In a short Sutta in the Udana collection, Buddha gives advice to his attendant Meghiya on the five supports for the development of spiritual maturity. In the Sutta Meghiya is determined to meditate in what appears to be an ideal spot (a mango grove). Despite two denials for permission to go from Buddha, Meghiya persists with his request for his solitary retreat only to discover that his mind was “for the most part assailed by three kinds of unskillful thoughts: sensual thoughts, thoughts of ill will, and thoughts of cruelty”. This amazes him since he thought he had devoted considerable time to developing his mind skillfully.
After returning to Buddha he explained his unfruitful meditation and Buddha explained that his spiritual maturity was not yet developed and but there are five things that would support his spiritual development.
GOOD FRIENDS 1st Support for spiritual maturity: A spiritual practice is difficult to do alone. Over time you may realize that you may have changed priorities. You may find that you’re out of the mainstream of the culture. Your friends may tell you that you’ve changed and are more peaceful but you also feel that you don’t quite fit in the way you did in the past. We need a sense of belonging and we no longer find it in a culture of materialistic priorities. So it is most helpful to find some (even a few) friends with similar spiritual views.
SENSE OF INTEGRITY AND SELF WORTH 2nd Support for spiritual maturity: The word integrity means “being intact”. When we live an ethical life ( aligned with our values) we have a sense of being intact and not separate from what is wholesome and not separate from others. We learn from the example of our good friends and are mindful of the precepts that lead to a peaceful mind and letting go; not killing other beings, not taking what is not given to us; not using our sexuality in a way that harms our self or others; speaking what is truthful in a manner that is kind, gentle, not harsh, or divisive or gossipy idle speech; and not using intoxicants that cloud the mind and lead to heedless behavior. We take the time to mindfully examine our intentions, the suitability of our speech and actions, and how we may look away from areas that need to be addressed (with mindful nonjudgmental awareness). In other words we pay attention to what matters.
PROFITABLE TALK AND DISCOVERING TRUE HAPPINESS. 3rd support for spiritual maturity. Our life is more rich and happy when we have a sense of purpose. This includes hearing and speaking about the qualities of life that lead to happiness. Buddha describes these to Meghiya as; talk on having few wants, on contentment, on non-entanglement, on arousing persistence (effort), on virtue, on concentration, on wisdom, on release and on the knowledge and vision of release. When we pay more attention to these aspects of what we say and what we listen to we discover the simplicity of true happiness.
CONTINUAL EFFORT AND RESOLVE. 4th support for spiritual maturity. When we are able to continue our effort and determination in practice we also discover that our lives have a sense of purpose. When we are mindful of our responsibilities it becomes easier to abandon what is unskillful and we are encouraged and inclined toward what is skillful. Effort and determination keeps our practice going when we are having a difficult time in our meditative practice. It keeps the momentum of our practice on course and it assists us in seeing what is skillful and what is not. It also allows us to lighten up a bit when things get too serious!
DISCERNMENT, WISDOM, AND CLARITY. 5th support for spiritual maturity. Wisdom and clarity are the natural outcome of the other four supports. When we have cultivated good spiritual friends, integrity, profitable speech and discover true happiness and apply continual effort we will naturally arrive at a place of clarity and wisdom. We see that peace and happiness arise from seeing the truth of impermanence and the futility of grasping at anything, the futility of hate and anger and benefits of kindness, compassion and sharing the joy of others.
Please keep these in mind this week and see for yourself in your own direct experience whether these 5 supports ring true for you. In this Sutta it is no coincidence that the first support for a mature spiritual practice was finding likeminded spiritual friends. At the end of the Sutta Buddha summarizes each of the supports by saying if you have good spiritual friends then; integrity; profitable talk and true happiness; resolve and determination; and wisdom will naturally develop.
There is a phrase repeated many times in the Buddhist canon. It is “Ehipassiko” which translated means “Come and see for yourself? That is our practice! There’s no time to waste!
May you be well, happy and peaceful!
Floyd
