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

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

wow

[Music]

okay so today

we're going to be reading from majima

nikaya 131

it's the

baday karata suta

a single excellent night

thus have i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living at savathi in

jetta's grove anata pindaka's park

there he addressed the bhikkhu's thus

bhikkhus venerable sir they replied

the blessed one said this

because i shall teach you the summary

and exposition of one who has had a

single excellent night

listen and attend closely to what i

shall say

yes venerable sir the beakers replied

the blessed one said this

let not a person revive the past

or on the future build his hopes

for the past has been left behind

and the future has not been reached

instead with insight let him see

each presently arisen state

let him know that and be sure of it

invincibly

unshakably

today the effort must be made

tomorrow death may come who knows

no bargain with mortality

can keep him and his hordes away

but one who dwells thus ardently

relentlessly

by day by night

it is he the peaceful sage

has said who has had a single excellent

night

how bikus does one revive the past

one nurtures delight

delight there thinking

i had such material form in the past

one nurtures delight there thinking

i had such feeling in the past

i had such perception in the past

i held such formations in the past

i had such consciousness in the past

that is how one revives the past

so here the buddha

is talking about the three time zones

right the past the present and the

future

so

a lot of times you'll hear people talk

about meditation being about the present

moment meditation about staying mindful

of the present moment

and that the mind feels a lot of joy and

happiness while being in the present

moment

but as we'll see that's not always the

case

being in the present moment is one thing

but being in the present moment with

wisdom is another

and a lot of people say that there's

something wrong with being

nostalgic about the past or thinking

about the past rather

or there's something wrong about

thinking about the future

and that anytime you're in the past

or anytime you're in the future

that that somehow is ineffective

that is somehow wrong

but technically you are in the present

moment while you're thinking about the

past

you are in the present moment

when you're thinking about the future

it's not like you're actually going

there to the past or going there to the

future

so what is the buddha talking about when

he says this he says

let not a person revive the past

or on the future build his hopes

for the future has been left behind

sorry the past has been left behind and

the future

has not been reached

now

anyone who reads this or listens to this

thinks that okay what the buddha is

saying

is that let me not think about the past

let me not go back to past memories

let me not go back to thinking about

what i did and what was done or what

they said and so on and then when the

buddha talks about the future

a person might think

okay let me not be anxious about the

future

let me not think about what i have to do

in the future

and then he says instead with insight

let him see each presently arisen state

so a person might think okay that means

that i have to be in the present moment

and use insight

here insight

is talking about wisdom

and wisdom is a very important word in

the dharma

wisdom refers to

dependent origination

so dependent origination is something

we'll explore in a little

bit in the next few days but

just understand that when he talks about

insight he's not talking about

focusing on the present and seeing it

for you know seeing it as impermanent

seeing it in this way seeing the arising

and passing away of states

you could do that all you want

but no insight would arise

so when he says let not a person revive

the past he says one nurture and how

does one revive the past one nurtures

delight their thinking

i had such material form in the past

one nurtures delight there thinking i

had such feeling in the past i had such

perception in the past

i had such

formations in the past i had such

consciousness in the past

so there's nothing wrong with thinking

about a memory

memory is not the enemy here in fact it

is through memory that you have

perception it's through memory that you

can recognize

what is good or what is wholesome

you can recognize what is bad or

unwholesome

and so on

so the imperative word here the

operative word here is one who nurtures

delight there

a thought about the past might come up

when you're in the meditation

how do you deal with that thought

thought

do you see that thought and say oh

you know that was a great time that we

had i wish

we could relive that again

that's the craving there

the memory itself is the memory

but it's the craving it's the aversion

it's the identification

with that memory

many people will say you know you have

to let go of all memories

but here the buddha is talking

about delighting

which is another word for craving

another word for taking

something personal

so when you remember something

it arose why because of causes and

conditions

there was contact

in the mind about something a thought

arose

and that led to another thought that led

to another thought that led to a thought

about something you did in the past or

that led to a thought about someone

something someone said in the past or

just a wholesome memory

aren't you doing the same thing when you

bring up loving kindness

in the practice

don't you bring up a wholesome memory

but there's no craving for that

wholesome memory there's no

identification there you're bringing up

the wholesome memory

as a way of feeling the loving kindness

and then what do you do

