Seed of Wisdom

Ledi Sayadaw once said that it is very important for one to have the Seed of Wisdom. What is this Seed of Wisdom?

The seed of wisdom according to Sayadaw U Sumana is the inert factor in oneself that had been accumulated in years of your lives (past and present) that will enable a person to attain stages of Insight Knowledge that lead to the fruition of Insight.

This seed of wisdom must be cultivated as much as a person can through the practice of Vipassana Meditation.

Here, in conjunction to the BMBMC Vipassana Meditation retreat, Sayadaw U Sumana encouraged the yogis and members of BMBMC to strive on with diligence so that their meditation practices can lead them to achieve to the very least the Knowledge of the Arising and Passing Away of Phenomena (the Knowledge of Impermanence).

Sayadaw said that one had to try to practice meditation in a long period so that one can achieve progress in acquiring the Insight Knowledge. A time period of 10 days to a month is most suitable for one who want to progress well in his/her meditation.

It is important that we grab any chance we get to meditate, said Sayadaw. One do not wait until he/she is old, and weak with lots of diseases to then only try to practice as by then progress will be very slow.

Sayadaw gave some examples to stress the importance of cultivating this Seed of Wisdom. In the Buddha's time, a fisherman whom had trouble keeping his precepts, was able to attain to the stage of Sotapanna, by listening to the Buddha's talk due to him having the seed of Wisdom.

Another story about a pick-pocket thief who is also able to attain to the stage of Sotapanna by listening to the Dhamma talk by the Lord Buddha in Jetavanna Monastery even though his original intention was to steal. This shows that the Seed of Wisdom determines one to had progress in Insight Knowledges.

In contrast there are people whom at the presence of Lord Buddha were not able to attain any progress due to not having the Seed of Wisdom such as King Kosala, who had many Suttas mentioned in his name.

Cultivating the Seed of Wisdom should be the main aim of Buddhists and only by practicing Vipassana Meditation in retreats can one hope to be able to progress well in Insight Knowledge, said Sayadaw U Sumana in the closing of this talk.

Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu

Tonight talk is one of the 9-days series of talk given by Sayadaw U Sumana in conjunction with the Vipassana Meditation retreat.