From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=74mZ6F0EQXM
Context: Throughout this transcript, Bhante Vimalaramsi is the speaker unless otherwise indicated.
[Music]
so i'm going to read from a section
from this very long suta
which is called it's diganikaya 14
maha padana
the great discourse on the lineage
and in it the buddha is talking about
all of the different
prior buddhas like the
vipassi buddha sikhi buddha
buddha
let's see
kona
and so on
and he talks about all of the different
things that each of the does before they
become buddhas as bodhisattvas
go through
the different qualities that they have
the
predictions that are made about them
either they will become a wheel-turning
monarch or they will become
you know what does it say
yeah or he will become an arahant
they're fully enlightened buddha one who
draws back the veil from the world
so he goes through all of that and then
the buddha talks about specifically
prince vipassi who is uh who becomes the
vipassi buddha
and his father finds out that you know
if he
if he's uh
either going to become a wheel turning
monarch or if he's going to turn into a
arhat in a sadiq and become an arahat a
fully enlightened buddha that he needs
to prevent him from experiencing
suffering so he makes him
going to the palace and gives them all
of these sensual pleasures
so with that background we're going to
start with section
2.1
this is page 207 of the digonical
then monks after many years many
hundreds and thousands of years had
passed oh by the way during those times
they lived a long time
somewhere around 80 90 000 years at a
time so
prince vipassi said to his chariot here
harness some fine carriages charioter we
will go to the pleasure park to inspect
it
the charioteer did so then reported to
the prince
your royal highness the fine carriages
are harnessed it is time to do as you
wish
and prince vipassi
mounted a carriage and drove in
procession to the pleasure park
and as he was being driven to the
pleasure park prince papasi saw an aged
man
bent like a roof beam
broken leaning on a stick tottering sick
his youth all vanished
at the sight he said to the charioteer
charioteer what is the matter with this
man his hair is not like other men's
his body is not like other men's
prince that is what is called an old man
but why is he called an old man
he is called old prince because he has
not longed to live
but am i liable to become old and not
exempt from old age
both you and i prince are liable to
become old and are not exempt from old
age
well then charity that will do for today
with the pleasure park return now to the
palace
very good prince said the charioteer and
brought prince of posse
back to the palace
arriving there prince papasi was
overcome with grief and dejection crying
shame on this thing called birth
since to him who is born old age must
manifest itself
so you have to think about the context
behind principle posse's life i mean
basically they hid any
uh
any kind of
idea that old age existed that sickness
existed that death existed so he was
under this impression that he's going to
be forever young forever 21
right
he's going to be always healthy and he's
never going to die
can you imagine the kind of mindset that
would have
that you never have to do that
so that's quite the shock when he sees
that somebody who is
old somebody who's aged
and what does he experience he says it
says here prince vipassi
was overcome with grief and dejection
crying shame on this thing birth
since to him who is born old age must
manifest itself
this is known as some vega
some vega is that
despondency that someone experiences the
dismay that someone experiences
at suffering
when there is suffering that arises two
things can happen
that that person tries to find a way out
of that suffering
or continues to be in confusion
to be in confusion means they will do
other things
to relieve that suffering temporarily
which is
they'll seek out other sensual pleasures
they'll seek out drugs and alcohol
they'll seek out other ways to numb the
pain of suffering
and that could be any kind of suffering
you know it could be the suffering of
loss the suffering of grief the
suffering of death the suffering of
losing a job whatever it might be or
just unpleasant feelings
numbing all of that
through different kinds of sensual
pleasures
this leads to further attachment to
sensual pleasures
leads to further confusion
but there is a second way a person deals
with it which is
is there a way out of suffering they
feel dismayed they feel dejected they
feel
grief stricken by the suffering and they
want a way out
this is the spiritual urgency the some
vega someone feels
that oh i could die at any point
i could become sick at any point very
sick
i could grow old at any point
let me meditate lest i regret it
right let me find a way out of this
suffering
then king vanduma that's the posse's
father
sent for the charioteer and said
well did not the prince enjoy himself at
the pleasure park
wasn't he happy there
your majesty the prince did not enjoy
himself he was not happy there
what did he see on the way there
so the charity told the king all that
had happened
then king vanduma thought
prince of pasi must not renounce the
throne he must not go forth from the
household life into homelessness
the words of the brahmanas learn it in
science must not come true
so the king provided
for prince of posse to have even more
enjoyment of the five-fold sense
pleasures in order that he should rule
the kingdom and not go forth from the
household life
into homelessness
thus the prince continued to live
indulging in and addicted to the
five-fold sense pleasures
after many hundreds of thousands of
years prince vipassi ordered his
charioteer to drive to the pleasure park
and as he was being driven to the
