From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=JPuyvPUSEw8

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

[Music]

yeah so we're going to be reading

from

samyta nikaya 12.2

this is

called the analysis of dependent

origination

at salvati

because i will teach you dependent

origination and i will analyze it for

you

listen to that and attend closely i will

speak

yes venerable sir those beakers replied

the blessed one said this

and what because is dependent

origination

with ignorance as condition

formations come to be

with formations as condition

consciousness comes to be

with consciousness as condition

mentality materiality comes to be

with mentality materiality

sixth sense base has come to be

with the sixth sense spaces as

conditioned

contact comes to be with contact as

condition

feeling comes to be

with feeling as conditioned

craving comes to be with craving as

condition

clinging comes to be

with clinging as condition

habitual tendencies come to be with

habitual tendencies as condition

birth comes to be

with birth as condition

such as this whole mass of suffering

and what bikus is aging and death

the aging of the various beings in the

various orders of beings

they're growing old brokenness of teeth

grayness of hair

wrinkling of skin

decline of vitality

degeneration of the faculties

this is called aging

so in dependent origination the last

link is really jara marana

jara means to grow old

marana means death

so when we talk about aging it's a

decline of vitality in the body

it's a decline of decline of vitality in

the sixth sense basis

so decline of vitality in the sixth

sense basis would mean that

your eyes are growing weaker

maybe your ears are becoming

less sensitive to sound

uh you know you you can't uh necessarily

have the same physical energy as you did

before

this is a natural decline of the

physical system

and it happens to everyone

in terms of

the

the superficial aging

that might be

prevented or that might be covered up

you know with a wig or

with botox and things like that

but

beyond that

you know there's not much you can do in

terms of delaying aging now there is

some scientific scientific developments

where they're seeing how you could

lengthen your telomeres

telomeres

are those ends of your

dna that let you know how long

the cells can replicate for

and with every replication of a cell

there is uh

a shearing of the telomeres meaning

the telomeres aren't exactly the same as

they were before they're not perfect

copies and that means that there becomes

there that translates to

aging that translates to a decline in

the bodily functions in one way or the

other

so even if you are able to figure out

how to delay aging

there is still the aging of the mind the

aging of the brain that's another aspect

of it

so the aging of the body is one thing

and the decline of the mind is another

thing

that's a natural process too that can

happen

for some beings for some people they

experience the decline of their mental

faculties

and that's just a natural process of the

aging factor

so

you can't six our aging away

i wish you could right i mean just use

the six hours and oh i see a gray hair

here i'm gonna six fire that away

replace it with black hair

right

but what you can six are is the

identification with the body

the fear of aging

the fear of death the fear that

something is going to happen to you the

identification with the body

causes craving an aversion to your eyes

you see your self in the mirror you see

a few wrinkles what comes up in the form

of thoughts does it come up as

oh this is just a natural process this

is happening to the body or does it come

up as

oh no i'm growing old you know

that oh no i'm growing old is aversion

is the inability to accept reality as it

actually is

so you can six-hour that you can let go

of the identification process of that

the passing away of the various beings

from the various orders of beings

they are perishing

breakup disappearance mortality

death completion of time

and the breakup of the aggregates the

laying down of the carcass

this is called death

so death that is marana from pali

death is a natural part of life

that is a natural process of life

whatever arises

ceases

when you were born you were born with an

expiry date right everybody who was born

was born with some kind of an expiry

date for this body

and so the dissolution of the body is

death just like you can't six are aging

away

you can't six our death away

right death is just it will happen

whenever it will happen

and the dissolution of the body the

dissolution of the five aggregates the

solution of the sense faculties

this is the dying process this is death

now we know in terms of medical science

and in terms of the medical definition

of death it's understood that it is the

cessation of the heartbeat

it's a cessation of brain activity in

the cessation of respiration

there can be another way of looking at

this process this dying process that

might be helpful and beneficial

if you look at it in this way which is

when the body is

medically dead that is to say there's no

more respiration going on

there is no more brain activity going on

there's no more

heartbeat going on nothing's going on

the sense faculties are still aware the

sense faculties are so functioning to a

point

and the

the four elements are still present

that is to say as the as the

body unwinds

as the body is dissolving the

dissolution of the aggregates are

happening

when it comes to the four elements

the first element to go away or diminish

is the air element

the second element is heat or

temperature or the fire element

the third is the water element and the

fourth is finally the earth element

in terms of the sense faculties how they

unwind

which is to say even after somebody is

dead there is still

some activity going on

in the diminishing of the body

there are there are still present some

sense faculties going on dependent upon

the contact that happens

what that means is

the first thing to go away is the sense

of smell

the second thing to go away is a sense

of taste

the third thing to go away is the sense

of

touch

before sorry the sight the fourth thing

to go away is a sense of touch

the fifth thing to go away is the sense

of hearing and the sixth

is the mind itself

which means when a person is dead

technically dead medically dead

you can still uplift their mind

by speaking good things

to that person even though they're not

breathing

