Transcript
[6:32] si and welcome everyone.
[6:35] Welcome to our online dharma group where
[6:39] we study
[6:42] a Buddhist text and the dharma together
[6:44] as a collective.
[6:48] We are joined by venerable Utadamo who
[6:51] is joining us from the Sri Mangalo
[6:53] meditation center in Sri Lanka.
[6:58] We are currently studying the commentary
[7:02] on the Dhama Chaka Pawatanasuta by the
[7:06] late venerable Mahasi Sidol.
[7:10] Before we get back into our study and
[7:12] reading, we will begin by taking refuge
[7:16] in the precepts together as tradition.
[7:20] It is a way to remind ourselves to
[7:23] conduct ourselves in a way or manner
[7:27] that is wholesome and will keep our
[7:30] minds purified
[7:32] as we move towards nibbana.
[7:37] So, with that being said, is there
[7:39] anyone that's willing to lead the
[7:41] precepts today for us?
[7:47] >> I would like to.
[7:48] >> I would like to.
[7:50] Now, go ahead, Thomas.
[7:53] >> Thank you.
[8:03] Silani
[8:10] salina
[8:31] bawa. Buddhas
[8:41] Buddhasa
[8:48] Buddhas.
[9:04] Arunas
[9:20] Buddhang
[9:25] Sarang. Fore!
[9:46] Foreign! Foreign!
[9:50] Buddhang.
[10:20] Foreign
[10:50] Amen.
[11:29] Amy,
[11:47] Mada. Fore
[12:22] Iman
[12:39] su.
[13:02] Okay, thank you everyone.
[13:05] We will now get back into our reading.
[13:09] Again, just as a reminder, this is the
[13:14] commentary by the late venerable Mahasi
[13:16] Siodal on the Dhamma Chaka Pawatan Suta,
[13:21] which is considered the first discourse
[13:23] that was given by the Buddha
[13:26] and we are somewhat nearing the end of
[13:29] the text.
[13:34] So, we have a reading order list that is
[13:38] posted in the text channel and discord.
[13:43] The first reader today will be Carl Key.
[13:46] And again, we'll just be reading two
[13:48] paragraphs each. Just remember to read
[13:51] carefully and at a good pace so that
[13:54] everyone can digest everything that's
[13:57] being read. And remember to leave a
[14:01] space and some time or some a gap in
[14:04] between each paragraph in case venerable
[14:08] would like to give us some insight or
[14:11] anyone has any questions.
[14:14] So Carl Key can you start us off with
[14:17] our reading today please?
[14:21] >> Yes of course.
[14:24] Moreover, having eradicated craving,
[14:28] otherwise called the origin of suffering
[14:31] by means of our handship, the blessed
[14:34] one was free from any craving that could
[14:38] cause new becoming.
[14:41] For beings still saddled with craving,
[14:45] after passing away from one existence,
[14:49] they are reborn in the next.
[14:52] Holding on to one of three signs, comma,
[14:59] sign of kama or sign of destiny
[15:04] that appears that that [snorts] appear
[15:07] as death approaches.
[15:10] There is always a new existence for
[15:13] beings who are not yet devoid of
[15:17] craving.
[15:21] All right. So, we've actually finished
[15:24] the
[15:26] body of the suta,
[15:29] meaning the Buddha has spoken.
[15:32] That's not even true. The Buddha has
[15:34] ended the discourse. He's ended his
[15:37] teaching. There's one more thing he's
[15:38] going to say, but it says an afterward.
[15:41] So, we'll get to that. So, the suta, as
[15:44] it's written in the text, isn't over,
[15:46] but he's ended his discourse. And the
[15:49] concluding statement was that
[15:53] and knowledge
[15:55] arose in me.
[15:59] Knowledge and vision. Knowledge and
[16:01] vision arose in me. Unshakable is my
[16:05] deliverance, my freedom.
[16:08] This is my last. This is the final
[16:13] birth.
[16:16] There is nothing here. There is not here
[16:19] further becoming here meaning for for me
[16:23] basically.
[16:30] And he's referring to the result of
[16:35] having accomplished the tasks in regards
[16:38] to each of the four noble truths which
[16:40] is was the last section that we read. We
[16:43] were going through each of the four
[16:44] noble truths, the truth, the the duty
[16:46] and the knowledge that the duty has been
[16:48] done. And with the knowledge that all
[16:50] the duties have been done comes this
[16:53] final knowledge.
[17:05] B uh can you help with understanding the
[17:10] amma sign of kama? I think I remember
[17:13] the sign of destiny from uh one of your
[17:15] past uh explanations but I don't think I
[17:18] remember the kama and sign of kama very
[17:21] well for the three signs.
[17:24] >> Yeah, understandable. I mean we we have
[17:26] I have explained this at least once
[17:28] during this suta but it's easy to lose
[17:31] track amongst all the different
[17:33] teachings.
[17:35] So we would have talked about this at
[17:37] the second noble truth
[17:40] is uh
[17:42] danha thirst is the cause for suffering
[17:46] ultimately because it means more
[17:48] rebirth. And so how it works is at the
[17:51] moment of death, if there's still
[17:52] craving as he says here,
[17:54] then um it's not so much that something
[17:58] special arises, it's that the things
[18:00] that do arise at the moment of death
[18:02] become something that you cling to. And
[18:05] so in more detail, there are four kinds
[18:07] of
[18:09] karma at the moment of death that will
[18:12] have a result. And so that is if you
[18:17] have done something in order of of
[18:20] occurrence order of precedence
[18:23] or dominance in order of taking
[18:27] taking effect
[18:30] meaning uh they go in order of
[18:32] authority. So the first is if you've
[18:35] done something something terrible or
[18:37] something great. So if you've killed
[18:39] your mother, killed your father, killed
[18:42] an arahan, hurt a Buddha, caused the
[18:45] schism in the sana,
[18:47] um other things like that,
[18:52] then uh that karma is going to consume
[18:56] you when you pass away and no other
[18:58] karma could possibly have an effect and
[19:00] that will determine the rebirth.
[19:03] The second type of karma is um
[19:11] is called um
[19:17] what's it called?
[19:21] Can't remember the polyarama. Is that
[19:23] what it's called? I don't remember.
[19:26] It's a karma that is performed at the
[19:28] moment of death. So if you do something
[19:29] terrible or great at the moment of
[19:31] death, then it will have the effect
[19:34] or whatever karma you're doing is more
[19:36] likely to have an effect. But if there's
[19:37] nothing particular particularly
[19:40] significant at the moment of death, then
[19:41] there's what's called a nakama
[19:44] or
[19:46] bahukama or something like that. There's
[19:48] different names is uh that which you
[19:50] have done um habitually
[19:54] throughout life. So if you're a murderer
[19:57] or if you're a thief, those sorts of
[20:00] things are are going to have take
[20:02] predominance at the moment of death. And
[20:04] finally, if there's nothing of of those
[20:06] three, then it's just going to be some
[20:08] significant kama katakama or something
[20:11] karma that you have done in throughout
[20:13] life that is significant. So if in a in
[20:15] in the past you did something
[20:17] significant like kill someone or
[20:20] steal something or hurt other people,
[20:22] these sorts of things. Or if you
[20:24] practice meditation, if you were very
[20:27] kind or very generous at some point in
[20:29] your life, then something like that will
[20:31] take predominance. Something will come
[20:33] up. I mean, many things will come up.
[20:35] You know how they say, your life flashes
[20:37] before your eyes.
[20:40] It's just that one of those things is
[20:42] going to be something that you cling to
[20:43] at the moment of death and hold on to
[20:46] because you're losing your ability to
[20:48] cling. The thing is, we cling to the
[20:50] body and we cling to the mind
[20:51] constantly. Every moment we're
[20:53] constantly re reaffirming our attachment
[20:56] to the body, our attachment to the mind.
[20:59] And when they break down or when the
[21:00] body breaks down anyway, then you
[21:03] immediately habitually without any
[21:06] conscious effort, you cling to
[21:08] something. It's like if a person falls
[21:11] off a cliff, they they flail with their
[21:13] arms try to grab onto something,
[21:15] anything. It's just the way it goes. If
[21:17] you lose your balance, you your arms
[21:20] immediately go out to try to grab onto
[21:22] something. It's just
[21:24] gut reaction instinct they say.
[21:29] So at the moment of death, one something
[21:30] is going to be what you cling on to and
[21:32] that perpetuates you on to rebirth. Of
[21:36] course, the difference is when an
[21:37] arahant dies, they don't do that. So it
[21:40] doesn't matter what comes up, all their
[21:41] memories,
[21:43] all their thoughts, all their
[21:45] recognition of all the past deeds or
[21:47] whatever, none of it phases them. And so
[21:50] they pass away and there's no rebirth.
[21:54] So, but
[21:56] each one of those things can take the
[21:59] form of either
[22:02] the action that you've done. So, you
[22:04] remember the actual action that you've
[22:06] done or some uh image of the action
[22:10] which is called kamita.
[22:13] So, it's like if you if you were a
[22:16] murderer, you might see a knife or you
[22:18] might see blood.
[22:20] If you gave some kind of a gift, you
[22:23] might see that gift or you might see a
[22:25] symbol of that of of giving or something
[22:27] like that.
[22:29] Something that is a sign or um an image,
[22:33] a symbol. Symbol is the right word,
[22:35] symbol of the action. And the third is
[22:40] some narrative based on
[22:43] the
[22:45] qualities of the action.
[22:48] So suppose you you killed an ox or you
[22:51] you you were a farmer and you killed
[22:53] lots of of of cows or something
[22:57] then you might have a have a a vision of
[23:00] being reborn as a cow or traveling as he
[23:04] mentioned some of the stories people
[23:05] actually me vision envision that they're
[23:09] traveling to their uh place of rebirth
[23:14] and but it'll still be based on past
[23:16] karma But
[23:19] it's uh
[23:22] anyway it will be based on some
[23:23] attachment
[23:27] and that's called gatinita or you say a
[23:31] sign of destiny but it just means the
[23:33] the symbol of the place that you're
[23:35] going some kind of story some kind of
[23:37] narrative some kind of vision related to
[23:39] where you're going. Those are the three
[23:41] things that can arise based on
[23:44] the karma or the the attachment that is
[23:46] leading you where you're going.
[23:50] >> Thank you.
[24:04] The bodhic satta also had passed through
[24:07] many rounds of rebirths in successive
[24:11] existences.
[24:13] Thus on the dawn of his enlightenment,
[24:16] the blessed one reflected
[24:19] seeking in vain the house builder
[24:23] craving
[24:24] who repeatedly designed and built his
[24:28] house of flesh existences
[24:32] and etc. the five aggregates
[24:36] because I had not yet gained
[24:40] the knowledge of our handship.
[24:43] I wandered through many existences.
[24:47] Anka yati samsaram
[24:51] sanda vam.
[24:54] Now with the enterain attainment of
[24:58] omniscence together with arenship I have
[25:01] found you.
[25:03] Oh house builder, never again will you
[25:07] build this house.
[25:15] That's a famous one of the Dhamapada
[25:17] verses. It's Damapada verse
[25:21] 152
[25:23] 153.
[25:33] And then 154 is also
[25:40] an means many chhat
[25:46] many births.
[25:50] So this word ssara is literally means
[25:52] wandering. No wandering in many births.
[26:07] seeking out the house.
[26:18] >> In this way, the blessed one give an
[26:20] account of his retrospection.
[26:24] Although fresh existence is no more
[26:27] possible for the blessed one in the
[26:30] absence of craving, he still had to live
[26:34] the present life which had been brought
[26:37] into existence by craving before its
[26:42] eradication.
[26:48] With retrospective insight, he said,
[26:51] "This is my last existence.
[26:55] Now there is no more rebirth."
[26:59] There are these are the concluding words
[27:03] of the damaga suta.
[27:08] Yeah. So it's the end of his his
[27:11] discourse. He does say one more thing
[27:13] though and there's more to the there's a
[27:15] little bit more as he's going to explain
[27:17] to the the suta as it's written
[27:24] but um I mean we've been over this but
[27:26] it's such a
[27:29] such an important part of Buddhism to
[27:31] acknowledge that this is what it means
[27:33] to become an arant because it's not easy
[27:35] to even appreciate
[27:39] certainly not something that most people
[27:41] would find attractive. I mentioned this
[27:44] before, but um I remember one an old
[27:48] friend of mine in university
[27:52] when I was in university first time
[27:56] and when I went back the second time I
[27:58] met her again and uh she was Catholic
[28:01] and we took we were taking a course on
[28:04] Buddhism together. me because I'd
[28:06] started practicing Buddhism her I guess
[28:08] because it was an elective that she
[28:10] could take
[28:12] and uh he the teacher the professor
[28:15] explained about re rebirth
[28:19] and she came up to me after the class
[28:20] and said uh it just it's so liberating
[28:23] to think that we can we'll be reborn
[28:26] again
[28:29] because in Catholicism you've got one
[28:31] chance you know and if you get it wrong,
[28:34] you're out.
[28:37] And so she thought it was just the idea
[28:40] that you could do it again and again
[28:42] until you got it right, you know, which
[28:45] it's fair. It's not it's not wrong to
[28:47] think like that, of course, but
[28:52] it it it's it it underlines the the the
[28:55] difficulty that people have with
[28:58] the depth of
[29:02] this the meaning of the dharma or the
[29:04] significance of of the truth.
[29:12] So, it's it's worth
[29:15] um acknowledging this, but it's worth
[29:18] acknowledging how difficult it is to
[29:20] appreciate, I think, because this can
[29:22] turn people away or make people feel
[29:26] inadequate because they don't feel
[29:28] attracted to the idea of not being
[29:30] reborn. And that's the whole point that
[29:33] we're not attracted to not being reborn.
[29:35] This is the whole point. We're attached
[29:38] and we will be reborn again as long as
[29:40] we have craving
[29:42] in some form or another. And it doesn't
[29:45] matter whether you try to appreciate
[29:48] this teaching or you convince yourself
[29:51] that the Buddha is right or or you agree
[29:53] with it. If you have craving it, that
[29:56] that's kind of useless or it's not
[29:58] enough anyway. It's not the point. The
[30:02] point really is to
[30:05] as the Buddha said, not not run away
[30:08] from suffering, not even run away from
[30:10] rebirth, but face it and try to
[30:12] understand it.
[30:15] Mindfulness is the tool that we use that
[30:19] allows us to face and
[30:22] deeply deeply understand
[30:25] that nothing is worth clinging to.
[30:28] And it it goes piece by piece. It
[30:30] doesn't it's not like you suddenly
[30:31] change your mind and say, "Oh, the
[30:32] Buddha is right. I shouldn't cling to
[30:35] anything." It's that you see again and
[30:38] again and again that the things that you
[30:39] cling to,
[30:41] level by level by level, from the coarse
[30:43] to the refined,
[30:46] one and all are not worth clinging to.
[30:50] And this generally goes piece by piece,
[30:53] bit by bit,
[30:55] level by level, until the most fine sort
[30:57] of craving is all that's left.
[31:01] And you either give that up or or you're
[31:03] reborn in a place that is so refined.
[31:09] There's very little in the way of
[31:10] suffering and then eventually
[31:14] have enough with that as well. I mean it
[31:16] it it comes naturally and it comes
[31:19] organically. It's not something you have
[31:21] to agree with or have to appreciate.
[31:24] It's worth acknowledging that you can't
[31:25] appreciate this as long as you have
[31:27] craving. The craving will make you say
[31:30] no, but I want these things. Why would I
[31:32] not want to be reborn again? It's
[31:35] exciting to think I can do this all
[31:36] over. Well, for many people, we
[31:39] appreciate the suffering that comes from
[31:41] being reborn again. And it's kind of
[31:42] scary and horrific, but there's so much
[31:45] that we still cling to. And to think
[31:47] that we should never have those things
[31:48] that are attractive, those things that
[31:50] we like.
