From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=BurM5_HxIh8

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

[Music]

so today

i'm going to be reading from

majamenikaya 112

the chubby soda nasuta the six-fold

purity

thus have i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living at savathi in

jetta's grove

anatapindikus park

there he addressed the because thus

because

venerable sir they replied

the blessed one said this

here because

ibiku makes a declaration of final

knowledge thus i understand 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

this is the statement that someone would

make when they become an arhat not

necessarily in those words

but usually it said

something similar to that they might say

i have understood i have

i have seen for myself i have

experienced it whatever it might be

but breaking down this statement 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

when he says birth is destroyed

what is he talking about

he's talking about two full things two

things

one is destroying physical rebirth

the potential for rebirth to occur again

in other words now for that arahat there

will not be

any more births in the future

but secondly no more birth of new action

no more birth of new karma

now there is no more

action being produced that can cause

further suffering

that can cause the

renewal of karma

the holy life has been lived what had to

be done has been done the holy life has

been lived

one has cultivated the path

perfected the path perfected the

eightfold path

one has

taken the precepts committed to the

precepts kept the precepts

perfected samadhi

understood for themselves the wisdom

through that experience

and let go

of all the feathers what had to be done

has been done

there is no more coming to any state of

being

there is no more becoming

no more habitual tendencies

for the arahat they no longer act from

craving and overact no longer they no

longer act from clinging

no longer act from becoming there is no

more

ignorance ignorance is destroyed

if ignorance is destroyed what is in its

place

wisdom

bright view

the super mundane right view the

knowledge and understanding of the four

noble truths

understanding fully that there is

suffering

there is an origin of suffering so there

is suffering and the origin of suffering

is the complete understanding of

dependent origination

dependent origination is elaboration of

the first noble first two noble truths

and then they have ceased all suffering

because they've ceased all

all the origin points of suffering that

is the craving the ignorance

the conceit the wrong views and so on

and they have fully cultivated the

eightfold paths and that way they have

final knowledge they have the

understanding of the four noble truths

so because of that there is no ignorance

and the formations that arise are said

to be

pure pure formations because those

formations are no longer feathered

by any of the

feathers that we talk about

feathered by doubt feathered by wrong

views feathered by

craving feathered by conceit feathered

by

ignorance and so on

because those formations are pure all

they do

is carry forward the experience of old

karma

they facilitate that process

and so the consciousness that arises is

said to be pure as well

the way the arahat cognizes everything

is just as it actually is

there are no what are known as

upperculasas corruptions of the mind

there are 16 defilements that are

generally understood as corruptions of

the mind

they have to do with the three roots of

greed hatred and delusion

so some of these could be things like

having jealousy stinginess

having some kind of

prince presumptuousness about things all

kinds of different defilements

so that mind is rid of all of these

defilements

and so the namarupa just experiences

what it is through the sixth sense

spaces when there is contact

since there's no craving in the fetters

there's no craving in the formations

which are unfettered and since there is

no craving in the consciousness which is

because it's pure it's not

it's not like a stained glass window

which is colored by certain kinds of

you know discolorations of these

defilements

so whatever it experiences through

namarupa and through the sixth sense

basis

that contact that arises will not have

craving in it

it won't be taken personal

and then the feeling that arises won't

have any underlying tendencies

it's just seeing things as they are

experiencing everything fully without

any kind of

self superimposed around that feeling

because of that there is no more craving

there is no more clinging there is no

more becoming

which means there is no renewal of being

there are no habitual tendencies

and so there won't be any birth of

action that can cause that whole mass of

suffering

the other thing to understand

is that

since the arahat has let go of all of

these different links

the only links that are functional in

that mind are formations

consciousness

nama rupa or mentality materiality sixth

sense basis

contact and feeling

those are the only links that are

functional

everything else is eradicated

arahats still produce action

they still speak they still act they do

all these things

but their actions and their speech are

rooted in the hateful path

in other words that when they speak

they use right speech

when they act they use right action

and it's automatic that is their default

mode of functioning

because of this they don't produce new

karma the buddha has explained in other

sutas that the cessation of karma the

cessation of effects of karma

are through the eightfold path

so the way leading to the cessation of

karma is the eightfold path because it

doesn't produce any new karma that

the mind can stick to

so that's why in arahat's mind is said

to be spontaneous

they will function in such a way that is

in accordance with the situation

they will act in accordance with

whatever the situation requires

but it will be done in such a way that

it will always be right action

it will never break precepts

they will never tell a lie so they will

always have right speech and so on

so because of this there is no more

renewal of being because their mind is

spontaneous

there is no more habitual tendency

through which they act

and so this is what the buddha says so

one who makes such a declaration

that bhikkhu's words should neither be

approved nor disapproved

this is good general advice whatever

someone tells you should neither be

approved nor disapproved just listen to

what they're saying

don't make any judgments about it one

way or the other

without approving or disapproving a

question should be put thus

friend

there are four kinds of of expression

rightly

proclaimed by the blessed one who knows

and sees

accomplished and fully enlightened what

for

one speaks of the scene as it was seen

one speaks of the herd as it was heard

one speaks of the sense as it was sensed

one speaks of the cognized as it was

cognized

these friend are the four kinds of

expression rightly proclaimed by the

blessed one who knows and sees

accomplished and fully enlightened

how does the venerable one know how does

he see regarding these four kinds of

expression

so that

through not clinging his mind is

liberated from the taints

so you have to also understand this

liberation from the taints

the

arahat is also known as the kinasava

kinasava means the destroyer of taints

one who has destroyed the tents

and so that means

