From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cqMdli23JFg

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

[Music]

okay so today we're going to go a little

deeper into dependent origination

we're going to be reading from the

samyut nikaya

number 12 point 32

and it's called the

kalara

that's sabati

then the bhikkhu kalara the katya

approached the venerable sariputta and

exchanged greetings with him

when they had concluded their greetings

in cordial talk

he sat down to one side

and said to the venerable sariputta

friend sariputta the bhikkhu moliya

faguna has abandoned the training and

returned to the lower life

maulia faguna was a troublesome fellow

you see him in majaminikaya number 21

which is the simile of the cell

and he's the guy who had a lot of

attachment to the bikunis

and if the bikunis were

around and somebody said something to

them or about them that was negative he

would get upset by it that was the

beginning of

the simile of the song

so it looks like fagona was

not happy with the

the life of a monk and he actually

disrobed and went back to being a

layperson

then surely that venerable did not find

solace in this dhamma and discipline

well then has the venerable sariputta

attains solace in this dharma and

discipline

i have no perplexity friend

but as to the future friend

i have no doubt

friend

then the bhikkhu kalara the katya rose

from his seat and approached the blessed

one

having approached he paid homage to the

blessed one

sat down to one side and said to him

venerable sir the venerable sariputta

has declared final knowledge thus

i understand destroyed is birth the holy

life has been lived what had to be done

has been done there is no more for this

state of being

that's how he interpreted what uh sorry

put us that saripata said

i have no perplexity and i have no doubt

and kalara took that to mean that

sariputta was declaring

final knowledge declaring

the

fruition of arahatship

declaring as we always hear about the

lions roar that big statement

destroyed his birth the holy life has

been lived

what had to be done has been done there

is no more for this state of being

so then the blessed one addressed a

certain biku thus

in my name that the teacher calls him

yes venerable sir that bhikkhu replied

and he went to the venerable sorry put

that and told him

the teacher calls you friend sorry put

that

yes friend the venerable sorry buddha

replied

and he approached the blessed one paid

homage to him and sat down to one side

the blessed one then said to him is it

true sariputta that you have declared

final knowledge thus i understand

destroyed is birth the holy life has

been lived what had to be done has been

done there is no more for this state of

being

venerable sir i did not state the matter

in those terms and phrases

in whatever way sorry a clansman

declares final knowledge

what he has declared should be

understood as such in other words

somebody becomes an arhat it's not

necessary that they have to say

destroy this birth and you know this is

uh

you know what has to be done has been

done and all these other things

kalara took what sariputta said and

understood that sariputta had declared

final knowledge because of a couple of

things

when he asked him

has the venerable sorry put the attains

solace in the dharma and discipline he

says

i have no perplexity friend perplexity

here is another synonym for

doubt

in other words sariputta had complete

experiential confidence in the buddha

dhamma and sangha

and then when he asked him but as to the

future friend he says i have no doubt

friend

in that case what sariputta is

saying or implying is that there is no

doubt that he has attained what he has

attained he has attained final knowledge

so kalara took that interpret it in that

way and reported it to the buddha

and so now the buddha is asking

have you said that and sorry buddha says

well i didn't say it exactly in that way

and so the buddha says it's okay you

don't have to say it in exactly the same

way

but there's a way that one person a

person understands

that they have attained arahat ship and

they understand it and they'll report it

in their own terms

so he says so the buddha said in

whatever way sariputta a klansman

declares final knowledge

what he has declared should be

understood as such

venerable sir didn't i to speak thus

venerable sir i did not state the matter

in those terms and phrases

so the buddha the reason he's asking

this is for a very specific

purpose

and sariputta is not getting the gist of

what the buddha wants him to do but he

will very soon

so the buddha says

if sariputta they were to ask you friend

sariputta how have you known how have

you seen that you have declared final

knowledge thus

i understand destroyed his birth the

holy life has been lived what had to be

done has been done there is no more for

this state of being

being thus asked how would you answer

and so now

saripata gets the buddha's intention

he wants to know from sariputta how did

you get through this

arahat ship

how did you understand the dhamma

and so now begins the understanding of

the dharma as sorry buddha will talk

about it

he says if they were to ask me this

venerable sir i would answer thus with

the destruction of the source from which

birth originates

i have understood

when the cause is destroyed the effect

is destroyed

having understood this i understand

destroyed is birth

the holy life has been lived what had to

be done has been done

there is no more for the state of being

being asked thus venerable sir i would

answer in such a way

so what sariputta is saying is that the

way he attained arahat's ship

or that is to say the fruition of

arahachip was the wisdom that arose from

understanding the dharma the core

essence of the dharma is

when the cause is destroyed the effect

is destroyed in other words with the

arising of this there arises that

with the cessation of that there are

there's there ceases this

dependent origination

and so he says

that is how i understand

that destroyed his birth the holy life

has been lived

what had to be done has been done there

is no more for the state of being being

asked thus venerable sir i would answer

in such a way

because he says

he has understood this whole process

when there was the destruction of the

source from which birth originates

how does birth originate

but sorry put that if they were to ask

you

but friends sorry put that what is the

source of birth what is its origin from

what is it born and produced

being asked us how would you answer

so first let's discuss what is birth

when we talk about birth what is that

there's the birth that's understood at

the macro level from one lifetime to

another

it is the coming together of the sense

basis

it is the coming into being into a new

existence

it is the

coming together of the aggregates

it's the birth of a new life this is one

way of understanding it

that is birth

there is also birth of

action in every moment of your life

birth of action is

mental action verbal action

or

bodily action

so that means birth of what birth of

karma

birth of action

mental action is an intention

that gives rise to an intentional

thought

verbal action is

an intentionalized way of speaking

when you speak you have an intention to

say something

birth of physical action or bodily

action is when you want to

do something you intend to walk

you intend to sit down

you intend to eat

you intend to breathe in and out

whatever it might be

so this kind of birth of action

is something that happens

dependent upon its cause or its

condition

which is habitual tendency

we'll get into that a little bit but

the question to understand is

can you six our birth

can you six our birth of action

you cannot

because as soon as the action is

produced

you cannot call it back

as soon as you have released the arrow

you can't call back the arrow

as soon as you have

said something you can't take it back

as soon as you have thought something

you can't take it back

so the way to look at dependent

origination

is that

there's this cascading of different

streams and rivolets that go into and

form a river

and these whirlpools these vortexes

that are there are

each of the links of dependent

origination

and then there is the becoming the

habitual tendencies existence which is

the bend of the river that goes into a

waterfall

the waterfall the falling of

that river the waterfall itself

is birth

it's the birth of action

once you go beyond

becoming and actually take the action

you cannot go back

you cannot go upstream of a waterfall

and so the buddha says but sariputta if

they were to ask you

but friend sariputta what is the source

of birth what is its origin from what is

it born and produced

being asked us how would you answer

if they were to ask me this venerable

sir i would answer thus

birth friends has existence or habitual

tendencies as its source

existence or habitual tendencies

as its origin it is born and produced

from existence or habitual tendencies

being thus being asked thus venerable

sir i would answer in such a way

habitual tendencies is another way we

describe bhava

so birth is the birth of action or the

birth of a being

bhava is becoming

his being

his existence

is habitual tendencies

at the level of becoming you become

someone or you become something it's

where your sense of identity becomes

most

concrete

so whenever sorry put that as described

or anyone in the suttas is described

bhava they talk about it in terms of the

threefold existences

there is the existence in the sensual

realms there's the existence in the form

realms

and there's the existence in formless

realms

here what they're talking about is

how the habitual tendencies incline to a

certain kind of existence

if your habitual tendencies

are rooted in being

attached to sensory pleasures

reacting to sensory information

you have a tendency to incline to exist

in a sensual realm

and in that central realm there can be

different kinds of habitual tendencies

so what are habitual tendencies habitual

tendencies

are basically those reactions

that the mind has held onto

as a storage device it picks it up

whenever it's met with some kind of an

experience and it naturally

almost automatically

reacts in a certain way

that automatic reaction is the habitual

tendency

so if you are met with certain choices

your mind will incline to certain

choices automatically

that inclination is the habitual

tendencies

so if a mind reacts with a lot of anger

the habitual tendencies are rooted in

that anger and cause birth

in an angry realm that is to say in the

mind psychologically

if you are suffering and you have a lot

of angry and irritation

if you have a lot of anger and you have

a lot of irritation and frustration

bitterness all of these other

unwholesome

very

bleak

ways of reacting

in your mind

then that's a very hellish way of living

in your mind

so then in that case psychologically

when your habitual tendencies

are rooted in that where will you have

birth of action in in a hellish

atmosphere

if you continue to act with anger you

will only receive more anger you will

only create more habitual tendencies

rooted in that anger

but if somebody is

generous if somebody is happy if

somebody is clear and calm

if somebody keeps the precepts somebody

is loving and kind and compassionate and

so on

then their inclinations or their

habitual tendencies will incline towards

wholesome ways of reacting to a

situation

and so that bhava leads

to a deva kind of atmosphere

a deva-like psychology

or a higher existence so to speak if the

mind experiences any of the first four

janas

the rupa janas

and inclines towards those ghanas

and has

the ability to go into those genres very

easily

then their mindset is habituated towards

those jonathan experiences

and so because of that

whatever wherever they are they will

experience that jonic realm

psychologically

if you continue to cultivate

the first jhana

when you continue to walk around and

everything you walk in the first jhana

and you experience the joy of the first

john you experience the

the clarity and the the relief from the

hindrances from that first jhana so your

mind is void of those hindrances it has

joy

it has sukkah it has comfort and ease in

the body

and then likewise with the second jhana

it has further

collectedness

further confidence

with the third jhana the mindset is more

comfortable more at ease more tranquil

and finally with the fourth jana it's

more equanimous

so if you continue to develop jhana

calculate jhana

your habitual tendencies will incline

from jhana or jonic state of being

in other words whatever you are met with

when you are in that jhana

you will respond from there that is to

say because you are happy because you're

uplifted

there won't be any of the hindrances

there in your mind

so you will respond in a way that is

rooted in wisdom in compassion

in joy and so on

likewise for the second third fourth

jhana and the formless realms

if a being continues to cultivate and

develop the arupa janus continues to be

an infinite space

tied with the compassion continues to be

in

uh infinite consciousness

tied to with the empathetic joy

if a person continues to be in

nothingness tied with equanimity or

neither perception or non-perception

tied with quiet mind

then however they respond will be rooted

from the habitual tendencies

rooted in that genre or in that

realm

so in other words psychologically you

will have more compassion if you're an

infinite space you'll respond with more

compassion

psychologically you will respond with

more empathetic joy when you're in

infinite consciousness

