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

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

in you open your eyes dear heavy as soon

as you close that is on the bed cause

you're only letting your mind play

tricks with you

okay the discourse tonight is called the

greater discourse on the ways of

undertaking things now when people think

about practicing meditation they think

that's just only about City meditation

is much more than that there's three

parts to the meditation the first part

is by practicing your generosity most

people think that that means money

donating money donating food that sort

of thing but actually the generosity

that the Buddha was talking about with

this is in your daily life you give

people kind speak you do kind actions to

help other people and keep your mind

focused unhappy uplifting thoughts

that's how you practice your generosity

if you go into a grocery store and

there's a little baby that's being kind

of loud and crying and not happy then

start sending them loving and kind

thoughts make them smile just stop

crying immediately and you know that

makes a mother feel so when you practice

your generosity you practice giving of

yourself to other people okay it's real

important especially these days and in

this country everybody is I mean first

and how difficult is it to say something

that will make somebody else smile when

you get in that long line at the grocery

store how's that little little person

that's taking the money they see the

long line they feel not happy about it

they're going as fast as they can saying

something to make them smile let them

know that it's okay everything is fine

that's how you practice your generosity

you give to other people what is needed

in the present moment sometimes it is

giving food to other people sometimes it

is donating things to the monastery but

most of the time

it's giving to people around you do you

want the world to be a happier place

than it is then be happy it's that

simple you give behind speech you help

people in whatever way you can not

because you're going to get something in

return but because you want to help and

you think very uplifted happy thoughts

that's what I was talking about last

night with that suit to the simile of

the song it's that it doesn't matter

whether somebody's being honest or

dishonest or they're being kind or

unkind it doesn't matter what matters is

what you do with your own mind in the

present moment and when you start

radiating loving kindness to other

people they start appreciating that and

they start having a mind that's more at

ease somebody sent me a YouTube it was

about two minutes and this it was in a

European train man walked in sat down

beside somebody he was smiling the whole

time he came in looking her out and then

he started laughing

a little bit and everybody is kind of

looking at him like is very peculiar and

then he starts laughing more loudly and

then he really starts laughing very hard

and everybody around him started

laughing they didn't know why they were

laughing but they felt good he was

affecting the world around him in a

positive way after he got everybody on

the train laughing then he got off the

train and went on another train or did

it to somebody else it's a real

interesting thing if you want to try an

experiment go to a shopping mall and

walk around with a sour face and see how

everybody else treats you and then stop

take a minute start smiling look other

people in the eye and spine that's all

start radiating loving kindness I tried

this on my own when I was a layman i sat

down at a place after walking around

with a grumpy face and everybody was

grumpy along with it i sat down and I

started smiling and I closed my eyes and

I radiated happy fields and after a few

minutes I started feeling people staring

at me and I opened my eyes and I looked

around there was 12 people standing

right beside me smiling

you want to affect the world in a

positive way then take the

responsibility to be happy not grumpy

not disliking all this person I hate

them why do you hate them because

there's something in them that you see

in yourself that you don't like so you

start sending loving and kind thoughts

to that person and before long they

start changing I used to have somebody

go out and buy me a bunch of mirrors

little mirrors like this and I had them

right underneath with some fingernail

polish smile and I told them every time

they get on the telephone pull it up and

smile the reason you use a mirror is not

because of vanity is to see whether

you're smiling or not and when you stop

smiling then you could start again you

want good telephone conversations smile

this is the first part of meditation it

doesn't have to do with just sitting

passively it has to do with life now the

second part of the meditation is keeping

your precepts this is a universal law

all religions talk about keeping the

precepts I even looked it up in the

Bible and Matthew the same precepts that

the Buddha taught are exactly the same

that's in that Bible pretty amazing

but we can't just use that as some kind

of it yeah yeah yeah yeah I can do that

when I come to the temple or i can do

that when i come to come to the church

or wherever you happen to be this isn't

all the time practice now it's a real

interesting thing that the closer you

keep your precepts the calmer your mind

becomes you don't have entrances arise

so often there was a lady in malaysia

she came she'd spent her whole life

keeping the precept she wouldn't even

consider Ricky one preset she helped

other people and then she came to me and

said I want to learn how to meditate I

said fine I'm going to give her a

retreat next weekend come for that so I

gave her the instructions and meditation

and after lunch I looked her up and I

said well hajer meditation going and she

said well I can only sit for 45 minutes

and I said only ok why don't you sit

longer she said you know I'm not used to

sitting on the floor and my knees are

just causing so much pain that's as long

as I can stand so I told her there's no

magic in the floor if you want to sit in

a chair then sit in a chair her next

city was four hours she got into the

first jhana now this is the first time

she'd ever tried to meditate why was she

so good at that because she

precepts very closely if you break a

preset you can look forward to having

hindrances arise in your meditation in

this country it's not taken very

seriously at all you go to a retreat

they give you the precepts in Pali so

nobody really understands what they are

you notice that when we take the

precepts we do it in English so you have

some understanding of what they are and

they just do it one time now there's

places that they give retreats for three

months and about fifty percent of the

people that take the retreat don't

understand what they're doing or how to

do the meditation this is after three

months half of the people don't

understand why they're letting their

mind play around they're getting

involved with their hindrances they

might have a hindrance that will last

for two or three weeks because they

don't understand what the entrances are

the closer you can keep your precepts

the easier life becomes

it turns into a protection in the suit

does it says anybody that really keeps

their precesses will ever die a violent

death you'll die of natural causes you

won't fall off a cliff you won't get

into an accident and be killed because

it's a protection so it's real important

that you understand that the meditation

is not just sitting like one of these

Buddha images that's only a small part

of it it's real important that you don't

kill on purpose you don't take anything

that's not given you don't have wrong

sexual activity that sexual activity

with somebody that's too young still

under the care of the family or with

another person's mate you don't do that

you don't tell lies even little white

lights you don't curse you don't use

foul language

you don't use speech that causes people

to divide themselves you use the kind of

speech that pulls people together and

you don't gossip what's gossip making up

stories that aren't true now you have a

friend that you go see and they ask

about one of your friends you tell them

the truth as best as you know and let it

go at that you don't start making up

stories and you don't take drugs or

alcohol if you take drugs or alcohol

your likelihood of breaking the other

precepts is very high and when you take

alcohol or drugs just to take the edge

off just so I can relax dulls your mind

a lot and you'll notice that when you

try to sit in meditation you go to sleep

pretty easily why is that because you've

been practicing dull in your mind

so it's real important to keep these