you let go of the wholesome memory

and you stay with the loving kindness

but if you get caught up in the

wholesome memory if you get caught up in

the details of that by

feeling nostalgia for it or feeling

some kind of craving for it

then you're not doing the practice

so the understanding here is it's not

about staying in the present moment

because you can have craving in the

present moment as well

it's about knowing and understanding

whatever it is that you're seeing

whether it's about the past or whether

it's about the future or whether it's

about the present

it's all

dependently arisen

it arises because of certain causes and

conditions

so the idea that you think about your

former self

in the form of a body

maybe you know you are better looking in

the past and you think about that and

you realize oh

i was so beautiful or i was so handsome

in the past i wish i could still be that

way

right

that i wish

i could still be that way

in other words i had such a material

form in the past and i wish i was still

like that

that arises because you take

this body to be self

or you take this body to be related to

yourself in one way or the other

when it comes to feeling

when a feeling arises

that is to say a vedana that's a

sensation that could be an experience

any kind of experience that's felt

and you think about an experience maybe

it was a wholesome memory of some

vacation you had or

you think about that and that makes you

feel happy that's fine but then the mind

says i wish we could go there again i

wish we could

relive

that memory i wish we could recapture

that moment

a lot of people are tied in that a lot

of people are tied up in the idea that

those were the good old days

right

that was the best time of my life i wish

i had that again

fine maybe it was the best time of your

life but it arose because of certain

causes and conditions

if you take that personally and say i

want to revisit that that's the craving

that you have to let go of

likewise in another sense when you had a

terrible memory what happens

you have a terrible memory of a terrible

experience

that already arose

and if you continue to relive that

memory what's going on

if you continue to hold on to that

memory

somebody said something terrible to you

somebody said something unkind to you

you're only torturing yourself

by continuing to think about that

right and you think i should have said

this or they shouldn't have said this

or if only i had done it differently

right

that aversion that arises is because

there's identification with that

experience

you take that feeling to be self or you

take that feeling

in relation to some kind of self

likewise with any kind of perception

you look at what is perception

perception as i said is rooted in memory

itself

there's a perception that recognizes

recognizes

what is arising

just as feeling as an experience

perception is that which labels the

experience

here is a

tunic

and it is the color blue how do you know

that it's a tunic how do you know it's

the color blue

because you've seen the tunic before so

you recognize it you recognize that it's

a tunic you've seen the color blue

before you've learned what that color is

so you're recognizing it

so as little kids

when they learn about colors and

numbers and

seasons and all of these other things

that we take for being basic

understanding of the world around us

what are we doing what are they doing

they're basically

cognizing for the first time oh this is

the color red

oh this is the color blue this is the

color ember this is the color yellow

this is the color brown and so on and so

forth

this is what it means to be in winter

time this is what it means to be in

summer time this is what it means to be

an autumn time

this is how you tell time it's three

o'clock when

the

shorthand is on three and the long hand

is on twelve

right they learn all of these things for

the first time

little kids don't know how to tell time

but then eventually you show them okay

this is how you read the clock

once they learn that once they cognize

it what happens

now every time they see it they're

recognizing every time they see it

they're recognizing what the time is

this is perception

so perception is rooted in

learning and memory

so when you're experiencing

loving-kindness for the first time

that's your cognition of loving-kindness

that's your experience of love and

kindness

now you know how to bring up that loving

kindness now you know what that loving

kindness feels

when you experience compassion or

joy or equanimity for the first time

now you know how it feels so when you

experience it again you can recognize

oh this is loving-kindness oh this is

joy

oh this is compassion oh this is

equanimity

which means you don't have to start over

again in your meditation right you

recognize what it is and you bring it up

because you have the memory of what that

feeling is

and you can stay with it

so

when you have a perception of something

it's stored or when you have a cognition

of something it's stored as memory and

then you're able to perceive what that

thing is you make a note of it you label

it you see it for what it is in terms of

different ideas and concepts

so perceptions that are rooted in the

past

in other words i had such a perception

in the past

right i wish i had that same kind of

perception again

i wish i could see things in this way

again

maybe you know you had an experience and

you saw that in a very

wonderful way

then you learned a bit of truth about a

better truth about someone

and that changed your perception

your perception of one per of a person

was one thing

and then it changed based on some kind

of information you got about them

and then you might think i wish i hadn't

known that about that person now i'm

perceiving them differently i wish i