they have let go of any kind of

potential for sensual desire

let go of any potential for craving for

non-existence

let go of any potential for ignorance

because when abiku is one with taints

destroyed who has lived the holy life

done what had to be done laid down the

burden

reached the true goal

destroyed the fetters of being

and is completely liberated through

final knowledge

this is the natural way for him to

answer

friends regarding the scene i abide

unattracted unrepelled

independent

detached free

disassociated disassociated with a mind

free

or mind rid of barriers

regarding the herd

regarding the sensed

regarding the cognized i abide

unattracted unrepelled

independent

detached

free

disassociated

with a mind rid of barriers

so in other words whatever that mind

experiences

it neither holds on to it or pushes it

away

so that it is unattractive

and unrepelled disassociated independent

a mind rid of barriers

doesn't identify with that experience

sees it as as it actually is

doesn't have any craving in relation to

it

doesn't have any of the underlying

tendencies in relation to that

experience

doesn't have any views about that

experience one way or the other that is

to say

wrong views about it

right

just these things as they actually are

understands that feeling that experience

to be dependently arisen

impermanent

liable to cause suffering

and not to be considered as me mine or

myself

it is by knowing thus seeing thus

regarding these four kinds of expression

that through not clinging

my mind is liberated from the taints

saying good one may delight and rejoice

in that bhikkhu's words

having done so a further question may be

put thus

friend there are these five aggregates

affected by craving and clinging rightly

proclaimed by the blessed one who knows

and sees

accomplished and fully enlightened what

five

there they are the material form

aggregate affected by craving and

clinging

the feeling aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

the perception aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

the formation's aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

and the consciousness aggregate affected

by craving and

clinging these friend are the five

aggregates affected by by craving and

clinging

rightly proclaimed by the blessed one

who knows and sees accomplished and

fully enlightened

how does the venerable one know

how does he see regarding these five

aggregates affected by craving and

clinging

so that through not clinging his mind is

liberated from the taints

because when ibiku is one with taints

destroyed and is completely liberated

through final knowledge this is the

natural way for him to answer

friends

having known material form to be feeble

fading

feeble fading away and comfortless

with the destruction fading away

cessation giving up and relinquishing of

attraction and clinging regarding

material form

of mental standpoints adherences and

underlying tendencies regarding material

form i have understood that my mind is

liberated

having known feeling having known

perception having known formations

having known consciousness to be feeble

fading away and comfortless

with the destruction fading away

cessation giving up and relinquishing of

attraction and clinging clinging

regarding these aggregates

of mental standpoints adherences and

underlying tendencies

regarding these aggregates i have

understood

that my mind is liberated

it is by knowing thus seeing thus

regarding these five aggregates affected

by craving and clinging that through not

clinging my mind is liberated from the

taints

so the five aggregates form feeling

perception

formations consciousness

form is this body

feeling

is all experience

through the sixth sense basis

perception is that which recognizes an

experience

right perception is that which knows

that this is the color red this is the

color blue

that's a tree that's this kind of tree

right that knowledge that memory that is

it happens as soon as you have that

experience

and then formations are threefold right

bodily formations verbal formations

mental formations

formations arise dependent upon

intention

through contact

and then consciousness which is the

awareness of an experience through the

sixth sense basis

here it says the five aggregates

affected by craving and clinging

it's through the five aggregates that

craving can arise

but the five aggregates in of themselves

are not the craving and clinging

in other words there is the craving and

clinging which is one thing and the five

aggregates which is another now there

was another suit that which talks about

it in a sense they are one in the same

but in another sense they are not the

reason being

is because when there is craving when

there is clinging it is because of

identification

with regards to each of these five

aggregates

where the mind says

that form is me

or form is

in me

or i am in form

or

form belongs to me

right these are the four main self views

that is the craving and clinging in

regards to the five aggregates

likewise with feeling perception

formations and consciousness

and then he says that he understands

each of these to be feeble

fading away

they're unstable

they're comfortless

don't take any comfort in any form

don't take comfort in any feeling don't

take comfort in any perception

don't take comfort in any intention or

any consciousness

understand that there is a pleasant

feeling and it feels good

but the moment you take comfort in that

there is an identification going on

there and then from there there's an

attachment to that experience

but all experience all feeling and

perception good bad or indifferent

wholesome unwholesome or neutral

is liable to fade away everything that

arises passes away and therefore should

not be held onto

and so one has given up and relinquished

any mental standpoints adherences

mental standpoints and adherences any

kinds of views in relation to the five

aggregates

any kinds of ideas and concepts

right conceptualizing the self in

relation to those five aggregates

completely let go of that

and so through not clinging that mind is

liberated from the taints

saying good one may delight and rejoice

in that bhikkhu's words

having done so a further question may be

put thus

friend there are these six elements

rightly proclaimed by the blessed one

who knows and sees accomplished and

fully enlightened

what six

they are the earth element the water

element the fire element the air element

the space element

and the consciousness element

these friend are the six elements

rightly proclaimed by the blessed one

who knows and sees accomplished and

fully enlightened

how does the vulnerable one

know how does he see regarding these six

elements

so that through not clinging his mind is

liberated from the taints

because when a biku is one with teens

destroyed and is completely liberated

through final knowledge

this is the natural way for him to

answer

friends i have treated the earth element

as not self

with no self based on the earth element

and with the destruction fading away

cessation giving up and relinquishing of

attraction and clinging based on the

earth element

of mental standpoints adherences and

underlying tendencies based on the earth

element i have understood that my mind

is liberated

friends i have treated the water element

the fire element

the air element the space element the

consciousness element as not self

