From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=GeE55qlroio

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

[Music]

okay so

today i'm going to be reading from

what's known as the

upanisa

and this is samyut nikaya 12.23

and so

a lot of things that i'll be discussing

in the suta

there'll be a lot of information

and don't worry

if it doesn't fully register just listen

and

just understand

where this whole process is leading so

this is giving you a preview

of what's going on

through the process of this retreat

so the english

title for this is called

proximate cause

at savathi

because i say that the destruction of

the taints

is for one who knows and sees

not for one who does not know and does

not see

for one who knows what

for one who sees what

does the destruction of the taints come

about

such is form such its origin such its

passing away

such is feeling such is perception such

are

volitional formations

such as consciousness

such their origin and such they're

passing away

it is for one who knows thus for one who

sees thus

that the destruction of the taints

comes about

so

this is the ultimate goal in this

practice

is the destruction of the taints

that is uh basically arahat ship

right we have these three taints

that the mind has and these three taints

are

the taint of sensual desire

the taint of craving for existence

and the taint of

ignorance

so the taint of sensual desire is

basically the mind that latches onto

some kind of a sensorial experience

sensory experience

when you are in your meditation

you might hear

birds chirping in the air

or you might hear the lawnmower going

out and going outside

you might hear somebody clearing their

throat you might

feel a fly land on your skin

you might hear the fly buzzing around

you

all of these are sensory experiences

now how do you deal with those sensory

experiences

does the mind get caught up by them does

the does the mind get irritated when it

hears the lawnmower

does it attach itself to the buzzing of

the fly

or when the fly lands on your skin

or when somebody clears their throat or

opens and closes the door

when you hear the birds chirping does

your mind fly to them and does your mind

now think about those birds what kind of

birds are there are they or does it go

into some kind of memory

all of these are distractions

the beginning of distractions are

actually the taints

the asavas

so the taints are described as affluence

or influxes or outflows or inflows

because they're the beginning of a

stream

think about it from the analogy of a

river

it starts off with

this very basic

stream

that comes out

and as the vortex increases other things

happen

so the taint of sensual desire is really

that

almost unconscious way of dealing with

situations

where the mind always tends towards a

certain way of dealing with a sensory

experience when it comes to the taint of

sensual desire

so how do you let go of that kind of

attachment to your sensory experience or

an aversion to sensory experience

you use the six r's

you recognize that the mind is

distracted because it's taking

personally this

sensory experience whether it's hearing

something

feeling something on the body tasting

something

whether it's smelling something whatever

it might be

and you recognize that the mind is

distracted the mind is no longer on its

object of meditation

once you recognize that

you release your attention

from that

attachment you release your attention

from grasping onto

or having resistance toward resistance

towards

some kind of sensory experience you let

go of all of that

you accept it and let go

once you release you relax

and you're relaxing the tightness and

tension in your mind and in your body

remember yesterday i said that craving

manifests as tightness and tension

in the mind and body the reason is

because when you

crave for something

there's this immediate reactivity in the

body every immediate reactivity in the

mind that wants to hold on to that if

it's a pleasant experience or wants to

push it away if it's an unpleasant

experience or wants to identify with it

if it's just a neutral experience saying

that this is me this is mine this is

myself so when you relax what you're

doing is you're letting go of that

craving

you're dealing with that taint of

sensual desire at the very very basic

level you're letting that go

when you relax your mind feels spacious

your mind feels expensive

your mind is like a cloudless clear blue

sky

no activity going on

this is mundane nirvana

and then once you have that experience

of relaxing you come back to the smile

notice if you're still smiling

if you're not smiling bring up the smile

and then come back to your object of

meditation whether that is staying with

the loving kindness the loving kindness

your spiritual friend or radiating the

brahmaviharas in each direction in all

directions

whatever the object of meditation is or

it could be quiet mind too

so the taint of sensual desire arises or

the talent of sensual desire is

strengthened

every time you take personally a sensory

experience

every time you grasp onto some kind of

sensory experience

every time you have aversion towards a

sensory experience

every time you identify with a sensory

experience

so just notice in your mind how it's

reacting

or how it's responding

reacting means it's taking it personally

wanting more of it pushing it away or

identifying with it responding is

recognizing the mind has craving the

mind is holding on to it

the mind is distracted

so responding really is to use the six

hours to come back to your object of

meditation

the second taint is attained for craving

for existence

this is called bhavatana or vibhavatana

which is the craving for non-existence

two sides of the same coin

the craving for existence is the mind

or it manifests in the mind as i want to

be something

or the

i don't want to be something

so it has a level of craving associated

with i want to be really good at

meditation

i want something out of this retreat

you know i want to get to the fourth

jana or

i want to get to

you know stream entry or whatever it is

now don't get me wrong having this

inclination in the mind

is called chanda which is a wholesome

desire

it inclines the mind towards release

it inclines the mind towards nibana

but when you get obsessed by it

and you get upset that you're not there

you get obsessed by

you know why am i not being undistracted

why am i still holding on to this

why am i not yet in the first jana or

the second jhana why am i not feeling

the feeling of loving kindness

all of this is the

