From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=M2g4ISb2O3Y

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

so

[Music]

so

today we're going to deal with

hindrances

[Applause]

and i'm going to be reading

from diginakaya 2 which is the

samana fala suta

the fruits of the homeless life

thus have i heard once the blessed one

was staying at raja gaha in jivaca

kumara bachcha's

mango grove

together with a large company of some

1250

monks and at that time king ajat sathu

vedi vedahi putta

of magadha

having gone up to the roof of his palace

was sitting there

surrounded by his ministers on the 15th

fast day

the full moon of the fourth month

called comodi

and king ajayat sathu on the fast day

gave vent to this solemn utterance

delightful friends is this moonlight

night

charming is this moonlight night

auspicious is this moonlight night

can we not today visit some ascetic or

brahmana to visit whom

to visit whom would bring peace to our

heart

then one minister said to king ajat

sathu sire there is purana kasapa who

has many followers

a teacher of many who is well known

renowned renowned

the founder of a sect highly honored by

the multitude of long-standing

long since gone forth aged and venerable

may your majesty visit this purana

kasapa

he may well bring peace to your

majesty's heart

at these words king ajat shattu was

silent

another minister said

sire there is makali gosala who has many

followers

he may well he may well bring peace to

your majesty's heart

at these words king ajat shatu was

silent

another minister said sire

there is ajita kesa kambali

at those words at these words king ajat

sathu was silent another minister said

sire there is pakura kachayana

at those words king ajayasattu was

silent

another minister said

sire there is sanjaya bellaputta

at these words king's ajat satya was

silent

another minister said sire there is the

niganta not the putta

who has many followers

a teacher of many who is well known aged

and venerable

may your majesty visit the neganta not

the putta

he may well bring peace to your

majesty's heart

at these words king ajat satu was silent

so

here aja satu

uh just to give you a background ajat

satu was the king of maggot

before him was his father king bimbisara

was a big supporter of the buddha

bimbasara

was a

big follower of the dhamma

ajat sathu was actually somebody who

didn't like his father

and he killed him

and then he took the throne

so

the story goes as ajat sathu was

basically having a restless night

he was overcome

by guilt for what he had done

and his his ministers are talking about

all of these different

sects all of these different leaders of

sects

who

have different kinds of views

and we'll go a little bit into it but

we'll talk more in depth at another time

but these are the

main proponents of certain views that

are counter to the dhamma counter to

what the buddha taught

all this time jivaka komarabacha was

sitting

was sitting silently near

the king said to him you friend jivaka

why are you silent

jivaka said this

sire there is this blessed one the

arahat the fully enlightened buddha

staying in my manga grove with a large

company of some 1250 monks

and concerning the blessed gotham this

fair report has been spread about

this blessed one is an arahat a fully

enlightened buddha endowed with wisdom

and conduct the welfare

knower of the world's incomparable

trainer of men to be tamed

teacher of gods and humans enlightened

and blessed

may your majesty visit the blessed one

he may well bring peace to your

majesty's heart

then jivaca have the writing elephants

made ready

very good sire said

and he had 500 she elephants made ready

and for the king the royal tusker then

he reported

sire the riding elephants are ready now

is the time to do as your majesty wishes

and king ajat shatu having placed his

wives each

on one of the 500 sri elephants

mounted the royal tusker

and proceeded in royal state

accompanied by torch bearers from raja

gaha towards shivaka's

mango grove

and when king ajat shattu came near the

mango grove he felt fear and terror

and his hair stood on end

and feeling this fear and the rising of

the hairs

the king said to jivaka

friend jivaka you are not deceiving me

you are not tricking me

you are not delivering me up to an enemy

how is it that from this great number of

1250 monks

not a sneeze a cough or a shout is to be

heard

have no fear your majesty i would not

deceive you or trick you or deliver you

up to an enemy

approach sire approach

there are the lights burning in the

round pavilion so king ajat shatu having

ridden on his elephant as far as the

ground would permit

alighted and continued on foot to the

door of the round pavilion

then he said jivaka where is the blessed

one

that is the blessed one sire that is the

blessed one sitting against the middle

column with this order of monks in front

of him

ajaya satya was not unable to recognize

the buddha because the buddha was not as

you usually see him

in statues and paintings

he was like the rest of the other monks

with a shaven head

so he looked the same as his other monks

so he couldn't recognize him

then king ajat satu went up to the lord

and stood to one side

and standing there to one side the king

observed how the order of monks

continued in silence

like a clear lake and he exclaimed

if only prince udhaya badha was

possessed of such calm

as this order of monks

prince udayabada was ajatsatu's son

and guess what happened to prince

udayabadna

he killed his father

so it went on

in this family

do your thoughts go to the one you love

your majesty lord prince

is very dear to me

if only he were possessed of the same

calm as this order of monks

then king ajat sathu having bowed down

to the blessed one and saluted the order

of monks

with joined hands sat down to one side

and said

venerable sir i would ask something if

if you would deign to answer me ask your

majesty anything you like

venerable sir just as there are these

various craftsmen

such as elephant drivers

horse drivers

chariot fighters archers

standard bearers

agents

army caterers

champions and senior officers

scouts heroes brave fighters

kurosayers

slave sons cooks barbers bathmen bakers

garland makers bleachers cooks barbers

bleachers weavers basket makers

potters calculators and accountants and

whatever other skills there are they

enjoy here and now the visible fruits of

their skills

they themselves are delighted and

pleased with this

as are their parents children and

colleagues and friends

they maintain and support ascetics and

brahmanas thus

assuring

for themselves a heavenly happy reward

tending towards paradise

can you venerable sir point to such a

reward visible here and now

as a fruit of the homeless life

now we're getting into what

what this whole suta is about

so here ajad satyu asking the buddha

what are the benefits of doing this

practice

when he says the homeless life he's

talking about the monastics but

understand this to be in a larger

context

of the practice in in of itself that is

to say sila

keeping your precepts

samadhi cultivating the meditation and

panya

gaining insight

so the buddha says

your majesty do you admit

that you have put this question to other

ascetics and brahmanas

i admit it

would your majesty mind saying how they

replied

i do not mind telling you or one like

him well then your majesty tell me

once

venerable sir i went to see purana

kasapa

having exchanged courtesies i sat down

to one side and said good kasapa just as

there are these various craftsmen

they enjoy here and now the visible

fruits of their skills

can you kasapa point to such a reward

visible here and now

as a fruit of the homeless life

at this venerable sir purana kasapa said

your majesty by the doer or instigator

of a thing

by one who cuts or bruises to be cut or

causes to be cut by one who burns or

causes to be burnt

by one who causes grief and weariness

by one who agitates or causes agitation

who causes life to be taken or that

which is not given to be taken

commits burglary carries of treasures

commits robbery lies in ambush commits

adultery and tells life lies

no evil is done

if with a razor-sharp wheel

one were to make of this earth one

single mass of and heap of flesh

there would be no evil as a result of

that

no evil would accrue

if one were to go along the south bank

of the ganges killing slaying cutting or

causing to be cut

burning or causing to be burned there

would be no evil as a result of that no

evil would accrue or if one were to go

along with the north bank of the ganges

giving and causing to be given

sacrificing and causing to be sacrificed

there would be no merit as a result of

that

no merit would accrue

in giving self-control

abstinence

and telling the truth there is no merit

and no merit accrues

so this is piranha kasipa one of the

leaders of a certain kind of

monastic community or an ascetic

community that believed that there was

no meaning to our actions

no meaning whether you are

doing good or doing evil

doesn't matter

this is a very nihilistic kind of view

so this is a view that leads to trouble

that leads to suffering

and ajat satya was not satisfied by it

thus blessed one

purana kasipa on being asked about the

present fruits of the homeless life

explained non-action to me

just as if on being asked about a mango

he were to describe a breadfruit tree or

being asked about a breadfruit tree he

were to describe a mango

so purana kasapa on being asked about

the present fruits of the homeless life

explained non-action to me

talking about non-action he's talking

about basically

what's known as

in pali which means without cause

without conditionality

so this view

is in direct violation of the dhamma

which talks about everything being

conditioned

all things giving rise to another

or being given rise to

dependent upon causes and conditions

and so i thought how would one like me

think despitefully of any ascetic or

brahmana dwelling in my territory so i

neither applauded nor rejected purana

kasipa's words but though displeased not

expressing my displeasure saying nothing

rejecting and scorning

scorning speech i got up and left

once i visited makali gosala

and asked him the same question

macaulay gosala said your majesty there

is no cause or condition for the

defilement of beings

they are defiled without cause or

condition there is no cause or condition

for the purification of beings they are

purified without cause or condition

there is no self-power or other power

there is no power in humans no strength

or

force no vigor or exertion

all beings all living things all

creatures all that lives is without

control without power or strength

they experience the fixed course of

pleasure and pain through the six kinds

of rebirth

there are one million four hundred

thousand principal sorts of birth and

six thousand others and against six

hundred

there are five hundred kinds of karma

of

of five kinds and three kinds and half

karma

62 paths 62 intermediary eons

six classes of human kind eight stages

of human progress four thousand nine

hundred occupations four thousand nine

hundred wonderers

four thousand nine hundred abodes of

nagas two thousand sentient existences

three thousand health 36 places of dust

seven classes of rebirth as conscious

being

beings seven as unconscious beings

and seven as beings freed from bonds

seven grades of devas

men goblins seven lakes

seven great and seven small

protuberances

seven great and seven small abysses

seven great and seven small dreams

eight million four hundred thousand eons

during which fools and wise run

fools and wives run on and circle around

till they make an end of suffering

and a partridge in a pear tree

therefore there is no such thing as

saying by this discipline or karma or

practice or austerity or holy life i

will bring my unripened karma to

fruition or i will gradually make this

ripened karma go away

neither of these things is possible

because pleasure and pain have been

measured out with a measure limited by

the round of birth and death and there

is neither increase nor decrease

neither excellence nor

inferiority just as a ball of string

when thrown runs till it is all

unraveled

so fools and wise run on and circle

round till they make an end of suffering

this is a view of fatalism

a few a view that says that

you have no control over your destiny

you have no control over your future

everything that's given to you is meted

out

and there's nothing you can do about it

so in other words everything is already

predetermined

the time of your birth the time when you

go to school

when you experience this when you

experience that

even when you experience what sort of

suffering you will

and also the end of that suffering

all the way up until your enlightenment

everything is already predestined

everything is already predetermined

so this idea also negates the buddha's

understanding of karma because

the idea of karma here

is that we make our own efforts in every

given moment

we do what we can in terms of

understanding where our intentions lie

understanding

what our actions

are and what result they give

through our mental actions that is our

thoughts

through our verbal actions that is our

speech and through our physical actions

so there is something known as karma

there is something known known as

cause and consequence action and

consequence

cause and effect conditionality

so

thus venerable sir macaulay gosala on

being asked about the fruits of the

homeless life explained the purification

of the round of birth and death to me so

i neither plotted nor rejected makkahli

gosala's words but got up and left

once i visited ajita kesa

it's a very interesting

name kesa kambali

kesa kambali means hair blanket

this is a guy who wore

a blanket

around his body made up of human hair

and i asked him the same question

he said your majesty there is nothing

given bestowed offered in sacrifice

there is no fruit or result or of good

or bad deeds there is not this world or

the next there is no mother or father

there are no spontaneously arisen beings

there are in the world no ascetics or

brahmanas who have attained who have

perfectly practiced who proclaim this

world and the next having realized them

by their own super knowledge

this human being is composed of the four

great elements and when one dies in

earth

one dies the earth part reverts to the

earth

the water part reverts to the water the

fire part reverts to fire the air part

to the air

and the faculties pass away into space

they accompany the dead man with four

bearers

and the beer as fifth

their footsteps are heard as far as the

cremation ground

there the bones whiten the sacrifice

ends in ashes

it is the idea of a fool to give this

gift the talk of those who preach a

doctrine of survival is vain and false

fools and wise at the breaking up of the

body are destroyed and perished they do

not exist after death

this is the view of materialism

that there is only form there is only

the earth element as earth element the

water element the fire element and the

air element as they are

so anything you do here in this world

according to this view

is all about

taking

do the best you can

to experience

the best pleasures of the five physical

senses

that's all you do

in other words there's no meaning in

giving there's no meaning in being

generous there's no meaning in keeping

the precepts

there's no meaning in meditating there's

no meaning in developing insight

it's all material

this is materialism

so the idea here is in direct violation

of the buddha's dharma because the

dhamma here says that

we

have consequences to our actions so

there is meaning in being generous

there is meaning in being

steadfast in keeping our precepts

because the more we keep our precepts

the better our mindfulness becomes

the calmer our mind becomes the more

collected our mind becomes

which is then ripe for the development

of the mind

through samadhi

which allows us to experience panya or

wisdom

thus venerable sir ajita kesa kambali on

being asked about the fruits of the

homeless life

explained the doctrine of annihilation

to me

and so i got up and left

once i visited pakuda kachayana and

asked him the same question

pakura kachayana said your majesty

these seven things are not made or of a

kind to be made uncreated unproductive

barren false stable as a column

they do not shake do not change obstruct

one another nor are they able to cause

one another pleasure

cause one another pleasure pain or both

what are the seven the earth body the

water body the fire body the air body

pleasure and pain and the life principle

these seven are not made

thus there is neither slain nor slayer

neither hearer nor proclaimer neither

knower nor causer of knowing

and whoever cuts off a man's head with a

sharp sword

does not deprive anyone of life

he just inserts the blade in the

intervening space between these

seven bodies

so this idea is actually known as

atomism but also eternalism

so there is a doctrine in india which

talks about how you have the atma you

have the soul

and that soul is always pure

never affected by anything

it is eternal

so that which slays and that which

is slain

is neither the athman

so

it doesn't matter

everything is

everything is okay because as long as

you are the atma as long as you are the

soul

everything goes

but as we understand it if you cause

someone to be killed or you kill

there is an effect there somebody dies

there is a death

and you experience the fruits of that

experience which is guilt and shame and

so on

if you break any of the precepts what do

you experience

you experience agitation in the mind

there is this conscience in the mind

that says i shouldn't have done that

and so that conscience is the beginning

of right view

because right view

the very mundane version of that

is that there is action and consequence

there is meaning in giving there is

meaning in being generous

there is meaning in keeping the precepts

and so on and so forth

once i visited niganta nataputta and

asked him the same question

and he said your majesty

here one is bound by a fourfold

restraint

what for

he is curved by all curbs

enclosed by all curbs

cleared by all curbs

and claimed by all curbs

and as far as one is bound by this

fourfold restraint

thus

thus he is called self-perfected

self-controlled

self-established

so when they talk about this the four

restraints the four-fold restraints

really what they're talking about is the

purification of karma through certain

kinds of ascetic practices

the idea is

in this is a jain philosophy this is a

jain view this is the view of the chains

which is

there is a soul

and it reincarnates from life to life

and as it reincarnates from life to life

it inherits or it imprints upon itself

karmic dust karmic particles

it picks it up as it goes from lifetime

to lifetime

and one has to purify the mind of these

karmic particles

by doing certain kinds of purification

processes

like fasting

like uh

you know going into the forest and doing

all of these

strange ascetic practices

that purify the mind and body and by

doing so by experiencing displeasure by

experiencing pain

the body and the mind are purified and

therefore the atma the soul

is purified of its karma by doing this

ultimately it then

is completely purified and becomes

uh

or becomes immortal becomes eternal and

goes to this place

which is

for those who are all pure for the

purified souls

so

the buddha actually asked this question

to this kind of group and he said

how do you know how much karmic dust is

left

how do you know what you're doing is

leading to the purification of your

karma

and

one of them asked ananda in another suta

this is how we purify our karma this is

how we purify and mitigate our karma how

do you guys do it

and ananda said there's three ways

one is through selah

perfecting the precepts

another is through samadhi

practice of janas and the third is

through insight

because in all three when you're

experiencing the perfection of the

precepts

which leads to the perfection of

meditation which leads to the perfection

of insight and wisdom

you understand reality as it is

so that anything that arises is seen as

old karma anything that arises is seen

as an effect of your previous choices

so you don't take it personally so it

just arises and dissipates

and this is how karma is purified

mitigated

understood and experienced

so long as you do not hold on to

that experience

in other words you don't fight with that

experience you don't crave for that

experience you don't push or pull or

twist that experience

this translates

to your meditation practice

because what is happening when you're

meditating

you are met with a hindrance

you're met with a distraction

what's a distraction

it's a feeling it's an experience in the

mind

how did that arise

because of previous causes and

conditions

hindrances arise

based on

choices you've made in the past

and these choices led

to the breaking of precepts

and the certain kinds of breaking of

precepts leads to certain kinds of

hindrances get more into that in a

little bit

but because of that you made the choice

to do that right at some point

whether it was in this life or in a

previous life or a life before that

whenever that was

as a result of that then it is

experienced as a hindrance whether it's

in the meditation

or whether it is

in your daily life

now there are the five basic hindrances

sensual craving ill will

restlessness

slot and torpor and doubt

and these arise dependent upon or based

in breaking of certain kinds of precepts

so

now you're met with the effect of

breaking that precept in the form of

this hindrance what do you do with it

how do you purify

let's say or mitigate

that hindrance

do you push it

do you suppress it

do you fight with it do you crave for it

do you have aversion towards it

or do you understand it as it actually

is which is here is a hindrance

i'm not going to fight it i'm going to

acknowledge it's here which means

you recognize that this is a hindrance

you recognize mind is now distracted

from

its object of meditation taken away from

its object meditation

and leading

to a distraction

now you recognize that so how do you

deal with it

you release your attention from it

and you let it go by relaxing the

tightness and tension in the body

associated with that craving related to

that hindrance

once you relax

now you have abandoned the unwholesome

states of mind

now you have to replace them with

wholesome states of mind the unwholesome

arose because of something you did in

the past

but if you continue to add to it by

resisting it by getting upset by it

then

it's only going to continue

but if you let go by recognizing

releasing and relaxing

then replace that with the smile which

uplifts the mind

and return back to your object of

meditation

whether that is loving kindness

compassion joy equanimity or the quiet

mind whatever it might be

and you stay with that

when you do that you are actually

dealing with old karma this is how you

purify that karma

because what happens then the hindrance

comes up again but this time

it's weaker it's not as prevalent

so what do you do there

you 6r again come back to your object

it might come a third time a fourth time

a fifth time but every time it comes it

becomes weaker and weaker and weaker

until it fades away and now the mind is

fully collected

this is how to deal with all karma

according to

what is known as right effort

once i visited sanjaya bellataputta and

i asked him the same question

he and he said to me

if you ask me is there another world

if i thought so i would say so

but i don't think so i don't say it is

so and i don't say otherwise

i don't say it is not and i don't say

it is and i don't not say it is not

if you ask me is there another world or

both or neither is there fruit and

result of good and bad deeds isn't there

or not or neither

