From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=SyH2PkGE0Og

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

[Music]

so today

we're going to go

a little deeper into dependent

origination with regards to karma

and how karma works

so i'm reading from

samyutta nikaya number 12 point 25

this is called bhumija

then in the evening the venerable

bhumija emerged from seclusion and

approached the venerable sariputta

he exchanged greetings with the

venerable sariputta and when they had

concluded their greetings in cordial

talk

he sat down to one side and said to him

friends sariputta some ascetics and

brahmanas proponents of karma

maintain that pleasure and pain are

created by oneself

some ascetics and brahmanas proponents

of karma maintain that pleasure and pain

are created by another

some ascetics brahmanas some ascetics

and brahmanas proponents of karma

maintain that pleasure and pain are

created both by oneself and by another

some ascetics and brahmanas proponents

of karma maintain that pleasure and pain

have arisen fortuitously

being created neither by oneself nor by

another

so these are the different ways

that people during the buddha's time

understood karma

the karma first of all what is karma

right

karma is understood at the very

basic level action

and reaction

action and consequence

so

when we talk about karma we're not

talking about

something that is

you know beyond our control necessarily

karma starts with intention

so the buddha has said that intention is

karma

so if you want to pay attention to your

formations as i've said before

pay attention to the quality of your

formations as they arise pay attention

to

your intention pay attention to

where your choices incline

if your choices are rooted in the

unwholesome then the formations that

arise are rooted in the unwholesome

if your choices are rooted in the

wholesome and the formations that have

arisen

are rooted in the wholesome

now here the question is in regards to

those who are proponents of karma

that is to say those ascetics and

brahmanas

those different kinds of sects

that did understand karma or believed in

some kind of karma

but they had a limited let's say

capacity of karma

in terms of how they understood it

that is to say it is

karma which is also pain and pleasure

so karma is not just your actions karma

is also

though that which you reap from your

previous actions

and actions are not just

uh physical but verbal and mental

so the pain and pleasure that you feel

that is to say the pleasant feeling

the unpleasant feeling even the neutral

feeling

that's all the ripening of karma all the

ripening of choices you've made at a

previous moment

so because of the certain choices that

you've made they cascade down in a

different moment

and manifest as some kind of an

experience to be felt

in that particular present moment

so this is why it's understood that they

maintain that pleasure and pain

are either created by oneself or created

by another

or created both by oneself or by another

or that they arise fortuitously which

means they arise

beyond one's control beyond one's own

choices

pleasant feeling

unpleasant feeling or neutral feeling

now friend sariputta

what does the blessed one say about this

what does he teach

how should we answer if we are to state

what has been said by the blessed one

and not misrepresent him with what is

contrary to fact

and how should we explain in accordance

with the dharma

so that nor reasonable

so that nor reasonable consequence of

our assertion

would give ground for criticism

so he's asking how does the buddha teach

karma how does he teach how pain and

pleasure arise

how do we answer when somebody asks us

how does karma arise

so that we answer in such a way that

there is no grounds for criticism

friend the blessed one has said that

pleasure and pain are dependently arisen

dependent on what

dependent on contact

if one were to speak thus

one would be stating what has been said

by the blessed one and would not

misrepresent him with what is contrary

to fact

one would explain in accordance with the

dhamma

and no reasonable consequence of one's

assertion would give ground for

criticism

contact contact is that link in which

the i and form make contact giving rise

to eye consciousness these three

constitute eye

contact

the ear and sounds

make contact and give rise to your

consciousness

these three constitute your contact

the nose and smells the nose and odors

and fragrances

joined together and the joining of these

brings about nose consciousness

and these three constitute nose

consciousness

the tongue and flavors come together and

from that arises tongue consciousness

the joining of these three is tongue

contact

the body and tangibles that is to say

temperature

heat cold

the wind

fabrics whatever it might be

that makes contact with the body they

make contact together and from there

there arises body consciousness and

these three constitute body contact

there is the mind and mind objects

thoughts ideas concepts meditation

objects

this makes contact with the mind and

dependent upon that there is

mind consciousness

these three constitute

mind contact

so this is contact this is

fasa this is the initial contact which

then depended upon which

gives rise to

feeling

and that feeling can be pleasant

unpleasant

or neutral

and what is feeling

feeling is an experience any experience

you're having right now

you're sitting in your chair that's a

feeling you're listening to my voice

that's a feeling you are seeing me

that's a feeling

you're contemplating thinking about what

is being spoken

that is a feeling

these are all experiences

pleasant unpleasant or neutral

therein friend in the case of those

ascetics and brahmanas proponents of

karma who maintain that pain and

pleasure are created by oneself

and those who maintain that pleasure and

pain are created by another

and those who maintain that pleasure and

pain are created both by oneself and by

another

and those who maintain that pleasure and

pain have arisen fortuitously

being created neither by oneself nor by

another in each case

that is conditioned by contact

so in other in other words sorry is

saying that it's not one or the other

any of these

ways in which karma arises

arises dependent upon contact

so

what else does contact give rise to

contact gives rise to feeling

as we just talked about

contact gives rise to perception

tied to that feeling

contact gives rise to

intentions

intention is karma therefore contact

also gives rise to karma

so karma in the form of the active sense

where you make an action

mental

verbal or physical

that is the intention that is the karma

in one way

but karma as the passive which is the

ripening of old karma

that's the vipaka the fruit of previous

choices

is the feeling

is the perception

is the experience