even though they're not alive

you can still uplift them and guide them

towards a better existence towards a

better rebirth

right

so that means that once the hearing goes

away then finally what fades away is

the mind itself consciousness

that's why then at that point whatever

consciousness arises if it does arise

dependent upon

craving or aversion or identification

that will then give rise to a new

rebirth give you give rise to a new

existence in which that consciousness

will descend into a new namarupa into a

new mentality materiality

and what bekus is birth

the birth of the various beings into the

various orders of beings

they're being born

descent into the womb

production the manifestation of the

aggregates

the obtaining of the sense bases

this is called birth

so now let's understand birth in two

levels there is the birth of a being

into a new existence

into a new life

and as that being is starting to develop

let's say in a human birth they start to

develop the aggregates they start to

develop that is to say the form

aggregate the feeling aggregate the

perception aggregate the formations

aggregate and then finally the

consciousness aggregate

so they become aware they understand

what's going on

the formations that are there present in

that fetus

that that arise

are present so there is some kind of

experience going on in the womb and then

when they are born

they come with some

level of understanding

what's going on in terms of

the sixth sense basis it starts to come

up

one of the first things that the infant

recognizes is smell

right

the smell of

the mother the smell of this person

seems to be very nice to me so i'm going

to recognize that as a

pleasant smell a pleasant experience

eventually they start to develop the

touch they develop the taste of course

they develop the hearing they develop

the

the sight

so when an infant first sees things

around them when they're using their

eyes

there's no real memory of what they're

seeing as such right they're coming into

being here in this new life so

everything is just this collage of

colors and forms

and as they start to create the world

around them based on

their other senses now they start to

develop what this world is

right now they start to create

understand this is what my mother looks

like this is what my father looks like

this is my name this is so and so and so

on so this also is a process of birth

because birth is happening in every

moment

the birth of the sense faculties is

actually happening in every moment

right dependent upon your choices

how you choose to use the sense spaces

how you choose to consume things through

the sense basis that determines what how

this next arising of the sun space

happens

the next arising of that sun space

then is the birth of that sun space even

if it's declining

then there is the understanding of birth

of action

so this is at the level of day to day

in terms of your present existence

the birth of action and the birth of

reactions same thing really the birth of

new karma

you cannot six r away the action itself

the birth of action itself the way to

look at dependent origination is like a

river

each aspect

of dependent origination is a whirlpool

right and there are interconnections

going on in between these and it will

explore this

but as you go

uh down the river

there comes a point where there's a bend

right and that's the bend of the

waterfall

the bend is the becoming

but then when

you reach the waterfall that's the birth

of action

which means

you cannot once the birth of action

happens you cannot recall it

you cannot recall what you just said to

someone you can't take it back

you can't recall the bodily action that

you produced you can't take it back

you can't take back the thought that you

thought right the thinking process that

just happened

so that's the birth of mental action

verbal action bodily action

so you can't six hour that

it's once you reach becoming and then go

into actually the birth of action

doing the action

you can't go back up the waterfall

and what beku's is existence or

becoming or habitual tendencies

there are these three kinds of existence

sense fear sense fear existence

form sphere existence

and formless sphere existence this is

called existence

so this process of bhava this process of

becoming

is dependent on previous choices that

you make

there's an entire there are two sutas

that talk about bhava the bhava sutra

they're both called the bhava suta the

first law of suta and the second brother

and ananda asked

the buddha

what is existence what is this process

of becoming

and so the buddha says if there was no

karma to produce an existence in

a sense

since fear realm

or in a formed sphere realm or in a

formless fear realm would there be birth

there there would there be becoming

there there would not be

because there's no intention there

when there are intentions that is to say

formations

rooted in certain kinds

of action that is to say previous

choices you've made

then give rise to certain sankharas give

rise to certain formations and if

there's craving in there

or if there's conceit in there or if

there's ignorance in there

it can give rise to further karma

that karma then can determine or give

rise to a specific kind of existence

to simplify that what that means is

if your

choices are rooted in certain kinds of

actions that are unwholesome for example

rooted in anger

rooted in fear

rooted in

guilt rooted in hatred rooted in craving

rooted in greed

it can give rise to an existence in the

sense fear realms

which is

matching that kind of

formations or those sets of formations

in other words if you have a psychology

in your mind mindset

of being always greedy

always looking for things or being

jealous or envious of people

then

it could give rise to a hungry ghost

kind of psychology

which means that you could

go into a hungry ghost existence

if you are someone who is

who delights in the suffering of others

you know who delights in harming others

who delights in somehow delights in

being hateful

being angry being upset being violent

that can give rise to an existence that

is hellish in nature

torturous in nature and so on and so

forth if you're somebody who's

if the mindset is something that's very

animalistic

always wanting to fall asleep

always looking for a couple of things

you know

do i have my comforts

do i do i have a good place to sleep

do you have enough food

then you can become like sukkah the cat

right

[Music]