does the tata exist after death does he

not or both or neither

i do not say it is not and i do not not

say

it is not

this is what's known as a skeptic

this is what is known as an eel wriggler

somebody who sits on the fence

has doubts about this or that

doesn't want to conclude one way or the

other because ultimately

they're afraid to have to defend

their views

defend in the sense of trying to explain

their view

so they would rather just leave all that

away and say it could be

it can't be it might be it might not be

who knows

right so they're very much on the fence

about things

don't make conclusions

and this leads to doubt this leads to a

lot of doubt in anything that you're

doing

should i do this or should i do that

am i doing the practice correctly or am

i not doing the practice correctly

am i six hour incorrectly or am i not

six or incorrectly

or you know all of these thoughts that

arise

so

thus venerable sir sanjaya bella taputa

on being asked about the fruits of the

homeless life

replied by evasion

just of just as if on being asked about

the mango he were to describe a

breadfruit tree and i thought of all of

these ascetics and brahmins sanjaya

bellataputa is the most stupid and

confused

so i neither applauded nor rejected his

words

but got up and left

and so venerable sir i now ask you

just as there are these various

craftsmen who enjoy here and now the

visible fruits of their skills

assuring for themselves a heavenly happy

reward

can you venerable sir point to such a

reward visible here and now as a fruit

of the homeless life

i can your majesty i will just ask a few

questions in return and you sire shall

answer as you see fit

what do you think sire suppose there

were a man a slave a laborer getting up

before you and going to bed after you

willingly doing whatever has to be done

well-mannered pleasant spoken working in

your presence and he might think it is

strange

it is wonderful the destiny and fruits

of meritorious deeds

so this person is thinking that when i

do things

that are in alignment with keeping the

precepts

when i am moral when i am ethical that

means i will attain to something

that is

in alignment with that which means i

will have a better existence at a future

period

and so he says this king ajat shattu

vedehi putta of magda is a man and i too

am a man

but this king is addicted to and

indulges in the five-fold sense

pleasures

just like a god whereas i am a slave

working in his presence

i ought to do something meritorious

suppose i were to shave off my hair and

beard dawn yellow robes and go forth

from the household life into

homelessness

and before long he does so and he and he

having dust gone forth having thus gone

forth might dwell restrained in body

speech and thought satisfied with the

minimum of food and clothing content in

solitude

and then if people were to announce to

you sire do you remember that slave who

worked in your presence

and who shaved off his hair and beard

and went forth into homelessness

he is living restrained in body speech

and thought

content and in solitude

would you then say that man must come

back and be a slave and work for me as

before

no indeed venerable sir for we would pay

homage to him

we would rise and invite him and press

him to receive from us

robes

food lodging medicines for sickness and

requisites and make arrangements for his

proper protection

what do you think sire is that one fruit

of the homeless life visible here and

now

certainly venerable sir

then that sire is the first fruit of the

homeless life

now here he's strictly talking about

monastics somebody goes forth into the

homeless life and becomes a monk or a

nun

ibiku

and they are shown proper homage

they are taken care of their requisites

are taken care of

and people show them proper respect

people

want to invite them so that they can

make merit by offering them food and so

on and so forth this is one fruit of the

homeless life

but if we broaden that understanding

from even the lay person's life

if we kept the precepts and if we

continue to do the practice

if we took care of the dharma

by keeping the precepts

by

continuing to practice samadhi

continuing to practice meditation

and developing wisdom

eventually that would arise in the form

of the way we

interact with people and people would

see that

and they would pay due respect to you

they would be generous to you

they would be giving to you

not only in terms of gifts and things

like that but they would be happy to see

you

they would look forward to seeing you

they would be happy in mind body and

speech just as you continue to

send loving kindness to them

they continue to act in the same way

more often than not

right i've seen it for myself when i

continue to radiate loving-kindness or

compassion or joy or equanimity

depending upon the situation

beings respond in kind

right people love

to speak with me whenever they have an

opportunity

because they like to be in the presence

of one who continues to spread

loving-kindness

one who continues to practice the dharma

right i have

and this is not boasting but this is the

absurdity of it

i have 11 pairs of shoes what am i going

to do with 11 pairs of shoes

people just keep sending me stuff

because they want to

you know be respectful and acknowledge

the good that i've done for them and the

good that they've received

just yesterday somebody gave me 60 bars

of chocolate

what am i going to do with 60 bars of

chocolate

right i mean these are just small minor

things that happen but wherever i go

people are always happy to see me

people are always happy to

pay their respects however they want to

and i don't ask for it i don't think

that they have to or whatever it's just

that

it happens naturally so if you continue

to be generous if you continue to keep

your precepts

not only does that translate into a

peaceful mind not only does that

translate into a mind

well ripened for samadhi but it

translates to a life where you are taken

care of

i don't have to worry about a single

thing in life

everything is taken care of for me

but venerable sir can you show any other

reward visible here and now as a fruit

of the homeless life

i can sire i will just ask a few

questions in return and you sir shall

answer as you see fit

what do you think sire suppose there

were a man a farmer or householder in

your service the steward of an estate he

might think it is strange it is

wonderful the destiny and fruits of

meritorious deeds

this king ajat satu is a man and i too

am a man but this king is addicted to

and indulges in the fivefold sense

pleasures just like a god whereas i am a

farmer the steward of an estate i ought

to do something meritorious

suppose i were to go forth from the

household life into homelessness

and before long he does so and he having

thus gone forth might dwell in

contentment in solitude and if people

were to tell you this would you then say

that must that man must come back and be

a steward as before

no indeed lord for we would pay homage

to him

we would rise and invite him and press

him to receive from us

robes food lodging medicines for

sickness and requisites and make

arrangements for his proper protection

what do you think sire is that one fruit

of the homeless life visible here and

now it's the same thing

certainly venerable sir then that sire

is the second such fruit of the homeless

life

but venerable sir can you show me any

other reward visible here and now as a

fruit of the homeless life that is more

excellent and perfect than these

i can sire please listen

whenever the buddha says please listen

pay extra attention

your majesty pay proper attention and i

will speak

yes venerable sir said king adjacent and

the blessed one said

your majesty it happens that the tata

rises in the world an arhat fully

enlightened buddha endowed with wisdom

and conduct welfare

knower of the world's incomparable

trainer of men to be tamed

teacher of gods and humans enlightened

and blessed he having realized it by his

own super knowledge proclaims this world

with its devas mars and brahmas its

princes and people

he preaches the dharma which is lovely

in its beginning

lovely in its middle

lovely in its end

in the spirit and in the letter

and displays the fully perfected and

purified holy life this dhamma is heard

by a householder or a householder son

or one reborn in some family or other

having heard this dharma he gains

confidence in the tataka having gained

this confidence he reflects

this household life is close and dusty

the homeless life is free as air

it is not easy living the household life

to live the fully perfected holy life

purified and polished like a conch shell

suppose i were to shave off my hair and

beard

dawn yellow robes and go forth from the

household life into homelessness

and after some time he abandons his

property small or great

leaves

leaves his circle of relatives small or

great shaves off his hair and beard

dawns yellow robes and goes forth into

the homeless life

and having gone thus forth

he dwells restrained by the restraint of

the rules keeping the precepts

persisting in right behavior

seeing danger in the slightest faults

observing the commitments he has taken

on regarding body deed and word

devoted to the skilled and purified life

perfected in morality

in sila

with the sense doors guarded

skilled in mindful awareness

and content

now listen carefully

and how sire

is one perfected in morality how do you

develop and perfect your sila

abandoning the taking of life

he dwells refraining from taking life

without stick or sword scrupulous

compassionate trembling for the welfare

of all living beings

thus he is accomplished in morality

abandoning the taking of what is not

given

abandoning unchastity or sexual

misconduct or sensual misconduct

abandoning false and harsh speech

abandoning intoxicants

he refrains

from wrong means of livelihood thus he

is perfected in morality

when you keep the precepts you're doing

a few things number one

you're purifying your intention

you're going from wrong intention to

right intention

that right intention means you're

letting go of things that don't serve

your mind

letting go of the unwholesome states of

mind

right speech you go from wrong speech to

right speech

you go from wrong action to right action

you go from wrong livelihood to right

livelihood

by letting go of

intentionally killing or harming another

living being

by letting go and abandoning

the

taking of what is not given

by abandoning and letting go of sexual

and sensual misconduct

by abandoning and letting go of false

speech

gossip and slander

by letting go and abandoning

the indulging in intoxicants

you are purifying your intentions

when you purify your intentions you

purify your speech when you purify your

speech you purify your actions

when you purify your actions you purify

your livelihood

this results in a mind that can do the

six hours that can easily recognize

using mindfulness

to see when the mind becomes distracted

that can easily let go by releasing and

relaxing that can easily generate

wholesome states of mind by smiling and

coming back to a wholesome object of

meditation

and that is known as right effort

so it all begins with keeping the

precepts taking the precepts

making a commitment to keep the precepts

and then sire that monk who is perfected

in morality sees no danger from any side

owing to his being restrained by

morality

just as a duly anointed king having

conquered his enemies by that very fact

sees no danger from any side so

one on account of their morality sees no

danger anywhere

one experiences

the blameless bliss

that comes from maintaining this aryan

morality

in this way sire he is perfected in

morality

so the blameless bliss this is an

experience this is a mind that is

feeling relief

a mind that doesn't have any regrets

a mind that doesn't have any guilt

any kind of remorse

any kind of agitation

because they continue to keep the

precepts

when you talk about the aryan

morality aryan here means noble

so that means one who is following the

noble hateful path

and how sire is he a guardian of the

sense doors

here one on seeing a visible object with

the eye

does not grasp at its major signs or

secondary characteristics

because greed and sorrow

evil unskilled states would overwhelm

him if he dwelt

leaving his eye faculty unguarded

so he practices guarding it

he protects the eye faculty

develops restraint of the eye faculty on

hearing a sound

with the ear on smelling an odor with

the nose

on tasting a flavor with the tongue

on feeling an object with the body

on thinking at thought with the mind

he does not grasp at their major signs

or secondary characteristics

he develops restraint of these faculties

he

experiences within himself the blameless

bliss that comes from maintaining this

aryan guarding of the sense faculties

in this way sire a monk is a guardian of

the sense doors

now this is talking about right effort

so here the buddha is talking about

what's known as

samvara

in pali samvara means restraint or is

sometimes translated as restraint

but that gives a different connotation

because that means i have to control

my senses i have to control whatever is

happening through my physical senses and

through my mind

but it's not that it's about observing

and understanding when craving or

aversion arise

in relation to the sense experience

so guarding the sense faculties guarding

the mind is not about trying to control

it

you can't control what you see you can't

control the colors that you see you

can't change the color red that you see

to the color blue

you can't change the

sound of the birds you can't change the

sound of the lawn mower when you're

meditating

you can't change the flavor of something

sweet to sour just by thinking about it

you can't control it you cannot do

anything like that you can't just

silence the mind so as i was saying you

cannot control the way that you

experience

everything through your sixth sense

basis

but what you can observe and understand

and let go of

is the craving and the aversion

and the identification related to those

experiences

and how do you do that

you do that through right effort

you do that through the six hours

so in other words the six hours aren't

just used in meditation

because

a hindrance can arise while you're

walking while you're taking a shower

while you're eating

so it's about observing your mind's

attention

and remembering to observe how it moves

from one thing to the other

and when it moves towards craving

when it moves towards aversion

what do you do

you six are it

so you're recognizing that the mind

has craving or resistance towards a

hindrance that arises

or towards an experience that's

happening

maybe you're walking down and you go to

the dining hall during lunch and you see

that there's some freshly baked cookies

and you think to your mind in your mind

i'm going to get two of those cookies

instead of one right because now you

have craving for those cookies

but if you recognize that craving and

you let go of that

then you have relief right there and

then

if you use the six r's you're

experiencing relief right there and then

you see the whole idea about craving is

that

there's a agitation in the mind that

arises from any of the experiences that

you're having that there's this thing

that says there's this part of the mind

that says or the mind itself says i want

this or i don't want this so it either

pulls towards it

or it pushes against it

it resists it

or it says i am it and it stands its

ground trying to identify with that

experience

when that happens there's tightness and

tension in the mind and body

this is a natural arising that happens

because the mind is conditioned

to be in that fight or flight

kind of way of functioning

and there's a recoil in the mind and

body that says i need to get that

or you know i need to push that away and

what happens there's craving or there's

aversion to it and the mind

when it indulges in that craving or acts

on that aversion it experiences

relief

and so the mind is conditioned to think

every time i indulge in a craving

every time i resist something i

experience relief so that's the way to

experience peace of mind is to act on my

craving to act in on my aversions

but what if there was a way to

experience relief

without having to act upon the aversion

without having to act upon the craving

that happens through right effort

so this process of using the six r's

is a process of deconditioning the mind

from that craving

by tranquilizing the formations the

mental and bodily formations

rooted in craving

and relaxing the tightness and tension

and then reconditioning the mind

by the process of re-smiling and

returning to a wholesome object of

mind

by reconditioning the mind this way you

experience relief without having to

indulge in the craving without having to

act upon the aversion

which means that the mind sees the

absurdity in acting upon the craving

sees the absurdity and uselessness

of acting upon the craving and aversion

and now you start to develop wisdom as

you use right effort

so wherever you're whatever it is you're

doing whether you're doing your walking

meditation whether you're doing your

sitting meditation whether you're taking

a shower whether you're eating petting

the dog driving reading a book answering

an email talking to someone

what you are observing is not what it is

you're doing but you're in relation to

how the mind is experiencing it

is the mind having craving towards that

experience

because this whole this whole world that

you experience is basically

manufactured

by your sixth sense basis

and the peace of mind that you can

cultivate

is dependent upon how you relate to that

manufactured world dependent upon the

sixth sense basis

and how you do that is through right

effort

through right mindfulness

and through right collectedness

so you understand okay here is an

experience

and you understand there's craving for

this right now

you can

choose to act on that craving in that

moment or you can choose to understand

and recognize it

and then let go of it using release and

relax

and cultivate something wholesome

through the smile which uplifts the mind

brings in more mindfulness and then

finally return to a wholesome object of

meditation or mind

when you do this you continue to observe

with greater and greater clarity

the elements of your mind in terms of

how they react or respond to what's

going on

and the more you do that

the easier your mind is able to

recognize subtler and subtler

layers and levels of craving and

aversion

and identification

ultimately leading you to a mind that is

completely free of that

a mind without craving

right and ultimately leading you to

freedom of mind

right so now you are no longer a slave

to the senses

no longer

are you in debt

to the world in terms of having to act

upon it through craving an aversion now

you're free from it so every time you 6r

you experience in that moment at freedom

of mind

you experience in that moment a mundane

nibbana

a state that is

ceasing as a state or rather a mind

that has ceased all conditions and in

that brief moment experiencing the

unconditioned

and when that happens then your mind

starts to tend towards that which is

wholesome

and it experiences peace in every moment

the more it starts to recognize the

aversion starts to recognize the craving

and starts to let go of it so the six

hours aren't just for meditation in

terms of your formal sitting practice

but the six hours can be used anywhere

let's say you are in conflict with

somebody let's say you start to get into

an argument with someone

maybe the general tendency for a person

is to incline towards defending

themselves saying how could they say

this to me how could they accuse me of

this or whatever it might be all of

these different thoughts and patterns

that come up

but if you can recognize it

and let go of that

not necessarily have to smile because

maybe they might misconstrue that smile

as you know you taunting them but smile

in the mind smile in the heart

keep your mind uplifted

and then return to something like

loving-kindness or compassion and

realize that that person

who might be upset at you is suffering

and that person is angry at you but that

anger is arising because they are

suffering

and now you can respond with wisdom

to alleviate the situation

to de-escalate the situation

and to cause peace not only for yourself

but peace in their mind as well

so there is a practical

application of the six hours in every

moment

and every time you do that you continue

to recondition your mind towards the

unconditioned towards nirvana

and how sire is one accomplished

in mindfulness and clear awareness

here one acts with clear awareness in

going back and forth

in looking ahead or behind

in bending and stretching

in wearing his outer and inner robe and

carrying his bowl

and eating drinking chewing and

swallowing

in evacuating and urinating and walking

standing sitting lying down in waking

and speaking and in keeping silent he

acts with clear awareness

in this way

a monk is accomplished in mindfulness

and clear awareness

so here he's talking about right

mindfulness so

we have to look at it in this way yes

each of the steps

in the eightfold path lead to the other

but they're also working in tandem

they're working together

so right effort leads to right

mindfulness which leads to right

collectedness

but they're always happening whether

you're meditating or whether you're

doing anything else so long as you use

right effort you're having right

mindfulness and so long as you're having

right mindfulness you're getting right

collectedness

so this process in meditation where you

get distracted

right when you have a hindrance when you

use right effort by six houring you come

back to right mindfulness

because right mindfulness is not about

taking slow steps and paying attention

to the contact between the the feet and

the earth

or paying attention to the taste of the

food and paying attention to the birds

in the air

mindfully listening

mindfully walking

mindfully taking a shower

mindfully petting the dog

mindfully you know

whatever it might be

it's not about that it's mindful in

regards to

is there craving present in the mind is

there aversion present in the mind is

there restlessness present in the mind

is there a slot interpreter present in

the mind so in other words you are

mindful of how mind's attention moves

from one thing to the other

how mind becomes distracted

the more you start to see this process

the more you develop wisdom on its own

that's the way you cultivate wisdom

through observing

just observing and

using the six hours

so when you are in meditation you are

observing the feeling

of loving kindness or the feeling of

compassion or the feeling of joy or the

feeling of equanimity

you're feeling it and you're observing

that and the closer you observe which

means just observing you don't need to

pinpoint or focus or try too hard or try

to pinpoint where that feeling is just

feel it

just observe it like watching a movie

watching things unfold before your eyes

right when you do that in the meditation

everything is flowing smoothly

and if you're observing in that way then

you can recognize oh my mind got

distracted suddenly

now you're no longer observing the

object of meditation now you're no

longer feeling the loving kindness now

you're no longer feeling the compassion

or whatever it might be now your mind is

bogged down by thoughts about this or

that

so what do you do

do you fight with that do you beat

yourself up for that or do you recognize

and acknowledge okay here is a hindrance

here is a distraction

and you release

and then relax that tension and

tightness and then cultivate a wholesome

state of mind through the smile

and through returning back to the object

of meditation

so this is how you develop wisdom this

is how you cultivate wisdom this is how