pleasure park prince vipassi saw a sick
man
suffering very ill
fallen in his own urine and excrement
and some people were picking him up and
others putting him to bed at the site he
said to the charity
what is the matter with this man
his eyes are not like other men's his
voice is not like other men's
prince what
this is what is called a sick man but
why is he called a sick man
prince he is called sick because he can
hardly recover from his illness
but am i liable to become sick and not
exempt from sickness
both you and i prince are liable to
become sick and not exempt from sickness
well then charity have returned now to
the palace
arrived there prince papasi was overcome
with grief and dejection crying shame on
this thing called birth since he who is
born must experience sickness
so this is the second sight that he saw
sickness
just think about when you're sick how
how awful it feels when you're not
feeling well
you are whether it's emotionally or
physically or mentally you're not
feeling well how does it feel it feels
very
terrible it's suffering
and so for prince vipassi when he saw
another person being sick that was so
foreign to him he couldn't understand
what that was but seeing it
was such a stark thing to see
right seeing somebody so sick that they
can't even pick themselves up
you know people who have
all kinds of diseases and illnesses they
suffer so much
people who are on their deathbed you
know people who are dying from cancer
crying dying from all kinds of
sicknesses they're suffering a lot
so
prince of posse seeing that seeing this
kind of suffering becomes dejected again
he'd start up more of that spiritual
urgency to see is there a way out of
this
then king bandhuma sent for the
charioteer who told him what had
happened
the king provided prince of posse with
even more sense pleasures
in order that he should rule the kingdom
and not go forth from the household life
into homelessness
again after many hundreds of thousands
of years prince vipassi ordered his
charioteer to drive to the pleasure park
and as he was being driven to the
pleasure park prince vipassi saw a large
crowd collecting
clad in many colors and carrying a beer
at the site
he said to the charity hero
why are those people doing that prince
that is what they call a dead man
drive me over to where the dead man is
very good prince said the charioteer and
did so
and prince of posse gazed at the corpse
of the dead man then he said to the
charity why is he called a dead man
prince he is called a dead man because
now his parents and other relatives will
not see him again
nor heed them
but am i subject to dying not exempt
from dying
both you and i prince are subject to
dying not exempt from it
well then chariot here that will do for
today
that will do for today with the pleasure
park return now to the palace
arrive there prince vipassi was overcome
with grief and dejection crying
shame on this thing called birth since
to him who is born death must manifest
itself
think about death that is such a
it's such a final thing right in
someone's life you know
you'll never be able to anymore
contact that person again speak with
that person again
communicate talk to them hug them
embrace them
you know have a good time with them
they're gone that's the final thing
that's their end of their existence in
this life
that stark reality of seeing that
that death is such that it ends all
beings right in that existence
that was such a shocking thing for him
think about the first time you
experienced that the first time you
experienced the death of a loved one
you know whatever age that was at
maybe it might have been uh
later in your life because when you're
much younger death has a different way
of
being seen
right you don't really fully comprehend
what death is
when you're about five or six years old
like for example when i was about five
when my grandmother passed away
i didn't really think much about it you
know to me that was like
okay she's gone you can't see her again
but it's only after a little later in
your years maybe in your teenage years
and in your 20s you realize what death
really means
because then you start to have the
attachments to sense pleasures
then you start to have the attachment to
this life this attachment to this
identity
and by doing so when you see others
dying it reminds you that one day i too
will pass
and that becomes depressing that can be
anxiety inducing as well for some people
and of course
the other aspect of that is that seeing
a loved one dead
seeing anyone dead seeing especially a
loved one dead not being able to
communicate with them afterwards
that also is a very stark thing to see
after many hundreds of thousands of
years prince vipassi ordered his
charioteer to drive to the pleasure park
uh wait uh yeah
and he and as he was being driven to the
pleasure park prince vipassi saw a
shaven-headed man
one who had gone forth wearing a yellow
robe
and he said to the charioteer what is
the matter with that man his head is not
like other men's and his clothes are not
like other men's
prince
he is called one who has gone forth
why is he called one who has gone forth
prince by one who has gone forth we mean
one who truly follows dhamma
who truly lives in serenity
does good actions performs meritorious
deeds is harmless and truly has
compassion for living beings
that's very interesting that the charity
here says
one who has gone forth by one who has
gone forth we mean one who truly follows
dhana
but as we understand when you have a
bodhisattva there's no buddha which
means there's no dhamma
so what is he referring to here
when he says one who truly follows the
true dhamma or who truly follows dhamma
the idea is that he follows what's known
as a set of teachings
there is in india still now
