From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=QNpJdG01shw
Context: Throughout this transcript, Bhante Vimalaramsi is the speaker unless otherwise indicated.
good evening welcome to Dhamma sukha
Meditation Center this evening Bond TV
malarum C will be giving the Dhamma talk
on the majima nakiya number one one one
the ANU pada suta one by one as they
occur and the date here is May the 26th
2013 okay that's what I heard on one
occasion the blessed one was living in
Swati in jeta's grove anathapindika's
park there he addressed the monks thus
monks venerable sir they replied the
Blessed One said this monks sorry puta
is wise sorry puta has great wisdom
sorry puta has wide wisdom
sorry puta has joyous wisdom sorry puta
has quick wisdom
sorry puta has keen wisdom sorry puta
has penetrative wisdom anytime you hear
the words wise or wisdom is talking
about dependent origination
that's what being wise is knowing
dependent origination during half a
month monk sorry puta gained insight in
two states one by one as they occurred
now sorry Buddha's insight in two states
one by one as they occurred was this
here monks quite secluded from sensual
pleasures secluded from unwholesome
states
sorry puta entered upon and abided in
the first jhana which is accompanied by
thinking and examining thought with joy
and happiness born of seclusion and the
states in the first jhana
the thinking the examining thought the
joy the happiness the unification of
mine the contact feeling perception
formations and mind this is the five
aggregates the five aggregates and the
four foundations of mindfulness are just
different ways of talking about the same
thing okay so anytime there's any
mention of the the five aggregates while
you're in jhana it's also saying these
are the four foundations of mindfulness
while you are in the jhana the
enthusiasm decision energy mindfulness
equanimity and attention these states
were defined by him one by one as they
occurred known to him those states arose
known there were present known they
disappeared so he's talking about seeing
impermanence while you're in the jhana
he understood thus so indeed these
states not having been come into being
having been they vanished regarding
those states he abided unattracted he
didn't hold on to anything I'm repelled
he didn't push anything away independent
detached free dissociated that's all
talking about different aspects of anata
of the impersonal nature of this whole
process with a mind rid of barriers
he understood there's an escape beyond
and with the cultivation of that
attainment he he confirmed that there is
one of the reasons that the hindrances
are so important in the practice is
because they are showing you where your
attachments are they're showing you very
clearly where you have this personal
belief in herself these arise because of
breaking precepts at some point in the
past you might ever know what the reason
was for the breaking of the precept you
might not remember because it was five
lifetimes ago and now it manifests it
can be it can be like that but the
hindrances are your best friend the
hindrances show you exactly where your
attachment is and as you use the six R's
and you let it be and you relax and
smile and come back to your object to
meditation that hindrance starts to get
a little bit weaker and a little bit
weaker until finally it fades away when
it fades away it doesn't have enough
strength to come up you are able to or
you will feel a sense of relief you've
let go of an attachment that's quite
nice and then you have joy arising the
joy that arises is it only the only
meditation Joy's that arise are - one of
them is called uplifting joy we're going
to feel very light in your body light in
your
you're staying on your object of
meditation but you feel very good very
light the other kind is called
all-pervading joy and that's just joy
just kind of bubbling out out of every
cell in your entire body it doesn't have
quite as much excitement in it it's just
a real happy feeling and this is the
kind of joy that you experience with the
awakening factors so when you you feel
the relief when you let go of an
attachment then you have this joy arise
at first it's going to be the uplifting
joy feel real light and that will fade
away by itself now if you try to make
the joy last longer you'll make it go
away very quickly you stay with your
object to meditation and allow the joy
to be there for as long as it wants to
be there right after that you have a
very strong feeling of tranquility and
ease in your body and in your mind your
mind just kind of stays on your object
of meditation without much effort at all
you can still have thoughts and there
can still be a little bit of distraction
that starts to pull your attention away
but your mindfulness is sharp at that
time so you'll be able to six art
immediately and come back and you have
the unification of mind your mind is
very much unified but not in a rigid way
in a very natural way and Pali they call
it ACOG at
and there they're always talking about
one pointed concentration when they're
talking about e cogito but actually iike
gah
means tranquil tranquility so you can
say your mind is unified you can say
your mind is very tranquil or you can
say it's very collected I like the word
collected the best because that
encompasses all of those your mind is
composed your mind stays on your object
of meditation without over concentrating
okay
again monks with the stilling of
thinking and examining thought sari puta
entered upon and abided in the second
drama which has self-confidence and
stillness of mind without thinking and
examining thought with joy and happiness
born of collectiveness when you get to
the second drama the second drama is the
one the the drama that's called noble
silence because you let go of the mental
verbalizing and your mind becomes very
still and at ease and with that you
start to get confidence and you start
thinking yeah I think I know what I'm
doing here this this really it works it
makes sense so you have a lot of
confidence and that carries over into
your daily activities too you start to
have more confidence in everything that
you're doing the joy you experience is
much stronger and you feel like you're
starting to float now in Indonesia we
had two people that actually did they
floated we didn't tell you about that
when did we
and it's because of the joy it's because
of the the uplifting feeling when that
fades away you feel the tranquility is
stronger you're able to stay on your
object of meditation for a longer period
of time
so it's a real a real nice state to be
in
and the states in the second jhana the
self-confidence the joy the happiness
the unification of mine the contact
feeling perception formations and mine
there's the four foundations of
mindfulness again that's the five
aggregates the reason they use the word
contact instead of body is because when
you get up into the higher dramas you
don't feel your body unless there is
contact so that's why they did this the
enthusiasm decision energy mindfulness
equanimity and attention these states
were defined by him one by one as they
occurred known to him the states arose
known they were present known they
disappeared he understood there still
more to do and with the cultivation of
that attainment he confirmed that there
is so you know that you're progressing
you're starting to get pretty happy with
your progress because you're actually
seeing some it's pretty amazing because
when I was I practiced straight
Vipassana for twenty years and the first
retreat I think I experienced joy one
