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

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

[Music]

okay

so today i am going to be

reading the meta sahaga tasuta

this is samyutta nikaya 46.54

it's called accompanied by loving

kindness

on one occasion the blessed one was

dwelling among the colions where there

was a town of the kolians

named khaledavasana

then in the morning a number of bikus

dressed and taking their bowls and robes

entered halida vasana for alms

then it occurred to them

it is still too early to walk for alms

let us go to the park of the wonders of

other sects

then those bikus went to the park of the

wonders of other sects

they exchanged greetings with those

wonderers and

when they had concluded their greetings

and cordial talk

sat down to one side

the wanderers then said to them friends

the ascetic gautama teaches the dhamma

to his disciples thus

come because abandon the five hindrances

the corruptions of the mind that weaken

wisdom

and well pervading one quarter with a

mind imbued with loving kindness

likewise the second quarter the third

quarter and the fourth quarter

thus above below across and everywhere

and to all as to oneself

dwell pervading the entire world with

the mind imbued with loving-kindness

a vast exalted measureless without

hostility

without ill will

dwell one cour 12 pervading one quarter

with the mind imbued with compassion

likewise the second quarter the third

quarter and the fourth quarter

thus above below across and everywhere

and to all as to oneself

twelve pervading

the entire world with the mind imbued

with compassion

vast exalted measureless

measureless

without hostility without ill will

dwell pervading one quarter with the

mind imbued with altruistic joy likewise

the second quarter the third quarter and

the fourth quarter

thus above below across and everywhere

and to all as to oneself

dwell pervading the entire world with

the mind imbued with altruistic joy

vast exalted measureless without

hostility without ill will

dwell pervading one quarter with the

mind imbued with equanimity likewise

the second quarter the third quarter and

the fourth quarter

thus above below across and everywhere

and to all as to oneself

dwell pervading the entire world

with a mind imbued with equanimity vast

exalted measureless

without hostility without ill will

he's talking about the six directions

the four quarters above below

in all directions

we too friends teach the dhamma to our

disciples thus

come friends

and then he continues with the same

thing and then he says

so friends what here is the distinction

the disparity the difference between the

ascetic gautama and us

that is regarding the one dharma

teaching and the other regarding the one

manner of instruction and the other

then those because neither delighted nor

rejected the statement of those

wanderers

without delighting in it without

rejecting it they rose from their seats

and left thinking

we shall learn the meaning of this

statement in the presence of the blessed

one

then those beakers had walked for alms

and had returned from the arms round

after their meal they approached the

blessed one

having paid homage to him they sat down

to one side and reported to him the

entire discussion between those

wonderers and themselves

the blessed one said

because when wanderers of other sects

speak thus

they should be asked

friends how is the liberation of the

mind by loving-kindness developed

what does it have as its destination its

culmination

its fruit its final goal

how is the liberation of the mind by

compassion developed

what does it have as its destination its

culmination

its fruit its final goal

how is the liberation of the mind by

altruistic joy developed

what does it have as its destination its

culmination its fruit its final goal

how is the liberation of the mind by

equanimity developed

what does it have as its destination its

culmination its fruit its final goal

being asked us those wanderers would not

be able to reply and further they would

meet with vex vexation

for what reason

because that would not be within their

domain i do not see anyone because in

this world with its devas mara and

brahma

in this generation with its ascetics and

brahmanas its devas and humans who could

satisfy the mind with an answer to these

questions

except that the target

or a disciple of the tata or one who has

heard it from them

and so now the buddha will go into this

how do you develop loving-kindness how

do you develop

compassion how do you develop

altruistic joy and how do you develop

equanimity and what are their

culminations what are their different

destinations

and how bikus is a liberation of the

mind by loving kindness developed

what does it have as its destination its

culmination its fruit

its final goal

here because ibiku develops the

enlightenment factor of mindfulness

in accompanied by loving kindness the

enlightenment factor of investigation of

states

accompanied by loving

the enlightenment factor of

energy accompanied by loving-kindness

the enlightenment factor of joy

accompanied by loving-kindness

the enlightenment factor of tranquility

accompanied by loving kindness

the enlightenment factor of

collectedness accompanied by loving

kindness

the enlightenment factor of equanimity

accompanied by loving kindness

based upon seclusion dispassion and

cessation

maturing in release

all right so let's unpack that

so the enlightenment factors you were

introduced to those a couple of days ago

and a little bit yesterday probably when

you were talking about balancing

the mind when you're in quiet mind with

the enlightenment factors

so there are these seven enlightenment

factors there's mindfulness there's

investigation of states

there's energy

there's joy there's tranquility there's

