From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=rA2GU7oUD60

Context: Throughout this transcript, Bhante Vimalaramsi is the speaker unless otherwise indicated.

[Music]

the suitor tonight is called the

exposition of a summary thus as I heard

on one occasion the blessed one was

living in Swati and jeta's grove

anathapindika's park there the blessed

one addressed amongst us monks venerable

sir Li replied the Blessed One said this

I love electronics anything to do with

electricity it doesn't work for me I

turned on the light he came in he turned

a light bulb and then it worked

monks I shall teach you a summary and an

exposition listen and attend closely to

what I shall say yes venerable sir the

monks replied the Blessed One said this

monks a monk should examine things in

such a way that while he is examining

them his consciousness is not distracted

and scattered externally nor stuck

internally and by not craving and

clinging he does not become agitated

his consciousness is not distracted and

scattered externally nor stuck

internally and if by not craving and

clinging he does not become agitated

then for him there's no origination of

suffering sounds pretty good doesn't it

that is what the Blessed One said having

said this the sublime one rose from the

seat and went into his dwelling big

mistake they didn't ask him any

questions

the monks listened to him and always

after he makes a statement he pauses and

he's quiet and then he looks around

nobody had any question so I'm out of

here then soon after the Blessed One had

gone

the monks considered now friends the

Blessed One has risen from his seat and

gone into his dwelling after giving a

summary and brief without expounding the

detailed meaning oops

now who will expound this in detail then

they considered the venerable maha

Catriona is praised by the teacher and

esteemed by his wise companions and the

holy life is capable of expounding the

meaning of this

then the monks went to the venerable

maha china and exchange readings with

him when this courteous and amiable talk

was finished they sat down at one side

and they told him what had taken place

adding let the venerable maha channa

expound it to us the venerable maha

chana replied friends it is though a man

needing heartwood seeking heartwood

wandering in search of heartwood thought

that heartwood should be sought for

among the branches and leaves of a great

tree standing possessed of heartwood

after he had passed over the root and

the trunk so it is with you friend that

you think I should be asked about the

meaning of this after you passed the

Blessed one by when you were face to

face with the teacher for knowing the

Blessed one knows seeing he sees his

vision he is knowledge he is the Dhamma

he is the Holy One

he is the seer the proclaimer the

elucidate er of meaning the giver of the

deathless the Lord of the Dhamma the

tatata

that was the time that you should have

asked the Blessed One the meaning as he

told you so you should have remembered

it surely friend Catriona knowing the

Blessed one knows seeing he sees

vision he is knowledge he is the Dhamma

he is the holy one he is the seer the

proclaimer the elucidate er of meaning

the giver of the deathless the Lord of

the Dhamma of the tatata that was the

time when we should have asked the

Blessed One the meaning as he told us we

should have remembered it yet the

venerable maha channa is praised by the

teacher and esteemed by his wise

companions and all holy life

the venerable maha chana is capable of

expounding the detailed meaning of this

summary given and briefed by the Blessed

one without expounding the detailed

meaning let the venerable maha channa

expound it without finding it

troublesome then listen friends and

attend closely to what I shall say yes

friend

the monks replied the venerable maha

katrana said this how friends is

consciousness called distracted and

scattered externally here when a monk

has seen a form with the eye if his

consciousness follows after the sign of

form and is tied and shackled by the

gratification of the sign of the form is

fettered by the fetter of gratification

that means grieving then his

consciousness is called scattered and

distracted externally

when he's seen or when he's heard a

sound with the ear felt an odor with a

nose smelt

smelled an odor with the nose tasted a

flavor with the tongue touched a

tangible with the body cognized a mind

object with mind now this is something I

want you to pay attention to because how

do you get caught with thoughts and how

do you grab on to it without knowing it

and what are you supposed to do with it

you're getting pulled away from your

object of meditation and you don't even

notice it that's how your mind gets

scattered and distracted don't do that

don't make a big deal out of whatever

arises at whatever sense door this is

real important you make a big deal out

of anything you hear hear voices in your

head and you make a big deal out of it

and start paying attention to it your

mind is distracted and scattered your

mind is not on your object of meditation

and it will cause you to become

frustrated distracted agitated and you

make a big deal out of it now if you

have a sensation that arises in your

body

what do you generally do with that I

don't like it it hurts I don't want it

there I want it to stop I want it to

oops

now it's real easy to get caught up in

feeling when it arises if you get caught

up in pleasant feeling you'd like it too

much and you hold on to it and you don't