with no self based on these elements

and with the destruction fading away

cessation giving up and relinquishing of

attraction and clinging based on these

elements of mental standpoints

adherences and underlying tendencies

based on these elements i have

understood that my mind is liberated

so there are six elements usually in the

sutas we talk about four elements right

there is the mahabhutas the four

mahabhutas

but here there is six there's mention of

six

what are these elements

so they're known as mahabhutas but

they're also known as dhatus

dhatu means

it can mean element it can mean

a property

so the earth element here

is the solidity of the body

the solidity of things around us

so that can be in relation to

matter

the water element

will be the liquidity of things things

are always

some things are liquid

right in a liquid state of matter

the air element is the gaseous state of

matter

right things move around through the air

and so on the gases

and the fire element is heat and

temperature

of course fire the fire element itself

is fire

the sunlight the sun the heat of the sun

the heat of the body and temperature and

so on

and then the space element

the space element has nothing to do with

space

in terms of cosmic space

here the space element is the space

between matter

right so that's your your the the space

in your nostrils that's the space

the space in your ears right that's the

space so the space

that that's the cavities the crevices

this is the space element

now what about the consciousness element

the consciousness dhatu

there can be a tendency for some people

to think that the consciousness element

means that it is some kind of

over

overarching consciousness

that it is some kind of uh substratum

of existence that that that's what that

consciousness element is

well i'm sorry to disappoint those

people but that is not what it's

referring to the consciousness element

here is referring to mentality

you think about the five elements that

are being talked about here

they're talking about form

right in the form of

the

earth

the

water the air the fire and space

all of this makes up the body

the rupa

right the skin the bones

the organs

the sense bases all of that is the rupa

the form

the consciousness element here the

consciousness

the consciousness property here

is related to the mentality factors of

nama rupa

so

the first five have to do with

materiality

and the sixth has to do with mentality

allowing you to experience contact

feeling perception intention and

attention

so he says i have treated these elements

as not self

i have understood mind and body i have

understood mind and body to be not self

and i have understood that there is no

self that arises dependent upon

mind and body

or the different qualities and elements

of mind and body

i have understood that the mentality

that is the contact the feeling the

perception the intention and the

attention

these are all arising dependent upon

previous causes and condition

they are faculties

through which

processes can occur the processes of

contact can occur the pro of feeling of

perception intention and attention can

occur

so he understands one understands that

these elements are not self

and they are not to be identified with

not to be taken personally

the unawakened mind has a tendency to

look at the mind and say this is my mind

or when you are thinking something the

tendency is to say i think in this way

or these are my thoughts

or these are my ideas or these are the

this is the idea that i had last night

you know

conventionally you know and arahat can

use the same kind of language

but

the difference there is that the arhat

knows it actually that that thought that

occurred

to the mind or that idea that was there

is not theirs in particular it's just an

idea that arose through contact and a

series of causes and conditions

but there's a tendency in the unawakened

mind to look at that and say that is

mine this is me this is mine this is my

self

there's a sense of ownership

to the mind and the body

there's a sense of identity with the

mind and body

the awakened mind has let go of that

the awakened mind has let go of any kind

of idea of ownership completely

the unawakened mind creates all of these

ideas that i own this this is mine this

is my bowl

this is my book this is my table

you know

or this is my house and all of these

other things

but the awakened mind doesn't have any

sense of ownership

it's not that they it's not that they

take what is not given but they just

don't see things in the form of

you know this is mine

so they have let go of any kind of idea

internally or externally that this is me

this is mine this is myself

it is by knowing thus seeing thus

regarding these six elements that

through not clinging my mind is

liberated from the taints

saying good one may delight and rejoice

in that bhikkhu's words

having done so a further question may be

put thus but friend are the

there are these six internal and

external bases

rightly proclaimed by the blessed one

who knows and sees

accomplished and fully enlightened

what six

they are the i and forms

the year and sounds

the nose and odors

the tongue and flavors

the body and tangibles

the mind and mind objects

these friend are the six internal and

external bases

rightly proclaimed by the blessed one

who knows and sees

accomplished and fully enlightened

how does the venerable one know how does

he see regarding these six internal

and external bases so that through not

clinging his mind is liberated from the

taints

because when abiku is one with taints

destroyed and is completely liberated

through final knowledge

this is the natural way for him to

answer

friends

with the destruction fading away

cessation

giving up

and relinquishing of desire lust

delight craving attraction and clinging

and of mental standpoints adherences and

underlying tendencies regarding the eye

forms

eye consciousness and things cognizable

by the mind through eye consciousness

i have understood that my mind is

liberated

with the destruction fading away

cessation giving up an attraction of

desire

uh giving up and relinquishing of desire

rather

lust delight craving attraction and

clinging

and of mental standpoints adherences and

underlying tendencies regarding the ear

sounds ear consciousness and things

cognizable

by the mind through your consciousness

regarding the nose odors nose

consciousness and things cognizable by

the mind

through nose consciousness

regarding the tongue flavors tongue

consciousness and things cognizable by

the mind through tongue consciousness

regarding the body tangibles body

consciousness and things cognizable by

the mind through body consciousness

and regarding the mind mind objects mind

consciousness

and things cognizable by the mind

through mind consciousness i have

understood that my mind is liberated

so he says with the destruction fading

away cessation giving up and

relinquishing of desire

lust

delight craving craving attraction and

clinging

and of mental standpoints adherences and

underlying tendencies in regard to the

sense base that's the internal sense

space

in regard to the forms

or the external sense bases

you see when we talk about the sixth

sense bases independent origination

we're talking about the ayatonas the

internal sense spaces

that's the eyes the ears that's the nose

that's the tongue the body and the mind

but their objects

are the external sense bases