precepts without breaking them and if

you by chance forget and make a mistake

and break one of the precepts this is

not time for you to feel guilty it's

time for you to take the precepts again

forgive yourself for making a mistake

and make the determination I'm not going

to do that again this is a part of

training there's nothing in Buddhism

that has to do with guilt there is a

path that you're walking on sometimes

you might slip up well if you slip off

recognize that you made a mistake

forgive yourself get back on the path

and start again that's the real way that

leads to a happy life one of the things

of taking and keeping the precepts

that's real interesting is when people

break precepts and an emergency to

happen somebody has an accident or

there's a fire what they do is they run

around and they don't know what to do

for instance I was I lived in Hawaii for

a while

I was a layman I worked at a restaurant

the smoking was pretty regular there

somebody took an ashtray didn't see that

there was still alive cigarette in put

it in with a bunch of paper I'm all the

way across the room helping somebody and

all of a sudden there's this big billow

of smoke and everybody's standing right

beside it started running around saying

fire fire fire I looked and I said yeah

it looks like a fire so I very calmly

walked over and I got a picture of water

and put the fire out why did that happen

like that those people that didn't

follow their precepts at all they didn't

know what to do in a situation that

called for specific action I know what

to do I followed the precepts it only

makes sense doesn't it it is a kind of

protection now this greater discourse on

the ways of undertaking things thus if I

heard on one occasion the blessed one

was living in sawatya in jet 20 benefit

pendejas park there he addressed the

monks thus monks venerable sir they

replied the blessed one set this monks

for the most part beings have this wish

desire and longing if only unwished for

things undesired disagreeable things

would diminish and wish for desired and

agreeable things would increase sounds

right then everybody has that wish yet

although beings have this wish desire

and longing unwish for undesired

disagreeable things increase for them

and wished for desired agreeable things

diminish why is that now monks what do

you think is the reason for that

venerable sir our teaching is rooted in

the Blessed One guided by the Blessed

One have the Blessed One as their resort

it would be good if the blessed one

would explain the meaning of these words

having heard it from the Blessed One the

monks will remember it then listen monks

and attend closely to what I shall say

yes venerables are they replied the

Blessed ones at this here amongst and

ordinary person who has no regard for

noble ones and is unskilled and

undisciplined in their Dhamma who has no

regard for true men and is unskilled and

undisciplined in their dama does not

know what things should be cultivated

and what things should not be cultivated

he does not know what things should be

followed and what things should not be

followed not knowing this he cultivates

the things that should not be cultivated

and does not cultivate things that

should be cultivated he follows things

that should not be followed and does not

follow things that should be followed it

is because he does this that unwished

for undesired disagreeable things

increase for him and wish for desired

agreeable things diminish why is that

that is what happens to one who does not

see

understand a well Todd Noble disciple

who has regards for noble ones and his

guild and disciplined in their Dhamma

who has regard for true men in a skilled

and discipline in there Dom knows what

things should be cultivated and what

things should not be cultivated he knows

what things should be followed and what

things should not be followed knowing

this he cultivates things it should be

cultivated and does not cultivate things

that should not be cultivated he follows

things that should be followed and does

not follow things that should not be

followed it is because he does this that

unwished for undesired deep disagreeable

things diminish for him they become less

and wished for desired agreeable things

increase why is that that is what

happens to one who sees and understands

monks there are four ways of undertaking

things what are the four there is a way

of undertaking things that is painful

now and ripens in the future as pain

there is a way of undertaking things

that is pleasant now and ripens in the

future as pain there is a way of

undertaking things that is painful now

and ripens in the future as pleasure

there is a way of undertaking things

that is pleasant now and ripens in the

future as pleasure the ignorant person

now monks one who is ignorant not

knowing this way of undertaking thing

that is painful now on ripens in the

future is being does not understand as

it actually is thus this way of

undertaking things is painful now and

ripens in the future is pain not knowing

it not understanding it as it actually

is the ignorant one cultivates it and

does not avoid it because he does so

unwished for to the undesired

disagreeable things increase for him in

wish for desired agreeable things

diminish why is that that is what

happens when one does not see now monks

one who is ignorant not knowing this way

of undertaking things that is pleasant

now and ripens in the future is pain

does not understand as it actually is

thus this way of undertaking things as

pleasant now and ripens in the future is

pain not knowing it not understanding it

as it actually is and the ignorant one

cultivates it and does not avoid it

because he does so unwished for things

in on wish for things increase for him

and wish for things diminish why is that

that is what happens to one who does not

see now amongst one who is ignorant not

knowing this way of undertaking things

that is painful now and ripens in the

future is pleasure does not understand

as it actually is thus this way of

undertaking things

is painful now and ripens in the future

is pleasure not knowing it not

understanding it as it actually is the

ignorant one does not cultivate it but

avoids it because he does so unwish for

things increase for him and wish for

things diminish why is that that is what

happens to one who does not see now

monks one who is ignorant not knowing

the way of undertaking things that is

pleasant now and ripens in the future as

pleasant does not understand it as it

actually is thus this way of undertaking

things as pleasant now and ripens in the

future is pleasure not knowing it not

understanding it as it actually is the

ignorant one does not cultivate it but

avoids it because he does so unwish for

things increase for him and wish for

things diminish why is that that is what

happens to one who does not see now the

wise person now monks one who is wise

knowing this way of undertaking things

that is painful now and ripens in the

future as pain understands it as it

actually is thus this way of undertaking

things is painful now and ripens in the

future is pain knowing it understanding

it as it actually is the wise one does

not cultivate it but avoids it he does

he does so as he does so unwished forth

unwished for undesired disagreeable

things diminish for him and wished for

these iron agreeable

things increase why is that that is what

happens to one who sees now a monk's one

who is wise knowing the way of

undertaking things that is pleasant now

and ripens in the future as pain

understands it as it actually is thus

this way of undertaking things as

pleasant now and ripens in the future is

pain knowing it understanding it as it

actually is the wise one does not

cultivate it but avoids it and because

he does so unwished for things diminish

for him and wish for things increase why

is that that is what happens to one who

sees now monks one who is wise knowing

this way of undertaking things that is

painful now on ripens in the future as

pleasure understands it as it actually

is thus this way of undertaking things

is painful now and ripens in the future

as pleasure knowing and understanding it

as it actually is the wise man does not

avoid it but cultivates it because he

does so on wish for things diminish for

him and wish for things increase why is

that that is what happens to one who

sees now monks one who is wise knowing

this way of undertaking things that is

pleasant now and ripens in the future is

pleasure understands it as it actually

is thus this way of undertaking things

as pleasant now and ripe sand ripens in

future is pleasure knowing it

understanding it as it actually is the

wise one does not avoid it but

cultivates it because he does does so

unwish for things diminish for him and

