A superficial knowledge

Through satipatthana one will come to know oneself and one will become more truthful and sincere. Those who have attained enlightenment are called “ujupatipanno”, upright, sincere. We can find out for ourselves that we are not really sincere, that we do not really know ourselves. We have studied the teachings and we have learnt about the many types of consciousness (citta), but we do not sufficiently realize that what we have learnt is the truth about our daily life. We overlook our many moments of unwholesome consciousness (akusala citta) . Do we overlook them because we do not want to know them? We have not considered enough the truth of what we have learnt through the Buddhist scriptures and often we are only able to give “textbook answers” about the problems of life. So long as right understanding of the realities that appear in our life has not been developed, we only have a superficial knowledge of what the Buddha taught.

”Listen more to the Dhamma, consider it more.” The realities the Buddha taught are not in the book. They should be known in daily life.