they are the

they are the form they are the sound

they are the odors they are or

fragrances they are the tangibles or

or

let me go back they are the the form

the sounds

the

odors the tangibles

the tastes

and the thoughts

or any kind of mind object for that

matter

so let's take it

in the perspective of the meditation

here you have your mind which is known

through its factors

contact feeling perception intention and

attention

you use your mind to bring up the

intention of feeling loving kindness of

radiating loving kindness

right now you have the intention the

mind makes contact

with that feeling of loving kindness so

the loving kindness here is the mind

object there is contact between the two

and there is a feeling of loving

kindness

having had that feeling there is the

perception of that loving kindness

now there is mind consciousness in

relation to the lovingkindness and the

thing cognizable by the mind through the

mind consciousness is the loving

kindness

so when he says

the i the forms the eye consciousness so

the i is this right the internal sense

base the form is the external whatever

one sees through the eyes the eye

consciousness

is the awareness of the experience of i

right whatever the eye is experiencing

and through the eye

and this the sense base of the eye the

eye consciousness and the form

there is the eye contact

and the things cognizable by mind

through eye consciousness the things are

cognizable by the mind that is in

relation to the processes of mind

because you see one thing right you have

the form

and you're seeing the form that is the

feeling

you're perceiving what that form is

you're recognizing what that form is

that's the perception

there's contact there with relation to

the meaning of the three the eye the

form and eye consciousness so there's

the contact and there's the feeling then

there's a perception

you look at a

let's say an apple tree

and your mind says oh that's a nice

apple tree let me go down and go down

there and take some shade now there's an

intention there to walk towards that

apple tree

to get to get get some shade

and then there's attention which is the

consciousness itself

you intend to pay attention to that

apple tree

and so when you're paying attention your

consciousness flows there you are

cognizing accordingly

so this is known as

in modern terminology as salience right

you are salient

of what is present you put your you

intend to put your attention somewhere

and so you are aware of that

not aware of what you are not seeing but

aware of what you are seeing

or what you are hearing you have an

intention to put your

mind towards what you are hearing in

particular

so there can be saliency in there as

well

musicians are perfect at this right or

can be perfect with this they can

actually listen to a complete symphony

and they can pinpoint what are the

different parts of that symphony they

can listen to the violins

or they can listen to

just the piano or they can listen to

just the the trumpet or they can listen

to just the cello or whatever it might

be

so there's an ability there to be able

to see

something in particular or hear

something in particular that's the

attention

that's the factor of

attention so in regards to the attention

you pay attention to something

even in your meditation you choose to

pay attention to the loving kindness

when you are in quiet mind

you can choose to pay attention to the

stream of thoughts

or you can choose to pay attention to

the quiet mind

now if you are paying attention to the

quiet mind and you are aware of the

stream of thoughts that's one thing but

because your consciousness is with the

quiet mind

then those stream of thoughts because

they don't have the fuel of your

attention

will start to dissipate

but because you get caught up because

you engage in those thoughts

now you are no longer paying attention

to your quiet mind you're no longer

paying attention to the loving kindness

now the saliency is towards the thoughts

the stream of thoughts towards the

distraction

rather

than the actual

object of meditation

so this is how attention works

it's whatever the spotlight is put on

and from there your consciousness flows

towards that

so this is the stuff that's cognizable

through the mind

right or cognizable by the mind through

eye consciousness your consciousness

knows consciousness tongue consciousness

body consciousness

mind consciousness

and so he says in regards to all of

these things even if

they are thoughts a stream of thoughts

right here the key is not to get caught

up in it getting caught up in it means

that you are attracted to it somehow

either you have some kind of attachment

to it or you have some kind of aversion

to it

let's get even more practical here let's

talk about the pain that you experience

the mental

pain the meditation pain that you

experience when you're sitting for a

long time

that's just pain that's just an

experience

but there's all of these standpoints

about that pain this is my pain

i wish this pain would go away

or i'm trying to six are the pain or i'm

looking at the pain and i'm just seeing

the pain i'm seeing the pain but why

isn't the pain going away

right

that's

that's all in relation to your attention

your attention is on the pain

and your attention

is rooted in the craving for or against

that pain the resistance to that pain

so the attention should be not on the

pain but the attention should be to your

reaction to the pain

in the same way that you are not

bothered by the thoughts the stream of

thoughts

because your mind is on the object here

it's not about the pain it's about your

reaction to the pain

how are you with the pain

are you using the six r's like a

whack-a-mole okay here's pain i'm going

to six-hour that away

or

are you going to actually see what's

going on in the mind which is oh i don't

like this pain

who doesn't like this pain how is this

reaction coming where is this reaction

coming from

you recognize it and you let it go you

relax

and then you come back to your object

the more you come back to the object

guess what the pain will still be there

but your attention will no longer fuel

that pain will no longer fuel your

aversion to that pain

instead because your attention is on the

object of meditation

even if there is pain

you won't notice it

because your attention is no longer that

you won't notice it

and you won't be bothered by it

so if there is even a slight aversion to

the pain

then your attention is there

but if you notice the pain your

attention is there and you recognize it

you let go and bring back your attention

to the object of meditation to quiet

mind whatever it might be

then the pain

subsides

because it's no longer being attended to

whatever you attend to that's where your

consciousness flows

that's where your awareness flows

and if you have aversion if you have

craving

if you have identification if you're

taking things personally that means

you're attending to those things

you're wrongly attending to those things

in other words you're ineffectively

attending to those things

by paying attention attending to those

things and understanding them as they

actually

are by letting go of them by using the

6rs to understand that they are

impersonal and letting go of them

then your attention no longer gets

fueled by that aversion now your

attention goes away from that comes back

to the object

and then whatever that aversion is

