Dhamma Talks - Four Accomplishments Of Dhamma :: Buddhapadipa Thai Temple

The practice of meditation really depends on the practitioner. To do something successfully, the Buddha taught his disciples Dhamma called “Iddhipada 4”. Here are the four dhammas;

1. Being willing to work.
2. Making an effort to do it.
3. Focusing attention on the work, carefully and wisely.
4. Using right understanding (wisdom), or reason, to control, or estimate, which part of the work should be got rid of, or developed.

Let’s elaborate on each of them for the purposes of meditation;

1. Being willing to work; this is the purpose of the work; we should understand it clearly and do it with our heart. The purpose should be set out wisely and clearly. It is said that the purpose of meditation should be to know the Four Noble Truths; to know suffering and find how to get rid of it, when the method is known, then put it into action.
2. Making an effort to do it; in work it is not easy to succeed, so we should make an effort to do it. We should not give up doing, easily. We should think that the obstacle is a power to help us succeed in life. Without it, we are weak.
3. Focusing attention on the work, carefully and wisely; to meditate, we have to keep our mind, or attention, tethered to the meditation object and work constantly.
4. Using right understanding (wisdom), or reason, to control, or estimate, the work knowing which part should be got rid of, or developed; this is an important part of the work we are doing. If we don’t examine it, we may go on the wrong path. So we should examine whether what we are doing, now, leads to suffering, or not. If it leads to suffering, we should try another way.

This Dhamma can apply to any work in life. If we put them into action, success is within reach of our hands. If we don’t put it into action, we cannot succeed in life and may blame others. All the work depends on ourselves.