therein friends in the case of those

ascetics and brahmanas proponents of

karma who maintain that pleasure and

pain are created by oneself

and those who maintain that pleasure and

pain are created by another

and those who maintain that pleasure and

pain are created both by oneself

and by another

and those who maintain that pleasure and

pain have arisen fortuitously

being created neither by oneself nor by

another

in each case

it is impossible that they will

experience anything

without contact

i remember we were saying yesterday that

if there is

there is the sound but a person is deaf

even if that sound hits the ears

there won't be your consciousness and so

the joining of those three won't happen

and constitute ear contact

likewise if somebody was blind you know

if the eyes were not functioning the

light hits the eyes but if the eye is

not functioning the joining of these

three will not bring about

eye consciousness

therefore there won't be eye contact and

therefore there won't be an experience

dependent upon that contact

so in order for karma to be experienced

it requires contact

in order for you to make an intention

there has to be some kind of contact

whether it's pain or pleasure created by

oneself

pain or pleasure created by another pain

or pleasure created by oneself or

another

or pain or pleasure created

outside of one's control or anyone

else's control whatever the

circumstances are

that arises dependent or that is

that is experienced dependent upon

contact

so contact is the key here

the venerable ananda heard this

conversation

between the venerable sariputta and the

venerable bumija

he then approached the blessed one paid

homage to him sat down to one side and

reported to the blessed one the entire

conversation

between the venerable sariputta and the

venerable bhumija

the blessed one said good good ananda

anyone answering rightly would answer

just as sariputta has done

i have said ananda

that pleasure and pain are dependently

arisen dependent on what

dependent on contact

if one were to speak thus one would be

stating what has been said by me

and would not misrepresent me with what

is contrary to fact

one would explain in accordance with the

dhamma

and no reasonable consequence of one's

assertion would give give ground for

criticism

therein ananda in the case of those

ascetics and brahmanas proponents of

karma who maintain that pleasure and

pain are created by oneself

or that pleasure and pain are created by

another

or that pleasure and pain are created by

oneself and by another

or that pleasure and pain have arisen

fortuitously

in each case that is conditioned by

contact

there in ananda in the case of those

ascetics and brahmanas proponents of

karma

who maintain that pleasure and pain are

created by oneself and those who

maintain that pleasure and pain are

created by another

and those who maintain that pleasure and

pain are created by both by oneself and

by another

and those who maintain

that pleasure and pain have arisen for

two fortuitously

being created neither by oneself nor by

another in each case

it is impossible that they will

experience anything without contact this

is repeating exactly what sorry put that

said here

let's break down a little bit of what

this is it says those who maintain

that pleasure and pain are created by

oneself

here there is some kind of pain that

arises or pleasure that arises

dependent upon contact

but there was an intention to experience

that one way or the other

in the case of one that experiences

pleasure and pain created by another

somebody comes to you and pokes you in

the stomach

you didn't intend that

but some the the finger made contact

with the body that was contact

that gave rise to a annoying feeling a

painful feeling

somebody came up and provided you with a

glass of water because you were thirsty

you didn't intend for the glass of water

but somebody came in came up and gave it

to you

and so your tongue made contact with the

cool water and you experience a

pleasurable feeling

the quenching of that thirst

and in the case of someone where there

is karma created or karma experienced in

the pain in the process of pain and

pleasure

caused by oneself and another

you decide to take a trip with a person

both of you have made plans to go

somewhere

and so you make the trip and you start

driving around so both of you have

caused this experience to happen in one

way or the other

or whatever it might be

and in the case where karma fortuitously

arises

you had no control over

when this heat arose

you had no control over when the rain

arises

you have no control over

whether there is

snow

you have no control over whether an

earthquake strikes

or a tornado or whatever it might be

these all arise and they make contact

with the body

make contact with

the sixth sense basis in one way or the

other

having arisen that contact gives rise to

karma in the form of a pleasant

unpleasant or a neutral experience

so this is things that are beyond

anyone's control

so to speak

beyond anyone's intentions

they arise

and they give rise to contact

and then they give rise to the feeling

of the experience

ananda

when there is the body because of bodily

volition

pleasure and pain arise internally

when there is speech because of verbal

volition

pleasure and pain arise

internally

when there is the mind because of mental

volition

pleasure and pain arise internally

and with ignorance as condition

so let's break that down

there is bodily volition

an intention rooted in the activity of

the body

there is verbal volition

an inclination or intention of the mind

to say something dependent upon speech

there is

mental volition because of the mind

and so because of an intention to think

something there arises a thought

so volition here is

understood as intention

or inclination it can be understood as

the mind that inclines towards

a certain choice this is known as

caitanya

it is one of the factors

of namarupa specifically nama mentality

we talk about the factors of mentality

as contact

feeling

perception

intention and attention

intention is also understood as

inclination

in what way does the mind inclined and

two words what

does the mind incline

it is the rudder in which the mind makes

choice with which the mind makes choices

so that's why i'm saying when you want

to pay attention to the quality of your

formations

pay attention to the choices that you're

about to make

where are your choices rooted

and if you're able to pay attention and

see and recognize

that there is an unwholesome choice

about to be made you can recognize it

six are let it go recondition the mind

to make something that is

make a choice that is wholesome in

nature

thereby you are effectively

reconditioning the formations

and so here the buddha says

pleasure and pain arise internally and

with ignorance as condition

[Laughter]