time but the teacher didn't really
understand what I was experiencing it
because I couldn't explain it very well
and
with straight Vipassana you have a
tendency to get very serious with your
practice and you have a tendency to put
too much energy and too much effort into
your practice this will all happen very
nicely by itself you don't have to quote
make it happen all you have to do is
stay on your object of meditation and
6ar and keep backing away
don't push to make anything happen if
you start pushing you start to get a
little restless when you get restless
then you get frustrated then you have
doubt come up all of those so the the
biggest test for you with the meditation
at first is how well you can back away
and still watch without trying to
control without trying to make anything
in particular happen so it's it gets to
be a real interesting practice because
you feel and in just a couple of days
you feel like you're starting to
progress when I practice straight
Vipassana the first retreat I did after
a month I was wondering if there was
ever going to be any progress after a
month
and even to this day when I go and talk
to people that practice straight through
pass onna and tell them that in two or
three days they can have real progress
they don't believe it I mean I have some
friends in the Vipassana community that
have been doing it for 30 or 35 years
and they still they're stuck they've hit
a plateau every year they do a retreat
sometimes a month or so and they they
have this preconceived idea of what
they're supposed to be experiencing so
that's all they experience and if if you
were to stay here for a month I would be
hard-pressed to give you any more than I
can give you in two weeks it's just you
need to do the practice that's all
again with the fading away of joy
sorry puta abided in equanimity mindful
and fully aware still feeling happiness
with the body he entered upon and abided
in the third round on account of which
noble ones announced he has a pleasant
abiding who has equanimity and is
mindful when you get to the third jhana
you don't experience joy anymore but you
feel very comfortable in your mind and
in your body and if there's a sound it's
not going to make your mind shake you
just hear it and it's there and you
don't pay much attention to it as you
let go of tension in your mind you start
to let go of tension in your body when
you let go of tension in your body you
start to lose sensation in your body
like you're sitting and you don't feel
your hands or your leg just disappears
or a shoulder or whatever this is a
natural process if there's contact you
will feel it but you're not going to
have the aches and pains coming up so
much
eventually you get to a place where the
the radiation and your heart disappears
in your heart and it comes up into your
head when that happens you don't want to
push it back down you want to let it
stay in your head and you tell me tell
me about that in in the interview and
I'll give you other instructions the
third jhana is definitely a very nice
jhana to be in because you have full
awareness of everything around you you
will hear the clock but if you don't pay
attention to it it doesn't matter
whether it's there or not you will still
hear sounds around you you will still be
able to feel if there's a bugger and
said and said insect walking on you but
your mind is very still your mind is
peaceful and this is where you start
sitting for a little bit longer periods
of times you can sit as long as your
meditation is good sit as long as you're
comfortable with it now if you start
sitting longer and you get up and start
doing your walking meditation walk at a
normal pace but walk longer walk 400
30 minutes 40 minutes like that
so you get some exercise and you get
some your blood circulating that's
that's a real good thing and that helps
your meditation but you want to make
sure that you stay with your object of
meditation while you're doing your
walking 6r if there's any distraction
now have you have you been giving them
daily activities okay when your daily
activities you're doing your daily
activities please stay with your
spiritual friend or well stay with your
object of meditation let's put it that
way it doesn't matter what you're doing
it doesn't matter if you're walking or
sitting or going to the bathroom or
eating or doing your your chore in the
day whatever it happens to be stay with
your object of meditation keep it going
all the time and this is one of the
reasons that I want you to keep
practicing smiling the more you smile
the easier it is to recognize when
you're not and that improves your
mindfulness infinity
and like I said last night I get
criticized for telling people to smile
and it's it's actually kind of funny
because the meditation is about having
wholesome states arise and what kind of
wholesome states do you have when you
have a grumpy face right but it's a
natural expression to be light and when
you're doing this practice and smiling
with your mind and in your heart and
with your face it's a real important
aspect of the teaching that's why the
Buddha said were the happy ones right so
okay these states were defined by him
one by one as they occurred known to him
those states arose known they were
present known me disappeared he
understood there's still more to do and
with the cultivation of that attainment
he confirmed that there is again monks
with the abandoning of pleasure and pain
with the previous disappearance of joy
and grief sorry puta entered upon and
abided in the fourth jhana which has
neither pain nor pleasure and purity of
mindfulness due to equanimity when you
get to the fourth jhana you will not
feel your body at all unless there's
contact and the equanimity that you
experience is very strong your mind is
just so when you when you get to the
fourth jhana come and talk to me and I
will change your your meditation a
little bit
the equanimity the fourth jhana there's
actually four different aspects of the
fourth jhana and these are called the
Aruba jhanas and that is and we'll go
over these that is infinite space
infinite consciousness nothingness
neither perception nor non-perception so
there's real strong equanimity in each
one of the group pajamas because that's
part of the fourth job and the fourth
jhana is when you get to the fourth
jhana it's when I will tell you that you
are an advanced meditator so
and generally it doesn't take very long
to get into the fourth gem in a few days
and the states in the fourth drama the
equanimity the neither painful nor
pleasant feeling the mental unconcerned
due to tranquility the purity of
mindfulness unification of mine the
contact feeling perception formations
and mind the enthusiasm decision energy
mindfulness equanimity and attention
these states were defined by em one by
one as they occurred known to him those
states arose known they were present
known they disappeared
he understood there still more to do and
with the cultivation of that attainment
he confirmed that there is now one of
the one of the things that is a rather
important aspect of these different
things that sorry puto went through with
each one of the dramas is the decision
you decide as soon as you see there's a
distraction to use the six hours or you
decide not to and get caught by it so
you're making continually making a
decision and what to do a lot of people
don't like different aspects of Buddhism
because they say there's no free will
but there is free will you're making a
decision you decide as soon as you
recognize that there's a distraction you
decide what to do with it if the