craving for existence

so every time your mind has those kinds

of thoughts

you have to recognize them

just recognize them don't do anything

else just recognize them

and then release your attention from

them bring your attention back to the

present

use your mind and body as the anchor to

the present moment

bring it back to the present

and then relax

let go of any attachments

let go of the tightening

in the mind and body

come back to the smile

return back to your object of meditation

what about the taint of ignorance

the taint of ignorance

it's basically to ignore the four noble

truths

and a lack of

mindfulness equals ignorance

because remember mindfulness is

remembering to observe how mind's

attention moves from one thing to the

other

every time you have lack of mindfulness

you allow your mind to slip and get

distracted

and now that adds to that

taint that asava of ignorance

so this is the almost automatic

conditioning that everybody has until

they become an arahat

because they're not aware of the four

noble truths

the four noble truths are very simple

there is suffering and that suffering

can be manifested as bodily pain mental

pain emotional pain grief despair

depression anxiety

whatever it might be

and there is a source of this suffering

that source of the suffering will

explore a little bit but

the the short form of that is craving

the desire to possess something the

desire to have something

is the desire to be something

or the desire not to be something the

desire to

you know push it

away or the desire to identify with

whatever it is

that's the second noble truth craving is

the source of suffering

the third noble truth is called nirodha

the cessation of craving is the

cessation of suffering

and the fourth noble truth is the

eightfold path

so the eightfold path is what you guys

are all going to be exercising during

this retreat

so that's right view being aware of the

four noble truths being aware that there

is cause and consequence

right intention

that right intention is letting go of

the need to control things letting

go of the need for things to be a

certain way

cultivating loving kindness cultivating

compassion

right speech right speech is basically

you know you'll see in the dining hall

it says there think before you speak

right obviously

all of you are not going to be speaking

for the most part because this is a

silent retreat

but if you have to speak think before

you speak

so the t there is timeliness

is it the right time

to say what you want to say

h is for honesty

is what you're going to say do you know

it to be true

i is for intention what's your intention

behind what you want to say

is it wholesome or unwholesome

n is for necessity is it beneficial to

the the parties that are going to hear

what you have to say

is it beneficial for you

and k

can you say with kindness so this is

think before you speak

that's part of right speech

right action is basically keeping your

precepts

right so in the morning you take your

precepts and you commit to keeping those

precepts

that's refraining from harming

living beings

from killing living beings

refraining from

taking what is not given

refraining from sexual misconduct or

sensual misconduct

refraining from

telling lies

gossiping slander and so on and

refraining from intoxicants

and then fi and then that leads to right

livelihood now right here you know you

have taken a break from your livelihood

but right livelihood basically means

having a lifestyle

having a career that does not cause harm

to yourself or to others

is not afflictive to you or afflictive

to other beings

and then right effort this is the crux

of the whole practice

right effort allows you to go from the

wrong path or the wrong factors of the

path to the right factors

right effort allows you to go from

wrong view to right view wrong intention

to right intention

wrong speech to right speech wrong

action to right action wrong livelihood

to right livelihood

wrong mindfulness to right mindfulness

wrong collectedness to right

collectiveness so what is that right

effort

right effort is fourfold

knowing when you are distracted

abandoning that distraction unwholesome

states of mind

generating a wholesome state of mind and

maintaining that wholesome state of mind

when you do the six hours this is what

you are doing you are doing right effort

because when you

recognize that you were distracted you

know that you were distracted

when you release your attention from

that distraction

and you relax

you abandon that unwholesome state of

mind

when you come back to the smile you

generate a wholesome state of mind

and then when you stay with your object

of meditation you maintain that

wholesome state of mind

so this is all you have to do

for the rest of the retreat is to stay

with your object and meditation

right whatever that is

and six are when you get distracted

whether you're sitting whether you're

walking whether you're eating whether

you're taking a shower

whatever it is you're doing stay with

your object

sticks are when you get distracted

so every time you use the six r's you

become aware of the four noble truths

which means you become mindful

there is no more lack of mindfulness

which means you let go bit by bit of

ignorance

so using the six r's you are actually

cultivating the four noble truths

because you understand their suffering

in the form of a hindrance that arises

you let go of the source of that

suffering which is the undue attention

to that hindrance

and then you experience the cessation of

that suffering when you relax

experience that spacious mind and then

come back to the smile and stay with the

object doing this

you are cultivating the fourth noble

truth

right so this is a lot of information

but let it seep in

over the next few days it will make

sense

but what we are doing here in this

practice is letting go of these three

taints

these unconscious

drivers

towards craving

towards identifying

towards ignorance

once you let go of that then you

understand for yourself

the impermanent nature of the five

aggregates this is what the buddha is

talking about

form feeling perception volitional

formations

consciousness

you understand that whatever arises and

passes away

is liable to cause suffering and

therefore you don't take it personally

this is the goal of the practice to let

go of taking things personally

i say because that the knowledge of

destruction in regard to destruction

of the taints has approximate cause

it does not lack a proximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for the

