Transcript
[0:01] It's Majjhima Nikaya 63, which is the
[0:04] shorter discourse
[0:08] to Mal Mal Malunkyaputta.
[0:13] So, it goes
[0:15] "Thus have I heard. On one occasion, the
[0:17] Blessed One was living in Jeta's Grove
[0:20] in Anathapindika's Park.
[0:22] While venerable Malunkyaputta was alone
[0:25] in meditation, the following thought
[0:27] arose in his mind.
[0:29] These
[0:31] speculative views have been left
[0:32] undeclared by the Blessed One, set aside
[0:34] and rejected by him. Namely, the world
[0:37] is eternal, the world is not eternal,
[0:40] the world is finite, the world is
[0:41] infinite, the soul is the same as the
[0:44] body, the soul is one thing and the body
[0:45] is another.
[0:47] After death, the Tathagata exists. After
[0:50] death, the Tathagata does not exist.
[0:52] After death, the Tathagata both exists
[0:53] and does not exist. And after death, the
[0:55] Tathagata neither exists nor does not
[0:57] exist.
[0:59] The Blessed One does not declare these
[1:01] to me, and I do not approve of that and
[1:03] accept the fact that he does not declare
[1:04] these to me. So, I shall go to him and
[1:06] ask him the meaning of this.
[1:08] If he declares to me these views,
[1:12] then I will lead the holy life under
[1:13] him. If he does not declare, then I will
[1:16] abandon the training and return into the
[1:18] low life.
[1:20] So, um
[1:22] this obviously we often encounter these
[1:25] stock phrases. The world is eternal, the
[1:27] world is not eternal, the world is
[1:29] finite, and so on.
[1:31] And um
[1:32] that's just the
[1:33] it's like a it's like a stock phrase, a
[1:36] condensed phrase that pretty much
[1:39] encompasses
[1:41] the the the full range of any
[1:44] possible speculative view one might
[1:47] have.
[1:48] This This is what these view what any
[1:50] any possible view
[1:52] that one might have will would boil down
[1:54] to these basically. These um
[1:57] uh uh kind of um um
[2:00] fundamental ones that are that these
[2:02] stock phrases in the suttas often list.
[2:04] The reason why I mention that is cuz
[2:06] >> [clears throat]
[2:07] >> I don't know, you know, some people are
[2:08] not that familiar with the suttas, they
[2:10] would think
[2:11] that the guy was actually thinking, "Oh,
[2:13] the world is eternal. The world is not
[2:14] eternal. The world is this. The world is
[2:15] that." And whenever it that's mentioned
[2:17] in the suttas, that those would be the
[2:19] specific views. But, it's not. It's like
[2:22] anything basically regarding the world
[2:25] um metaphysics, this world, other world,
[2:29] doesn't matter that is based on the
[2:31] assumption that the world is eternal.
[2:35] That the world will continue independent
[2:36] of my experience falls into the view
[2:38] that the world is eternal.
[2:40] Anything that's based on the assumption
[2:42] that
[2:43] uh matter won't continue when my
[2:45] experience ends, when that's the the the
[2:47] end, when I die, everything ends,
[2:49] basically, that falls into the view the
[2:51] world is not eternal.
[2:53] Um and so on in regard to the finite or
[2:56] infinite and the target, but the point
[2:58] is
[2:59] um
[3:00] obviously, the stock phrases just
[3:01] condense it all and give you the same
[3:04] formula.
[3:05] But, it doesn't mean that every person
[3:07] in the suttas had these uh kind of
[3:10] um a bullet point of views.
[3:13] Um
[3:15] So, then it says, "Later in the evening,
[3:16] the venerable Malunkyaputta rose from
[3:19] the meditation, went to the blessed
[3:21] one."
[3:22] And then asked, well, told him what he's
[3:24] been thinking during the day, basically.
[3:27] And uh
[3:30] he said that he will abandon the
[3:31] training and return to the low life if
[3:33] the blessed one does not declare
[3:35] answers to these questions.
[3:38] So, if the blessed one knows the world
[3:40] is eternal, let the blessed one declare
[3:43] the world is eternal. If he if blessed
[3:45] one knows the world is not eternal, let
[3:47] the blessed one declare that.
[3:49] If the blessed one does not know
[3:51] either the world is eternal or not
[3:52] eternal,
[3:53] then it is straightforward for one who
[3:55] doesn't know and doesn't see to say, I
[3:57] do not know, I do not see.
[4:00] And then he repeats basically for all
[4:02] the views, all the possible views, all
[4:04] the permutations.
[4:07] And then the Buddha responds
[4:09] Well, how then Malunkyaputta, did I ever
[4:11] say to you, come, lead the holy life
[4:14] under me and I will declare to you
[4:17] the world is eternal, not eternal, the
[4:18] Tathagata exists, doesn't exist, both
[4:20] exist and so on.
[4:22] Malunkyaputta answered, no. No, you
[4:24] never you never said that. And then the
[4:26] Buddha asked him again, did you ever
[4:27] tell me I will lead a holy life
[4:30] under the Blessed One and the Blessed
[4:32] One will declare to me that the world is
[4:33] eternal after death, the Tathagata
[4:34] exists and that does not exist. He said,
[4:36] no. No, I didn't say that either.
[4:39] Well, that being so, you misguided man,
[4:41] who are you and what are you abandoning?
[4:46] If anyone should say, I will not lead
[4:48] the holy life under the Blessed One
[4:50] until the Blessed One declares to me the
[4:51] world is eternal, that death after death
[4:54] the Tathagata exists
[4:55] they would still remain undeclared by
[4:57] the Tathagata and meanwhile
[5:00] that person would die.
[5:04] Because there is no end
[5:06] to all the possible permutations and
[5:08] standpoints
[5:09] um especially when it comes to uh
[5:11] specifics
[5:13] that uh one can have.
[5:15] Especially if the one does not see the
[5:17] kind of um
[5:20] the nature of the of the specific view
[5:22] that they might hold, you know, like
[5:24] what happens to me after death, what
[5:25] happens to the Buddha, what happens to
[5:26] my senses and all of this.
[5:28] If they don't if they haven't understood
[5:29] the nature that always has to boil down
[5:31] to you're either affirming the world or
[5:33] denying it.
[5:35] You're not seeing anything in between.
[5:38] Um and then the Buddha goes on saying,
[5:40] suppose Malunkyaputta, a man were
[5:42] wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with
[5:44] poison and his friends and companions,
[5:45] his kinsmen and relatives brought a
[5:47] surgeon to treat him.
[5:48] The man would say, "I will not let the
[5:50] surgeon pull out this arrow until I know
[5:52] whether the man who wounded me was a
[5:54] noble or a Brahmin or a merchant or a
[5:55] worker."