distraction really catches you
then you've decided not to use the six
arters right then but to go along with
that eventually you'll decide to let go
and use the six R's so you can come back
to your object
meditation so the decision is a very
important part of what you're doing with
the meditation it's a real interesting
thing that when we first start doing the
meditation and we start getting a little
bit cocky we think we can control things
and you have to let go of the desire to
make anything in particular happen your
job as a meditator is just to observe
how mind's attention moves that's it
not to make a decision I want to sit in
misrata or that drama that's the fastest
way to make your restlessness arise you
don't want to get caught up in that so
it's a real important aspect for you to
turning the six ARS into an automatic
process
you'll get to a place you do it so much
of the time you'll get to a place where
your mind will just it will notice that
something's starting to come up and all
of a sudden it's letting go and relaxing
and coming back that's what you want to
develop do it so much that it becomes an
automatic thing as you go into the
deeper drown as it becomes quite handy
that way okay now there's some weird
ideas about the fourth jhana and people
saying that when you practice the fourth
jhana you're no longer able to breathe
your body doesn't breathe anymore
that happens with one pointed
concentration or absorption
concentration it does not happen with
this you'll breathe at a normal pace
your breath will be there so don't don't
get caught up in the different kinds of
meditation
just stay with this particular one
again monk with the complete surmounting
of gross perceptions of form with the
disappearance of gross perceptions of
sensory impact now what this is talking
about because you don't have any feeling
in your body but you still have a body
and a mosquito or an ant walks on you
you will feel it so we're talking about
fine perceptions of the body not gross
perceptions now as you go deeper into
meditation the walking meditation starts
to change a little bit and you'll get to
a place that the only place only thing
that you'll feel when you're walking is
your head and where you have contact
with your feet there's nothing in
between
unless there's contact when the wind
blows and blows your clothes a little
bit you'll feel that contact otherwise
you won't feel it it's kind of weird
actually
but it's kind of nice aware that space
is infinite
sorry food to enter it upon and abide it
in the base of infinite space now you've
been practicing loving-kindness all the
way up through the fourth jhana
the feeling of loving-kindness will
change and you your mind will become
very settled and you'll start to feel
expansion in all the directions at the
same time it's just going out and out
and how it doesn't stop this is called
infinite space and the feeling changes
to a feeling of compassion this is a
natural process you don't have to do
anything
to observe what's happening that's all
you don't have to make a determination I
want this to come up now don't have to
do that it will come up by itself as you
start to go deeper then the feeling will
change again now what you're doing when
you get up to the fourth jhana you've
been practicing loving-kindness
meditation when you start to get into
the aruba dramas the loving-kindness
meditation turns into the brahma vihara
and they happen again all by themselves
and the states in the base of infinite
space the perception of the base of
infinite space and unification of mind
the contact feeling perception for
formations and mind now you still have
the four foundations even though you're
in an a Rupa jhana the four foundations
are still there the enthusiasm decision
energy mindfulness equanimity and
attention these states were defined by
him one by one as they occurred known to
him those states arose known they were
present only disappeared he understood
there still more to go and with the
cultivation of that attainment he
confirmed that there is again by
completely surmounting the base of
infinite space aware that consciousness
is infinite sorry puta entered upon and
abided in the base of infinite
consciousness what happens is you lose
the feeling of the expansion and the
feeling of compassion turns to a feeling
of joy and this is a very toned down joy
it's not a real excited joy then at each
one of the centers you will begin to
notice that there's a kind of flickering
or blinking very very quickly at the
eyes at the ears even mind and what
you're seeing is the arising and passing
away of individual consciousnesses
that's about a hundred thousand or so
who knows but you will be able to notice
this and it's quite interesting
when you start seeing individual
consciousnesses arise and pass away
arise and pass away very very quickly
you are seeing up close in your face
impermanence and it gets kind of
tiresome seeing that because it's always
gonna be there this is a way mind works
and that is suffering
and you're going to see very very
clearly that you have no control this
stuff happens all by itself you are not
there
there's just the observation that's
there and it starts to get real
interesting especially when you're
eating or walking you seeing all of
these different consciousnesses arise
and pass away you might not notice it so
much with the nose or with taste unless
you're in the kitchen doing stuff and
the states in the base of infinite
consciousness the perception of the base
of an infinite consciousness and
unification of mind the contact feeling
perception formations and mind the
enthusiasm decision energy mindfulness
equanimity and attention these states
were defined by him one by one as they
occurred known to him those states arose
no nearer present known they disappeared
he understood there's still more to do
and with the cultivation of that
attainment he confirmed that there is
again monks by completely surmounting
the base of infinite consciousness aware
that there is nothing
sorry puta entered upon and abided in
the base of nothingness when you're
seeing the infinite infinite
consciousnesses and you tell me about
seeing those I'll say okay what's
happening in between each of those
consciousnesses tell me what that is
and eventually you'll get to a place
where mind is not looking outside of
itself anymore
like with consciousnesses it's still
looking out but now mind is just
observing mind what's happening in mind
and people complain because I've just
sitting there and watching nothing but
this actually gets to be one of the more
interesting States to get in when you
get it to nothingness you're the joy
will change to very very strong
equanimity and this is quite interesting
your object of meditation is equanimity
and radiating that to all beings you
don't radiate it it radiates itself and
if you put too much attention on the
equanimity and radiating your mind will
start to get restless and if you don't
put quite enough energy and your mind
will start to get dull and you have to
learn how to balance and you have to
learn how to adjust little tiny bits at
a time so
this particular Jonah is really good at
teaching you the right amount of energy
you need to stay with your object of
meditation and there's all kinds of
interesting things that happen in this
and you'd have to tell me about it I
won't tell you so it's it this is
probably the most fascinating stage of
meditation it's really interesting and
it's kind of fun and you have this very
strong equanimity and people will tell
me they come in and they don't have to