you become animalistic

in nature

so that can give rise to some kind of an

animal existence and so on on the other

hand if you're generous

if you keep the precepts

and if you're helpful

if you have compassion

if you help other people you spread the

generosity that you receive

then you can have a mindset that is of a

deva

someone who is always generous someone

who is always uplifted somebody who's

always

looking out for the best in others

then that can give rise to deva like

psychology so in other words you can

have heaven on earth when you have that

kind of

a psychology when you're always generous

when you're always keeping the precepts

when you see the best in people when

you're forgiving when you're

compassionate when you're helpful and so

on

well you're on the way because the

arahat so you could still have the

taints right you could still have the

identification with the five aggregates

right but then let's say you're in jhana

so now we were talking about the sense

fear existences

what about when you when you go into the

first jhana

when you go into the second gen when you

go into the third jana when you go into

the fourth jhana what about then

then you start to develop the formations

that are rooted in the experience of

that first jhana or the second jhana or

the third jhana or the fourth jana

and that can give rise to a mindset

that's always in the first jhana

always in the second journal always in

the third gen always in the fourth genre

and that can give rise to an existence

in any of these brahmalokas

likewise with the arupa-janas right if

you are

in infinite space if you are an infinite

consciousness if you are in nothingness

if you are in neither perception or

non-perception if you continue to

develop mastery over those

and then you have attachment to those

that can give rise for craving for that

genre

right craving for that existence and

that can give rise to a psychology

rooted in those particular formless

realms

and that can give rise to becoming into

that particular kind of existence

now that's on the macro level that we're

talking about

what about becoming in terms of habitual

tendencies on a day-to-day

moment-to-moment level

when we talk about habitual tendencies

you can call them also habitual

emotional reactions that is to say

it's a library or it's a it's a

repository

of certain ways that you react to

certain situations

so when you see your mother

right

dependent on all the different

experiences you've had of her you

project this idea about her

and so you react or you respond

accordingly as she acts with you

or a friend

let's say you haven't seen a high school

friend for a long time since the last

time you saw them was when you graduated

so the only memory you have of them is

based on what you remember when they

were in high school

so there's all of these ideas you have

about them

you don't realize that let's say 15 20

years have gone by that they have

changed that they have grown that they

have turned into a different person but

when you see them you expect them to act

a certain way you expect them to be a

certain way these are your habitual

tendencies

to react to them accordingly

and then there's that cognitive

dissonance you realize oh wait this

person

is no longer the same person that i

thought they were in high school

right

and then there's uh new habitual

tendencies that arise so habitual

tendencies or habitual emotional

reactions

are those kinds of things you would say

do or think

based on how you perceive those things

right so if you

uh

you know if you had an association that

on

friday it's good to wear the color of

red

because that's when

you know everything works out perfectly

right so you create these associations

and now when something happens on friday

you say okay i'm going to react

wonderfully on friday because you

already created this idea

that friday is a good day and i gotta

wear red on a friday

right so this is another kind of

habitual tendency how you react how you

respond the birth of action

is dependent upon the library of

expectations

and ideas and associations that you

fill up

at the link of becoming

it's also where the sense of self the

sense of identity

is fully formed

dependent upon the clinging dependent

upon the craving and so on and so forth

so the sense of self the atha bhava

as it's called

the atabhava patilaba which means the

becoming of a self

is this in this process of bhava in this

process of becoming

so

that's where you say

i am such and such a person so i expect

certain such treatment

right and so you will act a certain way

depending upon that as soon as that is

no longer there how do you respond how

do you react

you can react with aversion and anger

and be upset

or whatever the case might be

so that is dependent upon the process of

becoming the process of habitual

tendencies so that there is

a few things

habitual emotional reactions to

situations that you've always

encountered before the associations

you've made

and then

the

the identity that you create for

yourself dependent upon those choices

and experiences

and what beku's is clinging

there are these four kinds of clinging

clinging to sensual

clinging to views

clinging to rules and vows

cling clinging to a doctrine of self

this is called clinging

so clinging to sensual pleasures

clinging to sensual pleasure so let's

first figure out what does clinging mean

so we understand we'll get to craving

but we understand craving is that

mindset that says

i want this

or i don't want this or i am this so

it's the craving for something

the aversion the pushing away of

something or the identification of

something

clinging

is digging your heels deeper in right

it's the

i like this i want this because

of so and so and so

because i deserve it

and because of this because of that

because because anytime you catch

yourself in your mind saying i like this

well i like it because

when you catch yourself saying because

know that that's a process of clinging

clinging is also a process of

association

when you go to the supermarket right you

i don't know how it is now because

i don't really go to the supermarket too

often i went to walmart for the first

time the other day

you know i went two times

but i didn't really notice much but if

you did notice when you go to the

supermarket

you'll see that on the lower shelves

like if you go to the cereal aisle right

you'll see on the lower shelves all the

colorful cereals there why is that

for kids

the kids look at that and they associate

those colors with that cereal oh i

really like that i really want that

when you look at advertising right how

how does advertising work

whether it's written advertising or

you know visual advertising it appeals

to the senses

it's all about appealing to the senses

making associations

right i look at a bmw advertisement and

i see this wonderful guy with a

woman next to him and it's like yeah i

want that bmw because i want to be that

kind of person

right that association process is

clinging

so the rationalizing of why you like

something

is clinging and the association of

that process is also clinging

so when we talk about clinging to

sensual pleasures it's this

rationalizing of

i want this particular ice cream or i

want this particular food because

you know i remember having it at this

time and i really felt good about it or

whatever it might be or what about your

favorite kind of music

the favorite kind of music you grew up

is amazing

the music that the younger generation

listens to is crap

right

that's so obvious huh that's obvious

yeah that's obvious exactly

but think about it it's because of that

time period that you grew up listening

to that music

right when you were a teenager or

whatever it was

when you grew up you listened to a

certain kind of song and that's when you

had your first kiss or this or that and

you associate that music that you

associate those genres with those

sensual experiences

that's the clinging aspect

right and then rationalizing later why

you like that music

is also the clinging aspect

what about clinging to views

so we're talking about specifically

clinging to wrong views

there are these 62 types of wrong views

and we're not going to go through any of

them so

but there are certain kinds of views

wrong views associated with

the wrong path

associated with the path that does not

lead to nibana that the path that leads

to further suffering

so in the buddha's time

you had all of these different

ascetics who practiced all of these

different kinds of practices

right

and they were all dependent upon certain

kinds of views

you had a group of people who were

materialists this is one kind of view

who are like

nihilists in the sense that there is

only this body there is only these

six sense spaces so enjoy yourself right

enjoy life to the fullest

this sense of materialism was tied with

the idea that the self was just the body

and once the body goes so does the self

but we understand that to be wrong view

because we understand that there's

something beyond the body which is the

mind itself

so when you have the experience of jhana

you experience a greater pleasure than

sensual pleasure

and you see that it can't just be this

five physical sense basis

the five physical senses that are the

self

that's that's wrong view

then there is the view that says that

everything is eternal

now this particular view says that there

is some kind of self that is eternal or

some kinds of elements that are eternal

but that completely violates the

doctrine of the buddha when we

understand for ourselves

the impermanent nature of all things

that are conditioned

we see the arising and passing away of

sensations as and when they come so how

could they be eternal

we understand that there was a sense of

self here which was one way and a sense

of self here which was a different way

right when you grow up in your life

how many different millions and

trillions of cells have you developed in

the form of a personality or a sense of

identity

so the idea that the self is eternal

is a wrong view is a wrong type of view

then there is another type of view that

talks about fatalism

that everything is predetermined

it's like a ball of string

that you unfurl that you unravel and so

everything is already determined there's

nothing to do

your suffering is

waited out for you

your even your cessation of suffering

and the attainments that you get also