[31:54] It takes a real change, something very
[31:57] new
[31:59] to to change your mind about that,
[32:03] to let go. But it's the letting go. It's
[32:06] not the convincing or wrestling with
[32:08] this idea. The fact that we have to
[32:10] wrestle it just shows that we still have
[32:12] attachment and that we suffer when our
[32:14] attachments are threatened. The idea of
[32:17] not being reborn again is a threat to
[32:21] uh getting what getting the things that
[32:22] we're attracted to. And so that's what
[32:25] we study. We study how we suffer. We
[32:29] don't we don't benefit from being
[32:30] attached.
[33:08] Laura, you're next to read.
[33:11] >> Okay.
[33:13] >> A matter for consideration.
[33:17] Careful study of the dhama chaka suta
[33:20] beginning with the words these two
[33:23] extremes monks should not be followed by
[33:27] one gone forth
[33:30] bave
[33:38] and ending with the words this is my
[33:41] last existence
[33:43] now there is no more rebirth
[33:46] I
[33:48] Jati
[33:54] reveals that it deals with the path
[33:57] trodden by the blessed one. The truths
[34:01] he had discovered and how he had
[34:03] discovered them.
[34:06] As to the practical details of the path,
[34:10] there was little mention of them in a
[34:12] direct way.
[34:15] Only the opening words these two
[34:18] extremes monks should not be followed
[34:22] conveys some practical instructions.
[34:27] It is therefore a matter worthy of
[34:30] consideration how the first five
[34:32] disciples attain the higher knowledge of
[34:35] the path and its fruition by what
[34:39] methods and how they attain their goals.
[34:43] I will now explain this.
[34:46] >> Yeah, it is worth mentioning and and it
[34:49] reiterates some of what he's been saying
[34:51] throughout this discourse trying to
[34:52] impress upon us the fact that studying
[34:55] the four noble truths isn't the path to
[34:57] enlightenment and not even really
[34:59] practicing the four well that's maybe
[35:02] not fair to say but applying yourself to
[35:05] practice the four noble truths isn't the
[35:06] way. And he said he mentions that it's
[35:08] only really the first noble truth or at
[35:11] most the the first two noble truths that
[35:13] you use or you pay any attention to
[35:15] during the practice at all. So and the
[35:18] Buddha doesn't really even instruct in
[35:22] that way. But he's going to get into how
[35:24] it helps them and how it helped even one
[35:26] of them because Kanya became a sautana
[35:29] after just listening to this. Sometimes
[35:32] you don't need
[35:34] uh direct guidance. Obviously just
[35:36] getting theory is often enough to
[35:38] straighten the mind and help you apply
[35:41] your balance and your abilities in the
[35:43] right way if you already have the
[35:45] capacity.
[35:47] Just being pointed in the right
[35:48] direction is often enough or being
[35:50] having it having your mind straightened
[35:52] out.
[35:55] I don't know if it's um interesting to
[35:58] I'll give you a little
[36:00] brief poly lesson because these two
[36:04] these are two really good
[36:06] passages. So let's just go over these.
[36:12] This is the first sentence in the
[36:17] so worth remembering. This says d means
[36:20] two. May comes from these. So D may
[36:24] these two is just the word for two. A
[36:29] one two three.
[36:32] Remember we had ant is the word for
[36:34] extreme. It literally means something
[36:36] like end like the end of a rope or
[36:39] something but it's the two end points.
[36:42] So the two extremes
[36:45] these two extremes
[36:47] ana the ending ana means by in this
[36:50] case. So by a pa
[36:53] means one who has left behind the world
[36:56] and who has gone forth could even mean
[36:58] someone remember we talked it could even
[37:00] be someone who has just gone to live in
[37:02] a meditation center. So you go to do a
[37:05] meditation course. You could also argue
[37:07] that it's someone who has undertaken any
[37:09] practice of the Buddhist teaching, given
[37:11] up worldly pursuits even just
[37:13] temporarily. So when you go into your
[37:15] room and do walking and sitting
[37:17] meditation, you can be considered a
[37:18] pagitta during that time.
[37:22] Not say the aba part. Taba part is
[37:28] means should
[37:30] say is the root in regards to
[37:32] associating or in regards to
[37:37] um partaking.
[37:39] So should be save should be associated
[37:41] and not not should not be partaken.
[37:44] So these two extremes should not be
[37:46] partaken. This might be interesting if
[37:49] you want to remember these words and you
[37:52] have this mantra kind of to remind
[37:54] yourself the two extremes and we
[37:56] remember what two extremes are
[38:01] the la the other one I won't go through
[38:03] it it's not not as instructive but that
[38:07] those are the two
[38:09] the first sentence is the instruction
[38:11] that the Buddha gave to not indulge in
[38:14] the two extremes which opens the door to
[38:17] The third way, the middle way, um,
[38:20] specifically for the practice of
[38:22] mindfulness because when you're not
[38:23] indulging in things or when you're not
[38:25] trying to eradicate things, run away
[38:28] from things or or you're not trying to
[38:31] renounce even renounce things.
[38:35] Your only option is to just face them,
[38:38] is to exist with them. And mindfulness
[38:40] allows you to do that. So, it's teaching
[38:42] people how to not
[38:45] fix or or mess with things to learn how
[38:48] to be and to have an objective
[38:51] perspective on experience.
[38:54] So, it's a useful phrase that the two
[38:56] extremes do point the way to
[38:58] mindfulness.
[39:13] Higher knowledge gained by listeners
[39:17] in the discourses taught by the Buddha.
[39:20] Although there were no precise
[39:22] instructions such as practice in this
[39:25] way, bear this in mind. It must be
[39:28] regarded that they contain exhortations
[39:31] and guidance as to what should be
[39:34] followed and what should be avoided.
[39:37] According to the ancient masters, every
[39:41] word of the Buddha carries an
[39:43] injunction.
[39:45] To illustrate,
[39:52] Sana
[39:58] mala.
[40:02] This verse of the mangala suta gives
[40:06] only the enunciation of the three
[40:08] blessings namely not to associate with
[40:12] the foolish to associate with the wise
[40:15] to honor those who are worthy of honor.
[40:17] This is the greatest blessing
[40:21] in this verse. There is no direct
[40:23] exhortation
[40:25] with whom one should not associate
[40:28] with whom to associate or whom to honor.
[40:32] Nevertheless, it should be taken as an
[40:34] exhortation.
[40:36] Likewise, we do not find any direct
[40:39] exhortation
[40:41] or injunction in the Dhama chaka suta.
[40:45] The blessed one said simply, "Avoiding
[40:48] the two extremes, I have discovered the
[40:51] middle path.
[40:53] This should be regarded as meaning.
[40:56] Like me, you must avoid the two extremes
[41:00] and follow the practice of the middle
[41:03] path.
[41:29] In stating the middle path leads to
[41:32] vision etc.
[41:35] It should be taken to imply
[41:38] if you develop the middle path vision
[41:42] will arise in you too.
[41:45] Higher knowledge will come to you. You
[41:48] will gain benefits until the realization
[41:51] of nibbana.
[41:54] In giving the enunciation of the noble
[41:57] eight-fold path, it should be taken as
[42:01] giving instructions for promoting the
[42:04] path factors of morality, concentration
[42:08] and wisdom.
[42:15] Yeah, there is um a distinction because
[42:18] on the one hand
[42:20] we're not going to gain the knowledge of
[42:22] the Buddha at any point unless we also
[42:25] become a Buddha.
[42:28] Um but
[42:30] you do see where that
[42:33] um in over time in Buddhist societies
[42:36] that becomes a license to not practice
[42:41] any of it to say well this is this is
[42:44] teaching that is for Buddhas so how can
[42:46] this be of value to us and we absolutely
[42:49] should follow the Buddha's example to
[42:52] the best of our ability we shouldn't
[42:55] pretend like we are ever going to be on
[42:56] his
[42:59] But
[43:01] we emulate him to the best of our
[43:02] ability.
[43:06] There's no shame in that. You you don't
[43:08] pretend to be a Buddha obviously, but
[43:09] you
[43:11] you listen to all his teachings. You
[43:13] listen to the things that he did and you
[43:14] you think how can I
[43:17] to the best of my ability do the things
[43:20] that are appropriate for me as a
[43:23] follower. There are some things actually
[43:25] that you should not do at all. Things
[43:28] that the Buddha engaged in that were
[43:30] only for the Buddha. The Buddha actually
[43:31] broke certain rules. There's one rule.
[43:35] There's one part of the Vina where these
[43:37] um these aesthetics try to trick the
[43:41] Buddha.
[43:43] They the Buddha forbids monks from
[43:46] displaying magical powers.
[43:50] And so the all the aesthetics in the
[43:52] other religions, they say, "Oh, well,
[43:55] we'll we can do lots of magical powers,
[43:57] but we'll do we'll we'll we'll perform a
[44:01] miracle once the Buddha does, once the
[44:04] Gautama does because they know now that
[44:07] the Bu the Buddha has uh forbidden his
[44:10] monks to and then in the end he goes and
[44:11] does it anyway and he says, "Oh, the
[44:13] rules are not for me."
[44:16] So is that there are there there's of
[44:19] course many other things that are the
[44:21] sort of thing that a Buddha is
[44:24] fit to do to engage in. I mean the kinds
[44:28] of
[44:32] initiatives the Buddha took for teaching
[44:35] go beyond what an a disciple would ever
[44:38] be expected to undertake.
[44:42] But there's there's an obvious
[44:47] bulk of
[44:50] the Buddha's character, qualities, and
[44:52] practices that
[44:55] we can can and should strive to
[45:00] uh take as an example.
[45:08] And so you you do have to acknowledge
[45:09] that the Buddhist teaching are not for
[45:11] worshiping.
[45:12] The Buddha is not really for worshiping
[45:14] alone. The Buddha is also for emulating
[45:19] or making as our leader anyway. You
[45:22] know, like in the military, you don't
[45:24] pretend like you're the general, but the
[45:26] general has many good qualities that you
[45:28] emulate
[45:31] and you emulate as is appropriate for
[45:34] your station.
[45:41] But we absolutely should
[45:43] never be afraid to practice the sorts of
[45:45] things the Buddha talked about he
[45:47] himself practicing
[45:49] to an extent acknowledging that many of
[45:52] the things are beyond us and some things
[45:54] are not even appropriate for us that we
[45:57] shouldn't therefore throw it all away
[45:58] and this is what you see again that many
[46:01] Buddhists will never think to actually
[46:02] practice the dharma
[46:05] unfortunately
[46:09] sometimes it's not just that it's only
[46:12] appropriate for the Buddha, but it's
[46:13] only appropriate for monks or it's only
[46:15] appropriate for living in the forest.
[46:18] And this is really just a lack of uh of
[46:21] depth of knowledge of the Buddhist
[46:23] teaching. The Buddha is pretty clear,
[46:25] teachings are pretty clear that much of
[46:28] it is appropriate even for people living
[46:30] in a worldly setting, even living in the
[46:33] household life.
[46:37] Most especially the practice of
[46:39] mindfulness
[46:47] I was I was going to say something you
[46:50] what you have explained just now
[46:51] reminded me of um Mahasi Seattle's um
[46:56] his talk about weana meditation and he
[47:01] mentioned that in his early days of
[47:04] teaching wea meditation
[47:07] many lay people didn't think that this
[47:11] weat now was for lay people only for the
[47:14] for the monks. So he will have to
[47:17] encourage people that oh uh lay people
[47:21] can also practice whipatana meditation.
[47:24] So he clearly stated that in early days
[47:27] of his teachings of whipatana. So I
[47:30] thought I should share it with you.
[47:32] >> Yeah. Yeah. And it it it I mean there's
[47:35] many monks who don't even realize that
[47:37] they could practice it. Many monks have
[47:40] have gone through the studies have
[47:43] you'll see these young monks memorizing
[47:45] the pi text and
[47:48] uh even learning to give talks in Sri
[47:50] Lanka it it it's a bit endemic where
[47:53] monks can be very very good at the
[47:55] rituals
[47:57] um
[47:59] I mean I guess it's not I won't single
[48:01] out Sri Lanka there's I mean there's a
[48:03] difference in various Buddhist cultures
[48:05] but
[48:07] and even if you look at foreigners who
[48:08] study Buddhism many times. It's very
[48:10] intellectual.
[48:13] I know there was this fairly famous um
[48:16] member of the Poly Tech Society. I met
[48:18] him in Bangkok.
[48:20] He had um he had read the tipa in Pali
[48:25] twice or translated it in poly I guess
[48:28] read it thread read through it in poly
[48:30] twice from beginning to end but he never
[48:33] practiced meditation. He said, "I just
[48:35] can't.
[48:47] It's kind of amazing for someone who
[48:50] reads it, is interested in finding it as
[48:52] a teaching and as something that you
[48:54] feel you can benefit from." Right? So
[48:56] many people come to Buddhism saying,
[48:58] "Oh, is this going to help me?" So they
[49:00] read about, "Oh, this is something that
[49:01] I can practice and it will help me."
[49:03] It's it's
[49:04] surprising to then see that there's
[49:06] people who have been in touch with this
[49:08] teaching their whole lives and and have
[49:10] never really
[49:12] actually realized that it's something
[49:14] thought of it as something to practice.
[49:16] Many people who are Buddhists for a long
[49:19] time and never think of it as something
[49:21] that they could or should practice.
[49:27] The Buddha said it's like uh a tongue
[49:30] versus a spoon.
[49:33] The tongue tastes the soup. The spoon
[49:35] doesn't taste the soup. Even though the
[49:37] spoon comes in contact with the soup, it
[49:40] never tastes the soup.
[49:48] >> Sometimes Bendy, I think it's also a lot
[49:50] to do with finding
[49:54] the right teacher. You know, one may be
[49:57] born and grow up in a Buddhist society.
[50:02] It doesn't necessarily mean that this
[50:04] person would find the right teacher. In
[50:08] in our culture, we say, "Oh, it's
[50:11] because because of previous life, you
[50:14] know, karma, you haven't got to the
[50:17] right time yet to find the right
[50:19] teacher." So, I don't know. It makes
[50:21] sense. Yes.
[50:24] >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's complicated.
[50:27] Karma is something so very complicated,
[50:29] it's hard to really say. And it's not
[50:31] all just karma. Sometimes it's just
[50:34] chance, just circumstances.
[50:37] There are many people who never reach
[50:39] the dharma, but could have very much
[50:42] very easily understood it if they had
[50:44] the opportunity,
[50:46] which is a big um catalyst, a real
[50:50] catalyst for
[50:53] in inspiring us people to share the
[50:56] dharma. Even the Buddha, he was inspired
[50:59] to share for this very reason because he
[51:01] saw, oh, there's people who very quickly
[51:02] could understand it if I were to teach
[51:05] them. I'll teach the dharma for them.
[51:09] There are people out there like that,
[51:11] which is a big reason for sharing on the
[51:13] internet,
[51:15] uh providing resources,
[51:17] opening the door.
[51:20] you you you don't go pushing people to
[51:22] practice or or looking for people to
[51:24] practice but just
[51:27] giving people the opening the door for
[51:30] them. But it is remarkable how there are
[51:32] people who you know could benefit and
[51:35] could practice but something is in their
[51:38] way and it's often just their way of
[51:40] looking at the world. They're stuck in
[51:42] some way. They're distracted in some
[51:45] way. often they're distracted by worldly
[51:47] concerns, distracted by debt, distracted
[51:49] by employment, distracted by
[51:52] relationships.
[51:57] The world is not fair. Samsara is not
[52:00] fair. It's not just,
[52:03] not precisely anyway. It's just in the
[52:06] sense that people do get their just
[52:08] desserts.
[52:09] Well, that's not even quite entirely
[52:11] true. But for the most part get their
[52:13] just reser their just desserts.
[52:16] But it's not fair in the sense that not
[52:18] everyone who should and could understand
[52:21] the Buddhist teaching is going to get to
[52:22] the Buddhist two the bodhic sata's two
[52:24] teachers perfect example could have both
[52:27] become enlightened but will not become
[52:29] enlightened. Who knows if they ever will
[52:31] be. There's no guarantee.