tell me where they are
they say how's it going and the
equanimity just kind of bubbles out of
them and I said everything is fine
it's good
so it's kind of kind of fun doing that
and the states and the base of
nothingness the perception of the base
of nothingness and the unification of
mind the contact feeling perception
formation and mind four foundations of
mindfulness are still there so the four
foundations of mindfulness will take you
all through all of the jhanas up to the
7th jhana the enthusiasm decision energy
mindfulness equanimity and attention
these states were defined by him one by
one as they occurred known to him those
states arose no never present only
disappeared he understood there is still
more and with the cultivation of that
attainment he confirmed that there is
you know when we get into the your mind
will become very settled you'll be able
to sit for an hour or hour and a half
well most most people it's just under an
hour it's like 50 minutes to an hour
without having any distraction in their
mind at all nothing pulls our attention
away there is just observing the
equanimity and radiating that then as
you go deeper you will get into a state
that's like being awake of being asleep
and being aware at the same time and
this is what is called neither
perception nor non-perception when you
get out of that state you reflect on
what happened while you were in that
state it's so subtle that you're not
able to see it but when you reflect on
it you'll be able to see there's shapes
and colors and patterns and things like
that and you need to six out of those
right after that you get into what I
call the exquisite quietness stillness
your mind is just very clear very bright
very alert and you take that mind as
your object of meditation now there
still can be some distractions but is
you'll sit for an hour hour and a half
with nothing there won't be anything
arising at all but then you'll start to
notice that there are some little tiny
vibrations that happen and as soon as
you see those vibrations u6r those
vibrations are links of dependent
origination and you're seeing them
personal you're seeing them up close
you're seeing them in personally I
should say
you'll be able to start sitting for
longer periods of time two hours three
hours four hours when you do that then
when you get up and you do your walking
I want you to walk very quickly and I
want you to walk up and down hills when
you sit that long your blood starts to
settle and you need to get it moving
again and this helps your meditation
very much to start walking like that and
you can walk for as long as you're
comfortable and walk for an hour
whatever so when you get to neither
perception nor non-perception it's it's
a pretty amazing state to be in and you
will see little tiny vibrations now when
you start meditating your mind
flip-flops like this and then as you
start to go through the second jhana
third jhana fourth jhana it stops moving
and then it starts vibrating and as you
go into the Roopa jhanas the vibration
becomes less and less until you can't
really tell whether it's there or not
and that's like being aware and asleep
at the same time when it first starts
happening for you and when you become
familiar with that then you'll see that
your object of meditation is just this
exquisite peaceful calm mind and that's
your object of meditation and there's
only an occasional little tiny vibration
that happens as soon as you notice that
happening the new six art of that
okay
again monks buy completely surmounting
the base of nothingness
sorry puta entered upon and abided in
the base of neither perception nor
non-perception he emerged mindful from
that attainment having done so he
contemplated the states that had passed
ceased and changed that's what I'm
talking about when you get into that
state when you come out of it then you
start reflecting on what you saw while
you were in that and use their six ARS
so indeed the states not having been
come into being having been they
vanished regarding those states he
abided unattracted unrep elde and
dependent detached freed associated with
a mine rid of barriers he understood
there is an escape beyond this and with
the cultivation of that attainment he
confirmed that there is again monks by
completely surmounting the base of
neither perception nor non-perception
sorry puta entered upon and abided in
this cessation of perception and feeling
just like somebody flipped the lights
off
there is no perception there is no
feeling there is no consciousness at
that time
and this is not Nibbana this is still
mundane Nevada this is not the super
mundane Nibbana
yet when you come out of this state you
will see the links of dependent
origination arising and passing away
very quickly and your understanding of
that process is so deep and so profound
that you get into an unconditioned State
because you've let go of all conditioned
all conditions that means letting go of
all of the conditioned states of the
links of dependent origination when you
let go of those then you get into an
unconditioned State you'll be in that
for a period of time when you come out
you will feel a very very strong sense
of relief and you will feel happy
whether you want to be or not
and you'll be you'll have that sense of
release last lasting for a few days so
what happened you've become a sotapanna
then we discuss what else needs to be
done so he abided in the cessation of
perception feeling and consciousness and
his taints were destroyed by his seeing
with wisdom by seeing the links of
dependent origination
that's how sorry Buddha attained our
Ahad ship he emerged mindful from that
attainment having done so he recalled
the states that had passed ceased and
changed so indeed these states not
having been come into being having been
they vanish regarding those states he
abided and attracted and repelled
independent Duty detached free
dissociated with a mind rid of barriers
he understood there is no escape beyond
this and with the cultivation of that
attorney that tainment he confirmed that
there is not that's it monks rightly
speaking were it to be said of anyone he
has attained mastery and perfection and
Noble virtue attained mastery and
perfection and Noble collectiveness
attained mastery and perfection and
noble wisdom attained mastery and
perfection and Noble deliverance it is
of sorry putas indeed that rightly
speaking this should be said monks
rightly speaking were it to be said of
anyone he is the son of the Blessed One
born of the Blessed born of his breast
born of his mouth born of the Dhamma
created by the
and air in the Dhamma not an air in
material things it is of sorry puta
indeed that rightly speaking this should
be said monks the matchless wheel of
dhamma set rolling rather to target is
kept rolling rightly by sorry puta that
is what the Blessed One said the monks
were satisfied and delighted in the
Blessed ones words so that pretty much
lets you know what to expect how the
John is they they go from one to another
when the timing is right you can't force
them you don't try to make anything
happen
you have to let go of all desires that
little tiny longing how many years of
practice have we done you know and you
go I don't want it why isn't it coming
well because you're longing that's why
okay not sure Samaritan may suffering
ones be suffering free and the fear
struck fearless be may the grieving shed
all grief and may all being signed
relief may all being shared this merit
that we've thus acquired for the
acquisition of all kinds of happiness
may beings inhabiting space and earth
divas and Nagas of mighty power share