perceived them in the same way i was

perceiving them before

so this sense of i wish whenever you

find yourself or catch yourself thinking

i wish

that's the delight and the craving for

the past

or i wish it didn't

right

or

i have regrets about this

i wish i had done it a different way

that's the aversion towards it towards

the past

but what is the past

the past is just thoughts in your head

dependent upon previous experiences

the past is in your mind

the past does not

exist

it only exists in so far as in your mind

it exists as a reality in your mind

but the past is ever-changing depend

upon how

you perceive it

sometimes when you are in a happy mood

and you think about a person

you think about them in a

wonderful way you think about them in a

positive light

but when you get upset or irritated and

you think about that person you don't

see them in the same way

you might be irritated by that person or

you might be irritated in general and

then when you think about that person or

whatever it is

you have irritation towards that

maybe you had

not so well you know not so good

relationships with somebody in your

family

so

that experience brings about a

a

recognition or a perception of that

person in a certain way

so when you think about them you bring

up certain emotions

but you're not always thinking about

them in that same way all the time

you've just

labeled that person as being

unwholesome or you've just labeled that

person as being negative

but sometimes you might be in a jovial

mood sometimes you will be in a happy

mood

sometimes you will be uplifted and when

you think about that person

the shade of how you think about that

person changes

you don't think about what they did or

what they said you think about all the

happy

happy times you've had with that person

or even if you think about that person

and what they did but you're in an

uplifted mood

it

shades the way that you perceive that

experience

so this is the whole process of

forgiveness

for example when you're doing

forgiveness practice what happens

you bring up an experience or rather an

experience comes up or a person comes up

that you want to forgive that

you should forgive

but because you're ready to forgive

because you're ready to be in that state

of calm clarity in the first journal

and you're forgiving them

you're not thinking about all the things

that they said and did in such a way

that it irritates you

you're just saying i forgive you for not

understanding i accept what happened and

i'm letting it go

that's happening because of

the clarity of mind that you have in the

meditation

that's happening because

you're perceiving them through that lens

of a meditative quality

so perceptions are fickle

they keep changing

so if you think about a person a certain

way think about an experience a certain

way

and then you think oh i wish i kept

thinking about it in that way that's not

going to help

that's the craving for it that's the

aversion for that's the identification

for it

what about formations

what are

formations

formations are related to your

intentions through your choices

to your inclinations

maybe you intended something good to

happen

but it didn't turn out great

so you think about

you know oh i had that intention before

i wish that intention had continued and

turned into something great

maybe you made a terrible choice

and you personalize that in the past and

you think about it and say

i wish i had not made that choice you

have regrets because of that

that arises again because you take your

intentions your choices to be self

you relate it

to a sense of self

you take it personally

but if you truly understood that all

choices that arise arise due to causes

and conditions

then you understand okay those were the

choices i made in the past those were

the choices that were available

with the limited knowledge i had

and that's how i behaved that's the

that's the inclination i had fine

whatever it was good bad or indifferent

wholesome unwholesome or neutral

but if you take it personally then

you're going to have suffering because

you're going to delight for that

might not work out you're going to

regret about it and it's going to cause

you suffering in the present

consciousness

it says

i had such consciousness in the past

what is consciousness

consciousness is the awareness of

something it's the cognizing of

something

maybe you saw something that was

terrible

for the first time maybe you heard

something terrible

and you go back and you think i wish i

hadn't heard that

and i wish i wasn't aware of that

situation

i wish i wasn't aware of this experience

or maybe it was a great experience and

you are aware of it and you say

oh i remember how that was and i wish it

was the same

so

nostalgia in essence is the craving

and regret there is the aversion

and then identifying with that is the

neutral aspect of that

and how because does one

not revive the past

one does not nurture delight there

thinking

i had such material form in the past

one does not nurture delight their

thinking

i had such feeling in the past

or i had such perception in the past

or i had such formations in the past

or i had such consciousness in the past

that is how one does not revive

the past

so not to revive the past doesn't mean

not to think about the past

thoughts arise they arise because of

causes and conditions

you're not in control of your thoughts

there's no controller there they arise

because

there was contact with an experience

it caused the mind to think about this

or that

you see a certain tree and you think

about you know seeing that tree in your

childhood

you eat some food and you think about

when was the last time your mother made

something like this

that in itself

that is not inherently

the issue here