you develop the mind bhavana

using the six r's

using right effort which is

in tandem with right mindfulness which

then results in right collectedness into

the practice of jhanas

which you'll hear about tomorrow

and how is one contented here a monk is

satisfied with a robe to protect his

body with arms to satisfy his stomach

and having accepted sufficient

he goes on his way

just as a bird with wings flies hither

and tether

burdened by nothing but its wings

so he is satisfied in this way sire a

monk is contented

so here we're talking about contentment

contentment is basically a mind that is

equanimous

not pulled in one direction or the other

accepting of reality as it actually is

accepting of whatever is given

to them

this results in a mind that has

no agitation

no restlessness but rather just deep

tranquil contentment

then

equipped with this

noble morality

noble restraint of the senses

noble contentment

he finds a solitary lodging at the root

of a forest tree

in a mountain cave or gorge

a charnel ground a jungle thicket or in

the open air on a heap of straw

he

then having eaten after his return from

the arms round he sits down

holding his body upright

and

keeps mindfulness established before him

this

this doesn't mean that he becomes

mindful of everything that's in front of

him what it's talking about is

establishing mindfulness in terms of

just being attention paying attention

being aware of what's going on in the

mind and body

so you sit down pay attention is there

any tension here is there any tightness

just let go of it relax for a bit

relax it and for just

a couple of minutes just notice where

the mind is start to pay attention to

what's going on start to pay attention

to how mind brings up the feeling of

loving kindness start to pay attention

to how mind collects itself around

loving kindness

abandoning worldly desires

he dwells with a mind freed from worldly

desires and his mind is purified of them

abandoning ill will and hatred and by

compassionate love for the welfare of

all living beings his mind is purified

of ill will and hatred

abandoning slot and torpor perceiving

light

mindful and clearly aware his mind is

purified of slot and torpor

abandoning restlessness and with an

inwardly co inwardly inwardly calmed

mind his heart is purified of

restlessness

abandoning doubt he dwells with doubt

left behind without ins uncertainty as

to

what things are wholesome

his mind is purified of doubt

these are the five hindrances

worldly desires that is sensual craving

this sensual craving arises dependent

upon

a mind that continues to cultivate

intentions of sensual craving

so when you break the precept of

abstaining from sexual and sensual

misconduct

you continue to cultivate sensual

craving

because

sensual misconduct is basically a mind

that becomes obsessed

by an experience of the sixth sense

basis

or the five physical

sense basis let's say the ears the eyes

the nose the tongue and the body and

once more of it

and wants to indulge in more and more of

it

but becomes so obsessed by it that it

blinds the mind from everything else

and it causes the mind to have

misconduct causes the mind through that

obsession to break other precepts

and the more it indulges in this the

more it strengthens and cultivates

that hindrance of sensual craving

so how do you let go of sensual craving

you let go of it by understanding what

it actually is

that is to say you understand that it

arose because you continue to indulge in

it because you took it to be mine me

mind myself

you took it personally

but if you understand sensual pleasures

as that which arise dependent upon

causes and conditions

then you understand that they come and

go they arise and they pass away so

there's no point in holding on to them

when they come they come when they go

they go so if sensual pleasures arise

and you act on them okay

but if you engage with them with the

idea that i have to hold on to them

i can't let them go

i have to keep them or i have to get

more of them

then now your mind is intentionalizing

towards sensual craving

but if you let go of that and understand

that these sensual pleasures will come

and go therefore impermanent therefore

not worth holding on to

therefore seen as impersonal

now your mind becomes inwardly calm now

your mind

experiences a deeper

pleasure

which is the pleasure of jhana

a deeper pleasure which is the pleasure

of relief

from being bogged down by the hindrances

so sensual pleasures is one level but

the pleasure of jhana the pleasure of

meditation

supersedes the sensual pleasures so if

you fully experience jhana if you fully

experience loving

if you fully experience

a mind rid of the hindrances

then you no longer are

interested in sensual pleasures while

you're in that state

so you abandon it by using the six r's

recognizing the mind is thinking about

this or that in reference to sensual

pleasures

letting go of that relaxing the

tightness and tension coming back to the

smile coming back to a collected mind

that's around its object of meditation

whether it's loving kindness compassion

joy or equanimity

abandoning ill will and hatred and so

how do you abandon ill will and hatred

first of all how does ill will and

hatred come about

because you continue to develop and

cultivate intentions rooted in ill will

and hatred

every time you intentionally harm or

kill a living being

you continue to cultivate the hindrance

of ill will

every time you have anger towards

somebody every time even if you think

angrily towards somebody or something

then you're cultivating ill will

when you're here sitting down for

meditation practice and you hear the

lawnmower or you hear somebody chopping

wood or you hear somebody talking or

something happening and your mind gets

irritated by that gets frustrated by

that

now you're cultivating ill will

but if you recognize it and say okay i

notice this i recognize this

i'm going to let go of my attention to

that

bring it back to mind and body relax the

tightness and tension

come back to my smile

bring up my smile and come back to

loving kindness and compassion

now you're letting go of that ill will

so

indulging

or acting upon irritation

through mind

speech and body

continues to cultivate the hindrance of

ill will

but recognizing for what it is and

letting it go using the six r's

you're de-conditioning the mind from

that ill will and reconditioning it with

a response rooted in loving-kindness a

response rooted in compassion

abandoning slot and twerper

perceiving light mindful and clearly

aware his mind is purified of slot and

torpor what is slot and torpor

slot intorpur is dullness of the mind

the mind starts to stop paying attention

to its object of meditation

there's not enough attention being given

to it there's not enough balanced energy

there's not enough interest in the

object of meditation

there's not enough

collectedness in the mind

so when the attention becomes dispersed

and you think that you're with your

object and meditation but now another

thought comes up and little by little

your mind starts to look at that

and starts to little by little

little deviate away from its object of

meditation slot interpreter starts to

seep in

and you start to become dull

your mind isn't able to engage properly

with its object of meditation it feels

foggy

it feels uncollected

now it says here he perceives light

one of the ways to deal with slot

intorpur is to go outside and meditate

in the sunlight where it's very bright

that's why yesterday we talked about how

you should keep the lights on here when

you meditate

otherwise it can cause the mind to be

sleepy and inattentive

and lead to slot and torpor

so recipient of light

means a couple of things number one

you'll go out somewhere where there's a

lot of bright light

number two light in terms of the light

of wisdom

that's dependent upon

having right attention

that means

having more interest in your object and

meditation there's not enough interest

so it's a matter of balancing energy if

you have too much energy you're going to

have restlessness if you have too little

interest

you're going to have lack of attention

and therefore slot interpreter

if you notice this

you recognize it

you let go of it bring back your mind to

bring back your attention to mind and

body relax

bring your attention to the smile

and collect your attention around the

object and bring a little bit more

energy a little bit more it's like the

camera lens right if you loosen the

focus too much you might not be able to

see what it is that the camera is

capturing

but if you just tighten it a little bit

if you just bring in a little bit more

energy

pay a little more attention pay a little

more interest to the object

then you have you don't have slot

intorpur now the mind becomes

very attentive now the mind becomes very

collected

but be careful don't go into one pointed

concentration

don't focus so much

that your mind becomes tight and

experiences headaches

loosen the mind relax it when you notice

that let go of that

relax it and come back

another way to deal with slot and torpor

is to walk backwards

because when you walk backwards

you're paying attention more to the

steps that you're taking

when you're walking forwards you take

walking for granted you just know the

foot will land onto the earth right but

when you're walking backwards

you're really paying attention to

how you know what's going on in terms of

the steps that you're doing

when you do that you have more energy

you have more collectedness you have

more attention with that kind of a mind

come back to sit and see how the

meditation goes

sometimes you're not having enough sleep

sometimes the mind is just feeling

sleepy it doesn't have the energy

because it hasn't had a good night's

sleep

that happens

take a nap

like i always say i encourage naps on my

retreats

right

take naps as much as you can if that

helps not a long nap

15 20 minutes 25 minutes at the most

and come back and sit and see how it

goes

abandoning restlessness

with an in-world inwardly calmed mind

his heart is purified of restlessness

restlessness arises because you're

trying too hard

you're pushing too much

you want that loving kindness to be

experienced so you focus as much as you

can on that feeling and what happens

there's this tightness a band of

tightness around the head and it

manifests into restless thoughts all

kinds of thoughts arise there isn't too

much energy going on

when you recognize that use the six

hours

back off a little

just relax

let the mind observe

what's going on instead of becoming

you know the object of meditation

instead of trying to bring up the object

of meditation

allow the conditions the causes and

conditions to arise dependent upon your

observation dependent upon your

attention towards it

if you have too much restlessness you

might even want to just take a walk

and just let the mind settle in by doing

some walking meditation for about 15 20

25 minutes at the most

and as you start to settle in come back

to

the hall and

sit down for your meditation practice

see how that goes

abandoning doubt he dwells with doubt

left behind without uncertainty as to

what things are wholesome his mind is

purified of doubt

here the doubt is in relation not to the

doubt in the buddha dhamma and sangha

the hindrance of doubt is in relation to

am i doing this practice right

am i recognizing what is wholesome am i

recognizing what is unwholesome am i

doing the six r's right

when you start to notice that

just let go of that just six are that as

soon as you six are what are you doing

you're cultivating a mind that

recognizes what is unwholesome

and then you're letting go of that and

bringing up the wholesome so the doubt

immediately goes away in of itself

so every time you 6r you're doing a few

things

you're activating the seven enlightened

factors which are the antidotes for the

five hindrances

in the case in the case of sensual

craving

you have joy that is the joy of jhana

that arises the joy of meditation

that arises it's a greater pleasure than

sensual pleasures

in the case of restlessness you have

equanimity that arises when you six are

and that equine equanimity balances the

mind

in the case of slot intorpur you have

energy or the right effort that arises

through the six hours and now your mind

is balanced

there's enough energy so that the mind

doesn't become inattentive

so the mind doesn't become tired and

dull

when you have any kind of

ill will that arises

you have loving kindness as a result of

that you take the effort to bring up

loving kindness you have the mindfulness

of ill will and you let go of that and

you bring up loving kindness

when you have any kind of doubt because

you are recognizing you're bringing up

investigation of states

when you bring up investigation of

states

that means you know what is wholesome

what is unwholesome doesn't mean you're

trying to analyze and reflect on what's

going on

doesn't mean you're trying to

intentionally bring up these

enlightenment factors just by observing

them your mind becomes collected and

when your mind is collected that means

the enlightenment factors have come into

balance

so very simply put

just for your clarity and for your

understanding the six r's help you

activate the enlightenment factors which

are the antidotes for the five

hindrances

when you recognize that you are

distracted you bring up mindfulness you

bring up investigation of states

when you release your attention from

that distracted mind or that hindrance

you now bring up energy because you're

using the effort of letting go

when you relax the mind you bring up

tranquility

when you come back to your smile you

bring up joy

and when you return back to your object

to meditation the mind becomes collected

and as a result the mind is equanimous

if you are six aring that means that the

mind is equanimous equanimity means that

it is a mind that doesn't get disturbed

whether it's

pulling you in one direction or pushing

you in another another direction your

mind just sees things as they actually

are

whenever you use 6r whenever you

recognize you're already seeing things

as they are you're not trying to change

them you're not trying to fight the

existing reality you're not trying to

fight the present moment

you're just seeing it as it is and

you're letting go of it letting go of

any attachment to it letting go of any

aversion towards it

just as a man who had taken a loan to

develop his business and whose business

had prospered might pay off his old

debts

and with what was left over could

support one

support a life might think before this i

developed my business by borrowing but

now it has prospered and he would

rejoice and be glad about that just as a

man who was ill will suffering terribly

sick with no appetite and weak in body

might after a time recover and regain

his appetite and bodily strength and he

might think before i was ill

and now i am well and he would rejoice

and be glad about that

just as a man might be bound in prison

and after a time he might be freed from

his bonds without any loss

with no deduction from his possessions

he might think before this i was in

prison but now i am free

and he would rejoice and be glad about

that

just as a slave might just as a man

might be a slave

not his own master dependent on another

unable to go where he liked and after

some time he might be freed from slavery

able to go where where he liked

he might think before i was a slave but

now i am independent and he would

rejoice and be glad about that

just as a man laden with goods and

wealth might go on a long journey

through the desert where food was scarce

and danger abounded

and after a time he would get through

the desert and arrive safe and sound at

the edge of a village might think

before this i was in danger but now i am

safe at the edge of a village

and he would rejoice and be glad about

that

as long sire as one does not perceive

the disappearance of the five hindrances

in his mind

he feels as if in debt

in sickness in bonds in slavery on a

desert journey but when he perceives the

disappearance of the five hindrances in

himself it is as if he were freed from

debt from sickness from bonds from

slavery

from the perils of the desert

when you recognize a hindrance

and you let go of it using the six r's

you feel in that moment that freedom of

mind

and when he knows these five hindrances

have left in him

gladness arises in him your mind becomes

naturally

relief relieved it feels relief from the

five hindrances

and from gladness comes

joy

and from joy in his mind his body is

tranquil

with a tranquil body he feels uplifted

and with that uplifted mind he is

collected

and being thus detached from sense

desires detached from unwholesome states

he enters and remains in the first jhana

so in other words

the way to jhana the way to cultivate a

mind right for jannah is by recognizing

the hindrances and abandoning them

using the 6rs

and i will get to janna's tomorrow

thus endeth the lesson

any questions

yes

it's just

still talking often about the six hours

yeah did that come from a concept

from

buddhism originally and then it was kind

of transferred over to

more western

yeah the 6rs are just a

modern fancy way of saying right effort

so right effort is steeped i mean the

right effort which is

basically one of the folds of the

eightfold path

is

letting go of unwholesome states of mind

and replacing them and cultivating

wholesome states of mind and then

maintaining those wholesome states of

mind so in other words six r's are just

a mnemonic way of understanding that

when you

recognize that the mind is

unwholesome

you're actually now recognizing the

unarisen unwholesome states of mind

you're starting to let go of them

because now you've recognized them so

any cascading

of

further unwholesome states of mind

stop right there when you

recognize that's the first right effort

the second right effort is to abandon

the already arisen unwholesome states of

mind which means when you release your

attention away from the mind from that

distraction bring it back to the present

moment bring it back to the mind and

body and you relax the mind and body

you're

basically

abandoning those wholesome states of

mind those that have already arisen so

that's the second right effort

when you come back to the smile

you are bringing up a wholesome state of

mind you're bringing up something that's

uplifted

so that's generating a wholesome state

of mind

and then when you come back to the

object

that's maintaining that's the fourth

right effort maintaining a wholesome

state of mind

so whenever you do the six r's which is

just

like like i said a mnemonic way of

understanding it you're fulfilling the

for right efforts which have to do

with the right effort in the eightfold

path

i had a question about

salah i had two questions about sila

one is cena the be all and end all of

sorry other five precepts just be all

and end all of sila because it doesn't

seem very comprehensive like i could

not help someone in need and still not

break a preset

but does that make me more of a right

person

so when we talk about the five precepts

that's just

in terms of your own

mind states

so

you start off with that

and then

that's going to help you guide what is

right and what is wrong if you just

develop the five basic precepts that's

going to cultivate in your mind the

ability to maneuver through what is

right and what is wrong

so

yeah it's not morally unjust to not help

somebody in need

because maybe you don't have to help

them and you know you might be

you might actually be harming them if

they're let's say dependent upon alcohol

and you're trying to get them off of

that by giving them alcohol or something

right

but the five precepts are really the end

all be all because they universal

whether it's in buddhism or any other

kind of philosophy

the the notion or the understanding of

the five precepts is basically

do unto others

or treat others as you would like to be

treated

don't kill others don't harm others

because you don't want to be killed you

don't want to be harmed

don't take from others when not you know

when not given don't steal from others

because you wouldn't like being

robbed

don't have sexual misconduct or sexual

misconduct because you wouldn't like

being cheated on

don't tell tell lies don't gossip don't

slander

because you wouldn't like it if people

told lies about you you wouldn't like it

if people gossiped about you

and don't indulge in intoxicants

because the idea of indulging

intoxicants leads to the breaking of the

other four precepts and that means that

you don't want you you don't want to

deal with people who are just

you know drunk all the time and all

these other things so it's actually a

little more about cultivating a peace of

mind for yourself

then that leads into samadhi and wisdom

which will allow you to maneuver through

the world

what would be the best decisions in

every moment

thanks i had one more question

so you'd mentioned sensual misconduct

usually it's stated as sexual assault

and your definition of central

misconduct

is not giving in too much to send us

pleasures

that seems like very hard to maintain at

the precept is there something more

specific like if i'm eating two cookies

when i should be eating one am i

breaking a recess

you're not breaking a piece up in that

way you're breaking a precept when you

in the in the pursuit of your sensual

pleasures

you try to harm someone you tell a lie

you take what is not given

so just like the fifth precept

will cause you to break the other four

precepts this sensual misconduct is that

which

causes you to break the other precepts

in terms of telling lies harming another

person

or you know taking what is not given

sexual misconduct is very uh plain and

standard which is

uh not not cheating on another person in

other words if you are

uh

indulging in sexual activity with

somebody

who is engaged to another person or who

is in a relationship with another person

so you are committing basically adultery

you know you're committing you're

cheating on someone so that's really the

basic understanding of sexual misconduct

there's no judgment about you know in

terms of sexuality and all these other

things it's just

don't cheat on people don't cheat on

other people by

indulging in sexual activities with

somebody who's either engaged or in a

relationship

or somebody under the protection of

someone and things like that

so if i take two cookies but i'm not

harming anyone in the process that's

okay

well that should be okay but then you

have to notice that you act on your

craving

no it's not a precept

but it's about cultivating a mind that

is

observing whether craving is there or

not so keeping the precepts keeps your

mind non-agitated

with the mind that is non-agitated

you're able to see

more clearly as you're able to see more

clearly you become more mindful as you

become more mindful your mind becomes

more collected as you become more

collected you develop wisdom

that's why sila

really what it means is the foundation

it literally means rock right it

literally means that which is the

foundation the basis of everything else

that's why it's so important

yeah there was somebody who asked a

question at some point before in one of

the online talks was

i was doing one of the q as somebody was

going to ask a question which is

you know i see books that are available

online for sale

and i also see them available on sites

like pirate bay and things like that

so is it is it breaking the second

precept if i download those books

so if you have to ask the question

chances are that you might be breaking a

precept

[Laughter]

yeah it's kind of like you have a

precept detector yeah built in yes you

know

and if you don't you're sociopath

a chair samaritan

[Music]

you

so

[Music]

so

today we're going to deal with

hindrances

[Applause]

