Question

Somewhere I remember Steve talking about groupings of Dhamma terms - fives of this, tens of that. In these groupings, there was a set of terms which had three terms: Wise Reflection, Heedfulness and I do not remember the third. Can you tell us what the three are and talk about their importance, why they are special?

Answer

A Kalyanamitta. That is the third term. Wise reflection is very important in order to develop Right Understanding, so that Wisdom is guiding our life. Heedfulness, "Appamada" in the Pali language -- is a mixture of Compassion and Mindfulness, mixed with a bit of Wisdom. So we're heedful; we're aware of what we're doing with the understanding of Cause and Effect, that it will bring harm to ourselves and others if we are not heedful or aware of what we are doing, what we are saying, what we are thinking. When our Wise reflection and Heedfulness fail, it's good to go and see a Kalyanamitta. They can then give us some external Wise reflection and perhaps get us back on track if we find it difficult through our own efforts to be heedful, reflect wisely and get back on track. I remember a quote by the Buddha saying that these are the causes for the arising of Wisdom. That is why these three are special, because it is Wisdom that purifies the mind.

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