collectedness and there's equanimity

now mindfulness is key for any of the

enlightenment factors to arise

when you are in quiet mind there comes a

point where the mind might incline

towards more activity towards more

restlessness

so what do you do

you use the enlightenment factors that

tranquilize the mind that relax the mind

so you use tranquility you use

collectedness you use

uh equanimity

what happens if the mind inclines

towards slot and torpor and there's

tiredness and dullness in the mind

then you use the energizing

enlightenment factors

you use investigation of states which is

basically taking more interest in your

object use energy which is having more

effort

and you use

what's known as joy

that is bringing in a little bit more of

that joy

but here the buddha is talking about the

enlightenment factors in a different

context why

because he's talking about using the

enlightenment factors

not with

a process of balancing the mind but

rather that these enlightenment factors

arise naturally as you get into a

collected state of mind

if you recall what i said a couple of

days ago i said that one of the things

or two of the things you can know about

jhana or the components of jhana is that

there is the absence of the five

hindrances

the absence of

those things that distract the mind that

is ill will

sensual craving

restlessness slot and torpor and doubt

and it's also the presence of the

enlightenment factors

and how are the enlightenment factors

activated

we talked about this from the

perspective of right effort

when you use the six r's you're

activating the enlightenment factors

right

when you

recognize that you are distracted you

are now mindful

you are aware you're paying attention

you're observing how mind's attention

moved from one object to the other

it was on loving-kindness or it was on

one of the brahma-viharas and now it's

somewhere else it's distracted so this

is mindfulness

what is the investigation of states

enlightenment factor

a lot of times people see this as the

enlightenment factor where one has to

analyze and reflect investigate

and discern

but the best way to understand

is that the investigative investigation

of

states enlightenment factor

is just knowing what state the mind is

in

so when you see that you are distracted

when you recognize that you were

distracted you're doing two things

you're mindful that the mind

the attention of the mind has moved

and you are

aware or you perceive

that the mind is distracted it has gone

from an undistracted state

to a distracted state of mind

when you recognize you do these two

things

then when you release that is to say you

let your attention go

from

that distraction and back to the present

moment back to the mind back to the body

you're using energy

you're cultivating right effort

by letting go abandoning that hindrance

abandoning

that particular distraction

and then when you relax the mind and the

body you relax the tightness and tension

you relax the craving

you have the tranquility factor that

arises

when you come back to the smile

you activate the joy factor

and when you come back to your object of

meditation you activate the

collectedness factor

now notice that here you activated the

tranquility and then the joy but in the

usual way of seeing the enlightenment

factors what happens

there is the mindfulness which leads to

investigation of states which leads to

energy which leads to joy which leads to

tranquility

but that's okay joy and tranquility

can be interchangeable that is to say

when there is tranquility joy arises

when there is joy the mind becomes

tranquil in either case

so here you're just tranquilizing the

mind the mental formations that are

rooted in craving the bodily formations

that are rooted in craving the tightness

and tension

that is the manifestation of craving and

you come back to the smile that uplifts

the mind keeps the mind light keeps the

mind joyful

when you do this the mind is ripe for

janna

so loving-kindness is one thing and the

experience of jhana is another

so what the buddha is talking about is

yes in other traditions in other dhammas

they talk about pervading

you know all directions with loving

kindness

but they do it in such a way that it

doesn't bring

serenity and insight it doesn't bring

clarity

it doesn't bring the giant factors

but when you activate the enlightenment

factors just by using the six r's and

coming back to your object and staying

there not becoming one pointed

just observing letting the mind observe

the feeling and feel the feeling

then everything comes into balance

everything calibrates into balance and

now you are in jhana now the jhana

arises

that is to say the first genre arises

because

you are secluded from the hindrances

you are secluded from the

unwholesome state's mind which are the

hindrances

and now because of that the joy of the

jhana factor that is to say the pithi

arises you feel comfortable in your body

and that's the sukkah

so

then that changes into

further joy born of collectedness

now you have more collectedness in the

second jhana

and now there's joy born from that

there's

further

deepening of relaxing relaxation in the

body

then that joy

it ceases and there is now the sukkah

the tranquility in the body

there is equanimity

when that ceases there is just

equanimity there is mindfulness

due to equanimity the purity of

mindfulness due to equanimity remember

the other day i also said

that the enlightenment factors are

linear

right one leads to the other

but they're also cyclical then the

equanimity informs the next arising of

mindfulness

and so on and so forth so when this is

there along with loving-kindness

then this is how it

matures in release

this is what the buddha is talking about

he says

that it is based upon seclusion

dispassion and cessation