that's not inherently the cause of the

suffering care

the cause of the suffering is seeing

that and then taking it personally and

wanting it

identifying with it

or having aversion towards it

other people like i said they will say

that you should not think about the past

or you should not

dwell in the past

dwelling in the past is another word for

craving in the past but thinking about

the past can you really control that

it just arises

how do you deal with it

do you keep having nostalgia for it do

you keep having regret about it or do

you keep identifying with it or do you

see it for what it is just a memory

just a rose that's okay

it might be a pleasant memory it might

be an unpleasant memory it might be a

neutral memory

in either case in any case

you're seeing that memory for what it is

that it is dependently arisen

meaning it arose because of causes and

conditions

and because it arose

due to causes and conditions it's

impermanent it's inherently impermanent

it arises and it passes away

therefore holding onto it clinging to it

can cause suffering

whether it's good bad or indifferent

therefore should see be seen as

impersonal

there's no controller there

you didn't want to think about the past

you couldn't control that it just arose

so it's impersonal it's not me not mine

not myself

even though it seems like that memory

you know i lived that memory or i was in

that memory or i experienced that memory

even though you have that sense

now with the wisdom you see it as being

having arisen because of causes

conditions

both the memory

and the memory

in the past when it was experienced

once you see it for what that is that is

impermanent

suffering

and not self

then you can let that go

and not dwell on it

not let that affect the mind

and how because does one build up hope

upon the future

one nurtures delight there thinking

may i have such material form in the

future

one nurtures the light there thinking

may i have such feeling in the future

may i have such perception in the future

may i have such formations in the future

may i have such consciousness in the

future

that is how one builds up hope upon the

future

so what does that mean building up hope

upon the future

sometimes the mind goes into planning

mode right

but that is there's nothing inherently

wrong with it

you need the planning mind to be able to

understand what to do where to go

you know

should i go here should i do this should

i do that

you need that process of decision making

so what is building up hope on the

future

you're experiencing something in the

present moment

and you're thinking i hope this doesn't

go away

i hope this continues on in the future

you're having a wonderful meditation

everything is flowing great

no distractions

a thought arises oh this is great okay

good

perception arises okay this is wonderful

but the next thought that arises is i

hope i don't lose this state

i hope i can continue being here

that hope

of wanting it to continue

is the hope built upon the future

that's one kind of hope another kind of

hope or

let's say the polar opposite is anxiety

something hasn't happened but based on

the experiences that you're having

based on a look you see of a person

based on the tone of voice of somebody

you think oh i hope they're not upset

i hope they don't shout at me i hope

they

still like me i hope they don't do this

or that

so based on the present moment you're

thinking that they might do something in

the future

or based on even the past maybe they've

reacted a certain way

because of something that you did or

said

now because of that something that you

said or did

you're more cautious

and you think oh if i say it this way

they might act in this way

how do you know that for a fact

how do you know that's true

you're only basing that upon your past

experience

so any kind of hope for the future is

dependent upon or any kind of anxiety

let's say

for the future or based on the future

is dependent upon

terrible experiences in the past

or storing up

some kind of memory about this

particular present moment that might be

unpleasant

when you do that then you see everybody

in a certain light

right

you see everybody in a certain way that

is like

okay this person

is happy when i do this this person is

upset when i do this

or this person reacts in a certain way

so you start to build up characters

about people in your mind

you start to build up characters about

how they are and who they are when they

might not even be that

or sometimes you feel like you are a

certain person based on how people react

to you

you think i'm like this because they

always behave in this way for me

so i hope i don't do this

i don't become this in the future

so this is the

the desire for something whether it's

the desire to

you know be a certain way in terms of

your looks

it's always good to be healthy but if

you get obsessed by it and say

i hope i live to a hundred and if i want

to live to a hundred i should do all of

these things and you get obsessed by it

in terms of your material form

in terms of your health

who knows maybe tomorrow you might die

that's what the buddha says

right

so why build up all of these ideas in

your head about the future

do everything that you're doing in the

present

not because it has to be a certain way

in the future but because

it feels good now it's pleasant now

so don't build up hopes or don't build

up anxieties

don't build up expectations

if you've had an experience of nibana

before

if you've had an experience of cessation

before

now you know the territory of how to get

there so what happens

you recognize this is the territory oh

we're going to have cessation now

right there's this idea oh

and so that idea what happens that idea

brings about expectation

that idea brings about waiting for