psychologically you will

experience or respond from more

equanimity when you're from in

nothingness

or your mind will be quiet when you're

neither perception or non-perception

and then on the macro level this also

results in where if somebody has

throughout their life

been unwholesome

throughout their life been somebody who

is stingy or jealous or envious or angry

or frustrated or violent

or whatever unwholesome states of mind

there might be

because of the habitual tendencies there

will be something

that will resp react in a way when they

when they are about to die

their

stream of consciousness if you will

whatever arises in their mind

will be inclined towards the unwholesome

they will either have regrets for things

that they did

they'll have anger or bitterness towards

people or something will arise which is

unwholesome

and their reaction to that will give

rise to a certain formation

or set of formations which give rise to

a certain consciousness

and then that consciousness will then

incline towards a new namarupa in a new

existence

in a new state of being

where the birth will occur there and

that existence will correspond

with the kind of inclinations that they

have

so likewise if somebody has been very

wholesome always been generous

always kept the precepts always been

loving and kind and patient and

compassionate equanimous and so on

then when they're about to die

the tendency will be for the mind to

look at the things that were wholesome

the wholesome actions that they did the

wholesome speech that they had the

wholesome intentions that they had that

will make their mind uplifted that will

keep their mind happy

and because of that there will be a

formation rooted in that which will give

rise to a corresponding consciousness

which will then descend into a new

namarupa in a new birth corresponding

with those wholesome states of mind this

is becoming

because through that habitual tendency

likewise if somebody's cultivated the

jhanas they will enter into ajianic rum

the one of the four

rupa brahmalokas

or in regards to

the arupa states they will then

take existence or take birth into a new

existence that is in one of the arupa

realms

so this is becoming this is being this

is existence

dependent upon

your actions dependent upon your

intentions

which then creates the sense of habitual

tendencies

these habitual tendencies

just to emphasize

can be changed

because they can be six art

if you notice that the mind is about to

react in a certain way

and you recognize that and you release

your attention from that relax

and then come back to something

wholesome

then you are actually

weakening habitual tendencies

that are rooted in unwholesome states of

mind

in unwholesome intentions

so that instead of responding reacting

from negative or unwholesome tendencies

you respond

in a wholesome manner so you weaken

those habitual tendencies

and you replace them with

positive or wholesome habitual

tendencies

but sorry put that if they were to ask

you but friends sorry put putta what is

the source of habitual tendencies

being asked us how would you answer

if they were to ask me this venerable

sir i would answer thus

habitual tendencies friends

have clinging as its source

clinging

clinging comes from the word upadhana

which is another way of something that's

fueled

it's the fuel for existence

it's that which

nutrifies or nourishes existence

there are certain types of clinging

there's the clinging to

sensual pleasures

there's a clinging to rights and rituals

there's a clinging to

certain kinds of self-view

and then there's clinging to

certain kinds of

wrong view

or clinging to views in general

so clinging to sensual pleasures

when you have a sensual experience

whatever experience it might be your

mind

if it has craving in it

will incline towards that and say i want

that

it grasps at it and says i want that

and it says i want that because it makes

me feel good

the because is the rationalization which

is the clinging to sensual pleasures

i want that because it makes me feel

good that makes me feel good is the

concretizing of the sense of self

in habitual tendencies

so the association with how these things

make you feel good or why they make you

feel good or why they don't make you

feel good is the clinging

clinging is digging your heels deeper

into

i want it because of so and so or i

don't like it because of so and so

so sensual pleasures it's where you

create the sense

the the repository of favorites in terms

of your sense experiences

you have a favorite type of music you

have a favorite type of movie genre you

have a favorite type of cereal you have

a favorite type of food you have a

favorite type of perfume you have a

favorite type of

bed sheet or favorite chair or

favorite drink or whatever it might be

all of these things

arise

because you start to rationalize why you

like these things

those rationalizations are clinging

and that's the clinging to sensual

pleasures

so if somebody says red is my favorite

color they've grown up thinking red they

associate red with something that makes

them feel good and so that association

makes them cling to the color red

and so now it's like this is my favorite

and if it's my favorite it is me it is

mine it is myself

that it is me it is mine it is myself

is the bhava it is the habitual

tendencies

so the clinging to sensual pleasures

only goes away

when you have attained anagami

because there there is no more sensual

craving and therefore there won't be any

more clinging to sensual pleasures

clinging to rights and rituals

clinging to rights and rituals with the

idea that these rights and rituals will

take you to nibana that's one way of

looking at it

but clinging to rights and rituals with

the idea that certain kinds of practices

will lead you somewhere

like

praying to a certain deity will get you

wealth

praying to a certain deity will get you

health

or if i carry my lucky handkerchief

it'll be a good day

right if i do certain things

you know if i do certain rituals

my day will go well

if i don't do those rituals i feel awful

now the whole day has gone bad just

because i wasn't able to do those

rituals i wasn't able to do it a certain

way everything has to be a certain way

right this is a kind of clinging to

rights and rituals

because it's like if i don't do it this

way

something's going to go bad but if i do

it this way everything is going to be

fine if you stand or if you have a

standpoint on that that is a clinging to

rights and rituals

so the clinging to rights and rituals

with the idea that they'll take you to

nibana

goes away when you become a stream enter

that's one of the fetters the clinging

to rights and rituals

the clinging to self view

is the idea

well there there are these 20 types of

cell fuse

they are basically the five aggregates

multiplied by the four types of cell

fuel so what are the five aggregates

form feeling perception formations

consciousness

the different types of self-view is

these aggregates are self

these aggregates

are in-self

self is in ag in the aggregates

or the self is a possession of the

aggregates or sometimes the self is

separate from the aggregates

so that means that my body is me

or the feelings i'm experiencing is me

or the perceptions that i have is it me

or the intentions that i have is me

or the consciousness the awareness of

whatever is happening is me

this is a type of self-view

or

that the me the sense of me the sense of

i

is in the body

or it's in the feeling

or it's in perception or it's in the

intention or it's in the consciousness

or that this self

is larger than the aggregates and they

are in

the self

in other words the self is one with

existence

and the aggregates are functioning

within the self

or

the self is separate the self is one

thing and the aggregates are another or

that they are par they are possessed by

the self

they are faculties of the self

so if you will look at that touchstone

of what does it mean to be a self in the

ancient indian context the idea is that

that self is imperishable

and that it's permanent and a source of

happiness

but now if you look at all of the

aggregates we understand

that

each of these aggregates is dependently

arisen

the body

as we understand it is na rupa mind and

body

right or rather the five aggregates are

nama rupa

so there is the body which is dependent

upon consciousness

for in order for it to

function

but it's also dependent upon food

and it grows and it's changing it's

subject to change

if it's dependently arisen that means

it's impermanent

if it's impermanent there's not there's

no point in holding onto it because it

will cause suffering

so therefore it should not be seen as me

mine or myself it cannot be seen as me

mine or myself

what about feeling

any experience you're having right now

you're here right now and that's the

experience you're listening to my voice

that's an experience

i stop speaking

the voice doesn't continue the sound

doesn't continue or didn't continue at

that moment

it changed the experience keeps changing

in every moment

now you're here in the dhamma hall now

you're going to walk outside

the experience is different you hear the

air conditioner the air conditioner goes

silent that's a different experience

right so all of the different

experiences that you're having these are

all feeling these are all vedana

so if they're always changing then that

means it's impermanent feeling is

impermanent

and if feeling is impermanent it means

that

it can change and therefore it is liable

to cause suffering

there can be suffering in that feeling

therefore how can it be considered to be

me mine or myself

perceptions we understand perceptions to

be rooted in memory

but memory is very fickle

there's so many times that people can

implant

false memory

just by adding certain kinds of details

into whatever it is that they're talking

about

right

so i remember you wearing a red shirt

not a pink shirt

right oh yeah that's right he was

wearing a red shirt not a pink shirt

right suddenly people now think about

that and their perceptions change

or the perceptions of your

memories before that you had might

change as you grow up

right before you thought your parent was

uh

you know being very strict and being

this and that but then when you yourself

become a parent you realize

oh they were really being careful they

were being compassionate they were

trying to keep me safe

the perceptions change

so if perceptions change how can they be

considered to be

self because the self is supposed to be

that which is not subject to change

if perceptions change good bad or

indifferent

they can be liable to cause suffering

if that's the case you cannot consider

them to be me mine or myself

there can't be a self in a perception

perceptions can't be part of a self

perceptions or feeling can't be part of

a self

likewise with formations

formations continue to arise and pass

away those of you who have been in

neither perception or non-perception

can testify to this you can see the

bubbling up of formations just coming

and going coming and going

continuously right until you become

disenchanted with them and you have no

control over them

you have no control over what experience

you're going to have you have no control

over how the body will change

when the body will die and all of these

other things

if the body will have this sickness or

that sickness

you have no control over whether these

perceptions will continue to be this way

or a different way same with the

intentions they continue changing

dependent upon

whatever is arising

whatever choices you're met with those

are the choices that are conditioned by

whatever the experience is and your

intention which drives forward the

formations changes dependent upon that

intention

so formations also cannot be seen as

self

awareness or consciousness

arises remember dependent upon

sense spaces

and their

objects

so if that changes if the feeling

changes the perception changes

so does the awareness tie to that

feeling and perception

so how can there be how can it be self

how can there be a self in there

how can be related to a self

so this clinging to self views

is the understanding that everything

that is conditioned and even the

unconditioned

is not self

you understand that there is no

controller here

when you come to that understanding when

you have the experience of stream entry

when you first experience cessation of

perception feeling unconsciousness

and the mind comes out

from that and then experiences the links

it realizes oh this reality arises

because of these causes and conditions

everything is im

impersonal

so there is this experiential

understanding of the impersonal nature

of all things

and that eradicates the clinging to

self-view there's still be conceit

there'll still be this intrinsic

taking of things personal there'll still

be this intrinsic

sense of identifying with the five

aggregates but on a experiential

understanding in the sense of your mind

you understand intellectually more than

intellectually it is intellectual but

it's also dependent upon a deep

experience

you understand that this is there is no

core

permanent self in any of these things

and so you let go of all self views

this is known as sakaya ditty

ditty

in

sanskrit which means the view

the perspective

your perspective on the self changes

your perspective on

on the concept of a self is eradicated

where it takes anything as being a core

essential personal self at stream entry

so this is the clinging to self-use

what about the

clinging to views

there are these 62 types of wrong view

no no i'm not going to go over all 62.