with ignorance as condition

formations come to me

[Laughter]

but that's a good point that you bring

up with ignorance condition what comes

up formations that's where

that's where your volition arises from

these formations these sankharas

right

there are mental formations

verbal formations

and

bodily formations

the mental formations are related to the

mind insofar as what it perceives feels

and perceives

even if you make contact with the table

with your finger ultimately

the mind is experiencing that

yes

the body makes contact but ultimately it

is experienced in the mind

when you're seeing things the mind

perceives feels and perceives that

through the eyes

and creates an image

when there are vibrations in the air and

they hit the ear

the ear experiences that but the mind is

that which

interprets that sound

when you have a mental object in the

form of a thought or an idea

your mind makes contact with it and it

starts to contemplate on it it

conceptualizes what it is that it is

thinking about

i tell you to not think about a purple

elephant what's the first thing you

thought about

a purple elephant

oh pink elephant okay

[Laughter]

so then

you took that mental object and you

change it into a pink elephant

right

so

these intentions to think to act to

speak

they give rise to pain and pleasure

with ignorance as condition because

what is ignorance

ignorance is ignoring the four noble

truths not knowing what is suffering

not understanding what is the cause of

suffering not knowing the cessation of

suffering and not knowing the path

leading to the cessation of suffering

which means you have lack of mindfulness

when there is lack of mindfulness in an

experience you take it personally

as soon as you take it personally it

feeds back to formations

that root themselves in greed hatred and

delusion

that have craving

have ignorance have conceit have wrong

view

fettered in those formations

infected by those formations

affected

by those formations or those formations

are affected by them

so whenever you

uh act upon your craving what you are

doing effectively

is starting to strengthen

the formations rooted in that craving

every time you take something personally

you are strengthening the formations

feathered in ignorance and conceit

so if you recognize

that the mind is starting to do this and

let go of the craving let go of taking

things personally and that's dependent

upon the recognized step which is

mindfulness

remembering to observe how mind's

attention moves from one thing to the

other

using yoni somana sakara why is

attention

and what is that wise attention rooted

in rooted in reality reality of what

reality that this experience is

conditioned dependently arisen

therefore it is liable to be impermanent

and therefore it is liable to cause

suffering if held onto

and therefore not to be taken as me mine

or myself

so when ignorance arises

dependent on the lack of mindfulness

which feeds back to that ignorance that

continues to strengthen the formations

that arise which means that any speech

that you have any intention to speak

any intention to act

any intention to think or feel and

perceive is also rooted in that craving

is also rooted in that ignorance is also

rooted in that conceit

either on one's own initiative ananda

one generates that bodily volitional

formation

condition by which pleasure and pain

arise internally

or prompted by others one generates

that bodily formation bodily volitional

formation

condition by which pleasure and pain

arise internally

either deliberately ananda one generates

that bodily volitional formation

condition by which pleasure and pain

arise internally

or

undeliberately

one generates that bodily volitional

formation

condition by which

pleasure and pain arise internally

let's break down that last one because

that sounds like it's conflicting it

says

undeliberately one generates that bodily

volitional formation

undeliberately they generate a volition

how can that be

so this is where something arises which

you did not intend to arise it arose

because there was the climate was hot

or your flight was cancelled

or there was a big earthquake or

whatever it might be that is out of your

own control

that arises

the intention behind how you choose to

react is what arises

so in other words do you choose to get

upset if your flight is canceled

do you choose to get afraid of a tornado

do you choose to

become upset by the heat

do you choose to get upset by the

lawnmower that's functioning outside or

by the air conditioning while you're

meditating or by people's movements

or when they yawn or whatever it might

be do you have the intention to get

upset by it

or do you see it for what it actually is

just the sound that arises

and you let that go

you notice the intention to get upset by

it

right and once you notice the intention

to get upset by it you can

you recognize it and then you let that

go using the six r's

come back to a mind that is equanimous

somebody says something terrible to you

that is out of your control you didn't

intend that

you didn't intend somebody to say that

so that is an undeliberate experience

that is to say

that undeliberately one generates that

particular volitional formation

so you are experiencing something

now what is the intention there

is the intention to bite back at them

and say something

terrible back at them

is the intention to punch them

was the intention in the mind to say to

wish them harm

if you notice there is an intention like

that arising

then you six are let it go replace it

with a wholesome intention

this is where you have that choice you

can either decide to

continue with whatever the automatic

tendencies are

to habitually react to situations

if they are rooted in the unwholesome

or you can pay attention let go of that

and recondition and make the choice

rooted in the wholesome

thereby reconditioning the formations

that arise

reconditioning the consciousnesses that

arise reconditioning the way nama and

rupa experience

reality

recondition the way that the sixth sense

bases make contact and feel and perceive

and experience

and thereby let go of the potential

or eliminate the potential for aversion

and craving and identification which

means there is no more of that ignorance

no more of that craving no more of that

clinging no more of that becoming no

more of the birth of reactions

rooted in craving which give rise to

that whole mass of suffering

so there is an understanding of old

karma and new karma as i said karma is

understood in two different contexts

