking at the cause that makes you build the house again.
Sentient beings build a house with ignorance and keep it going with craving and attachment. Just as one desire fulfilled gives rise to another, as long as those causes remain, birth, death, and the cycle of rebirth are repeated.
No-thought does not simply mean getting rid of thoughts; it means not being bound by them. Do not stop at removing each stray thought one by one. Look at where it arises and what it relies on to continue. When ignorance and craving are cut at the root and the house of birth and death is never built again, that is true liberation.
- Sentient beings build a house with ignorance and keep it going with craving.
- When one desire is fulfilled, a new desire arises.
- Do not stop at removing each stray thought one by one.
- Look at where the thought arises and what it relies on to continue.
- When the roots of ignorance and craving are cut, you never build the house of birth and death again.