maturing in release

based on seclusion that is a mind

secluded from unwholesome states and it

is a mind ripe for jhana

this passion and cessation

so somewhere between that that is to say

seclusion and dispassion there is also

equanimity there is disenchantment and

then there is this passion and then

there is cessation

one leads to the other

when you have equanimity that is to say

seeing things as they actually are

this in pali is also known as

the knowledge and vision of things as

they actually are

so seeing things without letting the

mind become affected one way or the

other

there's no push or pull the mind is just

seeing things

right from there there comes

what's known as

disenchantment so another way of

understanding this enchantment is

sometimes it's translated as revulsion

or disgust

imagine you eat your favorite flavor of

ice cream right somebody gives you your

favorite flavor of ice cream and you

really enjoy that you have one bowl of

ice cream and you really enjoy it

and then your friend says here here is

another bowl of ice cream all right i'll

take it i'm okay with that i have some

craving for ice cream so i'll have

another bowl

and then your friend says here's a third

bowl of ice cream and now you're kind of

thinking about it should i have it or

not and you have it

and he says wait i got more here's a

fourth bowl of ice cream

now you're like no i've had enough

i'm i'm done

the same thing happens in your

meditation things come up right

formations come up

uh distractions come up whatever comes

up comes up but eventually the mind just

gets tired of it it says i've seen it

before

not interested in it it's not aversion

it's just knowing that been there done

that seen it before so the mind becomes

disenchanted with that disinterested in

those formations in those distractions

then it gives rise to

this passion

this passion comes from the word viraga

or vairagya in sanskrit

and that means detachment

so now the mind is like teflon it's like

a non-stick pan

right nothing sticks on it whatever

comes up just glides through

it doesn't even register in your

attention

you see through it

and you have no

interest in it you just are not attached

to it

so this this detachment this dispassion

naturally keeps everything in balance

right there's perfect equanimity

there's perfect collectedness there's

perfect tranquility

all

dependent upon the arising of joy

previously the arising of the right

effort previously the arising of the

investigation of states previously the

arising of

mindfulness previously

all of this comes together

and then there is cessation

the cessation of what the cessation of

suffering

the cessation of all conditioned

experience

the cessation specifically of perception

feeling and consciousness

and then maturing in

release

so what does that mean maturing in

release

so what is release here

that is

the experience of having let go

of suffering

right whenever you six are

when you relax the cr craving in the

mind and body whenever you relax the

tightness and tension in mind and body

you experience nevada

you experience release

you experience a mundane form of nibana

where if you notice when the mind

relaxes

it opens up

it's spacious

it's like the empty blue sky

no conditions there for that particular

microsecond

right

so when you have cessation of perception

feeling unconsciousness what happens you

have seized all conditions there are no

conditions present

when mind comes back online

then the experience is released

because previously it had been developed

in such a way that it continued to let

go

of all formations rooted in craving

it had developed in such a way of

letting go

of all disturbances all distractions all

hindrances so whatever comes back online

is a mind that is

void of conditions

a mind that is unconditioned or has been

deconditioned

because of that there arises release

there is nibana there is the experience

of having experienced that release of

letting go

of all conditioned states and from there

there comes the joy and the relief and

everything else that you experience

so the way to experience loving kindness

it matures in release

right it culminates it develops it

inclines towards release

if he wishes may i dwell perceiving the

repulsive in the unrepulsive he dwells

perceiving the repulsive therein

if he wishes may i dwell perceiving the

unrepulsive in the repulsive

he dwells perceiving the unrepulsive

therein

if he wishes may i dwell perceiving the

repulsive in the unrepulsive

and the repulsive he dwells perceiving

the repulsive therein

if he

may i dwell perceiving the unrepulsive

in the repulsive

and in the unrepulsive

he dwells perceiving the unrepulsive

therein

if he wishes avoiding both the

unrepulsive and the repulsive may i

dwelt equanimously

mindful and clearly comprehending

then he dwells therein equanimously

mindful and clearly

comprehending

or else he enters and dwells in the

deliverance of the beautiful

so

there's four statements here it says may

i dwell perceiving the repulsive in the

unrepulsive

may i dwell perceiving the unrepulsive

in the repulsive

may i dwell perceiving the repulsive in

the unrepulsive

and may i dwell very perceiving the

unrepulsive in the repulsive and the

unrepulsive

so that's a lot there so let's unpack

that as well

i'm going to use a different suit though

it

so this is uh the book of fives in the

anguita nikayam

and this is suta number 144

uh the fourth section which is called

tikan daki

on one occasion the blessed one was

dwelling at saketa in the

tikandaki grove

there the blessed one addressed the

beakers because venerable sir

the beakers replied the blessed one said

this this

because it is good for a biku from time

to time to dwell

perceiving the repulsive in the

unrepulsive it is good for a biku from

