The confidence about what is now
Excerpt from the Dhamma discussion with Ajahn Sujin on Zoom on Sun Mar 15th 2026 am.
Confidence about the truth of what is there as it is
[A. Sujin] "Is it this or that?" It's not confidence at all! So, confidence of understanding the truth of what is there, little by little, until it's so firm.
So, what is there? No confidence at all!
How to answer: what is there? No confidence of what is there as it is - or as something or any idea at all. So, the greatest confidence is the confidence about the truth, of what is there as it is. That's why just the question: what is seen; what is the answer?
[Vincent] What is seen can be understood only at words' level.
[A. Sujin] It doesn't matter at all; just what conditions the word to answer "what is seen?" Before saying any word the Buddha said: listen, attending carefully to what I'll say. When a question is asked, so many thoughts about different things — our own thinking, but what is seen now? Just answer that question only. What is seen?
Listening carefully to the question to be able to answer it
[Vincent] And what is seen is rupa; it is the visible object, according to the Buddha's words.
[A. Sujin] According to the word or to the truth?
[Vincent] Because there's no direct experience here, I cannot really say it's the truth, but I can continue to listen to the discussions. [Yeah.] That means I'm still interested.
[A. Sujin] But that does not answer the question at all. Just listen carefully, to what? To the question, in order to answer the question. So, is it sincere now to say: "What is seen"? Being true to the truth of the answer.
How much understanding by answering "what is seen"? [Right. It's the rupa that is seen.]
It's the idea, her own idea before answering the question — just what is seen, it's so short! What, what, what is seen? Not the idea or the story of that which is seen. Answer truly, truly: what is seen?
[Vincent] Even though I know the answer is "a visible object", when I look at a table, I still think about the wood.
No confidence when the answer is not directly to the question
[A. Sujin] Is that the answer to the question?
[Vincent] Irene says she's still a bit confused. She still thinks about the story of what is seen.
[A. Sujin] So now, just now, be true to the truth. Just the answer for "what is seen now?" If the answer is not the direct answer to the question, it's no confidence at all. We are talking about confidence, and this is the way to understand and to be true to what is meant by confidence.
Just the answer indicates how much understanding and how much confidence in the answer. [Visible object, rupa is seen.]
What is rupa, and what is visible object? [It's real, but I've read in some book that it's imagined.]
What is real is real. It cannot be imagination or imagined at all. Before imagination, there must be the moment of experiencing an object.
Being true to the truth answering just the question — what is seen?
Dhamma is so very subtle. It has to be your own understanding, your own consideration, not another's answer at all.
It has to be careful consideration: manasikara, yoniso-manasikara, attending very carefully to... we are talking about confidence, so it has to be right now, whether it's confidence, not enough confidence, or no confidence at all.
So the question is, in order to know how much confidence — or no confidence at all, what is seen? For everyone, not just for Irene. What is seen? This is to understand confidence. What is seen? It is a very simple question. It depends on understanding.
Very short, not the story of that which is seen or anyone's idea or my idea or what the book said, but being true to the truth, answering just the question: what is seen?
Because now we are talking about confidence. See, hesitation is not confidence. What is seen? [Rupa.]
What is it? What is rupa? What kind of rupa? See. Confidence about what is seen. [There is a bit more understanding of what confidence means.]
Is that the answer for: what is seen? [Visible object.]
Okay. Confident? [Yes]
What is seen cannot be anything because it's now that it's seen
So, nobody else knows; it is your own understanding, your own answer to be true to the truth. So, it's time to have a little more confidence about the truth of what is seen. Otherwise, there will never be a little more confidence about what is seen at all.
What is seen is there right now, isn't it what we take for or what appears as red or blue or brown or light? No one there at all. What is true?
What is seen is only that which we are used to taking or experiencing as red or brown, different color, or color, or visible object, or light... It doesn't matter, because it's now that it's seen. But the truth is that what is seen cannot be anything at all because it is only that which can impinge on the eye-base.
There must be the eye-base, otherwise there could never be seeing. And even if there is the eye-base, if nothing impinges on it, there could never be seeing at all. So, seeing is not that which is seen. A little more confidence?
Seeing is a reality. It's real. That which is seen is real, a reality, but there are so many realities. Many, many dhammas. Some experience the object, and some do not experience the object. They are different; they are dhammas; no one at all because there must be conditions for whatever is now appearing because it has arisen by conditions. Its proper conditions, arising to be only that which is now appearing. Is what is now appearing real? What reality is it?
No understanding of what is there appearing as one has heard
Be true to the truth right now, more and more — a little more confidence of the truth. It has to begin at this moment, otherwise there can never be more confidence about what one has heard, about the truth, to understand the truth as the truth. Otherwise, confidence about what, if it's not about the truth?
Understanding what is there now is the beginning of a little more confidence about the truth. Not the story about what is there as a whole, but at the moment of what is there appearing — no understanding of it as one has heard.