want it to go away because it feels good

but who's making a big deal out of it

remember mindfulness is remembering to

observe how mind's attention moves from

one thing to another and you're not

you're getting caught up in that

movement without recognizing it it's a

big problem restlessness is one of the

bigger hindrances and the more you make

a big deal out of what arises in your

mind and distracts you away the more

problems you have for yourself the more

you're causing yourself suffering the

more you're the slower your progress

becomes how hindrances are your teachers

and they're showing you where you have

an attachment what is an attachment

always an attachment is anything that

has craving in it okay so you have to

start letting that go don't get involved

with whatever pulls your attention away

now you should actually

be grateful for hindrances when they

arise why because it's showing you where

you have an attachment don't fight with

the attachment don't try to control the

attachment don't try to make the

attachment be what you want it to be

allow it to be there by itself and you

use the six artists you recognize that

your mind is distracted release the

distraction I don't care what it is I

don't care how enticing it is okay just

let it be there by itself

don't keep your attention on it relax

every time your mind has has a

distraction it has tightness in it what

is the cause of the tightness it is

craving what is craving it's the I like

it I don't like it mind and it causes

all kinds of problems to arise after you

relax you let go of that tension and

tightness you'll notice that your mind

is clear your mind is bright your mind

is very alert and your mind is pure why

is it pure because you've let go of

craving the second noble truth right

what's the cause of suffering craving so

you let go of that now your mind is open

your mind is pure your mind is very

alert but there's nothing pulling your

attention away then smile come back to

your object of meditation

and stay with your object of meditation

you have to be more sincere with staying

with your object of meditation it has to

be that's you that's your home base that

is where you start really seeing more

and more clearly how Minds attention

does move and when you see it starting

to move you let it be by itself relax

smile come back the more you do that the

more you're going to stay with your

object of meditation without distraction

so it's real important for you to

understand that little tiny things can

be distractions just like big things can

be distractions if it's pulling your

attention away your minds attention is

moving then as soon as you see it even

begin to move you relax right then you

can let it be you don't keep your

attention on it it's real easy to get

caught up in thoughts or memories or

whatever is pulling your attention away

it's real easy to get caught up in that

now as I was sitting watching you eat

I'm a sneaky monk I was seeing a lot of

people thinking why stay with your

object of meditation

don't let the food be the distraction

that's going to pull you away and get

you thinking about something else

don't let whatever comes into mind be a

distraction and pull you away because

then you're gonna start paying attention

to that and you're not staying with your

object of meditation and your progress

is going to be very slow hindrances are

your best friend okay it's not somebody

to fight with it's somebody to help you

recognize I have attachment I am that Oh

it's more important for me to stay with

that no it's not

it's not important at all it's just

nonsense stuff coming through oh but

this thought is I have to keep thinking

this well okay so be slow with your

progress I don't care it's you are

causing your own distractions by getting

involved and letting your your object of

meditation fade away then you have to

bring it up again

so it's a real important thing to deeply

understand that movement of minds

attention that pulls your attention away

is slowing down everything that you're

you want to have happen with your

meditation you want to have a mind

that's more peaceful more calm that

stays with your object of meditation

don't allow these other distractions to

become infatuated with them and stay

with them okay you're not you're not

being mindful at that time at all oh but

this is an important thought I have to

keep this one no you don't where did

that thought come from

where's mind do you know where is mind

why does mind arise why do distractions

arise why do things pull your attention

away why because of craving okay and old

habits and making a big deal out of

things don't make a big deal out of

anything

it's just nonsense stuff anyway it's not

important unless you make it important

and if you make it important who has an

attachment who's caught by that sneaky

little craving be careful of making a

big deal out of whatever arises I don't

care whether it's a mental thing or a

physical thing allow it to be there by

itself oh I got an itch I got to scratch

it who has an itch

who doesn't like that feeling who wants

to change it who wants it to be

different than it is or who likes it and

who wants it to stay we have to be

careful of these things because this

distracts and scatters your minds

attention now this particular suta that

i'm reading to you right now is a road

map of what happens in your mind

so listen attentively

and how friends is consciousness called

not distracted and scattered externally