wished for things increase why is that

that is what happens to one who sees

what monks is the way of undertaking

things that is painful now and ripens in

the future as pain here someone in pain

and grief kills living beings he

experiences pain and grief that have

killing of living beings as condition in

pain and grief he takes what is not

given he miss conducts himself in

sensual pleasures he speaks false but he

speaks maliciously he speaks harshly he

gossips his covetous breathing holding

on as a mind of hill will holds wrong

view and he experiences pain and grief

that have wrong view as condition on the

dissolution of the body after death he

reappears in a state of deprivation in

an unhappy destination even in hell this

is called the way of undertaking things

that is painful now and ripens in the

future as pain what mocks is the way of

undertaking things that is pleasant now

and ripens in the future as pain here

among someone in pleasure and joy kills

living beings and he

experiences pleasure enjoy that have

killing of living beings as the

condition many people that are hunters

in Missouri this is beer season and

they'd have a lot of joy killing deer

one of them actually killed a deer on

our property that we were protecting and

she was still giving milk to her young

not real happy with that person I did

that and pleasure endure and joy he

takes what is not given all on you and

experiences pleasure enjoy that have

wrong view is conditioned on the

dissolution of a body after that the

reappears in a state of deprivation in

an unhappy destination even a male this

is called the way of undertaking things

that is pleasant now and ripens in the

future is pain now this is has to do

with sexual activity also people have

pleasure right now but they know that

they're doing something that's not right

so they can have a lot of pleasure right

now but when they're reborn they're not

going to be very happy about it there's

a story in the Jataka tales about a man

that he was always going out with other

people's wives and having sexual

activity it

that it is whole life and when he was

reborn he was reborn in a very very

nasty place there's molten lead in a in

a big pot it takes 50 thousand years for

him to come down and fifty thousand

years for him to come up and he had

enough time to utter one syllable before

he went back down again not a pleasant

existence there's lots of pain in that

and he caused that to himself because he

wanted to take the pleasure now and

ignored the fact that there was pain

coming when monks or what monks is the

way of undertaking things that's painful

now on ripens in the future is pleasure

here monks someone in pain and brief

abstains from killing living beings and

he experiences pain and grief that have

abston destination from killing living

beings as condition an example i was

telling entre about this i live in a

cabin in the forest and there's a lot of

wasp you know what wasps are they

they're stinging beasts and anytime wasp

would come into my cabin I would very

patiently get a glass and put it up and

put a piece of paper over it and take

him outside and let him go and tell him

to tell all of his friends not to bother

me and I was getting up one morning and

I put

hand on the cover to throw the covers

off and a watch stung me and I got a

hold of him and I started scolding him i

said i'm really nice to all of your

family why did you do that and the wasp

kind of hung his head and then i let him

go outside in pain and grief he abstains

from taking what is not given even

though you might really want it from

misconduct and sensual pleasures from

speaking falsehood from speaking

maliciously from speaking harshly from

speaking from gossiping he is not

covetous he does not have a mind of hill

will he holds right view when he

experiences pain and grief that have

right view is condition see what I said

with speech better to say nothing to say

something wrong and to curse and to

divide people and to create stories that

aren't true

on the death solution of the body after

death Erie appears in a happy

destination even in a heavenly world

this is called the way of undertaking

things that is painful now you might

want to do it but you refrain from doing

it and ripens in the future as pleasure

what monks is the way of undertaking

things that is pleasant now and ripens

in the future is pleasure here monks

someone in pleasure and joy abstained

from killing living beings he

experiences pleasure and joy that have

abstention from killing living beings as

condition now we're talking about ants

cockroaches mosquitoes all of those

little nasty things spiders

don't kill them have joy in taking them

and moving them somewhere else we have a

lot of mice living in the forest that's

just the way it goes but we have these

traps that's like a little greenhouse

that they get in they can't get out and

we're always telling them that we love

them but we don't want them around and

we take them three or four miles away

and let them go free we don't kill him

no need and pleasure and joy abstain

from taking what is not given he holds

right view when he experiences pleasure

enjoy that have right view his condition

on the dissolution of a body after death

he reappears in a happy destination even

in a heavenly world this is called the

way of undertaking things that is

pleasant now i beez in the future is

monks suppose there was a bitter gourd

mixed with poison bitter gourd to my way

it tastes his poison and a man who

wanted to live not to die wanted

pleasure and recoiled from pain and they

told him good man this bitter gourd is

mixed with poison drink from it if you

want as you drink from it its color and

smell and taste does not agree with you

after drinking from it you will come to

death or deadly suffering then he drank

from it without reflecting and did not

relinquish it as he drank from it its

color smell and taste did not agree with

them and after drinking

from it he came to the death of deadly

suffering similar to that I say is a way

of undertaking things that is painful

now and ripens in the future as pain

suppose there were bronze cup of

beverage possessing good color good

smell and good taste but it was mixed

with a poison in a man who came who

wanted to live not to die who wanted

pleasure and recoiled from pain they

told him good man this braun cups of

beverage possesses a good flavor good

smell and good color but it's mixed with

poison drink from it if you want as you

drink from it its color smell and taste

will agree with you but after drinking

from it you will come to death or deadly

suffering then he drank from it without

reflecting and did not been relinquish

it as he drank from it its color smell

and taste agreed with him but after

drinking from it he came to death or

deadly suffering similar to that I say

is the way of undertaking things that is

pleasant now and ripens in the future as

pain suppose there were fermented urine

mixed with various medicines and a man

came sick with jaundice and he they told

him good man this fermented urine is is

mixed with various medicines your sri

lankan you

and that's part of the monks medicine is

fermented urine yeah it doesn't taste so

bad really smells and they put you put

herbs and stuff in it for different

kinds of sickness you understand these

things that's monks medicine a lot of

monks don't do that anymore and I had a

monk friend that had a skin disease it

was very bad it was always itching and

he was scratching until there was blood

in case read um ananda told him he

didn't tell him to drink his own urine

he told him to go get some cow you're

from a cow that had just given birth to

a cat and he did and Kate Reed um ananda

put it out in the sun covered up for

four days and it fermented and then we

got some herbs that k tree said to give

in and we mixed it with him and he had

to drink it taste is not bad although

the some of the herbs were pretty pretty

potent but nobody wanted to be around

him after that because I smelled so bad

with that coming into poisons coming out

but in a week he got rid of this skin

disease it really does work it's not as

appetizing instant it could be but it

does work

anyway good man this fermented urine is

mixed with various medicines drink from

it if you want as you drink from it the

smell color and taste will not agree

with you but after drinking it you will

be well then he drank from it after

reflecting and did not relinquish it he

drank from it and its colors taste and

smell did not agree with him but after

drinking from it he became well similar

to that I say is the way of undertaking

things that is painful now and ripens in

the future as pleasure suppose their

work curd honey he and molasses mixed