[52:34] I don't know, maybe there's a commentary
[52:35] that points out there is, but
[52:38] as far as I know, there's no guarantee
[52:39] that those two highly spiritual
[52:43] individuals,
[52:44] no guarantee either of them will ever
[52:46] become enlightened.
[52:55] I'm thinking about the chanting
[52:59] um and the
[53:01] the reason for for which the chanting
[53:04] exists that to to remember the most
[53:08] important um teaching of the Buddha and
[53:11] the Buddha says that how many how um how
[53:16] how little um how how few few months um
[53:22] get in touch or um have the opportunity.
[53:27] I am now listening to you. But I
[53:30] realized that some sometimes some people
[53:33] are too far away and sometimes
[53:37] some people are too close because for
[53:40] instance there are so many monks
[53:43] chanting and the chanting
[53:46] uh still reiterates that the most
[53:49] important and valuable thing is
[53:51] practicing.
[53:53] But they chant it every day and they
[53:56] still do not practice. And even if you
[54:00] are close enough, it's very difficult to
[54:04] practice as as you also said.
[54:08] >> Well, there are many good monks who do
[54:10] chanting as well. There's many practice
[54:12] of chanting is a part of Buddhist
[54:13] practice. It's considered sort of a duty
[54:16] for monks to memorize
[54:19] um
[54:23] But it's it's kind of it's just
[54:25] remarkable how close you can be and not
[54:28] get it. And sometimes it's just
[54:30] something in your way. Like um I mean we
[54:33] we're hearing now from the Burmese
[54:34] people who who are are also surprised at
[54:38] how close it was and they never saw it.
[54:42] For for us it's different. For
[54:44] foreigners it's different. For us, it's
[54:45] it's a shock that such a thing exists
[54:48] and and a feeling of of what a shame it
[54:51] was that we didn't ever hear this
[54:53] before.
[54:55] It's interesting because if I'm I'm not
[54:58] sure that any of us who if we grew up in
[55:00] a Buddhist society would have been in a
[55:01] better position than them.
[55:05] It's sort of how you how it's presented
[55:07] to you. And this is I think a big
[55:10] problem is again how the monks and
[55:12] teachers present it because they grew up
[55:18] not not having any practical instruction
[55:20] and and it's a it's a domino effect. The
[55:25] teachers don't the people presenting the
[55:27] teaching
[55:29] present it properly often but not in a
[55:33] way that inspires you to practice. What
[55:35] stands out with the Mahasi Sai's
[55:36] teaching you'll notice is that you can't
[55:39] get through any of his teachings
[55:41] being content with information. He'll
[55:43] never let you. Even his most dry and and
[55:47] theoretical text are constantly
[55:50] reminding you of the reason for actually
[55:54] practicing this teaching. He's very good
[55:55] at that.
[55:57] And it's it's a sign of of a monk who
[56:00] has broken through or a person who has
[56:03] broken through
[56:05] uh made the shift in perspective from
[56:08] just trying to
[56:13] ingest things intellectually and to
[56:16] actually see them for yourself. Practice
[56:18] them for yourself.
[56:45] Then the definition of the truth of
[56:49] suffering
[56:50] must be regarded as instructions to make
[56:54] an effort to understand it
[56:56] comprehensively.
[57:00] Likewise, it must be understood that
[57:04] what was taught as the origin of
[57:06] suffering was an instruction to remove
[57:09] it. And the truth of cessation
[57:14] and the truth of the path
[57:17] were instructions to develop the path in
[57:20] oneself and realize sessation. Nibbana
[57:42] When he thought he taught the four
[57:45] knowledges
[57:48] of the truth, it must be regarded as an
[57:52] exhortation to strive to attain
[57:54] knowledge with regard ard to the four
[57:57] truths.
[57:59] When he thought about the four duties,
[58:03] it was instruction to understand
[58:06] the truth of suffering by contemplating
[58:10] impermanence
[58:12] etc. This is obvious when it was
[58:16] described as the dharma that should be
[58:19] rightly and fully comprehended.
[58:22] It clearly meant that an effort should
[58:25] be made to achieve complete and perfect
[58:29] understanding of the truth of suffering.
[58:33] The truth of suffering has already been
[58:36] explained previously to consist of birth
[58:41] etc. up to the aggregates of attachment
[58:45] which manifest when seeing, hearing etc.
[58:51] Thus it is understandable
[58:54] that it means contemplation of
[58:57] impermanence by noting every instance of
[59:01] seeing, hearing etc.
[59:13] So basically if you're not clear he's
[59:15] just saying the bulk of the suta is in
[59:20] is should be taken as instruction. I
[59:23] mean it's pretty obvious but again not
[59:26] obvious if you're just growing up
[59:28] thinking this is something to be chanted
[59:30] and maybe something to be debated or
[59:33] understood intellectually.
[59:35] But if you're coming at this from from
[59:38] the point of view of a practitioner,
[59:40] it's pretty clear that this is meant to
[59:43] be instruction. There's no ambiguity
[59:45] here.
[59:48] And you should never make the the
[59:50] mistake of thinking that this was only
[59:52] for the Buddha.
[59:54] Yes, it was. What he's discussing is his
[59:57] level. Our level will be lesser, but it
[59:59] will be absolutely the same. And there's
[1:00:01] even one point where the Buddha said the
[1:00:03] difference between him between him and
[1:00:05] his disciples is at its at its uh core
[1:00:10] merely the fact that the Buddha
[1:00:12] discovered it himself was the first to
[1:00:15] discover it like when chickens hatch out
[1:00:18] of eggs the first one to hatch. He just
[1:00:21] considered himself to be the first one
[1:00:23] to hatch. That's it. That's the only
[1:00:25] salient
[1:00:27] pertinent important difference is that
[1:00:30] he hatched first.
[1:00:34] At its core, all the other arants
[1:00:38] hatch just the same.
[1:00:47] But uh so this is talking about first
[1:00:49] the when he when he explained each of
[1:00:51] the four noble truths it wasn't just an
[1:00:54] intellectual explanation. This is
[1:00:55] important especially of course the
[1:00:57] mahasi is dealing with a lot of
[1:00:58] intellectual Buddhists in in in culture.
[1:01:02] Our group of course is a lot more
[1:01:04] practical because that's why we come
[1:01:06] together. But when you're dealing with a
[1:01:07] Buddhist community
[1:01:09] you have all types and many of the
[1:01:11] people are just going to be at best
[1:01:14] intellectual Buddhists.
[1:01:17] And so again and again he has to impress
[1:01:20] this upon people that this is this is
[1:01:22] what a good teacher does I think
[1:01:25] press upon that this is something to be
[1:01:27] practiced.
[1:01:28] So when the Buddha in this suta first he
[1:01:30] talks about the four noble truths that's
[1:01:32] meant to be
[1:01:34] that we should uh
[1:01:37] strive to grapple with these four
[1:01:39] truths. when he talked about the three
[1:01:42] parts of each of the four noble truths.
[1:01:43] So that's meant as he says be
[1:01:45] understanding uh undertaking the duty
[1:01:49] and
[1:01:50] undertaking it to the point where we
[1:01:52] reach the knowledge that we've done what
[1:01:54] needs to be done.
[1:02:11] The truth of the path to de to be
[1:02:14] developed means development by noting
[1:02:17] each phenomenon of seeing, hearing etc.
[1:02:22] Similarly, the truth of the origin
[1:02:26] should be eliminated means that craving
[1:02:29] should be eradicated by contemplating
[1:02:32] the truth of suffering. The truth of
[1:02:36] sensation should be realized
[1:02:39] means that after fully understanding the
[1:02:42] truth of suffering through contemplation
[1:02:46] and developing the path of insight,
[1:02:49] ultimately the truth of sensation will
[1:02:52] be realized. Yes.
[1:03:13] When the Buddha told them how he came to
[1:03:16] know what should be known by developing
[1:03:20] the middle path, his audience could
[1:03:23] understand that they too would come to
[1:03:26] know what should be known by developing
[1:03:29] the middle path.
[1:03:31] It is just like a person recounting how
[1:03:35] the disease he was suffering from was
[1:03:38] cured by taking a certain effective
[1:03:41] medicine.
[1:03:44] Anyone having the same disease will
[1:03:46] realize that they could also be cured by
[1:03:49] the same medicine.
[1:04:04] The Buddha's audience at that time was
[1:04:07] made up of people who were already
[1:04:09] accomplished with with sufficient
[1:04:13] perfections.
[1:04:15] Parami
[1:04:18] to attain higher knowledge by hearing
[1:04:21] the first discourse of the Buddha.
[1:04:26] They were in a position to understand
[1:04:28] what he meant. Accordingly,
[1:04:31] it could be taken that they contemplated
[1:04:33] the truth of suffering at the moment of
[1:04:36] occurrence, developing insight knowledge
[1:04:40] in successive stages, ultimately
[1:04:43] realizing nibbana by means of the four
[1:04:47] noble paths.
[1:05:10] There is no doubt that the good people
[1:05:14] forming this audience
[1:05:16] could also By contemplating the truth of
[1:05:19] suffering,
[1:05:21] by noting the phenomenon of rising and
[1:05:25] vanishing,
[1:05:27] come to know the four truth as they
[1:05:30] should be known
[1:05:33] and realize the higher knowledge of the
[1:05:37] noble path and its fruition.
[1:05:44] Understanding the discourse in the way
[1:05:48] that I have just explained,
[1:05:51] one among the audience at the first
[1:05:54] discourse of the blessed one,
[1:05:57] the venable kana
[1:06:00] noting all the phenomena of hearing,
[1:06:04] knowing,
[1:06:06] feelings of devotion and pleasure,
[1:06:10] feeling glad, touching, seeing, etc.
[1:06:16] that appeared to him at the time of
[1:06:18] their rising
[1:06:21] developed the path of insight and
[1:06:24] realized the path of stream winning and
[1:06:27] its fruition.
[1:06:31] How he realized them will be the subject
[1:06:36] of my discourse later.
[1:06:50] Okay, we will stop our reading there
[1:06:53] since we've hit the end of the first
[1:06:55] hour.
[1:06:57] We will now give time for discussion if
[1:07:00] anyone has any more questions about the
[1:07:02] text. If not, you are free to ask
[1:07:05] questions about your meditation practice
[1:07:09] or questions related to Buddhism.
[1:07:19] >> Subitu, may I please ask Bandi a
[1:07:21] question? Um first of all Bendy I am so
[1:07:26] grateful to you for taking the first
[1:07:28] group study of this one because
[1:07:31] my big chunk of my younger I recited
[1:07:34] this t the master this this suta but I
[1:07:39] did not understand anything as sometimes
[1:07:41] I even got everything from the beginning
[1:07:43] to end I could recite by heart but I did
[1:07:46] not understand for that first of all
[1:07:49] thank you so much for it. Uh so the
[1:07:52] second one that I would like to ask a
[1:07:54] question is I guess I'm getting asking
[1:07:56] for reassurance.
[1:07:58] So the craving tenna is the the root
[1:08:03] cause of rebirth. So as we meditate
[1:08:07] every time we take note. So we are
[1:08:10] taking not necessarily all the time but
[1:08:14] if we taking note of seeing is seeing
[1:08:17] liking is liking. So that means we are
[1:08:19] taking a break from
[1:08:23] developing craving. Is is my
[1:08:25] understanding correct Bandandy? Because
[1:08:28] even if we sit and then if we want to
[1:08:30] move a little bit and then the desire of
[1:08:34] liking you know it's so tired and then
[1:08:37] you want to move the mind says you want
[1:08:39] to move you don't wanting wanting and
[1:08:42] you move and then you you you you like
[1:08:45] the feeling of stretching up your bag or
[1:08:48] you know something like this. So, so my
[1:08:50] question is is are we taking bits by
[1:08:52] bits of breaking breaking uh taking
[1:08:55] breaks from craving and then accumulate
[1:08:58] those moments? Thank you, Bendy.
[1:09:03] >> I think no based on the way you're
[1:09:06] you're phrasing it. You've got the right
[1:09:08] words. Taking a break is correct. But
[1:09:11] let's let's remember Buddhism is not is
[1:09:15] not simple. The four noble truths are
[1:09:18] deceptively simple
[1:09:20] in at least one way. And you can see
[1:09:23] that if you study bata samada,
[1:09:28] it's a good way to see the the deceptive
[1:09:31] simplicity of the four noble truths.
[1:09:33] They can deceive you into thinking that
[1:09:37] craving is the problem.
[1:09:39] Right? And you say, "Well, wait a
[1:09:42] second. And are you contradicting the
[1:09:43] Buddha's words saying that craving isn't
[1:09:45] the problem?
[1:09:49] Craving isn't the problem.
[1:09:51] That isn't the root problem. It
[1:09:53] certainly isn't what we're trying to
[1:09:56] address.
[1:09:58] It's kind of why we say
[1:10:01] you don't worry about the second noble
[1:10:03] truth. You focus on the first noble
[1:10:05] truth.
[1:10:07] Because the way out of suffering is not
[1:10:09] addressing craving. It's not.
[1:10:14] I mean, you could say indirectly it is,
[1:10:18] but the full
[1:10:21] truth is
[1:10:25] the way out of suffering is to see that
[1:10:27] it's not worth craving. And there's a
[1:10:29] distinction there. To see that it's not
[1:10:32] worth craving is not addressing craving.
[1:10:34] It's addressing ignorance.
[1:10:37] It's addressing delusion.
[1:10:40] So practically this is the the theory
[1:10:43] practically how it goes is through
[1:10:46] mindfulness yes you take a break from
[1:10:48] craving you also take a break from anger
[1:10:51] more importantly I guess you take a
[1:10:53] break from delusion
[1:10:56] but the thing is that craving
[1:10:58] and anger
[1:11:00] are both associated with delusion what
[1:11:03] that means is when they when they exist
[1:11:07] they cloud the mind.
[1:11:10] You can't see clearly with greed or
[1:11:12] anger in the mind.
[1:11:14] So when you take a break from those,
[1:11:16] when you use mindfulness to make a
[1:11:18] break, you gain the clarity and the
[1:11:21] objectivity that allows you to see
[1:11:23] clearly.
[1:11:25] And what you're addressing with that
[1:11:27] clarity is ignorance. You're addressing
[1:11:29] wrong view. You're addressing delusion.
[1:11:32] The delusion that thinks, hey, this is
[1:11:34] worth clinging to.
[1:11:38] And it's that which
[1:11:41] eventually becomes a
[1:11:47] a a certainty in the mind
[1:11:50] and it's kind of kind of like an
[1:11:52] epiphany but it's not it's not an
[1:11:54] epiphany in the sense that suddenly you
[1:11:56] think of something.
[1:11:58] It it comes to a point where it's just
[1:12:00] like finally there's the last straw
[1:12:06] where you or or where it finally coles
[1:12:10] into something a real
[1:12:13] visceral appreciation. Nothing is worth
[1:12:16] clinging to. And that's when the mind
[1:12:19] lets go of clinging. That's when there's
[1:12:22] the sessation. That's when there's
[1:12:24] nibbana. So probably the answer you're
[1:12:27] looking for is that no it's not in the
[1:12:29] moments of noting that we cut off
[1:12:31] craving. We only cut it off at the last
[1:12:33] moment before nibbana or at the moment
[1:12:36] of attaining taking nibbana as an
[1:12:38] object. That's when the real cutting off
[1:12:41] comes.
[1:12:43] Otherwise, it's like um the image the
[1:12:46] Buddha gave of a person who is thirsty
[1:12:49] and they go and they uh they they bend
[1:12:53] down in this forest pool to try and get
[1:12:56] the water, but it's covered over in scum
[1:12:58] and slime and weeds and so on. So, they
[1:13:00] part the weeds and then they can drink
[1:13:03] from the water. And of course when they
[1:13:05] remove their hands the weeds and the
[1:13:07] scum and everything all come back and so
[1:13:08] they can't drink anymore. So if you stop
[1:13:11] meditating
[1:13:12] all the bad things still have the
[1:13:15] potential to come back. I mean there's
[1:13:17] other factors as well. Concentration
[1:13:19] keeps them aside for some time. The
[1:13:22] change in habit and behavior makes them
[1:13:24] less likely to come in the immediate
[1:13:26] future. Someone who meditates not just
[1:13:29] the insight but the concentration and
[1:13:32] the habit
[1:13:34] um does
[1:13:36] for some time reduce their
[1:13:41] uh potential
[1:13:42] or proclivity towards craving.