here when among Cocina form with the eye

if his consciousness does not follow

after that sign of the form is not tied

and shackled by craving is not fettered

by the federal gratification and liking

making a big deal and holding on to it

then his consciousness is called not

scattered and distracted externally when

he has heard a sound with the ear or

smelt an odor with the nose tasted a

flavour or with the tongue any of these

things when you start paying more

attention to that than staying with your

object of meditation you're not

meditating at that time that's what

meditation is all about staying with

your object of meditation

don't let these disturbances cause you

to go away and get caught and now you're

thinking about things a thousand miles

away now one of the really important

things that I want you to understand is

and this is something I get criticized

for all the time and smiling where does

it say in the sutras that you need to

smile it doesn't say that in the sutras

but it helps your mind to be alert it

improves your mindfulness you've heard

me to tell stories about people that

they get distracted and they complain

that their mind is just it's running all

over the place why your mind gets

distracted because your mindfulness is

poor your attention is not staying with

your object of meditation the more you

smile all the time I mean all the time I

don't care what you're doing all the

time

smile in your mind your mind becomes

lighter your mind is more agile and that

light mind helps you to have more joy

arising and joy is one of the

Enlightenment factors so it's okay to

have joy I was told when I was whenever

I had joy arise when I was practicing

that straight Vipassana the first thing

I'd tell the teacher is I got some joy

and this is great stuff and you know

what they said don't be attached well

that's really good advice but the way

they told it to me made me think that

that was some kind of a hindrance and it

was something that I didn't want to have

happen so I pushed it away I stopped

myself from feeling joy

and when you have joy in your mind your

mind is very alert your mind is very

very light when you have a distracted

mind your mind is heavy your mind starts

to get hard with joy your mind it's

light your awareness becomes much more

alert much more at ease one of the

problems that I had with other

meditations and I've done a lot of

different kinds of meditations was the

heaviness of my mind and when I was

practicing with other people or doing

the other practices I'd get up and start

walking and I would see a lot of people

really trying hard and trying hard means

you have a scattered distracted mind and

that's one of the things that makes the

meditation difficult

and it causes your mind to be really run

around and think about this and that and

get caught up in the in your thoughts

and you start taking it personally and

that hardens your mind joy and smiling

smiling is the cause of joy arising the

more you can smile the better your

mindfulness becomes the lighter your

mind becomes the easier it is to see

distractions when they start to arise

and then let it be relaxed when I was

teaching in England a lot of the

students they weren't really getting it

after a couple three days I was expected

to see a lot of more people smiling and

I couldn't get them to smile British you

know

they have a stiff upper lip and they

have a stiff stiff upper mind

and to get them to smile with it was a

major job for me to get them to do that

smiling keeps your mind light who said

that life was supposed to be serious who

said life is hard it can be but who

makes it hard the harder it is you are

on yourself the more you criticize

yourself the more you cause yourself

upset the harder life becomes keeping

your precepts is not just to be done

while you're practicing your sitting

meditation if you saw truly how

important precepts are and the benefits

you get from having good precepts it's

really you you would not even consider

breaking a precept

and in Asia there's this idea that well

you always have to be polite to somebody

else and so telling little white lies is

okay you see somebody and they're

they're wearing a new kind of new

clothes and they're horrible looking on

that person oh isn't that pretty

that's a lie you're trying to deceive

the world and that simple little

statement causes your mind to go and now

you have craving in it and then you sit

in meditation and guess what comes up

you have a hindrance come up why do the

hindrance come up because you've told a

little white light and you took it

personally it's really an important

thing for you to understand that this is

an all the time practice it's not just

for sitting and that's a hard one it

takes a while for you to realize how

important it is and how much you hurt

yourself and I've had some students that

they like to curse well every time you

curse what's in your mind at that time

anger dissatisfaction dislike I don't

like it and then you come and you sit in

meditation and you get attacked by these

entrances

over and over again why because you're

playing at the meditation you're playing

difficult game with your mind and that

causes a lot of suffering

dissatisfaction dislike yeah but I'm

only I'm just saying that I don't really

mean it but your mind does your mind

wants to purify itself and the only way

you can purify yourself is by keeping

the hindrances without breaking them

when you keep your precepts without

breaking them there's so much benefit