time to time to dwell perceiving the

unrepulsive in the repulsive

it is good for abiku from time to time

to dwell perceiving the repulsive in

both the unrepulsive and the repulsive

it is good for beku from time to time to

dwell perceiving the unrepulsive in both

the repulsive and the unrepulsive

it is good for beku from time to time to

12 equanimously

mindful and clearly comprehending having

turned away from both the repulsive and

the unrepulsive

and for the sake of what benefit should

abiku dwell perceiving the repulsive

in the unrepulsive

and here is why

let no lust or craving arise in me

towards things provocative of lust or

craving

so he is seeing the repulsive in the

unrepulsive

so the unrepulsive that which doesn't

repulse you

that which is attractive

that which is beautiful to the sense

space experiences right

so that could be a lovely

piece of painting you know a lovely

piece of music

uh nice uh food or whatever it might be

that is the unrepulsive

and there can arise from there the

perception that this is good to me

and because it's good to me or it feels

good to me

i like it

and that i like it is

craving

so how do you let go of that

see

the unrepulsed or the repulsive in the

unrepulsive how do you see the repulsive

in the unrepulsive

you understand its impermanence

you understand

that whatever is arising whatever

pleasant experience is arising

is actually dependently arisen

it arises because you saw it or you felt

it

right

so

if you see something that's beautiful

your eyes make contact with that

beautiful

sight

and now there is an experience of seeing

something beautiful now if you take that

personal

when it should be seen as what it

actually is which is dependently arisen

right which then means that if it's

dependently arisen it's impermanent and

if it's impermanent when the pleasant

feeling goes away

it can cause suffering

therefore it should see be seen as not

me not mine not myself

these are not things to reflect upon

these are things to see as they actually

are

you will experience this as you continue

with the meditation you'll see it when

you get better clarity on dependent

origination

which we'll explore in the next couple

of days

so

seeing this as what it actually is that

is dependently arisen impermanent

therefore liable to cause suffering

therefore not to be considered me mine

or myself

then you're not going to cling to that

pleasant feeling that is how you see the

repulsive in the unrepulsive and

therefore

no craving will arise

and for the sake of what benefit should

abiku dwell perceiving the unrepulsive

in the repulsive

let no hatred arise in me towards things

provocative of hatred

for the sake of this benefit ibiku

should dwell perceiving the unrepulsive

in the repulsive

so here the repulsive is that which is

irritating that which causes anger

that which causes

frustration

you're meditating you're experiencing a

wonderful

meditation you have

wonderful collectedness you have loving

kindness everything is

perfect

and then somebody decides to turn on the

chainsaw

to start to chop the wood outside and

now that grinding sound which is

unpleasant to the ears

right that is seen as oh

that took me away from that meditation

and what happens you get frustrated you

get upset you get angry at the person

who started the chainsaw

so that is the repulsive that sound is

repulsive

and so what arises aversion

hatred irritation

frustration

grief

anger despair all of these things arise

so that is the repulsive

what is the unrepulsive how do you let

go of that

you six are

right you relax the aversion you six are

and you come back to love and kindness

what is the opposite of aversion what is

the opposite of hatred having loving

kindness

so seeing the unrepulsive in the

repulsive is to let go of your

attachment

of

the repulsive

that is to say when that chainsaw was

turned on

there was that grinding sound it made

contact with your ear

the vibrations hit the ear and it

created this experience of this

unpleasant sound

now this experience was dependently

arisen right so it was the pendulum

which means that it is impermanent if

you take away the factors

right if you switch off the chainsaw

then

that stops that's that sound is

impermanent

because it's impermanent

right

it won't cause you suffering because

it's unpleasant however it's already

causing you suffering

because it's irritating to the mind

and because it's that because it's

dependently arisen because it's

impermanent therefore liable to cause

suffering one way or the other

and therefore not to be taken as me mine

or myself as you see it

then you are actually seeing things as

they are now you're seeing the repulsive

as what it actually is

not to be clung to not to be having

aversion towards

but to let go of the aversion towards

that it's just a sound

it's not your sound it's not a sound

affecting you it just arose

and now you took that experience as mine

taking that experience as mine you clung

to it and caused suffering in the mind

but if you let go of it and then develop

loving kindness

then you are seeing

the unrepulsive in the repulsive

and for the sake of what benefit should

abiku dwell perceiving the repulsive in

both the unrepulsive and the repulsive

so perceiving the repulsive

in both the unrepulsive and the

repulsive

and so it says let no lust arise in me

towards things

provocative of lust

and no hatred

towards things provocative of hatred

so in other words what are you seeing

you're seeing both the unrepulsive and

the repulsive the unreal unrepulsive is

that which is pleasant

the repulsive is that which is

unpleasant and you are seeing that which

is repulsive

in both that which is pleasant and

unpleasant

for the same reason as we just mentioned

before

the pleasant experience is dependently

arisen

