From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=_W0wEcQpoRg
Context: Throughout this transcript, Bhante Vimalaramsi is the speaker unless otherwise indicated.
okay there are four noble truths
Noble Truth of suffering
[Music]
honey go home
so yesterday you might have heard Bonte
sachinanda talk about uh sorry put the
story
when he
was Fanning the Buddha
and how he attained
araha ship
when he realized that the Buddha was not
even attached to the dhamma
so the shooter I'm going to read today
is just about that
it's magic manikaya 74.
Diga nakasuta to diganaka
Diga Naka means long nails
so that's the uh
nickname of somebody who had very long
nails and this person
was purported to be either sorry puta's
cousin
or his nephew depending upon the
tradition
thus have I heard on one occasion the
blessed one was living at rajagaha in
the boers cave on the mountain vulture
Peak
then The Wanderer diganaka went to the
blessed one and exchanged greetings with
him
when this courteous and amiable talk was
finished
he stood out one side and said to the
blessed one
Master Gautama my
Doctrine and view is this
nothing is acceptable to me
my Doctrine and my view is this nothing
is acceptable to me
so this is a view of some of the
Aesthetics that were there at the time
that they clung to no views
so they were said to be Skeptics
they were said to be eel wriglers
because they never concluded one way or
the other
there could be a tatagata there could
not be a tatagata there could be an
Ibana there could be not be nabana
we don't know this is their view so they
hold on to no conclusions at all
so listen to what the Buddha says
this view of yours again that's his real
name
this view of yours that nothing is
acceptable to me
is not at least that view acceptable to
you
and so he says if this view of mine were
acceptable to me master Gautama
so in other words the Buddha is asking
him okay you say that you cling to no
views
but you do you cling to The View
that you cling to no views in other
words are you attached to that view of
no views
and so I'll give Asana or diganaka says
no I don't I don't claim to that view
either so now the Buddha will dissect us
there are plenty in the world who say it
too would be the same it too would be
the same yet they do not abandon that
view
and they take up still some other View
these those are few in the world who say
it too would be the same it too would be
the same and who abandoned that view and
do not take up some other View
so when somebody starts this practice
the practice that you're doing right now
there are certain views if you recall
when we were talking about dependent
origination we talked about clinging to
certain views
clinging to self you clinging to view
about the world is the view is the world
Eternal or not Eternal is this is their
self or not a self
uh you know the weight leading to
Nirvana is taking up purificatory rights
like Jane say or it's all about
materialism or there's nothing matters
there is no meaning in anything these
are the different types of views
but according to the dhamma these are
the different types of views that are
wrong unbeneficial
not leading to nibana not leading to
your happiness not leading to the
cessation of suffering
so you go from that view or those wrong
views and you come to the dhamma and you
practice the dhamma you do the Eightfold
Path you keep the precepts you maintain
your Sila you practice samadhi you have
collectedness you have bhavana and
mental development you go through the
genres and you experience some level of
insight
having now experienced this you
understand what is right for you
we'll get more into Right View when we
talk about the Eightfold Path but the
Right View there are many fold there is
the view of Right View in terms of that
there is meaning in generosity there is
meaning in keeping the precepts there is
meaning in having gratitude for one's
parents because they brought us into
this life into this existence first to
be able to experience nibana
and then there is part of that view that
there are those who have understood this
and who know the four noble truths that
there is this world and the other
there is this world and there is another
world now that could be interpreted in a
few ways that could mean that there is
this plane of existence and there are
other planes of existence other lokas
Deva Locas uh petalokas hell Realms
brahmalokas and so on and so forth
but the other understanding which is
very interesting because the Last
Retreat there was somebody who mentioned
this and I like their interpretation
that there is this world which is the
mundane world that we're experiencing
through the five physical senses when
the Buddha talked about what is loka
what is this world what is this
experience that we're having it's all
happening through the five physical
sense bases the world is measured and
understood and experienced
through the five cent spaces and the
mind of course
but what about the other world that
other world could be understood as the
Supra mundane world that is the world of
Janna
when you go into an experience of Jannah
when you go through loving kindness and
compassion and joy and Equanimity you go
through the four genres you go through
the ayatanas you're experiencing a
different dimension internally
you have experiencing an inner World
another world this is the super mundane
level
so that's part of Right View and then of
course that there are people who know
this and who are able to teach it so
there is some uh experiential confidence
in the teacher in the Buddha the dhamma
and the Sangha primarily
and then there's a super mundane Right
View which is
the view of the four noble truths and
you come to this through development
through bhavana through samadhi through
practice and how does that happen
through the six hours
the six R's allow you to know and
understand Four Noble Truths
when you recognize that there is a
hindrance or an irritation or
frustration or a hap or some kind of
anger or whatever it might be
that's suffering right there and then
you notice that there is this irritation
for an unpleasant feeling or craving for
a pleasant feeling
or you want you see that the mind is
identifying with this and has conceit
and says no I am this
or I am not this
and based on that you see there is
suffering
so recognizing that allows you to
understand the first Noble Truth of
suffering
putting your attention on that
that is the origin of suffering the fuel
for that suffering
when you have a hindrance if your
attention is on that and you continue to
resist it or you continue to Crave for
it there is undue attention given to
that hindrance and it feeds it fuels it
that is the origin of the suffering
so you recognize that and you abandon
that second Noble Truth
by releasing your attention from that
hindrance and then relaxing the
tightness and tension which is the
craving associated with it
when that happens you experience the
third Noble Truth
of the cessation of suffering of nirodha
in that moment when you relax you
experience mundane nibana mundane
Nirvana
having then experienced this
you then generate a wholesome State of
Mind through the smile
through uplifting the mind
and then you come back to your object of
meditation doing this you are
cultivating the fourth Noble Truth of
the path leading to nibana the path
leading to the cessation of suffering
because you have cultivated the six arcs
you are utilizing the six R's which
means you are practicing right effort
and right effort is the core of the
Eightfold Path as I've said before
through the six R's through right effort
you go from the wrong view to Right View
wrong intention to write intention
wrong speech to write speech wrong
action to write action wrong livelihood
to right livelihood wrong mindfulness to
right mindfulness wrong collectedness to
right collectiveness and because of that
you are cultivating the path and as you
cultivate the path you understand that
fourth Noble Truth
so every time you do the six R's you are
actually establishing super mundane
Right View
that is the understanding of the Four
Noble Truths
but then there comes a point when you
become an anagami that there is clinging
to the dhamma craving for the dhamma
clinging to the dhamma means that there
is conceit and pride of the dhamma you
become a dhamma Defender
somebody criticizes the Buddha somebody
criticizes the sutha somebody criticizes
twin somebody criticizes the six r's
what happens there jolt of wanting to
defend
the practice
that is the clinging to gamma that is
the clinging to Right View
so for you to become an arahat you have
to let go of all views of all
attachments to All Views so you go from
wrong view to Right View and then from
Right View to non-attachment to All
Views including Right View
aggravation uh there are some recluses
in brahmanas whose Doctrine and view is
this everything is acceptable to me
there are some recluses in brahmins
whose Doctrine and view is this nothing
is acceptable to me
and there are some recluses and
brahmanas whose Doctrine and view is
this something is acceptable to me and
something is not acceptable to me
among these the view of those recluses
and brahmanas who hold the doctrine and
view everything is acceptable to me is
close to lust close to bondage close
to delighting close to holding close to
clinging why
what he means when he says that
everything is acceptable to me
that creates attachment to existence
this is the view or the
umbrella for category of views
associated with
eternalism
associated with materialism
so that gives this rise to a self
now that self can be understood as
either a soul
or that self could be said that that
material is myself that body is myself
and so everything is acceptable to me
that there is a underlying self
and then when there is an underlying
self what happens
such a mindset is always looking to
satisfy that sense of self
so when you have this idea that
everything is consciousness or
Consciousness is me Consciousness is
mine or the world and I are the same
this is the Atman Brahman idea
when you hold on to that view you create
a sense of self
then when you have that you identify
with it some will identify with the
material body some will identify with
the feeling some will identify with
perception some will identify with
intentions and choices or formations and
some will identify with awareness itself
this process of identification leaves
the Mind towards wanting something for
that sense of self
leads the mind to cling to something
but then the Buddha says the view of
those recluses and brahmanas who hold
the doctrine in view nothing is
acceptable to me
is close to non-lust
close to non-bondage
close to non-delighting
close to non-holding close to non-ling
now the Very extreme understanding of
this is that there is no self
that there is no meaning in giving
that nothing matters
this is annihilationism myself will be
destroyed when this body goes away
myself will be fully destroyed when
feeling goes away or perception goes
away or intention and choices go away or
formations go away or awareness goes
away
this is annihilationism
and related to that is nihilism nothing
matters
nothing matters
when someone has this kind of view they
don't hold on to anything
but they still have the concept of no
self
and there is a self that says that there
is no self
so they hold on to an idea of no self
when the Buddha was asked is there a
self
or is there no self
he didn't answer one way or the other
because if he answered that there is a
self he would lead people into the idea
of eternalism
which creates clinging which creates
craving
if he said that there is no self that
would lead people to not wanting to do
anything because why why does it matter
if there's no self
what the Buddha taught in terms of anata
is not that there is no self
he said what is not self
there's a difference between no self and
not self
anata
there was an idea of a self in Ancient
India which was that this self is all