together and a man with dysentery came

and they told him good man this curd

honey ghee and molasses mixed together

drink it drink from it if you want as

you drink from it its colors now on

taste will agree with you and after

drinking from it as you will you will be

well then he drank after reflecting and

did not relinquish it as his he drank

from its color from as he drank from it

it's colored smell and taste agreed with

him after drinking from it he began he

began became well similar to that I say

is

way of undertaking things that is

pleasant now and brightens in the future

is pleasure just as in the autumn in the

last month of the rainy season when the

sky is clear and cloudless the Sun rises

above the earth dispelling all darkness

from space with its shining and meaning

and radiant so to the way of undertaking

things that is pleasant now and ripens

in the future is pleasure dispels with

the shining beaming and its radiance any

other doctrines whatever of ordinary

recluses and brahmins that is what the

Blessed One said the monks were

satisfied and delighted in the Blessed

ones words now this gives you more and

more of an idea of the importance of

keeping your precepts because if you

just kind of ho-hum with your precepts

well it doesn't matter so much you say

something that's not true once you start

developing your mind your mind will say

I shouldn't have said that that wasn't

true and then you go and you sit in

meditation and you'd have a very

restless mind II I have students that

don't really care about the precepts

they think they want to purify their

mind but they don't want to take the

trouble to follow the precepts they

practice for a long time they have very

very slow progress it's really to your

advantage to keep your precepts in

school

as you can

one of the things that's happening in

the world in a lot of Buddhist countries

is that people and that monks seem to

think that it's impossible for you to

attain nirvana in this lifetime so why

try I'm here to tell you right now if

you follow this advice that I've given

you tonight you are on the road to

attaining me bonham now there's some of

you that have had some joy arrives

there's some of you that have very

strong balance of mind some of you that

are going any deaven deeper than that in

this retreat if you obtain one jonna one

time in your life you have the potential

of attaining Nibhana in this life thing

the way it works says that in the obby

dollar it really does work this way

the more you lighten your mind the lest

you break precepts the easier your

meditation becomes and your

understanding just starts to zoom now

you haven't heard me talk too much about

Jonna I don't know if you understand

that word or not do you understand what

it Jonah is okay it's mentioned many

many thousands of times in the symptoms

a Jonah is a level of your understanding

your understanding what how your mind

how your minds attention works

you can go to you have a hindrance or

ice will do it this way you have a

hindrance of rights and then you let it

go with your relax and you smile and you

come back to your meditation object and

stay with it as long as you can but then

the hindrance comes up again so you do

the same thing again let it be relax you

smile you come back to your object to

meditation every time you let go of that

endurance you are developing your

mindfulness a little bit now before long

a hindrance comes up and as it comes up

you start to notice that there's

something that happened right before

that entrance hold my mind away okay so

six are that you've let it be relax you

smile you come back to your object of

meditation but the next time your mind

gets distracted you notice that little

thing right before you got really pulled

away and you six are right then and what

happens is that you start to stay on

your object to meditation for longer and

the distraction doesn't last for Islam

now when you first start meditating your

mind is going to flip flop because

you're not used to doing okay fine

that's not a problem if your mind gets

distracted a hundred times in your city

and a hundred times you reckon

is it you let it be relax and smile you

come back to your object of meditation

that is good meditation too many times

because mostly of people that practice

Zen meditation they tell you you're

supposed to quote clear your mind like

thoughts or some kind of enemy to fight

with but they're not thoughts when they

come up and they distract you away our

part of restlessness and that's okay

your job is to recognize that it

happened let it go relax smile and come

back

when you do that you start catching your

mind and the distraction a little bit

more quickly and you start staying on

your object of meditation for a little

bit longer now it might be that your

object of meditation you might stay on

it for 10 seconds before your mind gets

distracted again fine that's not a

problem let it be relax smile come back

as you get familiar with how your mind

gets distracted you start to see little

things that happen before you really get

taken away so you start letting go a

little bit quicker and a little bit

quickly and you start staying on your

object of meditation for a little bit

longer maybe 15 seconds 20 seconds 30

seconds that means that you're

progressing okay

oh you're still going to get pulled away

and that's fine but you're starting to

teach yourself how this process works

you can't force anything you can't make

your mind me the way you want it to be

it's going to be the way it's going to

be and it has to be okay because that's

a dumb that's the truth it's going to be

that way when it happens real profound

but as you become more familiar with how

mines attention went from your object of

meditation to this distraction it didn't

happen at once there is a process that

happens and as you start to see right

before my mind got distracted for a

minute there was something else there so

you finally you let it go and relax and

then you notice oh there's that one

again and you let go right then now you

stay on your object to meditation for

maybe 40 seconds or a minute and before

long the distraction doesn't last very

long the distraction is a hindrance but

it's okay but you start staying for a

little bit longer a minute two minutes

and then you start feeling joy arise at

first you feel a sense of relief Wow

I finally let go of his entrance and it

didn't the rise again a big rock had

been taken off your shoulder and the joy

that arises now there's five different

kinds of joy there is goose bumps now

these first three kinds of joy happen to

anybody when the conditions are right

the last two kind only happen with

mental development the first kind is

getting goose bumps you know what I mean

news flash okay and it lasts for a very

short period of time and then it fades

away and you feel a brief moment of

tranquillity is nice the next kind of

joy is like a flash of lightning it's

very quick it's very intense and it

disappears very quickly and the

tranquility that you feel after that is

a last for a little bit longer a couple

of minutes that's really nice now you go

you all can experience this at any time

in your life when the conditions are

right the next kind of joy is like

standing in the ocean and you have this

wave of joy come over you oh it's

wonderful and then another wave comes

over you when that joy fades away you

have a period of time that might be five

minutes ten minutes maybe even a little

bit

longer a very very strong tranquility

feel really peaceful ok the next two

kinds of joy only arise through mental

development the next kind of joy is

called uplifting joy you feel very light

in your body you feel very light in your

mind it will last for a period of time

and then it'll fade away but right after

that you feel very strong tranquility

you feel really peaceful and you start

thinking now this is why I'm meditating

this is good stuff and you feel more

comfortable in your mind and in your

body then you felt before please Oh your

mind's not running around anymore you

can still have a distracting thought but

you'll see it very quickly and it's very

easy to let it go in six art and then

come back now what I just described to

you is the first job okay you're

starting to learn how mines attention

moves from one thing to another and

you're starting to learn how to let go

of distractions and it's called the

first job

now you're going to be in that state for

a period of time but it will fade away

for whatever reason your mindfulness

will become me and now you have another

hindrance to work with but now you're

getting the idea of oh I know what to do

with this so you don't get so involved

in the content of the distraction you

see it for what it is it's just a