don't worry

[Laughter]

but we'll go over a few of them we

actually went over them

on the second date when we were reading

from

the diginakaya number two summon of

falasoota

where it was talking about where the

king ajat shatu

went to meet all of these different

sects right the different leaders of

these sets

so there was the view of materialism the

view of eternalism the view of

annihilationism or nihilism the view of

fatalism the view of skepticism the view

that or the view of asceticism where you

had to purify

your karma by doing certain aesthetic

practices

these are all in some way or another

violating the laws of karma as we

understand it from the dhamma

or

violating the understanding of what what

reality actually is in terms of the self

and not self and so on and so forth

so

these are the different kinds of

clinging to wrong views

but if you let go of all wrong views and

your mind becomes established in right

view which happens at stream entry

they can still be clinging to right view

they could still be clinging to the

dharma itself

remember yesterday we talked about how

the mind can cling to the idea of

dependent origination

and so it's the idea of the raft

it doesn't let go of the raft after it's

gotten to the other shore it continues

to carry it on on its shoulders

so the clinging to the dhamma the

identification with the dhamma that's

the conceit that arises saying i know

the dhamma

and i am a dhamma defender

it make you become part of that view you

identify with that view somebody says

something against the dhamma

you want you have an inclination to

defend it

and if there's any pride in the dharma

that is another kind of clinging to the

dharma clinging to right view

so that is completely eradicated

clinging to

the wrong views is eradicated at stream

entry because now you have right view

established

but clinging to the damage of clinging

to right view

is completely completely eradicated at

arahat's ship

so these are the types of clinging

but sorry buddha if they were to ask you

but friend sorry puta what is the source

of clinging

what is its origin from what is it born

and produced

being asked thus how would you answer

if they were to ask me this venerable

sir i would answer thus

clinging friends has craving as its

source

so what is craving we talked about

craving a little bit yesterday there's a

three different types of craving

there's the sensual craving

there's the craving for existence and

there's the craving for non-existence

the craving for sensual pleasures is

where

and it can be also by the way aversion

it's a craving has two sides too there's

the craving the i wanted mindset

and there's the craving that is the

aversion that i don't want it mindset

and so the identification with any

experience causes the mind to say i want

it

or i don't want it

so if you're having some kind of sensory

experience

maybe you're

walking out in the heat and it's very

hot and your mind immediately reacts to

it by saying

oh i don't like this heat you get upset

by that heat

right that's the kind of sensual craving

sensual aversion

if your mind enjoys some kind of food

and it sees that food

it says oh

i really like that food or it tastes

a wonderful piece of candy and

immediately says i want more of that

candy

there is craving there

craving is recognized remember this

craving is recognized

as tightness and tension in mind and

body

anytime the body and the mind recoil

at an experience there is craving there

right there's a difference though

sometimes there can be reflexes

right

but there's other times where the mind

just gravitates towards something

so to clarify reflexes are things like

the body immediately protects itself so

to speak right if it sees a fire or if

it there's heat it will pull its hand

away

right if a snake strikes it

it will jump

it will protect itself that's one thing

but you have to notice was there fear

there was there anger there was there

irritation there

was there craving there

right so it's the two darts principle

the two arrows there's the physical

which is the reflex

and then there's the mental which says i

don't like it because it affected me in

this way and so and so forth that i

don't like it that mental aspect is the

craving there

so we talked about this uh in terms of

the six r's so you can six r

becoming you can six her habitual

tendencies you can see our clinging when

you notice the mind trying to

rationalize why it likes a certain thing

you can recognize that and let that go

stop digging your heels into trying to

say i like it because of this or i don't

like it because this person said so and

so and

so on

or whatever kind of clinging you notice

whatever kind of rationalization you

notice for the craving that you have

you can recognize it and six art let it

go

same with the craving we recognize that

the mind starts becoming tight and tense

because it wants something

it's trying too hard to get something

like loving kindness or any meditation

object and you can six r that let go of

that

or you notice that it gets irritated

that it's not in a certain genre

and you can recognize that and let go of

that speaking of jhana that's the

craving for existence

i want to be in this jhana you know why

am i not here yet

i'm waiting for nibana to happen i'm

waiting for niro that to happen why am i

not there yet

been meditating for four hours and

nothing is going on

right this is the craving for an

experience

and it will arise in your mind in the

form of all of these rationalizations

maybe i should go for a walk it's been

very long i've been sitting for three

hours

maybe i should go get up and take a walk

or nothing's really happening here i'm

bored

that was bonte's

you know

most

hated word let's say

right board that's the bad word the b

word bored

don't ever say you're bored in front of

bounty

so that boredom that arises nothing's

going on here

right that's like another kind of

craving for existence i want something

to happen so what does the

mind do the mind seeks stimulation so

it's gonna throw up all of these things

all of these formations restlessness

slot and torpor all of these other

hindrances what do you have to do

stay calm

stay equanimous

seek art let that go come back to the

quiet mind or whatever it might be

a craving for non-existence

you're in a certain genre but you don't

want to be in that channel

right that's another kind of way or

craving for non-existence in the sense

i am here and i don't want to be here

i'm part of this family i don't want to

be part of this family

i'm in this country i don't want to be

in this country i want to go somewhere

else

i don't want to be poor or i want to be

rich these are the these are the two

sides of that coin of craving for

existence

craving for non-existence at the very

extreme craving for non-existence can

lead to suicide

people rarely get so

bogged down

by their experiences

they get so deeply affected by their

experiences

that the mind is seeking a way out of it

and it feels like the only way out is to

end

one's life

that's the most extreme craving for

non-existence

so anytime you recognize this sense of i

want this or i don't want this

or i am this

or i want to be this or i don't want to

be here or i don't want to be this

recognize that as a form of craving

and sex art and experience relief

you know the idea is when i

see a chocolate a piece of chocolate

cake the mind will say that chocolate

cake is really nice that's the feeling

but then it's there's this there's this

tension that comes up in the mind and

body

says i want that chocolate cake

that's a nice piece of chocolate cake is

one thing but i want that now the mind

experiences tightness and tension the

body experiences tightness and tension

this is a

this is also a kind of response in the

biology of the fight or flight

or freeze

it's like i need to possess that and so

that tension causes the mind to say okay

if i take that

and i satisfy that craving i will feel

relief

so what happens you start to condition

the mind in such a way that the only way

to experience relief is to act upon my

craving

is to act upon my aversions

somebody says something really

terrible

to you

and your mind and your in your

body start to recoil they have tightness

and tension

and you want to say something back at

them and you have real anger towards

them and then you act on that anger what

do you feel after a little while just in

that moment you feel relief

i said what i had to say to them i feel

relief in that moment i

relieved my anger by acting on it

so then you recondition your mind

thinking every time i get angry if i act

on it i'll feel relief

but what if you felt relief before

acting on it that's the whole purpose of

the six hours

you're noticing there's craving arising

you're noticing there's aversion arising

you recognize it

release your attention from that

relax the craving relax the tightness

and tension

feel relief right there and then replace

it with something wholesome

now you don't act on it you've already

felt relief

your mind is expanding

it's become less contracted your body is

loose and relaxed it's tranquilized so

now you don't act out of craving

but you respond with wisdom

now instead of getting angry at the

person

you six are

and you realize that person is suffering

so why should i add to their suffering

let me either stay quiet

or de-escalate the situation

by addressing their concerns

not giving into their anger or their

hatred

right

maybe i enjoy a piece of chocolate cake

and i want another one and i look at and

i say you know i feel like having

another piece of chocolate cake

but i know it's not going to satisfy me

because i've already eaten it i've

already eaten one piece

so i recognize that i let go of that

i feel

ease when i relax

i feel

an expanded mind and i replace it with

equanimity

right i come back to the smile replace

it with equanimity and say i'm okay i

don't need this chocolate cake and i go

away

so i won't suffer the consequences of

eating another chocolate a piece of

chocolate cake which could result in a

sugar rush or worse diabetes

right some kind of suffering

so different ways of dealing with

craving and aversion different

situations

or rather different situations but the

same way of dealing with them which is

the six hours

so the six hours aren't just for your

meditation

but therefore your daily practice this

is right effort leads you to right

mindfulness right collectedness in daily

life

allows you to respond with wisdom and

compassion or sometimes not respond at

all that might be the wisest thing to do

is not to respond at

all so

this is how you let go of craving and

these are the different types of craving

but sorry put that if they were to ask

you but friend sariputta what is the

source of craving what is its origin

from what is it born and produced

being asked thus

how would you answer

if they were to ask me this venerable

sir i would answer thus

craving friends

has feeling as its source

feeling as its origin it is born and

produced from feeling

being asked thus

venerable sir i would respond in such a

way

so feeling

the buddha has talked about different

kinds of feeling up to 108 different

kinds of feeling but the three basic

understanding of feeling understandings

of healing is

pleasant

unpleasant and

neutral

there's the pleasant there's a pleasant

feeling which makes you feel good

there's the unpleasant feeling that

makes you feel not so good and there's a

neutral feeling where

you neither feel good or bad it's just a

feeling

just an experience

so there can be mental feeling and there

can be physical feeling

there can be feeling related to the

sixth sense basis

right that's the physical feeling or the

five physical sense spaces or there can

be

the feeling in the mind

irritation in the mind or

feeling of joy

in the mind

feeling of the janik factor of sukkah in

the mind comfort in the mind and so on

now in these feelings can arise

or embedded in these feelings

through how you respond to them through

how you perceive them

are underlying tendencies

so in the case of a pleasant feeling it

can give rise to the underlying tendency

towards craving for that pleasant

experience

in the case of an unpleasant feeling it

can give rise to an underlying tendency

and tendency to of have aversion towards

that unpleasant experience

aside from these kinds of underlying

tendencies there can be the underlying

tendency to ignore ignorance to have the

lack of mindfulness of seeing what it

actually is

or ignorance of the four noble truths

and the three characteristics

of existence

there can be the underlying tendency

towards doubt

unaware of how to deal with the

situation in terms of what is wholesome

and what is unwholesome

they can arise the under underlying

tendency towards some kind of a view

to take up a certain kind of view

dependent upon that experience

to take up a certain kind of

opinion about something

right opinions and views

can give rise to violence can give rise

to wars

we've seen this throughout the eons

this is how the buddha says there arises

the taking up of the sword and the stick

it arises from clinging to certain kinds

of views

so if there's an underlying tendency to

a view in regards to a feeling in your

godspring experience

that can give rise to full-blown craving

or aversion and clinging to views and so

on

so i said there's the underlying

tendency to craving the underlying

tendency to aversion the underlying

tendency towards ignorance the

underlying tendency towards

doubt the underlying tendency towards a

view

there can be the underlying tendency

towards conceit

that is to identify with an experience

say this experience is me

mine or myself

there can be the underlying tendency of

bhava of becoming

i want to be this person you see or i

want to have that that initial

inclination of becoming or being that

person or being that thing

this is also the underlying tendency so

these when

acted upon can give rise to full-blown

craving or aversion or full-blown

identification

which then can give rise to clinging

which then can give rise to becoming and

so on

so when you have a pleasant feeling see

it for what it actually is it is

pleasant

right that flower that yellow flower is

beautiful that's fine

that's a very pretty flower

i wonder if these flowers are there in

austria

right that's all pleasant feeling

i want that flower

i want to possess that flower

that can give rise that is the

underlying tendency towards craving and

then acting upon that is craving

this chocolate

piece of chocolate tastes really good

that's a pleasant feeling

right i wonder where you get this

chocolate that's just a perception

that's an understanding oh where do you

get the chocolate i want more of this

chocolate i want to buy up more of this

chocolate eat more than my fill

now you have craving

an unpleasant

feeling there's this bad smell in the

air oh that's a terrible smell

that's a feeling that's a perception of

the unpleasant feeling

you get irritated by that

and ask how did this feeling how did

this pleasant experience unpleasant

experience happen and you get upset by

it

now there's aversion

likewise somebody says something to you

that's negative

that's an unpleasant experience somebody

criticizes you that's an

unpleasant experience that slight tinge

that you feel

it's the underlying tendency towards

aversion

if you act upon that and then say i want

to say this to this person

now you have full-blown aversion but if

you recognize that tinge

you let go of it