knowledge of destruction

it should be said liberation

so liberation here is the mind that gets

liberated from the hindrances

the mind that gets liberated from the

fetters the mind that gets liberated

from the tents

and this is facilitated through

the experience of cessation

cessation is a very

interesting place to be in so to speak

you'll know you'll get to know more

about it tomorrow but basically

this liberation of mind is the cessation

of all suffering

and that means it's the cessation of all

perception

feeling and consciousness

you don't know you were in that state

until you come out of it

and when you come out of it there is a

very interesting experience that happens

but i'm not going to tell you

you have to tell me

i say because that liberation too has a

proximate cause

it does not lack a proximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for

liberation

it should be said this passion

this passion

basically is a mind that is detached

this passion is a mind that is

basically in a bubble

in a very wholesome state of mind

letting go of any kind of expectations

of how things should be

this passion says

i don't care what's going on it does

it's not indifference

it's just saying i've seen this enough

i've seen these hindrances enough and

i'm tired of them and i'm letting go of

them

and i'm not holding on to them

so when you see the background thoughts

right

but your mind is staying with the object

of meditation it's actually developing

some level of dispassion

because you are aware that there's

thoughts in the background but your mind

doesn't get pulled in that direction

so it's detached from those thoughts in

the background

being detached that is what dispassion

is

i say because that dispassion too has

approximate cause

it does not lack a proximate cause

and what is approximate cause for

dispassion it should be said

disenchantment

so what is this enchantment

so this enchantment is the mind that

says i'm aware of these background

thoughts or i'm aware of these

distractions

or i'm aware of whatever is happening

but

i'm not getting caught up in them

i'm no longer letting my mind get

interested in them

you don't do this by force

the disenchantment and the dispassion

they arise naturally as a result of the

practice

they arise as a result of you developing

the practice cultivating the practice

your goal here is to understand how your

mind works

it's not to try to push anything down

it's not to suppress the hindrances

it's not to try to control the

hindrances

your goal is to understand

how these hindrances arose

and let go of them

and that's facilitated by using the six

hour process

every time you recognize that there's a

distraction

every time you release your attention

from that

you relax the mind and body the tension

in the mind and body

you come back to the smile

and then you come back to your object of

meditation

you are seeing how your mind works

and you are cultivating and developing

wisdom

so every time you do this you are

further cultivating equanimity which

we'll get to you're further cultivating

dispatch disenchantment further

cultivating disenchantment

and as a natural result that will lead

to cessation of suffering

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

i say because that this enchantment too

has approximate cause it does not lack a

proximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for

dispassion or disenchantment

it should be said the knowledge and

vision of things as they really

are that's just a

another way of saying

equanimity

so the way you develop equanimity now

equanimity is present in all of the

states that you're going to experience

throughout this retreat

and it gets stronger and it gets deeper

and it gets more clear

as you deepen your practice as you sit

for longer periods of time

equanimity is basically that attitude

where the mind sees things as they are

good bad or indifferent pleasant

unpleasant or neutral

and doesn't get caught up in any of that

doesn't get pulled in one direction or

the other

so if it's a pleasant feeling your mind

is aware okay here's a pleasant

experience

if it's unpleasant feeling your mind is

aware okay here is an unpleasant

experience

if it's a neutral experience your mind

is aware here is a neutral experience

but it doesn't go beyond that where it

says oh i don't like this unpleasant

state

or i really like this pleasant state

because even when you experience

whatever you're experiencing in the

meditation the joy

the equanimity the bliss whatever you're

experiencing

these are all just factors

of the practice

don't let your mind get caught up in

them

if you're experiencing hindrances those

are unpleasant states

don't let your mind get caught up in

them if your mind does get caught up in

them what do you do

you use the six r's

recognize there's a hindrance let let go

of your attention from that release

relax

the tension in the mind and body come

back to the smile

and return back to your object of

meditation

right it's it's really that simple

you just have to use the six hours every

time you get distracted and let your

mind stay with that feeling whatever

that feeling is

whatever that object of meditation is

so equanimity is developed every time

you use the six r's

equanimity becomes stronger in the mind

every time you use the 6rs

equanimity is one of the enlightenment

factors as well

so equanimity actually allows your mind

to be more mindful

allows your mind to experience greater

joy allows your mind to experience

greater energy

or balances that energy

allows your mind to experience

more tranquility

allows your mind to experience more

collectedness and so on

i say because that the knowledge and

vision of things as they really are

too has approximate cause

it does not lack approximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for the