that you get and I've had some students

say say well you know I'm a Salesman I

have to lie and my question to them is

what kind of reputation do you have well

people don't believe what I say a lot of

the time yeah

well okay and you're doing that to

yourself and you try to blame other

people for your suffering the reason

that I really like Buddhism because it's

the ultimate in self responsibility

you can't blame somebody else for your

problems

yeah but they said something I don't

like so so I curse them okay now you

have that dislike and that

identification with that dislike so you

sit down and you try to start to

meditate and you have all of this

distractions coming over and over and

over again

the thing that you have to really start

to understand is the importance of

practicing true meditation what is true

meditation meditations it's got three

parts to it it's not about sitting

quietly meditation is first off

practicing your generosity how do you

practice your generosity look out the

monks talking about he wants you to

donate something to it you practice your

generosity by smiling there's somebody

else and giving that smile away by

helping someone else that so you can

help them overcome their suffering it's

being nice

not walking around with a grudge on your

head

chip on your shoulder as being helpful

to other people being kind to other

people being grateful that other people

are giving you an opportunity to help

them so that you can overcome this

stingy idea that I'm more important than

anybody else when you help other people

to smile and you help them to overcome

their suffering you're practicing your

generosity it's a very active kind of

thing somebody drops something you

breach down and pick it up and give it

back to them you help them it really is

a wonderful thing when you practice it

you go into a store you see some that

this happens to me a lot because I'm

tall I see somebody the shirt that wants

something on the Shelf up there so I

give it to him that made him happy that

made their mind let go of the

dissatisfaction of trying to figure out

how to get what they really want

you read loving-kindness to other people

with your daily activities your

practicing your generosity give it away

what you give you always get back right

the more you can give your smile to

other people the more smiles that are

going to come back to you and that is

meditation so it's real important that

you practice your generosity and help

other people to overcome their suffering

whatever it happens to be sometimes it's

just a simple thing just saying

something that makes them smile makes

them happy I love to go into big stores

and look up where some kids are making a

lot of noise being kind of a nuisance

I just start reading it and loving

kindness to them I want this I want that

and the the parents are oh no you can't

do that so I don't stand close to him

not too close and I start radiating

loving-kindness to them all of the

sudden the child settles down and they

start looking around who's doing this I

feel this it feels nice so the more you

give your love to other people and

practice your generosity in that way the

more you affect the world around you in

a positive way you get around people

that are arguing you don't have to even

stand very close to them you start

radiating loving-kindness and watch what

happens is pretty amazing

they will stop

and then they'll start talking not being

from an emotional state

and you keep radiating loving-kindness

to them until you see them smile or

laugh then your job is done continue on

it's either that or walking around in

your own health your own I've got to do

this I've got to do this I don't like

this I like that this is one of the

things that's happening in in this

country that I've noticed is a lot of

people want to practice loving kindness

but the loving kindness they practice is

mental okay it's just words all may you

be happy loving kindness is a feeling

and you radiate that feeling and it's

amazing to watch how what happens not

too long ago I saw an accident happen on

the road so I asked the person that was

driving just pull off to the side and

one person was hurt but what happens if

you don't keep your precepts you get

overexcited and you get highly emotional

and you're not really very efficient

with what you need to do and I see

people running around and they they're

being

scattered so just start radiating

loving-kindness I'm on the other side of

the road just sitting there sending them

love and you can see that all of a

sudden they all become efficient with

what they're doing they're not emotional

they're not overexcited because there's

some kind of thing that's happening with

them and the more you radiate loving

kindness the more they settle down and

become calm and then they can be really

helpful now one time I was working on a

roof and actually I went up on the roof

to show somebody were to put safety

ropes and I fell no I was 20 feet in the

air and one of the things that I've

learned because of keeping the precepts

is that when I was falling my mind said

relax and I relaxed my whole body and I

made a mistake and I put my hand down

like this and I wound up breaking my

wrist so I'm laying on the ground and

this one guy that was working for me he

was really not good with keeping his

precepts and he really got excited and

he was doing exactly the wrong thing at

the wrong time and he runs over to me

and I'm holding my wrist like this and

he said are you okay and I said yeah I