what are the two different contexts one

context is that it is intention it

arises because of a choice

that is the active karma that you make

right that is the activity the action

that you do

in the form of intentionally thinking

something

intentionally saying something

intentionally acting from your body

and then there is the karma that arises

based on those experiences

or arises based on there is the karma

that arises based on those decisions

those intentions

so where is the old karma and where is

the new karma in the context of

dependent origination the way to

understand it is

everything from ignorance all the way up

to

feeling is old karma

it's stuff you can't change

it's stuff that you are inheriting

it's stuff that arises

dependent on previous choices that you

made

you decided to have craving towards

something so the next arising will be

rooted in ignorance and craving

so then that means the formations that

arise are fettered by that craving

hindered by ignorance

which means that consciousness

will be tainted

by greed hatred or delusion or the

various

upaquilesas the various defilements

dependent upon

greed hatred or delusion

then that

consciousness gives rise to how the nama

rupa experiences everything through the

sixth sense basis

and so that contact already conditioned

by the craving already conditioned by

the ignorance

when the feeling arises there is an

underlying tendency to ignore an

underlying tendency to crave

an underlying tendency to of have

aversion towards an underlying tendency

to make a view about something an

underlying tendency to have doubt about

something an underlying tendency to

identify with something an underlying

tendency to want to become something

dependent upon that feeling

so these underlying tendencies when they

arise if the mind

continues to act from that

that is the new karma

so the old karma is everything that

you've inherited

including the experience you're having

right now

you made the choice to come sit here and

listen to me talk

right that was the new karma that was

the action that you produced

and now here you are listening to my

voice

this is the old karma

everything that's arising now is old

karma dependent upon the choice you made

to come and sit here

now the production of new karma is also

the production of further suffering

further dukkha

that dukkha that suffering can arise in

different ways

there are three different types of

suffering

there is what is the

suffering of suffering that's the

suffering of painful feeling the

suffering of old age

the suffering of sickness the suffering

of death

then there is the vipari nama suffering

the suffering of change

things change out of your control

you miss that flight or the flight gets

cancelled

you're looking forward to going to see a

baseball game and suddenly it starts to

rain

that's out of your control

on a cold winter's morning you decide to

have a really warm shower and then

suddenly

the hot water stops and there's cold

water that's the suffering of change

that's out of your control

then there is the suffering that is

known as

sankhara dukkha

that is the

inherent suffering in things and the

suffering of things that you

you identify with in regards to

the five aggregates wherever you have

identification

with the body

with feeling with perception

with intentions or formations

or with consciousness there arises this

internal suffering

because you either want to get something

and you don't get it or you get

something that you don't want every time

you identify with that identify with the

five aggregates that are then affected

by craving and clinging then you will

experience that tuka

so that dukkha then is experienced as

old karma

so the new karma is the production of

that old karma to be experienced in a

later moment

so how does that new karma arise

you identify with the experience you

identify with the feeling

when you identify with it there can be

an underlying tendency which you act

upon and that gives rise to full-blown

craving or aversion if you continue to

act with that craving and aversion

craving or aversion

then now you're producing new karma

now you are actively producing suffering

for yourself

first you inherited the suffering in the

form of

old karma

in the form of previous choices you made

but if you decided to

have resistance towards it

if you had the decision to have craving

for it

now you're producing new karma to add to

that repository of old suffering

so if you continue to crave and you

continue to cling

which is you continue to rationalize why

it is that you crave

you continue to associate all of your

ideas of what you like and what you

don't like

dependent upon that craving which then

gives rise to this concretized idea of

the self in becoming in habitual

tendencies

that causes the mind to act or react

which is the birth of action

and then that birth of action gives rise

to further suffering

so the craving

the clinging

and the becoming and the birth of action

this is all new karma

this is where you have some level of

choice

can you choose to crave

do you choose to cling

do you choose to

i you know hold on to this identity and

then do you choose to act

from those habitual reactions rooted in

holding in onto that

identity or do you choose to see it as

it actually is which is the right

intention

dependent upon right view

what is the right view

knowing what is suffering

knowing what is the origin of suffering

knowing what is the cessation of

suffering and knowing the way leading to

the cessation of suffering

in other words when you have that right

view it will start to

establish itself in the mind and then

condition the next set of formations

that can be rooted in

wisdom rooted in compassion rooted in

letting go and that right intention is

threefold

or made up of three parts

near comma which is

letting go

renunciating a renunciation renouncing

letting go of what letting go of this is

me this is mine this is myself the

second part to that is

non-ill will

that non-ill will is arising through

the practice of loving-kindness

and then the third part of that is

non-cruelty or non-harmless or

harmlessness

which arises dependent upon the

cultivation of compassion

so when you let go of things when you

start to let go of identifying with

things when you have loving kindness

when you have compassion

that gives rise to what's known as right

speech and right action

that right speech and right action are

non-productive

of new karma

meaning they don't produce suffering for

yourself

and for others

and that right livelihood which does not