using the six hours replace it with

compassion with equanimity

now you're not acting upon that

underlying tendency

and so then the buddha says

but sorry put that if they were to ask

you friends sorry put that how have you

known

how have you seen

that delight and feelings no longer

remains present in you

being asked thus how would you answer

if they were to ask me this venerable

sir i would answer thus

friends there are also there are these

three feelings what three

pleasant feeling

painful feeling and neither painful nor

pleasant feeling

these three feelings friends

are impermanent

whatever is impermanent is suffering

when this was understood delight in

feelings no longer remained present in

me

being asked thus venerable sir i would

answer in such a way

in other words for those underlying

tendencies not to arise

to be fully eradicated

and they get eradicated in stages as you

get to the levels of attainment but when

you eradicate all of them you see things

as they are

which means when you have an experience

you see it just as sariputta described

here is a pleasant feeling here is a

pleasant experience

here's an unpleasant experience here is

a neutral experience

this experience is impermanent

and so therefore i'm not going to hold

on to it because it's not worth holding

on to it it is subject to change so

there's no reaction

to that feeling through that experience

that causes craving and aversion to

arise that will cause further clinging

and becoming birth of action and the

whole mass of suffering

good good sariputta this is another

method of explaining in brief

that same point whatever is felt is

included within suffering

let's unpack that statement a little bit

whatever is felt is included within

suffering

sometimes this is interpreted to say

that everything is suffering

if that was the case then why are you

meditating

what are you meditating for

why are you bringing up loving kindness

why are you bringing up compassion why

are you bringing up equanimity

isn't that true suffering

what the buddha is referring to is that

therefore don't hold on to things

if you hold on to things that's what's

going to cause you suffering

if you hold on to the loving kindness

and the loving-kindness disappears and

you say what happened

that's going to cause you suffering

if you hold on to this pleasant

experience and it goes away

that's going to cause you suffering

obviously if you hold on to an

unpleasant feeling that's already

suffering right there and then

or a neutral feeling you have equanimity

and you hold on to equanimity and it

goes away

what happens

that can cause suffering if you hold on

to it

by the way what is

what is the uh

other opposite or the other side of

equanimity there's equanimity as a

neutral feeling

but there's another kind of neutral

feeling that you want to be aware of and

not have

and let go of

and that is indifference

equanimity

is that mindset

that sees things as they are

but doesn't get pulled in one direction

or the other

doesn't get pulled in this direction or

the other

but indifference has apathy in it

there's a certain level of

aversive quality in that it's wanting to

ignore

whatever is arising

being indifferent to it i don't care

about it

so you're not actually seeing reality as

it actually is you're just projecting

this idea that i don't care about it

i don't need to see it

i have apathy towards it

so you have to let go of that if you

recognize that and let go of that

then you see things as they are and you

start to develop equanimity

but friend but sorry putta if they were

to ask you friend sorry putta through

what kind of deliverance have you

declared final knowledge thus

i understand destroyed his birth the

holy life has been lived what had to be

done has been done there is no more for

the state of being

being asked us how would you answer

if they were to ask me this venerable

sir i would answer thus

friends through an internal deliverance

through the destruction of all clinging

i dwell mindfully in such a way

that the paints do not flow within me

and i do not despise myself

being asked thus venerable sir

i would answer in such a way

let's unpack that he says friends

through an internal deliverance

through the destruction of all clinging

i dwelt mindfully in such a way that the

taints do not flow within me and i do

not despise myself

the internal deliverance

is that mind of the arhat which is empty

which is signless

and which is immeasurable

because it is void of any kind of greed

hatred or delusion

the formations that arise in that mind

are not rooted in great hatred or

delusion

so that mind is always experiencing

deliverance

it is always experiencing relief

that mind is free from any kind of greed

hatred or delusion and so it rests

within itself and that is the internal

deliverance that is there

through the destruction of all clinging

doesn't grasp at anything doesn't cling

to any experience in any way whatsoever

doesn't identify with any experience in

any way whatsoever sees everything as it

is everything that is experienced

through the sixth sense basis is like

this

hyper aware hyper dimensional hyper

vivid

multi-sensory

movie

you're not attached to anything you're

just seeing things flowing

you're experiencing things

flowing not clinging or grasping at

anything

i dwell mindfully in such a way that the

taints do not flow within me in other

words

he doesn't have to intend to dwell

mindfully he just dwells mindfully

mindfully as in arahat the mind is

automatically its default mode

is to function from the eightfold path

right so which means it's always having

right mindfulness it's always observing

where its attention goes from one thing

to the other

because it always has mindfulness there

is no ignorance in that mind

ignorance is the ignorance of the four

noble truths

not

being aware of the four noble truths

a lack of mindfulness

feeds back to that ignorance

that ignorance is dependent and

conditions as well the three taints

the three fermentations of the mind

the three asavas as they called in pali

that is

the fermentation or taint of sensual

desire

the taint or fermentation of being

and the taint and fermentation of

ignorance

so that sensual desire arises every time

the mind acts upon

with craving towards craving our

aversion towards a sensual experience

that's eradicated for the anagami but

the craving for being is still there

craving to be in this genre or that this

existence or that and so on

that feeds back

energy to the taint of being

but for the arahat they have destroyed

that taint of being they have destroyed

the taint of ignorance because they're

fully aware at all times

they're fully mindful at all times

so when they are fully mindful there's

no way craving can arise there's no way

clinging can arise

and therefore there's no way that it can

be added to any kind of fuel

for the taints which can give rise to

ignorance which can then tinge the

formations

that can be rooted in great hatred or

delusion can be rooted in conceit

in craving and ignorance

and since those formations are purified

in the mind of the arahat any

consciousness that arises will not be

rooted in that greed hatred or delusion

and therefore any

experience of the nama rupa through the

sixth sense basis in contact feeling and

perception

will always be seen mindfully as

this is not me this is not mine this is

not myself that all feeling is subject

to change and impermanent therefore not

worth holding on to

and i do not despise myself

easy i have loving kindness for myself

i have loving-kindness for myself

therefore i have loving-kindness for all

other beings

i don't have any self-hatred

when you don't have loving-kindness for

yourself you cannot give loving-kindness

to others

when you don't have compassion for

yourself you cannot give compassion to

others

so he dwells mindfully with

loving-kindness inherent in that mind

the arahat responds always in one way or

the other through wisdom

always with wisdom

but it can

it can also respond

with compassion

with equanimity

with joy

it will celebrate in other people's

choice

you know the arahat can have a good

sense of humor

or sometimes a corny sense of humor but

in either case

they will always be joyful

they will always try to be happy and

make others happy

and they will always have loving

kindness and compassion

being thus asked a venerable sir i would

answer in such a way

good good sariputta this is another

method of explaining in brief that same

point

i have no perplexity in regard to this

taints spoken of by

the ascetic the ascetic here is the

buddha because

here the way it's written is with a

capital a

so when they say recluse for the capital

r

or the brahman with the capital b

or

ascetic with a capital a they're

referring to the buddha

i do not doubt that they have been

abandoned by me so the perplexity here

is in regards to

what are those taints

and the doubt here is in reference to

i have no doubt that they have been

abandoned

so when

a person becomes an arahat there's no

doubt it's like

are the taints still there in me or not

in me you will know for sure that the

taints are no longer in you

you'll know for sure and so that's why

it's known as the irreversible

unshakable liberation of mind

and that's why it can the the mind of

the arahat can proclaim in whatever

words that lion's roar of birth is

destroyed

what had to be

done has been done there is no more

coming to any new state of being

this is what the blessed one said having

said this the fortunate one rose from

his seat and entered his dwelling

there's a second part to this

then soon after the blessed one had

departed the venerable sariputta

addressed the because thus

friends the first question that the

blessed one asked me had not been

previously considered by me

thus i hesitated over it

meaning when the buddha asked him have

you actually

attained final knowledge

he hesitated because he didn't

understand first and foremost what the

buddha's intention was behind that but

when the blessed one approved of my

answer

which is in regards to

dependent origination when the buddha

says how do you declare this he says it

because i understand

when this arises

that arises when this ceases that ceases

so when he understood dependent

origination and explained because i

understand the penergination through and

through

i can say that i have final knowledge

but that final knowledge remember

you can have an understanding of

dependent origination through each of

the different attainments but he has a

full understanding as an arahat which is

to say he can explain it in different

ways because he has experienced the

reverse order in the forward order and

so on and so forth and he has understood

that certain links are no longer present

in his mind

the reactivity in the form of birth

the becoming the the state of being or

existence or habitual tendencies

the clinging the craving are no longer

there in the arahat the ignorance is

gone the taints are gone

and therefore the formations rooted in

ignorance craving and conceit are gone

and any consciousness rooted in that is

gone

so

there will still be formations but they

are now

tethered by right view tethered by

wisdom

and so whatever formations arise they

give rise to pure consciousness

consciousness that does not take delight

in this or that

and so whatever is experience whatever

arises in the form of an experience as

seen as as it actually is

so when he understands it in this way he

can declare final knowledge

and so he said

but when the blessed one approved of my

answer it occurred to me if the blessed

one for to question me about this matter

with various terms and with various

methods for a whole day

for a whole day i would be able to

answer him with various terms and with

various methods if he were to question

me about this matter with various terms

and with various methods for a whole

night

for a day and night for two days and

nights for three four five six or seven

days and nights for seven days and

nights i would be able to answer him

with various terms and with various

methods

in other words

an arahat is never bored by talking

about the dhamma

you can talk about the dhamma but not be

attached by it

right

so if you're questioned by about the

dhamma in different ways the arhat can

describe it in different ways maybe the

arahat has no inclination to teach

but they can speak from experience and

that speaking from experience itself is

a teaching

so an arahat might possess

different

you know different kinds of siddhis

different kinds of powers or they might

not possess

different kinds of powers they might

possess the four analytical knowledges

or they might not possess the four

analytical knowledges regardless ask an

arahat about dependent origination ask

them about the dhamma and they can talk

about the dhamma

all day long all night long

doesn't matter

then the bhikkhu kalara the kathya rose

from his seat and approached the blessed

one having approached he paid homage to

the blessed one sat down to one side and

said to him

venerable sir the venerable sariputta

has roared his lion's roar thus

friends the first question that the

blessed one asked me had not been

previously considered by me thus i

hesitated over it but but when the

blessed one approved of my answer it

occurred to me if the blessed one wore

to question me about this matter for up

to seven days and nights for up to seven

days and nights i would be able to

answer him with various terms and with

various methods

and at the heart of this is also the

understanding of the four noble truths

so in other words if the arahat can talk

about dependent origination they

understand the first and second noble

truth

right they have understood the first

noble truth they have abandoned the

second noble truth and they can talk to

you about the noble hateful path they

can talk to you about the transcendental

dependent origination they discuss it in

different ways talk about how to do this

particular part of that of the eightfold

path

whatever it might be and so they

understand they have

uh experienced and realized for

themselves the third noble truth of the

cessation of suffering and therefore

they have cultivated and perfected

the development of the eightfold path

that's the fourth noble truth

in other words to put it simply they

have understood suffering

they have abandoned the craving that

leads to suffering or

the links of dependent origination that

lead to suffering

they have realized and experienced for

themselves the cessation of suffering

nibana here and now

because they have understood and

cultivated and perfected the eightfold

path

which is intertwined with the 37

requisites of enlightenment which are

intertwined

with the

transcendental links of dependent

origination and they have developed them

and perfected them

so much so

and so much so that they recondition

their mind in such a way

that they

seem to act spontaneously or speak

spontaneously because they don't have

any

projections of how it should be or how

it ought to be

but they just act in the moment but

however they speak act or intend will

always be rooted in the eightfold path

because uh obiku the venerable sariputta

has thoroughly penetrated that element

of the dhamma

by the thorough penetration of which if

i were to question him about that matter

with various terms and at various

methods for up to seven days and nights

for up to seven days and nights he would

be able to answer me with various terms

and with various

methods

thus ended the lesson

[Music]

