About This Answer
How did the mind feel after seeing the Dhamma? Ajahn Dtun, referring back to a talk the previous day, says it was cool and peaceful. Greed seemed at that moment completely removed; it later returned to some extent, but much weakened. The stronger forms of anger, such as vengeance, were gone, and anger arose only as mild dissatisfaction. The mind was objective and equanimous toward material things, with neither attraction nor aversion.
He recalls a monk who had made two umbrellas and asked which was better. To him they were simply equal, though he still had to use conventional speech and say which looked better, without the mind being moved.
From about sixteen or seventeen he had resolved not to harbour anger, so its weakening felt natural. When part of the defilements is let go, a true happiness arises, very different from worldly happiness. Its causes are weakened greed, weakened anger and weakened identification with the body; as the fires in the heart are extinguished, coolness follows, and one knows for oneself the path to remove the defilements.