From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=FT_td0kswlQ

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

this is the joshua tree retreat number

four the domini vipassana center

it's march the 8th

it's 2009

venerable vemma la ramsey we'll be doing

the talk tonight on the majima nakaya

number 135

the shorter exposition of action

i thought it'd be fun if we found out

what karma was like

so

thus if i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living in sawatee in

japanese grove and then bendiga's park

then a brahmana's son sabha toady his

son

went to the blessed one and exchanged

greetings with him

when this courteous and alienable talk

was finished he sat down at one side and

said to the blessed one

master gotuma

what is the cause and condition why

human beings are seen to be inferior and

superior

for people to be seen short-lived and

long-lived

sickly and healthy

ugly and beautiful

uninfluential and influential

poor and wealthy

low-born and highborn

stupid and wise

what is the cause and condition master

gotama why human beings are seen to be

inferior and superior

now this is a very

good answer and it's very deep to have

to listen closely

students

beings are owners of their actions

heirs of their actions

they originate from their actions are

bound to their actions

have their actions as their refuge

it is action that distinguishes beings

as inferior and superior

i do not understand in detail the

meaning master go to of master gotuma's

statement

which he spoke in brief without

expounding the meaning in detail

it would be good if master gotama would

teach the teach me the dhamma so that i

might understand in detail the meaning

of master gotama's statement

now quite often somebody would ask the

buddha a question and he would give them

a short answer

and unless they

ask him

to give the answer in more detail he

would get up and walk away

and go go to his his room

and it happens a lot in the suit is that

the monks would ask a question the

buddha would give a short answer

and get up and walk away and then the

monks went

but i don't understand that

and they would go to another monk and

ask him to tell him what what the

long answer was and then they would be

scolded for not asking the buddha

and then he would give them the long

answer

anyway

then

listen student

and attend closely to what i shall say

yes sir the brahmana student subha

replied

the blessed one said this here student

some manner women or woman kills living

beings and is murderous bloody handed

given to blows and violence

merciless to living beings

because of performing and undertaking

such action

on the desolution of the body after

death

he reappears in a state of deprivation

in an unhappy destination

in perdition

even in hell

but if on the dissolution of the body

after death he does reappear in a state

he does not reappear in a state of

deprivation in any or an unhappy

destination

but instead comes back to the human

state

when

then whenever he is reborn he is

short-lived

this is the way student that leads to

short life

namely one kills living beings is

murderous bloody hand and given to blows

and violence

merciless to living beings

but here student

some man or woman abandoning the killing

of living beings abstains from killing

living beings

with rod and weapon laid aside gentle

and kindly he abides compassionate to

all living beings

because of performing and undertaking

such action

on the desolution of the body after

death he reappears in a happy

destination even in a heavenly world

but if on the dissolution of the body

after death he does not reappear in a

happy destination in a heavenly world

but instead comes back to the human

state

then wherever he is reborn he is

long-lived

this is the way student that leads to

long life

namely abandoning and killing living

beings

one abstains from killing living beings

with rod and weapon laid aside gentle

kindly

one abides compassionate to all living

beings

now you think about this for a little

while

and you think

there are a lot of

babies that are born that die very

quickly

and

a lot of people are really

distraught

at that

and they wonder why this happened

and they come up with all kinds of

different kinds of philosophies

oh god wanted him back and things like

that

but the reason that people don't live as

long as they could is because in the

past

they killed other beings

my mother lived to be 92.

what would you think about that

and your father lived to be 92.