are already predetermined for you

if that was the case and why make any

effort at all right you just wait

just wait and it'll happen to you

but we understand through the

understanding of karma

that that can't be karma means choice

karma means intention

every given moment every given present

moment is an opportunity to go one way

or the other

so you cannot say everything is purely

deterministic

things are dependent on previous causes

and conditions which were dependent on

previous choices

so there is a choice in every moment to

either incline to the wholesome or

inclined to the unwholesome

incline towards the noble eightfold path

or inclined to that which causes further

suffering

so the idea of fatalism

is a wrong kind of view that's another

kind of attachment to your view

then there is the view that says that

the mind and the body are purified and

you get to nibbana through the process

of purifying the mind and body

and specifically this is a view that was

by the jain community so we talk about

not the putta who was there in who's

mentioned in the different sutas

as a person who subscribed to the jain

idea so this idea of jainism is that

there is a soul that is eternal

and that it picks up karmic particles

all throughout different lifetimes

and the reason why it does that is

because it it has karma because it

creates certain kinds of action

but that doesn't that doesn't matter

whether it's intentional action or

non-intentional action every action

even if you uh stepped on a bug

by accident you're going to have to

suffer the consequences of that as well

so the idea is that in order to purify

the soul you have to purify the karmic

particles the karmic dust that you

accumulate

and you do that through a process of

purifying the body through ascetic

practices

the buddha already tried this

almost starving himself to death and

doing this and that and whatnot right

so this view

has the idea that when you do this

you're burning away your karma

you're burning away at the karmic

particles

but the buddha actually had a question

to these

ideas he said

how do you know how much

karma you've burnt

what is the effect of that how do you

see for yourself that you've burned so

much karma and so much karma is still

left

right is there some kind of bank balance

of karma that you can access and

understand

so this idea this view says that

in order for us to experience salvation

in order for us to experience nibana you

have to purify the body through ascetic

practices

the buddha having already done that

realize that this is not the way

neither is being too luxurious nor being

ascetic the way there is a middle path

there is a way which is the eightfold

path

right the middle way of understanding

that

you need to have the requisites in order

to sustain the body

so that you can meditate properly

right you need enough nutrition you need

you need enough food you need enough

clothing you need enough shelter and so

on so that you can continue on with your

practice

and so the idea there was that the karma

is burned out

just by doing this purification

processes

but the buddha says and ananda

representing the buddha and one sudden

says

that the way that karma is dissipating

is at the level of feeling

when you develop the precepts when you

keep the precepts your mind becomes

purified

right your bodily actions become

purified your speech becomes purified

this is a process of purification and so

when you develop mind when you develop

through bhavana mental development

through accessing somali through having

the process of going through the jhanas

gaining insight

then you're able to see

in that moment as feeling arises

what it actually is

which is that this is not me this is not

mine this is not myself

seeing it in this way you don't add to

further karma

instead that karma dissipates we talked

about this a little yesterday which is

when you have a hindrance that's old

karma that's a feeling but if you sticks

are it if you use right effort if you

let go of it

then the hindrance becomes weaker and

weaker and weaker until it dissipates

that's the way you know that karma is

dissipating that every time you respond

to a situation in wisdom

rooted in the eightfold path you're not

producing any new karma but rather that

the old karma that arises

starts to cease starts to diminish

starts to dissipate

so how many views was that is anyone

keeping count

four views

so one was materialism

one was eternalism one was fatalism

one was purifying the body right

there is another view

which is the view that

uh

this is known as the eel wrigglers

those people who are skeptics

who say well i i don't subscribe to one

view or the other

but they do it out of the fear of having

to

uh explain

their viewpoint

right to come to a certain kind of

conclusion so they neither deny nor

confirm that there was a buddha they

either deny nor confirm that there is a

path to nibana they neither confirm or

deny

that there was

or there is uh a self or not a self

so they're like you know we don't know

we're not sure you know it could be this

it could be that

these are the skeptics that are on the

fence

so this kind of view obviously is not a

view to hold because it can cause a lot

of confusion it can cause a lot of

restlessness

and cause a lot of doubt

so that's five views i'm missing one

view

let's see

i think it could be nihilism let's see

here

i would think so but uh there might be a

little distinction let's see here

materialism can lead to nihilism but i

think it's slightly different

oh yeah this is the view of a guy named

let's see

well okay so i'll just go through it

briefly there's one that is from purana

kasapa

who says that

your majesty by the doer or instigator

of a thing by one who cuts or causes to

be cut by one whom burns or causes to be

burned by one who causes grief and

weariness by one who agitates or causes

agitation who causes life to be taken

or that which is not given to be taken

commits burglary

commits robbery lies in ambush commits

adultery and tells lies

no evil is done

if with a razor sharp wheel one were to

make of this earth one single mass and

heap of flesh there would be no evil as

a result of that

no evil would accrue

so this is the idea that nothing matters

yeah

so there's one is materialism and the

idea is

whatever i do has no effect there's no

such thing thing as karma no effect of

karma after death yeah

yeah

so

that's the other wrong view but

obviously we know for ourselves the

choices we make

have a certain kind of effect

good bad or indifferent

wholesome unwholesome that always has

some kind of effect

then there is a clinging to right view

so we talk about clinging to the wrong

different the different types of wrong

view

but there's also a clinging to right

view

right clinging to the dharma itself

by clinging to the dharma like a raft

once you have the raft you'll reach the

other shore

you carry the raft with you onward

so that is the clinging to the dhamma

being pride a prideful being proud that

i'm a buddhist or

i'm a twin practitioner or whatever it

might be

the clinging to the dharma itself

that's a clinging to views

so when does the clinging to sensual

pleasures go away for someone

when they become a non-gun they no

longer have any craving for sensual

experiences so they won't have clinging

to sensual experiences what about the

clinging to wrong views

stream entry

soda panna

because now they have come to the right

view and understood

that oh this is the way leading to

nibano

so they let go of all the other views

but then when you become an arhat you

let go even clinging to the dharma

itself so you go from wrong view to

right view

to no attachments to any of you even

right for you

it's like

when you graduate out of college you

just leave all your textbooks behind

yeah exactly yeah why would you bring up

all of those textbooks with you right

oh because you paid a lot of money

[Laughter]

you cling to them

uh clinging to rules and vows

so this clinging to rules and vows

rights and rituals

uh there's a few ways to understand it

number one

the clinging to rights and rituals with

the idea that they will lead you to

nibana

right so there's nothing wrong with if

you enjoy lighting a candle or

uh whatever it might be that you do

right just to make you feel good just

keep to keep you uplifted that's one

thing but if you're going to do that

with the idea of you know praying to a

particular deity like please give me

this much money or please uh do this for

me or please do that for me

all of those things are clinging to

rights and rituals as well

so you know even the idea of luck

right for example i said you know when

you're on it's a friday so it's my lucky

day today i'm wearing red so that's my

lucky color something good is going to

happen because of that right the

associations you make from that

that idea of luck

is in direct violation of

uh the buddha's doctrine of karma

right

if you were to talk about luck you could

say it is insofar as

drawing off the interest

of your merits

you've done good deeds in the past

you've done good merit and you have had

merit in the past and because of that

because you were generous

you become wealthy

because you were compassionate

other people are compassionate towards

you so it's not just out of nowhere

asking for a lot of money that you get a

lot of money you become generous and you

start to develop

a process in which you get more money

you get more abundance or whatever it

might be

but the idea that you have to carry a

four-leaf clover

or you have to do this particular

ceremony in order to get this or in

order to get that or whatever it might

be

that's all clinging to rights and

rituals

that's a misunderstanding of

or misguided understanding of

what karma is

so that clinging to rights and rituals

with the idea that it will take you to

nibana goes away when you become a

stream enter when you become a sort of

partner because now you realize

there's no other way to nibana but

following the eightfold path

following the the way that the buddha

has laid it out for you

you can't beseech some kind of deva you

can't besiege some kind of brahma oh

please give me a nirvana you can't do

that right you have to make the effort

and then clinging to a doctrine of self

that is clinging to

a idea of some kind of self

the person or the belief in a personal

self

there are these 20

self views

what 20.