distracting thought you let it go and

relax and come back

you

in you open your eyes dear heavy as soon

as you close that is on the bed cause

you're only letting your mind play

tricks with you

okay the discourse tonight is called the

greater discourse on the ways of

undertaking things now when people think

about practicing meditation they think

that's just only about City meditation

is much more than that there's three

parts to the meditation the first part

is by practicing your generosity most

people think that that means money

donating money donating food that sort

of thing but actually the generosity

that the Buddha was talking about with

this is in your daily life you give

people kind speak you do kind actions to

help other people and keep your mind

focused unhappy uplifting thoughts

that's how you practice your generosity

if you go into a grocery store and

there's a little baby that's being kind

of loud and crying and not happy then

start sending them loving and kind

thoughts make them smile just stop

crying immediately and you know that

makes a mother feel so when you practice

your generosity you practice giving of

yourself to other people okay it's real

important especially these days and in

this country everybody is I mean first

and how difficult is it to say something

that will make somebody else smile when

you get in that long line at the grocery

store how's that little little person

that's taking the money they see the

long line they feel not happy about it

they're going as fast as they can saying

something to make them smile let them

know that it's okay everything is fine

that's how you practice your generosity

you give to other people what is needed

in the present moment sometimes it is

giving food to other people sometimes it

is donating things to the monastery but

most of the time

it's giving to people around you do you

want the world to be a happier place

than it is then be happy it's that

simple you give behind speech you help

people in whatever way you can not

because you're going to get something in

return but because you want to help and

you think very uplifted happy thoughts

that's what I was talking about last

night with that suit to the simile of

the song it's that it doesn't matter

whether somebody's being honest or

dishonest or they're being kind or

unkind it doesn't matter what matters is

what you do with your own mind in the

present moment and when you start

radiating loving kindness to other

people they start appreciating that and

they start having a mind that's more at

ease somebody sent me a YouTube it was

about two minutes and this it was in a

European train man walked in sat down

beside somebody he was smiling the whole

time he came in looking her out and then

he started laughing

a little bit and everybody is kind of

looking at him like is very peculiar and

then he starts laughing more loudly and

then he really starts laughing very hard

and everybody around him started

laughing they didn't know why they were

laughing but they felt good he was

affecting the world around him in a

positive way after he got everybody on

the train laughing then he got off the

train and went on another train or did

it to somebody else it's a real

interesting thing if you want to try an

experiment go to a shopping mall and

walk around with a sour face and see how

everybody else treats you and then stop

take a minute start smiling look other

people in the eye and spine that's all

start radiating loving kindness I tried

this on my own when I was a layman i sat

down at a place after walking around

with a grumpy face and everybody was

grumpy along with it i sat down and I

started smiling and I closed my eyes and

I radiated happy fields and after a few

minutes I started feeling people staring

at me and I opened my eyes and I looked

around there was 12 people standing

right beside me smiling

you want to affect the world in a

positive way then take the

responsibility to be happy not grumpy

not disliking all this person I hate

them why do you hate them because

there's something in them that you see

in yourself that you don't like so you

start sending loving and kind thoughts

to that person and before long they

start changing I used to have somebody

go out and buy me a bunch of mirrors

little mirrors like this and I had them

right underneath with some fingernail

polish smile and I told them every time

they get on the telephone pull it up and

smile the reason you use a mirror is not

because of vanity is to see whether

you're smiling or not and when you stop

smiling then you could start again you

want good telephone conversations smile

this is the first part of meditation it

doesn't have to do with just sitting

passively it has to do with life now the

second part of the meditation is keeping

your precepts this is a universal law

all religions talk about keeping the

precepts I even looked it up in the

Bible and Matthew the same precepts that

the Buddha taught are exactly the same

that's in that Bible pretty amazing

but we can't just use that as some kind

of it yeah yeah yeah yeah I can do that

when I come to the temple or i can do

that when i come to come to the church

or wherever you happen to be this isn't

all the time practice now it's a real

interesting thing that the closer you

keep your precepts the calmer your mind

becomes you don't have entrances arise

so often there was a lady in malaysia

she came she'd spent her whole life

keeping the precept she wouldn't even

consider Ricky one preset she helped

other people and then she came to me and

said I want to learn how to meditate I

said fine I'm going to give her a

retreat next weekend come for that so I

gave her the instructions and meditation

and after lunch I looked her up and I

said well hajer meditation going and she

said well I can only sit for 45 minutes

and I said only ok why don't you sit

longer she said you know I'm not used to

sitting on the floor and my knees are

just causing so much pain that's as long

as I can stand so I told her there's no

magic in the floor if you want to sit in

a chair then sit in a chair her next

city was four hours she got into the

first jhana now this is the first time

she'd ever tried to meditate why was she

so good at that because she

precepts very closely if you break a

preset you can look forward to having

hindrances arise in your meditation in

this country it's not taken very

seriously at all you go to a retreat

they give you the precepts in Pali so

nobody really understands what they are

you notice that when we take the

precepts we do it in English so you have

some understanding of what they are and

they just do it one time now there's

places that they give retreats for three

months and about fifty percent of the

people that take the retreat don't

understand what they're doing or how to

do the meditation this is after three

months half of the people don't

understand why they're letting their

mind play around they're getting

involved with their hindrances they

might have a hindrance that will last

for two or three weeks because they

don't understand what the entrances are

the closer you can keep your precepts

the easier life becomes

it turns into a protection in the suit

does it says anybody that really keeps

their precesses will ever die a violent

death you'll die of natural causes you

won't fall off a cliff you won't get

into an accident and be killed because

it's a protection so it's real important

that you understand that the meditation

is not just sitting like one of these

Buddha images that's only a small part

of it it's real important that you don't

kill on purpose you don't take anything

that's not given you don't have wrong

sexual activity that sexual activity

with somebody that's too young still

under the care of the family or with

another person's mate you don't do that

you don't tell lies even little white

lights you don't curse you don't use

foul language

you don't use speech that causes people

to divide themselves you use the kind of

speech that pulls people together and

you don't gossip what's gossip making up

stories that aren't true now you have a

friend that you go see and they ask

about one of your friends you tell them

the truth as best as you know and let it

go at that you don't start making up

stories and you don't take drugs or

alcohol if you take drugs or alcohol

your likelihood of breaking the other

precepts is very high and when you take

alcohol or drugs just to take the edge

off just so I can relax dulls your mind

a lot and you'll notice that when you

try to sit in meditation you go to sleep

pretty easily why is that because you've

been practicing dull in your mind

so it's real important to keep these

precepts without breaking them and if

you by chance forget and make a mistake