knowledge and vision vision of things as

they really are

it should be said collectedness

how do you get your collected mind what

is the definition of a collected mind

sometimes it is translated

sometimes it is translated as

concentration

but concentration gives other kinds of

connotations

because that means that your mind

becomes

very one pointed towards the object

your mind becomes the object of

meditation

here the goal is not that because when

your mind becomes super concentrated

becomes one pointed it suppresses

everything else

it suppresses the insights

it suppresses the hindrances

and when it suppresses it what happens

it's the analogy of having a beach ball

you put it under water and you suppress

that ball under the water

and you let go what happens the ball

comes right back up at full force

when you suppress the hindrances your

mind may feel happy your mind may feel

joyful your mind may feel equanimous

not a whole lot will happen in the mind

but then what happens when you come out

of the meditation maybe for you know an

hour or so you feel really good

but then you're met with something that

causes a hindrance to arise

how do you deal with it

you have sensual craving that arises

you have a version that arises

you have restlessness that arises

you have a sleepy and dull mind slot

interpreter that arises

you have doubt that arises and it comes

with full force and you have no idea how

to deal with it

so the practice practice here is not

about trying to become super

concentrated

the practice is basically that this is

what it is tranquil wisdom insight

meditation your mind is tranquil your

mind is collected

your mind has ekagata kagatha is usually

translated as one pointedness but it's

unification of the mind

the analogy to use here is that this is

your object of meditation

this is your mind

it orbits around the object of

meditation so your mind is has this

you know flexible awareness this

flexible attention

which means that it's able to

see what's going on whether it's a

hindrance

whether it's some kind of background

thought whether it's an insight whatever

it might be but its attention is

revolving orbiting around the object of

meditation the loving kindness the

compassion the quiet mind whatever it

might be

what happens when you get distracted

your mind's attention comes out of orbit

and goes somewhere else it strays away

right you get distracted by that

so how do you bring it back into orbit

you use the six r's you recognize your

mind is no longer in orbit

you release your attention from that

you relax the tightness and tension come

back to the smile and gently bring it

back to the object of meditation and

keep it going

let it continue to revolve around the

object

so this is a very soft and gentle

practice

you don't need to push so hard

you don't need to strive you don't need

to suppress anything allow things to be

as they are

i say because that collectedness too has

approximate cause

it does not lack approximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for

collectedness

it should be said happiness

so this happiness is sukkah

not the cat

right i don't know if you guys have been

acquainted with sukkah the cat yet

but he gives a lot of sukkah to

everybody

sukkah is this sense of comfort and ease

in the mind and body

so this sukkah arises when your mind

feels loving-kindness

your mind stays with the loving-kindness

and it feels joyful

it feels relaxed

it feels happy it feels uplifted

it's very free-flowing

it's not trying so hard it's allow it's

allowing things to just flow

so this is the comfort of comfort and

ease that you experience in mind and

body

and it will happen naturally as a result

of

continuing to stay with your object

and continuing to 6r whenever you get

distracted

i say because that happiness too has

approximate cause

it does not lack a proximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for

happiness

it should be said tranquility

tranquility this is relaxation

being relaxed

in everything that you do

so this tranquility also arises

naturally as a result of keeping your

mind attentive towards your object

staying here

being undistracted your mind

rid of any kind of hindrances

it experiences a level of relief from

those hindrances

this is the tranquility that you

experience

which deepens at a certain level of

meditation which we'll talk about

tomorrow

but just understand that these are the

factors that you want to be aware of

not that you have to look out for them

but just know that

they are present and when they are

present

you're you're aware and you know that

you are on the right track

anytime you feel pain

any time you feel

despair anytime you feel agitation any

time you feel of restlessness anytime

you feel like you need to do something

anytime you feel like you have to

suppress something you're on the wrong

path but you're if you're experiencing

if you're experiencing a mind that is

uplifted

a mind that is tranquil a mind that is

collected a mind that is happy at ease

and you're going in the right right

direction that's all you need to know

i say because that tranquility too has

approximate cause

it does not lack approximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for

tranquility

it should be said

rapture

rapture comes from the

pali word pithi pt means

joy or bliss

this is one of the factors of the levels

of meditation the first two levels of

meditation that you will see tomorrow

and that too arises naturally

remember these are all passive states

these estates that arise and pass away

you don't need to hold on to them

you don't need to try to construct a

state of joy

you don't need to try to bring up

joy it will arise

naturally as a result of your mind being

more and more collected

don't look for these states to happen

just be aware that they are present when

they happen

right so your mind becomes very relaxed

your mind becomes collected and as a

result it feels

happy and feels that joy

so if you're experiencing that know that

you're on the right track

but here's a key point don't hold on to

the joy if the joy goes away

that's fine

don't try to keep it don't try to retain

it

allow it to be there when it is there

and allow it to go when it goes

because that joy as your mind becomes

more collected will get to the next

level

right

you'll experience that tranquility it

will experience that sukkah that

happiness it will experience more

collectedness it will experience more

equanimity and so on and so forth

so don't worry if anything goes away

if you notice that it goes away and your

mind is distracted whether it is by the

joy or by something else

use the six r's

to bring your mind back into orbit to

stay with its object and meditation

i say because that rapture too has

approximate cause

it does not lack a proximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for