from ancient india now there is
something known as dharma
it's known as sanatana dharma the
eternal law
and this is from where all the indic
religions come from or the ideas of
indic
culture come from that is to say
sanatana dharma is that which is always
present right so from there
stemmed the vedic religion from there
stemmed the hindu religion from there
stemmed the jain religion and so on and
so forth this sanatana dharma but
everyone had different ways of looking
at what the sanatana dharma was
but there is one thing to understand
when we say sanatana that means eternal
and dhamma means the phenomena or
teachings or law
actually there is something that is
always present in this existence always
present
and it's something that we're going to
look at in
in a few minutes and that is dependent
origination
whether a buddha is there or not
dependent origination will always
continue the difference is
a buddha will know what dependent
origination is we'll discover what
dependent origination is
we'll discover the true dharma let's say
and then start to teach
charity or he is well called
he is well called one who has gone forth
drive the carriage over to where he is
very good prince said the charity and
did so and prince vipassi questioned the
man who had gone forth
prince as one who has gone forth i truly
followed dhamma and have compassion for
living beings
you are well called one who has gone
forth now also remember what it says
here he says truly lives in serenity
does good actions performs meritorious
deeds is harmless and truly has
compassion for all beings
but that has nothing to do about
dependent origination that has nothing
to do about
seeing things as they actually are
right so the basis for the dharma is
meritorious actions being harmless being
compassionate
doing good actions being in serenity
so having this is basically sila
keeping the five precepts
but there's nothing beyond that in terms
of right samadhi in terms of right
collectedness and beyond that in terms
of insight
or
punya
then prince fapassi said to the
charioteer
you take the carriage and drive back to
the palace but i shall stay here and
shave off my hair and beard put on
yellow robes and go forth from the
household life into homelessness
very good prince said the charioteer and
returned to the palace
and prince vipassi shaving off his hair
and beard and putting on yellow robes
went forth from the household life into
homelessness
and a great crowd from the royal capital
city
mati
eighty-four thousand people
heard that prince per posse had gone
forth into homelessness
and they thought this is certainly no
common teaching and discipline
no common going forth for which prince
vipassi has shaved off hair and beard
donned yellow robes and gone forth into
homelessness
if the prince has done so
why should not we
and so monks a great crowd of 84 000
having shade off their hair and beards
and dawned yellow robes followed the
bodhisattva vipassi into homelessness
and with this following the bodhisattva
went on his rounds through villages
towns and royal cities
then the bodhisattvi having retired to a
secluded spot had this thought
it is not proper for me to live with a
crowd like this
i must live alone with ron from the
crowd so after a while he left the crowd
and dwelt alone
the 84 000 went one way the bodhisattva
another
then when the bodhisattva had entered
his dwelling alone in a secluded spot he
taught he thought
this world alas is in a sorry state
there is birth and decay
there is death and falling into other
states and being reborn
and no one knows any way of escape from
this suffering
this aging and death
when will deliverance be found from this
suffering this aging and death
and then monks the bodhisattva thought
with what being present does aging and
death occur
what conditions aging and death
so what's going on here now he's using
his intuition
he's asking this question
and he's waiting for the answer he's not
reflecting he's not analyzing he's not
doing anything he's just
waiting for the answer that arises from
intuition
now you too can do this
right when you have a problem in your
meditation when you have a problem in
your own life
all you have to do is ask the mind the
question
what is the cause of this what is the
reason for this
and then just wait
don't try to keep thinking about okay
what is the solution for this how do i
solve this how do i resolve this just
ask the question
and leave it aside and go on with your
life
at some point
there will come an answer like a eureka
moment an intuition that arises an
insight that arises that this is
the way this is the solution this is the
cause this is the this is the situation
that intuition will provide you with the
right answer
it won't be the answer you might be
looking for
but it will be the right answer it will
be the answer that will provide you with
the correct solution the effective
solution
so he asks
what with what being present does aging
and death occur
what conditions aging and death
and then monks as a result
as a result of wisdom wisdom born of
profound consideration and realize the
realization dawned on him
now that's an interesting statement as a
result of wisdom
born of profound consideration
consideration would suggest that he was
reflecting and analyzing i think a
better way of looking at it would be say
would be to say as a result of wisdom
born of profound
profound one samadhi born of profound
collectedness
just keeping the mind collected allowing
it to come the answer to come
the realization dawned on him birth
being present
aging and death occurs
birth conditions aging and death
then he thought
what conditions birth
with the real with that the realization
dawn on him
becoming conditions birth
what conditions becoming
clinging conditions becoming