pervading
is permanent and a source of joy and
happiness and the Buddha said okay fine
let's say for the purpose of
understanding that you say that that is
such a self
it's known as
it is existent it is conscious and it is
joyful
but if that's the case and you'll look
at everything in reality
you see that it is always changing
subject to change
because it is dependently Arisen that
which is dependently Arisen is
conditioned and therefore impermanent
subject to change
how could you consider that to be self
when we look at the categories of
different experience
we have the body form
we have feeling experience
of The Sixth Sense spaces
we have perception recognizing and
labeling what it is that you're
experiencing through the Sixth Sense
basis
formations
formations are that which allow you to
experience mental formations allow you
to feel and perceive verbal formations
allow you to express
and bodily formations allow you to
experience the body in breathing out
breathing moving and so on
and
then there is awareness Consciousness
the cognizing of what it is that you are
experiencing the consciousness
now if you were to take all of these
different heaps Aggregates the kandas or
skandas
these are the different categories of
experience
take each of these and then use the
Touchstone of this ancient Indian idea
of the self
does it match the idea of self is form
permanent or impermanent
impermanent
if form is impermanent
it is liable to change
it is liable to cause suffering one way
or the other
then is that yourself
qualify as that self that we just talked
about
form
if form is impermanent and we say that
the the idea of a self is permanent
we say the idea of a self is not subject
to change the idea of a self is a source
of bliss
Everlasting Bliss this form
qualify yourself
no
what about feeling
whatever it is you're feeling right now
you're hearing what I'm saying there are
arising and passing away of sound waves
in that moment you're experiencing sound
but if I stay silent
there's no experience there
so what you just experienced in terms of
the sound was that permanent or
if that is impermanent is it liable to
cause suffering if you hold on to it
and if that's the case can you consider
it to be self
any kind of feeling whatsoever is
impermanent liable to change liable to
cause suffering and therefore not
considered as self
what about perception you're listening
to me you're seeing me
and then the mind that part of the Mind
recognizes oh this is Delson speaking oh
this is delson's voice
that recognition arises dependent upon
memory
but that perception can go away if I
disappear right now you don't perceive
me
you don't perceive my sound you don't
perceive or my voice you don't perceive
me here let's say I disappeared
so if that's the case
your perception is dependent upon
contact
with the air and sound
with the eye and form
if that contact goes away that is to say
Delson goes away this disappeared
now that perception is no longer there
if that's the case then that means that
perception is also impermanent
if perception is impermanent and liable
to change liable to cause suffering
can it be considered self
no
what about formations choices intentions
when you think about formations they
arise dependent upon contact how do you
make a decision
how do you make an informed decision
a decision comes about because you have
contact with information
and you make a choice based on whatever
it is that is received
take that away and your decision changes
or your decision is not there your
choice is not there
so when we talk about Choice when we
talk about intention when we talk about
inclination they are dependent upon
contact as well
so if they are dependently Arisen they
too are impermanent
if what is impermanent leads to
suffering can that be considered self
no
what about awareness cognition
how does awareness rise
awareness arises dependent upon
formations
dependent upon contact when you see me
you are cognizing me you're cognizing
the experience of seeing and hearing
Delson
you take it out in a way
and now that cognition changes
that awareness of Delson changes
if that's the case then awareness also
is dependently Arisen and therefore
impermanent
therefore liable to cause suffering
because if you cling to it and it
disappears and if it was pleasant
and it disappears now it's unpleasant
and therefore that too cannot be
considered self
so that is anata it's not that there is
no self
is that there cannot be anything
considered self
because all conditioned things are
impermanent
and therefore
liable to cause suffering one way or the
other and can't be considered self
what about nibana is nibana self
but they say nibana is permanent in some
cases
so can it still be considered itself
nibana is not a thing
nibana is not a process nibada is not a
state
it's all these things and not these
things
Nirvana is like in quantum mechanics
the wave and particle
it can be a particle or it can be a wave
nibana is just this the cessation of
suffering
Nirvana is non-greed
non-hatred non-delusion
that's it it is the emancipation of the
Mind
freedom of mind
where is self in that it just happens
because the causes and conditions are
gone completely gone it's deconditioned
to the point where it is unconditioned
so you cannot attach yourself to it
it happens like that
when you come out of cessation of
perception feeling and Consciousness
mind makes contact with the nibana
element let's say
that contact is said to be signless
void
and undirected
the reason why is because when you have
this experience
the mind has understood impermanence
and therefore doesn't take anything as
an object nobody cannot be said to be an
object it doesn't even take it as an
object
it's understood to be undirected because
it has no desire for anything there is
no desire there
and it is said to be void or empty of
self
because there's no self-projected onto
it it just arises or it just is
because all conditions have been let go
of
making contact with the unconditioned
there arises feeling that is the joy and
relief that you experience when you come
out of cessation and you in in the mind
comes back up you feel this arising of
great joy arising of great relief
that arises or that happens as an
experience as a feeling that is
conditioned
by the unconditioned contact
and by that you see from there you see
dependent origination you might see
flickering you might see lights you
might see spirals you might see whatever
it is
but that arises as pure links
until you take them personally until you
say that relief was amazing I want more
of that and what happens now a craving
comes up
so in each attainment little by little
craving goes away
right so first some level of delusion
goes away in terms of self-view because
now you realize this whole process is
impersonal
and then in sakadagami the craving goes
a little bit away the
aversion goes a little bit away because
now when you see that experience you're
not clinging to it so much you still
experience with a sense of self
you say oh that was wonderful
but now you're able to recognize easily
easily when craving arises when aversion
arises
and if you do react with craving an
aversion you immediately are able to
recover from it you're able to recognize
it which means your mindfulness gets
clearer your mindfulness gets sharper
when you have this experience as a
soccer dagami or you have the second
agami attainment let's say
it happens because you continue to
practice the six hours continue to
sharpen your mindfulness to be able to
recognize when a seed of craving occurs
when a seed of aversion occurs and
you're able to 6r let that go
or if it happens where you act upon it
you recognize it and you let go of it
and so your reaction isn't so deep your
reaction isn't so long lasting
let go of it you're able to recognize
as an anagami when you get to anagami
you have that experience again contact
with nibana
the joy and relief come up but now
there's pure Equanimity that arises so
you don't really take anything
in terms of craving for anything and
because you have continued to six our
craving and arising as they come when
the actual experience happens of
cessation and then the feeling of nabana
or the experience of Nevada and the
feeling that arises which is equanimity
you don't cling to that
so there is no Central craving anymore
there is no more aversion it's all cut
off now
but now you still have the five higher
Fetters you have restlessness you have
conceit you have clinging to form Realms
and clinging to formless Realms that's
clinging to Janna clinging to the
ayatanas and ignorance
because you still have some iota of
Pride there
dependent upon conceit restlessness
arises dependent upon conceit clinging
to Jannah arises dependent upon the
conceit clinging to arupa janas arise
or let's say clinging to the formless
ROMs arises
and then of course ignorance not fully
understanding the Four Noble Truths
so when our hardship happens when you
have the experience you have no clinging
at all
there's no clinging to any of you not
even right view it's just seen you see
dependent origination you see the dhamma
that's it no big deal
no relief no nothing just okay you see
it because there's no fuel of clinging
with an identity
because there's no fuel of identifying
with that process
the conceit goes away
and because the conceit is the
foundation for restlessness clinging to
Janna clinging to ayatanas they fall
away like a house of cards and because
you have seen the four noble truths you
have fully understood suffering you have
fully abandoned all kinds of craving
craving for sensual Pleasures when that
when that happened when you had the
state of anagami craving for existence
and craving for non-existence
and now you have experienced nibana
completely
your mind has become fully pure
purified of all greed hatred and
delusion
and therefore you have perfected the
Eightfold Path you have perfected the
practice now the practice becomes the
automatic way of responding to the world
around you
that's the default mode of functioning
for such a mind
so there's no clinging to any views
there no clinging to the Dharma no
looking forward to this happening or
looking forward to that happening it's
all just okay whatever happens happens
so when one says nothing is acceptable
to me they are closer to non-clinging
they are closer to non-bondage closer to
non-delighting according to the Buddha
because they have less attachment to
views
so then he says when this was said The
Wanderer diganaka remarked master master
Gautama commends my point of view
recommends my point of view
so here avivasona thinks that uh oh so
he's saying that uh I'm in our Hut
he's saying that yeah I don't have any
clinging now but guess what happened he
has Pride
for that clinging to no views
so he's so the Buddha says now ask you
those recluses and brahmanas who hold
the doctrine and view something is
acceptable to me something is not
acceptable to me the view of theirs as
to what is acceptable is close to lust
close to bondage close to delighting
close to holding close to clinging while
the view of theirs as to what is not
acceptable is close to non-lust close to
bond non-bondage close to non-delighting
close to non-holding close to
non-clinging
so in other words there are some who
have the view that or they have a
partial sense of self well this is
myself but that is not myself
or this world is partially Eternal or
this self is partially Eternal in one
way or the other so they still have some
clinging there but they've let go of
other aspects of clinging to self and
clinging to the idea of a self in
relation to existence
so in this case some part of their mind
has craving and some part has let go of
some level of craving
now aggravation a wise man among those
recluses in brahmanas who holds the
doctrine and view
everything is acceptable to me considers
thus
if I obstinately adhere to my view
everything is acceptable to me and
declare only this is true anything else