this merit of ours may they long protect
the Buddha's dispensations
good evening welcome to Dhamma sukha
Meditation Center this evening Bond TV
malarum C will be giving the Dhamma talk
on the majima nakiya number one one one
the ANU pada suta one by one as they
occur and the date here is May the 26th
2013 okay that's what I heard on one
occasion the blessed one was living in
Swati in jeta's grove anathapindika's
park there he addressed the monks thus
monks venerable sir they replied the
Blessed One said this monks sorry puta
is wise sorry puta has great wisdom
sorry puta has wide wisdom
sorry puta has joyous wisdom sorry puta
has quick wisdom
sorry puta has keen wisdom sorry puta
has penetrative wisdom anytime you hear
the words wise or wisdom is talking
about dependent origination
that's what being wise is knowing
dependent origination during half a
month monk sorry puta gained insight in
two states one by one as they occurred
now sorry Buddha's insight in two states
one by one as they occurred was this
here monks quite secluded from sensual
pleasures secluded from unwholesome
states
sorry puta entered upon and abided in
the first jhana which is accompanied by
thinking and examining thought with joy
and happiness born of seclusion and the
states in the first jhana
the thinking the examining thought the
joy the happiness the unification of
mine the contact feeling perception
formations and mind this is the five
aggregates the five aggregates and the
four foundations of mindfulness are just
different ways of talking about the same
thing okay so anytime there's any
mention of the the five aggregates while
you're in jhana it's also saying these
are the four foundations of mindfulness
while you are in the jhana the
enthusiasm decision energy mindfulness
equanimity and attention these states
were defined by him one by one as they
occurred known to him those states arose
known there were present known they
disappeared so he's talking about seeing
impermanence while you're in the jhana
he understood thus so indeed these
states not having been come into being
having been they vanished regarding
those states he abided unattracted he
didn't hold on to anything I'm repelled
he didn't push anything away independent
detached free dissociated that's all
talking about different aspects of anata
of the impersonal nature of this whole
process with a mind rid of barriers
he understood there's an escape beyond
and with the cultivation of that
attainment he he confirmed that there is
one of the reasons that the hindrances
are so important in the practice is
because they are showing you where your
attachments are they're showing you very
clearly where you have this personal
belief in herself these arise because of
breaking precepts at some point in the
past you might ever know what the reason
was for the breaking of the precept you
might not remember because it was five
lifetimes ago and now it manifests it
can be it can be like that but the
hindrances are your best friend the
hindrances show you exactly where your
attachment is and as you use the six R's
and you let it be and you relax and
smile and come back to your object to
meditation that hindrance starts to get
a little bit weaker and a little bit
weaker until finally it fades away when
it fades away it doesn't have enough
strength to come up you are able to or
you will feel a sense of relief you've
let go of an attachment that's quite
nice and then you have joy arising the
joy that arises is it only the only
meditation Joy's that arise are - one of
them is called uplifting joy we're going
to feel very light in your body light in
your
you're staying on your object of
meditation but you feel very good very
light the other kind is called
all-pervading joy and that's just joy
just kind of bubbling out out of every
cell in your entire body it doesn't have
quite as much excitement in it it's just
a real happy feeling and this is the
kind of joy that you experience with the
awakening factors so when you you feel
the relief when you let go of an
attachment then you have this joy arise
at first it's going to be the uplifting
joy feel real light and that will fade
away by itself now if you try to make
the joy last longer you'll make it go
away very quickly you stay with your
object to meditation and allow the joy
to be there for as long as it wants to
be there right after that you have a
very strong feeling of tranquility and
ease in your body and in your mind your
mind just kind of stays on your object
of meditation without much effort at all
you can still have thoughts and there
can still be a little bit of distraction
that starts to pull your attention away
but your mindfulness is sharp at that
time so you'll be able to six art
immediately and come back and you have
the unification of mind your mind is
very much unified but not in a rigid way
in a very natural way and Pali they call
it ACOG at
and there they're always talking about
one pointed concentration when they're
talking about e cogito but actually iike
gah
means tranquil tranquility so you can
say your mind is unified you can say
your mind is very tranquil or you can
say it's very collected I like the word
collected the best because that
encompasses all of those your mind is
composed your mind stays on your object
of meditation without over concentrating
okay
again monks with the stilling of
thinking and examining thought sari puta
entered upon and abided in the second
drama which has self-confidence and
stillness of mind without thinking and
examining thought with joy and happiness
born of collectiveness when you get to
the second drama the second drama is the
one the the drama that's called noble
silence because you let go of the mental
verbalizing and your mind becomes very
still and at ease and with that you
start to get confidence and you start
thinking yeah I think I know what I'm
doing here this this really it works it
makes sense so you have a lot of
confidence and that carries over into
your daily activities too you start to
have more confidence in everything that
you're doing the joy you experience is
much stronger and you feel like you're
starting to float now in Indonesia we
had two people that actually did they
floated we didn't tell you about that
when did we
and it's because of the joy it's because
of the the uplifting feeling when that
fades away you feel the tranquility is
stronger you're able to stay on your
object of meditation for a longer period
of time
so it's a real a real nice state to be
in
and the states in the second jhana the
self-confidence the joy the happiness
the unification of mine the contact
feeling perception formations and mine
there's the four foundations of
mindfulness again that's the five
aggregates the reason they use the word
contact instead of body is because when
you get up into the higher dramas you
don't feel your body unless there is
contact so that's why they did this the
enthusiasm decision energy mindfulness
equanimity and attention these states
were defined by him one by one as they
occurred known to him the states arose
known they were present known they
disappeared he understood there still
more to do and with the cultivation of
that attainment he confirmed that there
is so you know that you're progressing
you're starting to get pretty happy with
your progress because you're actually
seeing some it's pretty amazing because
when I was I practiced straight
Vipassana for twenty years and the first
retreat I think I experienced joy one
time but the teacher didn't really
understand what I was experiencing it