it's impermanent therefore liable to

cause suffering therefore should not be

seen as taken personal

same with that which is unrepulsive

so you're seeing the repulsive which is

that it's inherent

suffering due to the fact that it's

dependently arisen and impermanent

likewise

and for what and for the sake of what

benefit should abiku dwell perceiving

the unrepulsive

in both the

repulsive and the unrepulsive

let no hatred arise in me towards things

provocative of hatred

and no lust or towards things

provocative of lust

for the sake of this benefit

while perceiving the unrepulsive

in both the repulsive and the

unrepulsive so in the same case again

when something is repulsive something is

unpleasant

what do you develop you develop loving

kindness towards it you don't develop

aversion towards it

and when something is

unrepulsive you're seeing it as it

actually is which is it is

it is pleasant it is unrepulsive

but at the same time it's impermanent

and therefore should not be clung to

because clinging to it will cause you

suffering

and for the sake of what benefit should

abiku dwell equanimous

mindful and clearly comprehending having

turned away from both the repulsive and

the unrepulsive

let no lust at all arise in me

anywhere in any way regarding things

provocative of lust

let no hatred at all arise in me

anywhere in any way regarding things

provocative of hatred

may no delusion at all arise in me

anywhere in any way regarding things

that breed delusion

for the sake of this benefit ibiku

should dwell equanimous mindful and

clearly comprehending having turned away

from both

turned away from both the repulsive and

the unrepulsive

so what they're talking about here is

the liberated mind

the mind that has no hatred at all

the mind that has no greed at home the

mind that has no delusion at all

right so you're training your mind to be

equanimous

in all circumstances

so having developed that factor of

equanimity that enlightenment factor of

equanimity that gives rise to

disenchantment

that gives rise to the teflon mind where

nothing sticks that then gives rise to

the cessation of suffering

that then leads to the destruction of

the taints

the destruction of greed hatred and

delusion

so equanimity is key here

so equanimity doesn't mean just having

the balanced mind of course that's a big

factor but it's just not being

unaffected by that which is pleasant

unpleasant or neither pleasant or not

unpleasant

so let's continue

or else he enters and dwells in the

deliverance of the beautiful

so what does that mean so when you have

loving kindness

it goes all the way up to the beautiful

which is said to be the fourth jhana

so the limits of loving kindness is all

the way up to the fourth jhana

bhikkhu is the liberation of mind by

loving-kindness has the beautiful as its

culmination i say for a wise biku here

who has not penetrated to a superior

liberation

in other words

so why is beku that's a very important

key word here a wise b wise meaning he

has wisdom

what is the wisdom the wisdom of the

dhamma the wisdom of dependent

origination

one who understands and sees things as

they are

and one who is wise in that way

who has not penetrated to superior

liberation when we talk about

liberations in this context we're not

talking about it from the context of

attainments we're talking about it from

the context of

temporary liberations

the jhanas are said to be temporary

liberations

the first to fort jaanas and in the

formless attainments the ayatonas are

temporary liberations

so the superior liberation then the

fourth jhana would be

infinite space

and how bikus is a liberation of the

mind by compassion developed

what does it have as its destination

its culmination

its fruit its final goal

here because ibiku develops the

enlightenment factor of mindfulness

accompanied by compassion the

enlightenment factor of investigation

accompanied by compassion the

enlightenment factor of energy

accompanied by compassion the

enlightened factor of joy accompanied by

compassion the enlightenment factor of

tranquility accompanied by compassion

the enlightenment factor of

collectedness accompanied by compassion

and the enlightenment factor of

equanimity accompanied by compassion

based on seclusion jhana

disenchant equanimity disenchantment

this passion and cessation maturing in

release

maturing in nibana

so let's discuss a little bit on these

different states so we have loving

kindness and we have compassion

so what is lovingkindness

metta

loving kindness is that feeling of being

a friend

meta comes from the word

friend to be friendly

how do you treat a friend somebody who's

a good friend of yours

you treat them with kindness you treat

them with respect

you wish well for them you want the best

for them

this is the feeling of loving kindness

to be experienced

in practical terms when you have loving

kindness in your day-to-day life

you have no ill will at all

you would never have hatred for your

best friend

you would never have anger towards your

best friend

you would never have any kind of ill

will towards them you'll always want the

best for them

or the best for your parents or your

loved ones

right so wanting the best for people

wanting good wishes for them having good

wishes for them

this is loving kindness and that feeling

that is experienced in the meditation is

that warm glow in the chest

that feeling of oh this feels good i

really like this right

that's loving kindness

what about compassion

there's a downshift from lovingkindness

to compassion

compassion happens at infinite space

we'll talk about that in a minute

but compassion has

uh

less vibration

to it

loving kindness is more energetic more

vibratory

whereas compassion is softer

it's

it's stretched it's stretched out a

little bit right there's compassion so