craving conditions clinging
feeling conditions craving
contact conditions feeling
the sixth sense bases condition contact
mind and body or mentality materiality
conditions the sixth sense basis
consciousness conditions mind and body
and then the bodhisattva vipassi thought
with what being present does
consciousness occur
what conditions consciousness
and then as a result of wisdom born of
profound collectedness the realization
dawned on him
mind and body conditions consciousness
now this is interesting so you would
have thought he would have said
formations
but here the here vipassi is seeing and
he's seeing that
mind and body condition consciousness
and consciousness conditions mind and
body
there is an interdependency between the
two
and there is something very subtle to be
understood here which is to say that
when consciousness arises
it can only be experienced
through the faculties of mind and body
so consciousness arises dependent upon
the existence of mind and body
but mind and body cannot function
without consciousness being present
so they are dependent upon each other
now there is also an understanding that
formations give rise to consciousness
so now what what he's seeing is
dependent origination
how does suffering come to be he is
seeing now that there is suffering
by having seen
the
uh old age the sickness
the death he sees that there is
suffering he sees the first noble truth
now he's discovering for himself the
second noble truth of how suffering
arises
very simply put craving gives rise to
suffering but he's seeing the mechanics
of craving through seeing the links of
dependent origination by understanding
the link's independent origination
right
so when he's seeing this he's also
seeing into how rebirth arises
so dependent origination can be
understood on
a few levels one level is on the
moment-to-moment level so when we talk
about birth on the moment-to-moment
level we're talking about the birth
and death of consciousness
the arising and passing away of
consciousnesses
and we can also look at it from the
birth of action
what kind of action action rooted in
ignorance
rooted in craving
rooted in conceit
that gives rise to further suffering
that gives rise to further karma
another way of looking at birth is the
birth of a being in a next life
and that's dependent upon becoming
that becoming
at that level is about giving rise to a
new existence
but that's dependent upon habitual
tendencies that's also another way of
looking at becoming
habitual tendencies
are those
things those qualities of mind
that are habitually
recollected habitually accessed to give
rise
to some kind of action in other words
when you see something you always see it
in a certain way dependent upon your
perceptions dependent upon your
experiences
so these habitual tendencies
are basically a repository of reactions
that you go to automatically or almost
automatically as a way of acting on
something mentally verbally or bodily
dependent upon the habitual tendencies
then there is a birth of action but what
conditions the habitual tendencies it's
the clinging
the clinging is that mind that says
because i like this because
it's the rationalization of why the mind
has craving or why the mind has aversion
towards something
that that is conditioned by craving that
craving is the mindset that says i like
this i want this
it grasps for grasps for it or i don't
like this i don't want this and it
pushes it away or
it says i am this
this is me this is mine this is myself
that's also cream
so craving conditions clinging
craving says
craving says i see this and i like it
therefore or because
so and so
so when you see something that you like
and there's craving for it they can
arise clinging which says i like it
because
you know for whatever reason and then
from there there is a habitual tendency
a habitual reaction
which then you
you
go into the library of reactions and
then pull out something that is most
appropriate in your mind that is rooted
in that mind which is rooted in craving
that then acts from there
that then gives rise to further
suffering
right so then from that craving that
craving is
arising whenever there is some kind of
feeling
that feeling
is the feeling through the eyes and
experience through seeing
through hearing
through tasting through smelling through
touching or through thinking
so basically the sixth sense basis the
experience of the sixth sense spaces is
the vedana the feeling
right
those are dependent upon contact
eye contact your contact nose contact
tongue contact body contact mind contact
so what is that contact
that contact is the joining of three
things the joining of two things giving
rise to a third and these three
constitute contact and that is for
example
the i
meets with the form of a tree
so it meets with the rupa the form and
the color so the color and the form
meet with the eye
so there is the i and there is the form
the joining of these two when that makes
contact that gives rise to eye
consciousness
the cognizing the awareness the bear
knowing that this is present
these three constitute eye contact
likewise for the other five
sense bases including the mind so in the
case of meditation
you have the mind
and the mind object which is
love and kindness
or compassion or equanimity or whatever
it might be and then there is an
experience
of loving-kindness there is an
experience of compassion there is an
experience of joy there is an experience
of equanimity
so what is dependent upon or what is
contact dependent upon it's dependent
upon the six sense bases
so the sixth sense bases are basically
this eye the ear
the eyes the ears the nose the tongue
the body and the mind the receptors
those that those things which receive
the sensory signals the sensory data the
raw sensory data