produce suffering

so what is that karma

or how is that

how is that karma that is to say that

action that speech that intention

the mental karma the bodily karma the

verbal karma how does that arise in such

a way

that it is non-productive of further

suffering non-productive of new karma

that is generated that adds to the

repository of the suffering to be

experienced at a later time

it's what you've been doing all all this

time with the retreat

are right effort

it's through right effort that you go

from

wrong view to right view

you go from wrong intention to right

intention

from wrong speech to right speech from

wrong action to right action from wrong

livelihood to right livelihood from

wrong mindfulness to right mindfulness

from wrong collectedness to right

collectedness

it is right effort that is the heart of

the eightfold path the core of the

eightfold path

and that right effort

is fourfold there is the right effort

to

prevent the arising of unwholes unarisen

unwholesome states from arising right

there is the right effort of abandoning

the already arisen unwholesome states

there is a right effort to generate

wholesome states of mind and there is

the right effort to maintain those

wholesome states of mind

so when you are six houring when you are

doing the six hours

you are fulfilling these four right

efforts

when you fulfill these four right

efforts you do not produce any new karma

that can

give rise to further suffering for

yourself or for others

so when you recognize that there is a

distraction when you recognize that

there is a unwholesome state of mind

present

you prevent the flow of that unwholesome

state from continuing

when you release and you relax

you abandon the already arisen

unwholesome state of mind

and then when you smile come back to the

smile you generate a wholesome state of

mind

when you return to an object of

meditation like loving kindness

or quiet mind or whatever it might be

you are maintaining that wholesome state

of mind and whenever you repeat you're

continuing that process

so that is why

the

most effective way of dealing with

situations where unwholesome states of

mind

is to six are

in the case of your meditation when

hindrances arise

what is going on there

you made a choice in the past at some

point to break a precept

then that gives rise or culminates

in

the arising of a hindrance in the mind

when you break a precept the mind starts

to get agitated through that agitation

there can arise craving

they can arise aversion they can arise

doubt they can arise slot and torpor

there can arise restlessness

and so how do you deal with that

when you broke a precept that was

karma or that was an action productive

of suffering

a karma that was productive of new karma

that's new karma

when you took that action then at a

later stage

you are now inheriting the consequences

of that action which

develop in the form of the hindrances

so now that is the old karma for you to

experience as a feeling so that

hindrance is a mental feeling

now how do you decide or how do you

choose to deal

with that hindrance

do you choose to fight with it do you

choose to push it

do you choose to try harder to do

something with it

if you do any of that

you have craving in the mind

you have clinging in the mind you have

becoming in the mind which means you're

only adding to that hindrance you're

only adding to the energy of that

hindrance

but if you 6r if you do the right effort

to let go of it which means you have the

right intention to let go

and you release and you relax thereby

letting go and tranquilizing the

formations that were rooted in the

hindrance

the formations that were feathered by

the craving when you acted on that

craving

rooted by rooted in or fettered by

the aversion when you acted on that

aversion

rooted in or fettered by the doubt when

you acted on that doubt

rooted in and fettered by

the restlessness when you acted from

that agitation

rooted in and fettered by that slot and

torpor when you acted from that slot and

torpor

so every time you do anything with that

hindrance except for six iron

you are going to cause more of that

but if you six are it then that

hindrance fades away

but what happens in the next moment it

arises again

but this time when it arises it is

weaker

this is how karma dissipates this is how

inherited choices or the effects of the

choices that you made dissipate

you experience it it's to be felt and it

should be experienced you can't mitigate

it you cannot prevent it you can't pray

to some god to let it go

you have to experience it and once you

experience it you either decide to hold

on to it and crave for it or have

aversion towards it thereby causing more

of that karma or you choose to let go of

it with right effort thereby letting it

dissipate as an experience

and when it arises again what happens

that hindrance is

weaker

that hindrance becomes weaker

and you continue to 6r it again

and when you six-hour it again it

becomes even weaker even weaker even

weaker until there is a remainderless

fading away of that craving or whatever

that hindrance is

now these hindrances

they are

connected to the breaking of the

precepts as i said

in the case of craving in the case of

sensual craving

they arise when there is the breaking of

the precept of

sexual or sensual misconduct

right

in the case of aversion they arise when

there is the breaking of the precept to

intentionally harm and kill

because when you intentionally harm and

kill

there is there is aversion present in

the mind there is ill will present in

the mind

when you break the precept

to

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lie or to have false speech

there arises

doubts about yourself and doubts about

others

and so that manifests as an as a

hindrance of doubt

when you take what is not given and that

doesn't mean just physical possessions

but when you seek credit where credit is

not due when you're trying to seek more

attention when attention is not due when

you try to take control of what's going

on when it's not your turn to do so

what does that cause in the mind

agitation

causes restlessness

and so there arises the hindrance of

restlessness

when you indulge in intoxicants and

intoxicants here very strictly speaking

is alcohol and drugs

that produce a mind-altering effect on

the state of your mind to such an extent

that it causes you to break other

precepts

and it causes you to have a lack of

mindfulness and therefore terrible

meditation

but also indulging or overindulging in

anything whether that's food