[5:57] And he would say, "I will not let the
[5:59] surgeon pull out this arrow until I know
[6:01] the name and the clan of the man who
[6:03] wounded me. Until I know whether the man
[6:05] who wounded me was tall or short or
[6:07] middle
[6:08] height. Until I know whether the man who
[6:10] wounded me was dark or brown or
[6:12] golden-skinned. Until I know whether the
[6:14] man who wounded me lives in such a
[6:15] village or a town or a city. Uh whether
[6:18] he would use the long bow or a crossbow.
[6:21] Whether the bowstring that wounded me
[6:23] was fiber or reed or sinew or hemp or
[6:25] bark. Until I know whether the shaft
[6:27] that wounded me was wild or cultivated."
[6:30] Well, and so on, really. It goes on and
[6:32] on and on and on.
[6:34] All this would still not be known to
[6:36] that man, and meanwhile, he would die.
[6:39] So, to Malunkyaputta, if anyone should
[6:40] say this and then repeats
[6:42] Malunkyaputta's uh questions and views,
[6:45] they would basically die because these
[6:47] things would still remain undeclared by
[6:49] the Buddha.
[6:50] And you could see here also
[6:52] um in this whole uh passage paragraph,
[6:55] we could see that
[6:57] uh a principle that we often talk about,
[7:00] which is
[7:01] being invested in the specifics, just
[7:04] even in your like day-to-day experience.
[7:07] And often, for example,
[7:09] uh
[7:09] on a practical level, and you could see
[7:11] how this is exactly the same uh prin- a
[7:13] principle being mirrored.
[7:15] So, for example, you would have
[7:18] I don't know, somebody says something
[7:19] upsetting to you.
[7:21] And uh your chitta is upset. You're
[7:23] feeling upset.
[7:25] Um
[7:27] maybe you restrain, say, you don't
[7:29] necessarily retort something back. You
[7:31] don't do anything unwholesome.
[7:33] But on your own,
[7:35] you are picking up that experience and
[7:37] trying to resolve it.
[7:40] And if you listened enough of our talks
[7:43] and read of the stuff, you would know
[7:44] that it's like, "Aha,
[7:46] there is a pressure.
[7:48] Every intention that I'm revolving
[7:49] around this moment, it's coming out of
[7:51] me basically trying to get rid of the
[7:53] discomfort."
[7:54] Which is why
[7:56] uh you would be engaging with
[7:58] psychologizing it, trying to explain it,
[8:00] trying to find the answers as to why it
[8:02] happened.
[8:04] And the point would come, especially if
[8:06] you say if as I say if you learned
[8:08] enough, the point would come when you
[8:09] could see that choice.
[8:11] The choice to not fuel
[8:14] the the the involvement with what has
[8:17] happened, and instead
[8:18] accept the fact that you're resisting it
[8:20] because it's uncomfortable, and then try
[8:22] and like count like say, "Okay, I won't
[8:24] do anything on account of it.
[8:26] I'll endure it rightly on that level
[8:28] until it calms down, and then I'll think
[8:30] about these things if I still want to
[8:32] think about them."
[8:34] But that choice is often then the basic
[8:37] restraint, really. That's just what
[8:38] basic restraint is. Like when you
[8:39] recognize the direction, the orientation
[8:41] of your mind, the pressure where it
[8:42] wants to go,
[8:44] and you could you have a choice to say
[8:46] no to it,
[8:47] and then like stay with that like almost
[8:49] like a
[8:50] dry yet deep pain,
[8:54] or revolve around it a bit.
[8:58] And each time you choose to revolve
[9:00] around it a bit, you are basically like
[9:02] the man who's been wounded with an
[9:04] arrow. And instead of staying on the
[9:06] level where the arrow can actually be
[9:08] pulled out directly through your
[9:09] discernment,
[9:11] you are giving in to the craving that
[9:14] came on account of being hit by an arrow
[9:17] to figure out who shot you, why they
[9:18] shot you,
[9:20] uh will they do it again? Was it
[9:21] something you said? Did you do something
[9:23] wrong? Can you prevent it in the future?
[9:25] All of these things basically are
[9:27] secondary to the fact that you're struck
[9:28] with the pressure, with the dukkha.
[9:31] And for as long as you don't relinquish
[9:33] those ways of management and
[9:34] psychologization that I keep going on
[9:36] about,
[9:37] you will be like the man who is
[9:39] basically bleeding out overlooking the
[9:41] fact that the arrow could be pulled out
[9:43] if you stop wasting time trying to go
[9:46] around all these pathways that your
[9:48] mental craving is offering you to figure
[9:50] it out,
[9:51] to manage it, to to prevent it from
[9:54] happening in the future by learning the
[9:55] perfect technique of expression and how
[9:57] to speak with people. All of that is
[9:59] secondary to the fact that you were
[10:00] struck first.
[10:03] And the fact that you were struck first
[10:06] doesn't change really. So, it's not like
[10:08] it's not like whether you psychologist
[10:09] or not that that will kind of just just
[10:12] instantly disappear. You stay with it.
[10:14] Um and the fact that you were struck
[10:16] first also shows you that
[10:19] oh, that's really the sole problem. I
[10:21] wouldn't be engaging with any of these
[10:23] pathways,
[10:26] psychologizing, figuring out, uh
[10:29] you know, going maybe to talk to that
[10:31] person or apology or whatever. I
[10:33] wouldn't be engaging with any of that if
[10:35] there is no acute pressure forcing me to
[10:37] basically do something about it.
[10:41] So, it's
[10:42] the reason I bring this up is because
[10:43] when you read this passage, it's not
[10:44] like that this guy that's been struck by
[10:46] an arrow, it's kind of just
[10:49] indifferently musing about who shot him
[10:52] and why and what. No, no, he really
[10:54] wants to know
[10:55] and he's prioritizing that craving and
[10:58] not letting the doctor or anybody do
[11:00] anything and he until he gets his
[11:03] his mental satisfaction on a kind of
[11:06] what he needs to know.
[11:09] And that is often, you know, like when
[11:10] something happens to people, the the
[11:12] first kind of
[11:14] like obviously will be like the the
[11:15] reaction, you know, do something with
[11:17] body or speech, but if you are not in a
[11:18] position to do that, people would then
[11:20] almost like
[11:21] by by default fall onto the level of
[11:25] why.
[11:27] I need to figure out why did this happen
[11:29] to me.
[11:31] And and often, you know, like the the
[11:32] the whole Abhidhamma and commentaries
[11:34] basically claim to that. They explain to
[11:36] you why.
[11:37] And you convincing yourself that you
[11:39] understood why this happens. Oh, it's
[11:41] because the contact touch this and
[11:42] entered through the sense door and then
[11:45] triggered the consciousness, you know,
[11:46] that flowed into the moment of
[11:48] awareness. Just complete kind of
[11:50] artificial psycho- psychological
[11:52] nonsense. Just like a fairy tale.