a long life

why did they have a long life because in

the past they were kind they didn't kill

living beings

so the karma is

it's a very just system

if you can call it that it works on its

own

and because of past action

things arise as they should

so

here student some man or woman is giving

given to injuring beings with the hand

with a clod with a stick with a knife

because of performing and undertaking

such action on the dissolution of the

body after death

he reappears in a state of deprivation

but if instead he comes back to the

human state

then wherever he is reborn he is sickly

this is the way student that leads to

sickliness

namely one is given to injuring beings

with the hand with a clod with a stick

with a knife

but here student some man or woman is

not given to injuring beings with a hand

with a clod with a stick or a knife

because of performing and undertaking

such action on the desolution of the

body after death he reappears in a happy

destination

but if instead he comes back to the

human state

then wherever he is reborn he is healthy

this is the way student that leads to

health

namely one is not given to injuring

beings with a hand with a clod with a

stick with a knife

here students a man or woman is an angry

irritable character

even when criticized a little he is

offended

becomes angry hostile and resentful and

displays anger hate and bitterness

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in a state of

deprivation

but if instead he comes back to the

human state

then wherever he is reborn he is

ugly this is the way student that leads

to ugliness

namely one is an angry irritable

character and displays anger hate and

bitterness

if you've ever been around anybody

that's angry and you look at their face

you see that their face is really not

very nice and it can even have black

tinges

if the anger is strong enough

so

if a person is given to anger and

cursing and

uh always complaining that other people

are

uh

not nice and that sort of thing

then

you start taking on those

characteristics with your face

and your body

your body can be deformed because of

this kind of thing

but here student some man or woman is

not an angry or irritable character even

when criticized a lot he does not he is

not offended

he does not become angry hostile and

resentful

and does not display anger hate and

bitterness

because of performing such action he

reappears in a happy destination

but

if instead he comes back to the human

state

then wherever he is reborn he is

beautiful

this is the way student that leads to

being beautiful

namely one is not an angry year and

irritable character and does not splay

display

anger hatred and bitterness

now i'm teaching you loving-kindness

meditation

one of the advantages of practicing

loving-kindness meditation is that your

face becomes very beautiful

radiant

there's 11 advantages for practicing

loving-kindness meditation

let me see if i can remember

you go to sleep easily

you sleep

very soundly

and you wake up

without a groggy mind you wake up

very alert and very bright

you have pleasant dreams

now when it comes to dreams while you're

still working with your meditation you

can start having dreams on the retreat

you can radiate loving kindness

while you're in your dream

and that will change

an unpleasant dream into a very pleasant

dream

now when

uh

when i

get ready to go to bed

i'll lie down on my back for a little

while and just relax my body

and

because

in the suttas it says that monks sleep

on their right side

i experimented with sleeping on the left

side and i found that there was pressure

against the heart and it was hard to

breathe

i leave i sleep on the right side and

it's open and very easy to breathe

when i turn over on my right side

within

10 seconds

i'm asleep

i don't wake up in the middle of the

night

wondering what is this

i don't toss and turn

i sleep very soundly

very easily when it's time to wake up or

if somebody comes in and starts talking

to me

i will be awake

now by practicing this meditation

it leads to that

and there's an awful lot of people

in missouri that they complain about not

being able to sleep

so

i start teaching loving kindness

meditation to them and all of a sudden

it's much easier

so it's a

real

um

interesting phenomena

i tease people sometimes they say i toss

and turn for a good 5-10 seconds before

i go to sleep

now if you go to sleep with an agitated

mind how often do you wake up during the

night

not really happy

and it's hard to go back to sleep

what's the cause of that

an agitated mind

not a mind that has loving kindness in

it

if you wake up in the middle of the

night and you have trouble going back to

sleep then practice your loving kindness

lightly

and you'll go to back to sleep very

nicely easily

now another advantage of this meditation

is that animals like you

and i went to a

monastery where there was two monks that

they'd just become ordained and they

were there by themselves they didn't

have a teacher

and they were showing or showing me

around their monastery and

they had a little dog

and i like little dogs i like big dogs i

like any dogs doesn't matter

so i reached down and i

started petting the little dog and they

started snapping at me and i went whoa

okay

and i radiated loving-kindness to the

dog

and one of the monks said that's a

female dog you're not supposed to touch

females

and i said that means human beings it

doesn't mean animals

so they were showing me around and we

had to walk by this one place that there

was a rock about this high

and as i walked right beside the rock

the dog jumped out and as i walked by

licked my hands

animals like you

they feel at ease

if you don't have any fear of an animal

then they will not be aggressive towards

you

for the most part

i can remember one that was

not so not so nice even after i radiated

but

well that sort of thing happens

human beings like you

why because you have a pleasant

expression on your face

they hear that you have loving speech

and you're kind you don't have

anger and dissatisfaction and dislike

when i had my own business

i had a mirror sitting on the desk

and anytime the phone rang i would pick

up the phone and look at them look in

the mirror to see whether i was smiling

or not

if i wasn't smiling i would smile

and that smile goes right through the

phone there's no doubt about it it goes

right through and the other people feel

that

and i was getting things like wrong

numbers and they would talk for 10 or 15

minutes

just because they felt

they felt good

so the more you smile

the more people

feel at ease around you

now some people say but it feels like

it's a forced smile

at first it can be it doesn't matter

it still has a positive effect

on your mind

so the more you can smile

while you're doing your daily activities

while you see other people

the easier life becomes

so

this is one of the real advantages of

doing this kind of meditation

people like you

devas protect you

devas are heavenly beings

and the devas will

well i i was

getting on a bus when i was in chiang

mai

and i saw a friend

so i stopped and i started talking to

the friend

and the bus left

and that was not much of a big deal and

my friend left

i got on the next bus

we were going down the road

the bus that i would have been on

had an accident

and it really hurt some people

now in thailand

they insist that monks ride in the front

seat

if i would have been there

there would have been a piece of wood go

right through me

but the devas kind of

protected me from getting on that bus

they stopped me from getting on that bus