so there's the five aggregates right we

have form we have feeling

we have perception

we have formations and we have

consciousness

multiplied by four different kinds of

self-view are the 20 different kinds of

self-you

so that is the five aggregates are self

the self is in the five aggregates

the five aggregates are in the self

or that the self is

separate from the five aggregates

so any of these five aggregates so the

idea that form is self or self is in

form a form is in self or self is apart

from form likewise with the other

aggregates so the five aggregates

multiplied by the four different wrong

self-views

equals the 20 doctrines of self

so when you become a sort of pun if

somebody becomes a sort of hana they let

go of the belief in the personal self

because they see those that these five

aggregates are dependently arisen

they'll still have conceit they might

still they'll they'll still identify

with these five aggregates in one way or

another but on a

intellectual level on a experiential

level just because they understand

that there is just an arising and

passing away of causes and conditions

they won't ascribe

a sense of self to anything that is

conditioned

and ultimately also to anything that is

unconditional that is to say nibbana

also is

not a self

so just to repeat and what bekus is

clinging there are these four kinds of

clinging clinging to sensual pleasures

clinging to views clinging to rights and

rituals and clinging to

a doctrine of self

this is called clinging

and what bikus is craving

there are these six classes of craving

craving for forms

craving for sounds

craving for orders craving for tastes

craving for tactile objects

and craving for mental phenomena

this is called craving

is talking about here

is

specifically

uh

sensual craving

right there's different kinds of craving

also there's

uh sensual craving there's craving for

existence and there's craving for

non-existence

so we talk about craving for sounds

craving for forms craving for

odors craving for taste craving for

tactile object craving for mental

phenomena

that's sensual craving

but there is also a version there

oftentimes they just talk about craving

but craving also means aversion and also

means identification identifying with

something

so the the craving there is the

i like it mind i want it

mindset the aversion there is i don't

like this i push this away and then the

neutral the

the the feeling that arises gives rise

to i am this

that's another kind of creating the

identification with the process

so craving is understood as tightness

intention it manifests as tightness and

tension

whenever there is this agitation

this reactivity to an experience

this emotional reactivity this tightness

this tightening of the mind

tightening intention in the body

there there is craving whenever that is

present

so how do you let go of that craving

six hours right effort

how do you let go of becoming

six hours

how do you let go of clinging

six hours

how does that happen so

in the case of becoming in the case of

habitual tendencies you'll notice oh

here's a thought arising where i'm about

to react

and you can stop yourself from reacting

and

let that go six are that

then you six are that whole momentum so

that there is no birth

of reaction that causes further

suffering

what about clinging

you notice that there arises this

association or this process of

rationalizing why you like something

digging your heels deep into something

right

when you notice oh there's a further

tightening of further tension tensing up

and you six are that then you let go of

that entire momentum that could cause

further suffering

when you notice that there is this

tightness and tension which says i want

that

or i don't want that or i am that and

you recognize it and you release it you

relax the tension

you smile you come back

and you let go completely of that whole

momentum that causes

suffering

what about craving for existence

what is craving for existence what is

craving for

non-existence craving for existence is

i want to be in this jannah

i want to get into the fourth jhana

there's a difference here the incl

inclination of the mind towards nirvana

is chanda

that's good enough that's actually

really good you have a mind that's

inclined towards nibana towards the

cessation of suffering but obsessing

over it

right saying all right any minute now

you know

right that's the craving

that's the craving for existence craving

for non-existence so another kind of

craving for existence would be

i want to be a millionaire or i want to

be the best meditator at this retreat or

i want to be this i want to be

when you say i want to be

or you have that thought i want to be

that's craving for existence

i don't want to be that's a craving for

non-existence

right i'm in this situation i don't want

to be here i don't want to be in this

situation

that's the craving for non-existence

we'll come to it soon just keep an

eye out of it

so

another way of looking at how why we

relieve

tension tightness and tension is to

understand the mechanics of how this

process works

so i'll use the mundane example of

chocolate cake okay

so here you see chocolate cake that's

the contact there's the contact the

chocolate cake meets the eye and then

arising from there is the eye

consciousness and so now there is a

seeing of the chocolate cake

now i see that chocolate cake

and i say that looks great that's a

pleasant feeling that's a pleasant

experience

there arises this underlying tendency to

crave and i have this tightness and

tension

now when i eat the chocolate cake

right i feel satisfied i feel relief

i feel relaxed

but what if there was a way

for you to feel relief and relaxed

without having to indulge in that

craving

so when you recognize the craving you

can let go of it

with the six hours by using right effort

right by using and utilizing the

six hours

experiencing the relaxation experiencing

the relief right there and then and not

having to indulge in that craving what

does that do

that deconditions that mindset that says

i have to crave and indulge in my

craving in order to experience relief

and reconditions the mind to realize

that i can be

happy and content

without anything

and what bikus is feeling

there are these six classes of feeling

feeling born of eye contact feeling born

of ear contact feeling born of nose

contact feeling born of tongue contact

feeling born of body contact feeling

born of mind contact this is called

feeling

the buddha has described feeling in so

many different ways

up to 108 different kinds of feeling

how did he do this he took the six

classes of feeling right

the seeing the hearing

and the smelling the tasting

the touching

and then the thinking

he took that

and then he multiplied that by three

that is

pleasant unpleasant

neither pleasant nor unpleasant

then he took that so now that's 18. then

you multiply that

by 3

that is

the past present and future

so now you have 54.