is wrong
then I may clash with thee to others
with a recluse of brahmana who holds the
doctrine and view nothing is acceptable
to me and with the recluse of brahmana
who holds the doctrine in view something
is acceptable to me something is not
acceptable to me I am a clash with these
two and when there is a clash there are
disputes when there are disputes there
are quarrels
when there are quarrels there is
vexation thus foreseeing for himself
clashes disputes quarrels and vexation
he abandons that view
and does not take up some other view
this is how there comes to be the
abandoning of these views this is how
there comes to be the relinquishing of
these views
so when he talks about a wise person
that means they really
intelligently look at
any attachment they have to certain
views even if it's of the dhamma
and if there's any resistance to
opposing views then they realize that
this can cause vexation this can cause
craving this can cause attachment this
can cause violence in the mind
so they let go of adhering to that view
fine somebody criticizes of you
criticizes the dhamma
okay fine
why cling to the Domino why make the
dhamma self
why make the practice self
why make twin or the 6r South they're
all just processes
so if you understand this then you let
go of any kind of attachment to a view
and then a wise man among those recluses
and brahmanas who hold the doctrine and
view nothing is acceptable to me
considers this if I obstinately adhere
to my view nothing is acceptable to me
and declare only this is true anything
else is wrong
then I may clash with the other with the
two others with a recluse of brahmana
who holds the doctrine and view
everything is acceptable to me
and with a reckless of ramen who holds
the doctrine and view something is
acceptable to me something is not
acceptable to me I may clash with these
two and when there is a clash there are
disputes when there are disputes there
are quarrels and when there are quarrels
there is vexation thus foreseeing for
himself clashes disputes quarrels and
vexation he abandons that view and does
not take up some other View
this is how there comes to be the
abandoning of these views
this is how there comes to be the
relinquishing of these views so somebody
says okay there is no self I'm not
holding on to anything there's nothing
worth holding on to
and then somebody says oh but there
there is a self here or you know uh this
practice leads to Nirvana or whatever it
might be this practice or this is self
and this is not self and you hold on to
a certain sense of there is no self at
all what happens that your mind says oh
that person is wrong immediately your
mind says that person is wrong
because it doesn't match with your view
of the world it doesn't match with your
view of what is self and what is not
self
so you're clinging to that view
but if you recognize that and you let go
of that
then you don't create agitation in the
mind you don't create vexation in the
mind
and you experience peace right there and
then
so this can this can be on a mundane
level as well you're holding on to some
kind of view about this person or about
this group of people or about politics
or your favorite sports team or whatever
it might be this is the best or this is
right and everybody else is wrong what
happens
somebody comes up to you and tries to
say no you're wrong
this is the best or this is better than
what you think and so on and so forth
what is the reactivity that happens in
the mind the mind immediately says no no
they're wrong
and then what happens it completely
clouds your awareness now from going
from a friend they look at you look at
them as being an enemy
now you say oh that person is wrong I
hate them
or you just say that person is stupid
they don't know what they're talking
about right you come to all of these
different conclusions and ideas
so what happens there's agitation in the
mind there's craving and clinging in the
mind
so let go of trying to defend any kind
of you
let go of All Views together all
together
and you will experience full peace of
mind
a wise man among those recluses and
brahmanas who holds who hold the
doctrine and view something is
acceptable to me something is not
acceptable to me considers thus if I
obstinately adhere to my view something
is acceptable to me something is not
acceptable to me
and declare only this is true anything
else is wrong
that I may clash with the other the the
two others with a recluse of ramen who
holds the doctrine and view everything
is acceptable to me and with a recluse
of Brahman who holds a Doctrine and view
nothing is acceptable to me I may clash
with these two and when there is a clash
there are disputes when there are
disputes there are quarrels when there
are quarrels there is vexation
thus for seeing for himself clashes
disputes quarrels and vexation he
abandons that view and does not take up
some other View
this is how there comes to be the
abandoning of these views this is how
there comes to be the relinquishing of
these views
now listen carefully
this body made of material form
consisting of the four Great elements
that is Earth
the air element the fire element Water
Element the solid state of matter liquid
state of matter gaseous state of matter
plasma state of matter heat and
temperature
procreated by a mother and father and
built up of boiled rice and porridge
meaning built up of food
right this is how your your muscles
build your skeletons grow and so on and
so forth through food through nutrition
is subject to impermanence this body
will decay
this body continues to Decay from the
very moment you are born
you have an expiry date your body has an
expiry date it grows
right it changes
and eventually it declines it is subject
to impermanence
to being worn and rubbed away to
dissolution and disintegration it should
be regarded as impermanent as suffering
as a disease as a tumor as a dart as a
Calamity as an Affliction as alien as
disintegrating as void as not self
pretty strong words about the body
really what the Buddha is saying is have
complete this passion for the body
don't get tied up into
you know I have to take care of the body
in this way or that way yes you want to
be healthy but don't get obsessed about
that
nobody you know no body
is getting out alive from this existence
it's all they're all going to die
we're all going to die
at some point or another
when one regards this body thus one
abandons desire for the body affection
for the body subservience to the body
this is very important people become
slaves to their body
they adhere to a diet certain kind of
diet right maybe it's for medical
purposes fine that's fine but they
become so subservient to the body
I have to have my meal at this time
or I have to go for my morning
activities at this particular time
why because the body demands it
if it's not met you feel terrible about
it
so you become a servant to the body
but if you understand this body as being
always changing okay no big deal
there are aggravation three kinds of
feeling Pleasant feeling painful feeling
and neither painful nor Pleasant feeling
on the occasion when one feels Pleasant
feeling one does not feel painful
feeling
or neither painful nor Pleasant feeling
on that occasion one feels only Pleasant
feeling
so in other words when you're
experiencing Pleasant feeling you
experience pleasure right there and then
there's no pain there
is no neutrality there there's there's
pleasure you actually have a
a emotion tied to it like oh this is
Pleasant I really like this now that's
not craving it's just perceiving that
this is Pleasant
on that occasion when one feels painful
feeling one does not feel Pleasant or
neither painful nor Pleasant feeling
on that occasion one feels only painful
feeling
so in other words let's say you're
walking barefoot
and
you step on a thorn in that moment you
feel just pain
you're not thinking about how
pleasurable that is unless that's your
thing but
you know that's another thing entirely
but in that moment that pain is all
you're experiencing there's no Pleasant
feeling there there's no neutral feeling
there you say ouch
right you have a reaction to it it's
painful
in that moment
on the occasion and one feels neither
painful nor Pleasant feeling one does
not feel Pleasant feeling or painful
feeling on that occasion one feels only
neither painful nor Pleasant feeling
this is that experience of just being in
lukewarm water you don't have any
thoughts about it one way or the other
it's not pleasant or unpleasant
so you're just experiencing it as okay
whatever
so in that moment when that feeling
arises it is neither painful
nor Pleasant it's just neutral
Pleasant feeling ague is impermanent
conditioned dependently arisen
subject to destruction Vanishing
fading away and ceasing
painful feeling too is impermanent
conditioned dependently Arisen subject
to destruction Vanishing away
fading away and ceasing
neither painful nor Pleasant feeling too
is impermanent
conditioned dependently Arisen subject
to destruction Vanishing fading away and
ceasing
why
if you recall dependent origination we
see
that first we have ignorance which
conditions formations
which condition
consciousness which conditions namarupa
which can mentality material which
conditions The Sixth Sense spaces which
condition contact
gives rise to feeling
take away the contact that feeling goes
away
Pleasant painful or neutral
whatever it is you're experiencing is
dependently Arisen dependently Arisen
based on contact if that contact goes
away that feeling vanishes
and therefore it is subject to
destruction feeling is subject to
destruction any feeling any experience
you're having
loving kindness in your meditation
changes
goes from loving kindness to compassion
compassion changes to Joy Joy changes to
Equanimity Equanimity Fades and then you
have quiet mind that too Fades and then
you have the signless that who Fades and
you have cessation of perception feeling
and Consciousness the first genre is an
experience it's a Feeling
it's a pleasant feeling
but that too changes
it is subject to cessation subject to
change subject to Vanishing subject to
fading away
it might cease into the second genre and
so on or just cease all together and
their Association of perception feeling
and consciousness
so don't hold on don't hold on to
anything don't hold on to any object
the key is not to hold on to any object
the key is to just observe that object
when you get to Quiet Mind
don't hold on to even Quiet Mind don't
do anything
don't even observe don't even watch
because as soon as you observe there's
an intention produced I have to observe
Quiet Mind and what happens now you
become tunnel visioned
now you become attached now you crave
now you cling
let go of any intention and just see
things as they are
just stay there just be there
in that moment when you're in Quiet Mind
in that time when you're in Quiet Mind
will automatically relax
formations any Proto thoughts that arise
that percolate up to form fully formed
thoughts the mind just recognizes and
releases relaxes comes back that's it
don't do anything
just stay there
seeing thus a well-taught noble disciple
becomes disenchanted
with Pleasant feeling this enchanted
with painful feeling
disenchanted with neither painful nor
Pleasant feeling
disenchanted
when you come to quiet mind when you
come to any genre
First China second John third John of 4
China you come to any base of Infinite
Space infinite Consciousness nothing
neither perception nor non-perception
to see it as an experience that is
subject to change
when that happens you develop Equanimity
having Equanimity you have
disenchantment
you're not bothered by it you're not
attached to it whatever happens happens
doesn't matter it's okay
so that disenchantment is a mind like
Teflon like a non-stick pen nothing
sticks to the mind
everything just Glides through the mind
when you're in Quiet Mind and even
deeper into signless state
you will see for yourself that the mind