something to happen

waiting an expectation is

another

or two terms for craving

two synonyms for craving

so you can recognize okay here's the

territory but as soon as something comes

up and says here it is

now i'm waiting for it

now the mind is imbalanced now the mind

has restlessness now the mind is no

longer on its object

so what do you do when you see that

you recognize it release your attention

from that

relax the mind

come back to the wholesome state of mind

stay with your object

so what about feelings

same thing this meditation is going

great i hope it continues this way

not every meditation is going to be the

same there's never going to be the same

meditation all the time

in every instance

every meditation will be different

because of causes and conditions that

are there

yes you'll still have the same

experiences of jhana

you still have the same experiences of

the brahmaviharas

which they might they too might be

different because you might have a

deeper clarity into a certain genre

you might have deeper insight into a

certain brahma vihar a deeper experience

and what happens

then you think oh that was very deep

i hope the next meditation goes the same

way

so as soon as you have the hope for that

there's craving there

and then you try too hard to recreate

that experience for yourself

and in trying too hard to recreate that

experience for yourself

there's craving tightness and tension

and you're nowhere near

that experience anymore

so don't get attached to the

experiences

don't get tied to whatever is happening

in your meditation

see it as a movie okay here's what's

going on okay there's craving

6r

okay here's loving kindness coming up

okay great just watch that

okay the loving kindness has changed to

compassion okay don't hold on to the

loving kindness let it go

let it do what it's doing now the

compassion has changed to joy

oh now there's this experience of

infinite consciousness happening

okay fine

see it for what it is

it arose because the causes and

conditions were right for it

the moment you try to hold on to it

you're not going to progress any further

but if you see it and say okay this is

what's happening you're not noting

anything you're just aware

you're perceiving

non-verbally that this is what's

happening

but if you see that experience if you

have the experience of infinite space if

you have the experience of infinite

consciousness if you have the experience

of

nothingness

now you're looking for that or it

doesn't happen in the same way maybe the

quality of the feeling of loving

kindness changes and now you feel oh

i've lost the feeling

but now it's gone into compassion and

you feel the compassion you think i hope

i feel this again next time but then

that changes

or when you have the experience of

infinite space it's all very expensive

boundless space

but the next time you have it it's not

the same way

right so your expectation of it's going

to be the same way may always be like

this is what you have to let go of

just see everything in the meditation

see everything in your reality in your

experience

as being

dependently arisen

therefore impermanent always arising and

passing away

that which arises passes away that which

is dependently arisen

will pass away when the causes and

conditions go

therefore it's not worth holding on to

and if i hold on to this

there can be suffering and if i identify

with this there can be suffering

therefore it's not me

it's not mine it's not myself what does

that mean

all of these things that we consider to

be a self

is arising because we identify with

whatever it is

so we'll go a little deeper and

understand why do we talk about

something as self

or not self in a moment

and how because does one not build up

hope upon the future one does not

nurture delight their thinking

may i have such material form in the

future

one does not nurture delight their

thinking

may i have such feeling in the future

may i have such perception in the future

may i have such formations in the future

may i have such consciousness in the

future

that is how one does not build up hope

upon the future

so one does not nurture

delight

there's no craving for an experience

there's no craving for a certain kind of

form

there's no craving for a certain kind of

perception

there's no craving for a certain kind of

intention

there's no craving for a certain kind of

awareness

you're experiencing everything as it is

when it arises if it goes away all right

it goes away

see everything in your experience

whether it's in your daily living or

whether it's in the meditation

as being

arising because of causes and conditions

as soon as you hold on to a state and

identify with it whatever that state is

even if it's the highest state like

neither perception or non-perception or

quiet mind or the signless collectedness

of mind

or even if it's an attainment

if you hold on to that and say okay i've

gotten there

i want more

there's a difference here

there's the chanda

which is wholesome inclinations

right

cultivated intention the chanda is the

rudder you're inclining the mind away

from the unwholesome to the wholesome

you're inclining the mind away from

suffering towards nibana

that's fine

you have the inclination now you let

that go and continue doing it dependent

upon that inclination you don't have to

hold on to the intention you don't have

to keep holding on to the inclination

the moment you start holding on to that

what's going to happen you're going to

get obsessed by that

and it's going to make it seem like okay

it's not working according to how i want

it

this happened before so why isn't it

happening again

i had this attainment before it happened

this way why isn't it happening the same

way again

expectations

right

so the intention is one thing that okay