i got on the next one had no problem

after

how do you confirm that it was davis i

can't

but i know that that's what happened

so

now the next advantage of practicing

loving kindness

i'm not real interested in testing to

see whether it's true or not

it says that when you practice loving

kindness

fire and poisons and weapons will not

harm you

and i'm not wild about finding out

whether that's true or not i don't want

to be in a burning building

i don't want somebody to give me poison

to see whether it really is going to

work or not

so we'll let that one slide

when you practice loving kindness

this is such a good meditation

that your progress and meditation is

faster

with this kind of meditation than it is

with any other kind of meditation

as you're starting to see for yourselves

you're seeing that you progress really

fast when you practice loving kindness

now when i when i tell people i want you

to switch over and not do loving

kindness but do mindfulness of breathing

i still

insist that you smile

and that helps uplift your mind so it's

kind of mindfulness of breathing meta

a little bit

and your progress is always better when

you're smiling

and when you have a sense of humor about

yourself

when you can laugh at yourself for

getting caught

laugh at yourself for being angry

laugh at yourself

for being

frustrated or depressed and that's the

hardest thing to do when you start

getting depressed is to laugh

but

when you do

when you laugh

you change your perspective of what's

happening in the present moment

it goes from i'm mad and i don't like it

to

it's only anger

what's that i don't need to be angry now

let it go

now one of the beauties of practicing

the 6rs

is that it helps remind you

to go back with an uplifted mind

now the six hours and the four

right efforts are the same thing

you have an unwholesome you recognize

that you have an unwholesome

thought or feeling

you let go of that unwholesome feeling

or thought

and relax

you smile and bring up a wholesome

object

your objective meditation

and you continue on you keep that object

to meditation as long as you can

that's the six r's

recognize

release

relax and relax step can't be talked

about enough

re-smile

return to your object meditation

repeat

continue doing the same thing

the relaxed step is absolutely necessary

now some people are telling me that

they're letting go and coming back to

the object of meditation and quite often

i say no no no no that's not right

you forgot something in the middle there

and that is the relaxed step if you

don't add the relaxed step you're

bringing that craving back to your

object of meditation

and you're changing your meditation

from

serenity and insight

or tranquility meditation

to

one pointed absorption concentration

now why is that a big deal

well

if you practice one pointed

concentration absorption concentration

the force of the concentration becomes

so strong

that it suppresses the hindrances

and a lot of people say well that's

really good

you don't have any hindrances coming up

but the hindrances are where your

attachments are

so you're suppressing the hindrances

while you have good concentration

and then you get out of that

concentration

and these hindrances come knocking at

your door

and you don't you're not able to

recognize them you just get caught in

them

now when you start practicing with this

extra little step of relaxation

it changes the meditation so your

concentration doesn't go quite as deep

and when your mindfulness slips a little

bit

guess who comes to see you

a

hindrance

now it's not bad that a hindrance arises

the hindrances are not your enemy

they're not someone to fight with

the hindrances

are your teacher

they're teaching you where you have an

attachment

what is the attachment

i am that

i am restless

i am planning

i am

whatever the hindrance has to be

i am mad

i want

i'm dull

i don't know

those are all the hindrances

and they all have

an i in them

when you let go of that

or relax that

with that extra step

and you let go of that tension and

tightness that rises in your mind and in

your body

you have a pure mind

you have a mind that doesn't have any

hindrance in it

you have a mind that doesn't have any

craving in it

and in that way your mind is very pure

now you bring that mind back to your

object of meditation

and the hindrance comes up again

and you work with that hindrance

letting it be relaxing smiling coming

back to your object to meditation

staying with your meditation as much as

you can

and that hindrance pulls you away again

every time you let go of that hindrance

and relax and come back to your object

to meditation

it is improving your mindfulness

your mindfulness is your observation

power

your mindfulness is a thing that notices

what's happening in the present moment

so making your mindfulness stronger

helps you to overcome the hindrance more

quickly

more easily

and when you let go of the hindrance

what happens after that

you go deeper into your meditation

you haven't got it obstructing you

anymore

you haven't got it

pulling you away

it just lets go by itself

and you start gaining more and more

balance

in your practice

the whole point of loving kindness

meditation is learning how to lovingly

accept whatever arises in the present

moment

the more you can actually accept

restlessness when it comes up without

fighting it

without holding on to it tightly

the tighter you hold on to restlessness

the more suffering you cause yourself

that's why with the instructions of

lovingkindness i tell you

when

a sensation arises in your body that's

always a good one

you get a pain in your knee or a pain in

your back or you start itching

the first thing you'll start doing your

mind will start doing and start thinking

about it

boy i hate it when it happens i really

don't like that feeling why doesn't it

just go away and leave me alone

every thought about the sensation makes

the sensation bigger and more intense

until it turns into an emergency

and then you can't stand it and you have

to change your posture or whatever

but the instructions in the meditation

say do not move

oh no

so what are we supposed to do with that

you notice that you're thinking about

that sensation you let those thoughts go

and relax

now you notice that tight mental fist

wrapped around that sensation

i don't like that sensation i don't want

it to be there

that's aversion

now the truth is

when a hindrance arises

it's there

pretty profound isn't it

so

whatever you do with what arises in the

present moment dictates what happens in

the future

you want to fight with that

you want to try to change it you want it

to be different than it is you can look

forward to that coming up over and over

again

or

you can try a new approach

and that is let go of that tight mental

fist around it and accept the fact that

that's there

and it's all right for it to be there

it has to be all right

because it's the truth

it's the dharma

right in front of your eyes

so you allow the dhamma to be whatever

it's going to be

if it's an itch if it's a restlessness

if it's anxiety if it's disliked

whatever it happens to be you allow the

space for it to be there

without trying to change it

too many people try to use the loving

kindness as a stick to beat things down

so they won't bother you

it doesn't work

right

so

instead of trying to make it any

different than it is

allow the space for it to be the way it

is

but don't keep your attention on it

and then relax

and then smile

and come back to your object of

meditation now you're going to bounce

back and forth especially if it's a big

hindrance or it's a big