is not interested in paying attention to
thoughts anymore
they just come and go and mind doesn't
care
sad that mind has apathy or or any kind
of indifference it's just been there
done that
another alternate translation for this
enchantment is Revolution
again that's not a version It's just
it's like when you have your favorite
food right you're eating your favorite
food
and the person who makes the perfect
version of your favorite food says Hey
here is a plate of your favorite dish
and you've relished in that and you have
oh that's great it's a pleasant feeling
you experience it and you love it and
you enjoy it and they said here is a
second helping and you say okay
and you eat that and you try it and now
you're full
and they say here's a third helping
now it's turned into like I've had
enough that's enough
right that's the state of disenchantment
you've had enough thoughts
you've all your life you've just been
enamored by thinking all your life
you've been enamored by this and that
enamored by this feeling and that
feeling and this sensation and that
sensation this Shana that Janna this
Brahma vihara that Brahma vihara this
mind Quiet Mind signless State you're
just enamored by all of that
but there comes a point where you've had
enough of that all right I've seen it
enough
right
it's interesting when you want when you
see kids little kids
and let's say you're a parent or you
know you're an elder and you're watching
TV with with uh with your with the kid
and they're watching their favorite TV
show
for some reasons for some reason a child
can watch that same episode over and
over and over and over again
and you have to be subject to that
don't you experience revulsion at some
point
that's the disenchantment
I've seen enough enough of this
so everything that comes just collides
on through
being disenchanted he becomes this
passionate
this comes from the word viraga in Pali
or vairagya in Sanskrit this means to be
detached
now the mind is in a bubble now the mind
is just completely detached from it
it's like it's just looking up and
seeing everything and just okay
whatever it's all happening that's fine
the mind has no interest in anything
it's just completely at peace
just satisfied and content within itself
through this passion the mind is
liberated now cessation
you know what's happening is as you get
into deeper and deeper levels of Quiet
Mind the formation starts to slow down
or they seem to like they seem like
they're slowing down because you become
disenchanted
when you become disenchanted
your attention to these things to these
formations to these thoughts don't go
from here to there
it's like you are in the eye of a storm
in the hurricane and all these thoughts
are happening but your mind doesn't get
attached in either in either of those
thoughts any of those thoughts
and just stay centered
and because there's no fuel
those thoughts start to dissipate
and then the last formation to go that
sense of I am
that conceit that's the last to go when
that goes away
their cessation of perception feeling
and consciousness
all conditions have been let go of
and then that mind experiences
nibana
it is liberated
and when it is liberated which means
when it is fully liberated from all of
the taints having let go of all kinds of
craving and clinging
there comes the knowledge it is
liberated one understands birth is
destroyed the holy life has been lived
what had to be done has been done
there is no more coming to any state of
being
birth is destroyed
now there is no more rebirth
no more doing the same thing over and
over again expecting a different result
no more getting clung to different kinds
of situations and repeating those same
situations
no more birth of different reactions and
actions rooted in a sense of self rooted
in craving rooted in conceit rooted in
aversion rooted in ignorance rooted in
wrong views
what had to be done has been done the
holy life has been lived you have
completely perfected the Eightfold Path
now
now the Eightfold Path
has become your default mode of
functioning
you have deconditioned the mind of all
craving of all conceit of all clinging
of all ignorance of all identification
of all wrong views
and reconditioned it with the Eightfold
Path
which means now your view is always
going to be right for you
your intention is always going to be
right intention your speech is always
going to be right speech your action is
always going to be right action
your livelihood is always going to be
right livelihood your mindfulness will
always be right mindfulness your
collectedness will always be right
collectiveness and this unlocks two more
factors of the path which is now the
tenfold path
right
Insight or right knowledge and right
Liberation your mind is completely
liberated it knows it is liberated
so that is the mind of the araha always
in nibana because
there is no greed no hatred no delusion
in such a mind
and there is no more coming to any state
of being
there's no sense of I have to do this or
I need to become that because any sense
of that is completely destroyed
the mind doesn't project any kind of
future that this has to be this way
doesn't project from any kind of past
that because this person was this in a
Pastime they will be like this now
there's no there's no process of
projecting anything on any one or
anything whatsoever just everything is
fresh
that's why that mind of the araha is
spontaneous
the action is seemingly spontaneous it's
unconditioned it just sees things as
they are
so you can practice this for yourself
every time you see that the mind is
projecting something recognize that let
that go and come back to a state which
is peaceful not grabbing onto this or
that
state of non-creaving non-hatred
non-dilution
abiku whose mind is liberated thus
akivaisana sides with none and disputes
with none
he employs the speech currently used in
the world without adhering to it
such a mind doesn't hold on to this or
to that anything can happen no big deal
that mind just says let's see what
happens it doesn't have any projection
of oh I have to it has to be this way or
this person is right and that person is
wrong and even if they know that this
person is right or that person is wrong
no big deal okay fine
they don't adhere to any of that
but they use the conventional language
of
I me myself
you know they say Okay I want this or I
want that or can you get me this or can
you get me that or whatever it might be
or this is mine or this is whatever it
might be
but they don't have any adherence of
this is actually me mine or myself
they're just using conventional uh words
to transact with the world
right
I mean how strange would it be somebody
says one thinks in this way or one self
is this or that or whatever just
uses normal language
now on that occasion the venerable
saripota was standing behind the blessed
one Fanning him
then he thought then he thought sorry
the blessed one indeed speaks to us of
the abandoning of these things through
direct knowledge
the sublime one
indeed
speaks to us of the relinquishing of
these things through direct knowledge
as the venerable saripota considered
this
through not clinging his mind was
liberated from the taints
gave
any discourse that the Buddha gave
he was not attached to any of it
any kind of training that he gave
he was not vested in the success of one
or the other
somebody did well okay good somebody did
not so good no problem
he was not vested in is this a good
Dharma talk or not do people understand
or not he just gave the dhamma and
oftentimes he would just stand up and
leave
that's it
he neither relished or became excited
when people were happy and delighted
with the Dharma talk nor was he
discouraged when people didn't
understand what he was saying
he had no clinging to the dhamma at all
when he explained dependent origination
when he explained the four noble truths
when he explained this or that he was
just explaining he was just giving a
discourse
if people liked it or didn't like it
didn't make a difference to him
he was just purely giving the dhamma
abandoning any kind of attachment to the
outcome of what he was saying abandoning
any kind of attachment
to any of the aspects of the dhana
when saripota realized this
he said oh okay so what am I holding on
to why should I be holding on to
anything why should I be holding on to
my attachment to the Buddha my
attachment to the dhamma my attachment
to the Sangha why should I be holding on
to my attachment to the practice
it's just the practice
so when you practice practice with
detachment
it's easier said than done but you can
start to exercise that by understanding
okay let's see what happens that's the
attitude to have when you meditate let's
just see what happens
you're watching the movie a movie for
the first time just watching
now if you've had an experience of one
genre or the other or a cessation or
whatever it might be now what happens
now you recognize the steps leading to
it
they're like oh there it is
so what happens now you cling to that
but just watch it just relax Just Let It
Go just keep watching it let it unfold
let the practice unfold
you are not doing anything
the practice itself is happening
you're just there to sit
and be present
that's it
that's mindfulness being present
observing how your mind's attention
moves means to be present that's it
remembering to observe doesn't mean I
have to have to actively be like oh this
is what happened this is what happened
this is what happened just be present
enough to have the awareness so that the
Mind realizes oh it got distracted
recognize that let it go and come back
so when you sit down
sit down because you just want to see
what happens
not because you need to attain this
genre or you need to attain cessation or
you need to attain nibana or whatever it
is
let go of all expectations
expectation is another word for craving
for clinging
but in the Wonder diganaka the Spotless
Immaculate vision of the dhamma arose
all that is subject to arising is
subject to cessation
The Wanderer diganaka saw the dhamma
attain the dhamma understood the dhamma
fathom the dhamma he crossed Beyond
doubt did away with perplexity gained
intrepidy intrepidity and became
independent of others in the teacher's
dispensation in other words he attained
stream entry
he saw the dhamma understood the dhamma
he let go of all doubt in the Buddha
Adam and Sangha all confusion
and he gained confidence
in the Buddha's teaching
and he understood impermanence and
therefore didn't hold on to anything in
terms of a self understood on an
intellectual experiential level that
there is no underlying permanent
personal self
then he said to the blessed one now this
is very interesting what he says then he
said to the blessed one magnificent
Master Gautama magnificent Master
Gautama Master Gautama has made the
Dharma clear in many ways as though he
were turning upright what had been
overthrown revealing what was hidden
Shoring the way to one who was lost or
holding up a lamp in the dark for those
with eyesight to see forms now listen to
this part he says I go to the master
gothamma for refuge and to the dhamma
and to the Sangha of bikers from today
let Master Gautama remember me as a lay
follower
who has gone to him for refuge for life
he was first a Wonder in the beginning
of the sutah and now he says I go to
Refuge to you as a lay follower
why
is that some kind of error in
Translation or
a mistype
because he completely renounced the the
lifestyle that he had as a Wonder came
back to becoming a layperson
and now sought Refuge as a layperson
so that is the end of the Sutra
okay there are four noble truths
Noble Truth of suffering
[Music]
honey go home
so yesterday you might have heard Bonte
sachinanda talk about uh sorry put the
story
when he
was Fanning the Buddha
and how he attained
araha ship
when he realized that the Buddha was not
even attached to the dhamma
so the shooter I'm going to read today
is just about that
it's magic manikaya 74.