whatever that craving is has been

has been relinquished

so here such a person would say with the

destruction fading away cessation giving

up and relinquishing of desire lust

delight craving attraction and clinging

and mental standpoints adherences

and underlying tendencies regarding

these things

have understood that the mind is

liberated

because they have let go of taking

things personally

all of these experiences

on the flip side of that there can be a

tendency in the beginning for a mind to

mistake the loving kindness for joy

and then they pay attention to the joy

factor of the first jhana and the second

genre and then they say

oh my oh the method disappeared the

feeling of loving kindness disappeared

no

the factor of joy disappeared

you mistook that and your attention went

on the joy

your attention went and got distracted

by

a factor of one of the jhanas

so that too can be a distraction you

have to understand that the giant

factors are just signposts to allow you

to know where your mind is

what has been let go of you know in the

first jhana what what do you let go of

what do you let go of in the first

channel

let go of hindrances

and thereby you experience the first

jhana

you let go of

attention to sensual experiences

and therefore your mind gravitates

towards getting into the first channel

the cessation of hindrances the

cessation

of attending to

you know sense basis or sense

experiences

and then because of that there is this

feeling of relief that arises

that relief gives rise to the joy the

pithy

and in the sukkah

the tranquility the comfort the ease in

the body and then the mind becomes

collected and there's a kagata

the second and of course it starts off

with the intention right which is the

vitika in the vichaar the intention the

thinking and examining thought

and then in the second genre what ceases

the vitika in the charities now you let

go of the wholesome imaging you let go

of any kind of

verbalizing to bring up the

lovingkindness now the living kindness

flows and there's greater joy born of

collectedness

in the first case it was

joy born of seclusion the relief you

felt from having no hindrance in the

mind

in the second jhana it was

there's further collectedness and so now

there's further joy there's further ease

comfort

and then in the third jhana

the joyces the fourth jhana the sukhasis

the fifth jhana or

infinite space

the contact with the body starts to

cease

in the sixth there's the cessation of

the perception of infinite space

in nothingness there's a cessation of

the perception of infinite consciousness

in either perception or non-perception

there is a cessation of nothingness

and then in cessation and perception

feeling in consciousness

there's just total cessation

so this process that you're doing with

the meditation is not about bringing up

an experience

it's not about trying to construct an

experience it's about letting go

and allowing things to happen

with the right causes and conditions

being present

don't try to control

the situation don't try to control how

things ought to be

just let them be

so there's no delighting even in the

jhana there's no craving for the jhana

or in relation to the genre

okay your mind got distracted don't beat

yourself up

you got distracted so what

you just bring it back

and you come back

all right your mind is looking at

the stream of thoughts and this and now

starting to get engaged with that

you know personalizing it identifying

with it

you recognize that you let that go you

come back to quiet mind come back to the

object

and as your attention stays there

that stream of thoughts will start to

dissipate

so

once you do this you start to relinquish

the craving you relinquish the

identification

you relinquish the attraction the

clinging to it you relinquish the mental

standpoints the adherences to it

mental standpoints and adherences it has

to be done this way

it needs to be done this way

i have to get to this place

all of these words in your mind that

says i have to it should be it must be

let go of that

that those kinds of words come from

expectation

expectation is another word for craving

anticipation is another word for craving

it's like you feel like you're in a

waiting room when you're hours and hours

and hours

in quiet mind and you're waiting for

something to happen you're waiting for

nibana

right

waiting is another word for craving

think about how you feel like when

you're in the waiting room at the

doctor's office

right you try to distract yourself with

all the magazines that are there and

you're waiting and waiting and waiting

and there's this tension in the mind

and then there's finally relief when you

come out of the waiting room and go to

the doctor's office

so waiting in line you know there's

tension there too waiting in line

waiting in a queue

any kind of waiting

why because there's an expectation that

something's going to happen there's an

anticipation that something's going to

happen

and that leads to anxiety that leads to

craving that leads to suffering

so let go of waiting

let go of anticipating let go of

expecting

it is by knowing thus

seeing thus regarding these six internal

and external bases

that through not clinging my mind is

liberated from the taints

saying good one may delight and rejoice

in that bhikkhu's words having done so a

further question may be put thus

but friend how does the venerable one no

how does he see

so that in regard to this body with its

consciousness and all external signs

eye-making mind-making and the

underlying tendency to conceit have been

eradicated in him

so this is very important he says the

question is

how does one see

so that in regard to this body with its

consciousness

and all external signs

so in relation to the body in relation

to the mind

in relation to the external

you know the the forms cognizable the

sounds and so on and so forth all of

these

has the eye making mind making and the

underlying tendency to conceit been

eradicated

when they say i making mind making

in sanskrit there's a word called

ahamkara aham means i or i am

kara means to do to make eye making

so that's translated roughly as the ego

but really what it is is a process of

identification

has that process gone how does that

process go well we'll see

because when a biku is one with teens

destroyed and is completely liberated

through final knowledge

this is the natural way for him to

answer

friends formerly when i lived the home

life i was ignorant

then the tattagata or his disciple

taught me the dhamma

on hearing the dhamma i acquired faith

in the tagatha

possessing that faith i consider it thus

household life is crowded and dusty

life gone forth is wide open

it is not easy while living in a home to

lead the holy life utterly perfect and

pure as a polished shell

suppose i shave off my hair and beard

put on the yellow robe and go forth from

home life into homelessness

on a later occasion abandoning a small

or large fortune abandoning a small or

large circle of relations

i shaved off my hair and beard put on

the yellow robe and went forth from the

home life into homelessness

having thus gone forth and possessing

the biku's training and way of life

i purified my mind from doubt

oh so there's a hole

let's see here

yeah let's see

so they already know this one

yeah it goes to it's 51 and it goes to

34.35 looks like let's see

it might be a different one

oh yeah okay

so it says here

[Music]