[1:13:46] But that's not the cutting off. Cutting
[1:13:49] off comes only at the moment of nibbana.
[1:13:53] Otherwise it can still al all all
[1:13:55] eventually come back even with even with
[1:13:59] worldly mundane wisdom even with with
[1:14:02] basic appreciation of hey nothing is
[1:14:05] worth clinging to I see that through my
[1:14:07] practice if you don't see it clear
[1:14:09] enough to attain nibbana you haven't
[1:14:11] seen it clear enough
[1:14:15] cut off craving
[1:14:23] Thank you, Bundy. I think I'm clear now.
[1:14:26] I think this question may come back over
[1:14:28] and over again. So, anyway, thank you so
[1:14:30] much,
[1:14:40] Ponte. I wanted to make a comment. It's
[1:14:42] not a question. I really like the
[1:14:45] paragraph where he said, "Oh, house
[1:14:47] builder, never again will you build this
[1:14:50] house." I thought it was written very
[1:14:53] beautifully [clears throat]
[1:14:54] almost poetic and it resonated very
[1:14:58] deeply. It it was a good analogy.
[1:15:02] It's a very famous verse as I said and
[1:15:04] it is poetry. It's from the dharmapad
[1:15:08] verses 153 and 154.
[1:15:13] We chant it here. They have it in the
[1:15:14] chanting book at this monastery. It's a
[1:15:16] common one in Sri Lanka I guess.
[1:15:41] I have to look it up again.
[1:15:54] Right.
[1:15:58] Born
[1:16:01] with suffering again and
[1:17:23] Okay, we will now move into our Q&A
[1:17:26] segment
[1:17:28] and I would like to present venerable
[1:17:30] Utadama with our first question that we
[1:17:33] have on the spreadsheet.
[1:17:37] The question is,
[1:17:40] I meditate late at night. During sitting
[1:17:44] meditation, when I feel sleepy, should I
[1:17:48] start doing walking meditation right
[1:17:49] away or do I let the clock run out for
[1:17:53] my sitting session first before
[1:17:54] switching
[1:17:56] or should I always do walking meditation
[1:17:59] first before sitting?
[1:18:03] You should always do walking meditation
[1:18:06] first before sitting.
[1:18:11] We never do walking after sitting. And
[1:18:13] it's a good reason. I mean, this is a
[1:18:15] good example. Walking will help
[1:18:18] enervate
[1:18:20] energize the body, energize the brain.
[1:18:25] Um, but during sitting, even after
[1:18:27] you've done walking, if you feel tired,
[1:18:28] it still happens.
[1:18:31] The um
[1:18:35] first answer, the the the go-to answer
[1:18:38] is to do standing meditation.
[1:18:43] Not walking, but standing. And you can
[1:18:45] do standing meditation as though we're
[1:18:46] sitting meditation. So you can still
[1:18:48] note the stomach rising, falling.
[1:19:01] Uh at worst, if you need to lie down,
[1:19:04] you feel like you can't tolerate it,
[1:19:07] then just do lying meditation. Lying
[1:19:10] meditation is the worst when you're
[1:19:11] tired. It's the least recommended for
[1:19:14] someone who's tired obviously. But if
[1:19:18] you are going to lie down, if you can't
[1:19:20] stop yourself from lying down, best
[1:19:22] thing you can do is not trying to go to
[1:19:24] sleep, trying to be mindful.
[1:20:04] once. Here is the next question.
[1:20:08] Unable to afford insurance or health
[1:20:11] care. If I went to the hospital, I would
[1:20:15] be given a bill. Does that mean I should
[1:20:18] not go to the hospital when I become
[1:20:20] sick? because I'd be taking what isn't
[1:20:23] given.
[1:20:48] It's problematic.
[1:20:50] It's not stealing. No, it's not
[1:20:52] stealing.
[1:20:56] But uh if you don't pay for services
[1:20:58] rendered,
[1:21:01] you are
[1:21:06] causing stress and suffering.
[1:21:10] You're being a burden on others.
[1:21:15] You are causing problems for people
[1:21:17] trying to make a living. Obviously with
[1:21:19] with healthcare it's
[1:21:22] depending on the country where you are
[1:21:24] it's complicated
[1:21:27] but at its root you're kind of taking
[1:21:29] advantage of people who expect you to
[1:21:32] pay them for their services.
[1:21:37] I would say it's complicated.
[1:21:40] It can be very unethical.
[1:21:44] Depends on the situation. And it can be
[1:21:46] perfectly ethical
[1:21:48] depending on the situation.
[1:21:53] I mean, you could argue that a
[1:21:55] government or a country has a duty to
[1:21:58] care for its citizens
[1:22:01] and it's unethical. I mean, there's no I
[1:22:04] think there's no debate in my mind as to
[1:22:07] how unethical it is to not take care for
[1:22:09] a government to not take care of its
[1:22:11] people.
[1:22:14] I think a strong argument can be made
[1:22:16] for
[1:22:18] universal healthcare to be a a duty of
[1:22:21] government, duty of a civilization,
[1:22:25] duty of any kind of society.
[1:22:30] People shouldn't have to pay to be
[1:22:32] healthy.
[1:22:42] So take from that what you will. It's a
[1:22:46] difficult situation,
[1:22:49] but don't worry about it breaking the
[1:22:51] five precepts. It's just one of the
[1:22:52] complications of life. Try and be
[1:22:55] mindful and considerate and reasonable
[1:22:58] and figure out what is reasonable in any
[1:23:00] given situation.
[1:23:04] You're not stealing.
[1:23:46] Here
[1:23:56] is the next question that we have.
[1:24:01] What is the karmic result of neutering
[1:24:04] our pets like cats, dogs or stray
[1:24:07] animals? What kind of action is
[1:24:10] neutering without their consent? Is it
[1:24:12] mixed karma both wholesome and unh
[1:24:15] wholesome?
[1:24:19] >> Yeah. Um well first karma is not the
[1:24:23] actions that we do. Karma is the mind
[1:24:25] states. Keep that in mind when you ask
[1:24:28] about
[1:24:30] you got I mean you got a good point that
[1:24:32] it is mixed but everything is mixed.
[1:24:34] Even killing a person is mixed. It's not
[1:24:37] entirely unh wholesome.
[1:24:40] just of course overwhelmingly unh
[1:24:41] wholesome. But there are moments
[1:24:44] that are at the very least uh
[1:24:47] indeterminant or neither wholesome nor
[1:24:49] unh wholesome.
[1:24:52] But as with all things, when you do a
[1:24:54] good deed, if you're if you give a gift
[1:24:56] to charity, it doesn't mean that every
[1:24:58] every moment is going to be a wholesome
[1:25:00] moment. There can be unh wholesomeness.
[1:25:01] Even just worrying about what you're
[1:25:02] giving, wondering about whether the
[1:25:05] person is going to use it for the right
[1:25:06] reason, that sort of thing. lots of unh
[1:25:09] wholesomeness has an opportunity to
[1:25:11] arise.
[1:25:15] But so so but that's not really the
[1:25:17] thrust of your question is I mean the
[1:25:20] best way to put it is what are the
[1:25:21] predominant mind state but it's
[1:25:23] important to phrase it like that because
[1:25:25] it's the mind states that are important
[1:25:27] and with neuting your pet I would say
[1:25:31] the most problematic mind state karmic
[1:25:34] mind state associated with it is the
[1:25:36] control and as you say the doing without
[1:25:39] consent you're exerting your your
[1:25:43] authority
[1:25:45] over living beings.
[1:25:51] You could
[1:25:53] say I wouldn't say there's much
[1:25:54] wholesome involved with it people. So,
[1:25:57] so yes, I guess this is to the point is
[1:25:59] that no, I don't think it's
[1:26:03] reasonable or or significantly mixed
[1:26:05] because there's not much wholesome about
[1:26:07] the reasons why you neuter your your cat
[1:26:10] or your dog. not from a Buddhist
[1:26:12] perspective. Now, there's good reasons
[1:26:15] from a societal perspective. And so, you
[1:26:18] at at the best you could say that it is
[1:26:21] reasonable
[1:26:23] and lo, you know, it's the right thing
[1:26:27] to do for various reasons, but there's
[1:26:29] not much ethical or wholesome about it.
[1:26:32] You're not giving a gift.
[1:26:35] You're not um bringing someone closer to
[1:26:38] wisdom.
[1:26:43] There's a story of a monk who was so
[1:26:48] so overcome by craving
[1:26:51] that he performed an operation on
[1:26:54] himself.
[1:26:57] And the Buddha said he'd broken a rule
[1:26:59] and said he cut off one thing when he
[1:27:01] should have cut off something else.
[1:27:03] Sorry, I don't know if that's too crude.
[1:27:05] It's it's a little bit crude for our
[1:27:07] open audience. I apologize but uh I
[1:27:10] won't go into detail with that into
[1:27:13] detail with that but um
[1:27:16] the the point I'm thinking what made me
[1:27:18] think of that is that you're not you're
[1:27:20] not by any means removing the craving or
[1:27:23] the potential for desire from the
[1:27:26] animals
[1:27:28] and more importantly you're not helping
[1:27:30] them in any way with delusion. If
[1:27:31] anything, you are preventing them from
[1:27:36] having the experiences of
[1:27:41] well, the potential experiences. I I
[1:27:43] don't know. I guess it's complicated at
[1:27:44] that point whether they're going to have
[1:27:46] any good experiences or bad experiences
[1:27:48] as a result,
[1:27:50] but um yeah, there's not much not much
[1:27:53] wholesome involved.
[1:27:56] I I think the the more important point
[1:27:58] that this brings up that's often
[1:28:01] overlooked is that pets are wrong.
[1:28:05] Having pets,
[1:28:07] not not on an individual level. If
[1:28:09] someone has a pet, it doesn't mean that
[1:28:11] they've done a wrong thing, but as an
[1:28:13] idea,
[1:28:14] right? It's not the nurturing and the
[1:28:16] spaying that is right or wrong. It's
[1:28:19] having pets in the first place is
[1:28:24] I I think it's just impossibly
[1:28:26] problematic
[1:28:29] because when they get old, we just kill
[1:28:31] them. They're like this uh they're like
[1:28:34] a
[1:28:36] some kind of android butler that we have
[1:28:40] now. When it goes out of commission, you
[1:28:41] just turn it off. It's like a commodity.
[1:28:46] I read somewhere these service dogs are
[1:28:49] military dogs are considered tools.
[1:28:54] They're they're classified as tools by
[1:28:56] the soldiers.
[1:28:59] Someone didn't say like that. They said
[1:29:01] that's what they are. The dog is a tool.
[1:29:04] And it's kind I mean it's not the same
[1:29:06] mindset, but it's the same it's along
[1:29:07] the same lines. A pet. It's not a
[1:29:11] sentient being. You just turn it off
[1:29:12] when you don't when it gets too old.
[1:29:15] That's not quite fair because people are
[1:29:18] in anguish when they have to quote
[1:29:20] unquote put down their animals. But the
[1:29:22] fact remains is that you kill it.
[1:29:25] You kill it and you have the thought
[1:29:27] that you're doing it a favor by killing
[1:29:29] it.
[1:29:31] You think have the thought that it's
[1:29:32] necessary to kill it to help it avoid
[1:29:34] suffering. None of which is really true.
[1:29:41] Animals are too problematic. Humans are
[1:29:44] problematic enough. I wouldn't want to
[1:29:46] have too close interaction with most
[1:29:48] humans.
[1:29:50] Couldn't imagine having close
[1:29:53] relationship with an animal.
[1:29:56] But again, it's like romantic
[1:29:57] relationships. We have romantic
[1:29:59] relationships not because they're
[1:30:00] spiritually enlightening. That's not our
[1:30:03] reason for having a romantic
[1:30:05] relationship. Pets are the same. We
[1:30:07] don't have a pet because it enlightens
[1:30:09] us. We have a pet for comfort, for joy,
[1:30:13] for pleasure.
[1:30:15] It's a sensual indulgence for the most
[1:30:17] part.
[1:30:18] And they're so good at because we've
[1:30:21] bred cats and dogs to such a level.
[1:30:23] Anyway, I'm getting off on the tangent,
[1:30:25] but we bred them to such a level that
[1:30:28] they're incredibly attractive
[1:30:31] to human beings, just how selective
[1:30:34] breeding works.
[1:30:37] So my point is that
[1:30:42] if it's necessary to spay or neuter, I
[1:30:45] mean, you don't think you're
[1:30:47] committing some kind of break breach of
[1:30:49] the five precepts, for example,
[1:30:52] but it's problematic. And I would say
[1:30:54] it's not great. And I would say it's an
[1:30:57] example of why we shouldn't have pets in
[1:31:00] the first place from a Buddhist
[1:31:02] perspective.
[1:31:04] I'm always reminded of when someone
[1:31:06] brought a a bird
[1:31:10] with a broken wing to my teacher because
[1:31:13] they really wanted to see what he had to
[1:31:14] say about what do we do with with with
[1:31:16] wild animals.
[1:31:18] And his reaction was was
[1:31:22] basically
[1:31:24] just
[1:31:26] that it's not something that we can fix.
[1:31:29] You can't fix a bird. Sure, you can heal
[1:31:32] help heal its wing. But
[1:31:36] on a deepest level,
[1:31:39] it's just not it's it's outside of the
[1:31:42] realm of what we can
[1:31:46] address. Know the Buddha didn't even try
[1:31:48] to address all humans,
[1:31:51] even humans.
[1:31:53] He wasn't trying to fix or heal them.
[1:31:59] We have to consider that what's most
[1:32:02] important
[1:32:03] is spiritual development
[1:32:07] and of that most important is our own
[1:32:09] spiritual development
[1:32:12] and we should never sacrifice our own
[1:32:15] spiritual development for the spiritual
[1:32:16] development of another. So when
[1:32:21] when it comes when the time comes to
[1:32:24] help others,
[1:32:26] there should always be a calculus
[1:32:31] where we tabulate whether this is going
[1:32:34] to
[1:32:36] uh be a detriment to my own spiritual
[1:32:39] progress. And having having pets
[1:32:42] absolutely is
[1:32:45] no question.
[1:32:47] It's a distraction. Having children is
[1:32:50] obviously,
[1:32:53] but um there's not much you can do for
[1:32:56] most people, let alone most animals.
[1:33:00] But I think that's the only way you can
[1:33:02] ultimately resolve this because there's
[1:33:04] no good answer. There's no good answer
[1:33:08] to spaying and neutering pets.
[1:33:11] You you're put you've put yourself in an
[1:33:13] awkward position
[1:33:16] where you have to restrict the freedom
[1:33:18] of a another living being. You have to
[1:33:21] control. You have to train.
[1:33:27] You have to manipulate. There's a lot of
[1:33:30] unh wholesomeness potentially.
[1:33:33] Getting angry at your pets, that sort of
[1:33:35] thing.
[1:34:32] here's the next question. Bante,
[1:34:36] I've been happily practicing Buddhism
[1:34:39] for 9 years and have a genuine
[1:34:42] intellectual understanding and deep
[1:34:44] belief of the teachings. However, in
[1:34:48] moments of deep craving, I forget what
[1:34:51] can I do?
[1:34:57] It's a long process. Craving is not
[1:34:59] something you do away with at the
[1:35:00] beginning of the practice. It's I mean,
[1:35:03] the Buddha singled it out as the cause
[1:35:05] of suffering. It's the it's the big one.
[1:35:14] So, the the again We do not try to free
[1:35:19] ourselves from craving.
[1:35:22] We try to free ourselves from ignorance.