sensation

and one of two things is going to happen

either it's going to go away or it's not

if it goes away then you come back to

your object of meditation and you feel

relief

and

you go on with your meditation

if it doesn't go away your equanimity

becomes so strong that it doesn't pull

your mind to it

and then you just let it be there by

itself and it will fade away by itself

from lack of feeding it

what do you feed it with

your attention

if you keep your attention on it you can

better believe it's going to keep going

it's going to cause all kinds of

pain and

suffering but when you just allow it to

be there if it doesn't pull your mind to

it you stay with your object of

meditation

it will fade away by itself

another advantage of practicing loving

kindness meditation

is that when it's time for you to die

you will die with a very peaceful mind

if you don't go any further with your

meditation

and attain nibana

then you will be reborn in a very

pleasant heavenly realm

of some sort

so there's a lot of advantages to

practicing loving kindness meditation

and it makes your face beautiful

i mean before everybody left a couple

days ago

looking around the room at all what was

it 19 or 20 people here

their faces everybody's face was radiant

i mean we could have turned the lights

out we didn't need any lights

everybody's face was just absolutely

beautiful

i used to kid people in in

malaysia

and tell them you know if i could bottle

this stuff i'd be one rich monk

so you want to be more

beautiful smile more

laugh more

be happy

wish other people happiness

the first part of meditation is

practicing your generosity

how do you practice your generosity

you practice your generosity with your

speech

you practice generosity with your

actions

you practice generosity

with your mind

you can't give something away that you

don't have

when you're practicing loving-kindness

you make a wish for happiness and bring

that feeling of that wish into your own

heart

and feel it yourself

then you can give it away

now we were talking about

karma and we're talking about

uh making merit

doing good actions

now one of the highest ways that you can

practice

meditation and get good results is

through

loving kindness meditation

and one of mahasi sayadaw's book and i

have no idea how he figured this out so

don't ask me

he said

that

doing loving-kindness meditation one

time a day for 30 minutes

is equivalent in merit to feeding three

thousand people a day

that gives you an idea of what you're

doing here

how much good merit do you make

every day we share merit with all beings

we share all of this

good feeling with everybody

so we're really doing a major

good thing

not just a little good thing a major

good thing

by practicing loving kindness

okay

here students some man or woman is

envious

one who envies resents and begrudges the

gain honor respect reverence salutations

and veneration received by others

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in a state of

deprivation

but if he comes back to the human state

then wherever he is reborn he is

uninfluential

you can be right all day but you won't

have any influence to convince other

people that what you're saying is true

and that comes from being envious and

wishing somebody else

didn't have that kind of

uh honor and renown

but here students some man or woman is

not envious

one does not envy resent begrudge the

gain honor

respect reverence salutations and

veneration received by others because of

performing and undertaking such action

he reappears in a happy destination

but if instead he comes back to the

human state then wherever he is reborn

he is influential

this is the way student that leads to

being influential

naming not being envious towards the

gain honor respect reverence veneration

and salutations received by others

here students some man or woman does not

give food drink clothing carriages

garland scents unguents beds dwellings

and lamps to recluses or brahmins

now basically what this is is

supplies the requisites for

the monks

the requisites are food

clothing

robes

a place to stay

and medicine when it's needed

you make a huge amount of merit when you

help support a monk in this way

that merit comes back to you in all

kinds of fun ways

now the the thing with generosity

is that what you give you get

now think about this

why are you in this country at this time

there's abundant food

there's richness that's unbelievable

why are you here

and not in bangladesh

or in africa

where the suffering is so great

or in india

because in the past you gave food and

clothing

and shelter

and

medicine

you shared that

and that's why

you're here now you're in an incredibly

rich country

okay there's economic stuff that's

happening right now that doesn't take

away from the richness

now

in the eightfold path

the first part of the eightfold path is

they call it right understanding or

right view i call it harmonious

perspective

the harmonious perspective is

the view that everything that arises in

your mind and in your body is

impersonal

you don't have any control over it

you can sit there and all of a sudden

you have an itch did you ask that itch

to come up

did you say you know i haven't had any

itches for a long time i might as well

have one now

no it came up by itself

again

what you do with what arises in the

present moment dictates what happens in

the future

this is karma

if you resist what's happening in the

present moment if you don't like what's

happening in the present moment

if you try to change what the present

moment is

you can look forward to having the same

kind of situation come up over and over

and over again until you learn

that this is part of an impersonal

process and you let it go

and let it be and relax into it

the second

factor of the eightfold path

is called right thought and i really

don't like that definition

i call it harmonious imaging

okay

you have images in your mind

i don't like this

what are you imaging something negative

you hold a positive image in your mind

and

all of a sudden magical things start to

happen

you hold the image in your mind

i'm broke

what's going to happen

you're going to stay broke

i'm poor

what's going to happen you're going to

stay poor

why because you're holding that image in

your mind

you hold your image of dissatisfaction

in your mind the thing you're

dissatisfied with is going to continue

you start holding positive images in

your mind

you start

holding up uplifting wholesome images in

your mind

and

then

wholesome

things and prosperity will start to come

to you

you're worried about this or that what

kind of an image are you holding in your

mind

negative

so what's going to happen

negative things are going to come happen

for you

you hold a positive image in your mind

you hold happiness in your mind

you hold generosity and giving your

smile and your good feeling to other

people

instead of worry and anxiety and

depression

what's going to happen

prosperity in all kinds of ways is going

to be rushing to you

the universe wants to give you what you

want

and when you

entertain

negative images

that's what you're going to get

and when you entertain positive images

that's what you're going to get

it doesn't always come in your time

frame

but it'll come

holding a negative image about this and

a positive image about that cancels each

other out

so then you're floating and you go

something seems to be changing nothing

seems to be getting better

well let go of that negative image

and develop that positive image

right now in this country there's a lot

of fear and

anxiety and you can pick that up from