[11:55] All on the level of telling that to
[11:56] yourself so that you can cope with the
[11:58] arrow
[11:59] without realizing actually all of that
[12:02] is preventing the surgeon, preventing
[12:04] the knowledge from the surgeon of
[12:06] landing at the right basis and pulling
[12:08] it out.
[12:09] So, that's why I keep saying, you need
[12:11] to get worse before you get better
[12:13] because you need to give up
[12:16] all the management techniques. You have
[12:18] the precepts to protect you. You have
[12:20] the knowledge of things that you won't
[12:22] do on account of pressure,
[12:24] things out of lust, anger, and so on.
[12:26] That is your protection. That is your
[12:27] That is your
[12:29] safety. That is your container.
[12:31] But, now all these these little kind of
[12:34] coping mechanisms and stuff,
[12:36] you have to like recognize the problem
[12:38] that that is a direct result for the
[12:40] arrow not being pulled out.
[12:43] That is a direct result that prevents me
[12:44] from seeing the extent of my chitta, the
[12:47] extent of the pressure, the extent of
[12:49] the problem, the extent of the
[12:51] confinement.
[12:55] Obviously, as I, you know, keep saying
[12:57] that as well, it's not going to just
[12:59] happen overnight, you know, going to
[13:00] magically just stop all of your little
[13:04] psychologizing roots and escapes
[13:06] overnight. But, you need to learn and
[13:09] really let it sink in that it's a
[13:11] problem.
[13:12] So, when you catch yourself, and that's
[13:14] what I mean, like you can't necessarily
[13:16] help but
[13:19] have a mind that gained the momentum of
[13:21] why and how and this.
[13:23] But, there are always going to be
[13:25] moments of self-awareness in between
[13:27] when you see the pressure and you see
[13:29] what you're doing, and then you choose
[13:31] to ah
[13:32] let me just follow this through this
[13:35] line of thought or reason whatever is
[13:36] presented until I satisfy that and then
[13:39] I'll be restrained. Let me do this just
[13:41] one more time type of thing.
[13:44] And it's like that's the sole reason
[13:45] that the arrow is still in.
[13:48] That habit and that view that still
[13:50] prioritizes
[13:52] uh the wrong side of things.
[13:59] So then the Buddha goes saying
[14:01] Malunkyaputta, if there is the view that
[14:03] the world is eternal, the holy life
[14:05] cannot be lived.
[14:06] If there is the view the world is not
[14:07] eternal, the holy life cannot be lived.
[14:09] Whether there is the view the world is
[14:10] eternal or the world is not eternal,
[14:12] there is birth, aging, death, sorrow,
[14:14] lamentation, pain, grief, and despair,
[14:15] distraction, which I prescribe here and
[14:17] now.
[14:18] And then he repeats that for all the
[14:20] other uh speculative views.
[14:23] Um and what this means is just just as I
[14:25] said now. So it's like
[14:27] if you still hold a view and refuse to
[14:30] deemphasize
[14:32] um
[14:36] kind of satisfaction that you would get
[14:38] on account of getting or seeking the
[14:40] answers that are clearly rooted in
[14:41] avoiding the pressure here and now,
[14:44] you are basically avoiding the entire
[14:47] domain of
[14:49] birth, aging, death, sorrow,
[14:51] lamentation, pain, grief, and despair,
[14:53] cuz that's all where that pressure is.
[14:56] In other words, you're you're avoiding
[14:57] any
[14:58] ground for successful practice of the
[15:01] Dharma. That's what it means they would
[15:03] the holy life cannot be lived.
[15:05] Like, yeah, you can keep the precept.
[15:07] You can be a monk, whatever.
[15:09] But if you are through your own views,
[15:12] if you're avoiding the ground,
[15:14] the only ground, the middle ground where
[15:16] the Dharma can apply,
[15:18] there is no holy life development for
[15:20] you.
[15:21] Because you keep overlooking. you keep
[15:22] overemphasizing, you keep managing, you
[15:25] keep refusing to give up your management
[15:28] techniques and practices and
[15:29] concentrations and whatnot.
[15:32] So, there is no holy life because you
[15:34] are still fettered, which means there is
[15:35] still there there will be no no right
[15:37] view.
[15:40] And then the Buddha said, "Well,
[15:42] therefore, Malunkyaputta, remember what
[15:44] I have left undeclared as undeclared,
[15:46] what I have declared as declared.
[15:50] And what I have left undeclared is that
[15:51] the world is eternal, that the world is
[15:53] not eternal, that the world is finite,
[15:55] infinite, all these basically
[15:58] cornerstones of all the possible views
[16:01] that are concerned with affirming or
[16:02] denying
[16:04] the experience as a whole, overlooking
[16:06] the middle ground. All of those views
[16:08] the Buddha left undeclared because any
[16:10] form of engagement with those views
[16:12] would have to come on account of
[16:13] overlooked pressure and intention that
[16:15] comes out of it here and now.
[16:21] And that's what he says, "Why have I
[16:22] left them undeclared? Well, because it's
[16:24] unbeneficial.
[16:25] It does not belong to the fundamentals
[16:27] of the holy life. It does not pertain to
[16:29] the middle way.
[16:31] It does not pertain to the to the acute
[16:33] pressure,
[16:34] to the sensuality, to the ill will, to
[16:35] the distraction.
[16:37] It's the result of it.
[16:39] That's why I keep saying you have to
[16:41] always keep like
[16:43] unraveling and uncovering and digging up
[16:45] your intentions
[16:47] so that they are always clear, so the
[16:49] the the general orientation behind them
[16:51] is always clear.
[16:54] Because you could be very much uh
[16:57] keeping the precepts and following
[16:59] hillside teaching
[17:00] out of the same reason of your your kind
[17:03] of uh uh mental craving
[17:05] and adherence to the method blindly that
[17:08] you will then and also fundamentally
[17:11] coming out of intention that's really
[17:12] rooted in avoiding the pressure.
[17:14] Not wanting to contain it or stay along
[17:16] with it.
[17:17] So,
[17:18] then you view on that level it's like,
[17:20] "Yeah, I I follow Hillside and I do the
[17:21] precept."
[17:23] While hoping that the that will kind of
[17:24] magically resolve the pressure away and
[17:26] you'll suddenly like, you know, going to
[17:28] have an insight of sort of party or
[17:29] something.
[17:31] So, anything even the right instructions
[17:33] can be taken wrongly if your intentions
[17:35] are not transparent.
[17:39] Means you would be operating from some
[17:41] external standpoint or the other.
[17:46] And what have I declared? Well, I
[17:48] declared this is suffering. This is the
[17:50] origin of suffering. This is the
[17:51] cessation of suffering. This is the way
[17:53] leading to the cessation of suffering.
[17:55] So,
[17:56] deal with that first.