[1:35:26] And you're already kind of doing that or
[1:35:28] you're you're having experiences that at
[1:35:31] least open the door to allow you to do
[1:35:33] that. And this is the experience of
[1:35:34] nonself or impermanence as well. Also
[1:35:38] suffering all three really. But the
[1:35:39] salient one is is nonself that you can't
[1:35:43] control. I understand the teachings. I
[1:35:46] know it's the right thing to do. I
[1:35:48] can't.
[1:35:50] And that's where wisdom lies. It's it's
[1:35:52] counterintuitive because you think,
[1:35:54] well, but I'm trying to get rid of this,
[1:35:56] aren't I? Why would I uh be interested
[1:36:01] in the fact that I can't get rid of
[1:36:02] this? Right?
[1:36:05] And the answer is because seeing
[1:36:08] nonself, seeing that you're not in
[1:36:09] control
[1:36:11] also means seeing that it's not actually
[1:36:13] you that is enjoying the things. There's
[1:36:16] no you involved. There's and the
[1:36:17] enjoyment is not meaningful in any way.
[1:36:19] It's not significant. It's not good.
[1:36:24] Seeing this is seeing through the
[1:36:27] delusion that causes us to crave, causes
[1:36:31] us to cling to things, causes us to be
[1:36:34] partial, and causes us to suffer.
[1:36:38] So, it's important to make this shift as
[1:36:41] a practitioner because it's so immediate
[1:36:45] of us to think that if craving is the
[1:36:48] problem, we should try to eradicate it.
[1:36:49] That's just how we work. We're problem
[1:36:51] solvers. It's a problem. Let's solve it.
[1:36:53] Mindfulness is not about solving
[1:36:55] problems. It's about understanding
[1:36:57] experiences.
[1:36:59] It's a different perspective
[1:37:01] and it's fundamental to to the change
[1:37:06] that comes about through the practice of
[1:37:08] Buddhism.
[1:37:09] The change that has to come about is
[1:37:12] your change from trying to fix things
[1:37:13] which is still craving. So for example,
[1:37:16] you crave to be free from craving. It
[1:37:19] really is another kind of craving.
[1:37:23] When we crave to fix our problems, when
[1:37:25] we when we want to fix a problem, it's
[1:37:27] just more craving. It's not the way out
[1:37:30] of suffering, which is why it's
[1:37:32] important to remind us ourselves
[1:37:36] that craving is not what we're trying to
[1:37:38] address. We're trying to address
[1:37:40] ignorance. It helps understand
[1:37:42] mindfulness better and appreciate that
[1:37:45] we're not trying to fix anything. We're
[1:37:47] trying to understand things.
[1:37:49] Understanding is enough.
[1:37:51] The truth will set you free.
[1:37:54] So, I don't know if you've read our
[1:37:56] booklet. I don't know if you're
[1:37:58] practicing in our tradition.
[1:38:03] We have an at home meditation course
[1:38:05] that might help. We have intensive
[1:38:07] meditation courses that if you're able
[1:38:08] to undertake them, surely must help.
[1:38:13] I consider to look into what we have to
[1:38:16] offer.
[1:38:18] You are practicing in this tradition. I
[1:38:20] think um I think you'd have more of a
[1:38:23] intellectual understanding
[1:38:26] but maybe I mean how you're expressing
[1:38:27] it is a genuine deep belief so that's
[1:38:30] something but even a sautana still has
[1:38:33] craving
[1:38:35] uh we saka one of the Buddhist chief lay
[1:38:38] disciples became a sautana when she was
[1:38:41] a child
[1:38:44] means she had already seen nibbana she
[1:38:46] was already an area
[1:38:49] and then She went on to have like 20
[1:38:51] children
[1:38:56] supposedly.
[1:38:57] Maybe it's a bit of an exaggeration that
[1:38:59] she had 20 children, but she had
[1:39:02] children. It sounds like
[1:39:06] and she cried. One of her grand she had
[1:39:08] grandchildren. One of her grandchildren
[1:39:10] died and she cried. She was so
[1:39:20] So it's a gradual process.
[1:39:51] Here's the next question.
[1:39:54] Is it appropriate to be amused by
[1:39:58] flatulence during meditation?
[1:40:05] Is that a serious question?
[1:40:09] That's not a terrible question, but I
[1:40:10] wonder if the person is actually
[1:40:11] serious.
[1:40:17] I mean, if you know anything about
[1:40:18] Buddhism, it's not really a serious
[1:40:20] question.
[1:40:24] I think study Buddhism a little bit more
[1:40:26] if if you're seriously asking it.
[1:40:35] It's not the problem isn't the
[1:40:36] flatulence. Flagulence is a proper
[1:40:39] object of discussion.
[1:40:42] It's appropriate to note smelling,
[1:40:44] smelling if you smell it, and hearing if
[1:40:46] you hear it. It's appropriate to note
[1:40:49] liking if you like it or happy if you're
[1:40:51] happy about it.
[1:40:53] Laughing if you're laughing about it.
[1:40:55] It's appropriate to be mindful.
[1:40:57] Flatulence, defecation, urination, all
[1:41:00] of these things are appropriate objects
[1:41:02] of mindfulness.
[1:41:05] But this doesn't sound like a serious
[1:41:07] question.
[1:41:10] Why would you ask a Buddhist if it's
[1:41:11] appropriate to be amused? I guess some
[1:41:13] people might think that there's
[1:41:15] something about being amused, that being
[1:41:18] amused is somehow valuable. I mean,
[1:41:20] don't think there's any anyone who would
[1:41:22] think that the answer to this question
[1:41:24] is yes.
[1:41:58] Bante, as of now, we've actually asked
[1:42:01] all the questions that have been asked.
[1:42:04] I know it's a bit early, but uh yeah,
[1:42:07] there are no more questions.
[1:42:10] >> Well, we can do a little bit of quiet
[1:42:12] time.
[1:42:15] Let's just sit quietly for a bit. Maybe
[1:42:17] there are more questions.
[1:42:19] We have so many people, you know. That's
[1:42:22] good. This is a good thing. Many people
[1:42:24] with few questions is a good sign. It's
[1:42:27] a sign that people have enough
[1:42:30] understanding
[1:42:31] of their own that they don't urgently
[1:42:34] need to ask questions.
[1:42:36] When we get into questions about whether
[1:42:38] Buddhists should be amused by this or
[1:42:39] that,
[1:42:43] it's a sign that some most of the
[1:42:44] serious questions, important questions
[1:42:49] have been asked and answered
[1:42:54] that people are okay with
[1:42:57] sitting quietly or just listening.
[1:43:03] But on that question, we were um asking
[1:43:07] ourselves if that was in in which tier
[1:43:11] to place it. But I thought from the
[1:43:15] perspective that maybe the person who
[1:43:17] asked it, it uh thought that it might be
[1:43:21] something very wrong to get amused by a
[1:43:25] bodily function or from that
[1:43:27] perspective.
[1:43:35] I I don't I don't really I mean maybe
[1:43:36] I'm missing something, but if you're
[1:43:39] asking whether a Buddhist should be
[1:43:41] amused by flatulence,
[1:43:45] I I don't know anyone could think yes,
[1:43:47] the Buddha taught that we should be
[1:43:49] amused by flatulence. I mean, it's just
[1:43:52] I don't understand how that could
[1:43:54] possibly be true. I mean, it's such an
[1:43:56] obvious answer that no, there's no sense
[1:44:00] that that's
[1:44:02] appropriate.
[1:44:04] If you're asking whether it's a big bad
[1:44:06] karma if that happens
[1:44:09] it
[1:44:11] it's still a pretty simple answer
[1:44:13] because it's just about amusement is
[1:44:15] amuse is it doesn't matter about
[1:44:17] specifically flatulence which makes me
[1:44:20] think it wasn't a serious question but
[1:44:23] should Buddhists be amused
[1:44:25] I don't think there's not room for being
[1:44:27] amused I mean that's more interesting
[1:44:29] question
[1:44:30] whether amusement is valid in Buddhism
[1:44:35] You could argue that the Buddha was
[1:44:37] amused. That's tricky because it's not
[1:44:40] the best word to use, but the Buddha
[1:44:42] certainly was happy and he smiled for
[1:44:46] very strange reasons. He smiled for
[1:44:49] things that most people wouldn't smile
[1:44:50] at, but he smiled at the absurdity of
[1:44:53] samsara and he smiled at the the the
[1:44:56] extremes that of things that can happen
[1:44:59] in samsara. It's just remarkable.
[1:45:02] he would smile at remarkable things.
[1:45:07] So I don't think amusement is the worst
[1:45:09] thing.
[1:45:10] But I think I think most people are
[1:45:12] amused
[1:45:14] uh in an unh wholesome sense. Most most
[1:45:18] amusement is unh wholesome liking just
[1:45:20] simply because there's liking involved
[1:45:22] and liking is at its root uh called unh
[1:45:26] wholesome or unskillful.
[1:45:32] Sorry, I kind of interrupted you. You
[1:45:33] were trying to explain something.
[1:45:37] >> Yeah, I I saw it as a trying to
[1:45:41] practice. It's some sometimes hard to
[1:45:45] find for instance the good noting or the
[1:45:51] or you oversee when to note or to do
[1:45:54] what do I use noting amused or something
[1:45:58] else and you went to into it in detail
[1:46:01] about that. Um and yeah it is in the end
[1:46:07] the noting the reaction it is simple but
[1:46:13] yeah
[1:46:14] >> I don't I'm not trying to blame you. I I
[1:46:16] don't there's no criticism. Don't don't
[1:46:18] misunderstand that I'm criticizing you
[1:46:20] guys for posting it. But I think I I I'm
[1:46:23] I'm inclined to criticize the person for
[1:46:26] asking it. I don't think it was serious.
[1:46:28] I could be wrong.
[1:46:31] But at the very least, I think it was
[1:46:33] idle and the person asking it probably
[1:46:35] doesn't didn't spend enough time trying
[1:46:38] to understand Buddhism
[1:46:40] or else they willfully misunderstood
[1:46:43] Buddhism
[1:46:44] before asking it. It doesn't seem a good
[1:46:48] like a good faith question. That that's
[1:46:50] my thought and I'm happy to be shown to
[1:46:53] be wrong.
[1:46:56] could be that the person is worried and
[1:46:58] is approaching the they're asking that
[1:47:01] is it appropriate and maybe they're
[1:47:03] approaching the practice with too much
[1:47:07] reverence.
[1:47:09] >> I think you're overthinking it. I don't
[1:47:11] I don't believe that. I don't think
[1:47:14] anyone asked this question out of out of
[1:47:17] sincere
[1:47:19] interest. It's the kind of question I
[1:47:21] would have asked when I was a teenager
[1:47:23] cuz I was irreverented
[1:47:30] things like that.
[1:47:37] Maybe it was poorly worded. That's also
[1:47:39] possible.
[1:47:40] I think it could have been worded better
[1:47:42] if it was worded like,
[1:47:46] "What should I do if this happens?
[1:47:54] Is it very bad karma?
[1:47:56] That would be a better way of phrasing
[1:47:58] it. Is it bad? How bad is it?
[1:48:05] Maybe I'm I'm reading too much into the
[1:48:07] word appropriate, but you say is it is
[1:48:10] it okay?
[1:48:13] That would make that would I would
[1:48:14] understand that better. You're worried
[1:48:16] as you say worried.
[1:48:18] It's just the wording that I'm
[1:48:20] misunderstanding.
[1:48:33] But I have a question. Um if somebody
[1:48:37] wants to
[1:48:39] practice um
[1:48:43] to to practice uh our technique for
[1:48:46] instance but they do not know too much
[1:48:50] about the Buddhism and they don't really
[1:48:53] connect the two um and they mostly want
[1:48:59] um to practices to practice that because
[1:49:03] of the benefits and they do practice and
[1:49:06] see
[1:49:07] um the benefits. Uh is that an issue or
[1:49:13] um I I I have such a such a case because
[1:49:17] I I I'm talking to people about my
[1:49:20] experience and somebody asked me for
[1:49:24] guidance. I I
[1:49:27] uh send it on the booklet and um yeah I
[1:49:32] I'm I'm asking for your guidance.
[1:49:37] >> You need Buddhism. Do they Is it okay if
[1:49:40] they're not interested in
[1:49:42] the
[1:49:44] shell of Buddhism?
[1:49:48] Yeah. The answer is absolutely. It's
[1:49:50] fine. It's the teachings that are
[1:49:52] important.
[1:50:01] And Buddha said he wasn't looking for
[1:50:03] students or converts.
[1:50:06] If someone follows his teaching, they
[1:50:08] will become free from suffering.
[1:50:11] They can keep their old teachers. They
[1:50:13] keep their old traditions.
[1:50:15] It's one of the most powerful,
[1:50:18] rhetorically powerful teachings that the
[1:50:21] Buddha ever gave. I mean it's not the
[1:50:22] most deep or found but the most powerful
[1:50:26] rhetorically speaking like as a
[1:50:29] rhetorical
[1:50:31] presentation
[1:50:33] is when he said this to these aesthetics
[1:50:37] he said some people might think I'm
[1:50:38] looking for students that's not the case
[1:50:41] keep your teachers keep your traditions
[1:50:44] what I say is if you follow my p follow
[1:50:47] my teachings you will become free from
[1:50:49] suffering
[1:50:50] that's Yeah,
[1:50:55] that's all he was interested in.
[1:51:04] >> So even if the people are practicing
[1:51:07] only for the benefits, is that okay?
[1:51:13] >> Well,
[1:51:15] yes. Why else would you do except for
[1:51:17] the benefits? accept that and why I
[1:51:20] hedge and kind of hesitate is because
[1:51:22] even for us for anyone
[1:51:25] it's not quite following the Buddhist
[1:51:27] teaching to be overly concerned with
[1:51:29] benefits. It's problematic because it's
[1:51:31] not the right mind state because
[1:51:33] benefits imply future kind of I mean I'm
[1:51:36] kind of nitpicking. It can be. If you
[1:51:39] think of benefits in the present moment
[1:51:41] that's how you should think of benefits.
[1:51:43] But it's usually not how we think of
[1:51:45] benefits. We're looking for something
[1:51:47] else.
[1:51:48] some result in the future,
[1:51:52] getting something or or or losing
[1:51:54] something, that sort of thing. And it's
[1:51:56] a good lesson for all of us to not think
[1:51:58] like that.
[1:52:00] That's hard. So So attracting someone to
[1:52:04] Buddhism, absolutely. And
[1:52:06] intellectually, it's absolutely all
[1:52:07] about the benefits. Why, of course, why
[1:52:09] would you do it if it weren't for the
[1:52:11] benefits?
[1:52:12] Just that when you actually practice,
[1:52:14] it's important to start to explain that
[1:52:16] if you really want benefits,
[1:52:18] you have to have the attitude of
[1:52:21] focusing on the present moment benefits.
[1:52:25] How it's a better way to be to be
[1:52:27] mindful. It's just better
[1:52:31] without reference to some future result.
[1:52:37] But that's part of the benefit of
[1:52:39] Buddhism is this change in perspective
[1:52:41] where you don't have to worry about the
[1:52:43] future, where you don't have to live in
[1:52:44] the future.
[1:52:47] Oh, absolutely. It's all about the
[1:52:48] benefits.
[1:52:54] Yeah, I was surprised that
[1:52:57] um it is a lady. It's not very she's not
[1:53:01] very young, but she got the result and
[1:53:04] she's interested and every week she asks
[1:53:07] details and uh it's it is surprising for
[1:53:11] me
[1:53:13] in a good way.
[1:53:17] >> Thank you, B.
[1:53:19] >> I'm often been surprised over the years
[1:53:22] by who is best at the practice. I don't
[1:53:27] think you can tell by people's sex.
[1:53:29] That's why I say people are like they
[1:53:30] have a shell and they have a core.
[1:53:33] It's more complicated but through
[1:53:36] observation you can see people have a
[1:53:38] shell and they have a core. The shell is
[1:53:40] mostly what they pick up during this
[1:53:41] life. It's culturally based. It's based
[1:53:44] on their relationships and their their
[1:53:47] conditioning in this life. But it's very
[1:53:49] superficial
[1:53:50] because what they come into life is
[1:53:52] sometimes very different. Someone can be
[1:53:55] abused or uh tortured or or
[1:53:59] put through rigorous
[1:54:02] mental stress.