rapture it should be said gladness

gladness comes from the word pamoja

that is the happiness of the dharma

and this gladness can also be equated to

what's known as

non-regret

having a mind that is not agitated

how how does agitation arise

how does restlessness and remorse arise

they arise every time your mind

has an intention of breaking a precept

most of the time

sometimes restlessness will arise

because you've had too much caffeine

right or you're anxious about something

whatever it might be

but generally speaking

this is where you should understand that

there is a connection an inter relation

between keeping the precepts

and the hindrances that arise

there are these five hindrances sensual

craving

aversion

restlessness sloth and torpor

and doubt

sensual craving is the mind that becomes

obsessed with some kind of a sensory

experience

it's a pleasant feeling and the mind

says i want more of that

aversion says i don't want any more of

that aversion pushes away has resistance

towards something that is unpleasant

in the mind or to the body

restlessness is a mind that is agitated

that's because you're trying too hard

when you try too hard the restlessness

that arises

causes tightness and tension

in the mind and body

and then what happens you have a flurry

of thoughts that come and go

sloth and torpor is when you have a lack

of energy

there's not enough interest in your

object of meditation

sometimes what can happen is that your

mind

has has had hasn't had enough sleep

now this can be experienced by some of

you you know in the first couple of days

you might be meditating or you think you

might be meditating and then suddenly

your mind drifts off somewhere

and then you have that bubble head that

goes on

right

so when you notice that

just bring a little bit more attention

to your object bring a little bit more

interest in your object

this is because there's not a lack of

energy

sometimes you need to take a nap so you

go and take a nap

meditate in the light in the natural

sunlight

or walk backwards like i said yesterday

and then there's doubt

so doubt is basically the mind that says

i don't know if i'm doing this

meditation correctly did i hear him

correctly when he said this

i don't know if i'm feeling the feeling

of loving kindness and my six are

incorrectly wait did i miss the relaxed

step did i miss recognizing you know all

of these different kinds of thoughts

arise so these hindrances

generally speaking can arise because at

some point

a precept was broken now if the

hindrance arises there's no need for you

to feel guilty that it arose because you

broke a precept

if that's happening then you have other

issues to deal with which we'll talk

about personally in our interviews

but just know that if a hindrance has

arisen

if a hindrance has arisen you don't need

to get so flustered by it just recognize

there's a hindrance let your attention

go from that right release your

attention

relax re-smile return and repeat

whenever you get distracted

so keeping the

precepts has is a wonderful

protectant

against the

hindrances

because the more you develop keeping the

precepts the more you commit to keeping

the precepts

the less agitated your mind becomes

generally

why

because when there is an intention to

break the first precept to harm or kill

a living being what happens

there is ill-will that arises

there is aversion that arises

and this can give rise to the hindrance

of aversion at some point in time

when you break the precept of taking

what is not given

that can give rise to restlessness and

remorse

that's the hindrance of restlessness and

remorse

when you have sensual misconduct or

sexual misconduct

when you get obsessed

by some kind of sensory experience and

you want more of that and in that

process you have misconduct

you break a precept

in

in that obsession of grasping onto that

sensory experience

that's sensual misconduct

and that cultivates the hindrance of

sensual craving

when you tell a lie

when you gossip when you slander when

you break that precept of refraining

from lying

you create doubt in yourself

you create doubt about others

because if you can lie to others who's

to say others aren't lying to you

right that's the mindset that you

cultivate when you do that

and so that gives rise to the hindrance

of doubt

and then indulging in intoxicants

any intoxicant that causes dullness of

mind would will invariably lead to sloth

interpret

and

very broadly speaking that can also be

where the mind becomes obsessed in over

indulging in something

right that could be going on a netflix

binge and watching you know six seasons

of an uh of a show over a weekend how

does your mind feel when it does that at

the end of it

just blank

and it's not a good kind of blank

just very dull

right

so know the moderation in consumption

whether it's food

whether it's reading

whatever it might be

so this gladness that we're talking

about it arises as a result of knowing

that you have kept your precepts

so tune into that

in the morning when you take your

precepts

allow that natural gladness to be

cultivated in your mind

and allow that to inform your meditation

allow that to be the foundation from

where then you bring up that feeling of

loving kindness

and stay with that

and stay with that until you get

distracted

6r and then come back

i say because that gladness 2 has

approximate cause

it does not lack approximate cause and

what is the proximate cause for gladness

it should be said faith

this word faith comes from the pali word

sadhan

so this faith is really twofold

you guys all came here

to do the retreat

because you're willing to understand

what the secret is all about

you're willing to listen

what the instructions are

and you're willing it willing to try

see and try for yourself how this

practice works

that's a type of faith

as a result of that your mind

makes it a point to stay

stay with the object of meditation but

before that

it makes it a point of cultivating and