but these are dependent upon mentality
materiality
so what does that mean
what is mentality and what is
materiality mind and body
the sixth sense spaces are physical
components that receive sensory
information
right but they are housed in this body
right they're part of this body they're
made up
of the elements that is rupa that is the
materiality
so what are they made of they're made up
of earth they're made up of water
they're made up of fire and
air
or they're made up of the states of
matter
so earth being the solid state
water being the liquid state
air being the gaseous state and fire
being the plasma state when i say plasma
i'm not talking about
the blood plasma i'm talking about
electric electrical firing
plasma like heat and temperature and so
on
so this makes up the body what about
mentality
mentality or mind is made up of certain
components which allow for the processes
of contact to arise for failing to arise
for perception to your eyes for
intention to arise and for attention to
arise
so in other words
mentality materiality is basically the
five aggregates
right you have form in the form of
materiality
you have contact which gives rise to
feeling and perception
and through intention formations arise
and through attention consciousness
flows
so these are the five aggregates
now dependent what is the mentality
materiality dependent upon
it's dependent upon awareness dependent
upon consciousness
you need consciousness in order to be
aware
of what the mentality materiality is
experiencing through the sixth sense
basis
so in this case when we're talking about
experiencing something we're talking
about
feeling perception and consciousness
these three run around each other
where there is feeling it is conjoined
with perception
where there is perception there is a
cognizing of that perception where there
is cognizing there is an experience of
that cognizing
so what is feeling feeling is just the
sensation the experience that is felt
right
seeing the greenness of the tree
seeing the tree itself but knowing that
that's a tree is perception so seeing it
is the feeling knowing what it is or
calling it an oak tree
that is perception
how does that happen that is dependent
upon awareness when there is
consciousness that's only when you can
have feeling and perception
but when there is feeling of perception
consciousness is there so these three
like i said run around each other
so consciousness allows the mechanics of
mentality materiality to arise
which gives rise to the experience of
the sixth sense basis and contact and
feeling and perception and so on
so there is there is the six based
consciousnesses from in terms of the
experience that we're having here
but there's another way of understanding
consciousness that is rebirth from one
lifetime to the next
so that is the consciousness that arises
from the death so when the dying process
happens
after death the consciousness arises
dependent upon
formations
dependent upon sankharas
so what happens in the dying process
there is a life review or there are
images that arise or something happens
that the mind inclines towards and then
there is some remorse that arises or
there is some craving for that
experience something arises and that
gives rise to the formations
which fuel
or provide the fuel for the arising of
new consciousness consciousness to arise
that consciousness then descends
into a new mentality materiality in the
new existence
in the new life
so this is rebirth at the macro level
we're talking about rebirth on the micro
level and then rebirth on the macro
level
formations also are understood on the
micro level as that which provide bodily
experience mental experience and verbal
experience there is verbal formations
mental formations and bodily formations
bodily formations allow one to move
allow one to breathe make contact with
the body
verbal formations allow one to reflect
and think when one listens to something
and then to communicate what one is
perceiving
the expression of something is dependent
upon the arising of verbal formations
the way that you can feel and perceive
experiences
that is dependent upon mental formations
so these formations give rise to a
certain kind of consciousness
a certain kind of cognizing
through which
through which the nama rupa is
experienced through which mentality
materiality is experienced and
experiences the sixth sense spaces which
make contact with the outside world so
to speak
and then that gives rise to your
experience that is the feeling and the
perception
so contact is the key here contact gives
rise to a lot of different things
it gives rise to feeling it gives rise
to perceptions it gives rise to karma it
gives rise to intention it gives rise to
formations
so when we talk about dependent
origination there is a linear pattern
there is a cyclical pattern
and there is an interdependent pattern
where there's feedback loops happening
all the time
we'll explore that more tomorrow because
there's a lot to this to talk about
there but i just want to give you a good
introduction into
what dependent origination is about
dependent origination as we understand
it is about the second noble truth
how craving arises which gives rise to
suffering
then monks the bodhisattva vipassi
thought this consciousness turns back at
mind and body it does not go any further
the reason why he's saying this is
because he's looking at just one life
the way to access previous lives is
through
formations
so if you want to incline your mind to
previous lifetimes to past lives
you access the formations that arise
that's why
when you're in the eighth jhana when you
are in need of perception non-perception
you see certain things and you think
is this a memory or did this actually
happen or what's going on here because