[17:58] As I said,
[18:01] don't act out of the pressure. Restrain
[18:03] refrain from giving in to that, "Yeah,
[18:06] but only if I get the answer, then it
[18:07] will be fine and then I'll contain the
[18:09] pressure rightly."
[18:11] And every single time you fall into the
[18:12] same trap.
[18:14] Don't do that.
[18:16] Stay with the pressure.
[18:18] Start giving up your ways of your
[18:20] managements and psychologizing and
[18:23] little kind of mental escapes.
[18:27] That will basically teach you how to
[18:29] calm down within the pressure,
[18:31] which then reveals the whole craving of
[18:32] the animal and the thing for what it is.
[18:36] When? You don't know when.
[18:38] How long you have to do it? You don't
[18:39] know that.
[18:41] How confining it will be? You don't know
[18:42] that either. But as I said, what you
[18:44] will know is things that you won't do no
[18:47] matter what on account of
[18:50] any pressure that might come or increase
[18:52] or pressure you even more and confine
[18:54] you even more.
[18:57] Because basically things become
[18:59] unwholesome when you act out of them.
[19:02] By body, speech, or mind.
[19:04] Anything that's your mind throwing at
[19:06] you, you realize, "Okay, I don't need to
[19:09] deal with this." In a sense, I don't
[19:10] need to get rid of it. I don't need to
[19:11] replace it. I need to contain it until
[19:13] the mind calms down.
[19:16] And again, the simile of the elephant we
[19:17] keep talking about that's mentioned in
[19:19] the suttas so many times,
[19:22] it will try to kill the trainer. The
[19:23] wild elephant when it's enclosed in that
[19:26] enclosure, it's going to, you know,
[19:27] first it will try to escape and if they
[19:29] starts to realize that there is no
[19:30] escape, it's going to turn at the person
[19:33] that trapped it.
[19:35] So, how do you think that would feel?
[19:36] Well, it it's going to be some internal
[19:38] sense of threat.
[19:40] But again, if the container is right, if
[19:43] the if the strong wooden posts that are
[19:45] containing the elephant are rightly
[19:46] established, you know you will not open
[19:48] the gate no matter what,
[19:50] you know you're safe.
[19:53] No matter how realistic the threats
[19:55] might be. In other words, you're not
[19:56] going to attack.
[19:57] Then elephant has no choice but to calm
[19:59] down.
[20:01] It will have to calm down.
[20:05] Um
[20:07] So, why have I declared that? So, so the
[20:09] Buddha declared the four noble truths
[20:11] basically and then he says, why have I
[20:12] declared that? Well, because it's
[20:13] beneficial, belongs to the fundamental
[20:15] of the holy life, leads to
[20:16] disenchantment, to dispassion, to
[20:18] cessation, to peace, to direct
[20:20] knowledge, to enlightenment, to nirvana.
[20:23] That's why I've declared it.
[20:26] So, if you stop giving in to
[20:29] management's
[20:30] psychologizing, especially when you're
[20:32] aware of the choice, you know, I don't
[20:34] mean like
[20:35] you know, you catch yourself drifting
[20:37] into these mental patterns, when you
[20:39] catch yourself,
[20:41] you still see the pressure there as the
[20:43] main push towards this, do you say,
[20:46] "Aha, this is the level I have to
[20:48] emphasize and stay with?"
[20:50] Or do you say,
[20:51] "Yeah,
[20:52] that's not as important. Let me follow
[20:54] through wherever my mind is taking me
[20:56] because it's just I need to know."
[21:01] So, when you're aware of those moments,
[21:03] if you keep choosing rightly,
[21:06] the pressure will lessen eventually
[21:07] because you're not inadvertently fueling
[21:09] it.
[21:13] So, therefore, Malunkyaputta, remember
[21:14] what I left undeclared is undeclared.
[21:17] Remember what I declared is declared.
[21:19] And that also corresponds to the the you
[21:21] know, the other
[21:22] um the other way that sotapatti is
[21:24] described in the suttas was
[21:26] uh a monk knows beneficial as beneficial
[21:28] and unbeneficial as unbeneficial. You
[21:30] could say it a monk knows declared as
[21:33] declared and why it was declared.
[21:35] You know, as pertaining to the actual
[21:37] training of the mind that leads to
[21:39] nibbana, and he knows everything else
[21:41] that does not pertain to that
[21:44] as unbeneficial
[21:47] as undeclared.
[21:50] So, that is what the Blessed One said,
[21:52] and Venerable Malunkyaputta was
[21:53] satisfied and delighted in his words.
[22:00] Um
[22:02] So, yeah, the few points uh
[22:04] on the base of the sutta that that I
[22:05] asked people to consider is So, what
[22:07] what do these views have um
[22:09] all in common? Um I kind of answered
[22:11] that.
[22:12] They are They do pertain to these
[22:14] external standpoints in regard to your
[22:16] own experience either through
[22:17] affirmation or denial of the world world
[22:19] and the senses and so on.
[22:22] Um
[22:24] And yeah, I answered the second one as
[22:25] well. So, how to apply the principle of
[22:29] undeclared matters to remain undeclared.
[22:31] So,
[22:33] unbeneficial, unimportant matters
[22:36] to stay unimportant despite your craving
[22:39] and need and mental habits of making it
[22:42] important.
[22:44] Oh, but if I only figure this out before
[22:46] you commit to the path of figuring it
[22:48] out, it's like, why?
[22:51] Here and now,
[22:52] what is my intention? Where is my
[22:54] intention rooted? Intention to figure
[22:55] this out, where is it rooted?
[22:57] Is it rooted in genuine recognition that
[22:59] this is something worth knowing?
[23:01] Or is it rooted in the irrational
[23:03] tendency of escaping the discomfort of
[23:06] the pressure and by any means?
[23:10] What is the driving force behind?
[23:13] And you know, you don't really need to
[23:15] dig deep to find the answer. It's
[23:16] already obvious. You would already know,
[23:18] like the fact that you you're kind of
[23:21] compelled repeatedly to go in that
[23:23] direction means, "Oh, it's coming out of
[23:25] the pressure."
[23:26] So, until the pressure lessens, I refuse
[23:28] to think about these things that the
[23:30] mind is trying to get me involved with.
[23:32] And instead, I'll keep keep keep the
[23:35] keep basically the perspective. Keep the
[23:37] samadhi in regard to the pressure.
[23:39] Keep my composure there and not lose the
[23:42] sight of it cuz that's the entry point.
[23:46] Then sure, as I said, if there is no
[23:47] pressure, no compulsion, no craving
[23:49] involved and you want to think about
[23:51] these things, sure, go ahead. But then
[23:53] you'll see it's going to feel very
[23:54] differently cuz it's not done for the
[23:55] same reasons.