then you multiply that by two

the mundane and the supramundane

that is to say here and

in the mental experience

or rather you could say it from a

different

perspective

the the worlding how the worlding feels

it and experiences it or how one who

is a noble one experiences

so now in feeling

there are

certain underlying tendencies that arise

there are seven underlying tendencies

there's the underlying tendency to crave

the underlying tendency towards aversion

the underlying tendency towards

ignorance the underlying tendency

towards

doubt the underlying tendency to words

views the underlying tendencies towards

becoming and the underlying tendency

towards conceit

so when a pleasant experience experience

arises when a pleasant feeling arises

it's pleasant to you it's pleasant to

the mind it's pleasant too it's just a

pleasant experience

if you look at that beyond what it

actually is which is that it is actually

impermanent therefore holding on to it

would not make sense and therefore it

should not be considered as me mine or

myself

if that is not there that is to say if

you are not mindful of that feeling if

you are not mindful

with attention

rooted in reality that is yoni samman

sakara

if you don't have that

then there can be an underlying tendency

to crave for that pleasant experience

and so when the underlying tendency is

there there is full-blown craving i want

that so i saw the chocolate cake it's a

pleasant experience of seeing chocolate

cake and i could leave it right there

and then say okay that's just chocolate

crepe cake that's great

or i can look at it and say oh i wonder

how i wonder what that would taste like

you know to me

that feeling that experience that

underlying tendency to crave and then i

want that i look for it i grasp at it

then there's the underlying tendency to

aversion there's an unpleasant feeling

right

you were listening to all of this

construction noise in the morning that

could be

uh a distraction to the mind it was an

unpleasant feeling what happened in the

mind did it arrive that what what arose

did it arise in the sense of

here is this distracting

sound

and now i don't like it

right and so there's the underlying

tendency to have aversion towards can

you keep your question for later

yeah okay

so

the underlying tendency to aversion

arises and then there's full-blown

aversion

then there's the underlying tendency

towards ignorance so what is ignorance

we talked about that yesterday

ignorance is not knowing the four noble

truths

so that means not being aware of the

vulnerable truths of that feeling

not understanding that this feeling is

dependently arisen

therefore if i crave or if i take it

personal it can cause suffering

so if i just see it as it actually is

then there won't be further suffering

that's the underlying tendency to

ignorance which does not do that

it does not see it as being dependently

arisen

the underlying tendency towards views

that is views about what this feeling is

or what this feeling isn't this feeling

is permanent this feeling is mine this

feeling is myself and so on

the conceit the identification with that

feeling

the doubt this feeling gives rise to

doubt in what way

it gives rise to doubt about what is

wholesome or unwholesome

it gives

rise to doubt about what is right view

and wrong view

it gives right it gives rise to doubt

about the buddha

one way or the other

then the underlying tendency towards

power towards becoming

you have an experience and you say i

want to become that

you see somebody else being wealthy

i want to be wealthy as well

you see somebody being a great meditator

i want to be a great meditator too again

that's a wholesome

uh

inclination that's chanda but then

obsessing your mind over okay how you

know i really want to be that now

there's a competitiveness there in the

first genre i'm going to get to the

second genre they're in the third genre

i'm going to get to the fourth channel

you know and so on and so forth so that

they're comparing attitude

right that's rooted in the conceit and

rooted in the bhava and the desire to

become

so just very simply put when there's a

pleasant feeling when there's an

unpleasant feeling when there is a

neutral feeling

how do you take that feeling do you take

it to be me mine or myself do you take

it personally

anytime you take a feeling personally

there can arise

further craving

identification or aversion

so can you six hour feeling away

no

you're experiencing pain in the body can

you six hour the pain away

but you can six to r the underlying

tendencies

you can six are

the aversion that arises you can six r

the underlying tendency of uh towards

craving

from a rising

you can six r the ignorance by seeing

this as being impermanent by seeing this

as

liable to cause suffering if i take it

personally and

that it is not me mine or myself

so you can six r the underlying

tendencies that come from the experience

that arise

when there is the experience but you

cannot sticks are the experience away if

you could sixth already experience away

you would have cessation of perception

feeling and consciousness

right because then you completely six

our everything asics are this entire

existence away it's not possible

because it's all dependently arisen

based on causes and conditions there's

contact happening

and therefore it is just impersonal

contact but if you take it personally

then you can have craving then you can

have a version so what are you six

houring away your six aring

your initial reaction to that experience

if it's rooted in craving if it's rooted

in aversion if it's rooted in

identification

so when you're sitting for a long time

and there's pain

you can't six-hour the pain

but you can six-r your reaction to the

pain you can six r and soften

the tightness and tension around that

pain

and let that go

and what beku's is contact there are

these six classes of contact

eye contact ear contact nose contact

tongue contact body contact mind content

this is called contact

so contact it comes from the word

in

pali

which comes from the word spersh in

sanskrit

and that means the initial touching of

something

so that

that point of touching

that is to say the light the photons hit

the retina and there is contact there

right there is that meeting of these two

which gives rise to eye consciousness

and these three constitute eye contact

when sound waves vibrations in the air

hit the ear

and it picks it up that picking up is

contact there is the joining the the

meeting of the year with the sound

and then dependent on that there arises

your consciousness

these three constitute

your contact

likewise with nose contact tongue

contact body contact mind contact

so contact is the initial

uh initial

joining of these three right and then

that gives rise to an experience gives

rise to the feeling to the veda now

so you can't six hour contact away it

just arises it just happens dependent on

previous causes and conditions

so the only thing you can really six are

are the underlying tendencies the

craving

the clinging

and the becoming the habitual tendencies

and what beekus are the sixth sense

bases

the i base the year base the nose base

the tongue base the body base the mind

base

these are called the sixth sense bases

so that is just basically the eye

the the eyes the ears the nose the

tongue the body and the mind

so these are the ayathanas as it's known

in pali it's the base for each of these

six senses

sometimes they will talk about the

internal sense base and the external

sense space so sometimes they'll say

there are 12 of these

sense bases and what they're talking

about when they say internal they're

really talking about the eyes the ears

the nose the tongue the body and the

mind when they talk about external sense

bases they're talking about

the object of contact that is to say for

the i it's form for the year it's sound

for the nose it's smell for the tongue

it's taste for the body it's touch the

the tactile feeling experience

and for the mind it's thought it's a

mind object whatever that might be

now everything from

formations well you can take into

account ignorance too but

formations consciousness mentality

materiality contact

sorry sixth sense basis contact and

feeling

all of that

is a cascading of old karma

so the buddha talked about karma in two