and i'm going to be reading

from diginakaya 2 which is the

samana fala suta

the fruits of the homeless life

thus have i heard once the blessed one

was staying at raja gaha in jivaca

kumara bachcha's

mango grove

together with a large company of some

1250

monks and at that time king ajat sathu

vedi vedahi putta

of magadha

having gone up to the roof of his palace

was sitting there

surrounded by his ministers on the 15th

fast day

the full moon of the fourth month

called comodi

and king ajayat sathu on the fast day

gave vent to this solemn utterance

delightful friends is this moonlight

night

charming is this moonlight night

auspicious is this moonlight night

can we not today visit some ascetic or

brahmana to visit whom

to visit whom would bring peace to our

heart

then one minister said to king ajat

sathu sire there is purana kasapa who

has many followers

a teacher of many who is well known

renowned renowned

the founder of a sect highly honored by

the multitude of long-standing

long since gone forth aged and venerable

may your majesty visit this purana

kasapa

he may well bring peace to your

majesty's heart

at these words king ajat shattu was

silent

another minister said

sire there is makali gosala who has many

followers

he may well he may well bring peace to

your majesty's heart

at these words king ajat shatu was

silent

another minister said sire

there is ajita kesa kambali

at those words at these words king ajat

sathu was silent another minister said

sire there is pakura kachayana

at those words king ajayasattu was

silent

another minister said

sire there is sanjaya bellaputta

at these words king's ajat satya was

silent

another minister said sire there is the

niganta not the putta

who has many followers

a teacher of many who is well known aged

and venerable

may your majesty visit the neganta not

the putta

he may well bring peace to your

majesty's heart

at these words king ajat satu was silent

so

here aja satu

uh just to give you a background ajat

satu was the king of maggot

before him was his father king bimbisara

was a big supporter of the buddha

bimbasara

was a

big follower of the dhamma

ajat sathu was actually somebody who

didn't like his father

and he killed him

and then he took the throne

so

the story goes as ajat sathu was

basically having a restless night

he was overcome

by guilt for what he had done

and his his ministers are talking about

all of these different

sects all of these different leaders of

sects

who

have different kinds of views

and we'll go a little bit into it but

we'll talk more in depth at another time

but these are the

main proponents of certain views that

are counter to the dhamma counter to

what the buddha taught

all this time jivaka komarabacha was

sitting

was sitting silently near

the king said to him you friend jivaka

why are you silent

jivaka said this

sire there is this blessed one the

arahat the fully enlightened buddha

staying in my manga grove with a large

company of some 1250 monks

and concerning the blessed gotham this

fair report has been spread about

this blessed one is an arahat a fully

enlightened buddha endowed with wisdom

and conduct the welfare

knower of the world's incomparable

trainer of men to be tamed

teacher of gods and humans enlightened

and blessed

may your majesty visit the blessed one

he may well bring peace to your

majesty's heart

then jivaca have the writing elephants

made ready

very good sire said

and he had 500 she elephants made ready

and for the king the royal tusker then

he reported

sire the riding elephants are ready now

is the time to do as your majesty wishes

and king ajat shatu having placed his

wives each

on one of the 500 sri elephants

mounted the royal tusker

and proceeded in royal state

accompanied by torch bearers from raja

gaha towards shivaka's

mango grove

and when king ajat shattu came near the

mango grove he felt fear and terror

and his hair stood on end

and feeling this fear and the rising of

the hairs

the king said to jivaka

friend jivaka you are not deceiving me

you are not tricking me

you are not delivering me up to an enemy

how is it that from this great number of

1250 monks

not a sneeze a cough or a shout is to be

heard

have no fear your majesty i would not

deceive you or trick you or deliver you

up to an enemy

approach sire approach

there are the lights burning in the

round pavilion so king ajat shatu having

ridden on his elephant as far as the

ground would permit

alighted and continued on foot to the

door of the round pavilion

then he said jivaka where is the blessed

one

that is the blessed one sire that is the

blessed one sitting against the middle

column with this order of monks in front

of him

ajaya satya was not unable to recognize

the buddha because the buddha was not as

you usually see him

in statues and paintings

he was like the rest of the other monks

with a shaven head

so he looked the same as his other monks

so he couldn't recognize him

then king ajat satu went up to the lord

and stood to one side

and standing there to one side the king

observed how the order of monks

continued in silence

like a clear lake and he exclaimed

if only prince udhaya badha was

possessed of such calm

as this order of monks

prince udayabada was ajatsatu's son

and guess what happened to prince

udayabadna

he killed his father

so it went on

in this family

do your thoughts go to the one you love

your majesty lord prince

is very dear to me

if only he were possessed of the same

calm as this order of monks

then king ajat sathu having bowed down

to the blessed one and saluted the order

of monks

with joined hands sat down to one side

and said

venerable sir i would ask something if

if you would deign to answer me ask your

majesty anything you like

venerable sir just as there are these

various craftsmen

such as elephant drivers

horse drivers

chariot fighters archers

standard bearers

agents

army caterers

champions and senior officers

scouts heroes brave fighters

kurosayers

slave sons cooks barbers bathmen bakers

garland makers bleachers cooks barbers

bleachers weavers basket makers

potters calculators and accountants and

whatever other skills there are they

enjoy here and now the visible fruits of

their skills

they themselves are delighted and

pleased with this

as are their parents children and

colleagues and friends

they maintain and support ascetics and

brahmanas thus

assuring

for themselves a heavenly happy reward

tending towards paradise

can you venerable sir point to such a

reward visible here and now

as a fruit of the homeless life

now we're getting into what

what this whole suta is about

so here ajad satyu asking the buddha

what are the benefits of doing this

practice

when he says the homeless life he's

talking about the monastics but

understand this to be in a larger

context

of the practice in in of itself that is

to say sila

keeping your precepts

samadhi cultivating the meditation and

panya

gaining insight

so the buddha says

your majesty do you admit

that you have put this question to other

ascetics and brahmanas

i admit it

would your majesty mind saying how they

replied

i do not mind telling you or one like

him well then your majesty tell me

once

venerable sir i went to see purana

kasapa

having exchanged courtesies i sat down

to one side and said good kasapa just as

there are these various craftsmen

they enjoy here and now the visible

fruits of their skills

can you kasapa point to such a reward

visible here and now

as a fruit of the homeless life

at this venerable sir purana kasapa said

your majesty by the doer or instigator

of a thing

by one who cuts or bruises to be cut or

causes to be cut by one who burns or

causes to be burnt

by one who causes grief and weariness

by one who agitates or causes agitation

who causes life to be taken or that

which is not given to be taken

commits burglary carries of treasures

commits robbery lies in ambush commits

adultery and tells life lies

no evil is done

if with a razor-sharp wheel

one were to make of this earth one

single mass of and heap of flesh

there would be no evil as a result of

that

no evil would accrue

if one were to go along the south bank

of the ganges killing slaying cutting or

causing to be cut

burning or causing to be burned there

would be no evil as a result of that no

evil would accrue or if one were to go

along with the north bank of the ganges

giving and causing to be given

sacrificing and causing to be sacrificed

there would be no merit as a result of

that

no merit would accrue

in giving self-control

abstinence

and telling the truth there is no merit

and no merit accrues

so this is piranha kasipa one of the

leaders of a certain kind of

monastic community or an ascetic

community that believed that there was

no meaning to our actions

no meaning whether you are

doing good or doing evil

doesn't matter

this is a very nihilistic kind of view

so this is a view that leads to trouble

that leads to suffering

and ajat satya was not satisfied by it

thus blessed one

purana kasipa on being asked about the

present fruits of the homeless life

explained non-action to me

just as if on being asked about a mango

he were to describe a breadfruit tree or

being asked about a breadfruit tree he

were to describe a mango

so purana kasapa on being asked about

the present fruits of the homeless life

explained non-action to me

talking about non-action he's talking

about basically

what's known as

in pali which means without cause

without conditionality

so this view

is in direct violation of the dhamma

which talks about everything being

conditioned

all things giving rise to another

or being given rise to

dependent upon causes and conditions

and so i thought how would one like me

think despitefully of any ascetic or

brahmana dwelling in my territory so i

neither applauded nor rejected purana

kasipa's words but though displeased not

expressing my displeasure saying nothing

rejecting and scorning

scorning speech i got up and left

once i visited makali gosala

and asked him the same question

macaulay gosala said your majesty there

is no cause or condition for the

defilement of beings

they are defiled without cause or

condition there is no cause or condition

for the purification of beings they are

purified without cause or condition

there is no self-power or other power

there is no power in humans no strength

or

force no vigor or exertion

all beings all living things all

creatures all that lives is without

control without power or strength

they experience the fixed course of

pleasure and pain through the six kinds

of rebirth

there are one million four hundred

thousand principal sorts of birth and

six thousand others and against six

hundred

there are five hundred kinds of karma

of

of five kinds and three kinds and half

karma

62 paths 62 intermediary eons

six classes of human kind eight stages

of human progress four thousand nine

hundred occupations four thousand nine

hundred wonderers

four thousand nine hundred abodes of

nagas two thousand sentient existences

three thousand health 36 places of dust

seven classes of rebirth as conscious

being

beings seven as unconscious beings

and seven as beings freed from bonds

seven grades of devas

men goblins seven lakes

seven great and seven small

protuberances

seven great and seven small abysses

seven great and seven small dreams

eight million four hundred thousand eons

during which fools and wise run

fools and wives run on and circle around

till they make an end of suffering

and a partridge in a pear tree

therefore there is no such thing as

saying by this discipline or karma or

practice or austerity or holy life i

will bring my unripened karma to

fruition or i will gradually make this

ripened karma go away

neither of these things is possible

because pleasure and pain have been

measured out with a measure limited by

the round of birth and death and there

is neither increase nor decrease

neither excellence nor

inferiority just as a ball of string

when thrown runs till it is all

unraveled

so fools and wise run on and circle

round till they make an end of suffering

this is a view of fatalism

a few a view that says that

you have no control over your destiny

you have no control over your future

everything that's given to you is meted

out

and there's nothing you can do about it

so in other words everything is already

predetermined

the time of your birth the time when you

go to school

when you experience this when you

experience that

even when you experience what sort of

suffering you will

and also the end of that suffering

all the way up until your enlightenment

everything is already predestined

everything is already predetermined

so this idea also negates the buddha's

understanding of karma because

the idea of karma here

is that we make our own efforts in every

given moment

we do what we can in terms of

understanding where our intentions lie

understanding

what our actions

are and what result they give

through our mental actions that is our

thoughts

through our verbal actions that is our

speech and through our physical actions

so there is something known as karma

there is something known known as

cause and consequence action and

consequence

cause and effect conditionality

so

thus venerable sir macaulay gosala on

being asked about the fruits of the

homeless life explained the purification

of the round of birth and death to me so

i neither plotted nor rejected makkahli

gosala's words but got up and left

once i visited ajita kesa

it's a very interesting

name kesa kambali

kesa kambali means hair blanket

this is a guy who wore

a blanket

around his body made up of human hair

and i asked him the same question

he said your majesty there is nothing

given bestowed offered in sacrifice

there is no fruit or result or of good

or bad deeds there is not this world or

the next there is no mother or father

there are no spontaneously arisen beings

there are in the world no ascetics or

brahmanas who have attained who have

perfectly practiced who proclaim this

world and the next having realized them

by their own super knowledge

this human being is composed of the four

great elements and when one dies in

earth

one dies the earth part reverts to the

earth

the water part reverts to the water the

fire part reverts to fire the air part

to the air

and the faculties pass away into space

they accompany the dead man with four

bearers

and the beer as fifth

their footsteps are heard as far as the

cremation ground

there the bones whiten the sacrifice

ends in ashes

it is the idea of a fool to give this

gift the talk of those who preach a

doctrine of survival is vain and false

fools and wise at the breaking up of the

body are destroyed and perished they do

not exist after death

this is the view of materialism

that there is only form there is only

the earth element as earth element the

water element the fire element and the

air element as they are

so anything you do here in this world

according to this view

is all about

taking

do the best you can

to experience

the best pleasures of the five physical

senses

that's all you do

in other words there's no meaning in

giving there's no meaning in being

generous there's no meaning in keeping

the precepts

there's no meaning in meditating there's

no meaning in developing insight

it's all material

this is materialism

so the idea here is in direct violation

of the buddha's dharma because the

dhamma here says that

we

have consequences to our actions so

there is meaning in being generous

there is meaning in being

steadfast in keeping our precepts

because the more we keep our precepts

the better our mindfulness becomes

the calmer our mind becomes the more

collected our mind becomes

which is then ripe for the development

of the mind

through samadhi

which allows us to experience panya or

wisdom

thus venerable sir ajita kesa kambali on

being asked about the fruits of the

homeless life

explained the doctrine of annihilation

to me

and so i got up and left

once i visited pakuda kachayana and

asked him the same question

pakura kachayana said your majesty

these seven things are not made or of a

kind to be made uncreated unproductive

barren false stable as a column

they do not shake do not change obstruct

one another nor are they able to cause

one another pleasure

cause one another pleasure pain or both

what are the seven the earth body the

water body the fire body the air body

pleasure and pain and the life principle

these seven are not made

thus there is neither slain nor slayer

neither hearer nor proclaimer neither

knower nor causer of knowing

and whoever cuts off a man's head with a

sharp sword

does not deprive anyone of life

he just inserts the blade in the

intervening space between these

seven bodies

so this idea is actually known as

atomism but also eternalism

so there is a doctrine in india which

talks about how you have the atma you

have the soul

and that soul is always pure

never affected by anything

it is eternal

so that which slays and that which

is slain

is neither the athman

so

it doesn't matter

everything is

everything is okay because as long as

you are the atma as long as you are the

soul

everything goes

but as we understand it if you cause

someone to be killed or you kill

there is an effect there somebody dies

there is a death

and you experience the fruits of that

experience which is guilt and shame and

so on

if you break any of the precepts what do

you experience

you experience agitation in the mind

there is this conscience in the mind

that says i shouldn't have done that

and so that conscience is the beginning

of right view

because right view

the very mundane version of that

is that there is action and consequence

there is meaning in giving there is

meaning in being generous

there is meaning in keeping the precepts

and so on and so forth

once i visited niganta nataputta and

asked him the same question

and he said your majesty

here one is bound by a fourfold

restraint

what for

he is curved by all curbs

enclosed by all curbs

cleared by all curbs

and claimed by all curbs

and as far as one is bound by this

fourfold restraint

thus

thus he is called self-perfected

self-controlled

self-established

so when they talk about this the four

restraints the four-fold restraints

really what they're talking about is the

purification of karma through certain

kinds of ascetic practices

the idea is

in this is a jain philosophy this is a

jain view this is the view of the chains

which is

there is a soul

and it reincarnates from life to life

and as it reincarnates from life to life

it inherits or it imprints upon itself

karmic dust karmic particles

it picks it up as it goes from lifetime

to lifetime

and one has to purify the mind of these

karmic particles

by doing certain kinds of purification

processes

like fasting

like uh

you know going into the forest and doing

all of these

strange ascetic practices

that purify the mind and body and by

doing so by experiencing displeasure by

experiencing pain

the body and the mind are purified and

therefore the atma the soul

is purified of its karma by doing this

ultimately it then

is completely purified and becomes

uh

or becomes immortal becomes eternal and

goes to this place

which is

for those who are all pure for the

purified souls

so

the buddha actually asked this question

to this kind of group and he said

how do you know how much karmic dust is

left

how do you know what you're doing is

leading to the purification of your

karma

and

one of them asked ananda in another suta

this is how we purify our karma this is

how we purify and mitigate our karma how

do you guys do it

and ananda said there's three ways

one is through selah

perfecting the precepts

another is through samadhi

practice of janas and the third is

through insight

because in all three when you're

experiencing the perfection of the

precepts

which leads to the perfection of

meditation which leads to the perfection

of insight and wisdom

you understand reality as it is

so that anything that arises is seen as

old karma anything that arises is seen

as an effect of your previous choices

so you don't take it personally so it

just arises and dissipates

and this is how karma is purified

mitigated

understood and experienced

so long as you do not hold on to

that experience

in other words you don't fight with that

experience you don't crave for that

experience you don't push or pull or

twist that experience

this translates

to your meditation practice

because what is happening when you're

meditating

you are met with a hindrance

you're met with a distraction

what's a distraction

it's a feeling it's an experience in the

mind

how did that arise

because of previous causes and

conditions

hindrances arise

based on

choices you've made in the past

and these choices led

to the breaking of precepts

and the certain kinds of breaking of

precepts leads to certain kinds of

hindrances get more into that in a

little bit

but because of that you made the choice

to do that right at some point

whether it was in this life or in a

previous life or a life before that

whenever that was

as a result of that then it is

experienced as a hindrance whether it's

in the meditation

or whether it is

in your daily life

now there are the five basic hindrances

sensual craving ill will

restlessness

slot and torpor and doubt

and these arise dependent upon or based

in breaking of certain kinds of precepts

so

now you're met with the effect of

breaking that precept in the form of

this hindrance what do you do with it

how do you purify

let's say or mitigate

that hindrance

do you push it

do you suppress it

do you fight with it do you crave for it

do you have aversion towards it

or do you understand it as it actually

is which is here is a hindrance

i'm not going to fight it i'm going to

acknowledge it's here which means

you recognize that this is a hindrance

you recognize mind is now distracted

from

its object of meditation taken away from

its object meditation

and leading

to a distraction

now you recognize that so how do you

deal with it

you release your attention from it

and you let it go by relaxing the

tightness and tension in the body

associated with that craving related to

that hindrance

once you relax

now you have abandoned the unwholesome

states of mind

now you have to replace them with

wholesome states of mind the unwholesome

arose because of something you did in

the past

but if you continue to add to it by

resisting it by getting upset by it

then

it's only going to continue

but if you let go by recognizing

releasing and relaxing

then replace that with the smile which

uplifts the mind

and return back to your object of

meditation

whether that is loving kindness

compassion joy equanimity or the quiet

mind whatever it might be

and you stay with that

when you do that you are actually

dealing with old karma this is how you

purify that karma

because what happens then the hindrance

comes up again but this time

it's weaker it's not as prevalent

so what do you do there

you 6r again come back to your object

it might come a third time a fourth time

a fifth time but every time it comes it

becomes weaker and weaker and weaker

until it fades away and now the mind is

fully collected

this is how to deal with all karma

according to

what is known as right effort

once i visited sanjaya bellataputta and

i asked him the same question

he and he said to me

if you ask me is there another world

if i thought so i would say so

but i don't think so i don't say it is

so and i don't say otherwise

i don't say it is not and i don't say

it is and i don't not say it is not

if you ask me is there another world or

both or neither is there fruit and

result of good and bad deeds isn't there

or not or neither

does the tata exist after death does he

not or both or neither

i do not say it is not and i do not not

say

it is not

this is what's known as a skeptic