because I couldn't explain it very well
and
with straight Vipassana you have a
tendency to get very serious with your
practice and you have a tendency to put
too much energy and too much effort into
your practice this will all happen very
nicely by itself you don't have to quote
make it happen all you have to do is
stay on your object of meditation and
6ar and keep backing away
don't push to make anything happen if
you start pushing you start to get a
little restless when you get restless
then you get frustrated then you have
doubt come up all of those so the the
biggest test for you with the meditation
at first is how well you can back away
and still watch without trying to
control without trying to make anything
in particular happen so it's it gets to
be a real interesting practice because
you feel and in just a couple of days
you feel like you're starting to
progress when I practice straight
Vipassana the first retreat I did after
a month I was wondering if there was
ever going to be any progress after a
month
and even to this day when I go and talk
to people that practice straight through
pass onna and tell them that in two or
three days they can have real progress
they don't believe it I mean I have some
friends in the Vipassana community that
have been doing it for 30 or 35 years
and they still they're stuck they've hit
a plateau every year they do a retreat
sometimes a month or so and they they
have this preconceived idea of what
they're supposed to be experiencing so
that's all they experience and if if you
were to stay here for a month I would be
hard-pressed to give you any more than I
can give you in two weeks it's just you
need to do the practice that's all
again with the fading away of joy
sorry puta abided in equanimity mindful
and fully aware still feeling happiness
with the body he entered upon and abided
in the third round on account of which
noble ones announced he has a pleasant
abiding who has equanimity and is
mindful when you get to the third jhana
you don't experience joy anymore but you
feel very comfortable in your mind and
in your body and if there's a sound it's
not going to make your mind shake you
just hear it and it's there and you
don't pay much attention to it as you
let go of tension in your mind you start
to let go of tension in your body when
you let go of tension in your body you
start to lose sensation in your body
like you're sitting and you don't feel
your hands or your leg just disappears
or a shoulder or whatever this is a
natural process if there's contact you
will feel it but you're not going to
have the aches and pains coming up so
much
eventually you get to a place where the
the radiation and your heart disappears
in your heart and it comes up into your
head when that happens you don't want to
push it back down you want to let it
stay in your head and you tell me tell
me about that in in the interview and
I'll give you other instructions the
third jhana is definitely a very nice
jhana to be in because you have full
awareness of everything around you you
will hear the clock but if you don't pay
attention to it it doesn't matter
whether it's there or not you will still
hear sounds around you you will still be
able to feel if there's a bugger and
said and said insect walking on you but
your mind is very still your mind is
peaceful and this is where you start
sitting for a little bit longer periods
of times you can sit as long as your
meditation is good sit as long as you're
comfortable with it now if you start
sitting longer and you get up and start
doing your walking meditation walk at a
normal pace but walk longer walk 400
30 minutes 40 minutes like that
so you get some exercise and you get
some your blood circulating that's
that's a real good thing and that helps
your meditation but you want to make
sure that you stay with your object of
meditation while you're doing your
walking 6r if there's any distraction
now have you have you been giving them
daily activities okay when your daily
activities you're doing your daily
activities please stay with your
spiritual friend or well stay with your
object of meditation let's put it that
way it doesn't matter what you're doing
it doesn't matter if you're walking or
sitting or going to the bathroom or
eating or doing your your chore in the
day whatever it happens to be stay with
your object of meditation keep it going
all the time and this is one of the
reasons that I want you to keep
practicing smiling the more you smile
the easier it is to recognize when
you're not and that improves your
mindfulness infinity
and like I said last night I get
criticized for telling people to smile
and it's it's actually kind of funny
because the meditation is about having
wholesome states arise and what kind of
wholesome states do you have when you
have a grumpy face right but it's a
natural expression to be light and when
you're doing this practice and smiling
with your mind and in your heart and
with your face it's a real important
aspect of the teaching that's why the
Buddha said were the happy ones right so
okay these states were defined by him
one by one as they occurred known to him
those states arose known they were
present known me disappeared he
understood there's still more to do and
with the cultivation of that attainment
he confirmed that there is again monks
with the abandoning of pleasure and pain
with the previous disappearance of joy
and grief sorry puta entered upon and
abided in the fourth jhana which has
neither pain nor pleasure and purity of
mindfulness due to equanimity when you
get to the fourth jhana you will not
feel your body at all unless there's
contact and the equanimity that you
experience is very strong your mind is
just so when you when you get to the
fourth jhana come and talk to me and I
will change your your meditation a
little bit
the equanimity the fourth jhana there's
actually four different aspects of the
fourth jhana and these are called the
Aruba jhanas and that is and we'll go
over these that is infinite space
infinite consciousness nothingness
neither perception nor non-perception so
there's real strong equanimity in each
one of the group pajamas because that's
part of the fourth job and the fourth
jhana is when you get to the fourth
jhana it's when I will tell you that you
are an advanced meditator so
and generally it doesn't take very long
to get into the fourth gem in a few days
and the states in the fourth drama the
equanimity the neither painful nor
pleasant feeling the mental unconcerned
due to tranquility the purity of
mindfulness unification of mine the
contact feeling perception formations
and mind the enthusiasm decision energy
mindfulness equanimity and attention
these states were defined by em one by
one as they occurred known to him those
states arose known they were present
known they disappeared
he understood there still more to do and
with the cultivation of that attainment
he confirmed that there is now one of
the one of the things that is a rather
important aspect of these different
things that sorry puto went through with
each one of the dramas is the decision
you decide as soon as you see there's a
distraction to use the six hours or you
decide not to and get caught by it so
you're making continually making a
decision and what to do a lot of people
don't like different aspects of Buddhism
because they say there's no free will
but there is free will you're making a
decision you decide as soon as you
recognize that there's a distraction you
decide what to do with it if the
distraction really catches you
then you've decided not to use the six