Diga nakasuta to diganaka
Diga Naka means long nails
so that's the uh
nickname of somebody who had very long
nails and this person
was purported to be either sorry puta's
cousin
or his nephew depending upon the
tradition
thus have I heard on one occasion the
blessed one was living at rajagaha in
the boers cave on the mountain vulture
Peak
then The Wanderer diganaka went to the
blessed one and exchanged greetings with
him
when this courteous and amiable talk was
finished
he stood out one side and said to the
blessed one
Master Gautama my
Doctrine and view is this
nothing is acceptable to me
my Doctrine and my view is this nothing
is acceptable to me
so this is a view of some of the
Aesthetics that were there at the time
that they clung to no views
so they were said to be Skeptics
they were said to be eel wriglers
because they never concluded one way or
the other
there could be a tatagata there could
not be a tatagata there could be an
Ibana there could be not be nabana
we don't know this is their view so they
hold on to no conclusions at all
so listen to what the Buddha says
this view of yours again that's his real
name
this view of yours that nothing is
acceptable to me
is not at least that view acceptable to
you
and so he says if this view of mine were
acceptable to me master Gautama
so in other words the Buddha is asking
him okay you say that you cling to no
views
but you do you cling to The View
that you cling to no views in other
words are you attached to that view of
no views
and so I'll give Asana or diganaka says
no I don't I don't claim to that view
either so now the Buddha will dissect us
there are plenty in the world who say it
too would be the same it too would be
the same yet they do not abandon that
view
and they take up still some other View
these those are few in the world who say
it too would be the same it too would be
the same and who abandoned that view and
do not take up some other View
so when somebody starts this practice
the practice that you're doing right now
there are certain views if you recall
when we were talking about dependent
origination we talked about clinging to
certain views
clinging to self you clinging to view
about the world is the view is the world
Eternal or not Eternal is this is their
self or not a self
uh you know the weight leading to
Nirvana is taking up purificatory rights
like Jane say or it's all about
materialism or there's nothing matters
there is no meaning in anything these
are the different types of views
but according to the dhamma these are
the different types of views that are
wrong unbeneficial
not leading to nibana not leading to
your happiness not leading to the
cessation of suffering
so you go from that view or those wrong
views and you come to the dhamma and you
practice the dhamma you do the Eightfold
Path you keep the precepts you maintain
your Sila you practice samadhi you have
collectedness you have bhavana and
mental development you go through the
genres and you experience some level of
insight
having now experienced this you
understand what is right for you
we'll get more into Right View when we
talk about the Eightfold Path but the
Right View there are many fold there is
the view of Right View in terms of that
there is meaning in generosity there is
meaning in keeping the precepts there is
meaning in having gratitude for one's
parents because they brought us into
this life into this existence first to
be able to experience nibana
and then there is part of that view that
there are those who have understood this
and who know the four noble truths that
there is this world and the other
there is this world and there is another
world now that could be interpreted in a
few ways that could mean that there is
this plane of existence and there are
other planes of existence other lokas
Deva Locas uh petalokas hell Realms
brahmalokas and so on and so forth
but the other understanding which is
very interesting because the Last
Retreat there was somebody who mentioned
this and I like their interpretation
that there is this world which is the
mundane world that we're experiencing
through the five physical senses when
the Buddha talked about what is loka
what is this world what is this
experience that we're having it's all
happening through the five physical
sense bases the world is measured and
understood and experienced
through the five cent spaces and the
mind of course
but what about the other world that
other world could be understood as the
Supra mundane world that is the world of
Janna
when you go into an experience of Jannah
when you go through loving kindness and
compassion and joy and Equanimity you go
through the four genres you go through
the ayatanas you're experiencing a
different dimension internally
you have experiencing an inner World
another world this is the super mundane
level
so that's part of Right View and then of
course that there are people who know
this and who are able to teach it so
there is some uh experiential confidence
in the teacher in the Buddha the dhamma
and the Sangha primarily
and then there's a super mundane Right
View which is
the view of the four noble truths and
you come to this through development
through bhavana through samadhi through
practice and how does that happen
through the six hours
the six R's allow you to know and
understand Four Noble Truths
when you recognize that there is a
hindrance or an irritation or
frustration or a hap or some kind of
anger or whatever it might be
that's suffering right there and then
you notice that there is this irritation
for an unpleasant feeling or craving for
a pleasant feeling
or you want you see that the mind is
identifying with this and has conceit
and says no I am this
or I am not this
and based on that you see there is
suffering
so recognizing that allows you to
understand the first Noble Truth of
suffering
putting your attention on that
that is the origin of suffering the fuel
for that suffering
when you have a hindrance if your
attention is on that and you continue to
resist it or you continue to Crave for
it there is undue attention given to
that hindrance and it feeds it fuels it
that is the origin of the suffering
so you recognize that and you abandon
that second Noble Truth
by releasing your attention from that
hindrance and then relaxing the
tightness and tension which is the
craving associated with it
when that happens you experience the
third Noble Truth
of the cessation of suffering of nirodha
in that moment when you relax you
experience mundane nibana mundane
Nirvana
having then experienced this
you then generate a wholesome State of
Mind through the smile
through uplifting the mind
and then you come back to your object of
meditation doing this you are
cultivating the fourth Noble Truth of
the path leading to nibana the path
leading to the cessation of suffering
because you have cultivated the six arcs
you are utilizing the six R's which
means you are practicing right effort
and right effort is the core of the
Eightfold Path as I've said before
through the six R's through right effort
you go from the wrong view to Right View
wrong intention to write intention
wrong speech to write speech wrong
action to write action wrong livelihood
to right livelihood wrong mindfulness to
right mindfulness wrong collectedness to
right collectiveness and because of that
you are cultivating the path and as you
cultivate the path you understand that
fourth Noble Truth
so every time you do the six R's you are
actually establishing super mundane
Right View
that is the understanding of the Four
Noble Truths
but then there comes a point when you
become an anagami that there is clinging
to the dhamma craving for the dhamma
clinging to the dhamma means that there
is conceit and pride of the dhamma you
become a dhamma Defender
somebody criticizes the Buddha somebody
criticizes the sutha somebody criticizes
twin somebody criticizes the six r's
what happens there jolt of wanting to
defend
the practice
that is the clinging to gamma that is
the clinging to Right View
so for you to become an arahat you have
to let go of all views of all
attachments to All Views so you go from
wrong view to Right View and then from
Right View to non-attachment to All
Views including Right View
aggravation uh there are some recluses
in brahmanas whose Doctrine and view is
this everything is acceptable to me
there are some recluses in brahmins
whose Doctrine and view is this nothing
is acceptable to me
and there are some recluses and
brahmanas whose Doctrine and view is
this something is acceptable to me and
something is not acceptable to me
among these the view of those recluses
and brahmanas who hold the doctrine and
view everything is acceptable to me is
close to lust close to bondage close
to delighting close to holding close to
clinging why
what he means when he says that
everything is acceptable to me
that creates attachment to existence
this is the view or the
umbrella for category of views
associated with
eternalism
associated with materialism
so that gives this rise to a self
now that self can be understood as
either a soul
or that self could be said that that
material is myself that body is myself
and so everything is acceptable to me
that there is a underlying self
and then when there is an underlying
self what happens
such a mindset is always looking to
satisfy that sense of self
so when you have this idea that
everything is consciousness or
Consciousness is me Consciousness is
mine or the world and I are the same
this is the Atman Brahman idea
when you hold on to that view you create
a sense of self
then when you have that you identify
with it some will identify with the
material body some will identify with
the feeling some will identify with
perception some will identify with
intentions and choices or formations and
some will identify with awareness itself
this process of identification leaves
the Mind towards wanting something for
that sense of self
leads the mind to cling to something
but then the Buddha says the view of
those recluses and brahmanas who hold
the doctrine in view nothing is
acceptable to me
is close to non-lust
close to non-bondage
close to non-delighting
close to non-holding close to non-ling
now the Very extreme understanding of
this is that there is no self
that there is no meaning in giving
that nothing matters
this is annihilationism myself will be
destroyed when this body goes away
myself will be fully destroyed when
feeling goes away or perception goes
away or intention and choices go away or
formations go away or awareness goes
away
this is annihilationism
and related to that is nihilism nothing
matters
nothing matters
when someone has this kind of view they
don't hold on to anything
but they still have the concept of no
self
and there is a self that says that there
is no self
so they hold on to an idea of no self
when the Buddha was asked is there a
self
or is there no self
he didn't answer one way or the other
because if he answered that there is a
self he would lead people into the idea
of eternalism
which creates clinging which creates
craving
if he said that there is no self that
would lead people to not wanting to do
anything because why why does it matter
if there's no self
what the Buddha taught in terms of anata
is not that there is no self
he said what is not self
there's a difference between no self and
not self
anata
there was an idea of a self in Ancient
India which was that this self is all
pervading
is permanent and a source of joy and
happiness and the Buddha said okay fine
let's say for the purpose of
understanding that you say that that is
such a self
it's known as
it is existent it is conscious and it is
joyful
but if that's the case and you'll look
at everything in reality