you

[Music]

okay so today we're going to go a little

deeper into dependent origination

we're going to be reading from the

samyut nikaya

number 12 point 32

and it's called the

kalara

that's sabati

then the bhikkhu kalara the katya

approached the venerable sariputta and

exchanged greetings with him

when they had concluded their greetings

in cordial talk

he sat down to one side

and said to the venerable sariputta

friend sariputta the bhikkhu moliya

faguna has abandoned the training and

returned to the lower life

maulia faguna was a troublesome fellow

you see him in majaminikaya number 21

which is the simile of the cell

and he's the guy who had a lot of

attachment to the bikunis

and if the bikunis were

around and somebody said something to

them or about them that was negative he

would get upset by it that was the

beginning of

the simile of the song

so it looks like fagona was

not happy with the

the life of a monk and he actually

disrobed and went back to being a

layperson

then surely that venerable did not find

solace in this dhamma and discipline

well then has the venerable sariputta

attains solace in this dharma and

discipline

i have no perplexity friend

but as to the future friend

i have no doubt

friend

then the bhikkhu kalara the katya rose

from his seat and approached the blessed

one

having approached he paid homage to the

blessed one

sat down to one side and said to him

venerable sir the venerable sariputta

has declared final knowledge thus

i understand destroyed is birth the holy

life has been lived what had to be done

has been done there is no more for this

state of being

that's how he interpreted what uh sorry

put us that saripata said

i have no perplexity and i have no doubt

and kalara took that to mean that

sariputta was declaring

final knowledge declaring

the

fruition of arahatship

declaring as we always hear about the

lions roar that big statement

destroyed his birth the holy life has

been lived

what had to be done has been done there

is no more for this state of being

so then the blessed one addressed a

certain biku thus

in my name that the teacher calls him

yes venerable sir that bhikkhu replied

and he went to the venerable sorry put

that and told him

the teacher calls you friend sorry put

that

yes friend the venerable sorry buddha

replied

and he approached the blessed one paid

homage to him and sat down to one side

the blessed one then said to him is it

true sariputta that you have declared

final knowledge thus i understand

destroyed is birth the holy life has

been lived what had to be done has been

done there is no more for this state of

being

venerable sir i did not state the matter

in those terms and phrases

in whatever way sorry a clansman

declares final knowledge

what he has declared should be

understood as such in other words

somebody becomes an arhat it's not

necessary that they have to say

destroy this birth and you know this is

uh

you know what has to be done has been

done and all these other things

kalara took what sariputta said and

understood that sariputta had declared

final knowledge because of a couple of

things

when he asked him

has the venerable sorry put the attains

solace in the dharma and discipline he

says

i have no perplexity friend perplexity

here is another synonym for

doubt

in other words sariputta had complete

experiential confidence in the buddha

dhamma and sangha

and then when he asked him but as to the

future friend he says i have no doubt

friend

in that case what sariputta is

saying or implying is that there is no

doubt that he has attained what he has

attained he has attained final knowledge

so kalara took that interpret it in that

way and reported it to the buddha

and so now the buddha is asking

have you said that and sorry buddha says

well i didn't say it exactly in that way

and so the buddha says it's okay you

don't have to say it in exactly the same

way

but there's a way that one person a

person understands

that they have attained arahat ship and

they understand it and they'll report it

in their own terms

so he says so the buddha said in

whatever way sariputta a klansman

declares final knowledge

what he has declared should be

understood as such

venerable sir didn't i to speak thus

venerable sir i did not state the matter

in those terms and phrases

so the buddha the reason he's asking

this is for a very specific

purpose

and sariputta is not getting the gist of

what the buddha wants him to do but he

will very soon

so the buddha says

if sariputta they were to ask you friend

sariputta how have you known how have

you seen that you have declared final

knowledge thus

i understand destroyed his birth the

holy life has been lived what had to be

done has been done there is no more for

this state of being

being thus asked how would you answer

and so now

saripata gets the buddha's intention

he wants to know from sariputta how did

you get through this

arahat ship

how did you understand the dhamma

and so now begins the understanding of

the dharma as sorry buddha will talk

about it

he says if they were to ask me this

venerable sir i would answer thus with

the destruction of the source from which

birth originates

i have understood

when the cause is destroyed the effect

is destroyed

having understood this i understand

destroyed is birth

the holy life has been lived what had to

be done has been done

there is no more for the state of being

being asked thus venerable sir i would

answer in such a way

so what sariputta is saying is that the

way he attained arahat's ship

or that is to say the fruition of

arahachip was the wisdom that arose from

understanding the dharma the core

essence of the dharma is

when the cause is destroyed the effect

is destroyed in other words with the

arising of this there arises that

with the cessation of that there are

there's there ceases this

dependent origination

and so he says

that is how i understand

that destroyed his birth the holy life

has been lived

what had to be done has been done there

is no more for the state of being being

asked thus venerable sir i would answer

in such a way

because he says

he has understood this whole process

when there was the destruction of the

source from which birth originates

how does birth originate

but sorry put that if they were to ask

you

but friends sorry put that what is the

source of birth what is its origin from

what is it born and produced

being asked us how would you answer

so first let's discuss what is birth

when we talk about birth what is that

there's the birth that's understood at

the macro level from one lifetime to

another

it is the coming together of the sense

basis

it is the coming into being into a new

existence

it is the

coming together of the aggregates

it's the birth of a new life this is one

way of understanding it

that is birth

there is also birth of

action in every moment of your life

birth of action is

mental action verbal action

or

bodily action

so that means birth of what birth of

karma

birth of action

mental action is an intention

that gives rise to an intentional

thought

verbal action is

an intentionalized way of speaking

when you speak you have an intention to

say something

birth of physical action or bodily

action is when you want to

do something you intend to walk

you intend to sit down

you intend to eat

you intend to breathe in and out

whatever it might be

so this kind of birth of action

is something that happens

dependent upon its cause or its

condition

which is habitual tendency

we'll get into that a little bit but

the question to understand is

can you six our birth

can you six our birth of action

you cannot

because as soon as the action is

produced

you cannot call it back

as soon as you have released the arrow

you can't call back the arrow

as soon as you have

said something you can't take it back

as soon as you have thought something

you can't take it back

so the way to look at dependent

origination

is that

there's this cascading of different

streams and rivolets that go into and

form a river

and these whirlpools these vortexes

that are there are

each of the links of dependent

origination

and then there is the becoming the

habitual tendencies existence which is

the bend of the river that goes into a

waterfall

the waterfall the falling of

that river the waterfall itself

is birth

it's the birth of action

once you go beyond

becoming and actually take the action

you cannot go back

you cannot go upstream of a waterfall

and so the buddha says but sariputta if

they were to ask you

but friend sariputta what is the source

of birth what is its origin from what is

it born and produced

being asked us how would you answer

if they were to ask me this venerable

sir i would answer thus

birth friends has existence or habitual

tendencies as its source

existence or habitual tendencies

as its origin it is born and produced

from existence or habitual tendencies

being thus being asked thus venerable

sir i would answer in such a way

habitual tendencies is another way we

describe bhava

so birth is the birth of action or the

birth of a being

bhava is becoming

his being

his existence

is habitual tendencies

at the level of becoming you become

someone or you become something it's

where your sense of identity becomes

most

concrete

so whenever sorry put that as described

or anyone in the suttas is described

bhava they talk about it in terms of the

threefold existences

there is the existence in the sensual

realms there's the existence in the form

realms

and there's the existence in formless

realms

here what they're talking about is

how the habitual tendencies incline to a

certain kind of existence

if your habitual tendencies

are rooted in being

attached to sensory pleasures

reacting to sensory information

you have a tendency to incline to exist

in a sensual realm

and in that central realm there can be

different kinds of habitual tendencies

so what are habitual tendencies habitual

tendencies

are basically those reactions

that the mind has held onto

as a storage device it picks it up

whenever it's met with some kind of an

experience and it naturally

almost automatically

reacts in a certain way

that automatic reaction is the habitual

tendency

so if you are met with certain choices

your mind will incline to certain

choices automatically

that inclination is the habitual

tendencies

so if a mind reacts with a lot of anger

the habitual tendencies are rooted in

that anger and cause birth

in an angry realm that is to say in the

mind psychologically

if you are suffering and you have a lot

of angry and irritation

if you have a lot of anger and you have

a lot of irritation and frustration

bitterness all of these other

unwholesome

very

bleak

ways of reacting

in your mind

then that's a very hellish way of living

in your mind

so then in that case psychologically

when your habitual tendencies

are rooted in that where will you have

birth of action in in a hellish

atmosphere

if you continue to act with anger you

will only receive more anger you will

only create more habitual tendencies

rooted in that anger

but if somebody is

generous if somebody is happy if

somebody is clear and calm

if somebody keeps the precepts somebody

is loving and kind and compassionate and

so on

then their inclinations or their

habitual tendencies will incline towards

wholesome ways of reacting to a

situation

and so that bhava leads

to a deva kind of atmosphere

a deva-like psychology

or a higher existence so to speak if the

mind experiences any of the first four

janas

the rupa janas

and inclines towards those ghanas

and has

the ability to go into those genres very

easily

then their mindset is habituated towards

those jonathan experiences

and so because of that

whatever wherever they are they will

experience that jonic realm

psychologically

if you continue to cultivate

the first jhana

when you continue to walk around and

everything you walk in the first jhana

and you experience the joy of the first

john you experience the

the clarity and the the relief from the

hindrances from that first jhana so your

mind is void of those hindrances it has

joy

it has sukkah it has comfort and ease in

the body

and then likewise with the second jhana

it has further

collectedness

further confidence

with the third jhana the mindset is more

comfortable more at ease more tranquil

and finally with the fourth jana it's

more equanimous

so if you continue to develop jhana

calculate jhana

your habitual tendencies will incline

from jhana or jonic state of being

in other words whatever you are met with

when you are in that jhana

you will respond from there that is to

say because you are happy because you're

uplifted

there won't be any of the hindrances

there in your mind

so you will respond in a way that is

rooted in wisdom in compassion

in joy and so on

likewise for the second third fourth

jhana and the formless realms

if a being continues to cultivate and

develop the arupa janus continues to be

an infinite space

tied with the compassion continues to be

in

uh infinite consciousness

tied to with the empathetic joy

if a person continues to be in

nothingness tied with equanimity or

neither perception or non-perception

tied with quiet mind

then however they respond will be rooted

from the habitual tendencies

rooted in that genre or in that

realm

so in other words psychologically you

will have more compassion if you're an

infinite space you'll respond with more

compassion

psychologically you will respond with

more empathetic joy when you're in

infinite consciousness

psychologically you will

experience or respond from more