ways there's old karma

which is what you inherit

as a result of previous intentions and

choices

all of that is basically to be felt and

experienced at vedana

as an experience

new karma is craving clinging becoming

and birth of reaction

the reason being is because

here you have a choice either to take it

personally and react in a way that

causes craving and clinging and so adds

to the repository of that karma to be

experienced as old karma at a future

point

or

you have the ability to see it for what

it is let go of any identification with

it and let the experience happen and

dissipate

so there's no clutching to it to add

further feel to it that's why again

using the example of the hindrance

the hindrance is old karma do you crave

for it do you

have a version against it do you have

identify identification with it

or do you just see it for what it is and

six are it

see if you six that if you let go of

your reaction to it

then

that hindrance will weaken

and it won't when it arises again it

will be weaker so old karma arises and

passes away but it arises and passes

away dependent upon your choices your

choice you take it personally which will

arise with further strengthening of that

karma

or it will arise and pass away weaker in

every arising and passing away until it

dissipates completely

that's why the buddha says

that the cessation of karma

is one thing and the way leading to the

cessation of karma is

the eightfold path

and the heart the core of the eightfold

path is right effort that is the six

hours

so the four right effort

right

uh letting go of

uh

unarisen unwholesome states letting go

of arisen wholesome states

generating wholesome states and and then

maintaining those wholesome states the

six hours do that completely

so when you six are you're you're

utilizing the eightfold path and ceasing

the possibility of new karma from

arising

in that moment

that's why for the arahat they don't

produce any new karma

all of their actions are rooted in the

eightfold path

which means they don't have a

repercussion to their towards their

actions as in arahat

but there is the cascading of old karma

that happens to uh dependent upon

choices

prior to full awakening that they deal

with

this was the case with uh angulimala

right this was the case with moglana

and so they still had to deal with their

previous choices

that led to certain kinds of experiences

but they no longer took it

took them to be personal

because they their actions their speech

their thoughts were rooted in the

eightfold path

that means that for the mind of an

arahat it's always automatically

functioning from

the fourth noble truth of the eightfold

path

that's why they never produce any new

karma they only experience old karma

which then dissipates

and what because is name and form

feeling perception

intention

contact

attention this is called name

the four great elements and the form

derived

the form derived from the four great

elements

this is called form

thus this name and this form are

together called name and form that's

mentality materiality na rupa

so nama is another word for mind it's

another way of understanding what mind

is you cannot actually directly know

mind except by its own processes of

contact

feeling perception intention and

attention

so nama rupa is really the five

aggregates

rupa is the form

rupa is made up of the four great states

of four states of matter right we talked

about that yesterday and then mind

mentality is made up of the process of

contact you can know mind by the process

of contact by the process of feeling by

the process of perception

by the process of intention and the

process of attention

so we talk about intention

that is caitanya

intention caitanya is

bending or inclining the mind towards

something

right the mind inclines towards whether

it's wholesome

or unwholesome

and that caitanya gives rise

to certain kinds of formations if the

caitanya inclines towards the

unwholesome there will be formations

sankara is rooted in the unwholesome

if the caithana inclines the intention

inclines towards that which is

wholesome

then the formations that arise will be

rooted in the wholesome

and attention

is

how

consciousness flows in what direction

consciousness flows

if you are paying attention to

loving-kindness

consciousness is aware of

loving-kindness

if you pay attention to

the tree there is the awareness of the

tree

so

this is how the five aggregates flow

through nama rupa

contact gives rise to feeling so there

is feeling there's perception feeling as

we understand is vedana right it's the

experience to be felt perception is that

which recognizes the experience that

which notes and labels the experience

so and then as i said intention is

inclining the mind towards something and

attention is where consciousness flows

and what beku's is consciousness there

are these six classes of consciousness

eye consciousness ear consciousness nose

consciousness tongue consciousness

body consciousness and mind

consciousness this is called

consciousness

so consciousness comes from the pali

word

means

knowledge and v means to divide

so that is to say the bear awareness

that's divided amongst these six sense

spaces

so there's the eye consciousness the

your consciousness the nose

consciousness the tongue consciousness

the body consciousness and mind

consciousness

consciousness is also cognizing

something the cognizing the bare

awareness of something knowing something

is there knowing something is present

so yesterday i said feeling perception

and consciousness these three run around

each other

because when there is feeling there is

perception and there is consciousness

the awareness of that feeling the

knowing of that feeling

i also talked about contact which is

there's contact between the eye and the

form and dependent upon that there is

eye consciousness it's that same

consciousness that flows through nama

rupa so the way to look at it is this

you have consciousness which is gives

rise to the mentality materiality but

within mentality materiality there is

the sixth sense basis if you didn't have

a mind and if you didn't have a body

what's the use of the sixth sense basis

and because you have the sixth sense

basis there is contact that happens

dependent upon that contact feeling

arises

so that contact so it's not like there's

just this then there's just this then

there's just this and there's just it's

like a momentum

right so the sixth sense bases are

housed or encased in mentality

materiality so when consciousness gives

rise to mentality materiality it's also

arising dependent upon contact

now this is where things are going to

get very interesting i talked about

contact as the key because it gives rise

to feeling gives rise to perception

gives rise to intention gives rise to

different formations gives rise to karma

so contact gives rise to a lot of

different things when there's contact

basically it feeds back energy to the

formations that arise and if those

formations are rooted in craving it

gives rise to a vidyana a mindset

that can be rooted in craving which then

uh

colors the way that contact is

experienced

which then when that experience is there

there can be the underlying tendency

towards craving

that can arise and give rise to further

craving

right so consciousness is not just the

consciousness in terms of the awareness

of what's happening but what is the

color of that consciousness is it

tainted

is it stained by craving

is it stained by conceit is it stained

by views

or is it clear is it unestablished

the

uh the anidasanam

as it's called that is the

non-reflective consciousness this is

where as i said things are getting a

little interesting because

what we're talking about here is that

mind that does not reflect anything

the mind of the arahat is

that's anidasanam vidyanam that is the

non-reflective consciousness

the metaphor the analogy that i use is

when you think about a mirror imagine

that this is a mirror and here is an

object when the object and the mirror

meet there is a reflection

right and so the purpose of the mirror

is fulfilled through that

but take away the object and is the

mirror still a mirror

because the mirror functions dependent

upon the fact that it reflects something

and that reflection is dependent upon

identification dependent upon