you see that it is always changing
subject to change
because it is dependently Arisen that
which is dependently Arisen is
conditioned and therefore impermanent
subject to change
how could you consider that to be self
when we look at the categories of
different experience
we have the body form
we have feeling experience
of The Sixth Sense spaces
we have perception recognizing and
labeling what it is that you're
experiencing through the Sixth Sense
basis
formations
formations are that which allow you to
experience mental formations allow you
to feel and perceive verbal formations
allow you to express
and bodily formations allow you to
experience the body in breathing out
breathing moving and so on
and
then there is awareness Consciousness
the cognizing of what it is that you are
experiencing the consciousness
now if you were to take all of these
different heaps Aggregates the kandas or
skandas
these are the different categories of
experience
take each of these and then use the
Touchstone of this ancient Indian idea
of the self
does it match the idea of self is form
permanent or impermanent
impermanent
if form is impermanent
it is liable to change
it is liable to cause suffering one way
or the other
then is that yourself
qualify as that self that we just talked
about
form
if form is impermanent and we say that
the the idea of a self is permanent
we say the idea of a self is not subject
to change the idea of a self is a source
of bliss
Everlasting Bliss this form
qualify yourself
no
what about feeling
whatever it is you're feeling right now
you're hearing what I'm saying there are
arising and passing away of sound waves
in that moment you're experiencing sound
but if I stay silent
there's no experience there
so what you just experienced in terms of
the sound was that permanent or
if that is impermanent is it liable to
cause suffering if you hold on to it
and if that's the case can you consider
it to be self
any kind of feeling whatsoever is
impermanent liable to change liable to
cause suffering and therefore not
considered as self
what about perception you're listening
to me you're seeing me
and then the mind that part of the Mind
recognizes oh this is Delson speaking oh
this is delson's voice
that recognition arises dependent upon
memory
but that perception can go away if I
disappear right now you don't perceive
me
you don't perceive my sound you don't
perceive or my voice you don't perceive
me here let's say I disappeared
so if that's the case
your perception is dependent upon
contact
with the air and sound
with the eye and form
if that contact goes away that is to say
Delson goes away this disappeared
now that perception is no longer there
if that's the case then that means that
perception is also impermanent
if perception is impermanent and liable
to change liable to cause suffering
can it be considered self
no
what about formations choices intentions
when you think about formations they
arise dependent upon contact how do you
make a decision
how do you make an informed decision
a decision comes about because you have
contact with information
and you make a choice based on whatever
it is that is received
take that away and your decision changes
or your decision is not there your
choice is not there
so when we talk about Choice when we
talk about intention when we talk about
inclination they are dependent upon
contact as well
so if they are dependently Arisen they
too are impermanent
if what is impermanent leads to
suffering can that be considered self
no
what about awareness cognition
how does awareness rise
awareness arises dependent upon
formations
dependent upon contact when you see me
you are cognizing me you're cognizing
the experience of seeing and hearing
Delson
you take it out in a way
and now that cognition changes
that awareness of Delson changes
if that's the case then awareness also
is dependently Arisen and therefore
impermanent
therefore liable to cause suffering
because if you cling to it and it
disappears and if it was pleasant
and it disappears now it's unpleasant
and therefore that too cannot be
considered self
so that is anata it's not that there is
no self
is that there cannot be anything
considered self
because all conditioned things are
impermanent
and therefore
liable to cause suffering one way or the
other and can't be considered self
what about nibana is nibana self
but they say nibana is permanent in some
cases
so can it still be considered itself
nibana is not a thing
nibana is not a process nibada is not a
state
it's all these things and not these
things
Nirvana is like in quantum mechanics
the wave and particle
it can be a particle or it can be a wave
nibana is just this the cessation of
suffering
Nirvana is non-greed
non-hatred non-delusion
that's it it is the emancipation of the
Mind
freedom of mind
where is self in that it just happens
because the causes and conditions are
gone completely gone it's deconditioned
to the point where it is unconditioned
so you cannot attach yourself to it
it happens like that
when you come out of cessation of
perception feeling and Consciousness
mind makes contact with the nibana
element let's say
that contact is said to be signless
void
and undirected
the reason why is because when you have
this experience
the mind has understood impermanence
and therefore doesn't take anything as
an object nobody cannot be said to be an
object it doesn't even take it as an
object
it's understood to be undirected because
it has no desire for anything there is
no desire there
and it is said to be void or empty of
self
because there's no self-projected onto
it it just arises or it just is
because all conditions have been let go
of
making contact with the unconditioned
there arises feeling that is the joy and
relief that you experience when you come
out of cessation and you in in the mind
comes back up you feel this arising of
great joy arising of great relief
that arises or that happens as an
experience as a feeling that is
conditioned
by the unconditioned contact
and by that you see from there you see
dependent origination you might see
flickering you might see lights you
might see spirals you might see whatever
it is
but that arises as pure links
until you take them personally until you
say that relief was amazing I want more
of that and what happens now a craving
comes up
so in each attainment little by little
craving goes away
right so first some level of delusion
goes away in terms of self-view because
now you realize this whole process is
impersonal
and then in sakadagami the craving goes
a little bit away the
aversion goes a little bit away because
now when you see that experience you're
not clinging to it so much you still
experience with a sense of self
you say oh that was wonderful
but now you're able to recognize easily
easily when craving arises when aversion
arises
and if you do react with craving an
aversion you immediately are able to
recover from it you're able to recognize
it which means your mindfulness gets
clearer your mindfulness gets sharper
when you have this experience as a
soccer dagami or you have the second
agami attainment let's say
it happens because you continue to
practice the six hours continue to
sharpen your mindfulness to be able to
recognize when a seed of craving occurs
when a seed of aversion occurs and
you're able to 6r let that go
or if it happens where you act upon it
you recognize it and you let go of it
and so your reaction isn't so deep your
reaction isn't so long lasting
let go of it you're able to recognize
as an anagami when you get to anagami
you have that experience again contact
with nibana
the joy and relief come up but now
there's pure Equanimity that arises so
you don't really take anything
in terms of craving for anything and
because you have continued to six our
craving and arising as they come when
the actual experience happens of
cessation and then the feeling of nabana
or the experience of Nevada and the
feeling that arises which is equanimity
you don't cling to that
so there is no Central craving anymore
there is no more aversion it's all cut
off now
but now you still have the five higher
Fetters you have restlessness you have
conceit you have clinging to form Realms
and clinging to formless Realms that's
clinging to Janna clinging to the
ayatanas and ignorance
because you still have some iota of
Pride there
dependent upon conceit restlessness
arises dependent upon conceit clinging
to Jannah arises dependent upon the
conceit clinging to arupa janas arise
or let's say clinging to the formless
ROMs arises
and then of course ignorance not fully
understanding the Four Noble Truths
so when our hardship happens when you
have the experience you have no clinging
at all
there's no clinging to any of you not
even right view it's just seen you see
dependent origination you see the dhamma
that's it no big deal
no relief no nothing just okay you see
it because there's no fuel of clinging
with an identity
because there's no fuel of identifying
with that process
the conceit goes away
and because the conceit is the
foundation for restlessness clinging to
Janna clinging to ayatanas they fall
away like a house of cards and because
you have seen the four noble truths you
have fully understood suffering you have
fully abandoned all kinds of craving
craving for sensual Pleasures when that
when that happened when you had the
state of anagami craving for existence
and craving for non-existence
and now you have experienced nibana
completely
your mind has become fully pure
purified of all greed hatred and
delusion
and therefore you have perfected the
Eightfold Path you have perfected the
practice now the practice becomes the
automatic way of responding to the world
around you
that's the default mode of functioning
for such a mind
so there's no clinging to any views
there no clinging to the Dharma no
looking forward to this happening or
looking forward to that happening it's
all just okay whatever happens happens
so when one says nothing is acceptable
to me they are closer to non-clinging
they are closer to non-bondage closer to
non-delighting according to the Buddha
because they have less attachment to
views
so then he says when this was said The
Wanderer diganaka remarked master master
Gautama commends my point of view
recommends my point of view
so here avivasona thinks that uh oh so
he's saying that uh I'm in our Hut
he's saying that yeah I don't have any
clinging now but guess what happened he
has Pride
for that clinging to no views
so he's so the Buddha says now ask you
those recluses and brahmanas who hold
the doctrine and view something is
acceptable to me something is not
acceptable to me the view of theirs as
to what is acceptable is close to lust
close to bondage close to delighting
close to holding close to clinging while
the view of theirs as to what is not
acceptable is close to non-lust close to
bond non-bondage close to non-delighting
close to non-holding close to
non-clinging
so in other words there are some who
have the view that or they have a
partial sense of self well this is
myself but that is not myself
or this world is partially Eternal or
this self is partially Eternal in one
way or the other so they still have some
clinging there but they've let go of
other aspects of clinging to self and
clinging to the idea of a self in
relation to existence
so in this case some part of their mind
has craving and some part has let go of
some level of craving
now aggravation a wise man among those
recluses in brahmanas who holds the
doctrine and view
everything is acceptable to me considers
thus
if I obstinately adhere to my view
everything is acceptable to me and
declare only this is true anything else
is wrong
then I may clash with thee to others
with a recluse of brahmana who holds the