and break one of the precepts this is

not time for you to feel guilty it's

time for you to take the precepts again

forgive yourself for making a mistake

and make the determination I'm not going

to do that again this is a part of

training there's nothing in Buddhism

that has to do with guilt there is a

path that you're walking on sometimes

you might slip up well if you slip off

recognize that you made a mistake

forgive yourself get back on the path

and start again that's the real way that

leads to a happy life one of the things

of taking and keeping the precepts

that's real interesting is when people

break precepts and an emergency to

happen somebody has an accident or

there's a fire what they do is they run

around and they don't know what to do

for instance I was I lived in Hawaii for

a while

I was a layman I worked at a restaurant

the smoking was pretty regular there

somebody took an ashtray didn't see that

there was still alive cigarette in put

it in with a bunch of paper I'm all the

way across the room helping somebody and

all of a sudden there's this big billow

of smoke and everybody's standing right

beside it started running around saying

fire fire fire I looked and I said yeah

it looks like a fire so I very calmly

walked over and I got a picture of water

and put the fire out why did that happen

like that those people that didn't

follow their precepts at all they didn't

know what to do in a situation that

called for specific action I know what

to do I followed the precepts it only

makes sense doesn't it it is a kind of

protection now this greater discourse on

the ways of undertaking things thus if I

heard on one occasion the blessed one

was living in sawatya in jet 20 benefit

pendejas park there he addressed the

monks thus monks venerable sir they

replied the blessed one set this monks

for the most part beings have this wish

desire and longing if only unwished for

things undesired disagreeable things

would diminish and wish for desired and

agreeable things would increase sounds

right then everybody has that wish yet

although beings have this wish desire

and longing unwish for undesired

disagreeable things increase for them

and wished for desired agreeable things

diminish why is that now monks what do

you think is the reason for that

venerable sir our teaching is rooted in

the Blessed One guided by the Blessed

One have the Blessed One as their resort

it would be good if the blessed one

would explain the meaning of these words

having heard it from the Blessed One the

monks will remember it then listen monks

and attend closely to what I shall say

yes venerables are they replied the

Blessed ones at this here amongst and

ordinary person who has no regard for

noble ones and is unskilled and

undisciplined in their Dhamma who has no

regard for true men and is unskilled and

undisciplined in their dama does not

know what things should be cultivated

and what things should not be cultivated

he does not know what things should be

followed and what things should not be

followed not knowing this he cultivates

the things that should not be cultivated

and does not cultivate things that

should be cultivated he follows things

that should not be followed and does not

follow things that should be followed it

is because he does this that unwished

for undesired disagreeable things

increase for him and wish for desired

agreeable things diminish why is that

that is what happens to one who does not

see

understand a well Todd Noble disciple

who has regards for noble ones and his

guild and disciplined in their Dhamma

who has regard for true men in a skilled

and discipline in there Dom knows what

things should be cultivated and what

things should not be cultivated he knows

what things should be followed and what

things should not be followed knowing

this he cultivates things it should be

cultivated and does not cultivate things

that should not be cultivated he follows

things that should be followed and does

not follow things that should not be

followed it is because he does this that

unwished for undesired deep disagreeable

things diminish for him they become less

and wished for desired agreeable things

increase why is that that is what

happens to one who sees and understands

monks there are four ways of undertaking

things what are the four there is a way

of undertaking things that is painful

now and ripens in the future as pain

there is a way of undertaking things

that is pleasant now and ripens in the

future as pain there is a way of

undertaking things that is painful now

and ripens in the future as pleasure

there is a way of undertaking things

that is pleasant now and ripens in the

future as pleasure the ignorant person

now monks one who is ignorant not

knowing this way of undertaking thing

that is painful now on ripens in the

future is being does not understand as

it actually is thus this way of

undertaking things is painful now and

ripens in the future is pain not knowing

it not understanding it as it actually

is the ignorant one cultivates it and

does not avoid it because he does so

unwished for to the undesired

disagreeable things increase for him in

wish for desired agreeable things

diminish why is that that is what

happens when one does not see now monks

one who is ignorant not knowing this way

of undertaking things that is pleasant

now and ripens in the future is pain

does not understand as it actually is

thus this way of undertaking things as

pleasant now and ripens in the future is

pain not knowing it not understanding it

as it actually is and the ignorant one

cultivates it and does not avoid it

because he does so unwished for things

in on wish for things increase for him

and wish for things diminish why is that

that is what happens to one who does not

see now amongst one who is ignorant not

knowing this way of undertaking things

that is painful now and ripens in the

future is pleasure does not understand

as it actually is thus this way of

undertaking things

is painful now and ripens in the future

is pleasure not knowing it not

understanding it as it actually is the

ignorant one does not cultivate it but

avoids it because he does so unwish for

things increase for him and wish for

things diminish why is that that is what

happens to one who does not see now

monks one who is ignorant not knowing

the way of undertaking things that is

pleasant now and ripens in the future as

pleasant does not understand it as it

actually is thus this way of undertaking

things as pleasant now and ripens in the

future is pleasure not knowing it not

understanding it as it actually is the

ignorant one does not cultivate it but

avoids it because he does so unwish for

things increase for him and wish for

things diminish why is that that is what

happens to one who does not see now the

wise person now monks one who is wise

knowing this way of undertaking things

that is painful now and ripens in the

future as pain understands it as it

actually is thus this way of undertaking

things is painful now and ripens in the

future is pain knowing it understanding

it as it actually is the wise one does

not cultivate it but avoids it he does

he does so as he does so unwished forth

unwished for undesired disagreeable

things diminish for him and wished for

these iron agreeable

things increase why is that that is what

happens to one who sees now a monk's one

who is wise knowing the way of

undertaking things that is pleasant now

and ripens in the future as pain

understands it as it actually is thus

this way of undertaking things as

pleasant now and ripens in the future is

pain knowing it understanding it as it

actually is the wise one does not

cultivate it but avoids it and because

he does so unwished for things diminish

for him and wish for things increase why

is that that is what happens to one who

sees now monks one who is wise knowing

this way of undertaking things that is

painful now on ripens in the future as

pleasure understands it as it actually

is thus this way of undertaking things

is painful now and ripens in the future

as pleasure knowing and understanding it

as it actually is the wise man does not

avoid it but cultivates it because he

does so on wish for things diminish for

him and wish for things increase why is

that that is what happens to one who

sees now monks one who is wise knowing

this way of undertaking things that is

pleasant now and ripens in the future is

pleasure understands it as it actually

is thus this way of undertaking things

as pleasant now and ripe sand ripens in

future is pleasure knowing it

understanding it as it actually is the

wise one does not avoid it but

cultivates it because he does does so

unwish for things diminish for him and

wished for things increase why is that