[1:54:05] Two people can go through the same
[1:54:08] situation and come out completely
[1:54:09] different
[1:54:14] because there's the core as well.
[1:54:17] Don't judge a book by its cover is
[1:54:19] incredibly important in meditation
[1:54:22] practice.
[1:54:26] That is a launch pump.
[1:54:45] It's much more complicated than even
[1:54:46] that because someone might be hopeless
[1:54:49] at meditation but then some little thing
[1:54:52] triggers something and there can be
[1:54:53] train like with julapant
[1:54:57] this famous story of this monk who
[1:54:59] couldn't even memorize a single verse
[1:55:02] and he seemed hopeless but then the
[1:55:04] Buddha gave him the object and he became
[1:55:07] an arand.
[1:55:09] Now, we don't have the benefit of being
[1:55:10] the Buddha to see that deeply, but it's
[1:55:13] complicated.
[1:55:18] Don't ever give anyone up for lost,
[1:55:21] but you kind of feel hopeless because
[1:55:24] they could be lost. As far as we know,
[1:55:26] we don't know enough to tell.
[1:55:29] And just do your best.
[1:55:37] Yes.
[1:55:44] Payday, I had a question and this is
[1:55:46] with regard to alcohol. Um, and we can
[1:55:50] take it offline if you think it's
[1:55:52] inappropriate to ask this question on
[1:55:54] this forum. Um, the question that I had
[1:55:56] is,
[1:55:59] you know, I I have given up
[1:56:01] [clears throat] alcohol. I used to drink
[1:56:02] alcohol all my life until I became your
[1:56:05] student and I have given that up.
[1:56:07] >> But in my family,
[1:56:09] family members when they visit me, they
[1:56:14] bring alcohol. I don't purchase alcohol
[1:56:16] for them because they know how strict I
[1:56:19] am about not consuming alcohol. So, they
[1:56:22] bring alcohol into the home and they
[1:56:24] will consume it whenever they want in
[1:56:27] moderation.
[1:56:29] But I still wonder if you know the there
[1:56:33] is friction that's caused because I've
[1:56:35] said I will not buy the alcohol. I don't
[1:56:37] like alcohol around me and I think it's
[1:56:40] not a good um habit to h I mean it's not
[1:56:44] good to consume it and that causes
[1:56:46] friction with family members. Um and I'm
[1:56:49] just wondering I know it's a cultural
[1:56:51] thing in the US. Um consuming alcohol is
[1:56:54] like the most natural thing. uh and
[1:56:57] people are not able to build the
[1:56:59] awareness about how it is a
[1:57:01] contamination for the mind and they
[1:57:04] don't understand a lot of things. So uh
[1:57:06] it's just something that causes friction
[1:57:08] in the home and I sometimes wonder if
[1:57:11] it's not if it's better to just give up
[1:57:13] the battle and let people do what they
[1:57:15] want as long as I'm not consuming it
[1:57:18] myself.
[1:57:21] >> I don't think you can if you're mindful
[1:57:22] you can't completely give up quote
[1:57:24] unquote the battle. I mean it from your
[1:57:27] perspective as a mindful person it
[1:57:29] shouldn't be a battle obviously
[1:57:32] >> but uh the friction will the friction is
[1:57:34] completely with other people should be I
[1:57:36] mean not it practically it isn't
[1:57:39] practically you're also getting upset
[1:57:41] and that's that's normal but
[1:57:43] >> the perfect way for in mindfulness you
[1:57:46] still can't avoid friction the Buddha
[1:57:47] couldn't avoid friction is the point and
[1:57:51] didn't try to avoid friction but it
[1:57:53] wasn't his friction he said I Don't
[1:57:55] fight with the world. The world fights
[1:57:56] with me.
[1:57:58] Now, I mean, it sounds kind of zealot,
[1:58:01] like a zealot where you just are are un
[1:58:04] unbending. I mean, but you're not
[1:58:07] unbending. You're you're you're you're
[1:58:11] conc and that sort of thing, but you'll
[1:58:14] find that you can't please
[1:58:18] people who are not keeping the five
[1:58:19] precepts. And you really can't be too
[1:58:21] close to them.
[1:58:23] So you ask, should you give up the
[1:58:25] battle? Well, you should actually give
[1:58:26] up the home life. If you want to be
[1:58:29] free, you have to give up your life and
[1:58:32] save your head, put on robes, go and
[1:58:35] live in a monastery hopefully with
[1:58:37] people who are also dedicated to things
[1:58:41] that are actually beneficial because
[1:58:43] it's not it sounds so
[1:58:46] so like
[1:58:48] uh brainwashed, you know? It sounds like
[1:58:50] we're just brainwash, but
[1:58:52] >> these are the things that one should be
[1:58:57] strict and unbending about. Not
[1:59:01] I'm a Buddhist or I believe in the
[1:59:03] Buddha or I'm this religion or that
[1:59:06] religion or I follow this pract.
[1:59:09] >> Drinking alcohol is not good. There's no
[1:59:12] there's no end if obviously about that.
[1:59:14] Killing, stealing, cheating, lying
[1:59:17] >> and there there's no way around that. it
[1:59:19] will never could never be good. So
[1:59:24] you're going to be you're going to come
[1:59:26] into conflict with people who who do the
[1:59:30] thing about the fifth precept I mean
[1:59:32] that really all of them are are like
[1:59:34] this but
[1:59:36] the fifth precept is so glaringly
[1:59:38] problematic. Being around people who
[1:59:40] drink even a little bit of alcohol is
[1:59:42] unpleasant.
[1:59:43] They lose all sense of shame and and uh
[1:59:47] self
[1:59:49] um restraint
[1:59:52] and become obnoxious. Especially to
[1:59:55] people like you, people who are trying
[1:59:57] to be mindful. I've experienced it even
[2:00:00] as a monk. It's just unpleasant to be
[2:00:02] around people who are even a little bit
[2:00:04] uh under the under the influence of
[2:00:06] alcohol and they don't see it. They
[2:00:08] don't feel it. They don't realize it. It
[2:00:10] seems completely innocent.
[2:00:13] It's it's so obvious to someone who's I
[2:00:16] mean it's not something you have to even
[2:00:17] look for. It just feels unpleasant and
[2:00:20] it's unpleasant to be around them. Their
[2:00:21] whole attitude, their behavior is well
[2:00:24] unmindful.
[2:00:27] Yeah. Not not a
[2:00:29] not an easy situation. Anyway, you're
[2:00:31] trying to say something. Go ahead.
[2:00:34] >> No, thank you. This is it makes sense
[2:00:37] what you said.
[2:00:40] Thank you for
[2:00:40] >> Yeah. You just in general you have to
[2:00:43] acknowledge that whether you're mindful
[2:00:45] or unmindful life is full of friction.
[2:00:48] Obviously going to a monastery isn't
[2:00:49] going to completely remove the friction
[2:00:51] but it's the right thing to do.
[2:00:55] I mean it's it's how you because these
[2:00:58] these conflicts and this friction seems
[2:01:00] insurmountable. It seems
[2:01:03] you just there's no answer and the
[2:01:06] answer really is to leave. I mean
[2:01:08] there's there's only no answer for many
[2:01:10] of these questions is because you've put
[2:01:12] yourself you've taken as an axiom
[2:01:16] something that shouldn't be axiomatic
[2:01:19] meaning this is my family of course I
[2:01:22] have to be around them you've taken that
[2:01:23] as an axiom that's what we call an axiom
[2:01:26] you take it for granted you take it as
[2:01:28] given it's not given
[2:01:30] it sounds horrible I suppose but that's
[2:01:34] the truth I mean it's it's glaringly
[2:01:36] obvious when you ask what's so special
[2:01:38] about family
[2:01:41] in in a
[2:01:44] small sense. Obviously there's something
[2:01:47] important because well you grew up with
[2:01:49] them and you've you've been through a
[2:01:50] lot with them but that's only a very
[2:01:53] short time in samsara
[2:01:57] >> since the beginning of the universe
[2:02:00] even even the beginning of this universe
[2:02:03] this the since the big bang or whatever
[2:02:06] it was
[2:02:09] our time with our family is is
[2:02:13] you can't even speak of it nothing.
[2:02:16] And and why these people
[2:02:19] is it because we're all inclined towards
[2:02:21] the same spiritual goals? Absolutely
[2:02:23] not. It's interesting how often we are,
[2:02:26] but that's, you know, relating to karma
[2:02:27] and how you're reborn and why you're be
[2:02:29] reborn where you're reborn.
[2:02:32] But
[2:02:34] it's very loose. You're not the same
[2:02:37] person. They're not you. You're not
[2:02:40] them. Even close relatives can be very
[2:02:42] different.
[2:02:44] and have very different uh
[2:02:48] potentials.
[2:02:50] Now I mean there's usually something
[2:02:53] I've noticed with my family many of them
[2:02:55] are at least to some extent interested
[2:02:58] in what I'm doing and some of them have
[2:02:59] even taken up meditation
[2:03:01] which shouldn't be surprising. It should
[2:03:04] be the case where you being interested
[2:03:09] indicates that other people in your
[2:03:10] family because of your close association
[2:03:12] probably also are coming into this life
[2:03:15] with that sort of inclination.
[2:03:19] But that should be where you draw the
[2:03:22] line that where where you you that
[2:03:25] should be what you use as criteria for
[2:03:28] who you associate with.
[2:03:30] Mahazi Saida brought it up right
[2:03:36] the first verse or the first of the
[2:03:38] blessings in the Mahamango suta
[2:03:43] not association with fools association
[2:03:45] with wise
[2:03:49] revering those who are worthy of
[2:03:51] reverence. This is blessing of the
[2:03:54] highest sort.
[2:04:01] You can't you can't unless you go and
[2:04:03] live in a monastery, run away from home,
[2:04:05] that sort of thing. You can't avoid
[2:04:08] those things. But it's just one of those
[2:04:10] things you have to acknowledge that
[2:04:11] you're in this situation.
[2:04:14] So, you're going to ultimately have
[2:04:16] these
[2:04:18] issues to deal with. But again, I think
[2:04:20] the the the core of it is don't let it
[2:04:22] be friction for you and don't be
[2:04:24] concerned about trying to alleviate
[2:04:26] other people's friction. I I
[2:04:27] [clears throat] was thinking just today
[2:04:28] about this, how I was abused by my
[2:04:32] family. Not abused, but like scolded and
[2:04:34] and and
[2:04:36] met with abusive language. It wasn't
[2:04:38] it's not abuse in that sense, but abused
[2:04:40] in the colloquial sense. like they they
[2:04:43] scolded me and they were well yes it it
[2:04:46] is abusive ultimately but not in any
[2:04:48] terrible sense but because I wasn't who
[2:04:51] I used to be I stopped
[2:04:55] um stopped playing guitar I stopped
[2:04:58] listening to music I wasn't fun I didn't
[2:05:00] tell stories I didn't play games
[2:05:03] I wasn't even a monk but I stopped doing
[2:05:05] all these things cuz I was really
[2:05:06] determined this new thing this thing I'm
[2:05:08] I'm going to get it right I'm going to
[2:05:10] figure it out I got it wrong a lot as
[2:05:12] well. But
[2:05:14] but they still after some time were were
[2:05:18] were bringing it up about how you were
[2:05:20] really a a zombie when you came back and
[2:05:23] and how wrong it was of me the way I
[2:05:25] behaved when I came back. But looking
[2:05:27] back, it wasn't me who was wrong. It was
[2:05:31] understandable that people had
[2:05:32] expectations because of how I had
[2:05:34] changed and were unhappy. But it's all
[2:05:38] on them. If they're displeased about
[2:05:41] your change in behavior, displeased
[2:05:43] about their expectations and you not
[2:05:45] being met, it's all on them. If someone
[2:05:48] is, this is this is the problem. When
[2:05:51] we're upset, we take it to mean that
[2:05:53] someone else has done something wrong to
[2:05:55] us, which is absolutely never the case
[2:05:59] from a Buddhist perspective. You being
[2:06:01] upset is 100% 100% on you.
[2:06:06] I mean to the extent that you exist
[2:06:09] ultimately it's not even you. It's just
[2:06:12] habit but it's all
[2:06:15] >> quote unquote your habits.
[2:06:18] It's not someone else. Someone who makes
[2:06:20] you upset is not to blame for you being
[2:06:22] upset.
[2:06:24] >> Correct.
[2:06:27] >> Yeah. So
[2:06:28] >> thank you.
[2:06:29] >> It's a mistake we make. We're we're
[2:06:31] we're we're worried. Oh, people are so
[2:06:34] upset at me. must be doing something
[2:06:36] wrong. You might be doing something
[2:06:38] wrong, but them being upset is not your
[2:06:40] responsibility.
[2:06:43] And that's an important thing that
[2:06:45] people need to learn hard and it can put
[2:06:48] you in really dangerous situations where
[2:06:50] people are very angry at you. I had a
[2:06:53] monk once, this was a foreign monk who
[2:06:56] had real problems. He was he had
[2:06:58] ordained twice and he had real mental
[2:07:01] problems.
[2:07:03] Don't know how he got to ordained but he
[2:07:05] did. Uh he threatened he he was walking
[2:07:08] be it was a long story how it came to
[2:07:10] this point but he was walking behind me
[2:07:13] and I felt like uncle Mala was chasing
[2:07:15] me. I was walking and I just said to
[2:07:17] myself walking and he was behind me. He
[2:07:18] was saying I'm going to he literally
[2:07:20] this these were his words. I'm going to
[2:07:22] throw you off that wall. I don't
[2:07:25] remember what else he said but other
[2:07:26] threats of physical imminent imminent
[2:07:30] physical violence
[2:07:32] walking right left I remember walking
[2:07:35] walking and I just him following me I
[2:07:38] walked back to my room closed my door
[2:07:40] locked it and went and sat down to
[2:07:42] meditate
[2:07:45] it was quite an experience
[2:07:47] but it wasn't on me whatever I did to
[2:07:50] make him upset and there were things
[2:07:52] that I probably could have done
[2:07:53] differently
[2:07:56] But none of that
[2:07:58] none of none of that um was the cause of
[2:08:03] him being upset in the meaningful sense.
[2:08:08] You being upset is all on you. Them
[2:08:10] being upset is all on them.
[2:08:15] It's an important thing to learn.
[2:08:18] >> Thank you.
[2:08:30] Monte, we've now reached the end of our
[2:08:33] second hour. So that will conclude our
[2:08:36] session there. Just want to express my
[2:08:40] deepest gratitude for you, Bante, for
[2:08:43] guiding us and sharing such insightful
[2:08:47] wisdom with us as well as thank you to
[2:08:49] the community.
[2:08:53] I don't want to keep you all but there
[2:08:55] are a few more questions on the chat
[2:08:56] right are they are there any good ones
[2:09:01] there are some questions we can ask
[2:09:03] Pante if you do have time
[2:09:07] I have time
[2:09:16] I can just go through them here I can
[2:09:18] read through the chat say hello to
[2:09:19] everyone
[2:09:21] I can just go through them quickly.
[2:09:22] Maybe
[2:09:25] I'm going to start where I think may
[2:09:28] have left off.
[2:09:32] No, here's No, there's more here.
[2:09:35] I'm just going to go through them all.
[2:09:37] Actually,
[2:09:39] okay.
[2:09:42] I think I need a girlfriend. Well, not
[2:09:44] going to get help from me there.
[2:09:48] What happens after burn nirvana?
[2:09:54] Nothing happens after burning.
[2:10:00] There's no more step from there
[2:10:07] to understand though. It's hard. I can't
[2:10:10] explain it to you.
[2:10:12] got a long way to go to most likely you
[2:10:14] have a long way to go to get to the
[2:10:16] point where you can appreciate and
[2:10:18] that's not a dig on you. That's just
[2:10:20] that's the nature of it. It's so hard to
[2:10:23] under to appreciate, let alone
[2:10:25] understand.