you're starting to access the formations
or seeing the formations that can give
some clarity into a previous life into a
past life
into a past existence
so here right now all he's doing is
looking at the present
existence how that arises
to this extent there is birth and decay
there is death and falling into other
states and being reborn
so when we talk about being reborn right
we're talking about birth of action
birth of reaction
but rebirth also can be defined with the
same definition of insanity
that is doing the same thing over and
over again expecting a different result
so sometimes in your life you will come
across
similar kinds of people
similar kinds of situations
similar kinds of experiences in
different times of your life and this is
the rebirth of those situations the
rebirth of those experiences because
you've still held on to something you're
still
identifying with that process
so whenever there is
craving whenever there is clinging to
that experience whenever there is
becoming
accessing habitual tendencies and when
there is a bur whenever there is a birth
of reaction it will continue to further
proliferate those same experiences
until you learn to let go of them
until you have wisdom
and you eradicate ignorance become
mindful of that experience and see it
for what it actually is
which is that it is dependently arisen
therefore it is impermanent
therefore it is liable to cause
suffering and therefore it is not me
mine or myself
once you see it in that way
or once you understand it that way very
simply put not taking the experience
personally
then you won't have craving for it you
won't have a version for it then you're
not going to add to the karma of that
instead the karma dissipates
and you don't add to the repository to
be experienced at a future time as old
karma in that time
so dependent origination is also the
mechanics of karma
there is old karma and there is new
karma
old karma is all of that which you
experience from formations
all the way
to feeling
that is to say formations
consciousness mentality materiality sick
sense basis
contact and feeling
this is all old karma this is all the
stuff that you've inherited from
previous choices that you've made in the
past
right the way you are as a in terms of
the body
is because of certain choices you've
made
the way you see things the way you
perceive things is dependent on previous
choices that you've made
but then that gives rise to an
experience that is felt
that is the manifestation of that karma
how do you take that karma how do you
take that experience
do you say i like this and i want more
of it which then gives rise to further
clinging and further becoming further
birth of reactions and further renewal
of karma
so that it continues
or
on the other flip side of that if you
see it as being unpleasant
do you
push it away do you have resistance
against it you have aversion
and if you have a version that gives
rise to further clinging which then
gives further renewal of being through
becoming and further birth of karma so
you're adding to that repository of that
experience
so how do you contextualize this in the
meditation
when you meditate
you come across hindrances
what are hindrances
hindrances are feeling right mental
feeling
that means that they are old karma
hindrances arise because of certain
made in the past
and now they've snowballed
into a hindrance
so how do you deal with that hindrance
do you push against that hindrance do
you have resistance against it do you
want more of it do you ignore it which
is another form of the aversion
or do you acknowledge that here is a
hindrance
and you let it go with the right
intention
right intention is threefold
nay
nakama
loving-kindness and compassion necama
means renunciation
seeing this is not me not mine not
myself this hindrance arose because of
choices you made in the past but it's
not yours
it's not me it's not mine it's just a
hindrance
so how do you deal with that hindrance
do you
push against it
do you crave for it or do you use right
effort rooted in right view and right
intention and what is right effort
the six r's
right so
making doing the six r's
and letting go
of that hindrance is the way to deal
with it now it'll come up again sure
it'll come up again any other karma will
come up again but it will be
less effective
it will be less intense
eventually it might come up again a
couple more times maybe four or five
times but every time it comes up
dependent upon you letting it go using
the six hours every time it comes up it
becomes weaker and weaker and weaker
until it fades away
see for yourself you will see that
that's the case
so
mind and body conditions consciousness
and consciousness conditions mind and
body
mind and body conditions the sixth sense
spaces
the sixth sense basis condition contact
contact conditions feeling
feeling conditions craving
craving conditions clinging
clinging conditions becoming
becoming conditions birth
birth conditions aging and death sorrow
lamentation pain grief and despair
and thus this whole mass of suffering
takes its origin
and at the thought
there are rows in the bodhisattva
vipassi
the insight into things never realized
before
knowledge wisdom awareness and light
he understood the origin of suffering he
knew there was suffering
now he understood and realized for
himself
how
the suffering originates
seeing this wisdom arose
then he thought
what now being absent
does aging and death not occur
with the cessation of what comes the
cessation of aging and death
then as a result of the wisdom born of
profound collectedness the realization
dawned on him
birth being absent aging and death does
not occur
with the cessation of birth comes the
cessation of aging and death
with the cessation of what comes the
cessation of birth