[24:00] So, what is the most immediate reason
[24:01] why nibbana is beneficial?
[24:03] Why does the knowledge of the world is
[24:05] not?
[24:06] Uh
[24:07] well, yeah, the short answer is
[24:08] dispassion.
[24:10] Passion's root of all problems.
[24:14] Perpetuates perpetuates craving and
[24:16] tanha and everything else. So,
[24:20] dispassion
[24:22] if adhered to
[24:24] practiced and cultivated
[24:27] would
[24:29] make basically
[24:31] impossible for craving to remain.
[24:37] Like if you are not actively choosing
[24:40] passionate intentions and acting out of
[24:42] them
[24:44] you are completely shrinking the basis
[24:46] for the perpetuation of your own
[24:47] craving, which is the root of all
[24:49] suffering.
[24:56] Um
[24:58] then uh
[25:00] a couple of more questions. So, how
[25:02] might a person stop
[25:05] how to stop from delighting in the
[25:06] views?
[25:07] Well, you can't stop the delight
[25:09] directly.
[25:12] Like you can't just say, "Okay, stop
[25:14] delighting in this." cuz it's not on the
[25:16] level of that level of choice.
[25:18] So, you stop it how I was describing it.
[25:20] When you catch yourself
[25:22] delighting in the views, in
[25:24] proliferations,
[25:25] in psychologizations, explanations,
[25:28] whatever,
[25:31] you contain your expression of it. So,
[25:34] it's like you still might want to do it.
[25:35] You still might have strong delight
[25:37] towards doing it, but you say, "No."
[25:39] In the same sense you say no to sights,
[25:41] sounds, smells, tastes, touches, well,
[25:43] you say no to these thoughts.
[25:45] And then you stay with the pressure. You
[25:47] still see what you you you know already,
[25:49] as I was saying before. When you when
[25:51] you refuse to give the center stage,
[25:53] it's not that these things magically
[25:54] disappear, and they're not supposed
[25:56] cuz you know you you know if you were to
[25:58] allow it, you know exactly what thoughts
[25:59] would return. You know exactly what what
[26:01] you would be thinking about. So,
[26:03] there is still the knowledge of that
[26:05] orientation. It's not it's not gone
[26:07] through through restraint. It's just
[26:08] curbed and contained.
[26:11] Um
[26:14] And then the second question is um
[26:16] having understood the implications of
[26:18] Nirvana and its direction,
[26:21] why might a person be reluctant to
[26:24] clarify the goal further? Why would a
[26:26] noble disciple drag their feet?
[26:29] Uh well, I guess it depends on the noble
[26:31] disciple, but um I think broadly
[26:34] speaking, I think the main the few main
[26:36] reasons would be
[26:38] well, being content
[26:40] with like
[26:41] you know, not being hit by the second
[26:43] arrow
[26:44] of suffering, as that arrow sutta says.
[26:47] In other words,
[26:48] knowing the escape from the arisen
[26:50] discomfort and the pressure without
[26:52] needing or have any kind of remaining
[26:55] tendency to do something about it.
[26:58] In the in the old ways, you know, to
[27:00] manage to to to resist to
[27:02] to to to twitch and scream, which kind
[27:04] of was making it worse.
[27:06] So, that in and of itself it's already
[27:07] quite a liberating knowledge.
[27:09] Of sort of a So,
[27:11] and, you know,
[27:13] everything else then becomes kind of
[27:17] uh insignificant, including sensuality.
[27:20] You know, that's why like
[27:21] um sensuality in the sutras it's called
[27:23] like weakener of wisdom.
[27:26] But, it's not the direct problem, so to
[27:28] speak. It's the It perpetuates
[27:30] ignorance, perpetuates lust, which is
[27:32] what perpetuates the direct problem.
[27:34] But, for somebody who has say withdrawn
[27:35] enough withdrawn from the hindrances
[27:37] enough develop the right view understood
[27:39] it
[27:40] uh then sensuality is seen as like sure,
[27:43] like a
[27:44] secondary minor weakness, so to speak,
[27:47] but it's not really like um
[27:50] as impeding as before. That's why like,
[27:53] you know, many noble disciples would
[27:54] return back home and and enjoy the
[27:56] central pleasures as the sutra says
[27:59] and not lose their their their insight,
[28:01] but they wouldn't be actively practicing
[28:03] because obviously choosing the pathway
[28:04] of sensuality is incompatible with
[28:07] choosing the pathway of renunciation,
[28:09] which is a necessary basis for the
[28:10] middle way.
[28:11] Uh but so they would be content with
[28:13] what they understood.
[28:15] But, even then, you know, there were
[28:17] cases in the sutras where like Mahanama
[28:18] asked the Buddha, "Yeah, you know,
[28:20] the Dhamma is so clear all the time, but
[28:22] sometimes, you know, lust comes so
[28:23] strongly and and I can't remember
[28:25] anything and my mind is just overpowered
[28:27] with lust." And then the Buddha told
[28:29] him, "Yeah, well, because you still
[28:30] haven't given up the kind of uh
[28:32] engagement with senses beforehand.
[28:33] You're not You know, you're not
[28:35] withdrawing it, so you will expect
[28:37] some extent of flooding of that mind.
[28:39] Never to the point of, you know, losing
[28:41] the right view or something,
[28:43] but certainly to the point of,
[28:46] you know,
[28:47] mind becoming agitated or this or that
[28:50] with lust or ill will, especially for
[28:52] noble disciple is more and more and more
[28:54] careless,
[28:55] and then that would be felt more acutely
[28:58] than if it were to happen to sotapanna.
[29:01] Because if somebody who just lives in a
[29:03] completely just like a pig sty of a
[29:05] room,
[29:07] you know, adding another
[29:08] piece of
[29:10] uh or something not really going to
[29:11] make a big difference.
[29:14] But for somebody whose room is already
[29:16] cleaned and cleansed and air is fresh,
[29:19] adding even a tiny bit will really stick
[29:21] out and be quite shocking in a way.
[29:25] And that's what the Buddha meant in the
[29:26] suttas when he says like noble disciples
[29:27] going to get careless and then, you
[29:29] know, they revert to the low life or do
[29:32] things out of greed or aversion and so
[29:34] on, and then they experience like death
[29:36] and deadly suffering on account of the
[29:38] state of mind that they have to endure
[29:39] now on account of those actions.
[29:43] It would feel like that.
[29:45] So that's what would send people back
[29:46] into the training, basically, which is
[29:48] why also the suttas would say that, like
[29:50] when a noble disciple recognizes
[29:52] the fault or the breach of the precepts
[29:54] and confesses it, that's the growth in
[29:56] the training of the noble disciple. In
[29:59] other words, that actually propels him
[30:00] to nibanna more.