people just by walking through a store

oh everything is so expensive i

have

scolded some of the people that go to

the store when they start complaining

about the cost of food

don't do that

what kind of an image are you

causing

to arise

what kind of thing are you manifesting

for yourself

the universe wants to give you what you

want when you talk about

how expensive everything is everything

is going to keep being expensive

things change

there is good economic times there's bad

economic times

but it doesn't matter if you hold a

positive image

you will

have positive things happening for you

when you wish other people well

stand in a store sometime when a grocery

store

and

listen for the little kids that are

crying and unhappy and the mother is

scolding them

go over to them and start radiating

loving kindness that little baby just

loves that

they will start to settle down

and feel very much at ease

and they'll start smiling and all of a

sudden the mom is going hey this is good

i like this thank you

so how are you affecting the world

around you by your imaging

so

we want to try to hold positive images

as much as we can

and not be envious of other people's

prosperity

their prosperity it's great for people

to be prosperous

what they do with their prosperity is up

to them

but be happy for them

then you will start to gain more and

more influence with the people around

you when you're holding

this positive image

here students some man or woman does not

give food clothing

drink carriages

beds

dwellings and lamps to recluses or

brahmanas because of performing and

undertaking such action

he reappears in a state of deprivation

but if instead he comes back to the

human state then wherever he is reborn

he is poor

so you don't practice your generosity

you don't help

and

you'll be rewarding poor or you might be

poor now because money will seem like

you just can't hold on to it it just

slides through your fingers

this is the way student that leads to

poverty namely one does not give food

and lamps to recluses and brahmanas but

it's not only recluses and brahmans

it's everybody around you

when i was at a meditation center i used

to

any time i would bite into a piece of

fruit and it was particularly good i

used to go around looking for somebody

to give it to

they started going you know every time

you give me a piece of fruit it's really

good

i say yeah

i want to give you the best

then they would their mouth started

watering when you see me coming

i

had an apple in my hand and oh boy i got

a treat coming now

but it was fun

it's fun to share

especially food

now the buddha said

if you saw the advantage

of sharing food you would never eat

alone

you would always share your food with

somebody else

why are you born in a country that has

so much food

because in the past you shared your food

continue sharing with everybody around

you as much as you can

it's one of the things that makes life

fun

it makes everything into a game it's

great

and that leads to a happy contented mind

practicing your generosity

when you practice your generosity even

when you're giving food

there's three things that you want to do

for sure

prepare your gift with a happy mind

give your gift with a happy mind

and after giving your gift

reflect on how much fun it was

with a happy mind

you're developing

new kinds of images when you do that

and they always come back

but here students some man or woman

gives food and lamps to recluses and

brahmans

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in a happy

destination

but if instead he comes back to the

human state then wherever he is reborn

he is wealthy

you want to be rich

you want to be prosperous

you've got to share

you got to practice your generosity

and do it in fun ways

as much as you can

this is a way student that leads to

wealth namely one gives food and lamps

to recluses and brahmanas

here students a man or woman is

obstinate and arrogant

he does not pay homage to one who should

receive homage

does not rise up for one and whose

presidency should rise up

does not offer a seat to one who

deserves this heat

does not make way for one for whom he

should make way

does not honor respect revere and

venerate one who should be honored

respected revered and venerated

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in the state of

deprivation

but if instead he comes back to the

human state then wherever he is reborn

he is low-born

this is how students

that

this is the way that leads to low birth

namely one is obstinate and arrogant and

does not honor respect revere and

venerate one

who should be honored respected revered

and venerated

but here students some man or woman is

not obstinate and arrogant

he repays he pays homage to one who

should receive homage

raises up for one in whose presence you

should raise up offers a seat to one who

deserves a seat

a story

i was

uh

i was in sri lanka and i was i was

riding a bus

and there was a pregnant lady sitting on

the bus and it was pretty full bus so i

was standing

and she got up

and

told me i had to take her place

wow

amazing

she had so much respect for the song

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in his oops

he reappears in a

happy destination

but if instead he comes back to the

human state

then wherever he is reborn he is

highborn

this is the way a student that leads to

high birth namely one is not obstinate

and arrogant and honor respect reveres

and venerates one who should be honored

respected revered and venerated i have

to tell you i felt guilty sitting down

but she insisted so what could i do

here a student some manner or a woman

when visiting a recluse or brahman does

not ask venerable sir

what is wholesome what is unwholesome

what is blameable what is blameless

what should be cultivated what should

not be cultivated

what kind of action will lead to my harm

and suffering for a long time

what kind of action will lead to my harm

of my welfare and happiness for a long

time

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in a state of

deprivation

but if instead he comes back to this

human state

then wherever he is reborn he is stupid

this is the way a student that leads to

stupidity namely one does not visit a

recluse or brahmana

and asks such questions

here student a man or a woman when

visiting recluses or brahmanas ask

venerable sir

what is wholesome what kind of action

will lead to my welfare and happiness

for a long time

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in a happy

destination

but if instead he comes back to the

human state

then wherever he is reborn he is wise

i was

the attendant for venerable ucla nanda

who was a very famous monk in burma

and very very intelligent

and i was asking him questions about

everything

for two years i'm asking him every day

i'm asking him 10 15 20 questions

and one day he stopped and he said

you know

when you're reborn you're gonna be

smarter than einstein

and as as karma will have it i seem to

have students

that always come up to me and say can i

ask you a question

and i've told one student in particular

i won't name any names

that

i was going to put that on her

gravestone when she died

excuse me i have a question can i ask a

question

so that was my karma for asking so many

questions i guess students that ask

questions all the time

the student the way that leads to short

life makes people short-lived

the way that leads to long life makes

people long-lived

the way that leads to sickliness makes

people sickly

the way that leads to health makes

people healthy

the way that leads to ugliness makes