arters right then but to go along with
that eventually you'll decide to let go
and use the six R's so you can come back
to your object
meditation so the decision is a very
important part of what you're doing with
the meditation it's a real interesting
thing that when we first start doing the
meditation and we start getting a little
bit cocky we think we can control things
and you have to let go of the desire to
make anything in particular happen your
job as a meditator is just to observe
how mind's attention moves that's it
not to make a decision I want to sit in
misrata or that drama that's the fastest
way to make your restlessness arise you
don't want to get caught up in that so
it's a real important aspect for you to
turning the six ARS into an automatic
process
you'll get to a place you do it so much
of the time you'll get to a place where
your mind will just it will notice that
something's starting to come up and all
of a sudden it's letting go and relaxing
and coming back that's what you want to
develop do it so much that it becomes an
automatic thing as you go into the
deeper drown as it becomes quite handy
that way okay now there's some weird
ideas about the fourth jhana and people
saying that when you practice the fourth
jhana you're no longer able to breathe
your body doesn't breathe anymore
that happens with one pointed
concentration or absorption
concentration it does not happen with
this you'll breathe at a normal pace
your breath will be there so don't don't
get caught up in the different kinds of
meditation
just stay with this particular one
again monk with the complete surmounting
of gross perceptions of form with the
disappearance of gross perceptions of
sensory impact now what this is talking
about because you don't have any feeling
in your body but you still have a body
and a mosquito or an ant walks on you
you will feel it so we're talking about
fine perceptions of the body not gross
perceptions now as you go deeper into
meditation the walking meditation starts
to change a little bit and you'll get to
a place that the only place only thing
that you'll feel when you're walking is
your head and where you have contact
with your feet there's nothing in
between
unless there's contact when the wind
blows and blows your clothes a little
bit you'll feel that contact otherwise
you won't feel it it's kind of weird
actually
but it's kind of nice aware that space
is infinite
sorry food to enter it upon and abide it
in the base of infinite space now you've
been practicing loving-kindness all the
way up through the fourth jhana
the feeling of loving-kindness will
change and you your mind will become
very settled and you'll start to feel
expansion in all the directions at the
same time it's just going out and out
and how it doesn't stop this is called
infinite space and the feeling changes
to a feeling of compassion this is a
natural process you don't have to do
anything
to observe what's happening that's all
you don't have to make a determination I
want this to come up now don't have to
do that it will come up by itself as you
start to go deeper then the feeling will
change again now what you're doing when
you get up to the fourth jhana you've
been practicing loving-kindness
meditation when you start to get into
the aruba dramas the loving-kindness
meditation turns into the brahma vihara
and they happen again all by themselves
and the states in the base of infinite
space the perception of the base of
infinite space and unification of mind
the contact feeling perception for
formations and mind now you still have
the four foundations even though you're
in an a Rupa jhana the four foundations
are still there the enthusiasm decision
energy mindfulness equanimity and
attention these states were defined by
him one by one as they occurred known to
him those states arose known they were
present only disappeared he understood
there still more to go and with the
cultivation of that attainment he
confirmed that there is again by
completely surmounting the base of
infinite space aware that consciousness
is infinite sorry puta entered upon and
abided in the base of infinite
consciousness what happens is you lose
the feeling of the expansion and the
feeling of compassion turns to a feeling
of joy and this is a very toned down joy
it's not a real excited joy then at each
one of the centers you will begin to
notice that there's a kind of flickering
or blinking very very quickly at the
eyes at the ears even mind and what
you're seeing is the arising and passing
away of individual consciousnesses
that's about a hundred thousand or so
who knows but you will be able to notice
this and it's quite interesting
when you start seeing individual
consciousnesses arise and pass away
arise and pass away very very quickly
you are seeing up close in your face
impermanence and it gets kind of
tiresome seeing that because it's always
gonna be there this is a way mind works
and that is suffering
and you're going to see very very
clearly that you have no control this
stuff happens all by itself you are not
there
there's just the observation that's
there and it starts to get real
interesting especially when you're
eating or walking you seeing all of
these different consciousnesses arise
and pass away you might not notice it so
much with the nose or with taste unless
you're in the kitchen doing stuff and
the states in the base of infinite
consciousness the perception of the base
of an infinite consciousness and
unification of mind the contact feeling
perception formations and mind the
enthusiasm decision energy mindfulness
equanimity and attention these states
were defined by him one by one as they
occurred known to him those states arose
no nearer present known they disappeared
he understood there's still more to do
and with the cultivation of that
attainment he confirmed that there is
again monks by completely surmounting
the base of infinite consciousness aware
that there is nothing
sorry puta entered upon and abided in
the base of nothingness when you're
seeing the infinite infinite
consciousnesses and you tell me about
seeing those I'll say okay what's
happening in between each of those
consciousnesses tell me what that is
and eventually you'll get to a place
where mind is not looking outside of
itself anymore
like with consciousnesses it's still
looking out but now mind is just
observing mind what's happening in mind
and people complain because I've just
sitting there and watching nothing but
this actually gets to be one of the more
interesting States to get in when you
get it to nothingness you're the joy
will change to very very strong
equanimity and this is quite interesting
your object of meditation is equanimity
and radiating that to all beings you
don't radiate it it radiates itself and
if you put too much attention on the
equanimity and radiating your mind will
start to get restless and if you don't
put quite enough energy and your mind
will start to get dull and you have to
learn how to balance and you have to
learn how to adjust little tiny bits at
a time so
this particular Jonah is really good at
teaching you the right amount of energy
you need to stay with your object of
meditation and there's all kinds of
interesting things that happen in this
and you'd have to tell me about it I
won't tell you so it's it this is
probably the most fascinating stage of
meditation it's really interesting and
it's kind of fun and you have this very
strong equanimity and people will tell
me they come in and they don't have to
tell me where they are
they say how's it going and the
equanimity just kind of bubbles out of
