Asceticism is a form of self-mortification. The fifth week he sat under the shade of the goatherd's banyan tree (Ajjapāla), while there he considered giving up his ascetic practices: "I have escaped the painful ascetic practices body and mental suffering. To escape from that unprofitable ascetic practice is truly a blessing. How joyful it is to be liberated and Enlightened.” Mara (Māra), who closely followed every thought and action of the Buddha and was always alert to accuse the Buddha when he saw any mistake, immediately said to the Buddha: "Apart from ascetic practices, there is no Is there any other way to purify living beings? The monk Gautama has left the pure path. While still polluted, do you mistakenly think that you are pure? The Buddha replied: “All ascetic practices used with the concept of achieving the Immortal state are useless, do not bring much benefit, they are just like cars running sluggishly. on the ground, and as useless as pushing a pole on a sandy shore. Because I am completely convinced that they are not beneficial, I have given up all such forms of self-mortification.” The commentary also mentions that these ascetic practices such as not eating enough and not wearing enough clothes are self-torture. Extreme asceticism is a form of self-mortification that needs to be carefully noted here so that when we discuss it in the Dhammacakka Sutta we will understand it better. CONSIDERING THE FIRST SERMON After spending seven days in seven different places, the Buddha returned to the goatherd's banyan tree on the fiftieth day. Sitting under that tree, he pondered, “Who should I teach the Dharma to first? Who will quickly understand this Dharma?” Then this arose in him: “There is Āḷāra Kāḷāma who is learned, skillful and intelligent. He has long been a man with little dust of afflictions in his mind's eye. What if we teach the Dharma to Āḷāra Kāḷāma first? Surely he will quickly understand the dharma.” It is very important that the Buddha tried to find out who would be the first to understand his teachings quickly. Opening new meditation centers that have devotees with full faith, full enthusiasm, diligence, mindfulness and intelligence is paramount. Only devotees who possess these qualities can quickly attain wisdom and become shining examples for others to follow. Meditators who lack faith, enthusiasm, diligence, mindfulness and intelligence or those whose body and mind are weak due to old age can hardly be a source of inspiration for others. When we first started teaching the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Vipassana Meditation, we were fortunate to start with three people (actually my relatives) who were endowed with unusual (mental) faculties. . They attained the knowledge of birth and death (Udayabbaya Ñāṇa) within just three days of practice and were extremely happy with seeing the light and the signs accompanied by feelings of joy and happiness.It is the achievement of these rapid results that is responsible for the widespread acceptance and dissemination of the Mahāsī technique of Vipassana Meditation. The Buddha thought of teaching his first sermon to someone who would quickly grasp it, but when he considered Āḷāra Kāḷāma, a deva said to him, “World-Honored One, Āḷāra Kāḷāma has passed away seven days ago.” At that time wisdom arose for the Buddha, (and he) saw that Āḷāra Kāḷāma had passed away seven days ago and thanks to his attainment of meditation he was reborn in the Brahma realm of Nothingness (Akincaññāyatana Brahma…The Formless Brahma Realm).END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN ZEN BUDDHIST MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.23/6/2024.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.