i've had the same experience i'm

inclining towards that

but obsessing over it if it doesn't

happen the way that you're expected

that's the delight that you have to let

go of

the identification you have to let go of

the aversion that you have to let go of

right so

if there was a terrible experience that

you have and you think i hope this

doesn't happen again

there again is craving there again is

aversion it's unpleasant as an

experience in the moment as it comes

about

but to expect that it's going to happen

again

is what you have to let go of

you had the experience fine

why live in fear of that experience

again why live in anxiety of that

experience again

maybe it arose that one time and it will

never arise again

so

creating this associate these kinds of

associations for yourself and saying i

hope it doesn't happen again

that creates fear in the mind

and fear leads to suffering

fear leads to anxiety anxiety

leads to restlessness or is restlessness

and that restlessness leads to further

suffering you're not able to let go of

that you're not able to

calm the mind you're not able to come to

an economist state

and there's suffering in that

so whatever arises don't hold on to it

lest you start to expect

the pleasant or lest you

fear the unpleasant that might never

happen again

and how bikus is one vanquished in

regard to presently arisen states

hirobiku is an untaught ordinary person

who has no regard for noble ones

and is unskilled and undisciplined in

their dharma

who has no regard for true and un

sorry for true men

and is unskilled and undisciplined in

their dharma regards

material form as self

or self as possessed of material form

or material form as in self

or self as in material form

he regards feeling as self

or self as possessed of feeling

or feeling as in self

or self as in feeling

he regards perception as self

or self as possessed of perception

or perception as in self

or self as in perception

he regards formations as self he regards

formations

as self or self as possessed of

formations

or formations as in self or self in

formations

he regards consciousness as self

or self as possessed of consciousness

or consciousness as in self

or self as in consciousness

that is how one is vanquished in regard

to presently arisen states

so let's go back to that

verse that the buddha was talking about

he says let not a person revive the past

which means don't have craving or

aversion towards the past

or on the future build one's hopes which

means don't have craving or anxiety

regarding the future for the past has

been left behind

and the future has not been reached

instead with insight let him see each

presently

arisen state

let him know that and be sure of it

invincibly unshakably

so when he says instead

with insight let him see each presently

arisen state

you talk about insight we're talking

about insight in terms of

seeing things as they actually are

having equanimity for experiences

whether it's pleasant unpleasant or

neutral

being balanced in your mind

not getting affected by it one way or

the other

whatever states arise in your meditation

okay it's a pleasant state

now you're experiencing greater joy and

now you're experiencing greater

equanimity or now you're experiencing

infinite space or now you're

experiencing neither perception or

non-perception

fine

that's the presently arisen state it

arose because the causes and conditions

were right

but the moment you say

oh

i am experiencing this and i'm holding

on to it i hope this state doesn't go

away

or the state continues

now you're identifying with that

experience you're identifying with the

jhana you're identifying with the

brahmavihara

so how do you let that go you see that

the mind is starting to constrict itself

and get attached to one of the factors

of the jaundice

or it's starting to constrict itself

around the brahmavihara

just keep the mind open

keep it

relaxed let it be like a sieve that

experiences pass through

don't hold on to anything

now when we talk about self

the non-insight or the ignorance that's

there

the opposite of the wisdom of the

presently arisen state is taking things

personally

why do you take things personally

because there is a sense of self

somewhere

what is the sense of self

historically and culturally in ancient

india the sense of self was this idea of

something that was all pervasive

imperishable

and always

a cause for happiness

okay so the buddha said fine you

consider that to be self let's say you

consider that to be self that's the

touchstone for self that's

which you compare all other experiences

and how do you have an experience

you have it through body material form

you have it through feeling

you have it through perception

you have it through formations and you

have it through consciousness

these constitute these are the five

aggregates they constitute in which

there is experience and how

experience is understood

now you look at the five aggregates and

you understand here is form

so what is this form this form is made

up of different elements

different qualities different aspects of

materials

it's made up of the earth element

the water element

the air element the fire element

or

in a modern understanding it's made up

of the four states of matter

it's material it's made up of matter in

some way or the other

there's the

bones and you know the the tissues and

the muscles

and the fat and the organs and all of

that

that's all made up of different kinds of

material

so you see that and you understand okay

when i was five years old this form was

a certain way

when i was 10 years old this form was

another way

when i was 15 yet another way

when i was 20 yet another way when i was

25 a different way when i was 30 when i

was 35 when i was 40 when i was 50 when

i was 60.