them and I said everything is fine
it's good
so it's kind of kind of fun doing that
and the states and the base of
nothingness the perception of the base
of nothingness and the unification of
mind the contact feeling perception
formation and mind four foundations of
mindfulness are still there so the four
foundations of mindfulness will take you
all through all of the jhanas up to the
7th jhana the enthusiasm decision energy
mindfulness equanimity and attention
these states were defined by him one by
one as they occurred known to him those
states arose no never present only
disappeared he understood there is still
more and with the cultivation of that
attainment he confirmed that there is
you know when we get into the your mind
will become very settled you'll be able
to sit for an hour or hour and a half
well most most people it's just under an
hour it's like 50 minutes to an hour
without having any distraction in their
mind at all nothing pulls our attention
away there is just observing the
equanimity and radiating that then as
you go deeper you will get into a state
that's like being awake of being asleep
and being aware at the same time and
this is what is called neither
perception nor non-perception when you
get out of that state you reflect on
what happened while you were in that
state it's so subtle that you're not
able to see it but when you reflect on
it you'll be able to see there's shapes
and colors and patterns and things like
that and you need to six out of those
right after that you get into what I
call the exquisite quietness stillness
your mind is just very clear very bright
very alert and you take that mind as
your object of meditation now there
still can be some distractions but is
you'll sit for an hour hour and a half
with nothing there won't be anything
arising at all but then you'll start to
notice that there are some little tiny
vibrations that happen and as soon as
you see those vibrations u6r those
vibrations are links of dependent
origination and you're seeing them
personal you're seeing them up close
you're seeing them in personally I
should say
you'll be able to start sitting for
longer periods of time two hours three
hours four hours when you do that then
when you get up and you do your walking
I want you to walk very quickly and I
want you to walk up and down hills when
you sit that long your blood starts to
settle and you need to get it moving
again and this helps your meditation
very much to start walking like that and
you can walk for as long as you're
comfortable and walk for an hour
whatever so when you get to neither
perception nor non-perception it's it's
a pretty amazing state to be in and you
will see little tiny vibrations now when
you start meditating your mind
flip-flops like this and then as you
start to go through the second jhana
third jhana fourth jhana it stops moving
and then it starts vibrating and as you
go into the Roopa jhanas the vibration
becomes less and less until you can't
really tell whether it's there or not
and that's like being aware and asleep
at the same time when it first starts
happening for you and when you become
familiar with that then you'll see that
your object of meditation is just this
exquisite peaceful calm mind and that's
your object of meditation and there's
only an occasional little tiny vibration
that happens as soon as you notice that
happening the new six art of that
okay
again monks buy completely surmounting
the base of nothingness
sorry puta entered upon and abided in
the base of neither perception nor
non-perception he emerged mindful from
that attainment having done so he
contemplated the states that had passed
ceased and changed that's what I'm
talking about when you get into that
state when you come out of it then you
start reflecting on what you saw while
you were in that and use their six ARS
so indeed the states not having been
come into being having been they
vanished regarding those states he
abided unattracted unrep elde and
dependent detached freed associated with
a mine rid of barriers he understood
there is an escape beyond this and with
the cultivation of that attainment he
confirmed that there is again monks by
completely surmounting the base of
neither perception nor non-perception
sorry puta entered upon and abided in
this cessation of perception and feeling
just like somebody flipped the lights
off
there is no perception there is no
feeling there is no consciousness at
that time
and this is not Nibbana this is still
mundane Nevada this is not the super
mundane Nibbana
yet when you come out of this state you
will see the links of dependent
origination arising and passing away
very quickly and your understanding of
that process is so deep and so profound
that you get into an unconditioned State
because you've let go of all conditioned
all conditions that means letting go of
all of the conditioned states of the
links of dependent origination when you
let go of those then you get into an
unconditioned State you'll be in that
for a period of time when you come out
you will feel a very very strong sense
of relief and you will feel happy
whether you want to be or not
and you'll be you'll have that sense of
release last lasting for a few days so
what happened you've become a sotapanna
then we discuss what else needs to be
done so he abided in the cessation of
perception feeling and consciousness and
his taints were destroyed by his seeing
with wisdom by seeing the links of
dependent origination
that's how sorry Buddha attained our
Ahad ship he emerged mindful from that
attainment having done so he recalled
the states that had passed ceased and
changed so indeed these states not
having been come into being having been
they vanish regarding those states he
abided and attracted and repelled
independent Duty detached free
dissociated with a mind rid of barriers
he understood there is no escape beyond
this and with the cultivation of that
attorney that tainment he confirmed that
there is not that's it monks rightly
speaking were it to be said of anyone he
has attained mastery and perfection and
Noble virtue attained mastery and
perfection and Noble collectiveness
attained mastery and perfection and
noble wisdom attained mastery and
perfection and Noble deliverance it is
of sorry putas indeed that rightly
speaking this should be said monks
rightly speaking were it to be said of
anyone he is the son of the Blessed One
born of the Blessed born of his breast
born of his mouth born of the Dhamma
created by the
and air in the Dhamma not an air in
material things it is of sorry puta
indeed that rightly speaking this should
be said monks the matchless wheel of
dhamma set rolling rather to target is
kept rolling rightly by sorry puta that
is what the Blessed One said the monks
were satisfied and delighted in the
Blessed ones words so that pretty much
lets you know what to expect how the
John is they they go from one to another
when the timing is right you can't force
them you don't try to make anything
happen
you have to let go of all desires that
little tiny longing how many years of
practice have we done you know and you
go I don't want it why isn't it coming
well because you're longing that's why
okay not sure Samaritan may suffering
ones be suffering free and the fear
struck fearless be may the grieving shed
all grief and may all being signed
relief may all being shared this merit
that we've thus acquired for the
acquisition of all kinds of happiness
may beings inhabiting space and earth
divas and Nagas of mighty power share
this merit of ours may they long protect
the Buddha's dispensations