[30:02] Obviously it would have been better if
[30:03] it were not done, but um
[30:06] so usually it's that kind of complacency
[30:08] that would make a noble disciple not
[30:10] really push further
[30:12] for nibanna
[30:13] because the right view, the stand point
[30:16] that rightly represents nibanna, which
[30:17] is what right view is,
[30:19] again, it's quite satisfying as a view,
[30:21] and it certainly makes you to a great
[30:24] great extent untouchable by the
[30:25] suffering.
[30:27] Um so for as long as you are
[30:30] uh
[30:30] satisfied with that, you won't make the
[30:32] effort, but as I said, if you kind of
[30:36] don't go too far back in the lay
[30:38] direction or or lay actions,
[30:42] novelty of the right view would wear
[30:43] out.
[30:45] It would become normal, and then you
[30:47] would be looking further as in like,
[30:49] okay, how do I free myself even more
[30:52] because
[30:53] obviously this is not enough.
[30:55] And that's also why the Buddha would
[30:56] often
[30:58] um
[30:59] you know, instruct, inspire, uh evoke
[31:02] sense of urgency in the monks
[31:04] because he says, why? Because there is
[31:06] still work that could be done and you
[31:08] should do it. So, only he would only not
[31:11] basically would stop harassing the monks
[31:12] that that did the work cuz they have
[31:14] nothing else to do. They can rest, they
[31:16] can put their feet up, do whatever they
[31:17] want.
[31:18] Um
[31:20] everybody else because there's work to
[31:22] be done, he will keep saying, do the
[31:24] work.
[31:25] Um
[31:27] so so yeah, I think that's I think in
[31:30] some cases in the suttas, another
[31:32] probably reason for why noble disciples
[31:34] say didn't go forth or went back to
[31:36] sensualities cuz they obviously had
[31:38] dependencies, you know, parents,
[31:41] spouses, children, and if they left,
[31:43] they would have like died or something.
[31:46] It was kind of more severe. So, it was
[31:47] like they had to go back because of that
[31:49] and then because of that they kind of
[31:52] reverted back to sensuality and so on
[31:54] and had to learn how to be content with
[31:56] the right view and not practice further.
[32:00] Would this existence continuation of
[32:02] life have
[32:03] has to mean something also.
[32:07] >> [snorts]
[32:07] >> Aha, would this existence of life has to
[32:10] mean something
[32:12] also be a speculative view?
[32:14] Uh
[32:15] well, yeah.
[32:16] Yeah, very much so.
[32:18] Um
[32:20] see that whole kind of implication
[32:22] that there is more outside of this,
[32:25] outside of what I'm perceiving
[32:27] outside of what I'm feeling. Well,
[32:29] that's already an external standpoint.
[32:32] And if you examine it further, you would
[32:33] see
[32:35] what does your external standpoint in
[32:39] prioritize? Let's put it that way.
[32:41] Is it putting that assumed external
[32:43] world first?
[32:45] Or is it putting your, you know,
[32:47] internal dimension of it first?
[32:49] Which means it's going to be either
[32:51] affirming the world overly so, or
[32:53] denying it overly so by affirming the
[32:55] opposite.
[32:57] Uh in both cases,
[32:59] you are taking an external standpoint
[33:00] that's not being questioned, and because
[33:02] of that lack of transparency,
[33:05] there is no middle way. There is no
[33:07] middle ground where middle way can be
[33:08] discerned.
[33:10] Um
[33:11] I don't know, along the same lines of an
[33:13] assumption a greater meaning to save me
[33:16] from this experience here.
[33:18] That's the same with sensuality, right?
[33:20] Some external [snorts] sense object that
[33:22] can save me from this pain and desire.
[33:23] Some external relief to save me from
[33:26] this agitation. Yeah, some external
[33:27] answer
[33:29] to save me from the confinement,
[33:31] uh to prevent me from future
[33:33] experiencing the same. It's It's always
[33:35] like like going too far
[33:38] because you don't want to stay on that
[33:40] middle ground. And that's what I said
[33:41] before, and even now, [clears throat]
[33:44] the example I gave with like pressure.
[33:47] And when you become self-aware of that
[33:49] choice
[33:50] to continue proliferation, it's like,
[33:52] "Oh, no, I shouldn't do that. Let me
[33:54] stay with the pressure just just the way
[33:56] it is."
[33:57] Uh
[33:58] it's not even
[34:00] terribly unpleasant. You know, it's not
[34:02] like
[34:03] unbearable type of pain where you're
[34:05] just losing your mind on account of it
[34:07] or something. You have no room for any
[34:09] reflection or perception. No, it's just
[34:12] particularly unpleasant.
[34:16] In a certain way that you're not used
[34:18] to.
[34:20] And that's why it's particularly hard to
[34:22] do it.
[34:24] And that's why nobody can accidentally
[34:26] become a sotapanna because nobody can
[34:28] accidentally choose to stay with that
[34:31] particularly uncomfortable in a specific
[34:33] way, level.
[34:38] But, with enough learning, and you
[34:41] recognize the value of it to of staying
[34:43] with it,
[34:44] then, yes, sure. It's uncomfortable.
[34:47] It's uncertain.
[34:49] Doubtful. All these things are basically
[34:51] the ways of of the mind trying to get
[34:53] you away from it. But, by any measure
[34:56] of,
[34:57] you know, [snorts] threshold of
[34:57] suffering, it's not really
[35:01] unbearably, kind of unthinkably,
[35:04] unpleasant.
[35:07] And that's why, again, the the the whole
[35:09] practice does not need to involve a
[35:12] great deal of suffering. The right
[35:14] practice does not need to involve
[35:17] torture,
[35:18] uh asceticism,
[35:20] like extreme levels of like like like,
[35:23] you know,
[35:24] just bearing
[35:26] of of discomfort and pain.
[35:31] But, it needs to involve bearing the
[35:33] discomfort of that middle ground, of
[35:35] that ambiguous, non-defined,
[35:38] that always feels like lacks answers,
[35:40] lacks clarity, that always pushes you
[35:42] away from it. You But, you just you just
[35:43] clarify. Just clarify.
[35:46] That's basically craving. That's what
[35:47] chitta does to you.
[35:50] And you are going with it.
[35:52] Uh but, if you learn to stay with that,
[35:55] contain it rightly,
[35:57] calm the chitta within that, not let it
[36:00] spill out,
[36:01] yeah? You can get the right view or
[36:04] develop it even further without needing
[36:06] to be, you know,
[36:08] being on the verge of death
[36:11] due to your, you know, ascetic practices
[36:13] and strong determinations and so on.
[36:16] Uh
[36:17] But, as I said, this that particular
[36:19] level, the right level,
[36:21] is um
[36:22] is not something you could just adhere
[36:24] to on account of
[36:26] a determination that's rooted in
[36:28] external standpoint.
[36:31] Any other practice you can. Even to the
[36:32] point of you could starve yourself to
[36:34] death like giants did.