that is what happens to one who sees

what monks is the way of undertaking

things that is painful now and ripens in

the future as pain here someone in pain

and grief kills living beings he

experiences pain and grief that have

killing of living beings as condition in

pain and grief he takes what is not

given he miss conducts himself in

sensual pleasures he speaks false but he

speaks maliciously he speaks harshly he

gossips his covetous breathing holding

on as a mind of hill will holds wrong

view and he experiences pain and grief

that have wrong view as condition on the

dissolution of the body after death he

reappears in a state of deprivation in

an unhappy destination even in hell this

is called the way of undertaking things

that is painful now and ripens in the

future as pain what mocks is the way of

undertaking things that is pleasant now

and ripens in the future as pain here

among someone in pleasure and joy kills

living beings and he

experiences pleasure enjoy that have

killing of living beings as the

condition many people that are hunters

in Missouri this is beer season and

they'd have a lot of joy killing deer

one of them actually killed a deer on

our property that we were protecting and

she was still giving milk to her young

not real happy with that person I did

that and pleasure endure and joy he

takes what is not given all on you and

experiences pleasure enjoy that have

wrong view is conditioned on the

dissolution of a body after that the

reappears in a state of deprivation in

an unhappy destination even a male this

is called the way of undertaking things

that is pleasant now and ripens in the

future is pain now this is has to do

with sexual activity also people have

pleasure right now but they know that

they're doing something that's not right

so they can have a lot of pleasure right

now but when they're reborn they're not

going to be very happy about it there's

a story in the Jataka tales about a man

that he was always going out with other

people's wives and having sexual

activity it

that it is whole life and when he was

reborn he was reborn in a very very

nasty place there's molten lead in a in

a big pot it takes 50 thousand years for

him to come down and fifty thousand

years for him to come up and he had

enough time to utter one syllable before

he went back down again not a pleasant

existence there's lots of pain in that

and he caused that to himself because he

wanted to take the pleasure now and

ignored the fact that there was pain

coming when monks or what monks is the

way of undertaking things that's painful

now on ripens in the future is pleasure

here monks someone in pain and brief

abstains from killing living beings and

he experiences pain and grief that have

abston destination from killing living

beings as condition an example i was

telling entre about this i live in a

cabin in the forest and there's a lot of

wasp you know what wasps are they

they're stinging beasts and anytime wasp

would come into my cabin I would very

patiently get a glass and put it up and

put a piece of paper over it and take

him outside and let him go and tell him

to tell all of his friends not to bother

me and I was getting up one morning and

I put

hand on the cover to throw the covers

off and a watch stung me and I got a

hold of him and I started scolding him i

said i'm really nice to all of your

family why did you do that and the wasp

kind of hung his head and then i let him

go outside in pain and grief he abstains

from taking what is not given even

though you might really want it from

misconduct and sensual pleasures from

speaking falsehood from speaking

maliciously from speaking harshly from

speaking from gossiping he is not

covetous he does not have a mind of hill

will he holds right view when he

experiences pain and grief that have

right view is condition see what I said

with speech better to say nothing to say

something wrong and to curse and to

divide people and to create stories that

aren't true

on the death solution of the body after

death Erie appears in a happy

destination even in a heavenly world

this is called the way of undertaking

things that is painful now you might

want to do it but you refrain from doing

it and ripens in the future as pleasure

what monks is the way of undertaking

things that is pleasant now and ripens

in the future is pleasure here monks

someone in pleasure and joy abstained

from killing living beings he

experiences pleasure and joy that have

abstention from killing living beings as

condition now we're talking about ants

cockroaches mosquitoes all of those

little nasty things spiders

don't kill them have joy in taking them

and moving them somewhere else we have a

lot of mice living in the forest that's

just the way it goes but we have these

traps that's like a little greenhouse

that they get in they can't get out and

we're always telling them that we love

them but we don't want them around and

we take them three or four miles away

and let them go free we don't kill him

no need and pleasure and joy abstain

from taking what is not given he holds

right view when he experiences pleasure

enjoy that have right view his condition

on the dissolution of a body after death

he reappears in a happy destination even

in a heavenly world this is called the

way of undertaking things that is

pleasant now i beez in the future is

monks suppose there was a bitter gourd

mixed with poison bitter gourd to my way

it tastes his poison and a man who

wanted to live not to die wanted

pleasure and recoiled from pain and they

told him good man this bitter gourd is

mixed with poison drink from it if you

want as you drink from it its color and

smell and taste does not agree with you

after drinking from it you will come to

death or deadly suffering then he drank

from it without reflecting and did not

relinquish it as he drank from it its

color smell and taste did not agree with

them and after drinking

from it he came to the death of deadly

suffering similar to that I say is a way

of undertaking things that is painful

now and ripens in the future as pain

suppose there were bronze cup of

beverage possessing good color good

smell and good taste but it was mixed

with a poison in a man who came who

wanted to live not to die who wanted

pleasure and recoiled from pain they

told him good man this braun cups of

beverage possesses a good flavor good

smell and good color but it's mixed with

poison drink from it if you want as you

drink from it its color smell and taste

will agree with you but after drinking

from it you will come to death or deadly

suffering then he drank from it without

reflecting and did not been relinquish

it as he drank from it its color smell

and taste agreed with him but after

drinking from it he came to death or

deadly suffering similar to that I say

is the way of undertaking things that is

pleasant now and ripens in the future as

pain suppose there were fermented urine

mixed with various medicines and a man

came sick with jaundice and he they told

him good man this fermented urine is is

mixed with various medicines your sri

lankan you

and that's part of the monks medicine is

fermented urine yeah it doesn't taste so

bad really smells and they put you put

herbs and stuff in it for different

kinds of sickness you understand these

things that's monks medicine a lot of

monks don't do that anymore and I had a

monk friend that had a skin disease it

was very bad it was always itching and

he was scratching until there was blood

in case read um ananda told him he

didn't tell him to drink his own urine

he told him to go get some cow you're

from a cow that had just given birth to

a cat and he did and Kate Reed um ananda

put it out in the sun covered up for

four days and it fermented and then we

got some herbs that k tree said to give

in and we mixed it with him and he had

to drink it taste is not bad although

the some of the herbs were pretty pretty

potent but nobody wanted to be around

him after that because I smelled so bad

with that coming into poisons coming out

but in a week he got rid of this skin

disease it really does work it's not as

appetizing instant it could be but it

does work

anyway good man this fermented urine is

mixed with various medicines drink from

it if you want as you drink from it the

smell color and taste will not agree

with you but after drinking it you will

be well then he drank from it after

reflecting and did not relinquish it he

drank from it and its colors taste and

smell did not agree with him but after

drinking from it he became well similar

to that I say is the way of undertaking

things that is painful now and ripens in

the future as pleasure suppose their

work curd honey he and molasses mixed

together and a man with dysentery came

and they told him good man this curd