this is what is known as an eel wriggler

somebody who sits on the fence

has doubts about this or that

doesn't want to conclude one way or the

other because ultimately

they're afraid to have to defend

their views

defend in the sense of trying to explain

their view

so they would rather just leave all that

away and say it could be

it can't be it might be it might not be

who knows

right so they're very much on the fence

about things

don't make conclusions

and this leads to doubt this leads to a

lot of doubt in anything that you're

doing

should i do this or should i do that

am i doing the practice correctly or am

i not doing the practice correctly

am i six hour incorrectly or am i not

six or incorrectly

or you know all of these thoughts that

arise

so

thus venerable sir sanjaya bella taputa

on being asked about the fruits of the

homeless life

replied by evasion

just of just as if on being asked about

the mango he were to describe a

breadfruit tree and i thought of all of

these ascetics and brahmins sanjaya

bellataputa is the most stupid and

confused

so i neither applauded nor rejected his

words

but got up and left

and so venerable sir i now ask you

just as there are these various

craftsmen who enjoy here and now the

visible fruits of their skills

assuring for themselves a heavenly happy

reward

can you venerable sir point to such a

reward visible here and now as a fruit

of the homeless life

i can your majesty i will just ask a few

questions in return and you sire shall

answer as you see fit

what do you think sire suppose there

were a man a slave a laborer getting up

before you and going to bed after you

willingly doing whatever has to be done

well-mannered pleasant spoken working in

your presence and he might think it is

strange

it is wonderful the destiny and fruits

of meritorious deeds

so this person is thinking that when i

do things

that are in alignment with keeping the

precepts

when i am moral when i am ethical that

means i will attain to something

that is

in alignment with that which means i

will have a better existence at a future

period

and so he says this king ajat shattu

vedehi putta of magda is a man and i too

am a man

but this king is addicted to and

indulges in the five-fold sense

pleasures

just like a god whereas i am a slave

working in his presence

i ought to do something meritorious

suppose i were to shave off my hair and

beard dawn yellow robes and go forth

from the household life into

homelessness

and before long he does so and he and he

having dust gone forth having thus gone

forth might dwell restrained in body

speech and thought satisfied with the

minimum of food and clothing content in

solitude

and then if people were to announce to

you sire do you remember that slave who

worked in your presence

and who shaved off his hair and beard

and went forth into homelessness

he is living restrained in body speech

and thought

content and in solitude

would you then say that man must come

back and be a slave and work for me as

before

no indeed venerable sir for we would pay

homage to him

we would rise and invite him and press

him to receive from us

robes

food lodging medicines for sickness and

requisites and make arrangements for his

proper protection

what do you think sire is that one fruit

of the homeless life visible here and

now

certainly venerable sir

then that sire is the first fruit of the

homeless life

now here he's strictly talking about

monastics somebody goes forth into the

homeless life and becomes a monk or a

nun

ibiku

and they are shown proper homage

they are taken care of their requisites

are taken care of

and people show them proper respect

people

want to invite them so that they can

make merit by offering them food and so

on and so forth this is one fruit of the

homeless life

but if we broaden that understanding

from even the lay person's life

if we kept the precepts and if we

continue to do the practice

if we took care of the dharma

by keeping the precepts

by

continuing to practice samadhi

continuing to practice meditation

and developing wisdom

eventually that would arise in the form

of the way we

interact with people and people would

see that

and they would pay due respect to you

they would be generous to you

they would be giving to you

not only in terms of gifts and things

like that but they would be happy to see

you

they would look forward to seeing you

they would be happy in mind body and

speech just as you continue to

send loving kindness to them

they continue to act in the same way

more often than not

right i've seen it for myself when i

continue to radiate loving-kindness or

compassion or joy or equanimity

depending upon the situation

beings respond in kind

right people love

to speak with me whenever they have an

opportunity

because they like to be in the presence

of one who continues to spread

loving-kindness

one who continues to practice the dharma

right i have

and this is not boasting but this is the

absurdity of it

i have 11 pairs of shoes what am i going

to do with 11 pairs of shoes

people just keep sending me stuff

because they want to

you know be respectful and acknowledge

the good that i've done for them and the

good that they've received

just yesterday somebody gave me 60 bars

of chocolate

what am i going to do with 60 bars of

chocolate

right i mean these are just small minor

things that happen but wherever i go

people are always happy to see me

people are always happy to

pay their respects however they want to

and i don't ask for it i don't think

that they have to or whatever it's just

that

it happens naturally so if you continue

to be generous if you continue to keep

your precepts

not only does that translate into a

peaceful mind not only does that

translate into a mind

well ripened for samadhi but it

translates to a life where you are taken

care of

i don't have to worry about a single

thing in life

everything is taken care of for me

but venerable sir can you show any other

reward visible here and now as a fruit

of the homeless life

i can sire i will just ask a few

questions in return and you sir shall

answer as you see fit

what do you think sire suppose there

were a man a farmer or householder in

your service the steward of an estate he

might think it is strange it is

wonderful the destiny and fruits of

meritorious deeds

this king ajat satu is a man and i too

am a man but this king is addicted to

and indulges in the fivefold sense

pleasures just like a god whereas i am a

farmer the steward of an estate i ought

to do something meritorious

suppose i were to go forth from the

household life into homelessness

and before long he does so and he having

thus gone forth might dwell in

contentment in solitude and if people

were to tell you this would you then say

that must that man must come back and be

a steward as before

no indeed lord for we would pay homage

to him

we would rise and invite him and press

him to receive from us

robes food lodging medicines for

sickness and requisites and make

arrangements for his proper protection

what do you think sire is that one fruit

of the homeless life visible here and

now it's the same thing

certainly venerable sir then that sire

is the second such fruit of the homeless

life

but venerable sir can you show me any

other reward visible here and now as a

fruit of the homeless life that is more

excellent and perfect than these

i can sire please listen

whenever the buddha says please listen

pay extra attention

your majesty pay proper attention and i

will speak

yes venerable sir said king adjacent and

the blessed one said

your majesty it happens that the tata

rises in the world an arhat fully

enlightened buddha endowed with wisdom

and conduct welfare

knower of the world's incomparable

trainer of men to be tamed

teacher of gods and humans enlightened

and blessed he having realized it by his

own super knowledge proclaims this world

with its devas mars and brahmas its

princes and people

he preaches the dharma which is lovely

in its beginning

lovely in its middle

lovely in its end

in the spirit and in the letter

and displays the fully perfected and

purified holy life this dhamma is heard

by a householder or a householder son

or one reborn in some family or other

having heard this dharma he gains

confidence in the tataka having gained

this confidence he reflects

this household life is close and dusty

the homeless life is free as air

it is not easy living the household life

to live the fully perfected holy life

purified and polished like a conch shell

suppose i were to shave off my hair and

beard

dawn yellow robes and go forth from the

household life into homelessness

and after some time he abandons his

property small or great

leaves

leaves his circle of relatives small or

great shaves off his hair and beard

dawns yellow robes and goes forth into

the homeless life

and having gone thus forth

he dwells restrained by the restraint of

the rules keeping the precepts

persisting in right behavior

seeing danger in the slightest faults

observing the commitments he has taken

on regarding body deed and word

devoted to the skilled and purified life

perfected in morality

in sila

with the sense doors guarded

skilled in mindful awareness

and content

now listen carefully

and how sire

is one perfected in morality how do you

develop and perfect your sila

abandoning the taking of life

he dwells refraining from taking life

without stick or sword scrupulous

compassionate trembling for the welfare

of all living beings

thus he is accomplished in morality

abandoning the taking of what is not

given

abandoning unchastity or sexual

misconduct or sensual misconduct

abandoning false and harsh speech

abandoning intoxicants

he refrains

from wrong means of livelihood thus he

is perfected in morality

when you keep the precepts you're doing

a few things number one

you're purifying your intention

you're going from wrong intention to

right intention

that right intention means you're

letting go of things that don't serve

your mind

letting go of the unwholesome states of

mind

right speech you go from wrong speech to

right speech

you go from wrong action to right action

you go from wrong livelihood to right

livelihood

by letting go of

intentionally killing or harming another

living being

by letting go and abandoning

the

taking of what is not given

by abandoning and letting go of sexual

and sensual misconduct

by abandoning and letting go of false

speech

gossip and slander

by letting go and abandoning

the indulging in intoxicants

you are purifying your intentions

when you purify your intentions you

purify your speech when you purify your

speech you purify your actions

when you purify your actions you purify

your livelihood

this results in a mind that can do the

six hours that can easily recognize

using mindfulness

to see when the mind becomes distracted

that can easily let go by releasing and

relaxing that can easily generate

wholesome states of mind by smiling and

coming back to a wholesome object of

meditation

and that is known as right effort

so it all begins with keeping the

precepts taking the precepts

making a commitment to keep the precepts

and then sire that monk who is perfected

in morality sees no danger from any side

owing to his being restrained by

morality

just as a duly anointed king having

conquered his enemies by that very fact

sees no danger from any side so

one on account of their morality sees no

danger anywhere

one experiences

the blameless bliss

that comes from maintaining this aryan

morality

in this way sire he is perfected in

morality

so the blameless bliss this is an

experience this is a mind that is

feeling relief

a mind that doesn't have any regrets

a mind that doesn't have any guilt

any kind of remorse

any kind of agitation

because they continue to keep the

precepts

when you talk about the aryan

morality aryan here means noble

so that means one who is following the

noble hateful path

and how sire is he a guardian of the

sense doors

here one on seeing a visible object with

the eye

does not grasp at its major signs or

secondary characteristics

because greed and sorrow

evil unskilled states would overwhelm

him if he dwelt

leaving his eye faculty unguarded

so he practices guarding it

he protects the eye faculty

develops restraint of the eye faculty on

hearing a sound

with the ear on smelling an odor with

the nose

on tasting a flavor with the tongue

on feeling an object with the body

on thinking at thought with the mind

he does not grasp at their major signs

or secondary characteristics

he develops restraint of these faculties

he

experiences within himself the blameless

bliss that comes from maintaining this

aryan guarding of the sense faculties

in this way sire a monk is a guardian of

the sense doors

now this is talking about right effort

so here the buddha is talking about

what's known as

samvara

in pali samvara means restraint or is

sometimes translated as restraint

but that gives a different connotation

because that means i have to control

my senses i have to control whatever is

happening through my physical senses and

through my mind

but it's not that it's about observing

and understanding when craving or

aversion arise

in relation to the sense experience

so guarding the sense faculties guarding

the mind is not about trying to control

it

you can't control what you see you can't

control the colors that you see you

can't change the color red that you see

to the color blue

you can't change the

sound of the birds you can't change the

sound of the lawn mower when you're

meditating

you can't change the flavor of something

sweet to sour just by thinking about it

you can't control it you cannot do

anything like that you can't just

silence the mind so as i was saying you

cannot control the way that you

experience

everything through your sixth sense

basis

but what you can observe and understand

and let go of

is the craving and the aversion

and the identification related to those

experiences

and how do you do that

you do that through right effort

you do that through the six hours

so in other words the six hours aren't

just used in meditation

because

a hindrance can arise while you're

walking while you're taking a shower

while you're eating

so it's about observing your mind's

attention

and remembering to observe how it moves

from one thing to the other

and when it moves towards craving

when it moves towards aversion

what do you do

you six are it

so you're recognizing that the mind

has craving or resistance towards a

hindrance that arises

or towards an experience that's

happening

maybe you're walking down and you go to

the dining hall during lunch and you see

that there's some freshly baked cookies

and you think to your mind in your mind

i'm going to get two of those cookies

instead of one right because now you

have craving for those cookies

but if you recognize that craving and

you let go of that

then you have relief right there and

then

if you use the six r's you're

experiencing relief right there and then

you see the whole idea about craving is

that

there's a agitation in the mind that

arises from any of the experiences that

you're having that there's this thing

that says there's this part of the mind

that says or the mind itself says i want

this or i don't want this so it either

pulls towards it

or it pushes against it

it resists it

or it says i am it and it stands its

ground trying to identify with that

experience

when that happens there's tightness and

tension in the mind and body

this is a natural arising that happens

because the mind is conditioned

to be in that fight or flight

kind of way of functioning

and there's a recoil in the mind and

body that says i need to get that

or you know i need to push that away and

what happens there's craving or there's

aversion to it and the mind

when it indulges in that craving or acts

on that aversion it experiences

relief

and so the mind is conditioned to think

every time i indulge in a craving

every time i resist something i

experience relief so that's the way to

experience peace of mind is to act on my

craving to act in on my aversions

but what if there was a way to

experience relief

without having to act upon the aversion

without having to act upon the craving

that happens through right effort

so this process of using the six r's

is a process of deconditioning the mind

from that craving

by tranquilizing the formations the

mental and bodily formations

rooted in craving

and relaxing the tightness and tension

and then reconditioning the mind

by the process of re-smiling and

returning to a wholesome object of

mind

by reconditioning the mind this way you

experience relief without having to

indulge in the craving without having to

act upon the aversion

which means that the mind sees the

absurdity in acting upon the craving

sees the absurdity and uselessness

of acting upon the craving and aversion

and now you start to develop wisdom as

you use right effort

so wherever you're whatever it is you're

doing whether you're doing your walking

meditation whether you're doing your

sitting meditation whether you're taking

a shower whether you're eating petting

the dog driving reading a book answering

an email talking to someone

what you are observing is not what it is

you're doing but you're in relation to

how the mind is experiencing it

is the mind having craving towards that

experience

because this whole this whole world that

you experience is basically

manufactured

by your sixth sense basis

and the peace of mind that you can

cultivate

is dependent upon how you relate to that

manufactured world dependent upon the

sixth sense basis

and how you do that is through right

effort

through right mindfulness

and through right collectedness

so you understand okay here is an

experience

and you understand there's craving for

this right now

you can

choose to act on that craving in that

moment or you can choose to understand

and recognize it

and then let go of it using release and

relax

and cultivate something wholesome

through the smile which uplifts the mind

brings in more mindfulness and then

finally return to a wholesome object of

meditation or mind

when you do this you continue to observe

with greater and greater clarity

the elements of your mind in terms of

how they react or respond to what's

going on

and the more you do that

the easier your mind is able to

recognize subtler and subtler

layers and levels of craving and

aversion

and identification

ultimately leading you to a mind that is

completely free of that

a mind without craving

right and ultimately leading you to

freedom of mind

right so now you are no longer a slave

to the senses

no longer

are you in debt

to the world in terms of having to act

upon it through craving an aversion now

you're free from it so every time you 6r

you experience in that moment at freedom

of mind

you experience in that moment a mundane

nibbana

a state that is

ceasing as a state or rather a mind

that has ceased all conditions and in

that brief moment experiencing the

unconditioned

and when that happens then your mind

starts to tend towards that which is

wholesome

and it experiences peace in every moment

the more it starts to recognize the

aversion starts to recognize the craving

and starts to let go of it so the six

hours aren't just for meditation in

terms of your formal sitting practice

but the six hours can be used anywhere

let's say you are in conflict with

somebody let's say you start to get into

an argument with someone

maybe the general tendency for a person

is to incline towards defending

themselves saying how could they say

this to me how could they accuse me of

this or whatever it might be all of

these different thoughts and patterns

that come up

but if you can recognize it

and let go of that

not necessarily have to smile because

maybe they might misconstrue that smile

as you know you taunting them but smile

in the mind smile in the heart

keep your mind uplifted

and then return to something like

loving-kindness or compassion and

realize that that person

who might be upset at you is suffering

and that person is angry at you but that

anger is arising because they are

suffering

and now you can respond with wisdom

to alleviate the situation

to de-escalate the situation

and to cause peace not only for yourself

but peace in their mind as well

so there is a practical

application of the six hours in every

moment

and every time you do that you continue

to recondition your mind towards the

unconditioned towards nirvana

and how sire is one accomplished

in mindfulness and clear awareness

here one acts with clear awareness in

going back and forth

in looking ahead or behind

in bending and stretching

in wearing his outer and inner robe and

carrying his bowl

and eating drinking chewing and

swallowing

in evacuating and urinating and walking

standing sitting lying down in waking

and speaking and in keeping silent he

acts with clear awareness

in this way

a monk is accomplished in mindfulness

and clear awareness

so here he's talking about right

mindfulness so

we have to look at it in this way yes

each of the steps

in the eightfold path lead to the other

but they're also working in tandem

they're working together

so right effort leads to right

mindfulness which leads to right

collectedness

but they're always happening whether

you're meditating or whether you're

doing anything else so long as you use

right effort you're having right

mindfulness and so long as you're having

right mindfulness you're getting right

collectedness

so this process in meditation where you

get distracted

right when you have a hindrance when you

use right effort by six houring you come

back to right mindfulness

because right mindfulness is not about

taking slow steps and paying attention

to the contact between the the feet and

the earth

or paying attention to the taste of the

food and paying attention to the birds

in the air

mindfully listening

mindfully walking

mindfully taking a shower

mindfully petting the dog

mindfully you know

whatever it might be

it's not about that it's mindful in

regards to

is there craving present in the mind is

there aversion present in the mind is

there restlessness present in the mind

is there a slot interpreter present in

the mind so in other words you are

mindful of how mind's attention moves

from one thing to the other

how mind becomes distracted

the more you start to see this process

the more you develop wisdom on its own

that's the way you cultivate wisdom

through observing

just observing and

using the six hours

so when you are in meditation you are

observing the feeling

of loving kindness or the feeling of

compassion or the feeling of joy or the

feeling of equanimity

you're feeling it and you're observing

that and the closer you observe which

means just observing you don't need to

pinpoint or focus or try too hard or try

to pinpoint where that feeling is just

feel it

just observe it like watching a movie

watching things unfold before your eyes

right when you do that in the meditation

everything is flowing smoothly

and if you're observing in that way then

you can recognize oh my mind got

distracted suddenly

now you're no longer observing the

object of meditation now you're no

longer feeling the loving kindness now

you're no longer feeling the compassion

or whatever it might be now your mind is

bogged down by thoughts about this or

that

so what do you do

do you fight with that do you beat

yourself up for that or do you recognize

and acknowledge okay here is a hindrance

here is a distraction

and you release

and then relax that tension and

tightness and then cultivate a wholesome

state of mind through the smile

and through returning back to the object

of meditation

so this is how you develop wisdom this

is how you cultivate wisdom this is how

you develop the mind bhavana

using the six r's