[36:36] On account of the non-transparent
[36:38] intention that's rooted in the external
[36:40] standpoint of this is the right thing to
[36:42] do.
[36:44] And you could blindly adhere to it and
[36:45] put up with a great deal of discomfort
[36:47] and not give in.
[36:50] And still remain as ignorant as before.
[36:54] But if instead of taking up your
[36:56] standpoints and determinations
[36:58] in that intoxicating sense,
[37:01] inspirational sense, you question
[37:03] everything including that.
[37:06] You are cultivating the uncertainty,
[37:08] which is what Nibbana is.
[37:10] Cuz uncertainty mean is is not a fertile
[37:12] ground for the sense of control.
[37:14] The uncertainty it's not a fertile
[37:16] ground for a for a sense of external
[37:18] standpoints that are assuring in and of
[37:20] themselves.
[37:23] And if you cultivate it rightly and
[37:24] enduringly rightly in the nectar, all
[37:26] these things they were basically
[37:29] uh uh fettering you.
[37:31] Your your attavada again,
[37:34] measured and and and perpetuated through
[37:36] acting out the sense of control.
[37:39] Needing to or or holding a view that
[37:42] performing practices will purify you,
[37:44] silabbata paramasa, and doubt.
[37:47] Doubt that always tries to push you back
[37:49] onto the external standpoint or an
[37:50] answer or reaction.
[37:52] Because you don't want to endure the
[37:53] state of mind behind it.
[37:56] Those fetters will fall off.
[37:59] If you train rightly in regard to
[38:00] uncertainty, nothing else.
[38:03] But in order to train rightly in regard
[38:04] to uncertainty, you have to have
[38:06] contained your mind rightly because that
[38:08] will be your safety net.
[38:11] Because again, depending on how wild
[38:13] your mind is, and I would suspect most
[38:15] people's minds are pretty wild.
[38:18] Even like, you know, if you're generally
[38:20] decent, tamed, restrained person,
[38:23] you have not been exposing your mind to
[38:26] internal confinement on account of you
[38:28] uh uh imposing that as a training. So,
[38:32] so the mind will freak out.
[38:34] >> [clears throat]
[38:34] >> To what extent it freaks out? Well,
[38:37] it depends I suppose it depends on how
[38:39] quickly you would do it, how quickly you
[38:40] would confine it.
[38:41] If you do it more gradually,
[38:43] maybe it will be
[38:46] not so sharp.
[38:48] So, so the point is to just like, "Okay,
[38:51] so
[38:53] the precepts, things that I know will
[38:55] not do cuz I've been training in them
[38:58] is my broadest possible context context
[39:01] when the mind gets
[39:03] too freaked out, too enraged, too
[39:05] overwhelmed with doubt or hindrances, I
[39:08] don't let it spill out
[39:10] and maintain the like knowledge,
[39:11] perception, recollection of things that
[39:13] I won't do.
[39:14] And then the mind calms down once, calms
[39:16] down twice, three times, 300 times.
[39:21] And then it sinks in to you and to the
[39:23] mind that, "Oh, look,
[39:26] whatever has the nature of arising, I
[39:28] whatever has mind come up with,
[39:31] it's subject to the same cessation cuz
[39:33] it came from the mind. I didn't have to
[39:35] do anything on account of it.
[39:39] I didn't have to psychologize, I didn't
[39:41] have to find the right answers. I just
[39:43] needed to stick with not doing of
[39:45] certain things
[39:46] until this wild thing just sat down and
[39:49] calmed down.
[39:53] So, that's how you eventually get to
[39:54] understand that, "Oh, yeah,
[39:56] the the impermanence, I the uh
[39:59] unownability
[40:01] of things.
[40:03] Your whole sense of ownership, control,
[40:05] involvement was basically an attempt of
[40:08] escaping
[40:10] uh or or at least deluding yourself in
[40:12] escaping the confinement that you
[40:14] experienced the moment the mind came up
[40:16] with some sort of pressure.
[40:19] Whether it's pressure towards more
[40:20] pleasure or or less pain or indolence,
[40:24] it was it was a confinement and all of
[40:26] your acts were
[40:27] concerned
[40:29] with avoiding it.
[40:33] >> [clears throat]
[40:35] >> Um
[40:36] Next question, what about the question
[40:38] of whether rebirth exists?
[40:42] Did the Buddha not leave it out because
[40:44] you motivated
[40:46] people to practice?
[40:47] Well, sure. If people have
[40:51] don't have a problem with the view that
[40:53] rebirth exists,
[40:56] yeah, it helps.
[40:59] Just gives you even a bigger picture
[41:00] that you're already getting on account
[41:02] of this life.
[41:04] You know, as I was asking
[41:06] uh
[41:07] in that old talk on samsara, that short
[41:09] talk, and I said like, if somebody would
[41:11] talk for you deal now
[41:13] to go through your life again,
[41:16] exactly it was, but without any memory
[41:18] of it,
[41:20] would you take it? Would you want to go
[41:21] through it again?
[41:24] And I remember most people in the
[41:25] comments were like, not a chance. No,
[41:27] no, not a chance.
[41:32] And it's like, so it's already an
[41:33] ordeal.
[41:34] So now multiply that by infinity.
[41:37] Infinity of times.
[41:39] It puts even more weight
[41:45] onto this situation, onto this
[41:47] puts even more weight onto your choice
[41:50] when you become aware.
[41:52] Do you
[41:54] restrain and stay with the pressure?
[41:56] Or do you put it second and choose to
[41:59] satisfy the mental craving?
[42:03] But then, you know, you have people that
[42:06] um refuse to think about rebirth or
[42:09] dismiss it or whatever. That's also
[42:11] fine.
[42:12] Because as I said, you don't need
[42:14] rebirth to prove that this life is
[42:16] already a burden,
[42:18] a chore,
[42:20] an ordeal,
[42:21] and
[42:22] fueled by ignorance and craving.
[42:24] So, that's why in other suttas where the
[42:26] the Buddha did say like to people, well,
[42:29] you don't know whether there is rebirth
[42:30] or not, but what you can know is that
[42:33] um certain actions matter.
[42:36] Matter in this life, and if there is a
[42:37] next life, great.
[42:40] You win there as well.
[42:42] But actions of restraint,
[42:44] actions of taming your mind, not
[42:47] following sensuality, not acting out of
[42:49] ill will,
[42:50] are actions that are verifiable in this
[42:52] life as beneficial if you give it some
[42:54] time, if you're patient with it.
[43:00] So, that's that's enough for the
[43:02] practice. I know even in my own case, I
[43:04] never really thought about rebirth. I
[43:06] completely like
[43:07] I don't think I didn't like dismiss it,
[43:09] you know, or try to like, well, I've I
[43:11] shall practice or not practice if you
[43:13] prove to me that rebirth exists or
[43:14] doesn't exist. Well, that would be like
[43:16] Malunkyaputta.