whether that's browsing the internet

whether that's watching a tv show

whether that's reading a book

whether that's doing anything

overindulgence in these things can give

rise

to slot and torpor think about it you

spend a whole weekend binging on the new

new the latest netflix show

by the end of that binge how do you feel

you feel pretty dull you feel pretty

tired

and that is the slot and torpor that

arises

from the overindulgence of those things

so

having known this

having understood this next time when

you see a hindrance understand it to be

an arising

because of some choice you made to break

a certain precept at some point

doesn't matter you don't have to go back

and see and link which precept did i

break or when was it that when was it

that i broke this precept

it's the same when you have an

experience when you have a painful

feeling

right somebody shoots you in the arm

you're not going to think

how did this bullet come about you know

how do what was the gun that was uh made

that caused this bullet to be shot

who is the person who shot that bullet

you know what manufacturer made that gun

what manufacturer made that bullet

you're not going to think about all

those things all you're going to be

thinking about is i am in terrible pain

right now

let me deal with this pain and how do

you deal with that pain

you pluck out that bullet right you let

go of that and you abandoned your

bandage yourself or you go to the doctor

or whatever it might be

the same way you're not dealing with the

hindrance you're not dealing with an

experience right now thinking how did

that arise

where did this arise from in this moment

how is that going to help you in terms

of dealing with that situation or that

experience

the only thing you can do is deal with

it

using the six r's deal with it either

having craving for it or deal with it by

letting it go by letting go of the

identification

once you let go of identifying with it

you no longer have any craving towards

it you no longer have any clinging

towards it you no longer have any

becoming towards it and therefore you no

longer have any reactivity

against it

that's why every time you 6r

it reconditions the mind to have this

little space

where there's a response that arises

rooted in wisdom and compassion

instead of immediately reacting to

something

you are actually contemplating and

waiting and seeing what it is letting go

of any craving whenever you do this

you are exercising right effort right

mindfulness and right collectedness and

from that collected mind then you act

rooted in wisdom and compassion

and when you do that you are following

the eightfold path

and anyone who follows the eightfold

path will not produce new karma

it is said in the suttas by the buddha

that the cessation of karma is through

the process of the eightfold path

because when you have right speech when

you have right action

it has no intention to crave

or harm

there's no intention there to do any of

that instead it experiences things as

they are and it dissipates them through

right effort

so when a hindrance arise arises all you

have to do is six art nothing more

just six are it

come back to the quiet mind come back to

the compassionate mind come back to the

loving kindness whatever it might be

either on one's own initiative ananda

one generates that verbal volitional

formation condition by which pleasure

and pain arise internally

or prompted by others one generates that

verbal volitional formation

condition by which pleasure and pain

arise internally

either deliberately ananda one generates

that verbal volitional formation

condition by which pleasure and pain

arise internally

or undeliberately one

generates that verbal volitional

formation

condition by which pleasure and pain

arise internally

so somebody says something to you that

was unprompted

maybe somebody actually said something

great to you somebody

uh really complimented something on

something about you

and what happened that was a pleasant

experience

that was unprompted

but now

you choose to identify with what they

said oh that was a great compliment yeah

i really am that kind of a person and

now you start to obsess over that now

you start to identify with it now you

crave for that everywhere you go now

you're like i'm going to see this person

again i'm sure they're going to say

something good about me this time

right

or you tell people oh you know this

person said something about me and then

you have more craving and you have more

clinging for that

and what happens

that person might change their opinion

and they might say something else about

you that or something to you that is a

criticism now

from indulging in that

compliment you go to having a version

towards that criticism and you say how

dare they say that about me how they're

they say anything like that they don't

know what they're talking about

now you have aversion towards that now

you have clinging now you have becoming

so that also arose unprompted but you

made the deliberate

intention to crave for it to identify

with it and produce for yourself either

pleasure or pleasant experience through

that

feeling of the compliment

or pain

by taking personal that criticism and

getting upset by it

so equanimity here is not

getting controlled either by criticism

or by compliments

by praise or by blame

you're seeing things as they are

with that equanimity and mindfulness

you don't react instead you respond sure

you appreciate that

criticism or you appreciate that

compliment in the sense that maybe he's

right about what he just said let me

consider what he said

maybe he's right about that compliment

and i'm grateful that he said that

compliment and you move on

so

obsessing over these things

getting caught up in these things

identifying in these things whether

prompted or not prompted

whether internal or external

whether you want it or somebody else

wants it

that is always going to produce new

karma for you through the process of

your intention to identify with it

but if you see things as they are

whether it's the compliment the

criticism

whether it's the weather whether it's uh

food whatever it is you see it all

arising dependent upon causes and

conditions

and you decide not to take it personally

the moment you start to take it

impersonally the moment you realize this

is all impersonal

and the moment you don't cling to any

experience whatsoever

pleasant unpleasant or neutral

you experience freedom of freedom of

mind right there and then

that is why the buddha says through not

clinging his mind was liberated