people ugly

the way that leads to

being beautiful

makes people beautiful

the way that leads to being

uninfluential makes people uninfluential

the way that leads to being influential

makes people influential

the way that leads to poverty makes

people poor

the way that leads to health

makes people wealthy

our wealth makes people wealthy the way

that leads to low birth makes people

love born

the way that leads to high birth makes

people highborn

the way that leads to stupidity makes

people stupid

the way that leads to wisdom makes

people wise

beings are owners of their action

student

heirs to their action they originate

from their actions are bound to their

actions

have actions as their refuge

it is actions that distinguishes beings

as inferior and superior

when this was said the brahmana student

saba toadie's son said to the blessed

one magnificent master gautama

magnificent

master gotama has made the dhamma clear

in many ways as though he were turning

upright

what had been overturned

revealing what was hidden showing the

way to one who was lost

or holding up a lamp in the dark for

those with eyesight to see forms

i go to master gotama for refuge and to

the dhamma and sangha of monks

let master gotama remember me as a lay

follower

who has gone to him for refuge for life

so actions your karma is the thing that

dictates whether you have a successful

life or an unsuccessful life

whether it's influential or

uninfluential

because of the way the buddha teaches

meditation

and stresses

your generosity in all different kinds

of ways

when you practice your generosity

it opens your mind up when you practice

your naggardliness

and your stinginess

it closes your mind out

when you practice being stingy

nobody will help you and and

be generous with you

so you practice your generosity

with your speech

with your thoughts with your actions

you practice giving

in all kinds of different ways

doing things that make other people

smile

you affect the world around you it's

your choice how you want to affect that

world

you want to affect that world with anger

you can do that

but anger gets thrown back at you

you want to affect the world with love

you can do that

and love comes back to you

there's times that

i can be sitting

not meditating just sitting

maybe reading or doing something

and i feel

rushes of love coming to me

and sometimes it's like a hot flash all

of a sudden i'll break out in the sweat

and i feel all of this manta coming

of course i bounce it back to

whoever's doing it

but it's really nice

it really helps my mind be uplifted

but you have to give before you get

so the more you give loving kindness the

more loving kindness will come back to

you

now finding out that if you don't ask

any questions you're going to be reborn

stupid

is anybody

does anybody have any questions

okay

and let's hear some merit

may suffering ones be suffering free and

the fear struck fear of speaking

may the grieving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

may all be shared as merit that we thus

acquired for the acquisition of all

kinds of happiness

may beings inhabiting space and earth

devas and nadas of mighty power shares

as merit of ours

may they long protect the buddhist

dispensation

you

this is the joshua tree retreat number

four the domini vipassana center

it's march the 8th

it's 2009

venerable vemma la ramsey we'll be doing

the talk tonight on the majima nakaya

number 135

the shorter exposition of action

i thought it'd be fun if we found out

what karma was like

so

thus if i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living in sawatee in

japanese grove and then bendiga's park

then a brahmana's son sabha toady his

son

went to the blessed one and exchanged

greetings with him

when this courteous and alienable talk

was finished he sat down at one side and

said to the blessed one

master gotuma

what is the cause and condition why

human beings are seen to be inferior and

superior

for people to be seen short-lived and

long-lived

sickly and healthy

ugly and beautiful

uninfluential and influential

poor and wealthy

low-born and highborn

stupid and wise

what is the cause and condition master

gotama why human beings are seen to be

inferior and superior

now this is a very

good answer and it's very deep to have

to listen closely

students

beings are owners of their actions

heirs of their actions

they originate from their actions are

bound to their actions

have their actions as their refuge

it is action that distinguishes beings

as inferior and superior

i do not understand in detail the

meaning master go to of master gotuma's

statement

which he spoke in brief without

expounding the meaning in detail

it would be good if master gotama would

teach the teach me the dhamma so that i

might understand in detail the meaning

of master gotama's statement

now quite often somebody would ask the

buddha a question and he would give them

a short answer

and unless they

ask him

to give the answer in more detail he

would get up and walk away

and go go to his his room

and it happens a lot in the suit is that

the monks would ask a question the

buddha would give a short answer

and get up and walk away and then the

monks went

but i don't understand that

and they would go to another monk and

ask him to tell him what what the

long answer was and then they would be

scolded for not asking the buddha

and then he would give them the long

answer

anyway

then

listen student

and attend closely to what i shall say

yes sir the brahmana student subha

replied

the blessed one said this here student

some manner women or woman kills living

beings and is murderous bloody handed

given to blows and violence

merciless to living beings

because of performing and undertaking

such action

on the desolution of the body after

death

he reappears in a state of deprivation

in an unhappy destination

in perdition

even in hell

but if on the dissolution of the body

after death he does reappear in a state

he does not reappear in a state of

deprivation in any or an unhappy

destination

but instead comes back to the human

state

when

then whenever he is reborn he is

short-lived

this is the way student that leads to

short life

namely one kills living beings is

murderous bloody hand and given to blows

and violence

merciless to living beings

but here student

some man or woman abandoning the killing

of living beings abstains from killing

living beings

with rod and weapon laid aside gentle

and kindly he abides compassionate to

all living beings

because of performing and undertaking

such action

on the desolution of the body after

death he reappears in a happy

destination even in a heavenly world

but if on the dissolution of the body

after death he does not reappear in a

happy destination in a heavenly world

but instead comes back to the human

state

then wherever he is reborn he is

long-lived

this is the way student that leads to

long life

namely abandoning and killing living

beings

one abstains from killing living beings

with rod and weapon laid aside gentle

kindly

one abides compassionate to all living

beings

now you think about this for a little

while

and you think

there are a lot of

babies that are born that die very

quickly

and

a lot of people are really

distraught

at that

and they wonder why this happened

and they come up with all kinds of

different kinds of philosophies

oh god wanted him back and things like

that

but the reason that people don't live as

long as they could is because in the

past

they killed other beings

my mother lived to be 92.

what would you think about that

and your father lived to be 92.