honey ghee and molasses mixed together

drink it drink from it if you want as

you drink from it its colors now on

taste will agree with you and after

drinking from it as you will you will be

well then he drank after reflecting and

did not relinquish it as his he drank

from its color from as he drank from it

it's colored smell and taste agreed with

him after drinking from it he began he

began became well similar to that I say

is

way of undertaking things that is

pleasant now and brightens in the future

is pleasure just as in the autumn in the

last month of the rainy season when the

sky is clear and cloudless the Sun rises

above the earth dispelling all darkness

from space with its shining and meaning

and radiant so to the way of undertaking

things that is pleasant now and ripens

in the future is pleasure dispels with

the shining beaming and its radiance any

other doctrines whatever of ordinary

recluses and brahmins that is what the

Blessed One said the monks were

satisfied and delighted in the Blessed

ones words now this gives you more and

more of an idea of the importance of

keeping your precepts because if you

just kind of ho-hum with your precepts

well it doesn't matter so much you say

something that's not true once you start

developing your mind your mind will say

I shouldn't have said that that wasn't

true and then you go and you sit in

meditation and you'd have a very

restless mind II I have students that

don't really care about the precepts

they think they want to purify their

mind but they don't want to take the

trouble to follow the precepts they

practice for a long time they have very

very slow progress it's really to your

advantage to keep your precepts in

school

as you can

one of the things that's happening in

the world in a lot of Buddhist countries

is that people and that monks seem to

think that it's impossible for you to

attain nirvana in this lifetime so why

try I'm here to tell you right now if

you follow this advice that I've given

you tonight you are on the road to

attaining me bonham now there's some of

you that have had some joy arrives

there's some of you that have very

strong balance of mind some of you that

are going any deaven deeper than that in

this retreat if you obtain one jonna one

time in your life you have the potential

of attaining Nibhana in this life thing

the way it works says that in the obby

dollar it really does work this way

the more you lighten your mind the lest

you break precepts the easier your

meditation becomes and your

understanding just starts to zoom now

you haven't heard me talk too much about

Jonna I don't know if you understand

that word or not do you understand what

it Jonah is okay it's mentioned many

many thousands of times in the symptoms

a Jonah is a level of your understanding

your understanding what how your mind

how your minds attention works

you can go to you have a hindrance or

ice will do it this way you have a

hindrance of rights and then you let it

go with your relax and you smile and you

come back to your meditation object and

stay with it as long as you can but then

the hindrance comes up again so you do

the same thing again let it be relax you

smile you come back to your object to

meditation every time you let go of that

endurance you are developing your

mindfulness a little bit now before long

a hindrance comes up and as it comes up

you start to notice that there's

something that happened right before

that entrance hold my mind away okay so

six are that you've let it be relax you

smile you come back to your object of

meditation but the next time your mind

gets distracted you notice that little

thing right before you got really pulled

away and you six are right then and what

happens is that you start to stay on

your object to meditation for longer and

the distraction doesn't last for Islam

now when you first start meditating your

mind is going to flip flop because

you're not used to doing okay fine

that's not a problem if your mind gets

distracted a hundred times in your city

and a hundred times you reckon

is it you let it be relax and smile you

come back to your object of meditation

that is good meditation too many times

because mostly of people that practice

Zen meditation they tell you you're

supposed to quote clear your mind like

thoughts or some kind of enemy to fight

with but they're not thoughts when they

come up and they distract you away our

part of restlessness and that's okay

your job is to recognize that it

happened let it go relax smile and come

back

when you do that you start catching your

mind and the distraction a little bit

more quickly and you start staying on

your object of meditation for a little

bit longer now it might be that your

object of meditation you might stay on

it for 10 seconds before your mind gets

distracted again fine that's not a

problem let it be relax smile come back

as you get familiar with how your mind

gets distracted you start to see little

things that happen before you really get

taken away so you start letting go a

little bit quicker and a little bit

quickly and you start staying on your

object of meditation for a little bit

longer maybe 15 seconds 20 seconds 30

seconds that means that you're

progressing okay

oh you're still going to get pulled away

and that's fine but you're starting to

teach yourself how this process works

you can't force anything you can't make

your mind me the way you want it to be

it's going to be the way it's going to

be and it has to be okay because that's

a dumb that's the truth it's going to be

that way when it happens real profound

but as you become more familiar with how

mines attention went from your object of

meditation to this distraction it didn't

happen at once there is a process that

happens and as you start to see right

before my mind got distracted for a

minute there was something else there so

you finally you let it go and relax and

then you notice oh there's that one

again and you let go right then now you

stay on your object to meditation for

maybe 40 seconds or a minute and before

long the distraction doesn't last very

long the distraction is a hindrance but

it's okay but you start staying for a

little bit longer a minute two minutes

and then you start feeling joy arise at

first you feel a sense of relief Wow

I finally let go of his entrance and it

didn't the rise again a big rock had

been taken off your shoulder and the joy

that arises now there's five different

kinds of joy there is goose bumps now

these first three kinds of joy happen to

anybody when the conditions are right

the last two kind only happen with

mental development the first kind is

getting goose bumps you know what I mean

news flash okay and it lasts for a very

short period of time and then it fades

away and you feel a brief moment of

tranquillity is nice the next kind of

joy is like a flash of lightning it's

very quick it's very intense and it

disappears very quickly and the

tranquility that you feel after that is

a last for a little bit longer a couple

of minutes that's really nice now you go

you all can experience this at any time

in your life when the conditions are

right the next kind of joy is like

standing in the ocean and you have this

wave of joy come over you oh it's

wonderful and then another wave comes

over you when that joy fades away you

have a period of time that might be five

minutes ten minutes maybe even a little

bit

longer a very very strong tranquility

feel really peaceful ok the next two

kinds of joy only arise through mental

development the next kind of joy is

called uplifting joy you feel very light

in your body you feel very light in your

mind it will last for a period of time

and then it'll fade away but right after

that you feel very strong tranquility

you feel really peaceful and you start

thinking now this is why I'm meditating

this is good stuff and you feel more

comfortable in your mind and in your

body then you felt before please Oh your

mind's not running around anymore you

can still have a distracting thought but

you'll see it very quickly and it's very

easy to let it go in six art and then

come back now what I just described to

you is the first job okay you're

starting to learn how mines attention

moves from one thing to another and

you're starting to learn how to let go

of distractions and it's called the

first job

now you're going to be in that state for

a period of time but it will fade away

for whatever reason your mindfulness

will become me and now you have another

hindrance to work with but now you're

getting the idea of oh I know what to do

with this so you don't get so involved

in the content of the distraction you

see it for what it is it's just a

distracting thought you let it go and

relax and come back

you