don't take any experience personally

whether it's loving-kindness

whether it's a jhana

whether it's an experience of cessation

whatever it might be all of that is

impersonal

even though you feel like it affects on

me as soon as you feel like it affects a

me

and i need to change it somehow or it

doesn't work with my expectations of how

this should go or of how that should go

if you can notice that in 6r and let it

go

you'll have peace of mind right there

and then

and that peace of mind right there and

then is mundane

mundane cessation of suffering

either on one's own initiative ananda

one generates that mental volitional

formation

conditioned by which pleasure and pain

arise internally

or prompted by others

one generates that mental volitional

formation condition by which

pleasure and pain arise internally

either deliberately ananda one generates

that mental volitional formation

condition by which pleasure and pain

arise internally

or undeliberately one generates that

mental volitional formation condition by

which pleasure and pain arise internally

so here the buddha is repealing the same

thing but in the context of body

speech and mind

when it's unprompted when it feels very

hot

and you have a mental reaction to that

and saying i hate this heat

now the intention is to have aversion

towards that experience

and then you decide that you want to say

something about that and get upset by it

and curse that heat or curse whatever it

is going on

now that is the intention to verbalize

that and so that is the speech

and you decide you want to go into an

air-conditioned room that is the bodily

action dependent upon that intention

ignorance is comprised within these

states

so ignorance again what is the ignorance

the not knowing of the four noble truths

you would have not understood suffering

in that moment

you have not let go of craving in that

moment

you have not experienced

the

cessation of that suffering in that

moment

and you have not cultivated the

eightfold path in that moment

but if you six are

in that moment

instead of craving and reacting and

averting

then you recognize here is suffering in

the form of a unpleasant feeling or a

pleasant feeling that is impermanent

or a hindrance

or here is suffering in the form of an

identification with an experience

and then you let go

or you abandon the second noble truth of

craving for that experience or having

aversion towards that experience

and thereby experiencing in that moment

realizing for yourself

the nibana

of

freedom from that experience freedom

from identifying that for that

experience

freedom from craving or having aversion

for that experience

experiencing nero that right there and

then

that experience is a mind that is

expensive spacious

cloudless a cloudless sky

and because you have six art which means

because you have let go

because you bring up the smile and

because you come back to something that

is wholesome

you are actively

cultivating right effort and thereby

actively cultivating the rest of the

eightfold path

because as i said through right effort

you go from the wrong factors of the of

the wrong path

to the right vectors

of the noble eightfold path

so every time you 6r you are letting go

of that ignorance

but every time you have identification

within experience there is ignorance

that is comprised in these states and

they feed back to the link of ignorance

further which further conditions the

formations

which further conditions the

consciousness the namarupa the sixth

sense base the contact and then the

feeling again and thereby

strengthening certain underlying

tendencies

but if you six are and you let go of

those underlying tendencies

and you let go of the craving and

aversion

then there is no more energy fed back to

the ignorance instead that ignorance

starts to fade away

through non-activation

and thereby the formations that do arise

are rooted in the eightfold path are

rooted in wisdom rooted in compassion

and so those formations give rise to a

consciousness that's rooted in

the non-greed the non-hatred the

non-delusion that's rooted in factors

that are

cultivated for the progress of the

practice

love and kindness

patience forgiveness equanimity and so

on so forth generosity and so on

and that consciousness then

will condition how nama rupa experiences

contact and when the feeling is

experienced

pleasant painful or neutral

it just lets go and sees things as they

are experiences them as they are

and so there won't be any further

craving and so on and through this

process of reconditioning you are

letting go of ignorance and that's why

the buddha says

but with the remainderless fading away

and cessation of ignorance

that body does not exist

conditioned by which that pain and

pleasure arise internally

that speech does not exist

conditioned by which that pleasure and

pain arise internally that mind does not

exist

conditioned by which

that pleasure and pain arise internally

that field does not exist that sight or

area does not exist

that base does not exist

that foundation does not exist

conditioned by which that pleasure and

pain arise internally

the remainderless fading away and

cessation of ignorance

means the complete and utter destruction

of ignorance

that happens at arahatship

when there is arahat ship there is no

more ignorance

because that mind has fully understood

what is suffering

that mind has completely

craving

and all of the states associated with

craving

that mind has

fully realized nibana and niroda

and that mind has perfected the

development of the eightfold path

because of that

that mind no longer has the link of

ignorance in it

ignorance is now replaced by wisdom

ignorance is now replaced by right view

the formations that were fettered by

ignorance and craving are no longer

present

now those formations arise dependent

upon wisdom and right view

those formations give rise to a

consciousness that does not establish

into taking something personal

but remains unestablished

remains independent or

rather independent in the sense that no

longer dependent upon craving

no longer dependent and feathered by

ignorance conceit

and taking things personally

when that consciousness arises that nama

rupa is

not conditioned by ignorance rather that

nama rupa is conditioned by wisdom

and the contact that arises is pure

in the sense

that when it arises it doesn't take

anything personally and therefore the

feeling the experience

painful

pleasurable

or neutral

is seen for what it actually is and the

mind doesn't take it personally

which means what he's saying there once