so the mind or the consciousness is this

mirror

but it no longer reflects it's

non-reflective doesn't create an image

doesn't create projections of what this

is supposed to be

because the formations that give rise to

it are no longer rooted in craving

conceived wrong views or ignorance

the formations that arise are dependent

upon

wisdom dependent upon

right view

so

that consciousness won't establish into

craving which can give rise to further

clinging becoming and further karma

and what bakus are formations

there are these three kinds of

formations

the bodily formation the verbal

formation and the mental formation

these are called formations

formations come from the word sankhara

sankhara is that which creates that

which constructs constructs

that which conditions

so sankharas are threefold there are

different kinds of sankharas beyond this

there's

there is the iu sankara for example

which determines how long this body has

to live that's like the telomeres and

other kinds of synchros beyond that but

these three are in

in the scope of dependent origination so

bodily formations

allow the mind to incline towards a

bodily action

a bodily deed

so i'm here now reaching for this glass

of water the formations there was an

intention

an inclination towards going for that

glass of water that then gave rise to

bodily formations that allow the

experience of movement of my arm to

clutch at the glass of water

verbal formations

are that which allow you to think about

something and speak and express yourself

so now when you're in a conversation

with someone you're listening to what

they're saying

that gives rise to what you want to

respond to them

right

and that response is

uh

facilitated by the process of verbal

formations

and the speech is facilitated by verbal

formations

mental formations give rise to feeling

and perception

so that means anything you feel and

perceive is dependent upon how those

mental formations arise

now if these formations

are rooted in the akusala mula or the

kusala mula akusala and kusala akusala

means un wholesome

kusala means wholesome

mula means root

what is the roots what are the three

roots

greed hatred delusion

greed gives rise to the craving mind

hatred gives rise to the aversive mind

delusion gives rise gives rise to

further ignorance taking it personally

so if the formations are rooted in these

it will give rise to a consciousness

stained by these which can give rise to

16 different kinds of ways of looking at

things

through a jealous mindset through an

angry mindset through a stingy mindset

through a hateful mindset whatever it

might be

that then gives rise to the way that

nama rupa experiences contact and

feeling namarupa also encasing the sixth

sense spaces

but if the formations

are wiped clean of the craving wipe

clean of the conceit wipe clean of the

ignorance

then they are no longer dependent upon

or conditioned by ignorance

they are now dependent upon and arising

dependent upon

right view

upon wisdom

which means that they will only see

things as they really are which means

the consciousness that arises is the

non-reflective consciousness therefore

every experience that is seen is seen

for what it actually is

not a reflection of it not something

that is projected onto it

it is actually seen as being

independently arisen therefore

impermanent therefore not to be taken as

me mine or myself

so how do you

cultivate the

formations rooted in wisdom

and how do you decondition those

formations rooted in craving

six hours

every time you notice craving arising

six are it and what is in its place

something that's wholesome

right so you have deconditioned the

craving and you have reconditioned the

mind to be more mindful to be more alert

to be more attentive

to be more rooted in wisdom

and what because is ignorance

not knowing suffering not knowing the

origin of suffering

not knowing the cessation of suffering

not knowing the way leading to the

cessation of suffering this is called

ignorance

there's different ways of understanding

ignorance it can be the ignorance of not

knowing the four noble truths because

you were never introduced to them like

you never even knew that there were

these four noble truths

then there is the ignorance of having

known or having

uh read about or or you know you

listened uh to a talk about the four

noble truths now you've been introduced

to them but there's still ignorance

there because

you're not applying the four noble

truths you don't understand as it

actually is that there here is suffering

you don't understand as it actually is

here is the cause of suffering you don't

understand actu as that as it actually

is here is the cessation of suffering

and you don't understand as it actually

is here is the way leading to the

cessation of suffering

so how do you let go of ignorance

six hours

every time you're mindful of what's

going on then you don't have any of

those

misperceptions of reality you don't take

what is impermanent as permanent

you don't take what is liable to cause

suffering as a source of happiness you

don't take what is

uh

impersonal as personal every time you

see it for what it actually is

you are seeing the four normal truths

because you're seeing there is a

potential for suffering to arise if i

crave for that

therefore i'm letting that go using the

eightfold path using right effort

now this ignorance

right the not knowing of this is also

determined or dependent upon

the

asavas

so the asavas are the three taints that

we talk about the taint of sensual

craving

the taint of or the desire to become

and the taint of ignorance itself

what gives rise to those taints

ignorance

that means that just as there is an

interdependency between nama rupa

mentality materiality and consciousness

there is an interdependency between

ignorance

and

the three taints the three asavas so the

taint of sensual desire the taint for

sensual craving

is dependent upon every time whether you

act

from that sensual craving or not you

take that experience and you say i want

more of it so you're adding more to that

taint of sensual craving

every time you have a desire to become

something

then you're adding to that desire to

become in the taint of

bhava

anytime that you don't see things as

they actually are and get caught up in

them and take them personally

you're adding to that taint of ignorance

so ignorance is basically what ignorance

is the lack of mindfulness

which is

the the not observing how your mind's

attention moves from one thing to the

other

when you observe how your mind's

attention moves from one thing to the

other

you are becoming more

wise

you're seeing for yourself how this

process works

you're seeing oh there arose this

and you let go of that

and so now you're whittling away at

ignorance willing away at the taint of

ignorance and every time you let go of

the desire to have something or to be

something you're whittling away at the

taint of sensual desire and the taint

for the desire for becoming

this thus because with ignorance as

condition

formations come to be

with formations as conditioned

consciousness comes to be

with consciousness as condition

mentality materiality comes to be

with mentality materiality as

conditioned

sixth sense basis come to be with sixth

sense bases as conditioned

contact comes to be

with contact us condition

feeling comes to be

with feeling as conditioned

craving comes to be

with craving as condition

clinging comes to be with clinging as

condition habitual tendencies come to be

with habitual tendencies as conditioned

birth comes to be with birth as

condition

that whole mass of suffering comes to me

that whole all that stuff

but

with the remainderless fading away and

cessation of ignorance comes the

cessation of

formations

with the cessation of formations

the cessation of

consciousness with the cessation of

consciousness

mentally materiality ceases

with the cessation of mentality

materiality

sixth sense basis

with the cessation of the sixth sense

basis

contact with the cessation of contact

feeling with the cessation of feeling

craving with the cessation of craving

with the cessation of clinging

with the cessation of habitual

tendencies

birth

with the cessation of birth

such is the cessation of this whole mass

of suffering

there ended the lesson

[Music]

you