and you then look and see that this body

continues to change

and it just doesn't age

all across those years but it continues

to change in every single moment

this ear or this nose or these eyes

or the tongue or the body they continue

to change in every moment

dependent upon causes and conditions the

skin on your body keeps changing in

every moment

so once you really understand that once

you contemplate in the sense of not

trying to analyze it not trying to

reflect on it not trying to gain some

kind of investigative process by looking

at it but just observing in every moment

as things arise in terms of

here is this body and you understand

okay this is how it is now this is how

it was yesterday this is how it's going

to be tomorrow this is how it was in the

morning

this body was

it's ceased it's gone

it's impermanent

yeah i don't know

it's really not made for this game no

there's never

it's fine all

right so this body right in the in the

morning time it was a certain way it was

feeling great

in the afternoon suddenly

it feels not so great

and then in the evening it changes again

why it's dependent upon

causes and conditions

so this body being subject to change

cannot be considered itself because what

did we say itself was the idea of a self

according to the ancient indian cultural

understanding the idea of a self is that

it's imperishable unchangeable the cause

for happiness

but this body continues to change

it's

impermanent

one day it feels good another day

doesn't feel so good

so it's not

it's liable to experience suffering

so how can it be considered a self

so it's not me it's not mine not myself

feelings

we have so many different kinds of

experiences

pleasant experiences and unpleasant

experiences and neutral experiences

dependent upon the sixth sense basis

now these experiences can be like i said

pleasant unpleasant or neutral but it

continues to change these experiences

they continue to change

if they continue to change based on

causes and conditions

then that means that they also are

impermanent

being impermanent they cannot be

considered self being impermanent they

can be liable to cause suffering if

that's the case how can they be

considered

me mine or myself

what about perceptions we under we

understand that perceptions are fickle

they keep changing

we get new information about things and

it keeps changing our perception of

certain things

new research in science comes out about

the universe

about planets

about our body about our biologies about

this world that we live in and it

continues to change the way we perceive

and experience this world

so

if that also is dependently arisen and

that too is impermanent how can we

consider

any perception to be self

if such a perception is liable to cause

suffering

how can we take a perception to be me

mine or myself

in the ja in the meditation you

experience a certain kind of jhana and

you perceive oh here is the second jhana

you perceive the joy in it

you perceive the happiness in it you

perceive the tranquility in it you

perceive this or that whatever it might

be

but then you perceive a change in it

so was there a self in that genre was

their self in that experience of the joy

factor of the first or second jhana

was their self in the tranquility factor

of the third channel or the equanimity

factor of the four jhana or did it just

arise because

it transitioned into the next experience

the loving kindness that you bring up

how did that arise

there was an intention to bring up

loving-kindness dependent upon either

verbalizations

or a wholesome memory wholesome image

or just bringing it up because you have

the memory now of the loving-kindness

but that too is

dependently arisen that too arises

because of causes and conditions why did

you bring up the loving-kindness

or how did you bring up the

loving-kindness that arose because you

thought about it thought about something

wholesome and it came about

but that thought that arose is that you

was that thought too impermanent

that verbalization that you brought up

is that you or is that too impermanent

so don't hold on to things that are

impermanent that are continuously

changing that are subject to change

because the moment you start holding on

to those things they can cause suffering

the moment you hold on to them and you

take them personally

they can cause suffering

so don't take personally any of the

experiences that you're having dependent

upon your choices

dependent upon your intentions

you are responsible for your choices

they're responsible for your intentions

they're responsible for your actions

in your mind

in body and in

speech and you will experience their

effects

but don't take them personally

understand you you had a choice that you

took

and it led to this particular experience

now don't have regret for it don't have

anxiety about the choices you make

don't think about okay if i make this

choice or i made this choice i hope it

doesn't go this way or i hope it doesn't

go that way

you don't know what's going to happen

anything can happen right dependent upon

other causes and conditions dependent

upon external factors

so

what are you responsible for

you're responsible for the present

actions that you have right now

you're not responsible for anything that

happened in the past in the sense that

you can't change it

yes you're taking responsibility by

experiencing their effects but how do

you choose to deal with those

remember i talked about hindrances being

the effects

of choices made in the past of breaking

a precept at some point

whether it was in this life or previous

life or whenever it was

you can't go back in time and change

what happened

you can't go back in time and change

not breaking that precept now you have

to deal with it here in the present

moment in the form of some kind of a

hindrance

so the only way that you can deal with

it is how you choose to deal with it in

the present moment

and then once you make the choice that's

the choice that's it you can choose to

have

craving for that experience you can

choose to

grasp at that experience you can choose

to have aversion towards that experience

you can choose to resist that experience

or you can choose to say why is this

experience happening to me and identify

with it and all of these other things

or you can acknowledge it as being an

effect of a past

intention an effect of a past choice

and then seeing it for what it is

acknowledging it recognizing it

releasing your attention from it

when you're

releasing

you're not ignoring it

when you're releasing you're abandoning

the craving you're abandoning the

identification with it by bringing your

attention to something that is wholesome

that wholesome experience is the

cessation of craving

the relief you experience from relaxing

the tightness and tension

in mind and body

once you do that you're replacing your

reactions

your habitual reactions to that

experience

with the smile

with being uplifted

and bringing back something that's

wholesome returning the mind to

something that's wholesome

like a brahmavihara

so this process is as i said before re

first deconditioning the mind

of any kind of unwholesome states

or unwholesome reactions to unwholesome

states

and then reconditioning the mind

with wholesome states