keeping the precepts as a result of

which the gladness arises

and as a result of which the pt arises

the joy arises as a result of which

there is happiness and comfort and ease

as a result of which there is

tranquility

as a result of which there is more

collectedness

as a result of which there is equanimity

as a result of which there is

disenchantment as a result of which

there is dispassion

and then finally liberation of the mind

so this is what you will experience

if you do three things

keep your precepts

follow the guidelines right

keep observing your object of meditation

staying with the object of meditation

and

use the six hours when you get

distracted that's all you have to do

notice what kind of thoughts arise in

your mind

are they aversive thoughts

are they craving base thoughts are they

restless thoughts are their thoughts

rooted in doubt whatever it might be

recognize it let them go

relax your mind and body re-smile and

come back to the loving kindness come

back to the compassion come back to the

joy or the equanimity or quiet mind or

whatever it might be

so this willingness to see how this

practice works is a type of faith

and as a result of which when you go

through this process

you experience what's known as

conviction

conviction in the buddha dharma in

sangha because you have seen for

yourself that this path actually works

so that's the twofold understanding of

faith

now we're going to get into something

that is

basically

a elaboration of the second noble truth

so far what you've been looking at is

the cultivation of the third noble truth

the cultivation of the third and fourth

noble truth

basically cultivating the eightfold path

using the six r's

and then experiencing as a result these

different states

allowing you to experience new rodham

the cessation of suffering

now what we're going to get into is the

first and second noble truth the noble

truth of suffering and how suffering

arises

and i'll go through it very briefly

because uh for the majority of the met

of the of the retreat we will be

exploring in detail

these different factors which are known

as the links of dependent origination

up until now what we have been

discussing is what is known as

transcendental

dependent origination

now we're going to be talking about

dependent origination of suffer

i say because that faith too has

approximate cause it does not lack

approximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for

faith it should be said suffering

why did you guys come here on retreat

you had it you were experiencing some

kind of suffering

i know through coming to this retreat

you experienced some kind of suffering

right

some kind of suffering whether it's the

suffering of change whether the

suffering of stress or the suffering of

whatever it might be

you know lack of control over your life

whatever it might be

right and then that led you to say hey

let me sign up for this retreat see what

it's all about so that's that kind of

faith the willingness to try something

now suffering in itself you have to

understand a lot of times there's a

misunderstanding that

life is suffering

you know and everything is dukkha

everything is suffering

but that with that kind of attitude

where are you going to go where is that

going to take you

it's definitely not going to take you to

feeling joyful it's definitely not going

to take you to feeling relaxed

in fact you'll only add more to your

suffering if you think that all life is

suffering

so what you have to understand is that

there is something

known as suffering in life

but there is also something known as joy

in life

there is also something known as freedom

of mind in life

so we will explore all of these links

in greater detail but just for now

understand that these are the different

things and they start they end in

suffering the whole

mass of suffering

i say because that suffering too has

approximate cause

it does not lack a proximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for

suffering

it should be said birth

now birth here has a lot of connotations

birth can mean the birth into existence

or the birth of action

or a certain kind of classification

because the word birth

comes from the pali jati

and jyati means classification of beings

what kind of being have you become

right and we'll explore this more

but for the purpose of understanding

dependent origination from a micro level

that is to say from a

moment to moment level we are talking

about the birth of action

the birth of karmic action the birth of

action that produces

results rooted in some kind of suffering

don't worry if this is getting

too complicated but we will discuss this

in greater detail just for now

understand what's going on here in terms

of causation

cause and effect

conditionality

with the arising of this there is the

arising of that with the passing of this

there is the passing of that so the

birth that we're talking about here can

mean different things

it can mean the birth of being the birth

of into existence the birth of action

or classification that results in some

kind of suffering so the identification

with something that results in suffering

i say because that birth too has

approximate cause it does not lack

approximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for

birth

it should be said existence

so here existence you know

it comes from the word bhava and bhava

can mean

being or to become something to incline

towards something

it can mean habitual tendencies

certain kinds of reactions a library of

reactions in your mind based on what is

met in every situation

and from these reactions

from these habitual tendencies the mind

acts

and causes itself suffering

so from that habitual tendency there is

a certain birth of action that can lead

to some kind of suffering

i say because that

existence or habitual tendencies

too has approximate cause

it does not lack approximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for