with the cessation of
becoming habitual tendencies
comes the cessation of birth
with the cessation of
clinging
comes the cessation of habitual
tendencies with the cessation of
craving comes the cessation of clinging
with the cessation of
feeling comes the cessation of craving
with the cessation of
contact comes the cessation of feeling
with the cessation of
the sixth sense basis comes the
cessation of contact
with the cessation of
mind and body comes the cessation of the
sixth sense spaces
with the cessation of
consciousness
comes the cessation of mind and body
with the cessation of mind and body
comes a cessation of consciousness
so when he says this with the cessation
of mind and body comes the cessation of
consciousness he's talking about this
one lifetime right when this body is
gone
that consciousness will
no longer exist because it's dependent
upon the heat and vitality of this
particular body this mind and body
but consciousness is also dependent upon
formations
so when formation cease a certain kind
of consciousness also ceases
so formations that are rooted in craving
rooted in conceit
rooted in ignorance give rise to
consciousnesses
that are rooted in craving rooted in
conceit rooted in craving but if you
cease those formations
then so do those kinds of
consciousnesses
that is to say you no longer perceive or
cognize
through a consciousness that sees
through the lens of craving
through the lens of conceit through the
lens of ignorance
so what is what are those formations
dependent upon
so if those that consciousness is
dependent upon those formations what are
those formations dependent upon
ignorance and what is ignorance
not knowing the four noble truths
so not perceiving that here is suffering
not able to perceive that here is the
cause of this suffering not able to
perceive that here is
the cessation of the suffering and here
is the way leading to the cessation of
suffering
not being able to do that that gives
rise certain kinds of formations rooted
in craving clinging conceit
views and ignorance that gives rise to a
consciousness that completely
taints the way that you see the reality
of this world
it
shows everything from a craving mindset
from a clinging mindset from a conceited
mindset from an ignorant mindset
so how come ignorance arises why does
ignorance arise
it arises because you have lack of
mindfulness
you have lack of attention rooted in
reality
lack of being able to be attentive to
see what exactly this is that is to say
it is dependently arisen therefore it's
impermanent therefore liable to cause
suffering and therefore not to be
considered me mine or myself
every time you don't see that
you add to the repository of ignorance
that means you don't see the four noble
truths in every moment
and how do you see the four noble truths
in every moment
through mindfulness through
understanding through attention
how do you how do you apply the four
noble truths
right effort six hours
how is that the case
here you see suffering or you see
craving or you see clinging or you see
becoming
right any of these things you see you
see craving let's say you see craving
so that's the first noble truth there is
craving present
you see that you took this personal
that's the second noble truth you saw
the cause of that
then
you ceased it
you ceased the taking of it personal and
therefore you cease the craving
by applying the eightfold path
now when you
recognize that there is craving
you are seeing the first noble truth
when you release your attention from it
then you are experiencing the release
from the second noble truth right you're
letting go of that personalizing
and then when you relax you experience
nirota the third noble truth
you experience the cessation of craving
and you are applying right effort in
order to do that which means you're
applying the eightfold path
because the heart of the eightfold path
is right effort
it's only through right effort that you
go from
wrong view to right view wrong intention
to right intention
wrong speech to right speech wrong
action to right action
wrong livelihood to right livelihood
wrong mindfulness to right mindfulness
wrong collectedness to right
collectedness
so that's how you see the four noble
truths so every time you apply the six
r's you're taking a look for yourself
the four noble truths
you are understanding the first noble
truth
you're letting go of the second noble
truth you're experiencing the reality of
third noble truth and you're cultivating
and developing the fourth noble truth
every time you apply the six stars
and when you do that you're whittling a
way of ignorance when you whittle away
at ignorance you whittle away at the
formations that are rooted in craving
ignorance views conceit and clinging
when you let go of that
no new consciousness will arise that is
rooted in that craving conceit clinging
views and ignorance
and therefore whatever arises will not
give rise to further craving when you
see an experiment when you have an
experience and it won't give rise to
further clinging further becoming
further birth and further reaction or
further suffering
then the bodhisattva vipassi thought i
have found the insight
to enlightenment namely
by the cessation of mind and body
consciousness ceases
by the cessation of consciousness
mind and body ceases by the cessation of
mind and body
sense basis
by the cessation of the sixth sense
spaces
contact ceases by the cessation of
contact
failing ceases by the cessation of
feeling
craving ceases by the cessation of
craving
clinging ceases by the cessation of
clinging
habitual tendencies
by the cessation of habitual tendencies
birth ceases by the cessation of birth
the whole mass of suffering
aging and death sorrow lamentation pain
grief and disparities and thus this