so it's in the third person but i'll

read it anyway

he becomes content with robes to protect

the body and with arms for um's food to

maintain the stomach and wherever he

goes he sets out taking only these with

him

just as a bird wherever it goes flies

with its wings as its only burden

so too the bhikkhu becomes content with

robes to protect the body and with aam's

food to maintain the stomach and

wherever he goes he sets out taking only

these with him

possessing this

this noble virtue he experiences within

himself a bliss that is blameless

on seeing a form with the eye he does

not grasp at its signs and features

since if he left the eye faculty

unguarded evil unwholesome states of

covetousness and grief might invade him

he practices the way of its restraint he

guards the eye faculty he undertakes the

restraint of the eye faculty on hearing

a sound with the ear on smelling an odor

with the nose on tasting a flavor with

the tongue and touching a tangible with

the body on cognizing a mind object with

the mind he does not grasp at its signs

and features

since he he if he left these faculties

unguarded

evil unwholesome states of covetousness

and grief might invade him

he practices the way of its restraint he

guards these faculties and undertakes

the restraint of these faculties

possessing this noble restraint of the

faculties he experiences within himself

a bliss that is unsullied

so i'll just explain this part here so

first and foremost he has contentment

he's content with whatever is given to

him

it says here he guards the eye faculties

he restrains them

here the restraint you know that's

that gives the connotation that you have

to control you know and the word that

comes it comes from is some viral

really it's not about controlling it's

not about restraining in that regard

it's by understanding

what is happening having full awareness

having mindfulness of what is happening

being aware of the experience of the eye

being aware of the experience of the

ears and the nose and so on and so forth

and so not grasping at its signs and

features not being

not clinging to them

right not having craving for them

he becomes one who acts in full

awareness when going forward and

returning acts in full awareness when

looking ahead and looking away acts in

full awareness when flexing and

extending his limbs acts in full

awareness when wearing his robes and

carrying his outer robe and bowl

acts in full awareness when eating

drinking consuming food and tasting

action full awareness when defecating

and urinating action full awareness when

walking standing sitting falling asleep

waking up talking and keeping silent

and so this is all about the mindfulness

full awareness

staying with the smile staying with your

object of meditation whatever it is that

you're doing

so in other words what he's talking

about here and here

you guys have hopefully been doing

throughout the retreat so far

right granted you haven't shaved your

hair and beard and all these other

things

but for the purposes of understanding

and practicality you are basically

living the holy life

right you're keeping you're taking the

precepts keeping the precepts

doing the work of meditation and gaining

insight

so possessing this aggregate of noble

virtue and this noble restraint of the

faculties possessing this noble

mindfulness and full awareness he

resorts to secluded resting place

the forest the root of a tree a mountain

a ravine a hillside cave a charnel

ground a jungle thicket an open space a

heap of straw

damasuka

on returning from his arms round after

his meal he sits down folding his legs

crosswise

or sitting in a chair

he's setting his body erect and

establishing mindfulness before him

abandoning covetousness for the world he

abides with the mind free from

covetousness he purifies his mind from

covetousness abandoning ill will and

hatred he abides with the mind free from

ill will compassionate for the welfare

of all living beings

he purifies his mind from ill will and

hatred abandoning sloth and torpor he

abides free from sloth intorper

recipient of light

mindful and fully aware

he purifies his mind from sloth intorpor

abandoning restlessness and remorse he

abides unagitated with the mind inwardly

peaceful

he purifies his mind from restlessness

and remorse

abandoning doubt he abides having gone

beyond doubt unperplexed about wholesome

states he purifies his mind from doubt

in other words

he seeks ours he lets go of the

hindrances

having thus abandoned abandon these five

hindrances imperfections of the mind

that weaken wisdom

quite secluded from sensual pleasures

right your eyes are closed you're not

looking at anything you start paying

attention to the mind secluded from

sensual pleasures now you're in the

mental realm mind

secluded from unwholesome states

having let go of the hindrances

i entered upon and abided in the first

jhana which is accompanied by applied

and sustained thought

you intentionalize the experience of

lovingkindness through a wholesome image

or through verbalizing

which is accompanied by applied and

sustained thought with rapture and

pleasure born of seclusion

so think about it this way right so

first you keep the precepts you come to

this retreat

the first morning you take the precepts

when you take the precepts the mind

becomes pure

next time you take the precepts in the

morning pay attention to how your mind

is

you'll

realize that there is a there's a sense

of relief there

there's a sense of release over there

there's a sense of happiness over there

you can take this happiness

and stay with that

and let that turn into the object of

meditation let that then become

an anchor for you to experience

loving-kindness towards yourself or

whatever it might be

that relief that you experience that

release your experience

is that joy of the dharma

when you listen to a dharma talk when

you take the precepts

whatever it might be there's this joy

that arises there's just happiness that

arises

and that is pamuja

that's the joy of the dhamma the bliss

that arises

so when you do that

your mind becomes pure

right and your mind becomes more

collected and so now it is ripe for

experiencing

jhana practice

and so in the first channa as as he said

which is accompanied by all of these

things and then with the stilling of

applied and sustained thought you let go

of the intentionalizing

i entered upon and abided in the second

jhana

with the fading away as well of rapture

so in the second genre you let go of the

rapture

or sorry the you let go of the stilling

let go of the applied and sustained

thought and then in the third genre with

the fading away as well of rapture let

go of the joy

i entered upon and abided in the third

genre here it's not a process of

actually seeing oh here's joy i'm going

to let go of it it's a process of

experiencing

the different factors or being aware

of the different factors

while you are with your object of

meditation this is why you're not one

pointed

and then naturally the joy arises and

then naturally the joy fades away

then

with the fading away

as well of rapture i entered upon and

abided in the third channel with the

abandoning of pleasure and pain i

entered upon and abided in the fourth

jhana which has neither pain nor

pleasure and purity of mindfulness due

to equanimity so the fourth jhana you

let go of even the sukkah let go of the

comfort you're just in complete

equanimity

so this were these words where he says

the purity of mindfulness due to

equanimity

[Music]