a long life

why did they have a long life because in

the past they were kind they didn't kill

living beings

so the karma is

it's a very just system

if you can call it that it works on its

own

and because of past action

things arise as they should

so

here student some man or woman is giving

given to injuring beings with the hand

with a clod with a stick with a knife

because of performing and undertaking

such action on the dissolution of the

body after death

he reappears in a state of deprivation

but if instead he comes back to the

human state

then wherever he is reborn he is sickly

this is the way student that leads to

sickliness

namely one is given to injuring beings

with the hand with a clod with a stick

with a knife

but here student some man or woman is

not given to injuring beings with a hand

with a clod with a stick or a knife

because of performing and undertaking

such action on the desolution of the

body after death he reappears in a happy

destination

but if instead he comes back to the

human state

then wherever he is reborn he is healthy

this is the way student that leads to

health

namely one is not given to injuring

beings with a hand with a clod with a

stick with a knife

here students a man or woman is an angry

irritable character

even when criticized a little he is

offended

becomes angry hostile and resentful and

displays anger hate and bitterness

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in a state of

deprivation

but if instead he comes back to the

human state

then wherever he is reborn he is

ugly this is the way student that leads

to ugliness

namely one is an angry irritable

character and displays anger hate and

bitterness

if you've ever been around anybody

that's angry and you look at their face

you see that their face is really not

very nice and it can even have black

tinges

if the anger is strong enough

so

if a person is given to anger and

cursing and

uh always complaining that other people

are

uh

not nice and that sort of thing

then

you start taking on those

characteristics with your face

and your body

your body can be deformed because of

this kind of thing

but here student some man or woman is

not an angry or irritable character even

when criticized a lot he does not he is

not offended

he does not become angry hostile and

resentful

and does not display anger hate and

bitterness

because of performing such action he

reappears in a happy destination

but

if instead he comes back to the human

state

then wherever he is reborn he is

beautiful

this is the way student that leads to

being beautiful

namely one is not an angry year and

irritable character and does not splay

display

anger hatred and bitterness

now i'm teaching you loving-kindness

meditation

one of the advantages of practicing

loving-kindness meditation is that your

face becomes very beautiful

radiant

there's 11 advantages for practicing

loving-kindness meditation

let me see if i can remember

you go to sleep easily

you sleep

very soundly

and you wake up

without a groggy mind you wake up

very alert and very bright

you have pleasant dreams

now when it comes to dreams while you're

still working with your meditation you

can start having dreams on the retreat

you can radiate loving kindness

while you're in your dream

and that will change

an unpleasant dream into a very pleasant

dream

now when

uh

when i

get ready to go to bed

i'll lie down on my back for a little

while and just relax my body

and

because

in the suttas it says that monks sleep

on their right side

i experimented with sleeping on the left

side and i found that there was pressure

against the heart and it was hard to

breathe

i leave i sleep on the right side and

it's open and very easy to breathe

when i turn over on my right side

within

10 seconds

i'm asleep

i don't wake up in the middle of the

night

wondering what is this

i don't toss and turn

i sleep very soundly

very easily when it's time to wake up or

if somebody comes in and starts talking

to me

i will be awake

now by practicing this meditation

it leads to that

and there's an awful lot of people

in missouri that they complain about not

being able to sleep

so

i start teaching loving kindness

meditation to them and all of a sudden

it's much easier

so it's a

real

um

interesting phenomena

i tease people sometimes they say i toss

and turn for a good 5-10 seconds before

i go to sleep

now if you go to sleep with an agitated

mind how often do you wake up during the

night

not really happy

and it's hard to go back to sleep

what's the cause of that

an agitated mind

not a mind that has loving kindness in

it

if you wake up in the middle of the

night and you have trouble going back to

sleep then practice your loving kindness

lightly

and you'll go to back to sleep very

nicely easily

now another advantage of this meditation

is that animals like you

and i went to a

monastery where there was two monks that

they'd just become ordained and they

were there by themselves they didn't

have a teacher

and they were showing or showing me

around their monastery and

they had a little dog

and i like little dogs i like big dogs i

like any dogs doesn't matter

so i reached down and i

started petting the little dog and they

started snapping at me and i went whoa

okay

and i radiated loving-kindness to the

dog

and one of the monks said that's a

female dog you're not supposed to touch

females

and i said that means human beings it

doesn't mean animals

so they were showing me around and we

had to walk by this one place that there

was a rock about this high

and as i walked right beside the rock

the dog jumped out and as i walked by

licked my hands

animals like you

they feel at ease

if you don't have any fear of an animal

then they will not be aggressive towards

you

for the most part

i can remember one that was

not so not so nice even after i radiated

but

well that sort of thing happens

human beings like you

why because you have a pleasant

expression on your face

they hear that you have loving speech

and you're kind you don't have

anger and dissatisfaction and dislike

when i had my own business

i had a mirror sitting on the desk

and anytime the phone rang i would pick

up the phone and look at them look in

the mirror to see whether i was smiling

or not

if i wasn't smiling i would smile

and that smile goes right through the

phone there's no doubt about it it goes

right through and the other people feel

that

and i was getting things like wrong

numbers and they would talk for 10 or 15

minutes

just because they felt

they felt good

so the more you smile

the more people

feel at ease around you

now some people say but it feels like

it's a forced smile

at first it can be it doesn't matter

it still has a positive effect

on your mind

so the more you can smile

while you're doing your daily activities

while you see other people

the easier life becomes

so

this is one of the real advantages of

doing this kind of meditation

people like you

devas protect you

devas are heavenly beings

and the devas will

well i i was

getting on a bus when i was in chiang

mai

and i saw a friend

so i stopped and i started talking to

the friend

and the bus left

and that was not much of a big deal and

my friend left

i got on the next bus

we were going down the road

the bus that i would have been on

had an accident

and it really hurt some people

now in thailand

they insist that monks ride in the front

seat

if i would have been there

there would have been a piece of wood go

right through me

but the devas kind of

protected me from getting on that bus

they stopped me from getting on that bus

i got on the next one had no problem

after

how do you confirm that it was davis i

can't

but i know that that's what happened

so

now the next advantage of practicing

loving kindness

i'm not real interested in testing to

see whether it's true or not

it says that when you practice loving

kindness

fire and poisons and weapons will not

harm you

and i'm not wild about finding out

whether that's true or not i don't want

to be in a burning building

i don't want somebody to give me poison

to see whether it really is going to

work or not

so we'll let that one slide

when you practice loving kindness

this is such a good meditation

that your progress and meditation is

faster

with this kind of meditation than it is