doctrine and view nothing is acceptable
to me and with the recluse of brahmana
who holds the doctrine in view something
is acceptable to me something is not
acceptable to me I am a clash with these
two and when there is a clash there are
disputes when there are disputes there
are quarrels
when there are quarrels there is
vexation thus foreseeing for himself
clashes disputes quarrels and vexation
he abandons that view
and does not take up some other view
this is how there comes to be the
abandoning of these views this is how
there comes to be the relinquishing of
these views
so when he talks about a wise person
that means they really
intelligently look at
any attachment they have to certain
views even if it's of the dhamma
and if there's any resistance to
opposing views then they realize that
this can cause vexation this can cause
craving this can cause attachment this
can cause violence in the mind
so they let go of adhering to that view
fine somebody criticizes of you
criticizes the dhamma
okay fine
why cling to the Domino why make the
dhamma self
why make the practice self
why make twin or the 6r South they're
all just processes
so if you understand this then you let
go of any kind of attachment to a view
and then a wise man among those recluses
and brahmanas who hold the doctrine and
view nothing is acceptable to me
considers this if I obstinately adhere
to my view nothing is acceptable to me
and declare only this is true anything
else is wrong
then I may clash with the other with the
two others with a recluse of brahmana
who holds the doctrine and view
everything is acceptable to me
and with a reckless of ramen who holds
the doctrine and view something is
acceptable to me something is not
acceptable to me I may clash with these
two and when there is a clash there are
disputes when there are disputes there
are quarrels and when there are quarrels
there is vexation thus foreseeing for
himself clashes disputes quarrels and
vexation he abandons that view and does
not take up some other View
this is how there comes to be the
abandoning of these views
this is how there comes to be the
relinquishing of these views so somebody
says okay there is no self I'm not
holding on to anything there's nothing
worth holding on to
and then somebody says oh but there
there is a self here or you know uh this
practice leads to Nirvana or whatever it
might be this practice or this is self
and this is not self and you hold on to
a certain sense of there is no self at
all what happens that your mind says oh
that person is wrong immediately your
mind says that person is wrong
because it doesn't match with your view
of the world it doesn't match with your
view of what is self and what is not
self
so you're clinging to that view
but if you recognize that and you let go
of that
then you don't create agitation in the
mind you don't create vexation in the
mind
and you experience peace right there and
then
so this can this can be on a mundane
level as well you're holding on to some
kind of view about this person or about
this group of people or about politics
or your favorite sports team or whatever
it might be this is the best or this is
right and everybody else is wrong what
happens
somebody comes up to you and tries to
say no you're wrong
this is the best or this is better than
what you think and so on and so forth
what is the reactivity that happens in
the mind the mind immediately says no no
they're wrong
and then what happens it completely
clouds your awareness now from going
from a friend they look at you look at
them as being an enemy
now you say oh that person is wrong I
hate them
or you just say that person is stupid
they don't know what they're talking
about right you come to all of these
different conclusions and ideas
so what happens there's agitation in the
mind there's craving and clinging in the
mind
so let go of trying to defend any kind
of you
let go of All Views together all
together
and you will experience full peace of
mind
a wise man among those recluses and
brahmanas who holds who hold the
doctrine and view something is
acceptable to me something is not
acceptable to me considers thus if I
obstinately adhere to my view something
is acceptable to me something is not
acceptable to me
and declare only this is true anything
else is wrong
that I may clash with the other the the
two others with a recluse of ramen who
holds the doctrine and view everything
is acceptable to me and with a recluse
of Brahman who holds a Doctrine and view
nothing is acceptable to me I may clash
with these two and when there is a clash
there are disputes when there are
disputes there are quarrels when there
are quarrels there is vexation
thus for seeing for himself clashes
disputes quarrels and vexation he
abandons that view and does not take up
some other View
this is how there comes to be the
abandoning of these views this is how
there comes to be the relinquishing of
these views
now listen carefully
this body made of material form
consisting of the four Great elements
that is Earth
the air element the fire element Water
Element the solid state of matter liquid
state of matter gaseous state of matter
plasma state of matter heat and
temperature
procreated by a mother and father and
built up of boiled rice and porridge
meaning built up of food
right this is how your your muscles
build your skeletons grow and so on and
so forth through food through nutrition
is subject to impermanence this body
will decay
this body continues to Decay from the
very moment you are born
you have an expiry date your body has an
expiry date it grows
right it changes
and eventually it declines it is subject
to impermanence
to being worn and rubbed away to
dissolution and disintegration it should
be regarded as impermanent as suffering
as a disease as a tumor as a dart as a
Calamity as an Affliction as alien as
disintegrating as void as not self
pretty strong words about the body
really what the Buddha is saying is have
complete this passion for the body
don't get tied up into
you know I have to take care of the body
in this way or that way yes you want to
be healthy but don't get obsessed about
that
nobody you know no body
is getting out alive from this existence
it's all they're all going to die
we're all going to die
at some point or another
when one regards this body thus one
abandons desire for the body affection
for the body subservience to the body
this is very important people become
slaves to their body
they adhere to a diet certain kind of
diet right maybe it's for medical
purposes fine that's fine but they
become so subservient to the body
I have to have my meal at this time
or I have to go for my morning
activities at this particular time
why because the body demands it
if it's not met you feel terrible about
it
so you become a servant to the body
but if you understand this body as being
always changing okay no big deal
there are aggravation three kinds of
feeling Pleasant feeling painful feeling
and neither painful nor Pleasant feeling
on the occasion when one feels Pleasant
feeling one does not feel painful
feeling
or neither painful nor Pleasant feeling
on that occasion one feels only Pleasant
feeling
so in other words when you're
experiencing Pleasant feeling you
experience pleasure right there and then
there's no pain there
is no neutrality there there's there's
pleasure you actually have a
a emotion tied to it like oh this is
Pleasant I really like this now that's
not craving it's just perceiving that
this is Pleasant
on that occasion when one feels painful
feeling one does not feel Pleasant or
neither painful nor Pleasant feeling
on that occasion one feels only painful
feeling
so in other words let's say you're
walking barefoot
and
you step on a thorn in that moment you
feel just pain
you're not thinking about how
pleasurable that is unless that's your
thing but
you know that's another thing entirely
but in that moment that pain is all
you're experiencing there's no Pleasant
feeling there there's no neutral feeling
there you say ouch
right you have a reaction to it it's
painful
in that moment
on the occasion and one feels neither
painful nor Pleasant feeling one does
not feel Pleasant feeling or painful
feeling on that occasion one feels only
neither painful nor Pleasant feeling
this is that experience of just being in
lukewarm water you don't have any
thoughts about it one way or the other
it's not pleasant or unpleasant
so you're just experiencing it as okay
whatever
so in that moment when that feeling
arises it is neither painful
nor Pleasant it's just neutral
Pleasant feeling ague is impermanent
conditioned dependently arisen
subject to destruction Vanishing
fading away and ceasing
painful feeling too is impermanent
conditioned dependently Arisen subject
to destruction Vanishing away
fading away and ceasing
neither painful nor Pleasant feeling too
is impermanent
conditioned dependently Arisen subject
to destruction Vanishing fading away and
ceasing
why
if you recall dependent origination we
see
that first we have ignorance which
conditions formations
which condition
consciousness which conditions namarupa
which can mentality material which
conditions The Sixth Sense spaces which
condition contact
gives rise to feeling
take away the contact that feeling goes
away
Pleasant painful or neutral
whatever it is you're experiencing is
dependently Arisen dependently Arisen
based on contact if that contact goes
away that feeling vanishes
and therefore it is subject to
destruction feeling is subject to
destruction any feeling any experience
you're having
loving kindness in your meditation
changes
goes from loving kindness to compassion
compassion changes to Joy Joy changes to
Equanimity Equanimity Fades and then you
have quiet mind that too Fades and then
you have the signless that who Fades and
you have cessation of perception feeling
and Consciousness the first genre is an
experience it's a Feeling
it's a pleasant feeling
but that too changes
it is subject to cessation subject to
change subject to Vanishing subject to
fading away
it might cease into the second genre and
so on or just cease all together and
their Association of perception feeling
and consciousness
so don't hold on don't hold on to
anything don't hold on to any object
the key is not to hold on to any object
the key is to just observe that object
when you get to Quiet Mind
don't hold on to even Quiet Mind don't
do anything
don't even observe don't even watch
because as soon as you observe there's
an intention produced I have to observe
Quiet Mind and what happens now you
become tunnel visioned
now you become attached now you crave
now you cling
let go of any intention and just see
things as they are
just stay there just be there
in that moment when you're in Quiet Mind
in that time when you're in Quiet Mind
will automatically relax
formations any Proto thoughts that arise
that percolate up to form fully formed
thoughts the mind just recognizes and
releases relaxes comes back that's it
don't do anything
just stay there
seeing thus a well-taught noble disciple
becomes disenchanted
with Pleasant feeling this enchanted
with painful feeling
disenchanted with neither painful nor
Pleasant feeling
disenchanted
when you come to quiet mind when you
come to any genre
First China second John third John of 4
China you come to any base of Infinite
Space infinite Consciousness nothing
neither perception nor non-perception
to see it as an experience that is
subject to change
when that happens you develop Equanimity
having Equanimity you have
disenchantment
you're not bothered by it you're not
attached to it whatever happens happens
doesn't matter it's okay
so that disenchantment is a mind like
Teflon like a non-stick pen nothing