equanimity when you're from in

nothingness

or your mind will be quiet when you're

neither perception or non-perception

and then on the macro level this also

results in where if somebody has

throughout their life

been unwholesome

throughout their life been somebody who

is stingy or jealous or envious or angry

or frustrated or violent

or whatever unwholesome states of mind

there might be

because of the habitual tendencies there

will be something

that will resp react in a way when they

when they are about to die

their

stream of consciousness if you will

whatever arises in their mind

will be inclined towards the unwholesome

they will either have regrets for things

that they did

they'll have anger or bitterness towards

people or something will arise which is

unwholesome

and their reaction to that will give

rise to a certain formation

or set of formations which give rise to

a certain consciousness

and then that consciousness will then

incline towards a new namarupa in a new

existence

in a new state of being

where the birth will occur there and

that existence will correspond

with the kind of inclinations that they

have

so likewise if somebody has been very

wholesome always been generous

always kept the precepts always been

loving and kind and patient and

compassionate equanimous and so on

then when they're about to die

the tendency will be for the mind to

look at the things that were wholesome

the wholesome actions that they did the

wholesome speech that they had the

wholesome intentions that they had that

will make their mind uplifted that will

keep their mind happy

and because of that there will be a

formation rooted in that which will give

rise to a corresponding consciousness

which will then descend into a new

namarupa in a new birth corresponding

with those wholesome states of mind this

is becoming

because through that habitual tendency

likewise if somebody's cultivated the

jhanas they will enter into ajianic rum

the one of the four

rupa brahmalokas

or in regards to

the arupa states they will then

take existence or take birth into a new

existence that is in one of the arupa

realms

so this is becoming this is being this

is existence

dependent upon

your actions dependent upon your

intentions

which then creates the sense of habitual

tendencies

these habitual tendencies

just to emphasize

can be changed

because they can be six art

if you notice that the mind is about to

react in a certain way

and you recognize that and you release

your attention from that relax

and then come back to something

wholesome

then you are actually

weakening habitual tendencies

that are rooted in unwholesome states of

mind

in unwholesome intentions

so that instead of responding reacting

from negative or unwholesome tendencies

you respond

in a wholesome manner so you weaken

those habitual tendencies

and you replace them with

positive or wholesome habitual

tendencies

but sorry put that if they were to ask

you but friends sorry put putta what is

the source of habitual tendencies

being asked us how would you answer

if they were to ask me this venerable

sir i would answer thus

habitual tendencies friends

have clinging as its source

clinging

clinging comes from the word upadhana

which is another way of something that's

fueled

it's the fuel for existence

it's that which

nutrifies or nourishes existence

there are certain types of clinging

there's the clinging to

sensual pleasures

there's a clinging to rights and rituals

there's a clinging to

certain kinds of self-view

and then there's clinging to

certain kinds of

wrong view

or clinging to views in general

so clinging to sensual pleasures

when you have a sensual experience

whatever experience it might be your

mind

if it has craving in it

will incline towards that and say i want

that

it grasps at it and says i want that

and it says i want that because it makes

me feel good

the because is the rationalization which

is the clinging to sensual pleasures

i want that because it makes me feel

good that makes me feel good is the

concretizing of the sense of self

in habitual tendencies

so the association with how these things

make you feel good or why they make you

feel good or why they don't make you

feel good is the clinging

clinging is digging your heels deeper

into

i want it because of so and so or i

don't like it because of so and so

so sensual pleasures it's where you

create the sense

the the repository of favorites in terms

of your sense experiences

you have a favorite type of music you

have a favorite type of movie genre you

have a favorite type of cereal you have

a favorite type of food you have a

favorite type of perfume you have a

favorite type of

bed sheet or favorite chair or

favorite drink or whatever it might be

all of these things

arise

because you start to rationalize why you

like these things

those rationalizations are clinging

and that's the clinging to sensual

pleasures

so if somebody says red is my favorite

color they've grown up thinking red they

associate red with something that makes

them feel good and so that association

makes them cling to the color red

and so now it's like this is my favorite

and if it's my favorite it is me it is

mine it is myself

that it is me it is mine it is myself

is the bhava it is the habitual

tendencies

so the clinging to sensual pleasures

only goes away

when you have attained anagami

because there there is no more sensual

craving and therefore there won't be any

more clinging to sensual pleasures

clinging to rights and rituals

clinging to rights and rituals with the

idea that these rights and rituals will

take you to nibana that's one way of

looking at it

but clinging to rights and rituals with

the idea that certain kinds of practices

will lead you somewhere

like

praying to a certain deity will get you

wealth

praying to a certain deity will get you

health

or if i carry my lucky handkerchief

it'll be a good day

right if i do certain things

you know if i do certain rituals

my day will go well

if i don't do those rituals i feel awful

now the whole day has gone bad just

because i wasn't able to do those

rituals i wasn't able to do it a certain

way everything has to be a certain way

right this is a kind of clinging to

rights and rituals

because it's like if i don't do it this

way

something's going to go bad but if i do

it this way everything is going to be

fine if you stand or if you have a

standpoint on that that is a clinging to

rights and rituals

so the clinging to rights and rituals

with the idea that they'll take you to

nibana

goes away when you become a stream enter

that's one of the fetters the clinging

to rights and rituals

the clinging to self view

is the idea

well there there are these 20 types of

cell fuse

they are basically the five aggregates

multiplied by the four types of cell

fuel so what are the five aggregates

form feeling perception formations

consciousness

the different types of self-view is

these aggregates are self

these aggregates

are in-self

self is in ag in the aggregates

or the self is a possession of the

aggregates or sometimes the self is

separate from the aggregates

so that means that my body is me

or the feelings i'm experiencing is me

or the perceptions that i have is it me

or the intentions that i have is me

or the consciousness the awareness of

whatever is happening is me

this is a type of self-view

or

that the me the sense of me the sense of

i

is in the body

or it's in the feeling

or it's in perception or it's in the

intention or it's in the consciousness

or that this self

is larger than the aggregates and they

are in

the self

in other words the self is one with

existence

and the aggregates are functioning

within the self

or

the self is separate the self is one

thing and the aggregates are another or

that they are par they are possessed by

the self

they are faculties of the self

so if you will look at that touchstone

of what does it mean to be a self in the

ancient indian context the idea is that

that self is imperishable

and that it's permanent and a source of

happiness

but now if you look at all of the

aggregates we understand

that

each of these aggregates is dependently

arisen

the body

as we understand it is na rupa mind and

body

right or rather the five aggregates are

nama rupa

so there is the body which is dependent

upon consciousness

for in order for it to

function

but it's also dependent upon food

and it grows and it's changing it's

subject to change

if it's dependently arisen that means

it's impermanent

if it's impermanent there's not there's

no point in holding onto it because it

will cause suffering

so therefore it should not be seen as me

mine or myself it cannot be seen as me

mine or myself

what about feeling

any experience you're having right now

you're here right now and that's the

experience you're listening to my voice

that's an experience

i stop speaking

the voice doesn't continue the sound

doesn't continue or didn't continue at

that moment

it changed the experience keeps changing

in every moment

now you're here in the dhamma hall now

you're going to walk outside

the experience is different you hear the

air conditioner the air conditioner goes

silent that's a different experience

right so all of the different

experiences that you're having these are

all feeling these are all vedana

so if they're always changing then that

means it's impermanent feeling is

impermanent

and if feeling is impermanent it means

that

it can change and therefore it is liable

to cause suffering

there can be suffering in that feeling

therefore how can it be considered to be

me mine or myself

perceptions we understand perceptions to

be rooted in memory

but memory is very fickle

there's so many times that people can

implant

false memory

just by adding certain kinds of details

into whatever it is that they're talking

about

right

so i remember you wearing a red shirt

not a pink shirt

right oh yeah that's right he was

wearing a red shirt not a pink shirt

right suddenly people now think about

that and their perceptions change

or the perceptions of your

memories before that you had might

change as you grow up

right before you thought your parent was

uh

you know being very strict and being

this and that but then when you yourself

become a parent you realize

oh they were really being careful they

were being compassionate they were

trying to keep me safe

the perceptions change

so if perceptions change how can they be

considered to be

self because the self is supposed to be

that which is not subject to change

if perceptions change good bad or

indifferent

they can be liable to cause suffering

if that's the case you cannot consider

them to be me mine or myself

there can't be a self in a perception

perceptions can't be part of a self

perceptions or feeling can't be part of

a self

likewise with formations

formations continue to arise and pass

away those of you who have been in

neither perception or non-perception

can testify to this you can see the

bubbling up of formations just coming

and going coming and going

continuously right until you become

disenchanted with them and you have no

control over them

you have no control over what experience

you're going to have you have no control

over how the body will change

when the body will die and all of these

other things

if the body will have this sickness or

that sickness

you have no control over whether these

perceptions will continue to be this way

or a different way same with the

intentions they continue changing

dependent upon

whatever is arising

whatever choices you're met with those

are the choices that are conditioned by

whatever the experience is and your

intention which drives forward the

formations changes dependent upon that

intention

so formations also cannot be seen as

self

awareness or consciousness

arises remember dependent upon

sense spaces

and their

objects

so if that changes if the feeling

changes the perception changes

so does the awareness tie to that

feeling and perception

so how can there be how can it be self

how can there be a self in there

how can be related to a self

so this clinging to self views

is the understanding that everything

that is conditioned and even the

unconditioned

is not self

you understand that there is no

controller here

when you come to that understanding when

you have the experience of stream entry

when you first experience cessation of

perception feeling unconsciousness

and the mind comes out

from that and then experiences the links

it realizes oh this reality arises

because of these causes and conditions

everything is im

impersonal

so there is this experiential

understanding of the impersonal nature

of all things

and that eradicates the clinging to

self-view there's still be conceit

there'll still be this intrinsic

taking of things personal there'll still

be this intrinsic

sense of identifying with the five

aggregates but on a experiential

understanding in the sense of your mind

you understand intellectually more than

intellectually it is intellectual but

it's also dependent upon a deep

experience

you understand that this is there is no

core

permanent self in any of these things

and so you let go of all self views

this is known as sakaya ditty

ditty

in

sanskrit which means the view

the perspective

your perspective on the self changes

your perspective on

on the concept of a self is eradicated

where it takes anything as being a core

essential personal self at stream entry

so this is the clinging to self-use

what about the

clinging to views

there are these 62 types of wrong view

no no i'm not going to go over all 62.