think I might have broken my wrist

and he grabs my hand and he starts doing

this with it

and I told him in no uncertain terms

that he better find something else to do

go away from me

keeping your precepts is a kind of

protection for you okay now one of the

things that it says and in the suit does

that if you keep your precepts without

breaking them you're not going to die

from an accident you're not gonna die

from it you can be in a car and all of a

sudden and if you keep your precepts

without breaking them you're not going

to really get hurt

so this is another way of practicing

your mindfulness practice your

generosity start radiating

loving-kindness and one of the suit does

it says that you no matter what somebody

else says to you it doesn't matter

that's their opinion they can have their

opinion they can be angry they can be

nasty they can do whatever they want but

you take that person and you have

compassion towards that person now you

know what it feels like to be angry

right what does it feel like in your

body not real nice everything tightens

up and you get red in the face but you

start radiating that compassion and

loving kindness towards another person

what is compassion seeing another person

in pain I don't care what kind of pain

it is whether it's mental or physical

I'm allowing them the space to have

their pain I can't take your pain away

you can't take my pain away but I can

love you so when you start focusing on

loving kindness the anger that somebody

has towards you or the nastiness that

they have towards you starts to soften

and the more you radiate loving-kindness

the more their mind settles down and

they become actually not so angry not so

mad not so highly emotional and then

walk away if you're focusing on

loving-kindness you're not focusing on

the nasty things they're saying to you

and you're helping them overcome their

dissatisfaction in their own mind so you

just radiate loving-kindness to them and

use them as the reminder to radiate

loving-kindness to everybody in all the

directions

all the time that's practicing your

generosity

that's helping someone else overcome

their hindrances isn't that a nice thing

to do isn't that a fun thing to do yeah

not maybe people start to notice that in

you when you practice it again this is

part of the meditation is part of

loving-kindness the second part of the

meditation is keeping your precepts

without breaking them when you do that

for a period of time what happens is

your mindfulness picks up and you know

what you're gonna do before you do it

you know what you're gonna say before

you say it and now you have the choice

of what you're gonna do and say one of

the advantages of keeping your precepts

is when you sit and you get ready to do

your sitting meditation your mind is

going to naturally tend towards

tranquility

so it's not just something to do on

retreat life is meditation meditation is

life so you overcome this idea of having

a scattered mind your mind isn't gonna

be so scattered and distracted you're

still gonna have some entrances come up

why are you here right now

why are you born into this life because

in the past you broke precepts and it's

another opportunity to learn how to

purify your mind having an uplifted mind

having joy arise these are essential

parts of meditating now there is a lot

of people that in that I teach in Asia

that they have developed some real bad

habits about their precepts and as a

result their mind gets real scattered

and they're they're very easily

distracted and they suffer so much I

mean it makes compassion come up in me

because I see what they're doing to

themselves

so this is a real interesting phenomena

being able to take the six hours and use

the six hours with your daily activities

your mind will start to settle down

you're going to start to have more and

more balance in your mind okay you're

gonna have stronger and stronger

equanimity and that means that you're

not going to have such strong emotional

upsets you can still get caught

occasionally and it can be shocking when

you get caught by it where'd that come

from

no it's from something in the past some

precept you broke in the past it might

be from 20 lifetimes ago it doesn't

matter why it arises things happen

when conditions are right for this to

arise it will arise what you do with

what arises in the present dictates what

happens in the future if you fight with

what's happening right now and you get

into your anger and your dissatisfaction

and get caught up in that emotional

habitual tendency you can look forward

to that coming up over and over and over

again until you learn that that doesn't

work it doesn't work getting into your

anger your dissatisfaction your

displeasure with whatever it is your

fear your anxiety let go of that kind of

stuff this is what mindfulness is for to

be able to see how this process works so

you won't get caught from having your

emotional upsets and how long do you

stay emotional and how much pain do you

cause yourself and how much pain do you

cause your body

okay doesn't it's not very pleasant

that's the first noble truth there is

suffering but is your choice whether you

suffer with it or not there is pain yeah

welcome to the real world we all have

pain we all have suffering and it's okay

for that to be there it has to be okay

because it's there that's the truth when

a painful feeling if it's emotional or

physical arises the truth is that pain

is there what do you do with it you

fight with it oh I wish it would stop I