So, what is the point of listening to what is there, more and more and more? Not just to believe, but just to consider carefully again and again because it's so very deep. Even it's there appearing, no one knows the truth of it. So, confidence about being true to the truth, little by little until it's so firm, never change.
Seeing is so very short, how could it see many things around instantly?
So, what about the answer "what is seen is rupa," or "what is seen is visible object"? But what is it now? Something is seen. Is that confidence enough?
Anyone can say — what is seen is that which impinges on the eye-base; — it is the reality which cannot experience anything. While what is seen is something all the time.
So, there must be confidence about the three rounds of the four noble truths. The first round, the second round, the third round — more and more confidence.
So, no one can say for another how much confidence he or she has; it has to be one's own consideration of what is there, with how much confidence.
[Vincent] DaZhuang says yes, only that which is visible can be seen.
[A. Sujin] So, how much confidence when one says visible object? Firm confidence that it cannot be a doll, or a cat, or a dog that is seen, or anything else at all.
The moment of seeing is so very short, how could it see many things around instantly, as something, all the time? So, how much wrong understanding with ignorance of that which is seen has been accumulated?
Without understanding there is doubt, not confidence
In order to understand the truth, the ultimate truth of what is seen, confidence that it will take a long, long time, not just right now. Is it true?
Wrong understanding with ignorance and attachment to the idea of self has been accumulated... For how long? So, how can there be the gradual, very subtle letting go of it? Only by understanding little by little about the truth of it.
At moment of understanding the truth, the confidence gets a little firmer and firmer. Listen more to the truth, not just "visible object", but anything which is around any time. And right understanding develops little by little.
So, a little more confidence about the truth develops too. Isn't it true? [It is.]
The answer is "a little more confidence," and it's right. Is there a little more confidence? [A bit more confidence comes from what confidence really means, and also from understanding.]
That's it. Without understanding there is doubt, not confidence at all. So, of what level is confidence right now?
Confidence about what is now
[Vincent] Can I just quickly check with Yong because he was near the ocean and watching the birds.
[A. Sujin] What is a bird? [Can we say the five khandhas?]
At moment of seeing, he is "watching" the birds; what is there? It's not wrong saying "the five khandhas," but what are the five khandhas at moment of watching the birds? [At the moment of watching the bird, at the moment of seeing, there is visible object.]
How many khandhas, seeing? [Seeing is one khandha.]
Okay, and what about the other four? [They're also there.]
What are they? [Vedana khandha is there, and sañña khandha, and sankhara khandha — they are also there.]
At that moment he was watching the bird, but what is now? What is confidence? What is now? [Now it's thinking.]
This is about confidence. See? [Yes, but there are moments of no confidence as well. Lots of moments of no confidence.]
That's why right understanding is so very subtle; the truth is the truth, but what we've said about the truth, what level of understanding is it. Different degrees of everything.
So, no matter what we talk about, it concerns confidence too. When it's one's own understanding of what confidence is, there can be the understanding of the degree of confidence too.
Confidence of the truth goes along with right understanding
That's why right understanding means *right* understanding of the truth, any moment. Even right understanding has different degrees of understanding too. Is there now confidence about the different degrees of understanding?
That's why confidence of the truth goes along with right understanding. A little, very little understanding, very little confidence. Are there any more questions about confidence? Or it is clear now?
[Vincent] He asked: is this how the light operates?
[A. Sujin] The understanding or the light operates? What is seen is very, very tiny — only a speck... or things around... people in this room? Or it's just a moment of seeing only that which can be seen, so very tiny. So. no doubt about how many colors appear right now. They seem to be together, but in truth, they can never be together.
Being true means to understand that all dhammas are anatta
So, no matter what we are talking about, it's just to have right understanding of the truth. And without the words of truth from the Enlightened One, there would never be any understanding of the truth of what is there right now at all.
Being true, even understanding Dhamma — what is it? And being true means to understand that all dhammas are anatta. So, understand a dhamma as dhamma, not anything or anyone at all. Is it true?
Being true to the truth of that which is seen; it's real, it's only a reality. It's there, seen, so it's so real. If there is no understanding of the truth of a dhamma,
each dhamma is taken for something instantly, because of ignorance, no understanding of the truth, not firm enough.
Nothing is as subtle as the truth of what is there right now
So, we will continue on, understanding dhamma, considering it, throughout our whole life. Never enough at all if there's no realization of the truth that we've learned. And this is the understanding of ariya-sacca-dhamma, isn't it so very subtle? Nothing is as subtle as the truth of what is there right now: visible object, see — so true so real, it cannot be anything it cannot be anyone because it's a dhamma.
Is there a little more confidence about that which is seen? Not taking it as someone or something as before. Strong confidence about the truth, not to take it as someone or somenthing as before. And it's time again; sawadee ka, everyone.
Mp3 audio file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15qNzjgpWsU0DqTkASVH8aQzFgzN8ZYDq
Dhamma Foundation's source video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLRq8xUUbqQ