don't worry

[Laughter]

but we'll go over a few of them we

actually went over them

on the second date when we were reading

from

the diginakaya number two summon of

falasoota

where it was talking about where the

king ajat shatu

went to meet all of these different

sects right the different leaders of

these sets

so there was the view of materialism the

view of eternalism the view of

annihilationism or nihilism the view of

fatalism the view of skepticism the view

that or the view of asceticism where you

had to purify

your karma by doing certain aesthetic

practices

these are all in some way or another

violating the laws of karma as we

understand it from the dhamma

or

violating the understanding of what what

reality actually is in terms of the self

and not self and so on and so forth

so

these are the different kinds of

clinging to wrong views

but if you let go of all wrong views and

your mind becomes established in right

view which happens at stream entry

they can still be clinging to right view

they could still be clinging to the

dharma itself

remember yesterday we talked about how

the mind can cling to the idea of

dependent origination

and so it's the idea of the raft

it doesn't let go of the raft after it's

gotten to the other shore it continues

to carry it on on its shoulders

so the clinging to the dhamma the

identification with the dhamma that's

the conceit that arises saying i know

the dhamma

and i am a dhamma defender

it make you become part of that view you

identify with that view somebody says

something against the dhamma

you want you have an inclination to

defend it

and if there's any pride in the dharma

that is another kind of clinging to the

dharma clinging to right view

so that is completely eradicated

clinging to

the wrong views is eradicated at stream

entry because now you have right view

established

but clinging to the damage of clinging

to right view

is completely completely eradicated at

arahat's ship

so these are the types of clinging

but sorry buddha if they were to ask you

but friend sorry puta what is the source

of clinging

what is its origin from what is it born

and produced

being asked thus how would you answer

if they were to ask me this venerable

sir i would answer thus

clinging friends has craving as its

source

so what is craving we talked about

craving a little bit yesterday there's a

three different types of craving

there's the sensual craving

there's the craving for existence and

there's the craving for non-existence

the craving for sensual pleasures is

where

and it can be also by the way aversion

it's a craving has two sides too there's

the craving the i wanted mindset

and there's the craving that is the

aversion that i don't want it mindset

and so the identification with any

experience causes the mind to say i want

it

or i don't want it

so if you're having some kind of sensory

experience

maybe you're

walking out in the heat and it's very

hot and your mind immediately reacts to

it by saying

oh i don't like this heat you get upset

by that heat

right that's the kind of sensual craving

sensual aversion

if your mind enjoys some kind of food

and it sees that food

it says oh

i really like that food or it tastes

a wonderful piece of candy and

immediately says i want more of that

candy

there is craving there

craving is recognized remember this

craving is recognized

as tightness and tension in mind and

body

anytime the body and the mind recoil

at an experience there is craving there

right there's a difference though

sometimes there can be reflexes

right

but there's other times where the mind

just gravitates towards something

so to clarify reflexes are things like

the body immediately protects itself so

to speak right if it sees a fire or if

it there's heat it will pull its hand

away

right if a snake strikes it

it will jump

it will protect itself that's one thing

but you have to notice was there fear

there was there anger there was there

irritation there

was there craving there

right so it's the two darts principle

the two arrows there's the physical

which is the reflex

and then there's the mental which says i

don't like it because it affected me in

this way and so and so forth that i

don't like it that mental aspect is the

craving there

so we talked about this uh in terms of

the six r's so you can six r

becoming you can six her habitual

tendencies you can see our clinging when

you notice the mind trying to

rationalize why it likes a certain thing

you can recognize that and let that go

stop digging your heels into trying to

say i like it because of this or i don't

like it because this person said so and

so and

so on

or whatever kind of clinging you notice

whatever kind of rationalization you

notice for the craving that you have

you can recognize it and six art let it

go

same with the craving we recognize that

the mind starts becoming tight and tense

because it wants something

it's trying too hard to get something

like loving kindness or any meditation

object and you can six r that let go of

that

or you notice that it gets irritated

that it's not in a certain genre

and you can recognize that and let go of

that speaking of jhana that's the

craving for existence

i want to be in this jhana you know why

am i not here yet

i'm waiting for nibana to happen i'm

waiting for niro that to happen why am i

not there yet

been meditating for four hours and

nothing is going on

right this is the craving for an

experience

and it will arise in your mind in the

form of all of these rationalizations

maybe i should go for a walk it's been

very long i've been sitting for three

hours

maybe i should go get up and take a walk

or nothing's really happening here i'm

bored

that was bonte's

you know

most

hated word let's say

right board that's the bad word the b

word bored

don't ever say you're bored in front of

bounty

so that boredom that arises nothing's

going on here

right that's like another kind of

craving for existence i want something

to happen so what does the

mind do the mind seeks stimulation so

it's gonna throw up all of these things

all of these formations restlessness

slot and torpor all of these other

hindrances what do you have to do

stay calm

stay equanimous

seek art let that go come back to the

quiet mind or whatever it might be

a craving for non-existence

you're in a certain genre but you don't

want to be in that channel

right that's another kind of way or

craving for non-existence in the sense

i am here and i don't want to be here

i'm part of this family i don't want to

be part of this family

i'm in this country i don't want to be

in this country i want to go somewhere

else

i don't want to be poor or i want to be

rich these are the these are the two

sides of that coin of craving for

existence

craving for non-existence at the very

extreme craving for non-existence can

lead to suicide

people rarely get so

bogged down

by their experiences

they get so deeply affected by their

experiences

that the mind is seeking a way out of it

and it feels like the only way out is to

end

one's life

that's the most extreme craving for

non-existence

so anytime you recognize this sense of i

want this or i don't want this

or i am this

or i want to be this or i don't want to

be here or i don't want to be this

recognize that as a form of craving

and sex art and experience relief

you know the idea is when i

see a chocolate a piece of chocolate

cake the mind will say that chocolate

cake is really nice that's the feeling

but then it's there's this there's this

tension that comes up in the mind and

body

says i want that chocolate cake

that's a nice piece of chocolate cake is

one thing but i want that now the mind

experiences tightness and tension the

body experiences tightness and tension

this is a

this is also a kind of response in the

biology of the fight or flight

or freeze

it's like i need to possess that and so

that tension causes the mind to say okay

if i take that

and i satisfy that craving i will feel

relief

so what happens you start to condition

the mind in such a way that the only way

to experience relief is to act upon my

craving

is to act upon my aversions

somebody says something really

terrible

to you

and your mind and your in your

body start to recoil they have tightness

and tension

and you want to say something back at

them and you have real anger towards

them and then you act on that anger what

do you feel after a little while just in

that moment you feel relief

i said what i had to say to them i feel

relief in that moment i

relieved my anger by acting on it

so then you recondition your mind

thinking every time i get angry if i act

on it i'll feel relief

but what if you felt relief before

acting on it that's the whole purpose of

the six hours

you're noticing there's craving arising

you're noticing there's aversion arising

you recognize it

release your attention from that

relax the craving relax the tightness

and tension

feel relief right there and then replace

it with something wholesome

now you don't act on it you've already

felt relief

your mind is expanding

it's become less contracted your body is

loose and relaxed it's tranquilized so

now you don't act out of craving

but you respond with wisdom

now instead of getting angry at the

person

you six are

and you realize that person is suffering

so why should i add to their suffering

let me either stay quiet

or de-escalate the situation

by addressing their concerns

not giving into their anger or their

hatred

right

maybe i enjoy a piece of chocolate cake

and i want another one and i look at and

i say you know i feel like having

another piece of chocolate cake

but i know it's not going to satisfy me

because i've already eaten it i've

already eaten one piece

so i recognize that i let go of that

i feel

ease when i relax

i feel

an expanded mind and i replace it with

equanimity

right i come back to the smile replace

it with equanimity and say i'm okay i

don't need this chocolate cake and i go

away

so i won't suffer the consequences of

eating another chocolate a piece of

chocolate cake which could result in a

sugar rush or worse diabetes

right some kind of suffering

so different ways of dealing with

craving and aversion different

situations

or rather different situations but the

same way of dealing with them which is

the six hours

so the six hours aren't just for your

meditation

but therefore your daily practice this

is right effort leads you to right

mindfulness right collectedness in daily

life

allows you to respond with wisdom and

compassion or sometimes not respond at

all that might be the wisest thing to do

is not to respond at

all so

this is how you let go of craving and

these are the different types of craving

but sorry put that if they were to ask

you but friend sariputta what is the

source of craving what is its origin

from what is it born and produced

being asked thus

how would you answer

if they were to ask me this venerable

sir i would answer thus

craving friends

has feeling as its source

feeling as its origin it is born and

produced from feeling

being asked thus

venerable sir i would respond in such a

way

so feeling

the buddha has talked about different

kinds of feeling up to 108 different

kinds of feeling but the three basic

understanding of feeling understandings

of healing is

pleasant

unpleasant and

neutral

there's the pleasant there's a pleasant

feeling which makes you feel good

there's the unpleasant feeling that

makes you feel not so good and there's a

neutral feeling where

you neither feel good or bad it's just a

feeling

just an experience

so there can be mental feeling and there

can be physical feeling

there can be feeling related to the

sixth sense basis

right that's the physical feeling or the

five physical sense spaces or there can

be

the feeling in the mind

irritation in the mind or

feeling of joy

in the mind

feeling of the janik factor of sukkah in

the mind comfort in the mind and so on

now in these feelings can arise

or embedded in these feelings

through how you respond to them through

how you perceive them

are underlying tendencies

so in the case of a pleasant feeling it

can give rise to the underlying tendency

towards craving for that pleasant

experience

in the case of an unpleasant feeling it

can give rise to an underlying tendency

and tendency to of have aversion towards

that unpleasant experience

aside from these kinds of underlying

tendencies there can be the underlying

tendency to ignore ignorance to have the

lack of mindfulness of seeing what it

actually is

or ignorance of the four noble truths

and the three characteristics

of existence

there can be the underlying tendency

towards doubt

unaware of how to deal with the

situation in terms of what is wholesome

and what is unwholesome

they can arise the under underlying

tendency towards some kind of a view

to take up a certain kind of view

dependent upon that experience

to take up a certain kind of

opinion about something

right opinions and views

can give rise to violence can give rise

to wars

we've seen this throughout the eons

this is how the buddha says there arises

the taking up of the sword and the stick

it arises from clinging to certain kinds

of views

so if there's an underlying tendency to

a view in regards to a feeling in your

godspring experience

that can give rise to full-blown craving

or aversion and clinging to views and so

on

so i said there's the underlying

tendency to craving the underlying

tendency to aversion the underlying

tendency towards ignorance the

underlying tendency towards

doubt the underlying tendency towards a

view

there can be the underlying tendency

towards conceit

that is to identify with an experience

say this experience is me

mine or myself

there can be the underlying tendency of

bhava of becoming

i want to be this person you see or i

want to have that that initial

inclination of becoming or being that

person or being that thing

this is also the underlying tendency so

these when

acted upon can give rise to full-blown

craving or aversion or full-blown

identification

which then can give rise to clinging

which then can give rise to becoming and

so on

so when you have a pleasant feeling see

it for what it actually is it is

pleasant

right that flower that yellow flower is

beautiful that's fine

that's a very pretty flower

i wonder if these flowers are there in

austria

right that's all pleasant feeling

i want that flower

i want to possess that flower

that can give rise that is the

underlying tendency towards craving and

then acting upon that is craving

this chocolate

piece of chocolate tastes really good

that's a pleasant feeling

right i wonder where you get this

chocolate that's just a perception

that's an understanding oh where do you

get the chocolate i want more of this

chocolate i want to buy up more of this

chocolate eat more than my fill

now you have craving

an unpleasant

feeling there's this bad smell in the

air oh that's a terrible smell

that's a feeling that's a perception of

the unpleasant feeling

you get irritated by that

and ask how did this feeling how did

this pleasant experience unpleasant

experience happen and you get upset by

it

now there's aversion

likewise somebody says something to you

that's negative

that's an unpleasant experience somebody

criticizes you that's an

unpleasant experience that slight tinge

that you feel

it's the underlying tendency towards

aversion

if you act upon that and then say i want

to say this to this person

now you have full-blown aversion but if

you recognize that tinge

you let go of it