using right effort which is

in tandem with right mindfulness which

then results in right collectedness into

the practice of jhanas

which you'll hear about tomorrow

and how is one contented here a monk is

satisfied with a robe to protect his

body with arms to satisfy his stomach

and having accepted sufficient

he goes on his way

just as a bird with wings flies hither

and tether

burdened by nothing but its wings

so he is satisfied in this way sire a

monk is contented

so here we're talking about contentment

contentment is basically a mind that is

equanimous

not pulled in one direction or the other

accepting of reality as it actually is

accepting of whatever is given

to them

this results in a mind that has

no agitation

no restlessness but rather just deep

tranquil contentment

then

equipped with this

noble morality

noble restraint of the senses

noble contentment

he finds a solitary lodging at the root

of a forest tree

in a mountain cave or gorge

a charnel ground a jungle thicket or in

the open air on a heap of straw

he

then having eaten after his return from

the arms round he sits down

holding his body upright

and

keeps mindfulness established before him

this

this doesn't mean that he becomes

mindful of everything that's in front of

him what it's talking about is

establishing mindfulness in terms of

just being attention paying attention

being aware of what's going on in the

mind and body

so you sit down pay attention is there

any tension here is there any tightness

just let go of it relax for a bit

relax it and for just

a couple of minutes just notice where

the mind is start to pay attention to

what's going on start to pay attention

to how mind brings up the feeling of

loving kindness start to pay attention

to how mind collects itself around

loving kindness

abandoning worldly desires

he dwells with a mind freed from worldly

desires and his mind is purified of them

abandoning ill will and hatred and by

compassionate love for the welfare of

all living beings his mind is purified

of ill will and hatred

abandoning slot and torpor perceiving

light

mindful and clearly aware his mind is

purified of slot and torpor

abandoning restlessness and with an

inwardly co inwardly inwardly calmed

mind his heart is purified of

restlessness

abandoning doubt he dwells with doubt

left behind without ins uncertainty as

to

what things are wholesome

his mind is purified of doubt

these are the five hindrances

worldly desires that is sensual craving

this sensual craving arises dependent

upon

a mind that continues to cultivate

intentions of sensual craving

so when you break the precept of

abstaining from sexual and sensual

misconduct

you continue to cultivate sensual

craving

because

sensual misconduct is basically a mind

that becomes obsessed

by an experience of the sixth sense

basis

or the five physical

sense basis let's say the ears the eyes

the nose the tongue and the body and

once more of it

and wants to indulge in more and more of

it

but becomes so obsessed by it that it

blinds the mind from everything else

and it causes the mind to have

misconduct causes the mind through that

obsession to break other precepts

and the more it indulges in this the

more it strengthens and cultivates

that hindrance of sensual craving

so how do you let go of sensual craving

you let go of it by understanding what

it actually is

that is to say you understand that it

arose because you continue to indulge in

it because you took it to be mine me

mind myself

you took it personally

but if you understand sensual pleasures

as that which arise dependent upon

causes and conditions

then you understand that they come and

go they arise and they pass away so

there's no point in holding on to them

when they come they come when they go

they go so if sensual pleasures arise

and you act on them okay

but if you engage with them with the

idea that i have to hold on to them

i can't let them go

i have to keep them or i have to get

more of them

then now your mind is intentionalizing

towards sensual craving

but if you let go of that and understand

that these sensual pleasures will come

and go therefore impermanent therefore

not worth holding on to

therefore seen as impersonal

now your mind becomes inwardly calm now

your mind

experiences a deeper

pleasure

which is the pleasure of jhana

a deeper pleasure which is the pleasure

of relief

from being bogged down by the hindrances

so sensual pleasures is one level but

the pleasure of jhana the pleasure of

meditation

supersedes the sensual pleasures so if

you fully experience jhana if you fully

experience loving

if you fully experience

a mind rid of the hindrances

then you no longer are

interested in sensual pleasures while

you're in that state

so you abandon it by using the six r's

recognizing the mind is thinking about

this or that in reference to sensual

pleasures

letting go of that relaxing the

tightness and tension coming back to the

smile coming back to a collected mind

that's around its object of meditation

whether it's loving kindness compassion

joy or equanimity

abandoning ill will and hatred and so

how do you abandon ill will and hatred

first of all how does ill will and

hatred come about

because you continue to develop and

cultivate intentions rooted in ill will

and hatred

every time you intentionally harm or

kill a living being

you continue to cultivate the hindrance

of ill will

every time you have anger towards

somebody every time even if you think

angrily towards somebody or something

then you're cultivating ill will

when you're here sitting down for

meditation practice and you hear the

lawnmower or you hear somebody chopping

wood or you hear somebody talking or

something happening and your mind gets

irritated by that gets frustrated by

that

now you're cultivating ill will

but if you recognize it and say okay i

notice this i recognize this

i'm going to let go of my attention to

that

bring it back to mind and body relax the

tightness and tension

come back to my smile

bring up my smile and come back to

loving kindness and compassion

now you're letting go of that ill will

so

indulging

or acting upon irritation

through mind

speech and body

continues to cultivate the hindrance of

ill will

but recognizing for what it is and

letting it go using the six r's

you're de-conditioning the mind from

that ill will and reconditioning it with

a response rooted in loving-kindness a

response rooted in compassion

abandoning slot and twerper

perceiving light mindful and clearly

aware his mind is purified of slot and

torpor what is slot and torpor

slot intorpur is dullness of the mind

the mind starts to stop paying attention

to its object of meditation

there's not enough attention being given

to it there's not enough balanced energy

there's not enough interest in the

object of meditation

there's not enough

collectedness in the mind

so when the attention becomes dispersed

and you think that you're with your

object and meditation but now another

thought comes up and little by little

your mind starts to look at that

and starts to little by little

little deviate away from its object of

meditation slot interpreter starts to

seep in

and you start to become dull

your mind isn't able to engage properly

with its object of meditation it feels

foggy

it feels uncollected

now it says here he perceives light

one of the ways to deal with slot

intorpur is to go outside and meditate

in the sunlight where it's very bright

that's why yesterday we talked about how

you should keep the lights on here when

you meditate

otherwise it can cause the mind to be

sleepy and inattentive

and lead to slot and torpor

so recipient of light

means a couple of things number one

you'll go out somewhere where there's a

lot of bright light

number two light in terms of the light

of wisdom

that's dependent upon

having right attention

that means

having more interest in your object and

meditation there's not enough interest

so it's a matter of balancing energy if

you have too much energy you're going to

have restlessness if you have too little

interest

you're going to have lack of attention

and therefore slot interpreter

if you notice this

you recognize it

you let go of it bring back your mind to

bring back your attention to mind and

body relax

bring your attention to the smile

and collect your attention around the

object and bring a little bit more

energy a little bit more it's like the

camera lens right if you loosen the

focus too much you might not be able to

see what it is that the camera is

capturing

but if you just tighten it a little bit

if you just bring in a little bit more

energy

pay a little more attention pay a little

more interest to the object

then you have you don't have slot

intorpur now the mind becomes

very attentive now the mind becomes very

collected

but be careful don't go into one pointed

concentration

don't focus so much

that your mind becomes tight and

experiences headaches

loosen the mind relax it when you notice

that let go of that

relax it and come back

another way to deal with slot and torpor

is to walk backwards

because when you walk backwards

you're paying attention more to the

steps that you're taking

when you're walking forwards you take

walking for granted you just know the

foot will land onto the earth right but

when you're walking backwards

you're really paying attention to

how you know what's going on in terms of

the steps that you're doing

when you do that you have more energy

you have more collectedness you have

more attention with that kind of a mind

come back to sit and see how the

meditation goes

sometimes you're not having enough sleep

sometimes the mind is just feeling

sleepy it doesn't have the energy

because it hasn't had a good night's

sleep

that happens

take a nap

like i always say i encourage naps on my

retreats

right

take naps as much as you can if that

helps not a long nap

15 20 minutes 25 minutes at the most

and come back and sit and see how it

goes

abandoning restlessness

with an in-world inwardly calmed mind

his heart is purified of restlessness

restlessness arises because you're

trying too hard

you're pushing too much

you want that loving kindness to be

experienced so you focus as much as you

can on that feeling and what happens

there's this tightness a band of

tightness around the head and it

manifests into restless thoughts all

kinds of thoughts arise there isn't too

much energy going on

when you recognize that use the six

hours

back off a little

just relax

let the mind observe

what's going on instead of becoming

you know the object of meditation

instead of trying to bring up the object

of meditation

allow the conditions the causes and

conditions to arise dependent upon your

observation dependent upon your

attention towards it

if you have too much restlessness you

might even want to just take a walk

and just let the mind settle in by doing

some walking meditation for about 15 20

25 minutes at the most

and as you start to settle in come back

to

the hall and

sit down for your meditation practice

see how that goes

abandoning doubt he dwells with doubt

left behind without uncertainty as to

what things are wholesome his mind is

purified of doubt

here the doubt is in relation not to the

doubt in the buddha dhamma and sangha

the hindrance of doubt is in relation to

am i doing this practice right

am i recognizing what is wholesome am i

recognizing what is unwholesome am i

doing the six r's right

when you start to notice that

just let go of that just six are that as

soon as you six are what are you doing

you're cultivating a mind that

recognizes what is unwholesome

and then you're letting go of that and

bringing up the wholesome so the doubt

immediately goes away in of itself

so every time you 6r you're doing a few

things

you're activating the seven enlightened

factors which are the antidotes for the

five hindrances

in the case in the case of sensual

craving

you have joy that is the joy of jhana

that arises the joy of meditation

that arises it's a greater pleasure than

sensual pleasures

in the case of restlessness you have

equanimity that arises when you six are

and that equine equanimity balances the

mind

in the case of slot intorpur you have

energy or the right effort that arises

through the six hours and now your mind

is balanced

there's enough energy so that the mind

doesn't become inattentive

so the mind doesn't become tired and

dull

when you have any kind of

ill will that arises

you have loving kindness as a result of

that you take the effort to bring up

loving kindness you have the mindfulness

of ill will and you let go of that and

you bring up loving kindness

when you have any kind of doubt because

you are recognizing you're bringing up

investigation of states

when you bring up investigation of

states

that means you know what is wholesome

what is unwholesome doesn't mean you're

trying to analyze and reflect on what's

going on

doesn't mean you're trying to

intentionally bring up these

enlightenment factors just by observing

them your mind becomes collected and

when your mind is collected that means

the enlightenment factors have come into

balance

so very simply put

just for your clarity and for your

understanding the six r's help you

activate the enlightenment factors which

are the antidotes for the five

hindrances

when you recognize that you are

distracted you bring up mindfulness you

bring up investigation of states

when you release your attention from

that distracted mind or that hindrance

you now bring up energy because you're

using the effort of letting go

when you relax the mind you bring up

tranquility

when you come back to your smile you

bring up joy

and when you return back to your object

to meditation the mind becomes collected

and as a result the mind is equanimous

if you are six aring that means that the

mind is equanimous equanimity means that

it is a mind that doesn't get disturbed

whether it's

pulling you in one direction or pushing

you in another another direction your

mind just sees things as they actually

are

whenever you use 6r whenever you

recognize you're already seeing things

as they are you're not trying to change

them you're not trying to fight the

existing reality you're not trying to

fight the present moment

you're just seeing it as it is and

you're letting go of it letting go of

any attachment to it letting go of any

aversion towards it

just as a man who had taken a loan to

develop his business and whose business

had prospered might pay off his old

debts

and with what was left over could

support one

support a life might think before this i

developed my business by borrowing but

now it has prospered and he would

rejoice and be glad about that just as a

man who was ill will suffering terribly

sick with no appetite and weak in body

might after a time recover and regain

his appetite and bodily strength and he

might think before i was ill

and now i am well and he would rejoice

and be glad about that

just as a man might be bound in prison

and after a time he might be freed from

his bonds without any loss

with no deduction from his possessions

he might think before this i was in

prison but now i am free

and he would rejoice and be glad about

that

just as a slave might just as a man

might be a slave

not his own master dependent on another

unable to go where he liked and after

some time he might be freed from slavery

able to go where where he liked

he might think before i was a slave but

now i am independent and he would

rejoice and be glad about that

just as a man laden with goods and

wealth might go on a long journey

through the desert where food was scarce

and danger abounded

and after a time he would get through

the desert and arrive safe and sound at

the edge of a village might think

before this i was in danger but now i am

safe at the edge of a village

and he would rejoice and be glad about

that

as long sire as one does not perceive

the disappearance of the five hindrances

in his mind

he feels as if in debt

in sickness in bonds in slavery on a

desert journey but when he perceives the

disappearance of the five hindrances in

himself it is as if he were freed from

debt from sickness from bonds from

slavery

from the perils of the desert

when you recognize a hindrance

and you let go of it using the six r's

you feel in that moment that freedom of

mind

and when he knows these five hindrances

have left in him

gladness arises in him your mind becomes

naturally

relief relieved it feels relief from the

five hindrances

and from gladness comes

joy

and from joy in his mind his body is

tranquil

with a tranquil body he feels uplifted

and with that uplifted mind he is

collected

and being thus detached from sense

desires detached from unwholesome states

he enters and remains in the first jhana

so in other words

the way to jhana the way to cultivate a

mind right for jannah is by recognizing

the hindrances and abandoning them

using the 6rs

and i will get to janna's tomorrow

thus endeth the lesson

any questions

yes

it's just

still talking often about the six hours

yeah did that come from a concept

from

buddhism originally and then it was kind

of transferred over to

more western

yeah the 6rs are just a

modern fancy way of saying right effort

so right effort is steeped i mean the

right effort which is

basically one of the folds of the

eightfold path

is

letting go of unwholesome states of mind

and replacing them and cultivating

wholesome states of mind and then

maintaining those wholesome states of

mind so in other words six r's are just

a mnemonic way of understanding that

when you

recognize that the mind is

unwholesome

you're actually now recognizing the

unarisen unwholesome states of mind

you're starting to let go of them

because now you've recognized them so

any cascading

of

further unwholesome states of mind

stop right there when you

recognize that's the first right effort

the second right effort is to abandon

the already arisen unwholesome states of

mind which means when you release your

attention away from the mind from that

distraction bring it back to the present

moment bring it back to the mind and

body and you relax the mind and body

you're

basically

abandoning those wholesome states of

mind those that have already arisen so

that's the second right effort

when you come back to the smile

you are bringing up a wholesome state of

mind you're bringing up something that's

uplifted

so that's generating a wholesome state

of mind

and then when you come back to the

object

that's maintaining that's the fourth

right effort maintaining a wholesome

state of mind

so whenever you do the six r's which is

just

like like i said a mnemonic way of

understanding it you're fulfilling the

for right efforts which have to do

with the right effort in the eightfold

path

i had a question about

salah i had two questions about sila

one is cena the be all and end all of

sorry other five precepts just be all

and end all of sila because it doesn't

seem very comprehensive like i could

not help someone in need and still not

break a preset

but does that make me more of a right

person

so when we talk about the five precepts

that's just

in terms of your own

mind states

so

you start off with that

and then

that's going to help you guide what is

right and what is wrong if you just

develop the five basic precepts that's

going to cultivate in your mind the

ability to maneuver through what is

right and what is wrong

so

yeah it's not morally unjust to not help

somebody in need

because maybe you don't have to help

them and you know you might be

you might actually be harming them if

they're let's say dependent upon alcohol

and you're trying to get them off of

that by giving them alcohol or something

right

but the five precepts are really the end

all be all because they universal

whether it's in buddhism or any other

kind of philosophy

the the notion or the understanding of

the five precepts is basically

do unto others

or treat others as you would like to be

treated

don't kill others don't harm others

because you don't want to be killed you

don't want to be harmed

don't take from others when not you know

when not given don't steal from others

because you wouldn't like being

robbed

don't have sexual misconduct or sexual

misconduct because you wouldn't like

being cheated on

don't tell tell lies don't gossip don't

slander

because you wouldn't like it if people

told lies about you you wouldn't like it

if people gossiped about you

and don't indulge in intoxicants

because the idea of indulging

intoxicants leads to the breaking of the

other four precepts and that means that

you don't want you you don't want to

deal with people who are just

you know drunk all the time and all

these other things so it's actually a

little more about cultivating a peace of

mind for yourself

then that leads into samadhi and wisdom

which will allow you to maneuver through

the world

what would be the best decisions in

every moment

thanks i had one more question

so you'd mentioned sensual misconduct

usually it's stated as sexual assault

and your definition of central

misconduct

is not giving in too much to send us

pleasures

that seems like very hard to maintain at

the precept is there something more

specific like if i'm eating two cookies

when i should be eating one am i

breaking a recess

you're not breaking a piece up in that

way you're breaking a precept when you

in the in the pursuit of your sensual

pleasures

you try to harm someone you tell a lie

you take what is not given

so just like the fifth precept

will cause you to break the other four

precepts this sensual misconduct is that

which

causes you to break the other precepts

in terms of telling lies harming another

person

or you know taking what is not given

sexual misconduct is very uh plain and

standard which is

uh not not cheating on another person in

other words if you are

uh

indulging in sexual activity with

somebody

who is engaged to another person or who

is in a relationship with another person

so you are committing basically adultery

you know you're committing you're

cheating on someone so that's really the

basic understanding of sexual misconduct

there's no judgment about you know in

terms of sexuality and all these other

things it's just

don't cheat on people don't cheat on

other people by

indulging in sexual activities with

somebody who's either engaged or in a

relationship

or somebody under the protection of

someone and things like that

so if i take two cookies but i'm not

harming anyone in the process that's

okay

well that should be okay but then you

have to notice that you act on your

craving

no it's not a precept

but it's about cultivating a mind that

is

observing whether craving is there or

not so keeping the precepts keeps your

mind non-agitated

with the mind that is non-agitated

you're able to see

more clearly as you're able to see more

clearly you become more mindful as you

become more mindful your mind becomes

more collected as you become more

collected you develop wisdom

that's why sila

really what it means is the foundation

it literally means rock right it

literally means that which is the

foundation the basis of everything else

that's why it's so important

yeah there was somebody who asked a

question at some point before in one of

the online talks was

i was doing one of the q as somebody was

going to ask a question which is

you know i see books that are available

online for sale

and i also see them available on sites

like pirate bay and things like that

so is it is it breaking the second

precept if i download those books

so if you have to ask the question

chances are that you might be breaking a

precept

[Laughter]

yeah it's kind of like you have a

precept detector yeah built in yes you

know

and if you don't you're sociopath

a chair samaritan

[Music]

you

so

[Music]

so

today we're going to deal with

hindrances

[Applause]