to words

or as responses

to unwholesome states

the more you do this the more the mind

experiences peace

the more mind experiences freedom

total freedom of mind

is understood conventionally speaking

as being in the present moment

but what does that mean

we asked that question in the beginning

what does that mean

it means

seeing things as they are when they

arise any presently or risen state

seeing it for what it is experiencing it

fine this is a pleasant experience or

this is an unpleasant experience

but seeing it in the right way

experiencing it in the effective way

seeing it

as what it actually is

seeing it for being dependently arisen

therefore not to take it personally

so

when you don't take an experience

personally you don't add to the fuel

of craving you don't add to the fuel of

aversion you don't add to the feel of

identification when you don't add to the

fuel there is no more clinging to it

associating with it grasping towards it

there is no becoming it there is no

habitual tendency or emotional reactions

that cause you to behave or act in a

certain way

in relation to that experience

because of that you're reconditioning

your mind so that when the experience

happens again

you don't act out of habit but you act

spontaneously

given the choices that you have

and that choice is rooted in wisdom

rooted in the brahma viharas

rooted in seeing things as they are

which means you don't take anything

personally

and how because is one invincible in

regard to presently arisen states

here because a well-taught noble

disciple

who has regard for noble ones and is

skilled and disciplined in their dhamma

who has regard for true men

and is skilled and disciplined in their

dhamma does not regard material form as

self or self as possessed of material

form or material form as in self or self

as in material form

he does not regard feeling as self

he does not regard feeling as posses or

self as possessed of feeling

or feeling as in self

or self as in feeling

he does not regard perception as self

or self as possessed of perception

or perception as in self or self as in

perception

he does not regard formations as self

or self as possessed of formations

or formations as in self

or self as in formations

he does not regard consciousness as self

or self as possessed of consciousness or

consciousness as in self

or self as in consciousness

that is how one is invincible in regard

to presently arisen states

and so here going back to the verse that

the buddha talks about let him know that

and be sure of it invincibly unshakably

today the effort must be made tomorrow

death may come who knows

no bargain with mortality can keep him

and his hordes away

but one who dwells thus ardently

relentlessly by day by night it is he

the peaceful sage has said who has had a

single excellent night

so one who dwells heartedly when you say

when he says ardently he's talking about

mindfulness

so

that is remembering to observe how

mind's attention moves from one thing to

the other

when you have mindfulness in that regard

then you can see things as they are

you don't project onto them anything you

see them as they are

so when we talk about these different

kinds of self views

right we'll get into it further

in a different session but just to

understand this is talking about

self-use he does not regard form

or feeling or perception or formations

or consciousness as self

so you don't equate any of these as

being

me

as being some kind of a self

or self as possessed a form

of feeling of perception

of

formations or of consciousness

in other words you don't have this idea

that these belong to me

they are just arising because of causes

and conditions

or material form feeling perception

formation or consciousness as in self

so you don't have this idea that there

is some kind of all-pervading self that

you are

which is an idea in certain kinds of

philosophy

and that within that self is all of this

experience

or self as in form

as in feeling

in perception in formations or in

consciousness

so this idea is that there is some kind

of core essence

that resides in the body that resides in

self that resides in perception that

resides in formations that resides in

consciousness

but if we understand formation of

material form to be always changing

that means that self that's tied to it

is always changing we already understand

that self

from that

uh touchstone is supposed to be

permanent

so formations or form or consciousness

or perception or

feeling all of these are always changing

how can there be a self in there

they arise dependent upon certain causes

and conditions and these are the links

to dependent origination which we'll

talk about tomorrow

but once you start to see this once you

understand that they are impermanent you

start you stop taking them personally

and when you start taking them

when you stop taking them personally

when you see them impersonally

then you have peace of mind there then

the mind is equanimous

then the mind is free in that moment

any experience that's experienced is

just experienced there's no self there

there's no self in there there's no self

beyond there it's just all arising and

then it's just going away the moment you

attach yourself to it by saying how is

this affecting me

or why is this affecting me

the moment you do that

you take it personal and then that gives

rise to craving and clinging and

becoming

and then birth of action and the whole

mass of suffering

that adds to your repository of karma

karma is experienced

in the present moment

that's the old karma that you inherit

from previous choices that cascade down

into the present moment

how you choose to deal with it will then

either result in the dissipation of that

karma

the same way

when you have

a hindrance

and you choose to let go of it

using right effort using the six r's

that karma or that hindrance becomes

weaker with every arising until it fades

away or do you choose to take it

personally and start fighting with it

thereby adding more to it

and now your attention gives it more

fuel

and your craving gives it more fuel your

aversion gives it more fuel and so what

happens the next time it arises it

arises with greater force

or it just keeps on going and this is

rebirth

the rebirth of that experience or the

rebirth of that hindrance continues

until you recognize it for what it is

that here is a hindrance

i'm going to take my attention away from

it and abandon the craving

abandon the aversion abandon the

clinging

experience relief and replace that

reaction

of identifying and personalizing with

with it

and replace it with

that which is wholesome with the smile

that which is rooted in the dhamma with

the brahmavihara coming back to

brahmavir coming back to quiet mind

whatever that might be

and then repeating that

whenever it arises until there is the

remainderless fading away

of that hindrance

so it was with reference to this that it

was said because i shall teach you the

summary and exposition of one who has

had a single excellent night

that is what the blessed one said the

bikus were satisfied and delighted in

the blessed one's words

okay

let's share some merit

may suffering ones be suffering free may

the fear struck 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]