mindfulness due to equanimity

why does he say that

what's going on here

in order for you to experience jhana

you have to let go of the hindrances

but that's just one part of it

you also have to have enlightenment

factors present

so when your mind becomes more collected

that means you have mindfulness

which leads to discernment

which i'm using for investigation of

states discernment of what is present in

the mind

which leads to

energy

having the right effort using the six

stars when you need to

which then leads to joy

right the pt

which leads to tranquility

a relaxed mind and body which

leads to collectedness

which leads to equanimity collectedness

here is the mind that remains with its

object of meditation

the attention is not dispersed

but it remains collected

and that collectedness leads to

equanimity equanimity is being able to

see things as they actually are

without being affected one way or the

other

seeing things as they actually are

now when you're going through these

different genres what's happening is the

enlightenment factors are being cycled

through

so the mindfulness leads to discernment

discernment

leads to energy energy leads to joy joy

least tranquility tranquility leads to

collectedness collectedness leads to

equanimity equanimity against further

strengthens mindfulness which leads to

that whole cycle again so you're cycling

through it and then by the time you're

in the fourth jhana you have pure

mindfulness born of that strong

equanimity

and remember every time you use the 6rs

you're not only letting go of the

hindrances but you're bringing up the

enlightenment factors

facilitating for you to go back into

a giant

state so when you recognize for example

right you recognize you bring up the

mindfulness you bring up the

investigation of states naturally when

you recognize

when you release

you let go which means you have the

right effort the correct amount of

energy

when you relax you have tranquility when

you re-smile you have joy

when you return you have collectedness

and that brings about equanimity through

that whole process

so the the 6rs are doing a lot of things

here they're bringing they're bringing

up enlightenment factors they're letting

go of the hindrances and

other things that are going on in

relation to the 37 requisites for

enlightenment

and now he says

when my collected mind was thus purified

bright unblemished rid of imperfections

malleable wieldy steady and attain to

impetu ability

impertubility

say that five times

so importability means it's it's a mind

that is basically stable

mind that is unaffected by anything

completely

rock solid

not that it's hard

not that it's uh

very constricted but it's just

stable

fixed

with that kind of mind which is both

malleable and stable

right

he direct i directed it to the knowledge

of the destruction of the taints

that's the third part of the threefold

knowledge

so in other words with that mind

which goes through the jaundice the mind

directs itself

to the destruction of the teens

understands

i directly knew as it actually is

this is suffering

this is the origin of suffering this is

the cessation of suffering this is the

way leading to the cessation of

suffering

i directly knew as it actually is

these are the taints

this is the origin of the taints this is

the cessation of the taints this is the

way leading to the cessation of the

teens

so one understands fully the four noble

truths

because what happens there at arahat

ship is you realize that the four noble

truths are already calibrated within

the twelve links of dependent

origination

the suffering that we talk about is the

general suffering but each of the links

can have suffering in them

each of the links can have craving in

them

you become aware here is present this

link

the origin of this link is that

preceding link

ceasing this link

you let go of that link so there is

present

clinging

the origin of clinging is craving

letting go of that craving there is the

cessation of that clinging

how do you let go of it

the fourth noble truth

using the eightfold path

how do you use the eightfold path

using right effort the six hours

so right effort as i said before is the

heart the core of the eightfold path

using the six r's

you're fulfilling the right effort

you're fulfilling letting go of the

hindrances

you're fulfilling the arising of the

enlightenment factors and other things

that allow you to experience the

cessation of suffering

so you're going through each of the

links of dependent origination and

seeing for yourself

the arising of this there is the arising

of that the cessation of this there is a

cessation of that

using the four noble truths

so for the arahat then

they are ultimately realized these are

the taints present

okay and these taints are destroyed when

ignorance is destroyed

in the case of the anagami

the taint of sensual desire is already

gone because attained of sensual desire

means there's a potential for there to

be sensual lust

but that's gone for the arahat then the

taint of

the craving for existence and the taint

of ignorance is destroyed but how

because they are dependent upon