what does compassion

mean

a lot of times a lot of times people

will mistake compassion for that which

is

pity pity or sympathy

right what is sympathy

here i am

and here's another person and i'm

looking down at them and i say oh i feel

so sorry for you i feel so bad for you

i wish that didn't happen to you

that comes from a standpoint of oh i am

higher i'm comparing myself here and

here is this person

feeling sorry for another person is

sympathy that's pithy but compassion is

something else

compassion is the mind that wants

that being suffering to be gone

right and so you don't become

compassionate by being a crutch for a

person

you allow the person in their in their

space

to develop to cultivate to evolve out of

their suffering

you're there as a support with your

words with your wisdom with some of your

actions and your

uh thoughts of compassion

your radiating of compassion so if they

require help you help them but you don't

become a crutch to them

you give them the space to evolve out of

their suffering

think about it in this way if you were

suffering

or you had a problem

and somebody just took away that problem

from you

you'd be very happy about it sure

but would you learn anything from how to

solve that problem would you learn how

to come out of that problem

that person who takes the problem away

from you has also taken away the

possibility for you to be able to learn

how to deal with that problem

right so compassion here is giving them

the guidance giving them the support

giving them all that they require

but not taking on their suffering not

taking on their problem

showing them the way out of that problem

but then having them walk the path

to solve that problem this is true

compassion

and so with compassion

if he wishes you know all of the

different things that we talked about

or he dwells

or with complete transcending of

perceptions of forms with the passing

away of perceptions of sensory

impingement with non-attention to

perceptions of diversity aware that

space is infinite he enters and dwells

in the base of the infinity of space

so it says the complete transcendence of

the perceptions of form

when you're infinite space when you are

radiating loving kindness

when you're radiating compassion when

you're radiating joy or equanimity

you're not radiating it from the body it

doesn't matter where it's coming from

whether it's coming from the heart from

the mind from the head wherever it's

coming from don't pay attention to that

just have the intention and experience

the feeling

of loving of compassion of joy of

equanimity and allow it to just

spread out

allow to radiate however it might be but

you are no longer

in contact with the body as such now you

are in the ayathanas

you are in the formless attainments that

is to say without

contact with the body now you are in the

mind

so that means the transcending

of the perception of forms with the

passing away of perceptions of sensory

impingement that is sensory contact if a

fly lands on your uh

hand you might feel it but it's not

going to bother you you're not going to

care about it one way or the other

so

with the non-attention to the

perceptions of diversity perceptions of

diversity mean the perceptions of the

diversity of the five physical senses

not paying attention to what's happening

with the eyes not paying attention to

what you're seeing what you're hearing

what you're smelling what you're tasting

what you're touching

just paying attention to the mind and

radiating loving kindness or compassion

or joy or equanimity

because the liberation of mind by

compassion

has the base of infinite space as its

culmination i say for a wise beak who

here who has not penetrated to a

superior liberation meaning who has not

gone beyond the infinity of space

so the culmination of compassion

is

infinite space

that's why when you have infinite space

that's why bante will say in infinite

space you have compassion right you're

radiating loving kindness or radiating

compassion and that

that gives rise to the experience or is

conjoined with the experience of

infinite space

and how bikus is the liberation of the

mind by altruistic joy developed

what does it have as its destination

its culmination its fruit its final goal

here because ebiku develops the

enlightenment factor of mindfulness

accompanied by altruistic joy the mind

the enlightenment factor of

investigation of states accompanied by

altruistic joy the enlightenment factor

of energy accompanied by altruistic joy

the enlightenment factor of joy

accompanied by altruistic joy the

enlightenment factor of tranquility

accompanied by altruistic joy the

enlightenment factor of collectedness

accompanied by altruistic joy and the

enlightenment factor of equanimity

accompanied by altruistic joy

based on seclusion on jhana on

equanimity on disenchantment on

dispassion and cessation maturing in

release or

nibana

so what is altruistic joy

sometimes it's known as

empathetic joy

or sometimes even sympathetic joy but

altruistic joy

in the meditation is experienced just as

joy

it's just a feeling of being happy it's

a feeling of joy

it's not as energetic as pithi

it's not energetic as or vibrant as that

experience of pity that you will

experience in the first or second jhana

it's more pervasive it's it's softer so

you downshift from loving kindness to

compassion and you downshift from

compassion to joy it's a very soft kind

of joy that you experience

right so how does that translate into

your daily living in your daily life

what does it mean altruistic joy or

empathetic joy

it's the joy you feel when somebody

experiences some kind of wholesome

success

somebody is celebrating their birthday

you feel happy for them

somebody's celebrating their anniversary

you feel happy for them

somebody experienced nirvana you feel