and i'm going to be reading

from diginakaya 2 which is the

samana fala suta

the fruits of the homeless life

thus have i heard once the blessed one

was staying at raja gaha in jivaca

kumara bachcha's

mango grove

together with a large company of some

1250

monks and at that time king ajat sathu

vedi vedahi putta

of magadha

having gone up to the roof of his palace

was sitting there

surrounded by his ministers on the 15th

fast day

the full moon of the fourth month

called comodi

and king ajayat sathu on the fast day

gave vent to this solemn utterance

delightful friends is this moonlight

night

charming is this moonlight night

auspicious is this moonlight night

can we not today visit some ascetic or

brahmana to visit whom

to visit whom would bring peace to our

heart

then one minister said to king ajat

sathu sire there is purana kasapa who

has many followers

a teacher of many who is well known

renowned renowned

the founder of a sect highly honored by

the multitude of long-standing

long since gone forth aged and venerable

may your majesty visit this purana

kasapa

he may well bring peace to your

majesty's heart

at these words king ajat shattu was

silent

another minister said

sire there is makali gosala who has many

followers

he may well he may well bring peace to

your majesty's heart

at these words king ajat shatu was

silent

another minister said sire

there is ajita kesa kambali

at those words at these words king ajat

sathu was silent another minister said

sire there is pakura kachayana

at those words king ajayasattu was

silent

another minister said

sire there is sanjaya bellaputta

at these words king's ajat satya was

silent

another minister said sire there is the

niganta not the putta

who has many followers

a teacher of many who is well known aged

and venerable

may your majesty visit the neganta not

the putta

he may well bring peace to your

majesty's heart

at these words king ajat satu was silent

so

here aja satu

uh just to give you a background ajat

satu was the king of maggot

before him was his father king bimbisara

was a big supporter of the buddha

bimbasara

was a

big follower of the dhamma

ajat sathu was actually somebody who

didn't like his father

and he killed him

and then he took the throne

so

the story goes as ajat sathu was

basically having a restless night

he was overcome

by guilt for what he had done

and his his ministers are talking about

all of these different

sects all of these different leaders of

sects

who

have different kinds of views

and we'll go a little bit into it but

we'll talk more in depth at another time

but these are the

main proponents of certain views that

are counter to the dhamma counter to

what the buddha taught

all this time jivaka komarabacha was

sitting

was sitting silently near

the king said to him you friend jivaka

why are you silent

jivaka said this

sire there is this blessed one the

arahat the fully enlightened buddha

staying in my manga grove with a large

company of some 1250 monks

and concerning the blessed gotham this

fair report has been spread about

this blessed one is an arahat a fully

enlightened buddha endowed with wisdom

and conduct the welfare

knower of the world's incomparable

trainer of men to be tamed

teacher of gods and humans enlightened

and blessed

may your majesty visit the blessed one

he may well bring peace to your

majesty's heart

then jivaca have the writing elephants

made ready

very good sire said

and he had 500 she elephants made ready

and for the king the royal tusker then

he reported

sire the riding elephants are ready now

is the time to do as your majesty wishes

and king ajat shatu having placed his

wives each

on one of the 500 sri elephants

mounted the royal tusker

and proceeded in royal state

accompanied by torch bearers from raja

gaha towards shivaka's

mango grove

and when king ajat shattu came near the

mango grove he felt fear and terror

and his hair stood on end

and feeling this fear and the rising of

the hairs

the king said to jivaka

friend jivaka you are not deceiving me

you are not tricking me

you are not delivering me up to an enemy

how is it that from this great number of

1250 monks

not a sneeze a cough or a shout is to be

heard

have no fear your majesty i would not

deceive you or trick you or deliver you

up to an enemy

approach sire approach

there are the lights burning in the

round pavilion so king ajat shatu having

ridden on his elephant as far as the

ground would permit

alighted and continued on foot to the

door of the round pavilion

then he said jivaka where is the blessed

one

that is the blessed one sire that is the

blessed one sitting against the middle

column with this order of monks in front

of him

ajaya satya was not unable to recognize

the buddha because the buddha was not as

you usually see him

in statues and paintings

he was like the rest of the other monks

with a shaven head

so he looked the same as his other monks

so he couldn't recognize him

then king ajat satu went up to the lord

and stood to one side

and standing there to one side the king

observed how the order of monks

continued in silence

like a clear lake and he exclaimed

if only prince udhaya badha was

possessed of such calm

as this order of monks

prince udayabada was ajatsatu's son

and guess what happened to prince

udayabadna

he killed his father

so it went on

in this family

do your thoughts go to the one you love

your majesty lord prince

is very dear to me

if only he were possessed of the same

calm as this order of monks

then king ajat sathu having bowed down

to the blessed one and saluted the order

of monks

with joined hands sat down to one side

and said

venerable sir i would ask something if

if you would deign to answer me ask your

majesty anything you like

venerable sir just as there are these

various craftsmen

such as elephant drivers

horse drivers

chariot fighters archers

standard bearers

agents

army caterers

champions and senior officers

scouts heroes brave fighters

kurosayers

slave sons cooks barbers bathmen bakers

garland makers bleachers cooks barbers

bleachers weavers basket makers

potters calculators and accountants and

whatever other skills there are they

enjoy here and now the visible fruits of

their skills

they themselves are delighted and

pleased with this

as are their parents children and

colleagues and friends

they maintain and support ascetics and

brahmanas thus

assuring

for themselves a heavenly happy reward

tending towards paradise

can you venerable sir point to such a

reward visible here and now

as a fruit of the homeless life

now we're getting into what

what this whole suta is about

so here ajad satyu asking the buddha

what are the benefits of doing this

practice

when he says the homeless life he's

talking about the monastics but

understand this to be in a larger

context

of the practice in in of itself that is

to say sila

keeping your precepts

samadhi cultivating the meditation and

panya

gaining insight

so the buddha says

your majesty do you admit

that you have put this question to other

ascetics and brahmanas

i admit it

would your majesty mind saying how they

replied

i do not mind telling you or one like

him well then your majesty tell me

once

venerable sir i went to see purana

kasapa

having exchanged courtesies i sat down

to one side and said good kasapa just as

there are these various craftsmen

they enjoy here and now the visible

fruits of their skills

can you kasapa point to such a reward

visible here and now

as a fruit of the homeless life

at this venerable sir purana kasapa said

your majesty by the doer or instigator

of a thing

by one who cuts or bruises to be cut or

causes to be cut by one who burns or

causes to be burnt

by one who causes grief and weariness

by one who agitates or causes agitation

who causes life to be taken or that

which is not given to be taken

commits burglary carries of treasures

commits robbery lies in ambush commits

adultery and tells life lies

no evil is done

if with a razor-sharp wheel

one were to make of this earth one

single mass of and heap of flesh

there would be no evil as a result of

that

no evil would accrue

if one were to go along the south bank

of the ganges killing slaying cutting or

causing to be cut

burning or causing to be burned there

would be no evil as a result of that no

evil would accrue or if one were to go

along with the north bank of the ganges

giving and causing to be given

sacrificing and causing to be sacrificed

there would be no merit as a result of

that

no merit would accrue

in giving self-control

abstinence

and telling the truth there is no merit

and no merit accrues

so this is piranha kasipa one of the

leaders of a certain kind of

monastic community or an ascetic

community that believed that there was

no meaning to our actions

no meaning whether you are

doing good or doing evil

doesn't matter

this is a very nihilistic kind of view

so this is a view that leads to trouble

that leads to suffering

and ajat satya was not satisfied by it

thus blessed one

purana kasipa on being asked about the

present fruits of the homeless life

explained non-action to me

just as if on being asked about a mango

he were to describe a breadfruit tree or

being asked about a breadfruit tree he

were to describe a mango

so purana kasapa on being asked about

the present fruits of the homeless life

explained non-action to me

talking about non-action he's talking

about basically

what's known as

in pali which means without cause

without conditionality

so this view

is in direct violation of the dhamma

which talks about everything being

conditioned

all things giving rise to another

or being given rise to

dependent upon causes and conditions

and so i thought how would one like me

think despitefully of any ascetic or

brahmana dwelling in my territory so i

neither applauded nor rejected purana

kasipa's words but though displeased not

expressing my displeasure saying nothing

rejecting and scorning

scorning speech i got up and left

once i visited makali gosala

and asked him the same question

macaulay gosala said your majesty there

is no cause or condition for the

defilement of beings

they are defiled without cause or

condition there is no cause or condition

for the purification of beings they are

purified without cause or condition

there is no self-power or other power

there is no power in humans no strength

or

force no vigor or exertion

all beings all living things all

creatures all that lives is without

control without power or strength

they experience the fixed course of

pleasure and pain through the six kinds

of rebirth

there are one million four hundred

thousand principal sorts of birth and

six thousand others and against six

hundred

there are five hundred kinds of karma

of

of five kinds and three kinds and half

karma

62 paths 62 intermediary eons

six classes of human kind eight stages

of human progress four thousand nine

hundred occupations four thousand nine

hundred wonderers

four thousand nine hundred abodes of

nagas two thousand sentient existences

three thousand health 36 places of dust

seven classes of rebirth as conscious

being

beings seven as unconscious beings

and seven as beings freed from bonds

seven grades of devas

men goblins seven lakes

seven great and seven small

protuberances

seven great and seven small abysses

seven great and seven small dreams

eight million four hundred thousand eons

during which fools and wise run

fools and wives run on and circle around

till they make an end of suffering

and a partridge in a pear tree

therefore there is no such thing as

saying by this discipline or karma or

practice or austerity or holy life i

will bring my unripened karma to

fruition or i will gradually make this

ripened karma go away

neither of these things is possible

because pleasure and pain have been

measured out with a measure limited by

the round of birth and death and there

is neither increase nor decrease

neither excellence nor

inferiority just as a ball of string

when thrown runs till it is all

unraveled

so fools and wise run on and circle

round till they make an end of suffering

this is a view of fatalism

a few a view that says that

you have no control over your destiny

you have no control over your future

everything that's given to you is meted

out

and there's nothing you can do about it

so in other words everything is already

predetermined

the time of your birth the time when you

go to school

when you experience this when you

experience that

even when you experience what sort of

suffering you will

and also the end of that suffering

all the way up until your enlightenment

everything is already predestined

everything is already predetermined

so this idea also negates the buddha's

understanding of karma because

the idea of karma here

is that we make our own efforts in every

given moment

we do what we can in terms of

understanding where our intentions lie

understanding

what our actions

are and what result they give

through our mental actions that is our

thoughts

through our verbal actions that is our

speech and through our physical actions

so there is something known as karma

there is something known known as

cause and consequence action and

consequence

cause and effect conditionality

so

thus venerable sir macaulay gosala on

being asked about the fruits of the

homeless life explained the purification

of the round of birth and death to me so

i neither plotted nor rejected makkahli

gosala's words but got up and left

once i visited ajita kesa

it's a very interesting

name kesa kambali

kesa kambali means hair blanket

this is a guy who wore

a blanket

around his body made up of human hair

and i asked him the same question

he said your majesty there is nothing

given bestowed offered in sacrifice

there is no fruit or result or of good

or bad deeds there is not this world or

the next there is no mother or father

there are no spontaneously arisen beings

there are in the world no ascetics or

brahmanas who have attained who have

perfectly practiced who proclaim this

world and the next having realized them

by their own super knowledge

this human being is composed of the four

great elements and when one dies in

earth

one dies the earth part reverts to the

earth

the water part reverts to the water the

fire part reverts to fire the air part

to the air

and the faculties pass away into space

they accompany the dead man with four

bearers

and the beer as fifth

their footsteps are heard as far as the

cremation ground

there the bones whiten the sacrifice

ends in ashes

it is the idea of a fool to give this

gift the talk of those who preach a

doctrine of survival is vain and false

fools and wise at the breaking up of the

body are destroyed and perished they do

not exist after death

this is the view of materialism

that there is only form there is only

the earth element as earth element the

water element the fire element and the

air element as they are

so anything you do here in this world

according to this view

is all about

taking

do the best you can

to experience

the best pleasures of the five physical

senses

that's all you do

in other words there's no meaning in

giving there's no meaning in being

generous there's no meaning in keeping

the precepts

there's no meaning in meditating there's

no meaning in developing insight

it's all material

this is materialism

so the idea here is in direct violation

of the buddha's dharma because the

dhamma here says that

we

have consequences to our actions so

there is meaning in being generous

there is meaning in being

steadfast in keeping our precepts

because the more we keep our precepts

the better our mindfulness becomes

the calmer our mind becomes the more

collected our mind becomes

which is then ripe for the development

of the mind

through samadhi

which allows us to experience panya or

wisdom

thus venerable sir ajita kesa kambali on

being asked about the fruits of the

homeless life

explained the doctrine of annihilation

to me

and so i got up and left

once i visited pakuda kachayana and

asked him the same question

pakura kachayana said your majesty

these seven things are not made or of a

kind to be made uncreated unproductive

barren false stable as a column

they do not shake do not change obstruct

one another nor are they able to cause

one another pleasure

cause one another pleasure pain or both

what are the seven the earth body the

water body the fire body the air body

pleasure and pain and the life principle

these seven are not made

thus there is neither slain nor slayer

neither hearer nor proclaimer neither

knower nor causer of knowing

and whoever cuts off a man's head with a

sharp sword

does not deprive anyone of life

he just inserts the blade in the

intervening space between these

seven bodies

so this idea is actually known as

atomism but also eternalism

so there is a doctrine in india which

talks about how you have the atma you

have the soul

and that soul is always pure

never affected by anything

it is eternal

so that which slays and that which

is slain

is neither the athman

so

it doesn't matter

everything is

everything is okay because as long as

you are the atma as long as you are the

soul

everything goes

but as we understand it if you cause

someone to be killed or you kill

there is an effect there somebody dies

there is a death

and you experience the fruits of that

experience which is guilt and shame and

so on

if you break any of the precepts what do

you experience

you experience agitation in the mind

there is this conscience in the mind

that says i shouldn't have done that

and so that conscience is the beginning

of right view

because right view

the very mundane version of that

is that there is action and consequence

there is meaning in giving there is

meaning in being generous

there is meaning in keeping the precepts

and so on and so forth

once i visited niganta nataputta and

asked him the same question

and he said your majesty

here one is bound by a fourfold

restraint

what for

he is curved by all curbs

enclosed by all curbs

cleared by all curbs

and claimed by all curbs

and as far as one is bound by this

fourfold restraint

thus

thus he is called self-perfected

self-controlled

self-established

so when they talk about this the four

restraints the four-fold restraints

really what they're talking about is the

purification of karma through certain

kinds of ascetic practices

the idea is

in this is a jain philosophy this is a

jain view this is the view of the chains

which is

there is a soul

and it reincarnates from life to life

and as it reincarnates from life to life

it inherits or it imprints upon itself

karmic dust karmic particles

it picks it up as it goes from lifetime

to lifetime

and one has to purify the mind of these

karmic particles

by doing certain kinds of purification

processes

like fasting

like uh

you know going into the forest and doing

all of these

strange ascetic practices

that purify the mind and body and by

doing so by experiencing displeasure by

experiencing pain

the body and the mind are purified and

therefore the atma the soul

is purified of its karma by doing this

ultimately it then

is completely purified and becomes

uh

or becomes immortal becomes eternal and

goes to this place

which is

for those who are all pure for the

purified souls

so

the buddha actually asked this question

to this kind of group and he said

how do you know how much karmic dust is

left

how do you know what you're doing is

leading to the purification of your

karma

and

one of them asked ananda in another suta

this is how we purify our karma this is

how we purify and mitigate our karma how

do you guys do it

and ananda said there's three ways

one is through selah

perfecting the precepts

another is through samadhi

practice of janas and the third is

through insight

because in all three when you're

experiencing the perfection of the

precepts

which leads to the perfection of

meditation which leads to the perfection

of insight and wisdom

you understand reality as it is

so that anything that arises is seen as

old karma anything that arises is seen

as an effect of your previous choices

so you don't take it personally so it

just arises and dissipates

and this is how karma is purified

mitigated

understood and experienced

so long as you do not hold on to

that experience

in other words you don't fight with that

experience you don't crave for that

experience you don't push or pull or

twist that experience

this translates

to your meditation practice

because what is happening when you're

meditating

you are met with a hindrance

you're met with a distraction

what's a distraction

it's a feeling it's an experience in the

mind

how did that arise

because of previous causes and

conditions

hindrances arise

based on

choices you've made in the past

and these choices led

to the breaking of precepts

and the certain kinds of breaking of

precepts leads to certain kinds of

hindrances get more into that in a

little bit

but because of that you made the choice

to do that right at some point

whether it was in this life or in a

previous life or a life before that

whenever that was

as a result of that then it is

experienced as a hindrance whether it's

in the meditation

or whether it is

in your daily life

now there are the five basic hindrances

sensual craving ill will

restlessness

slot and torpor and doubt

and these arise dependent upon or based

in breaking of certain kinds of precepts

so

now you're met with the effect of

breaking that precept in the form of

this hindrance what do you do with it

how do you purify

let's say or mitigate

that hindrance

do you push it

do you suppress it

do you fight with it do you crave for it

do you have aversion towards it

or do you understand it as it actually

is which is here is a hindrance

i'm not going to fight it i'm going to

acknowledge it's here which means

you recognize that this is a hindrance

you recognize mind is now distracted

from

its object of meditation taken away from

its object meditation

and leading

to a distraction

now you recognize that so how do you

deal with it

you release your attention from it

and you let it go by relaxing the

tightness and tension in the body

associated with that craving related to

that hindrance

once you relax

now you have abandoned the unwholesome

states of mind

now you have to replace them with

wholesome states of mind the unwholesome

arose because of something you did in

the past

but if you continue to add to it by

resisting it by getting upset by it

then

it's only going to continue

but if you let go by recognizing

releasing and relaxing

then replace that with the smile which

uplifts the mind

and return back to your object of

meditation

whether that is loving kindness

compassion joy equanimity or the quiet

mind whatever it might be

and you stay with that

when you do that you are actually

dealing with old karma this is how you

purify that karma

because what happens then the hindrance

comes up again but this time

it's weaker it's not as prevalent

so what do you do there

you 6r again come back to your object

it might come a third time a fourth time

a fifth time but every time it comes it

becomes weaker and weaker and weaker

until it fades away and now the mind is

fully collected

this is how to deal with all karma

according to

what is known as right effort

once i visited sanjaya bellataputta and

i asked him the same question

he and he said to me

if you ask me is there another world

if i thought so i would say so

but i don't think so i don't say it is

so and i don't say otherwise

i don't say it is not and i don't say

it is and i don't not say it is not

if you ask me is there another world or

both or neither is there fruit and

result of good and bad deeds isn't there

or not or neither

does the tata exist after death does he

not or both or neither

i do not say it is not and i do not not

say

it is not

this is what's known as a skeptic

this is what is known as an eel wriggler

somebody who sits on the fence

has doubts about this or that

doesn't want to conclude one way or the

other because ultimately

they're afraid to have to defend

their views

defend in the sense of trying to explain

their view

so they would rather just leave all that

away and say it could be

it can't be it might be it might not be

who knows

right so they're very much on the fence

about things

don't make conclusions

and this leads to doubt this leads to a

lot of doubt in anything that you're

doing

should i do this or should i do that

am i doing the practice correctly or am

i not doing the practice correctly

am i six hour incorrectly or am i not

six or incorrectly

or you know all of these thoughts that

arise

so

thus venerable sir sanjaya bella taputa

on being asked about the fruits of the

homeless life

replied by evasion

just of just as if on being asked about

the mango he were to describe a

breadfruit tree and i thought of all of

these ascetics and brahmins sanjaya

bellataputa is the most stupid and

confused

so i neither applauded nor rejected his

words

but got up and left

and so venerable sir i now ask you

just as there are these various

craftsmen who enjoy here and now the

visible fruits of their skills

assuring for themselves a heavenly happy

reward

can you venerable sir point to such a

reward visible here and now as a fruit

of the homeless life

i can your majesty i will just ask a few

questions in return and you sire shall

answer as you see fit

what do you think sire suppose there

were a man a slave a laborer getting up

before you and going to bed after you

willingly doing whatever has to be done

well-mannered pleasant spoken working in

your presence and he might think it is

strange

it is wonderful the destiny and fruits

of meritorious deeds

so this person is thinking that when i

do things

that are in alignment with keeping the

precepts

when i am moral when i am ethical that

means i will attain to something

that is

in alignment with that which means i

will have a better existence at a future

period

and so he says this king ajat shattu

vedehi putta of magda is a man and i too

am a man

but this king is addicted to and

indulges in the five-fold sense

pleasures

just like a god whereas i am a slave

working in his presence

i ought to do something meritorious

suppose i were to shave off my hair and

beard dawn yellow robes and go forth

from the household life into

homelessness

and before long he does so and he and he

having dust gone forth having thus gone

forth might dwell restrained in body

speech and thought satisfied with the

minimum of food and clothing content in

solitude

and then if people were to announce to

you sire do you remember that slave who

worked in your presence

and who shaved off his hair and beard

and went forth into homelessness

he is living restrained in body speech

and thought

content and in solitude

would you then say that man must come

back and be a slave and work for me as

before

no indeed venerable sir for we would pay

homage to him

we would rise and invite him and press

him to receive from us

robes

food lodging medicines for sickness and

requisites and make arrangements for his

proper protection

what do you think sire is that one fruit

of the homeless life visible here and

now

certainly venerable sir

then that sire is the first fruit of the

homeless life

now here he's strictly talking about

monastics somebody goes forth into the

homeless life and becomes a monk or a

nun

ibiku

and they are shown proper homage

they are taken care of their requisites

are taken care of

and people show them proper respect

people

want to invite them so that they can

make merit by offering them food and so

on and so forth this is one fruit of the

homeless life

but if we broaden that understanding

from even the lay person's life

if we kept the precepts and if we

continue to do the practice

if we took care of the dharma

by keeping the precepts

by

continuing to practice samadhi

continuing to practice meditation

and developing wisdom

eventually that would arise in the form

of the way we

interact with people and people would

see that

and they would pay due respect to you

they would be generous to you

they would be giving to you

not only in terms of gifts and things

like that but they would be happy to see

you

they would look forward to seeing you

they would be happy in mind body and

speech just as you continue to

send loving kindness to them

they continue to act in the same way

more often than not

right i've seen it for myself when i

continue to radiate loving-kindness or

compassion or joy or equanimity

depending upon the situation

beings respond in kind

right people love

to speak with me whenever they have an

opportunity

because they like to be in the presence

of one who continues to spread

loving-kindness

one who continues to practice the dharma

right i have

and this is not boasting but this is the

absurdity of it

i have 11 pairs of shoes what am i going

to do with 11 pairs of shoes

people just keep sending me stuff

because they want to

you know be respectful and acknowledge

the good that i've done for them and the

good that they've received

just yesterday somebody gave me 60 bars

of chocolate

what am i going to do with 60 bars of

chocolate

right i mean these are just small minor

things that happen but wherever i go

people are always happy to see me

people are always happy to

pay their respects however they want to

and i don't ask for it i don't think

that they have to or whatever it's just

that

it happens naturally so if you continue

to be generous if you continue to keep

your precepts

not only does that translate into a

peaceful mind not only does that

translate into a mind

well ripened for samadhi but it

translates to a life where you are taken

care of

i don't have to worry about a single

thing in life

everything is taken care of for me

but venerable sir can you show any other

reward visible here and now as a fruit

of the homeless life

i can sire i will just ask a few

questions in return and you sir shall

answer as you see fit

what do you think sire suppose there

were a man a farmer or householder in

your service the steward of an estate he

might think it is strange it is

wonderful the destiny and fruits of

meritorious deeds

this king ajat satu is a man and i too

am a man but this king is addicted to

and indulges in the fivefold sense

pleasures just like a god whereas i am a

farmer the steward of an estate i ought

to do something meritorious

suppose i were to go forth from the

household life into homelessness

and before long he does so and he having

thus gone forth might dwell in

contentment in solitude and if people

were to tell you this would you then say

that must that man must come back and be

a steward as before

no indeed lord for we would pay homage

to him

we would rise and invite him and press

him to receive from us

robes food lodging medicines for

sickness and requisites and make

arrangements for his proper protection

what do you think sire is that one fruit

of the homeless life visible here and

now it's the same thing

certainly venerable sir then that sire

is the second such fruit of the homeless

life

but venerable sir can you show me any

other reward visible here and now as a

fruit of the homeless life that is more

excellent and perfect than these

i can sire please listen

whenever the buddha says please listen

pay extra attention

your majesty pay proper attention and i

will speak

yes venerable sir said king adjacent and

the blessed one said

your majesty it happens that the tata

rises in the world an arhat fully

enlightened buddha endowed with wisdom

and conduct welfare

knower of the world's incomparable

trainer of men to be tamed

teacher of gods and humans enlightened

and blessed he having realized it by his

own super knowledge proclaims this world

with its devas mars and brahmas its

princes and people

he preaches the dharma which is lovely

in its beginning

lovely in its middle

lovely in its end

in the spirit and in the letter

and displays the fully perfected and

purified holy life this dhamma is heard

by a householder or a householder son

or one reborn in some family or other

having heard this dharma he gains

confidence in the tataka having gained

this confidence he reflects

this household life is close and dusty

the homeless life is free as air

it is not easy living the household life

to live the fully perfected holy life

purified and polished like a conch shell

suppose i were to shave off my hair and

beard

dawn yellow robes and go forth from the

household life into homelessness

and after some time he abandons his

property small or great

leaves

leaves his circle of relatives small or

great shaves off his hair and beard

dawns yellow robes and goes forth into

the homeless life

and having gone thus forth

he dwells restrained by the restraint of

the rules keeping the precepts

persisting in right behavior

seeing danger in the slightest faults

observing the commitments he has taken

on regarding body deed and word

devoted to the skilled and purified life

perfected in morality

in sila

with the sense doors guarded

skilled in mindful awareness

and content

now listen carefully

and how sire

is one perfected in morality how do you

develop and perfect your sila

abandoning the taking of life

he dwells refraining from taking life

without stick or sword scrupulous

compassionate trembling for the welfare

of all living beings

thus he is accomplished in morality

abandoning the taking of what is not

given

abandoning unchastity or sexual

misconduct or sensual misconduct

abandoning false and harsh speech

abandoning intoxicants

he refrains

from wrong means of livelihood thus he

is perfected in morality

when you keep the precepts you're doing

a few things number one

you're purifying your intention

you're going from wrong intention to

right intention

that right intention means you're

letting go of things that don't serve

your mind

letting go of the unwholesome states of

mind

right speech you go from wrong speech to

right speech

you go from wrong action to right action

you go from wrong livelihood to right

livelihood

by letting go of

intentionally killing or harming another

living being

by letting go and abandoning

the

taking of what is not given

by abandoning and letting go of sexual

and sensual misconduct

by abandoning and letting go of false

speech

gossip and slander

by letting go and abandoning

the indulging in intoxicants

you are purifying your intentions

when you purify your intentions you

purify your speech when you purify your

speech you purify your actions

when you purify your actions you purify

your livelihood

this results in a mind that can do the

six hours that can easily recognize

using mindfulness

to see when the mind becomes distracted

that can easily let go by releasing and

relaxing that can easily generate

wholesome states of mind by smiling and

coming back to a wholesome object of

meditation

and that is known as right effort

so it all begins with keeping the

precepts taking the precepts

making a commitment to keep the precepts

and then sire that monk who is perfected

in morality sees no danger from any side

owing to his being restrained by

morality

just as a duly anointed king having

conquered his enemies by that very fact

sees no danger from any side so

one on account of their morality sees no

danger anywhere

one experiences

the blameless bliss

that comes from maintaining this aryan

morality

in this way sire he is perfected in

morality

so the blameless bliss this is an

experience this is a mind that is

feeling relief

a mind that doesn't have any regrets

a mind that doesn't have any guilt

any kind of remorse

any kind of agitation

because they continue to keep the

precepts

when you talk about the aryan

morality aryan here means noble

so that means one who is following the