[2:10:30] Not something you should be too
[2:10:31] concerned with. Focus on what's
[2:10:33] important. Suffering, the cause of
[2:10:35] suffering.
[2:10:38] There's real problems that need to be
[2:10:41] addressed.
[2:10:43] and they eventually lead you to
[2:10:45] sessation
[2:10:47] is the answer.
[2:10:50] Left my family. How do I overcome
[2:10:52] feelings of guilt?
[2:10:55] Well, guilt is unh wholesome.
[2:10:59] So, you should do it by noting. I don't
[2:11:01] know if you read our booklet on how to
[2:11:02] meditate, but ultimately it is
[2:11:05] meditation that will help you deal with
[2:11:07] feelings and guilt.
[2:11:09] Doesn't mean that you're doing the right
[2:11:10] thing. doesn't mean that what you're
[2:11:12] doing isn't wrong. You can feel guilty
[2:11:15] about things that are not wrong. You can
[2:11:18] feel guilty about things that are wrong.
[2:11:21] Doesn't mean that you shouldn't change
[2:11:22] what you're doing. Guilt can be a sign
[2:11:25] that you should change what you're
[2:11:26] doing. But the guilt itself is unh
[2:11:27] wholesome and something you have to face
[2:11:29] and address. I don't know if you've read
[2:11:31] our booklet or we have an at home
[2:11:33] meditation course that might help with
[2:11:34] that. But don't ignore the indications
[2:11:38] that you might be doing something. I'm
[2:11:40] not saying you are, but the indications
[2:11:41] that you might be doing something wrong.
[2:11:45] Like it sounds like you did something
[2:11:46] fairly extreme and you might have done
[2:11:49] the wrong thing and you'll have to
[2:11:50] learn.
[2:11:53] I'm not saying you did, but or something
[2:11:55] you'll have to consider.
[2:11:59] Other traditions equate the summit to
[2:12:02] state of Noda as a moment of nibbana.
[2:12:04] Are they the same?
[2:12:15] No, they're not the same. I mean, the
[2:12:17] difference is how they're attained.
[2:12:20] Sam is attained by repeated
[2:12:24] focus on a single object,
[2:12:27] not to the not to understand it, but to
[2:12:29] become absorbed in it.
[2:12:32] Um sessation is from repeated
[2:12:36] observation and um
[2:12:40] attention to the three characteristics
[2:12:43] and it comes about by seeing the three
[2:12:45] characteristics so clearly that the mind
[2:12:47] lets go. It's very different.
[2:12:53] How does one discern whether one is
[2:12:55] ready appropriate for monastic life?
[2:12:57] When you focus on monastic life, you're
[2:12:58] barking up the wrong tree. Anyone who
[2:13:00] asked me questions about monastic life,
[2:13:02] here's my answer. We don't discuss
[2:13:05] meditate. We don't discuss ordination
[2:13:07] with people who haven't done courses in
[2:13:09] our tradition. I'm not going to give you
[2:13:11] an answer. So if someone asks, can I
[2:13:14] ordain? Will you ordain me? Do you does
[2:13:15] your That's my answer. We don't discuss
[2:13:18] it. That's not really in relation to
[2:13:20] your question. But to your question, you
[2:13:22] shouldn't be focused on ordination,
[2:13:25] especially if you're asking questions
[2:13:27] about whether you're ready for it.
[2:13:30] You should be focused on the meditation
[2:13:31] practice
[2:13:34] and if you practice meditation it will
[2:13:36] come to you to say yes now I should
[2:13:38] ordain and you won't have to doubt
[2:13:45] what should we do when it happens or
[2:13:47] what happened
[2:13:50] oh is this the flatulence thing I'm not
[2:13:53] going there I think I've already kind of
[2:13:55] answered it
[2:13:58] I understand for myself why anger is not
[2:14:00] beneficial. I'm having difficulty
[2:14:02] explaining it to others, especially non
[2:14:04] Buddhists. Yeah. Well, it's difficult to
[2:14:06] appreciate that greed is wrong. Anger is
[2:14:08] wrong. Anger is easier.
[2:14:11] I mean, hatred.
[2:14:13] Talk about hatred. Hatred most people
[2:14:15] appreciate is wrong.
[2:14:20] I think the problem with with anger is
[2:14:22] it's also associated often with
[2:14:25] adrenaline and certain chemicals in the
[2:14:28] body, right? That that uh increase your
[2:14:32] capacity for action and can often make
[2:14:34] you feel good. But that's not the anger.
[2:14:37] You don't need anger for that. And it's
[2:14:40] not really clear that that is that
[2:14:42] adrenaline and that that excitement is
[2:14:44] is beneficial in the first place.
[2:14:47] I mean, can you not look up studies as
[2:14:50] to why anger causes physical problems? U
[2:14:55] there's it's a good indication that this
[2:14:57] is some kind of sickness.
[2:15:00] But the real answer, I guess, is that
[2:15:04] anger in and of itself is painful.
[2:15:08] Anger is the only pain that we ever
[2:15:10] experience on a mental level.
[2:15:14] meaning that all of our suffering is
[2:15:17] anger
[2:15:18] or whatever word you want to call it.
[2:15:20] It's the same state as anger.
[2:15:23] So anger is one of those states that is
[2:15:26] suffering. It's the only suffering.
[2:15:29] Suffering isn't stubbing your toes.
[2:15:31] Stubbing is the fact suffering is the
[2:15:33] fact that you don't like that you're
[2:15:34] quote unquote angry about having stubbed
[2:15:37] your toe.
[2:15:39] Pain in the back, pain in the neck, pain
[2:15:41] in the head. None of these are
[2:15:42] suffering. The suffering is that you're
[2:15:44] angry about it. I.e. you dislike it.
[2:15:49] Anger is just one word we have for
[2:15:51] disliking.
[2:15:53] But it's all the same state.
[2:15:57] So it in and of itself is bad. It could
[2:15:59] never be good
[2:16:02] in the same way that suffering could
[2:16:03] never be good.
[2:16:06] It's hard to see though. It's hard to
[2:16:08] see. I once um
[2:16:13] people were very angry in Ontario and
[2:16:15] some of my old friends, one of my old
[2:16:18] friends from before I was Buddhist. a
[2:16:20] friend from teenage years um contacted
[2:16:24] me and and
[2:16:26] um
[2:16:28] maybe not me directly but was contacting
[2:16:30] many people and was organizing this
[2:16:32] thing where talking about how we should
[2:16:34] get angry and I said well I don't think
[2:16:35] anger is is valuable and kind of opened
[2:16:39] a can of worms there but then I started
[2:16:41] quoting Martin Luther King
[2:16:45] um so I think it's it's an interesting
[2:16:48] example
[2:16:49] outside of Buddhism to talk about Martin
[2:16:52] Luther King Jr.
[2:16:55] and the civil rights um marches in
[2:16:58] America
[2:17:01] because you remember what they did. It's
[2:17:03] not the only thing I did they get they
[2:17:05] did I guess. But one of the most
[2:17:07] important and most powerful things they
[2:17:10] did was not get angry. And he has a
[2:17:13] quote about that. You can look up Martin
[2:17:15] Luther King's quotes about anger. I'm
[2:17:16] sure he probably got angry and he wasn't
[2:17:18] perfect, but he was dedicated to not
[2:17:20] being angry. It was a big deal for him.
[2:17:24] And in the face of horrible, despicable
[2:17:29] acts to not get angry. Remember how they
[2:17:32] would sit down at these white only bars
[2:17:36] and people would get angry at them? They
[2:17:38] they had trained them, you know, they
[2:17:40] had these training sessions where they
[2:17:42] would abuse them
[2:17:45] and training them to not get angry and
[2:17:48] how powerful that was and how effective
[2:17:51] it was.
[2:17:54] I think the movie Gandhi is similar. I
[2:17:57] don't know that Gandhi was actually
[2:17:59] as great as people make him out to be,
[2:18:01] but the movie was I think of the same
[2:18:05] sort.
[2:18:09] That's very powerful.
[2:18:11] It's a good example of the power of
[2:18:15] wisdom, the power of purity, the power
[2:18:16] of enlightenment.
[2:18:18] Anger is not anger is not valuable, but
[2:18:21] hard to see.
[2:18:23] Again, easier to see though. Easier to
[2:18:26] see that anger is problematic. I mean,
[2:18:28] it sounds like you might be dealing with
[2:18:30] people who are being u purposefully
[2:18:33] argumentative,
[2:18:35] skeptical, devil's adv advocate kind of
[2:18:38] thing immediately contrarian because
[2:18:41] they know you're talking about something
[2:18:43] religious or spiritual
[2:18:48] because
[2:18:50] they certainly admit to themselves that
[2:18:52] anger is bad in many cases.
[2:18:56] So much anger. I mean anger is why we
[2:18:58] are cruel to each other, why we are
[2:18:59] hateful, why we are spiteful, why we are
[2:19:01] racist and bigoted and sexist.
[2:19:04] So many terrible things come just simply
[2:19:07] from anger.
[2:19:12] Okay, I'm I'm keeping everyone here well
[2:19:14] beyond time. So you're all free to go.
[2:19:16] Anyone who wants to go is free to go.
[2:19:20] I just wanted to
[2:19:24] >> Sorry, there's just a couple more
[2:19:25] questions in the Dhamma group text
[2:19:27] channel if you wanted to take a look at
[2:19:29] those as well.
[2:19:30] >> Okay, I'll get through I'll get to them.
[2:19:33] If anapana is used in both sat and
[2:19:36] vipasana, how does one lead to single
[2:19:38] pointed focus and the other one doesn't?
[2:19:43] Well, anapanasi and vipasa, it's quite
[2:19:45] simple. Anything that is used in weasana
[2:19:48] has to be real experience. Experience
[2:19:51] that arises and ceases. Experience that
[2:19:53] allows you to see the three
[2:19:54] characteristics. Therefore, it can never
[2:19:56] lead you to to one pointedness. Why?
[2:20:00] Because impermanence momentary arising
[2:20:02] and ceasing.
[2:20:06] The Buddha used this word as the arising
[2:20:10] from ceasing.
[2:20:13] by young see it for one day is better
[2:20:15] than to live a hundred years
[2:20:19] and this is uh seeing things arise and
[2:20:21] cease. So you can't have one pointedness
[2:20:23] when you're constantly having to shift
[2:20:26] to the new thing that arises
[2:20:30] or anything that's used in sam has to
[2:20:32] not be that. It has to be something that
[2:20:35] is stable, satisfying and controllable.
[2:20:37] In other words, something that doesn't
[2:20:38] exist, something that's not real,
[2:20:40] something that you make up, that you
[2:20:42] imagine has to be.
[2:20:46] Otherwise, you couldn't because real
[2:20:47] things are not capable of being an
[2:20:51] object of one-pointedness.
[2:20:55] How to deal with loneliness? Med
[2:20:57] mindfulness. Read our booklet. We have a
[2:20:59] meditation course.
[2:21:01] Yeah,
[2:21:05] girlfriend is a bit of a red herring.
[2:21:07] But don't worry too much about that.
[2:21:09] You're a lay person. The Buddha didn't
[2:21:11] say you shouldn't have girlfriends.
[2:21:14] Well, you should best to have one
[2:21:16] girlfriend and and uh yeah, be dedicated
[2:21:20] to that one person.
[2:21:25] Better than having many. Of course, it's
[2:21:27] best if you can shave off your hair and
[2:21:30] put on robes and give it up entirely,
[2:21:32] but that's more difficult. Continuing
[2:21:36] the path feels like a form of suicide.
[2:21:41] Must we continue despite this feeling?
[2:21:44] Well, whatever you're talking about,
[2:21:45] feelings, perceptions, nothing should
[2:21:48] ever be in despite of them. Those things
[2:21:50] should be the object of your mindfulness
[2:21:53] to learn about them, to understand them,
[2:21:55] and to see the suffering
[2:21:57] if suffering exists in them. Right? So,
[2:22:00] it sounds like you have a feeling that
[2:22:01] it's actually painful to you, unpleasant
[2:22:03] thinking about, oh, this is suicide. You
[2:22:05] that's not very pleasant to think. You
[2:22:08] dislike that probably. That's
[2:22:10] interesting. Interesting to look at the
[2:22:12] things that you dislike. That's the
[2:22:13] path. That's the practice
[2:22:24] people talking about alcohol. Good to
[2:22:26] see. Appreciate you guys.
[2:22:33] I've been using it to treat my insomnia.
[2:22:35] Oh, cannabis. Is that cannabis or
[2:22:37] alcohol? Either way, you should never
[2:22:39] try to treat insomnia.
[2:22:42] Insomnia mostly comes from wanting to
[2:22:45] sleep. You want to sleep, that creates
[2:22:47] stress cuz you don't get what you want.
[2:22:50] You worry about street about not
[2:22:52] sleeping. That create that is stress. I
[2:22:54] was an insomniac. I remember being up
[2:22:55] till 3:00 in the morning trying to get
[2:22:58] to sleep knowing I'd have to be up in
[2:22:59] the morning. It just became worse and
[2:23:01] worse and worse. Is it right? Habits.
[2:23:04] You develop the habit. You reinforce the
[2:23:06] habit.
[2:23:08] Don't try to solve your insomnia. Stay
[2:23:10] awake.
[2:23:12] Cultivate mindfulness and it's okay. Be
[2:23:16] okay with staying up all night.
[2:23:22] Much better than trying to get to sleep.
[2:23:26] Imagine it's it's horrific to think that
[2:23:28] you have to take drugs to try to sleep.
[2:23:31] Whereas with Buddhists, we're trying our
[2:23:33] best to stay awake, right?
[2:23:37] It absolutely works and you'll never
[2:23:39] have a problem falling asleep ever again
[2:23:42] if you cultivate that attitude.
[2:23:45] I mean, if you cultivate mindfulness as
[2:23:47] a part of mindfulness, try to stay
[2:23:49] awake. When you lie down, don't try to
[2:23:51] go to sleep. When you lie down, do lying
[2:23:53] meditation.
[2:23:55] Falling asleep should never be the goal.
[2:23:58] Never should never be the goal because
[2:24:00] if it is the goal, you're you're making
[2:24:02] it harder.
[2:24:05] That's where insomnia comes from. And I
[2:24:08] know from experience that's not
[2:24:11] just talk.
[2:24:21] I've lost my mind in the literal sense.
[2:24:30] You didn't.
[2:24:32] You're wrong. Because the literal sense
[2:24:34] of losing your mind means not having a
[2:24:36] mind, right? That's what literal means.
[2:24:40] You mean you went crazy?
[2:24:43] If you're crazy, you couldn't type that
[2:24:45] sentence. Sounds like you probably have
[2:24:48] or my guess is that you probably have
[2:24:50] states of mind that are unpleasant,
[2:24:54] chaotic, problematic. And that's
[2:24:57] certainly
[2:24:59] unsurprising. And that's the way of
[2:25:01] human beings.
[2:25:04] But um
[2:25:08] what helps you is mindfulness. It's
[2:25:10] really the only way. Read our booklet.
[2:25:12] We have an adult meditation course. You
[2:25:15] may not be good at it, but you're not
[2:25:16] expected to be good at it.
[2:25:19] Anything you try new, you'll not be good
[2:25:22] at. Mindfulness is not something you
[2:25:24] should be good at when you start up.
[2:25:27] Don't ever expect to be good at it when
[2:25:29] you start off.
[2:25:31] Expect to get better at it slowly,
[2:25:34] slowly, slowly. Even if it takes
[2:25:35] lifetime, better than not doing it.
[2:25:40] Buddha did teach anapana. Yeah. Okay.
[2:25:43] This person doesn't know what they're
[2:25:45] talking about. This is bigoted and this
[2:25:47] is uh dogmatic. Not bigoted. Sorry. This
[2:25:49] is dogmatic. This is wrong. You should
[2:25:53] uh broaden your horizons. just read a
[2:25:54] little bit more about what the Buddha
[2:25:55] taught. Hopefully read the commentaries
[2:25:59] which help explain and give a broader
[2:26:01] understanding of what the Buddha taught.