happy for them

right the joy that is why this

altruistic joy is an antidote

for envy for jealousy because jealousy

is harboring ill will harboring jealousy

for that person who has success

whereas if you celebrate

in that person's success

then you're experiencing joy then you

can experience full-on joy

because then that joy is not dependent

upon

having success or not having success

it's just joy that's there in the mind

so loving-kindness right is an antidote

for ill-will

compassion

is an antidote for cruelty

cruelty here is the intention

to cause someone else suffering going

out of your own way to cause somebody

suffering when you develop compassion

that goes away when you develop

altruistic joy

envy and jealousy fade

so in daily living this is experience

whenever you feel happy for another

person so notice in your mind when you

see somebody becoming successful when

you see somebody being lauded for their

efforts when you see somebody

celebrating something does the mind

harbor jealousy does the mind harbor

bickering kind of thoughts or does the

mind

naturally say oh i'm so happy for that

person

right

and if you notice that there's jealousy

if you notice there's envy what do you

do

you six art you let that go and you

replace it with altruistic joy you

replace it with the effort of

celebrating in that person's happiness

celebrating in their success

if he wishes you know may i dwell

perceiving the repulsive and the

unrepulsive and so on so forth we

already talked about that

or else by transcending the base of

infinite space space aware that

consciousness is infinite he enters and

dwells in the base of infinite

consciousness

because

the liberation of mind by altruistic joy

has the basis of the of sorry has the

base of infinite consciousness as its

culmination

so altruistic joy is conjoined

with infinite consciousness

now of course yesterday you were

listening to bonte talk about

uh infinite consciousness

as a reminder infinite consciousness is

not this idea of all pervading

consciousness and you are one with it

that's not what it is

what it is is being able to see

the arising and passing away of infinite

consciousnesses

so just as this light

is you know

having this ray of light is shining down

it seems like one fluid light right one

fluid ray of light but actually it's

made up of quintillions and quintillions

of photons

in the same way just as you have one

experience of sensory consciousness

it's actually made up of individual

arising and passing away or arising in

cessation of consciousnesses

and in seeing that in infinite

consciousness you see the impermanence

of that

seeing the impermanence of that you

understand how tiresome it is

you see the actual inherent dukkha in

there the suffering in there seeing that

you see that there's no controller here

you don't take it personally

you see that it arose because of causes

and conditions

one contact led to another consciousness

which led to another consciousness and

so on

so this isn't caused by you there's no

you here there's no self here and

therefore it's seen as anata it's seen

as impersonal it's seen as not me not

mine

not myself

that then gives rise to the experience

of nothingness because in the arising

and passing away of infinite

consciousness it starts to slow down and

you see the gaps and the gaps widen and

become wider and wider and wider and

then there's nothingness there

and accompanied by nothingness there is

as we'll see equanimity

and this is actually very important to

understand and i'll explain as we

continue

but the idea is there is perceptions

leading to the next levels of

perceptions

that is to say

seeing that which is dependently arisen

gives to the gives rise to the

perception of impermanence

you don't have to reflect on it you

perceive it as it actually is that this

is impermanent

seeing it as impermanent gives rise to

the perception of dukkha

you realize how tiresome this whole

process is see the inherent suffering

there

seeing that it gives rise to the

perception of anata you understand oh

this is all impersonal

therefore

you have equanimity

now you're no longer bothered by it

because this is not me this is not mine

this is not myself whatever it might be

good bad or indifferent

and unpleasant pleasant or neutral this

is not mine this is not me it's not

myself so you have total equanimity

seeing things as they actually are

then the perception of this gives rise

to the perception of disenchantment

that this enchantment is i've seen this

before

i remain unaffected

then the teflon state of mind which is

the dispassion

nothing sticks in the mind jaw just

glides through

and finally the perception of cessation

that is to say the mind lets go

completely of all formations

and there is the cessation of suffering

the cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

and that matures in release

in nibana

and how because is the liberation of

mind by equanimity developed

what does it have as its destination its

culmination its fruit its final goal

here because a b coup develops the

enlightenment factor of mindfulness

accompanied by equanimity

the enlightenment factor of

investigation of states accompanied by

equanimity the enlightenment factor

of energy accompanied by equanimity the

enlightenment factor of joy accompanied

by equanimity the enlightened factor of

tranquility accompanied by equanimity

the enlightenment factor of

collectiveness accompanied by equanimity

and the enlightenment factor of

equanimity accompanied by equanimity

based upon seclusion

disenchantment equanimity disenchantment

dispassion and cessation

maturing in the man in release

if he wishes may i dwell perceiving the

repulsive in the unrepulsive and so on

and so forth

or else

by completely transcending the base of