habitual tendencies

it should be said clinging

there are certain types of clinging but

clinging basically is the mind that kind

of rationalizes

why it says

what it likes

right the mind says i like this

and i want this that's the craving

and then the mind says i want this

because

of so and so

and so that's the clinging

the association

with that particular kind of craving

whether it's

craving or aversion or identification

that's the process of clinging

it's the mind that's that tries to

justify

in that sense

why it says that this pursuit of craving

or this resistance from aversion or this

standpoint of identifying with

whatever process is going on as me mine

or myself

that rationalizing that is the clinging

i say because that clinging to has

approximate cause it does not lack

approximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for

clinging

it should be said craving

so this is the crux

right

craving here

craving here is threefold

there is the craving for sense

experiences

there is a craving for existence

and there is a craving for non-existence

the craving for sensory experiences

attaching a sense of self taking

personally

whatever is happening in through your

five physical senses

craving for existence is

i want to be in this particular state of

mind

i want to be adept at this particular

meditation

i want to get to this particular

brahmavihara and becoming obsessed by

that

making up making the chanda the

wholesome inclination

of inclining your mind towards release

and then becoming obsessed by that

that's a type of craving the craving for

existence the craving for non-existence

i don't want to be radiating this

particular brahmavihara

or i don't want to be in this channel

right that's the flip side of that

or you know the very extreme form of

craving for non-existence can be suicide

the mind becomes so encumbered by all

kinds of experiences

that it's unable to contain all of that

it's unable to deal with that in the

present

and it feels overpowered

and as a result it feels like the relief

that will arise

will be by ending all of it

and that is the craving for

non-existence at the most extreme form

that's suicide

i say because that craving too has

approximate cause it does not lack

approximate cause

and what is the proximate cause for

craving

it should be said feeling

so what is feeling

feeling comes from the word

vedana

and vedana the root word of vedna is

veda

to know

to understand to experience

so vedana is any kind of experience that

is to be felt

that can be any experience that happens

through the five sense bases

that is to say through the eyes

through the ears

through the nose through the tongue

through the body or through the mind

that's just an experience

and that experience can be categorized

or

felt or cognized

as being pleasant

something that feels good

unpleasant something that feels bad

or neither pleasant nor painful

something that is neutral

so these are the three classifications

of an experience that you're having

right now you ha you are having an

experience

hopefully that experience is pleasant

right

so

whatever it is you're experiencing

through the sixth sense basis

that is feeling

that is vedana

i say

okay so now it goes into for feeling it

should be said that the proximate cause

is contact

so contact is the initial spark that

propagates that experience

in other words the

the light the photons bounce off of an

object and hit the eye

that process is contact

the vibrations in the atmosphere

touch the ear and that creates the sound

that is the contact with the ear

the

molecules

connect with the old olfactory bulbs

right that is the smelling that it

happens that's the fragrance or the

order that you experience that initial

spark when that those molecules

hit your notes that is the contact

when you taste a piece of food that

initial experience an initial spark

that's contact

when the wind blows

and you're meditating outside that

initial experience of the wind bristling

around your skin

across your skin

that initial experience is the contact

which then gives rise to the experience

of wind being present

or

warmth or cold or whatever it might be

and when your mind makes contact with

loving kindness the initial time when

your mind makes contact with

loving-kindness or with a hindrance

that is contact

for a contact

it should be said the sixth sense bases

the sixth sense bases are basically the

eyes

the ears the nose

the tongue the body and the mind

that's all it is

so it's the physical organs

that receive

sensory information

these are the six sense spaces

for the sixth sense basis name and form

mentality materiality this is a very

very interesting particular

link because there's a lot to be talked

about here there's a lot to explore here

but just understand that the

the name and form basically means mind

and body

that allows that that have faculties

for you to be able to experience contact

for you to be

able to experience feeling

for you to be able to perceive what it

is that you're feeling perceiving

perception

means to be able to recognize

to know what it is that you're

experiencing in other words if you've

seen the color black before you know

that this is the color black

because you've learned it before that

perception is rooted in a memory of an

experience

and that allows the faculties of

intention

to incline the mind towards one way or

the other

and attention

to pay attention to something and then

the form itself which is the body

for name and form it should be said

consciousness

so consciousness here

it basically means the six

sense-based consciousnesses the

awareness of something consciousness

comes from the word vidyana

nyana means knowledge

to know something

and v means to divide that knowledge up

so you're becoming aware of an

experience

whether it's the awareness of your eyes

and the experience that your eyes are

having the awareness of your ears and

the experience that your ears are having

the awareness of the nose the tongue the

body or the mind

and the experiences that they're having

it's to cognize to understand what is

present

consciousness here is not about some

kind of all-pervading consciousness

that is

you know

providing

life to this body

and that is

a permanent kind of consciousness

we will explore this more because it's a

very subtle understanding of what

consciousness is and there's an

interdependency

between consciousness and mentality

materiality

without mentality materiality

you can't experience consciousness

without consciousness you can't be aware

of mentality materiality

right so we'll explore that also in the

coming days

but just understand on the very simple

level consciousness is to be aware of

something to cognize something

and for consciousness the proximate

cause are volitional formations

this comes from the word sankhara

sankhara basically means to cook up

something

to prepare something

to form something

so that is to form a certain kind of

experience

for your intention for your attention

there are three formations three types

of formations

bodily formations

verbal formations

mental formations

bodily formations allow you to engage

with the physical world

through breathing and walking and so on

verbal formations allow you to express

in speech and talk so you have thinking

and examining thought which means you

think about something

you examine it and then you have

something that you want to say

this is facilitated by verbal formations

mental formations allow you to feel and

perceive in general

so they can be

understood as synapses that allow

the the mind to then experience

something

so they allow you to feel and perceive

i say because that volitional formations

too have approximate cause

they do not lack a proximate cause and