[2:26:03] But you're cherrypicking and you're
[2:26:05] wrong.
[2:26:07] You're wrong.
[2:26:09] Sorry.
[2:26:14] Psych. I'm in a psychiatric hospital.
[2:26:16] I'm a psychologist myself. So I can kind
[2:26:18] of contextualize it. Literal sense. I
[2:26:21] made it right. Okay. Not you mean not
[2:26:23] literal but you mean literally you
[2:26:26] dissociated heavily. Um I dissociated
[2:26:29] heavily when I was a teenager and from
[2:26:31] time to time I can still recollect what
[2:26:33] that felt like felt like but it was
[2:26:36] because of drugs. It was something a
[2:26:38] little bit different probably. I don't
[2:26:40] know. Um not good but
[2:26:45] it's not
[2:26:47] it's not not good you know. It's not
[2:26:49] something you should be upset about or
[2:26:50] concerned with. It's your experience.
[2:26:54] You have states of dissociation and
[2:26:56] that's just that's just a name you give
[2:26:58] for what you're experiencing.
[2:27:02] Put it clearly. The only things
[2:27:06] dissociation is not something you
[2:27:08] experience. Why? Because the only things
[2:27:10] you ever experience and this is the
[2:27:12] truth. This is one of the most important
[2:27:15] truths in the world. So listen up.
[2:27:18] The only things you ever experience are
[2:27:20] seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting,
[2:27:23] feeling, thinking. It sounds trit. It
[2:27:26] sounds uh trit. Yeah, it sounds
[2:27:30] unserious to say that. But it's the most
[2:27:33] serious thing.
[2:27:35] And if you have that as even a mantra,
[2:27:38] you've got a very good basis of
[2:27:40] understanding not only Buddhism, but
[2:27:41] reality.
[2:27:43] And not only understanding reality, but
[2:27:45] getting it. and and solving. It
[2:27:50] doesn't matter what you experience. It
[2:27:52] doesn't matter if you're being eaten by
[2:27:54] a tiger. The only things you will ever
[2:27:57] experience are seeing, hearing,
[2:27:58] smelling, tasting, feeling, and
[2:28:00] thinking.
[2:28:01] That's what we teach. That's what the
[2:28:03] Buddha taught.
[2:28:10] So, I don't know if you read our booklet
[2:28:12] on how to meditate. We have an at home
[2:28:14] meditation course. I don't know if
[2:28:16] you're if you have internet connection
[2:28:17] maybe in the psychiatric hospital you
[2:28:19] can still do the meditation course. A
[2:28:22] real problem is that you're probably on
[2:28:23] medication. Medication does get in the
[2:28:26] way of practice of mindfulness.
[2:28:29] Uh at the very simplest level is because
[2:28:32] of your intentions. You take the
[2:28:35] medication to avoid situ avoid states of
[2:28:38] mind which understandable some of them
[2:28:40] are overwhelming and impossible to deal
[2:28:42] with without avoiding them. But the
[2:28:45] problem there is that mindfulness is
[2:28:47] about facing.
[2:28:49] So it's not to say go off your
[2:28:51] medication. Absolutely not. It's that to
[2:28:52] say that your goal your your your
[2:28:58] inclination or your direction
[2:29:01] has to be towards also reducing and
[2:29:03] eventually not needing medication. Being
[2:29:06] able to face your experiencing without
[2:29:08] experiences without needing medication.
[2:29:10] It's an important part of the practice
[2:29:12] as well.
[2:29:14] Okay, I've gotten through all of them.
[2:29:15] No more questions from YouTube. We're
[2:29:17] cutting it off there.
[2:29:24] Questions in the chat. I don't see them.
[2:29:28] Here we are. I'm wondering if it's uns
[2:29:31] unskillful to dress up for Halloween or
[2:29:33] is it somehow harmful? Practical
[2:29:36] questions. The problem with practical
[2:29:38] questions, I'm not I'll try and answer
[2:29:40] your question, but let's let's step back
[2:29:41] and remind
[2:29:44] Practical questions are infinite and
[2:29:47] often don't have a categorical answer.
[2:29:50] So keep in mind when you're asking
[2:29:52] questions about life, the questions are
[2:29:55] not usually the most important thing.
[2:29:57] The most important thing is usually how
[2:29:59] you do or approach how you approach the
[2:30:02] situation. So that applies here. It's
[2:30:05] not about whether you dress up for
[2:30:07] Halloween obviously. It's about your
[2:30:08] approach and your attitude. If suppose
[2:30:12] you're a parent and you have children
[2:30:14] who want to dress up for Halloween,
[2:30:16] there's no problem with in there's no
[2:30:20] significant problem with dressing up
[2:30:24] with your children for Halloween. If
[2:30:26] you're a kid who wants to dress up for
[2:30:27] Halloween to get candy,
[2:30:30] you can see the problem. Obviously,
[2:30:35] if you're dressing up for Halloween in
[2:30:36] order to make people excited
[2:30:40] in in a sensual way, not just like
[2:30:43] romantically or sexually or attractive,
[2:30:45] but but they get excited by seeing
[2:30:48] something cute or funny or scary,
[2:30:51] there's problem there, but it's not a
[2:30:53] significant problem. Not for a lay
[2:30:55] person. This is not something that you
[2:30:56] have to be concerned with
[2:31:00] over much.
[2:31:03] I would say that as a Buddhist, as a
[2:31:04] serious practicing Buddhist, you
[2:31:06] probably aren't inclined to dress up for
[2:31:09] Halloween. So, you might do it if you're
[2:31:13] pressured into doing it, then fine, do
[2:31:15] it, but not really something that you'd
[2:31:18] be inclined to as a Buddhist.
[2:31:22] How do we apply yoni sasikara during
[2:31:25] meditation particularly when the mind is
[2:31:27] distracted
[2:31:29] right
[2:31:31] yonasara
[2:31:33] manasara means keeping in mindara
[2:31:37] is something that the mind is always
[2:31:39] doing. It's the nature of the mind.
[2:31:42] Manasiara means to literally to make in
[2:31:45] the mind but the meaning is to to
[2:31:50] uh bring into the mind or to observe
[2:31:54] basically. So it's a it's an universal
[2:31:56] quality. Manasikara is one of the
[2:31:58] universal jaikas. Every mind state has
[2:32:02] manasara.
[2:32:03] If I'm there may be exceptions but I
[2:32:05] don't think so. Anyway, look it up in
[2:32:07] the abidama. Yoniso is an interesting
[2:32:10] word but not really relevant. It lit it
[2:32:13] means wise but the the okay it is
[2:32:16] interesting what it actually means
[2:32:18] because it doesn't literally mean wise.
[2:32:20] Yi yi is a word for the female
[2:32:23] reproductive system right it means the
[2:32:25] womb but it also means the origin. So
[2:32:27] it's used figuratively to refer to the
[2:32:30] origin. So yono means to the origin
[2:32:37] or yono
[2:32:40] means not to I guess anyway it means
[2:32:43] something to do with the origin keeping
[2:32:45] in mind
[2:32:47] to the origin.
[2:32:50] It's used in a colloquial sense to mean
[2:32:51] wise attention, right? But from a
[2:32:54] meditative perspective,
[2:32:58] it really does mean to the origin.
[2:33:01] So when the mind is distracted,
[2:33:04] what does the or the word origin mean?
[2:33:06] It means the very root of it. And this
[2:33:08] is a hint at why we practice the way we
[2:33:11] practice. When you say to yourself, for
[2:33:13] example, seeing, seeing, or in this
[2:33:15] case, distracted, distracted, you're
[2:33:17] trying to get to the root, not not the
[2:33:20] origin in terms of something, the past,
[2:33:21] but the very core, the essence of it.
[2:33:25] It's the essence that's important. And
[2:33:26] what is the essence? Distracted.
[2:33:29] That's it. There's no I, there's no me,
[2:33:32] there's no possessiveness like I am
[2:33:34] distracted. There's not even any
[2:33:36] difficult. Difficult is still an
[2:33:38] interpretation.
[2:33:41] Oh, wait. That's someone else's
[2:33:42] question. Um, they you didn't use the
[2:33:44] word difficult. Um, but yeah, distracted
[2:33:48] is just an experience of distraction.
[2:33:51] So, it should be noted as distracted.
[2:33:53] Distracted. That's how you apply yo
[2:33:56] manasara because you're seeing the
[2:33:58] experience at its root. Not me, not
[2:34:01] mine, not good, not bad, just
[2:34:03] distracted. Why we practice the way we
[2:34:05] practice? It's how mindfulness it's how
[2:34:07] set arises.
[2:34:11] Is it a good idea to independently
[2:34:13] control urges? Sometimes I try to let go
[2:34:16] my bad habits. Yeah, it doesn't really
[2:34:18] work that way. Much more sustainable. I
[2:34:21] mean, it can be temporarily beneficial,
[2:34:24] but uh the way it works is to confront
[2:34:28] them. Of course, the best way to
[2:34:30] confront them is to not indulge in them
[2:34:32] and to observe the urges. You shouldn't
[2:34:36] try to control the urges. You should try
[2:34:37] to be mindful of them. The urges, the
[2:34:41] pleasure, and the uh object, the thing
[2:34:47] that you're urged to partake of. It
[2:34:49] could be seeing, hearing, smelling,
[2:34:51] tasting, feeling, or just a thought. But
[2:34:53] those three things, the the urge, the
[2:34:57] feeling which is pleasure or pain, and
[2:35:00] the the object
[2:35:03] causing the pleasure causing the pain.
[2:35:15] Yeah, there's the Martin Luther King
[2:35:16] quote. You must be willing to suffer the
[2:35:19] anger. I I mean it's a good quote
[2:35:20] because you're talking about people who
[2:35:23] don't subscribe to what we subscribe to.
[2:35:25] They don't understand mindfulness and
[2:35:27] meditation. So they say anger is not
[2:35:30] wrong. So it's not just the Buddha who
[2:35:33] taught this. Wise people agree with the
[2:35:35] Buddha. You must be willing to suffer
[2:35:38] the anger of the opponent and yet not
[2:35:40] return anger. No matter how emotional
[2:35:42] your opponents are, you must remain
[2:35:44] calm.
[2:35:46] I would I mean go further and say you
[2:35:48] shouldn't see them as opponents
[2:35:51] per se. Doesn't mean you should think of
[2:35:54] them as good people. They can be bad
[2:35:56] people. But even the most horrible
[2:35:57] people just see them for what they are.
[2:36:05] All right, we got through everything.
[2:36:07] What's left? Anything left? Tell me.
[2:36:11] >> That's all. Vante, thank you so much for
[2:36:14] taking extra time out of your day for
[2:36:15] us.
[2:36:17] >> Oh, it's no problem. It's nothing
[2:36:20] question. Answering questions is a great
[2:36:22] thing and and it's not difficult to do
[2:36:26] and it's something that is a big part of
[2:36:28] our training. You know, what do we do is
[2:36:30] not give dharma talk. That's not what
[2:36:32] we're trained. There's many teachers in
[2:36:33] my tradition who can't give talks, not
[2:36:36] even as well as I can. And I can't. I'm
[2:36:38] not the best damat teacher.
[2:36:42] But um they never did. When I was at the
[2:36:45] monastery in Thailand, they would they
[2:36:46] would avoid giving talks. Some of them
[2:36:48] were actually afraid of them, which is
[2:36:50] not good for a meditation teacher. But
[2:36:53] certainly not inclined to give talks.
[2:36:55] It's just but it's clear even my teacher
[2:36:57] Ajan Tong was not known for giving
[2:36:59] dharma talks. He did give them from time
[2:37:01] to time, but they weren't his best
[2:37:03] teaching.
[2:37:05] The best is this interaction one-on-one
[2:37:07] answering questions. It's what we're
[2:37:09] trained to do. It's what we're taught to
[2:37:10] do.
[2:37:11] That's you could say it's what the
[2:37:13] Buddha probably did for the most part.
[2:37:16] It's going to come up next week or in
[2:37:17] the upcoming weeks. Mahasi Sai is going
[2:37:20] to talk about this idea of answering
[2:37:23] questions really or dealing with
[2:37:25] individual condition.
[2:37:27] So that's what we do and this is an
[2:37:29] extension of what we do. This is
[2:37:31] outreach to open the doors for people
[2:37:34] who might be interested in learning
[2:37:36] teaching. We're not looking for more
[2:37:38] students, but we have the Buddha's
[2:37:40] teaching
[2:37:42] and we can give it to you. I can to the
[2:37:45] best of our abilities help you to
[2:37:47] practice it.
[2:37:50] So, thank you all. Much appreciation for
[2:37:52] those who have organized this session.
[2:37:54] I'm not the one organizing it. I haven't
[2:37:56] really laid down the format.
[2:37:58] I'm not really the one choosing the
[2:38:00] books. I'm getting suggestions, but as
[2:38:03] much as possible, I'm hands off and so
[2:38:06] you can't blame me for for how it's
[2:38:08] going and you shouldn't praise me for
[2:38:10] this this session. This is uh something
[2:38:14] that you all have to be mindful of and
[2:38:17] be willing to to adapt and change and
[2:38:20] I'll try to help offer suggestions, but
[2:38:22] you don't have to follow everything I
[2:38:23] say either.
[2:38:25] much appreciation for putting this and
[2:38:27] for the greatness that is this session
[2:38:30] that you all have put together and
[2:38:32] continue. It's kind of amazing that
[2:38:34] every week people keep coming back. I
[2:38:36] appreciate that.
[2:38:38] Please, please don't let this die out.
[2:38:40] This isn't me. This isn't my thing. So,
[2:38:43] I'm not promoting myself. This is all of
[2:38:46] you. Don't let it die out. Let this be
[2:38:49] your Let this be yours. something that
[2:38:52] you use to come together as a community
[2:38:55] and better yourselves.
[2:38:59] Hopefully, it will continue on after I'm
[2:39:01] gone. After all of us are gone. May it
[2:39:05] continue even after all of us are gone.
[2:39:10] Much appreciation for the questioners,
[2:39:12] for the listeners,
[2:39:15] for the people who sat quietly and
[2:39:17] practiced meditation.
[2:39:19] Much appreciation for those who are even
[2:39:21] just curious.
[2:39:23] There's people who came interested
[2:39:25] wondering whether this might be
[2:39:27] something might be something they'd be
[2:39:29] interested in. Much appreciation for you
[2:39:30] for having an open mind and giving us
[2:39:33] consideration even if you choose not to
[2:39:35] practice the way we practice. No hard
[2:39:37] feelings of any sort.
[2:39:42] Much appreciation for all of you who
[2:39:44] have made it to this point in your
[2:39:45] lives. Everyone here has done good
[2:39:48] things in the past. Otherwise they
[2:39:49] wouldn't be born a human being. They
[2:39:51] wouldn't have the good opportunity to
[2:39:53] meet with the Buddha Sassa.
[2:39:55] So with all this goodness that all of us
[2:39:58] without exception
[2:40:00] are uh privileged to have
[2:40:05] power of all of that goodness in this
[2:40:07] life and even all the goodness that you
[2:40:09] performed in past lives along with the
[2:40:11] power of the Buddha, the power of the
[2:40:12] Dharma, the power of the Sana.
[2:40:15] May it all come together to protect you,
[2:40:18] keep you free from pain, free from
[2:40:20] suffering, free from sickness, free from
[2:40:22] enmity, free from calamity.
[2:40:28] May you all live long, healthy, happy
[2:40:30] lives with the strength to face
[2:40:32] whichever whatever challenges come your
[2:40:35] way. May you find success and prosperity
[2:40:39] in the world, success and prosperity in
[2:40:42] spiritual endeavors, in this life, in
[2:40:45] future lives, and all lives to come
[2:40:48] until you too are able to follow the
[2:40:51] Buddhist teaching and find peace,
[2:40:54] happiness, and freedom from suffering
[2:40:56] through the path fruition in nibbana.
[2:40:59] Sad.
[2:41:03] >> Sad.
[2:41:04] >> Sad.