that happens

that body does not exist condition by

which that pla pleasure and pain arise

internally the body is still there the

bodily actions are still there but

they're no longer conditioned by

ignorance and craving which means

any action that is taken bodily action

that's taken is rooted in right action

that speech does not exist condition by

which that pleasure and pain arise

internally

meaning that speech now is rooted in

right speech

that mind does not exist condition by

which that pleasure and pain arise

internally

which means that that intention is not

rooted in right intention

and so there will still be pain and

pleasure experienced as an arising of

old karma

that was created prior to full awakening

prior to full arahatship

and so that will be continue to be

experienced but because of right

intention right speech and right action

there won't be any new production of

that for that karma any further

it will just be experienced right there

and then and it will no longer exist

so that pain and pleasure will be

experienced and then it will no longer

exist

and so that field does not exist

that site does not exist that base does

not exist that foundation does not exist

conditioned by which that pain and

pleasure arise internally what is that

field what is that sight what is that

base what is that foundation

it is that mind it is that

consciousness it is

those six sense bases that are no longer

conditioned

by craving no longer conditioned or

rooted by ignorance rooted in ignorance

so that is the mind of the arahat the

mind of the arahat is unestablished

there does not exist in there any field

any base

any site any foundation upon which

any new karma can be produced

because that mind of the arahat

functions automatically

in a default mode of functioning from

the eightfold path

which means it no longer produces any

more karma

because it no longer has any notions of

me mine or myself

it doesn't take anything personally

and it doesn't therefore have any kind

of clinging any kind of craving any kind

of aversive attitudes towards anything

it doesn't even have any attachment to

jhana

doesn't have any attachment to

nibada doesn't have any attachment to

any form of existence

because it sees all of that as not self

it sees all of that experiences all of

that as an impersonal process

or impersonal causes and conditions

because it doesn't take anything

personally it cannot produce any new

karma

so that field that mind rooted in

craving

that foundation that is rooted in

ignorance does not exist

pain and pleasure will be felt

neutral experiences will be felt but

they will fade away right there and then

then without any further production of

karma

and so this is the understanding of

dependent origination

specifically with intention and how

karma is produced

and how karma ceases

there endeth the lesson

david did you want to restart or

any questions

that's the answer

so in other words

in other words you want to practice

makes perfect that's really it

you have to be

able to continue to recognize anytime an

unwholesome states arise

and when unwholesome states arise you

have to be able to let them go replace

them with wholesome state of mind so

being able to stay in loving kindness 24

7 if you can or any of those states is

one thing but then being able to

recognize when you get distracted from

them

from the unwholesome from the wholesome

states by the unwholesome states and

letting those go

that's a conscious effort

and so when you get good in the

meditation

that translates in your daily living

where you're able to be more conscious

of when your choices are starting to

incline towards whole unwholesome

choices

and then you can six are those and bring

them back to something that is wholesale

actually i only started

reading the sutas

probably the

beginning or middle of 2020

and it was only through

experience only through continual

practice

that you are able to then go back to the

sutras and be able to

recognize what it's been what is being

talked about

any newcomer who comes to the suthas are

is completely lost because it's like

what are they talking about right here

what is

neither perception nor non-perception

what does that mean

right the signless collectedness of mind

what does that mean

emptiness liberation what does that mean

and

you know dependent origination contact

feeling perception

what are they talking about here

and you can only really understand that

through experience that is to say

continuing to cultivate the practice

continuing to unlock deeper insights

through that practice and then that

practice

becomes a decoder

for the sutas so when you go back you're

like oh this is what they mean when they

mean the first channa this is what they

mean when they say neither perception or

non-perception this is what they mean by

karma and so on

so you start to get deeper and deeper

insights

it's both

the reason i say that is because

when you have an experience when you

have an attainment experience you can

see the links of dependent origination

and sometimes they're not as clear in

the beginning

but as your as your wisdom starts to

deepen in terms of your understanding

when you start to become more observant

which is you become more mindful you

become more aware you become more

cognizant

and recognize when something arises in

the form of contact or feeling or

perception

or craving or clinging then that's the

gradual aspect of that and as you

continue to do that

when you have another experience where

you're able to see the links independent

origination post cessation

you have even a deeper understanding of

that

and sometimes you've been contemplating

what

formations are for many years or for

many months

but until you have an experience

you then suddenly when you look back at

it it all makes sense and it's like oh

this is what they mean by formations

so there can be the acute in the form of

a post cessation attainment experience

and the gradual which is where you start

to become mindful of the links

independent origination when they arise

in your day-to-day

process of living

let's share some merit

may suffering ones be suffering free may

the fear struck fearless be

may the grieving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

may all beings share this merit that we

have thus acquired for the acquisition

of all kinds of happiness

may beings inhabiting space and earth

devas and nagas of mighty power share

this merit of ours

may they long protect the buddha's

dispensation

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you