hate this feeling when it comes up fear

anxiety sadness whatever it happens to

be allow it to be by itself don't make a

big deal out of what what arises if you

make a big deal out of it then you're

gonna start thinking about it the more

you think about it the bigger and more

intense that pain becomes it's pretty

simple don't do that

allow the feeling to be there by itself

this is a problem that a lot of people

have with the meditation is they want to

control things they want to make things

be the way they want them to be and they

start fighting with it and they start

trying to push it around and it's this

feeling this sensation this fought this

idea well the more you grab on to it the

more you make it into a big deal the

more you're gonna suffer with it so

instead of trying to control it trying

to make it better than it is because I

don't like this the way it is right now

let it be there by itself did you ask

that feeling to come up did you ask that

emotion to come up did you ask that

dissatisfaction to come up nobody's that

dumb you don't do that to yourself

when your mindfulness is poor you do

when your mindfulness is good oh that's

that's a painful feeling that's a

painful thought that's fear sadness

anxiety whatever it happens to be don't

make it in any bigger than it should be

it's gonna come up

but it's not you you didn't ask it to

come up you can't make it go away so we

have to start looking at a different way

of handling these things and that

different way is use the six arts don't

keep your attention on the distraction

allow that distraction to be there allow

that pain to be there allow that sadness

to be there it's only sadness I didn't

make up my mind and say you know I've

been sad for a long time I might as well

be sad now it comes up because

conditions are right for it to come up

what you do with what arises in the

present dictates what happens in the

future so instead of I have to control I

have to make it be the way I wanted to

be you let it be there by itself you've

relaxed you smile you wish some

happiness

oh but it doesn't go away right away

meditation pain I love meditation pain

this stuff is great stuff sometimes and

this is it seems to be a favorite spot

for an awful lot of people as a pain in

the bottom and it could really be

intense and it can really be strong and

it gets so strong I have to break my

sitting like just can't stand it anymore

who can't stand it who doesn't like it

who's taking it personally who's trying

to control it and make it be the way you

want it to be when you make a big deal

out of stuff it gets bigger it gets more

intense it causes more suffering so by

itself it's okay to have pain it has to

be okay because that's the truth right

when it's there it's there there's no

getting around it but as you allow it to

be and don't keep your attention on it

and let go of that tight mental fist

around it that says oh I hate this

feeling and I'm gonna do something with

it

like I told you yesterday everything

about Buddhism is this not this okay

it's allowing that feeling to be there

well but i6r that pain and it didn't go

away right it's not supposed to the pain

will go away when it's gonna go away

you can't control it you can't make it

be the way you want it to be by six

sorry you can't use the six hours as

some kind of stick to make things better

and beat things away allow it to be

there yes it hurts yes it can be real

intense is it whose pain is it who wants

it to be different than it is

who's fighting with the truth who's

trying to make the truth be the way they

want it to be I am who's suffering a lot

do you bet I suffer a lot because I

don't accept what's in the present

moment allow it to be there by itself

smile laugh with it laugh at how silly

your mind can be because I want to

control it I want to make this stop will

laugh have fun with it it's painful

it hurts so bad I have tears coming down

my face I don't care

let it be there by itself it's only a

feeling and it certainly isn't your

feeling although you want to take it

personally you want to grab on to it and

say yeah this is me and I got to make it

better doesn't work allow it to be there

develop your balance of mind your

equanimity that pain will fade away

pretty quick as you stop paying

attention to it and just let it be there

by itself it takes two to tango it takes

two to fight and how much how many times

are you at war with yourself how many

times do you take a thought personally

and fight with it how many times you get

caught up and then you're gonna keep

being caught up in that until you learn

that it's not yours personally so just

let it be there don't try to control

don't try to make it different than it

is the truth is whatever arises it's

there so don't fight with the truth

accept the truth

oh but it hurts yeah okay now when I was

I was in Malaysia no I was in Indonesia

and I got a hernia so I went to the

doctor and the doctor said well I went

to him in the evening he said we have to

operate in the morning and I said no I

can't do that why

well they've arranged for me to give a

talk to a lot of people and it took a

lot of effort to get this many people in

one place so that they could listen to

me give a talk no no you have to have

you have to have this operation no I

think you can give me the operation but

not tomorrow I have to go and there was

they had it arranged for 1200 people to

show up for this talk and there was

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