sticks to the mind
everything just Glides through the mind
when you're in Quiet Mind and even
deeper into signless state
you will see for yourself that the mind
is not interested in paying attention to
thoughts anymore
they just come and go and mind doesn't
care
sad that mind has apathy or or any kind
of indifference it's just been there
done that
another alternate translation for this
enchantment is Revolution
again that's not a version It's just
it's like when you have your favorite
food right you're eating your favorite
food
and the person who makes the perfect
version of your favorite food says Hey
here is a plate of your favorite dish
and you've relished in that and you have
oh that's great it's a pleasant feeling
you experience it and you love it and
you enjoy it and they said here is a
second helping and you say okay
and you eat that and you try it and now
you're full
and they say here's a third helping
now it's turned into like I've had
enough that's enough
right that's the state of disenchantment
you've had enough thoughts
you've all your life you've just been
enamored by thinking all your life
you've been enamored by this and that
enamored by this feeling and that
feeling and this sensation and that
sensation this Shana that Janna this
Brahma vihara that Brahma vihara this
mind Quiet Mind signless State you're
just enamored by all of that
but there comes a point where you've had
enough of that all right I've seen it
enough
right
it's interesting when you want when you
see kids little kids
and let's say you're a parent or you
know you're an elder and you're watching
TV with with uh with your with the kid
and they're watching their favorite TV
show
for some reasons for some reason a child
can watch that same episode over and
over and over and over again
and you have to be subject to that
don't you experience revulsion at some
point
that's the disenchantment
I've seen enough enough of this
so everything that comes just collides
on through
being disenchanted he becomes this
passionate
this comes from the word viraga in Pali
or vairagya in Sanskrit this means to be
detached
now the mind is in a bubble now the mind
is just completely detached from it
it's like it's just looking up and
seeing everything and just okay
whatever it's all happening that's fine
the mind has no interest in anything
it's just completely at peace
just satisfied and content within itself
through this passion the mind is
liberated now cessation
you know what's happening is as you get
into deeper and deeper levels of Quiet
Mind the formation starts to slow down
or they seem to like they seem like
they're slowing down because you become
disenchanted
when you become disenchanted
your attention to these things to these
formations to these thoughts don't go
from here to there
it's like you are in the eye of a storm
in the hurricane and all these thoughts
are happening but your mind doesn't get
attached in either in either of those
thoughts any of those thoughts
and just stay centered
and because there's no fuel
those thoughts start to dissipate
and then the last formation to go that
sense of I am
that conceit that's the last to go when
that goes away
their cessation of perception feeling
and consciousness
all conditions have been let go of
and then that mind experiences
nibana
it is liberated
and when it is liberated which means
when it is fully liberated from all of
the taints having let go of all kinds of
craving and clinging
there comes the knowledge it is
liberated one understands birth is
destroyed the holy life has been lived
what had to be done has been done
there is no more coming to any state of
being
birth is destroyed
now there is no more rebirth
no more doing the same thing over and
over again expecting a different result
no more getting clung to different kinds
of situations and repeating those same
situations
no more birth of different reactions and
actions rooted in a sense of self rooted
in craving rooted in conceit rooted in
aversion rooted in ignorance rooted in
wrong views
what had to be done has been done the
holy life has been lived you have
completely perfected the Eightfold Path
now
now the Eightfold Path
has become your default mode of
functioning
you have deconditioned the mind of all
craving of all conceit of all clinging
of all ignorance of all identification
of all wrong views
and reconditioned it with the Eightfold
Path
which means now your view is always
going to be right for you
your intention is always going to be
right intention your speech is always
going to be right speech your action is
always going to be right action
your livelihood is always going to be
right livelihood your mindfulness will
always be right mindfulness your
collectedness will always be right
collectiveness and this unlocks two more
factors of the path which is now the
tenfold path
right
Insight or right knowledge and right
Liberation your mind is completely
liberated it knows it is liberated
so that is the mind of the araha always
in nibana because
there is no greed no hatred no delusion
in such a mind
and there is no more coming to any state
of being
there's no sense of I have to do this or
I need to become that because any sense
of that is completely destroyed
the mind doesn't project any kind of
future that this has to be this way
doesn't project from any kind of past
that because this person was this in a
Pastime they will be like this now
there's no there's no process of
projecting anything on any one or
anything whatsoever just everything is
fresh
that's why that mind of the araha is
spontaneous
the action is seemingly spontaneous it's
unconditioned it just sees things as
they are
so you can practice this for yourself
every time you see that the mind is
projecting something recognize that let
that go and come back to a state which
is peaceful not grabbing onto this or
that
state of non-creaving non-hatred
non-dilution
abiku whose mind is liberated thus
akivaisana sides with none and disputes
with none
he employs the speech currently used in
the world without adhering to it
such a mind doesn't hold on to this or
to that anything can happen no big deal
that mind just says let's see what
happens it doesn't have any projection
of oh I have to it has to be this way or
this person is right and that person is
wrong and even if they know that this
person is right or that person is wrong
no big deal okay fine
they don't adhere to any of that
but they use the conventional language
of
I me myself
you know they say Okay I want this or I
want that or can you get me this or can
you get me that or whatever it might be
or this is mine or this is whatever it
might be
but they don't have any adherence of
this is actually me mine or myself
they're just using conventional uh words
to transact with the world
right
I mean how strange would it be somebody
says one thinks in this way or one self
is this or that or whatever just
uses normal language
now on that occasion the venerable
saripota was standing behind the blessed
one Fanning him
then he thought then he thought sorry
the blessed one indeed speaks to us of
the abandoning of these things through
direct knowledge
the sublime one
indeed
speaks to us of the relinquishing of
these things through direct knowledge
as the venerable saripota considered
this
through not clinging his mind was
liberated from the taints
gave
any discourse that the Buddha gave
he was not attached to any of it
any kind of training that he gave
he was not vested in the success of one
or the other
somebody did well okay good somebody did
not so good no problem
he was not vested in is this a good
Dharma talk or not do people understand
or not he just gave the dhamma and
oftentimes he would just stand up and
leave
that's it
he neither relished or became excited
when people were happy and delighted
with the Dharma talk nor was he
discouraged when people didn't
understand what he was saying
he had no clinging to the dhamma at all
when he explained dependent origination
when he explained the four noble truths
when he explained this or that he was
just explaining he was just giving a
discourse
if people liked it or didn't like it
didn't make a difference to him
he was just purely giving the dhamma
abandoning any kind of attachment to the
outcome of what he was saying abandoning
any kind of attachment
to any of the aspects of the dhana
when saripota realized this
he said oh okay so what am I holding on
to why should I be holding on to
anything why should I be holding on to
my attachment to the Buddha my
attachment to the dhamma my attachment
to the Sangha why should I be holding on
to my attachment to the practice
it's just the practice
so when you practice practice with
detachment
it's easier said than done but you can
start to exercise that by understanding
okay let's see what happens that's the
attitude to have when you meditate let's
just see what happens
you're watching the movie a movie for
the first time just watching
now if you've had an experience of one
genre or the other or a cessation or
whatever it might be now what happens
now you recognize the steps leading to
it
they're like oh there it is
so what happens now you cling to that
but just watch it just relax Just Let It
Go just keep watching it let it unfold
let the practice unfold
you are not doing anything
the practice itself is happening
you're just there to sit
and be present
that's it
that's mindfulness being present
observing how your mind's attention
moves means to be present that's it
remembering to observe doesn't mean I
have to have to actively be like oh this
is what happened this is what happened
this is what happened just be present
enough to have the awareness so that the
Mind realizes oh it got distracted
recognize that let it go and come back
so when you sit down
sit down because you just want to see
what happens
not because you need to attain this
genre or you need to attain cessation or
you need to attain nibana or whatever it
is
let go of all expectations
expectation is another word for craving
for clinging
but in the Wonder diganaka the Spotless
Immaculate vision of the dhamma arose
all that is subject to arising is
subject to cessation
The Wanderer diganaka saw the dhamma
attain the dhamma understood the dhamma
fathom the dhamma he crossed Beyond
doubt did away with perplexity gained
intrepidy intrepidity and became
independent of others in the teacher's
dispensation in other words he attained
stream entry
he saw the dhamma understood the dhamma
he let go of all doubt in the Buddha
Adam and Sangha all confusion
and he gained confidence
in the Buddha's teaching
and he understood impermanence and
therefore didn't hold on to anything in
terms of a self understood on an
intellectual experiential level that
there is no underlying permanent
personal self
then he said to the blessed one now this
is very interesting what he says then he
said to the blessed one magnificent
Master Gautama magnificent Master
Gautama Master Gautama has made the
Dharma clear in many ways as though he
were turning upright what had been
overthrown revealing what was hidden
Shoring the way to one who was lost or
holding up a lamp in the dark for those
with eyesight to see forms now listen to
this part he says I go to the master
gothamma for refuge and to the dhamma
and to the Sangha of bikers from today
let Master Gautama remember me as a lay
follower
who has gone to him for refuge for life
he was first a Wonder in the beginning
of the sutah and now he says I go to
Refuge to you as a lay follower
why
is that some kind of error in
Translation or
a mistype
because he completely renounced the the
lifestyle that he had as a Wonder came
back to becoming a layperson
and now sought Refuge as a layperson
so that is the end of the Sutra