[43:18] I just I just say I just saw it
[43:19] completely relevant. Like, I don't
[43:21] really care.
[43:22] What I care is that for as long as I
[43:24] live, I don't want to be even in a
[43:26] position where I could be touched by
[43:28] suffering of any shape or form.
[43:33] And when you pair that with the
[43:34] recognition that everything you were
[43:36] doing up to that point, everything that
[43:38] people do and continue to do,
[43:40] is rooted in avoiding suffering,
[43:42] basically, avoiding pressure. Then you
[43:44] realize, oh, well, this is pretty much
[43:46] the only thing worth doing in this life.
[43:49] Even if there is no life afterwards,
[43:51] it's still a win-win in this life.
[43:54] Because everything that people do is for
[43:56] the same reason.
[43:57] They're just unaware that whatever
[43:59] they're doing about is actually
[44:01] perpetuating the problem,
[44:03] not solving it.
[44:05] It's like through purification of your
[44:07] virtue,
[44:09] taming your senses rightly,
[44:11] uh you purify the samadhi.
[44:14] You actually develop samadhi and
[44:15] composure rightly.
[44:17] Through purification of that samadhi,
[44:19] you purify the views.
[44:21] So, through
[44:23] maintaining your composure in face of
[44:27] wrongly emphasized choices that are
[44:29] still waiting there to be picked up, but
[44:31] you maintain the composure on account of
[44:32] your learning and faith and sense
[44:34] restraint practice before that.
[44:37] Those views are evaporating. They're
[44:39] diminishing.
[44:41] They're losing their power.
[44:44] So, through purification of virtue, you
[44:45] purify samadhi that then purifies
[44:49] the views.
[44:50] So, then there will be no more
[44:51] obstructing views even if you never got
[44:53] the answer to any of your really
[44:55] pressing views and and and ways of
[44:57] management that you needed before.
[44:59] Because you realize the the the
[45:02] the the driving force behind any need
[45:04] for any answer before was
[45:06] unresolved suffering here and now. Not
[45:09] knowing the escape from it.
[45:11] You were concerned with everything else
[45:12] but with the arrow.
[45:16] And that's why again in the suttas, some
[45:18] monks and nuns didn't really need
[45:22] any elaboration on the basic
[45:23] instruction.
[45:27] And they became arahants.
[45:30] Because they practiced it out of faith.
[45:34] And any other speculative pressure that
[45:36] they needed answer to, they contained,
[45:38] they looked at the intention behind, and
[45:40] went back to the same framework and the
[45:42] same context, and purified all the
[45:44] views, and freed themselves from
[45:46] suffering
[45:47] even if they never heard about any other
[45:49] advanced aspect aspects of the
[45:51] teachings. Advanced in the sense of, you
[45:52] know,
[45:54] more elaborated with more moving parts
[45:56] and more descriptions and so on.
[45:58] You you don't have the control direct
[46:00] control over the views being there,
[46:02] but if you learn enough and recognize
[46:04] that it's your intentional picking up is
[46:07] the reason why they're returning,
[46:09] then you realize, "Okay, you have a
[46:10] control, just not the way you thought
[46:12] control worked."
[46:15] So, if you stop picking them up, they'll
[46:17] stop coming and offering themselves.
[46:22] But, that means you have to curb and
[46:24] restrain the tendency to
[46:26] deal with them or take them up or follow
[46:29] them at face value when they present
[46:30] themselves.
[46:33] So, that's the work. That's the
[46:34] diligence part.
[46:37] How can one know if they're seeing
[46:38] chittanimitta correctly?
[46:41] Um
[46:45] I'll give you some generic
[46:47] general, not generic, uh
[46:49] criteria.
[46:51] Well,
[46:52] let's put it like in the light of what
[46:54] we discussed,
[46:56] you could say
[46:58] that you're
[47:00] seeing chittanimitta correctly, the
[47:01] signs of your mind or at least going in
[47:03] the right direction,
[47:05] by being um
[47:08] more and more aware of that choice that
[47:11] I was talking about.
[47:13] And when I say more and more aware, I
[47:15] don't mean more acutely observant of it,
[47:17] but
[47:18] uh choosing rightly more and more often.
[47:22] Like, you don't even have to convince
[47:24] yourself to deemphasize
[47:26] the offered direction of proliferation
[47:27] and answers and this and that, and
[47:29] instead stay with the pressure. When
[47:31] that's becoming more normal, you know
[47:33] you're getting closer to seeing chitta
[47:35] correctly.
[47:37] You still might have, you know, uh uh
[47:39] directions for proliferations,
[47:41] temptations, uh senses, or thoughts
[47:44] offered,
[47:45] but as I said, you don't have to
[47:48] um it won't be as hard as it was before
[47:52] to pull away from that and kind of look
[47:54] at or try to discern where that pressure
[47:56] is. That's going to be already lot
[47:57] clearer that it's the pressure is the
[47:59] reason
[48:01] uh it kind of has it sank in the
[48:03] knowledge of what that signifies. You
[48:05] still might slip, you still might be
[48:06] distracted, you still might give give in
[48:08] to things and so on.
[48:10] But
[48:11] uh
[48:12] the clarity of where the root of the
[48:14] problem is, it's it's sort of narrowing
[48:16] down onto the actual pressure, the
[48:18] actual state of chitta.
[48:20] And that's becoming more and more normal
[48:21] for you to see and not even to have to
[48:24] like go through the motions to remember.
[48:26] It's already implied simply through
[48:27] pressure arises, you're already seeing
[48:30] it less incorrectly than before and you
[48:32] will know that by by if you compare with
[48:35] the
[48:36] tendency to choose and then emphasize
[48:38] wrongly, you would see that diminishing.
[48:41] Not that the pressure is somehow
[48:43] magically resolved, but the tendency to
[48:45] escape from it, it's diminishing.
[48:49] That's already a form of chittanimitta
[48:50] and getting closer to it. That's why
[48:52] again, chittanimitta can only come on a
[48:54] kind of training in virtue containing
[48:56] the pressure rightly enduring in the
[48:57] right level with patient endurance, not
[49:00] on the level of I'll do this or that or
[49:03] figure it out or perform this and then
[49:05] the nimittas, the signs will just
[49:07] magically kind of come as some sort of
[49:09] Nostradamus
[49:11] uh uh uh
[49:12] prophecies and project and and and
[49:14] images and perceptions. It's like, no,
[49:16] it's the very pressure that you're
[49:17] overlooking, that's the chitta you are
[49:19] overlooking.
[49:20] So lacking the signs and understandings
[49:23] and and and and aspects of that pressure
[49:25] that you're overlooking means you are
[49:26] lacking the chittanimittas.