using the six hours replace it with

compassion with equanimity

now you're not acting upon that

underlying tendency

and so then the buddha says

but sorry put that if they were to ask

you friends sorry put that how have you

known

how have you seen

that delight and feelings no longer

remains present in you

being asked thus how would you answer

if they were to ask me this venerable

sir i would answer thus

friends there are also there are these

three feelings what three

pleasant feeling

painful feeling and neither painful nor

pleasant feeling

these three feelings friends

are impermanent

whatever is impermanent is suffering

when this was understood delight in

feelings no longer remained present in

me

being asked thus venerable sir i would

answer in such a way

in other words for those underlying

tendencies not to arise

to be fully eradicated

and they get eradicated in stages as you

get to the levels of attainment but when

you eradicate all of them you see things

as they are

which means when you have an experience

you see it just as sariputta described

here is a pleasant feeling here is a

pleasant experience

here's an unpleasant experience here is

a neutral experience

this experience is impermanent

and so therefore i'm not going to hold

on to it because it's not worth holding

on to it it is subject to change so

there's no reaction

to that feeling through that experience

that causes craving and aversion to

arise that will cause further clinging

and becoming birth of action and the

whole mass of suffering

good good sariputta this is another

method of explaining in brief

that same point whatever is felt is

included within suffering

let's unpack that statement a little bit

whatever is felt is included within

suffering

sometimes this is interpreted to say

that everything is suffering

if that was the case then why are you

meditating

what are you meditating for

why are you bringing up loving kindness

why are you bringing up compassion why

are you bringing up equanimity

isn't that true suffering

what the buddha is referring to is that

therefore don't hold on to things

if you hold on to things that's what's

going to cause you suffering

if you hold on to the loving kindness

and the loving-kindness disappears and

you say what happened

that's going to cause you suffering

if you hold on to this pleasant

experience and it goes away

that's going to cause you suffering

obviously if you hold on to an

unpleasant feeling that's already

suffering right there and then

or a neutral feeling you have equanimity

and you hold on to equanimity and it

goes away

what happens

that can cause suffering if you hold on

to it

by the way what is

what is the uh

other opposite or the other side of

equanimity there's equanimity as a

neutral feeling

but there's another kind of neutral

feeling that you want to be aware of and

not have

and let go of

and that is indifference

equanimity

is that mindset

that sees things as they are

but doesn't get pulled in one direction

or the other

doesn't get pulled in this direction or

the other

but indifference has apathy in it

there's a certain level of

aversive quality in that it's wanting to

ignore

whatever is arising

being indifferent to it i don't care

about it

so you're not actually seeing reality as

it actually is you're just projecting

this idea that i don't care about it

i don't need to see it

i have apathy towards it

so you have to let go of that if you

recognize that and let go of that

then you see things as they are and you

start to develop equanimity

but friend but sorry putta if they were

to ask you friend sorry putta through

what kind of deliverance have you

declared final knowledge thus

i understand destroyed his birth the

holy life has been lived what had to be

done has been done there is no more for

the state of being

being asked us how would you answer

if they were to ask me this venerable

sir i would answer thus

friends through an internal deliverance

through the destruction of all clinging

i dwell mindfully in such a way

that the paints do not flow within me

and i do not despise myself

being asked thus venerable sir

i would answer in such a way

let's unpack that he says friends

through an internal deliverance

through the destruction of all clinging

i dwelt mindfully in such a way that the

taints do not flow within me and i do

not despise myself

the internal deliverance

is that mind of the arhat which is empty

which is signless

and which is immeasurable

because it is void of any kind of greed

hatred or delusion

the formations that arise in that mind

are not rooted in great hatred or

delusion

so that mind is always experiencing

deliverance

it is always experiencing relief

that mind is free from any kind of greed

hatred or delusion and so it rests

within itself and that is the internal

deliverance that is there

through the destruction of all clinging

doesn't grasp at anything doesn't cling

to any experience in any way whatsoever

doesn't identify with any experience in

any way whatsoever sees everything as it

is everything that is experienced

through the sixth sense basis is like

this

hyper aware hyper dimensional hyper

vivid

multi-sensory

movie

you're not attached to anything you're

just seeing things flowing

you're experiencing things

flowing not clinging or grasping at

anything

i dwell mindfully in such a way that the

taints do not flow within me in other

words

he doesn't have to intend to dwell

mindfully he just dwells mindfully

mindfully as in arahat the mind is

automatically its default mode

is to function from the eightfold path

right so which means it's always having

right mindfulness it's always observing

where its attention goes from one thing

to the other

because it always has mindfulness there

is no ignorance in that mind

ignorance is the ignorance of the four

noble truths

not

being aware of the four noble truths

a lack of mindfulness

feeds back to that ignorance

that ignorance is dependent and

conditions as well the three taints

the three fermentations of the mind

the three asavas as they called in pali

that is

the fermentation or taint of sensual

desire

the taint or fermentation of being

and the taint and fermentation of

ignorance

so that sensual desire arises every time

the mind acts upon

with craving towards craving our

aversion towards a sensual experience

that's eradicated for the anagami but

the craving for being is still there

craving to be in this genre or that this

existence or that and so on

that feeds back

energy to the taint of being

but for the arahat they have destroyed

that taint of being they have destroyed

the taint of ignorance because they're

fully aware at all times

they're fully mindful at all times

so when they are fully mindful there's

no way craving can arise there's no way

clinging can arise

and therefore there's no way that it can

be added to any kind of fuel

for the taints which can give rise to

ignorance which can then tinge the

formations

that can be rooted in great hatred or

delusion can be rooted in conceit

in craving and ignorance

and since those formations are purified

in the mind of the arahat any

consciousness that arises will not be

rooted in that greed hatred or delusion

and therefore any

experience of the nama rupa through the

sixth sense basis in contact feeling and

perception

will always be seen mindfully as

this is not me this is not mine this is

not myself that all feeling is subject

to change and impermanent therefore not

worth holding on to

and i do not despise myself

easy i have loving kindness for myself

i have loving-kindness for myself

therefore i have loving-kindness for all

other beings

i don't have any self-hatred

when you don't have loving-kindness for

yourself you cannot give loving-kindness

to others

when you don't have compassion for

yourself you cannot give compassion to

others

so he dwells mindfully with

loving-kindness inherent in that mind

the arahat responds always in one way or

the other through wisdom

always with wisdom

but it can

it can also respond

with compassion

with equanimity

with joy

it will celebrate in other people's

choice

you know the arahat can have a good

sense of humor

or sometimes a corny sense of humor but

in either case

they will always be joyful

they will always try to be happy and

make others happy

and they will always have loving

kindness and compassion

being thus asked a venerable sir i would

answer in such a way

good good sariputta this is another

method of explaining in brief that same

point

i have no perplexity in regard to this

taints spoken of by

the ascetic the ascetic here is the

buddha because

here the way it's written is with a

capital a

so when they say recluse for the capital

r

or the brahman with the capital b

or

ascetic with a capital a they're

referring to the buddha

i do not doubt that they have been

abandoned by me so the perplexity here

is in regards to

what are those taints

and the doubt here is in reference to

i have no doubt that they have been

abandoned

so when

a person becomes an arahat there's no

doubt it's like

are the taints still there in me or not

in me you will know for sure that the

taints are no longer in you

you'll know for sure and so that's why

it's known as the irreversible

unshakable liberation of mind

and that's why it can the the mind of

the arahat can proclaim in whatever

words that lion's roar of birth is

destroyed

what had to be

done has been done there is no more

coming to any new state of being

this is what the blessed one said having

said this the fortunate one rose from

his seat and entered his dwelling

there's a second part to this

then soon after the blessed one had

departed the venerable sariputta

addressed the because thus

friends the first question that the

blessed one asked me had not been

previously considered by me

thus i hesitated over it

meaning when the buddha asked him have

you actually

attained final knowledge

he hesitated because he didn't

understand first and foremost what the

buddha's intention was behind that but

when the blessed one approved of my

answer

which is in regards to

dependent origination when the buddha

says how do you declare this he says it

because i understand

when this arises

that arises when this ceases that ceases

so when he understood dependent

origination and explained because i

understand the penergination through and

through

i can say that i have final knowledge

but that final knowledge remember

you can have an understanding of

dependent origination through each of

the different attainments but he has a

full understanding as an arahat which is

to say he can explain it in different

ways because he has experienced the

reverse order in the forward order and

so on and so forth and he has understood

that certain links are no longer present

in his mind

the reactivity in the form of birth

the becoming the the state of being or

existence or habitual tendencies

the clinging the craving are no longer

there in the arahat the ignorance is

gone the taints are gone

and therefore the formations rooted in

ignorance craving and conceit are gone

and any consciousness rooted in that is

gone

so

there will still be formations but they

are now

tethered by right view tethered by

wisdom

and so whatever formations arise they

give rise to pure consciousness

consciousness that does not take delight

in this or that

and so whatever is experience whatever

arises in the form of an experience as

seen as as it actually is

so when he understands it in this way he

can declare final knowledge

and so he said

but when the blessed one approved of my

answer it occurred to me if the blessed

one for to question me about this matter

with various terms and with various

methods for a whole day

for a whole day i would be able to

answer him with various terms and with

various methods if he were to question

me about this matter with various terms

and with various methods for a whole

night

for a day and night for two days and

nights for three four five six or seven

days and nights for seven days and

nights i would be able to answer him

with various terms and with various

methods

in other words

an arahat is never bored by talking

about the dhamma

you can talk about the dhamma but not be

attached by it

right

so if you're questioned by about the

dhamma in different ways the arhat can

describe it in different ways maybe the

arahat has no inclination to teach

but they can speak from experience and

that speaking from experience itself is

a teaching

so an arahat might possess

different

you know different kinds of siddhis

different kinds of powers or they might

not possess

different kinds of powers they might

possess the four analytical knowledges

or they might not possess the four

analytical knowledges regardless ask an

arahat about dependent origination ask

them about the dhamma and they can talk

about the dhamma

all day long all night long

doesn't matter

then the bhikkhu kalara the kathya rose

from his seat and approached the blessed

one having approached he paid homage to

the blessed one sat down to one side and

said to him

venerable sir the venerable sariputta

has roared his lion's roar thus

friends the first question that the

blessed one asked me had not been

previously considered by me thus i

hesitated over it but but when the

blessed one approved of my answer it

occurred to me if the blessed one wore

to question me about this matter for up

to seven days and nights for up to seven

days and nights i would be able to

answer him with various terms and with

various methods

and at the heart of this is also the

understanding of the four noble truths

so in other words if the arahat can talk

about dependent origination they

understand the first and second noble

truth

right they have understood the first

noble truth they have abandoned the

second noble truth and they can talk to

you about the noble hateful path they

can talk to you about the transcendental

dependent origination they discuss it in

different ways talk about how to do this

particular part of that of the eightfold

path

whatever it might be and so they

understand they have

uh experienced and realized for

themselves the third noble truth of the

cessation of suffering and therefore

they have cultivated and perfected

the development of the eightfold path

that's the fourth noble truth

in other words to put it simply they

have understood suffering

they have abandoned the craving that

leads to suffering or

the links of dependent origination that

lead to suffering

they have realized and experienced for

themselves the cessation of suffering

nibana here and now

because they have understood and

cultivated and perfected the eightfold

path

which is intertwined with the 37

requisites of enlightenment which are

intertwined

with the

transcendental links of dependent

origination and they have developed them

and perfected them

so much so

and so much so that they recondition

their mind in such a way

that they

seem to act spontaneously or speak

spontaneously because they don't have

any

projections of how it should be or how

it ought to be

but they just act in the moment but

however they speak act or intend will

always be rooted in the eightfold path

because uh obiku the venerable sariputta

has thoroughly penetrated that element

of the dhamma

by the thorough penetration of which if

i were to question him about that matter

with various terms and at various

methods for up to seven days and nights

for up to seven days and nights he would

be able to answer me with various terms

and with various

methods

thus ended the lesson

[Music]

you