ignorance itself dependent upon not

understanding the four noble truths

fully

once that is done

once one understands the origin of

suffering and suffering itself once one

understands cessation

and

the way leading to the cessation of that

suffering then they completely destroy

ignorance having destroyed ignorance the

taints are destroyed

so how do you understand the four noble

truths how is it that you're able to see

it

again using the six r's every time you

use the six r's you are understanding

the four noble

truths in the case of your meditation

practice when there is a hindrance

present that is dukkha

that hindrance that's there is it's

suffering

now you realize the origin of that

suffering the origin of that hindrance

is your undue attention to that by

clinging to it by grasping towards it

so you let go of that

using the six hours

so you recognize the hindrance

right you release and relax you let go

use the rest which is the smile and

return which is the rest of the

eightfold path

and experience the cessation of that

hindrance

the cessation of that suffering

so how do you know ignorant is com

ignorance is completely destroyed how do

you know that there is no longer any of

egypt

when you fully understand what suffering

is when you fully abandon the origin of

suffering fully abandon

the craving fully abandon the conceit

fully abandon the wrong views

fully abandon the ignorance

when you experience for yourself fully

realize and experience for yourself

nirodham

the cessation of that suffering

and perfect

the cultivation of the eightfold path

then you will know for yourself what

fetters are present

if there are any feathers present

what taints are present if there are any

taints present

in your mind itself will declare final

knowledge

there won't be any great devas coming in

and saying oh wonderful you have

attained arahat ship

you will see for yourself

so

this process that you've been doing for

the last few days in this retreat and

we'll continue to do

this is what happens lifelong for the

for the perfection of the path

it's not like oh you can choose to do

that but it's not like you get off

retreat and now you're off retreat

that's just a mental state

being on retreat and off retreat

you can still continue to keep the

precepts

take the precepts every morning

you can still continue to develop the

mind bhavana

continue to meditate continue to use

right effort not only on the cushion but

off the cushion right not only just

meditating but also recognizing when

craving arises

the more you do this the more your mind

becomes purified and the more mind goes

towards our heartship

so this process that you're doing you

start to see where your sources of

identifying are your source of craving

is your source of aversion is where are

your attachments

you know where are your frustrations all

of these things and you start letting go

of them using the six hours

and bit by bit

you start to

you know cut away at the different

feathers

and bit by bit they fall away eventually

until you finally realize on a hardship

for yourself

when i knew and saw thus my mind was

liberated from the taint of sensual

desire from the taint of being and from

the taint of ignorance

when it was liberated they came the

knowledge it is liberated in other words

your mind will know for itself

it is liberated

your mind will not lie to you

but you can lie to your mind

your mind will know for itself these are

the feathers that are present

and you can choose to accept or deny

that

and of course

there's a whole process of self-testing

right

it's not just oh there's final knowledge

now there's the idea that i am an

arahant or i've attained this or

whatever it might be and then

you go about the world and think you are

and then you see how you react to the

world

what your responses are

for anyone who thinks that they're an

aaron i would say wait three years

and then declare final knowledge see how

your mind responds to every kind of

situation

is there craving is there attachment

is there comparing

is there aversion

is there identification

all of these different things

i directly knew 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 and

being

it is by knowing thus seeing thus

friends that in regard to this body with

its consciousness and all external signs

i eye-making mind-making and the

underlying tendency to concede have been

eradicated in me

saying good because one may delight and

rejoice in that beku's words

having done so one should say to him

it is a gain for us friend it is a great

gain for us friend

that we see such a companion in the holy

life

as the venerable one

that is what the blessed one said

the bhikkhus were satisfied and

delighted in the blessed one's words

may suffering ones be suffering free may

the

fearless be

may the grieving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

may all beings share this merit that we

have thus acquired for the acquisition

of all kinds of happiness

may beings inhabiting space and earth

devas and nagas of mighty power share

this merit of ours may they long protect

the buddha's dispensation

other side