noble hateful path

and how sire is he a guardian of the

sense doors

here one on seeing a visible object with

the eye

does not grasp at its major signs or

secondary characteristics

because greed and sorrow

evil unskilled states would overwhelm

him if he dwelt

leaving his eye faculty unguarded

so he practices guarding it

he protects the eye faculty

develops restraint of the eye faculty on

hearing a sound

with the ear on smelling an odor with

the nose

on tasting a flavor with the tongue

on feeling an object with the body

on thinking at thought with the mind

he does not grasp at their major signs

or secondary characteristics

he develops restraint of these faculties

he

experiences within himself the blameless

bliss that comes from maintaining this

aryan guarding of the sense faculties

in this way sire a monk is a guardian of

the sense doors

now this is talking about right effort

so here the buddha is talking about

what's known as

samvara

in pali samvara means restraint or is

sometimes translated as restraint

but that gives a different connotation

because that means i have to control

my senses i have to control whatever is

happening through my physical senses and

through my mind

but it's not that it's about observing

and understanding when craving or

aversion arise

in relation to the sense experience

so guarding the sense faculties guarding

the mind is not about trying to control

it

you can't control what you see you can't

control the colors that you see you

can't change the color red that you see

to the color blue

you can't change the

sound of the birds you can't change the

sound of the lawn mower when you're

meditating

you can't change the flavor of something

sweet to sour just by thinking about it

you can't control it you cannot do

anything like that you can't just

silence the mind so as i was saying you

cannot control the way that you

experience

everything through your sixth sense

basis

but what you can observe and understand

and let go of

is the craving and the aversion

and the identification related to those

experiences

and how do you do that

you do that through right effort

you do that through the six hours

so in other words the six hours aren't

just used in meditation

because

a hindrance can arise while you're

walking while you're taking a shower

while you're eating

so it's about observing your mind's

attention

and remembering to observe how it moves

from one thing to the other

and when it moves towards craving

when it moves towards aversion

what do you do

you six are it

so you're recognizing that the mind

has craving or resistance towards a

hindrance that arises

or towards an experience that's

happening

maybe you're walking down and you go to

the dining hall during lunch and you see

that there's some freshly baked cookies

and you think to your mind in your mind

i'm going to get two of those cookies

instead of one right because now you

have craving for those cookies

but if you recognize that craving and

you let go of that

then you have relief right there and

then

if you use the six r's you're

experiencing relief right there and then

you see the whole idea about craving is

that

there's a agitation in the mind that

arises from any of the experiences that

you're having that there's this thing

that says there's this part of the mind

that says or the mind itself says i want

this or i don't want this so it either

pulls towards it

or it pushes against it

it resists it

or it says i am it and it stands its

ground trying to identify with that

experience

when that happens there's tightness and

tension in the mind and body

this is a natural arising that happens

because the mind is conditioned

to be in that fight or flight

kind of way of functioning

and there's a recoil in the mind and

body that says i need to get that

or you know i need to push that away and

what happens there's craving or there's

aversion to it and the mind

when it indulges in that craving or acts

on that aversion it experiences

relief

and so the mind is conditioned to think

every time i indulge in a craving

every time i resist something i

experience relief so that's the way to

experience peace of mind is to act on my

craving to act in on my aversions

but what if there was a way to

experience relief

without having to act upon the aversion

without having to act upon the craving

that happens through right effort

so this process of using the six r's

is a process of deconditioning the mind

from that craving

by tranquilizing the formations the

mental and bodily formations

rooted in craving

and relaxing the tightness and tension

and then reconditioning the mind

by the process of re-smiling and

returning to a wholesome object of

mind

by reconditioning the mind this way you

experience relief without having to

indulge in the craving without having to

act upon the aversion

which means that the mind sees the

absurdity in acting upon the craving

sees the absurdity and uselessness

of acting upon the craving and aversion

and now you start to develop wisdom as

you use right effort

so wherever you're whatever it is you're

doing whether you're doing your walking

meditation whether you're doing your

sitting meditation whether you're taking

a shower whether you're eating petting

the dog driving reading a book answering

an email talking to someone

what you are observing is not what it is

you're doing but you're in relation to

how the mind is experiencing it

is the mind having craving towards that

experience

because this whole this whole world that

you experience is basically

manufactured

by your sixth sense basis

and the peace of mind that you can

cultivate

is dependent upon how you relate to that

manufactured world dependent upon the

sixth sense basis

and how you do that is through right

effort

through right mindfulness

and through right collectedness

so you understand okay here is an

experience

and you understand there's craving for

this right now

you can

choose to act on that craving in that

moment or you can choose to understand

and recognize it

and then let go of it using release and

relax

and cultivate something wholesome

through the smile which uplifts the mind

brings in more mindfulness and then

finally return to a wholesome object of

meditation or mind

when you do this you continue to observe

with greater and greater clarity

the elements of your mind in terms of

how they react or respond to what's

going on

and the more you do that

the easier your mind is able to

recognize subtler and subtler

layers and levels of craving and

aversion

and identification

ultimately leading you to a mind that is

completely free of that

a mind without craving

right and ultimately leading you to

freedom of mind

right so now you are no longer a slave

to the senses

no longer

are you in debt

to the world in terms of having to act

upon it through craving an aversion now

you're free from it so every time you 6r

you experience in that moment at freedom

of mind

you experience in that moment a mundane

nibbana

a state that is

ceasing as a state or rather a mind

that has ceased all conditions and in

that brief moment experiencing the

unconditioned

and when that happens then your mind

starts to tend towards that which is

wholesome

and it experiences peace in every moment

the more it starts to recognize the

aversion starts to recognize the craving

and starts to let go of it so the six

hours aren't just for meditation in

terms of your formal sitting practice

but the six hours can be used anywhere

let's say you are in conflict with

somebody let's say you start to get into

an argument with someone

maybe the general tendency for a person

is to incline towards defending

themselves saying how could they say

this to me how could they accuse me of

this or whatever it might be all of

these different thoughts and patterns

that come up

but if you can recognize it

and let go of that

not necessarily have to smile because

maybe they might misconstrue that smile

as you know you taunting them but smile

in the mind smile in the heart

keep your mind uplifted

and then return to something like

loving-kindness or compassion and

realize that that person

who might be upset at you is suffering

and that person is angry at you but that

anger is arising because they are

suffering

and now you can respond with wisdom

to alleviate the situation

to de-escalate the situation

and to cause peace not only for yourself

but peace in their mind as well

so there is a practical

application of the six hours in every

moment

and every time you do that you continue

to recondition your mind towards the

unconditioned towards nirvana

and how sire is one accomplished

in mindfulness and clear awareness

here one acts with clear awareness in

going back and forth

in looking ahead or behind

in bending and stretching

in wearing his outer and inner robe and

carrying his bowl

and eating drinking chewing and

swallowing

in evacuating and urinating and walking

standing sitting lying down in waking

and speaking and in keeping silent he

acts with clear awareness

in this way

a monk is accomplished in mindfulness

and clear awareness

so here he's talking about right

mindfulness so

we have to look at it in this way yes

each of the steps

in the eightfold path lead to the other

but they're also working in tandem

they're working together

so right effort leads to right

mindfulness which leads to right

collectedness

but they're always happening whether

you're meditating or whether you're

doing anything else so long as you use

right effort you're having right

mindfulness and so long as you're having

right mindfulness you're getting right

collectedness

so this process in meditation where you

get distracted

right when you have a hindrance when you

use right effort by six houring you come

back to right mindfulness

because right mindfulness is not about

taking slow steps and paying attention

to the contact between the the feet and

the earth

or paying attention to the taste of the

food and paying attention to the birds

in the air

mindfully listening

mindfully walking

mindfully taking a shower

mindfully petting the dog

mindfully you know

whatever it might be

it's not about that it's mindful in

regards to

is there craving present in the mind is

there aversion present in the mind is

there restlessness present in the mind

is there a slot interpreter present in

the mind so in other words you are

mindful of how mind's attention moves

from one thing to the other

how mind becomes distracted

the more you start to see this process

the more you develop wisdom on its own

that's the way you cultivate wisdom

through observing

just observing and

using the six hours

so when you are in meditation you are

observing the feeling

of loving kindness or the feeling of

compassion or the feeling of joy or the

feeling of equanimity

you're feeling it and you're observing

that and the closer you observe which

means just observing you don't need to

pinpoint or focus or try too hard or try

to pinpoint where that feeling is just

feel it

just observe it like watching a movie

watching things unfold before your eyes

right when you do that in the meditation

everything is flowing smoothly

and if you're observing in that way then

you can recognize oh my mind got

distracted suddenly

now you're no longer observing the

object of meditation now you're no

longer feeling the loving kindness now

you're no longer feeling the compassion

or whatever it might be now your mind is

bogged down by thoughts about this or

that

so what do you do

do you fight with that do you beat

yourself up for that or do you recognize

and acknowledge okay here is a hindrance

here is a distraction

and you release

and then relax that tension and

tightness and then cultivate a wholesome

state of mind through the smile

and through returning back to the object

of meditation

so this is how you develop wisdom this

is how you cultivate wisdom this is how

you develop the mind bhavana

using the six r's

using right effort which is

in tandem with right mindfulness which

then results in right collectedness into

the practice of jhanas

which you'll hear about tomorrow

and how is one contented here a monk is

satisfied with a robe to protect his

body with arms to satisfy his stomach

and having accepted sufficient

he goes on his way

just as a bird with wings flies hither

and tether

burdened by nothing but its wings

so he is satisfied in this way sire a

monk is contented

so here we're talking about contentment

contentment is basically a mind that is

equanimous

not pulled in one direction or the other

accepting of reality as it actually is

accepting of whatever is given

to them

this results in a mind that has

no agitation

no restlessness but rather just deep

tranquil contentment

then

equipped with this

noble morality

noble restraint of the senses

noble contentment

he finds a solitary lodging at the root

of a forest tree

in a mountain cave or gorge

a charnel ground a jungle thicket or in

the open air on a heap of straw

he

then having eaten after his return from

the arms round he sits down

holding his body upright

and

keeps mindfulness established before him

this

this doesn't mean that he becomes

mindful of everything that's in front of

him what it's talking about is

establishing mindfulness in terms of

just being attention paying attention

being aware of what's going on in the

mind and body

so you sit down pay attention is there

any tension here is there any tightness

just let go of it relax for a bit

relax it and for just

a couple of minutes just notice where

the mind is start to pay attention to

what's going on start to pay attention

to how mind brings up the feeling of

loving kindness start to pay attention

to how mind collects itself around

loving kindness

abandoning worldly desires

he dwells with a mind freed from worldly

desires and his mind is purified of them

abandoning ill will and hatred and by

compassionate love for the welfare of

all living beings his mind is purified

of ill will and hatred

abandoning slot and torpor perceiving

light

mindful and clearly aware his mind is

purified of slot and torpor

abandoning restlessness and with an

inwardly co inwardly inwardly calmed

mind his heart is purified of

restlessness

abandoning doubt he dwells with doubt

left behind without ins uncertainty as

to

what things are wholesome

his mind is purified of doubt

these are the five hindrances

worldly desires that is sensual craving

this sensual craving arises dependent

upon

a mind that continues to cultivate

intentions of sensual craving

so when you break the precept of

abstaining from sexual and sensual

misconduct

you continue to cultivate sensual

craving

because

sensual misconduct is basically a mind

that becomes obsessed

by an experience of the sixth sense

basis

or the five physical

sense basis let's say the ears the eyes

the nose the tongue and the body and

once more of it

and wants to indulge in more and more of

it

but becomes so obsessed by it that it

blinds the mind from everything else

and it causes the mind to have

misconduct causes the mind through that

obsession to break other precepts

and the more it indulges in this the

more it strengthens and cultivates

that hindrance of sensual craving

so how do you let go of sensual craving

you let go of it by understanding what

it actually is

that is to say you understand that it

arose because you continue to indulge in

it because you took it to be mine me

mind myself

you took it personally

but if you understand sensual pleasures

as that which arise dependent upon

causes and conditions

then you understand that they come and

go they arise and they pass away so

there's no point in holding on to them

when they come they come when they go

they go so if sensual pleasures arise

and you act on them okay

but if you engage with them with the

idea that i have to hold on to them

i can't let them go

i have to keep them or i have to get

more of them

then now your mind is intentionalizing

towards sensual craving

but if you let go of that and understand

that these sensual pleasures will come

and go therefore impermanent therefore

not worth holding on to

therefore seen as impersonal

now your mind becomes inwardly calm now

your mind

experiences a deeper

pleasure

which is the pleasure of jhana

a deeper pleasure which is the pleasure

of relief

from being bogged down by the hindrances

so sensual pleasures is one level but

the pleasure of jhana the pleasure of

meditation

supersedes the sensual pleasures so if

you fully experience jhana if you fully

experience loving

if you fully experience

a mind rid of the hindrances

then you no longer are

interested in sensual pleasures while

you're in that state

so you abandon it by using the six r's

recognizing the mind is thinking about

this or that in reference to sensual

pleasures

letting go of that relaxing the

tightness and tension coming back to the

smile coming back to a collected mind

that's around its object of meditation

whether it's loving kindness compassion

joy or equanimity

abandoning ill will and hatred and so

how do you abandon ill will and hatred

first of all how does ill will and

hatred come about

because you continue to develop and

cultivate intentions rooted in ill will

and hatred

every time you intentionally harm or

kill a living being

you continue to cultivate the hindrance

of ill will

every time you have anger towards

somebody every time even if you think

angrily towards somebody or something

then you're cultivating ill will

when you're here sitting down for

meditation practice and you hear the

lawnmower or you hear somebody chopping

wood or you hear somebody talking or

something happening and your mind gets

irritated by that gets frustrated by

that

now you're cultivating ill will

but if you recognize it and say okay i

notice this i recognize this

i'm going to let go of my attention to

that

bring it back to mind and body relax the

tightness and tension

come back to my smile

bring up my smile and come back to

loving kindness and compassion

now you're letting go of that ill will

so

indulging

or acting upon irritation

through mind

speech and body

continues to cultivate the hindrance of

ill will

but recognizing for what it is and

letting it go using the six r's

you're de-conditioning the mind from

that ill will and reconditioning it with

a response rooted in loving-kindness a

response rooted in compassion

abandoning slot and twerper

perceiving light mindful and clearly

aware his mind is purified of slot and

torpor what is slot and torpor

slot intorpur is dullness of the mind

the mind starts to stop paying attention

to its object of meditation

there's not enough attention being given

to it there's not enough balanced energy

there's not enough interest in the

object of meditation

there's not enough

collectedness in the mind

so when the attention becomes dispersed

and you think that you're with your

object and meditation but now another

thought comes up and little by little

your mind starts to look at that

and starts to little by little

little deviate away from its object of

meditation slot interpreter starts to

seep in

and you start to become dull

your mind isn't able to engage properly

with its object of meditation it feels

foggy

it feels uncollected

now it says here he perceives light

one of the ways to deal with slot

intorpur is to go outside and meditate

in the sunlight where it's very bright

that's why yesterday we talked about how

you should keep the lights on here when

you meditate

otherwise it can cause the mind to be

sleepy and inattentive

and lead to slot and torpor

so recipient of light

means a couple of things number one

you'll go out somewhere where there's a

lot of bright light

number two light in terms of the light

of wisdom

that's dependent upon

having right attention

that means

having more interest in your object and

meditation there's not enough interest

so it's a matter of balancing energy if

you have too much energy you're going to

have restlessness if you have too little

interest

you're going to have lack of attention

and therefore slot interpreter

if you notice this

you recognize it

you let go of it bring back your mind to

bring back your attention to mind and

body relax

bring your attention to the smile

and collect your attention around the

object and bring a little bit more

energy a little bit more it's like the

camera lens right if you loosen the

focus too much you might not be able to

see what it is that the camera is

capturing

but if you just tighten it a little bit

if you just bring in a little bit more

energy

pay a little more attention pay a little

more interest to the object

then you have you don't have slot

intorpur now the mind becomes

very attentive now the mind becomes very

collected

but be careful don't go into one pointed

concentration

don't focus so much

that your mind becomes tight and

experiences headaches

loosen the mind relax it when you notice

that let go of that

relax it and come back

another way to deal with slot and torpor

is to walk backwards

because when you walk backwards

you're paying attention more to the

steps that you're taking

when you're walking forwards you take

walking for granted you just know the

foot will land onto the earth right but

when you're walking backwards

you're really paying attention to

how you know what's going on in terms of

the steps that you're doing

when you do that you have more energy

you have more collectedness you have

more attention with that kind of a mind

come back to sit and see how the

meditation goes

sometimes you're not having enough sleep

sometimes the mind is just feeling

sleepy it doesn't have the energy

because it hasn't had a good night's

sleep

that happens

take a nap

like i always say i encourage naps on my

retreats

right

take naps as much as you can if that

helps not a long nap

15 20 minutes 25 minutes at the most

and come back and sit and see how it

goes

abandoning restlessness

with an in-world inwardly calmed mind

his heart is purified of restlessness

restlessness arises because you're

trying too hard

you're pushing too much

you want that loving kindness to be

experienced so you focus as much as you

can on that feeling and what happens

there's this tightness a band of

tightness around the head and it

manifests into restless thoughts all

kinds of thoughts arise there isn't too

much energy going on

when you recognize that use the six

hours

back off a little

just relax

let the mind observe

what's going on instead of becoming

you know the object of meditation

instead of trying to bring up the object

of meditation

allow the conditions the causes and

conditions to arise dependent upon your

observation dependent upon your

attention towards it

if you have too much restlessness you

might even want to just take a walk

and just let the mind settle in by doing

some walking meditation for about 15 20

25 minutes at the most

and as you start to settle in come back

to

the hall and

sit down for your meditation practice

see how that goes

abandoning doubt he dwells with doubt

left behind without uncertainty as to

what things are wholesome his mind is

purified of doubt

here the doubt is in relation not to the

doubt in the buddha dhamma and sangha

the hindrance of doubt is in relation to

am i doing this practice right

am i recognizing what is wholesome am i

recognizing what is unwholesome am i

doing the six r's right

when you start to notice that

just let go of that just six are that as

soon as you six are what are you doing

you're cultivating a mind that

recognizes what is unwholesome

and then you're letting go of that and

bringing up the wholesome so the doubt

immediately goes away in of itself

so every time you 6r you're doing a few

things

you're activating the seven enlightened

factors which are the antidotes for the

five hindrances

in the case in the case of sensual

craving

you have joy that is the joy of jhana

that arises the joy of meditation

that arises it's a greater pleasure than

sensual pleasures

in the case of restlessness you have

equanimity that arises when you six are

and that equine equanimity balances the

mind

in the case of slot intorpur you have

energy or the right effort that arises

through the six hours and now your mind

is balanced

there's enough energy so that the mind

doesn't become inattentive

so the mind doesn't become tired and

dull

when you have any kind of

ill will that arises

you have loving kindness as a result of

that you take the effort to bring up

loving kindness you have the mindfulness

of ill will and you let go of that and

you bring up loving kindness

when you have any kind of doubt because

you are recognizing you're bringing up

investigation of states

when you bring up investigation of

states

that means you know what is wholesome

what is unwholesome doesn't mean you're

trying to analyze and reflect on what's

going on

doesn't mean you're trying to

intentionally bring up these

enlightenment factors just by observing

them your mind becomes collected and

when your mind is collected that means

the enlightenment factors have come into

balance

so very simply put

just for your clarity and for your

understanding the six r's help you

activate the enlightenment factors which

are the antidotes for the five

hindrances

when you recognize that you are

distracted you bring up mindfulness you

bring up investigation of states

when you release your attention from

that distracted mind or that hindrance

you now bring up energy because you're

using the effort of letting go

when you relax the mind you bring up

tranquility

when you come back to your smile you

bring up joy

and when you return back to your object

to meditation the mind becomes collected

and as a result the mind is equanimous

if you are six aring that means that the

mind is equanimous equanimity means that

it is a mind that doesn't get disturbed

whether it's

pulling you in one direction or pushing

you in another another direction your

mind just sees things as they actually

are

whenever you use 6r whenever you

recognize you're already seeing things

as they are you're not trying to change

them you're not trying to fight the

existing reality you're not trying to

fight the present moment

you're just seeing it as it is and

you're letting go of it letting go of

any attachment to it letting go of any

aversion towards it

just as a man who had taken a loan to

develop his business and whose business

had prospered might pay off his old

debts

and with what was left over could

support one

support a life might think before this i

developed my business by borrowing but

now it has prospered and he would

rejoice and be glad about that just as a

man who was ill will suffering terribly

sick with no appetite and weak in body

might after a time recover and regain

his appetite and bodily strength and he

might think before i was ill

and now i am well and he would rejoice

and be glad about that

just as a man might be bound in prison

and after a time he might be freed from

his bonds without any loss

with no deduction from his possessions

he might think before this i was in

prison but now i am free

and he would rejoice and be glad about

that

just as a slave might just as a man

might be a slave

not his own master dependent on another

unable to go where he liked and after

some time he might be freed from slavery

able to go where where he liked

he might think before i was a slave but

now i am independent and he would

rejoice and be glad about that

just as a man laden with goods and

wealth might go on a long journey

through the desert where food was scarce

and danger abounded

and after a time he would get through

the desert and arrive safe and sound at

the edge of a village might think

before this i was in danger but now i am

safe at the edge of a village

and he would rejoice and be glad about

that

as long sire as one does not perceive

the disappearance of the five hindrances

in his mind

he feels as if in debt

in sickness in bonds in slavery on a

desert journey but when he perceives the

disappearance of the five hindrances in

himself it is as if he were freed from

debt from sickness from bonds from

slavery

from the perils of the desert

when you recognize a hindrance

and you let go of it using the six r's

you feel in that moment that freedom of

mind

and when he knows these five hindrances

have left in him

gladness arises in him your mind becomes

naturally

relief relieved it feels relief from the

five hindrances

and from gladness comes

joy

and from joy in his mind his body is

tranquil

with a tranquil body he feels uplifted

and with that uplifted mind he is

collected

and being thus detached from sense

desires detached from unwholesome states

he enters and remains in the first jhana

so in other words

the way to jhana the way to cultivate a

mind right for jannah is by recognizing

the hindrances and abandoning them

using the 6rs

and i will get to janna's tomorrow

thus endeth the lesson

any questions

yes

it's just

still talking often about the six hours

yeah did that come from a concept

from

buddhism originally and then it was kind

of transferred over to

more western

yeah the 6rs are just a

modern fancy way of saying right effort

so right effort is steeped i mean the

right effort which is

basically one of the folds of the

eightfold path

is

letting go of unwholesome states of mind

and replacing them and cultivating

wholesome states of mind and then

maintaining those wholesome states of

mind so in other words six r's are just

a mnemonic way of understanding that

when you

recognize that the mind is

unwholesome

you're actually now recognizing the

unarisen unwholesome states of mind

you're starting to let go of them

because now you've recognized them so

any cascading

of

further unwholesome states of mind

stop right there when you

recognize that's the first right effort

the second right effort is to abandon

the already arisen unwholesome states of

mind which means when you release your

attention away from the mind from that

distraction bring it back to the present

moment bring it back to the mind and

body and you relax the mind and body

you're

basically

abandoning those wholesome states of

mind those that have already arisen so

that's the second right effort

when you come back to the smile

you are bringing up a wholesome state of

mind you're bringing up something that's

uplifted

so that's generating a wholesome state

of mind

and then when you come back to the

object

that's maintaining that's the fourth

right effort maintaining a wholesome

state of mind

so whenever you do the six r's which is

just

like like i said a mnemonic way of

understanding it you're fulfilling the

for right efforts which have to do

with the right effort in the eightfold

path

i had a question about

salah i had two questions about sila

one is cena the be all and end all of

sorry other five precepts just be all

and end all of sila because it doesn't

seem very comprehensive like i could

not help someone in need and still not

break a preset

but does that make me more of a right

person

so when we talk about the five precepts

that's just

in terms of your own

mind states

so

you start off with that

and then

that's going to help you guide what is

right and what is wrong if you just

develop the five basic precepts that's

going to cultivate in your mind the

ability to maneuver through what is

right and what is wrong

so

yeah it's not morally unjust to not help

somebody in need

because maybe you don't have to help

them and you know you might be

you might actually be harming them if

they're let's say dependent upon alcohol

and you're trying to get them off of

that by giving them alcohol or something

right

but the five precepts are really the end

all be all because they universal

whether it's in buddhism or any other

kind of philosophy

the the notion or the understanding of

the five precepts is basically

do unto others

or treat others as you would like to be

treated

don't kill others don't harm others

because you don't want to be killed you

don't want to be harmed

don't take from others when not you know

when not given don't steal from others

because you wouldn't like being

robbed

don't have sexual misconduct or sexual

misconduct because you wouldn't like

being cheated on

don't tell tell lies don't gossip don't

slander

because you wouldn't like it if people

told lies about you you wouldn't like it

if people gossiped about you

and don't indulge in intoxicants

because the idea of indulging

intoxicants leads to the breaking of the

other four precepts and that means that

you don't want you you don't want to

deal with people who are just

you know drunk all the time and all

these other things so it's actually a

little more about cultivating a peace of

mind for yourself

then that leads into samadhi and wisdom

which will allow you to maneuver through

the world

what would be the best decisions in

every moment

thanks i had one more question

so you'd mentioned sensual misconduct

usually it's stated as sexual assault

and your definition of central

misconduct

is not giving in too much to send us

pleasures

that seems like very hard to maintain at

the precept is there something more

specific like if i'm eating two cookies

when i should be eating one am i

breaking a recess

you're not breaking a piece up in that

way you're breaking a precept when you

in the in the pursuit of your sensual

pleasures

you try to harm someone you tell a lie

you take what is not given

so just like the fifth precept

will cause you to break the other four

precepts this sensual misconduct is that

which

causes you to break the other precepts

in terms of telling lies harming another

person

or you know taking what is not given

sexual misconduct is very uh plain and

standard which is

uh not not cheating on another person in

other words if you are

uh

indulging in sexual activity with

somebody

who is engaged to another person or who

is in a relationship with another person

so you are committing basically adultery

you know you're committing you're

cheating on someone so that's really the

basic understanding of sexual misconduct

there's no judgment about you know in

terms of sexuality and all these other

things it's just

don't cheat on people don't cheat on

other people by

indulging in sexual activities with

somebody who's either engaged or in a

relationship

or somebody under the protection of

someone and things like that

so if i take two cookies but i'm not

harming anyone in the process that's

okay

well that should be okay but then you

have to notice that you act on your

craving

no it's not a precept

but it's about cultivating a mind that

is

observing whether craving is there or

not so keeping the precepts keeps your

mind non-agitated

with the mind that is non-agitated

you're able to see

more clearly as you're able to see more

clearly you become more mindful as you

become more mindful your mind becomes

more collected as you become more

collected you develop wisdom

that's why sila

really what it means is the foundation

it literally means rock right it

literally means that which is the

foundation the basis of everything else

that's why it's so important

yeah there was somebody who asked a

question at some point before in one of

the online talks was

i was doing one of the q as somebody was

going to ask a question which is

you know i see books that are available

online for sale

and i also see them available on sites

like pirate bay and things like that

so is it is it breaking the second

precept if i download those books

so if you have to ask the question

chances are that you might be breaking a

precept

[Laughter]

yeah it's kind of like you have a

precept detector yeah built in yes you

know

and if you don't you're sociopath

a chair samaritan

[Music]

you