whole mass of suffering ceases and at
the thought of cessation cessation
there are rows in the bodhisattva posse
with insight into things never realized
before
knowledge vision awareness and light
in other words he saw
the third noble truth
he experienced cessation he experienced
the third noble truth
the origin when he saw it when he heard
origin he understood this is the origin
of suffering that is the second noble
truth when he saw dependent origination
the cessation of dependent origination
when he experienced that
then he had the insight into the third
noble truth of the cessation of
suffering
and how did he do this he applied
the noble eightfold path he applied the
way
leading to the cessation of suffering so
he applied right view he applied right
intention he applied
right speech right action or that's
implied right livelihood using right
effort he had right mindfulness and
dependent upon that he had right
collectedness to be able to see
as and when it arose the arising of
suffering the dependent origination
cycle and the cessation of that
suffering the cessation of that
dependent origination cycle
then monks at another time the
bodhisattvi
saw the arising and passing away of the
five aggregates affected by craving and
clinging
when he talked about saw doesn't mean
that he reflected reflected on their
arising and passing
he actually saw for himself how this
form arises and passes away how feeling
arises and passes away how perception
arises and passes away how formations
arise and pass away and how
consciousness arises and passes away you
see the rising of consciousness the
rising and passing away of consciousness
and meditation
you see that when you notice that
through the process of feeling and
perception as well
so he's not contemplating these things
he's not reflecting on these things he's
seeing them as they actually are
how it arises and passes away meaning
he's understanding
the impermanent nature of these things
the impermanent nature of the five
aggregates and therefore their inherent
dukkha if they were taken to be personal
and therefore he understands that they
are impersonal so it says such is the
body such it's arising such it's passing
away
such is feeling such is its arising such
as its passing away
such is perception such its arising such
it's passing away
such are the formation such are there
arising such are there passing away
such is consciousness
such is its arising such is its passing
away
perceiving this you go through that
process
in meditation
the perception
of seeing this all dependently or vision
gives rise and perception that this is
impermanent
seeing that this is impermanent like
consciousness
you see that it is tiresome that it can
it is liable to cause dukkha liable to
cause suffering seeing this you see that
it's all impersonal that there's no
controller here
that it's not you who caused it it was
because of dependent upon a series of
causes and conditions
so you don't see this as me mine or
myself
another way to understand it is the
indic context the ancient indian context
was
they presupposed a certain kind of
school presuppose that there was a self
but that idea of a self
that there is a self
right they presuppose that and their
idea of that self was a self that is
permanent
a self that is all pervading a self that
is cause for joy
a self that is
always there in existence
right
so this self is the self of what we
consider what we would call brahman
in the hindu religion right this is
brahmanism
so this idea of a self is that it is
what is known as satchit ananda sat
means that it is there always
chit means that it is self and ananda
means that it is happy
right it is blissful
so
with this kind of idea with this kind of
touchstone
right of the idea of this is a self
the buddha then walks you through what
is not self he says
everything that is dependently arisen
means that it's not independent
the idea of their idea of a self is that
that which is independent of all causes
and conditions
but everything that we experience is
conditioned
this body is conditioned feeling is
conditioned perception is conditioned
formations are conditioned consciousness
is conditioned
which means it's impermanent
and if it's impermanent it's liable to
go away whether it's pleasant unpleasant
or neutral
therefore it can cause suffering one way
or the other and if it causes suffering
how could you take these to be self how
could you say that this is me this is
mine this is myself
so the buddha is actually giving a
direct answer to those who would say
that there is a self
and then
them equating the self with form or
feeling or perception or formations or
consciousness and he walks them through
it and says if these are all arising and
passing away
then they're impermanent from right from
right there you see that this cannot be
considered to be mine or me or myself
and
as he remained
aware of the arising and passing away of
the five aggregates affected by craving
and clinging
before long
his mind was freed from the corruptions
without remainder the reason why is
because
the perception of seeing this all
dependently arisen giving rise to the
perception of impermanence gives rise to
the perception of dukkha which gives
rise to the perception of anata which
gives rise to the perception or
experience of equanimity which gives
rise to disenchantment which gives rise
to dispassion which gives rise to
cessation
the cessation of all conditioned
experience which gives rise after you
come out to the destruction of the
taints and the knowledge and destruction
knowledge of the destruction of those
things
here ended the lesson
okay let's share some earth
may suffering ones be suffering free may
the fear strike fearless being 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 son of thus
[Music]