what is the proximate cause for

volitional formations

it should be said ignorance

the reason why we say this is because

why it's understood in this way is

because ignorance remember is the lack

of understanding the four noble truths

the lack of mindfulness

of what's going on

which means you're taking things

personally when that happens

that actually activates formations that

or impressions in the mind or synapses

that have been strengthened by taking

things personally

and they color the rest of the links

that arise in this series of experiences

so ignorance is really the beginning of

this

but that ignorance also has a foundation

which we'll explore later which are the

taints

so it comes full circle

how do you let go of these these

processes that cause craving you use the

six r's

every time you use the six r's you're

recognizing which means you become

mindfulness you have mindfulness

when you become mindful

you're aware of what's happening which

means that the ignorance starts to

subside when you let go of the craving

whether it's craving for existence or

sensual craving you're letting go bit by

bit that taint

of sensual desire and that taint

of craving for existence

thus because with ignorance as proximate

cause volitional formations come to be

with volitional formations as

approximate cause consciousness comes to

be with consciousness as proximate cause

mentality materiality comes to be with

mentality materiality as proximate cause

the sixth sense bases come to be

with the sixth sense basis as proximate

cause contact comes to be with contact

as proximate cause

feeling comes to be

with feeling as proximate cause craving

comes to be

with craving as proximate cause clinging

comes to be

with clinging as proximate cause

habitual tendencies come to be with

habitual tendencies as proximate cause

birth comes to be

with birth as proximate cause suffering

comes to be

with suffering as proximate cause faith

comes to be with faith as proximate

cause gladness comes to be

with gladness as proximate cause rapture

comes to be with rapturous proximate

cause tranquility comes to be

with tranquility as proximate cause

happiness comes to be

with happiness as proximate cause

collectiveness comes to be

with collectedness as proximate cause

the knowledge and vision of things as

they really are come to be

with the knowledge and vision of things

as they really are as proximate cause

this enchantment comes to be

with disenchantment as proximate cause

this passion comes to be

with dispassion as proximate cause

liberation comes to be with liberation

as proximate cause the knowledge of

destruction of the taints comes to be

just as because when rain pours down in

thick droplets on a mountain top

the water flows down along the slope and

fills the cleft gullies and creeks

these being full

fill up the pools

these being full fill up the lakes

these being full fill up the streams

these being full

fill up the rivers

and these being full fill up the great

ocean

so too with ignorance as proximate cause

volitional formations come to be

with volitional formations as proximate

cause consciousness comes to be

with consciousness as proximate cause

mentality materiality comes to be

with mentality and materiality as

proximate cause the sixth sense bases

come to be

with the sixth sense basis as proximate

cause contact comes to be

with contact as proximate cause feeling

comes to be

with feeling as proximate cause craving

comes to be

with craving as proximate cause clinging

comes to be

with clinging as proximate cause

habitual tendencies come to be with

habitual tendencies as proximate cause

birth comes to be with birth as

proximate cause suffering comes to be

with suffering as proximate cause

faith comes to be

with faith as proximate cause gladness

comes to be

with gladness as proximate cause rapture

comes to be

with rapture as proximate cause

tranquility comes to be

where tranquility is proximate cause

happiness comes to be

with happiness as proximate cause

collectedness comes to be

with collectedness collectedness as

proximate cause

knowledge and vision of things as they

are which is equanimity comes to be

with equanimity as proximate cause

disenchantment comes to be

with this enchantment as proximate cause

this passion comes to be

with this passion as proximate cause

liberation comes to be

with liberation as proximate cause the

knowledge of the destruction of the

taints

comes to be

here endeth the lesson

questions so the three taints are always

going to be there

until you become an arahant

the the so actually the taint of sensual

desire goes away when you become an

onigami when you let go of sensual

craving

and lust

that craving for existence and the

ignorance goes away when you become an

arahant the three characteristics are

separate

three characteristics have to do with

understanding

all things are conditioned everything

that you experience here is conditioned

everything that is conditioned is bound

to arise and pass away which is

impermanence anicha

the understanding of this

gives you the perception of suffering

because you realize that you become

bored by it it becomes too much for you

to keep seeing the arising and passing

away of things

and then you realize that there is no

controller here

that this is all an impersonal process

and that gives rise to

you know equanimity which gives rise to

cessation

so anisha or the understanding of anicha

on an experiential level

happens as you become more collected

you don't need to look for these things

you don't need to analyze you don't need

to reflect you don't need to contemplate

you don't need to try to look for them

they will arise on their own

these experiences

they happen naturally

as you become more collected as you

experience the different levels of

meditation

you see for yourself the impermanent

nature of things

you see for yourself the suffering

aspect

and then you see for yourself the

impersonal nature

once you once that happens you drop

everything and you experience this deep

sense

of equanimity which is the knowledge and

vision of things as they are

when you deepen that then you have the

disenchantment then you have the

dispassion

then you have the cessation that happens

so you don't have to say in your mind oh

this is impermanent or hold on to the

idea that this is impermanent

your mind by going through the different

progress the progressive steps of

meditation which you'll talk about

tomorrow

at a certain level will uh will see for

itself that anisha

will see for itself the dukkha and will

see for itself the anata

it's a it's a

it's a very clear experience that

happens no no it is found in the suttas

actually uh yeah because what it says is

that the perception of anichah leads to

the perception of dukkha

which leads to the perception of anata

that perception of anata leads to the

perception of equanimity

which leads to the perception of

disenchantment which leads to the

perception of dispassion which leads to

cessation so actually there is a suta in

dignity number

33

sangeethi suta where sariputta is going

through all the different

categories of experiences in the dhamma

and he talks about these six or seven

levels of perception

that are fir that first begin with the

perception of anisha

but that is facilitated by

right effort and by right collectedness

okay

share some merit

may suffering ones be suffering free may

the fear strike fearless be

may the grieving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

may all beings share this merit that we

have thus acquired for the acquisition

of all kinds of happiness may beings

inhabiting space and earth devas and

nagas of mighty power share this merit

of ours may they long protect the

buddha's dispensation