infinite consciousness aware that there

is nothing

here and dwells in the base of

nothingness

so nothingness means no thinness the

mind is now remaining unaffected

by anything there's just sometimes as

experienced as blank space just darkness

just blackness all around

nothing no thing there

fully equanimous mind

unaffected by any formations arises

that have arisen or any formations that

do arise

equanimity towards experiences from the

sixth sense basis just nothing no thing

no sense-based experience

but aware that there is nothing that

perception of nothing that is the

ayatona of nothingness the base of

nothingness

and tied to that is equanimity

so it says because the liberation of

mind by equanimity has the base of

nothingness as its culmination i say for

a wise beaker here who has not

penetrated to a superior

liberation what is a superior liberation

neither perception nor non-perception

so in neither perception or

non-perception it's a very interesting

state because there

the mind is neither perceiving nor not

perceiving what does that mean

what does perception mean

perception is that quality of mind that

recognizes or recognizes

what it is experiencing

there is feeling and there is perception

feeling is the experience that is felt

when you are listening to my voice

the sound

that is the feeling listening to my

voice is the feeling

knowing that this is my voice or this

voice belongs to me this is the quality

of voice that is the perceiving

so knowing that this is the color red or

this is the color of blue or this is the

color orange or this is the color purple

knowing what color it is

is the perception

knowing that there is an oak tree

outside that that's the kind of tree it

is that is perception

feeling is the actual experience of the

sixth sense basis

perception is labeling what it is

so when you have quiet mind in neither

perception or non-perception

that mind is not labeling anything that

it's seeing formations are arising but

there are disconnected thoughts

sometimes it's a little hazy sometimes

it's a little fuzzy sometimes it's just

very luminous and radiant and clear but

there's nothing being labeled things are

just happening things are just arising

formations are coming up the proto

thoughts the percolations of thoughts

arise

but the mind doesn't recognize it as

this is what it is

it just lets go of it

it just relaxes it releases it and

relaxes it

and then finally when everything is

calibrated where all the enlightenment

factors come

into balance

there the conditions are right for the

mind to completely cease

feeling ceases

that is to say all mental experience

ceases

all physical and mental and verbal

experience ceases

and perception ceases the labeling

aspect of the mind ceases and

consciousness

the bear cognition of an experience

ceases

nothing there just a blank

nothing at all going going on so it's

the cessation of all conditions to come

to a point where there are no conditions

present and this is the unconditioned

this is the experience of nibana

and therein

ends the lesson

yes in the

perception non-perception

stage um

is it is it that you are six are

allowing you to practice your six

errands to the point where you

it

nothing forms because you're letting it

go so quickly

how do you get how do you get to that

point or i mean not so much get to that

point have you passed through that point

it happens naturally

so when you get to nothingness what is

your object there it's it's radiating

equanimity

so you're radiating equanimity and at a

certain point the radiating stops and

the mind becomes quite collected

and then you try radiating again at a

certain point it just feels kind of

tense the mind doesn't want to do

anything so it just rests in itself

that's the object there that's the

collected nature of mind that is the

quiet mind that we talked about the

prabhas

that which is luminous radiant bright

and the radiant mind the luminous mind

is like the eye of a storm

so there's stuff going on around it but

the mind is collected

so it doesn't really perceive what's

going on outside of itself only when

something comes up the mind

automatically

releases and relaxes and that happens

because of continual

progressive practice of

using right effort of using the six

hours so the mind perceives oh it

perceives it lets it go it relaxes comes

back

so it happens quite naturally and

automatically

but you get to that point where the mind

is so relaxed

that there's no vibrations going on that

when it does notice a vibration as soon

as it notices it it lets it go

right so there's just this intention of

letting go and coming back

you experience the joy and relief that

arises from having made contact with

nibana

and then people misperceive the joy and

relief as nibana

nibbana in itself the nibana element in

itself is that which is signless it's

not an object and of itself

that which is undirected there's no

direction to it

and that which is empty or void it's

empty of any personalizing empty of any

self

it's where there's no conditions present

at all

so it is the unconditioned now this is a

discussion little discussion that came

about which is

people sometimes say nabana is a state

but you can't call it a state as soon as

you call it a state it's conditioned

because the state arises dependent upon

something

so nirvana is the cessation of all

dependencies

okay

let's share some merits

[Laughter]

may suffering ones be suffering free may

the fear shroud fearless be

may the grieving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief may all beings

share this merit that we have thus

acquired for the acquisition

of all kinds of happiness

may beings inhabiting space and earth

devas and nagas of mighty power share

this merit of ours may they long protect

the buddha's dispensation

[Music]