with any other kind of meditation

as you're starting to see for yourselves

you're seeing that you progress really

fast when you practice loving kindness

now when i when i tell people i want you

to switch over and not do loving

kindness but do mindfulness of breathing

i still

insist that you smile

and that helps uplift your mind so it's

kind of mindfulness of breathing meta

a little bit

and your progress is always better when

you're smiling

and when you have a sense of humor about

yourself

when you can laugh at yourself for

getting caught

laugh at yourself for being angry

laugh at yourself

for being

frustrated or depressed and that's the

hardest thing to do when you start

getting depressed is to laugh

but

when you do

when you laugh

you change your perspective of what's

happening in the present moment

it goes from i'm mad and i don't like it

to

it's only anger

what's that i don't need to be angry now

let it go

now one of the beauties of practicing

the 6rs

is that it helps remind you

to go back with an uplifted mind

now the six hours and the four

right efforts are the same thing

you have an unwholesome you recognize

that you have an unwholesome

thought or feeling

you let go of that unwholesome feeling

or thought

and relax

you smile and bring up a wholesome

object

your objective meditation

and you continue on you keep that object

to meditation as long as you can

that's the six r's

recognize

release

relax and relax step can't be talked

about enough

re-smile

return to your object meditation

repeat

continue doing the same thing

the relaxed step is absolutely necessary

now some people are telling me that

they're letting go and coming back to

the object of meditation and quite often

i say no no no no that's not right

you forgot something in the middle there

and that is the relaxed step if you

don't add the relaxed step you're

bringing that craving back to your

object of meditation

and you're changing your meditation

from

serenity and insight

or tranquility meditation

to

one pointed absorption concentration

now why is that a big deal

well

if you practice one pointed

concentration absorption concentration

the force of the concentration becomes

so strong

that it suppresses the hindrances

and a lot of people say well that's

really good

you don't have any hindrances coming up

but the hindrances are where your

attachments are

so you're suppressing the hindrances

while you have good concentration

and then you get out of that

concentration

and these hindrances come knocking at

your door

and you don't you're not able to

recognize them you just get caught in

them

now when you start practicing with this

extra little step of relaxation

it changes the meditation so your

concentration doesn't go quite as deep

and when your mindfulness slips a little

bit

guess who comes to see you

a

hindrance

now it's not bad that a hindrance arises

the hindrances are not your enemy

they're not someone to fight with

the hindrances

are your teacher

they're teaching you where you have an

attachment

what is the attachment

i am that

i am restless

i am planning

i am

whatever the hindrance has to be

i am mad

i want

i'm dull

i don't know

those are all the hindrances

and they all have

an i in them

when you let go of that

or relax that

with that extra step

and you let go of that tension and

tightness that rises in your mind and in

your body

you have a pure mind

you have a mind that doesn't have any

hindrance in it

you have a mind that doesn't have any

craving in it

and in that way your mind is very pure

now you bring that mind back to your

object of meditation

and the hindrance comes up again

and you work with that hindrance

letting it be relaxing smiling coming

back to your object to meditation

staying with your meditation as much as

you can

and that hindrance pulls you away again

every time you let go of that hindrance

and relax and come back to your object

to meditation

it is improving your mindfulness

your mindfulness is your observation

power

your mindfulness is a thing that notices

what's happening in the present moment

so making your mindfulness stronger

helps you to overcome the hindrance more

quickly

more easily

and when you let go of the hindrance

what happens after that

you go deeper into your meditation

you haven't got it obstructing you

anymore

you haven't got it

pulling you away

it just lets go by itself

and you start gaining more and more

balance

in your practice

the whole point of loving kindness

meditation is learning how to lovingly

accept whatever arises in the present

moment

the more you can actually accept

restlessness when it comes up without

fighting it

without holding on to it tightly

the tighter you hold on to restlessness

the more suffering you cause yourself

that's why with the instructions of

lovingkindness i tell you

when

a sensation arises in your body that's

always a good one

you get a pain in your knee or a pain in

your back or you start itching

the first thing you'll start doing your

mind will start doing and start thinking

about it

boy i hate it when it happens i really

don't like that feeling why doesn't it

just go away and leave me alone

every thought about the sensation makes

the sensation bigger and more intense

until it turns into an emergency

and then you can't stand it and you have

to change your posture or whatever

but the instructions in the meditation

say do not move

oh no

so what are we supposed to do with that

you notice that you're thinking about

that sensation you let those thoughts go

and relax

now you notice that tight mental fist

wrapped around that sensation

i don't like that sensation i don't want

it to be there

that's aversion

now the truth is

when a hindrance arises

it's there

pretty profound isn't it

so

whatever you do with what arises in the

present moment dictates what happens in

the future

you want to fight with that

you want to try to change it you want it

to be different than it is you can look

forward to that coming up over and over

again

or

you can try a new approach

and that is let go of that tight mental

fist around it and accept the fact that

that's there

and it's all right for it to be there

it has to be all right

because it's the truth

it's the dharma

right in front of your eyes

so you allow the dhamma to be whatever

it's going to be

if it's an itch if it's a restlessness

if it's anxiety if it's disliked

whatever it happens to be you allow the

space for it to be there

without trying to change it

too many people try to use the loving

kindness as a stick to beat things down

so they won't bother you

it doesn't work

right

so

instead of trying to make it any

different than it is

allow the space for it to be the way it

is

but don't keep your attention on it

and then relax

and then smile

and come back to your object of

meditation now you're going to bounce

back and forth especially if it's a big

hindrance or it's a big

sensation

and one of two things is going to happen

either it's going to go away or it's not

if it goes away then you come back to

your object of meditation and you feel

relief

and

you go on with your meditation

if it doesn't go away your equanimity

becomes so strong that it doesn't pull

your mind to it

and then you just let it be there by

itself and it will fade away by itself

from lack of feeding it

what do you feed it with

your attention

if you keep your attention on it you can

better believe it's going to keep going

it's going to cause all kinds of

pain and

suffering but when you just allow it to

be there if it doesn't pull your mind to

it you stay with your object of

meditation

it will fade away by itself

another advantage of practicing loving

kindness meditation

is that when it's time for you to die

you will die with a very peaceful mind

if you don't go any further with your

meditation

and attain nibana

then you will be reborn in a very

pleasant heavenly realm

of some sort

so there's a lot of advantages to

practicing loving kindness meditation

and it makes your face beautiful

i mean before everybody left a couple

days ago

looking around the room at all what was

it 19 or 20 people here

their faces everybody's face was radiant

i mean we could have turned the lights

out we didn't need any lights

everybody's face was just absolutely

beautiful

i used to kid people in in

malaysia

and tell them you know if i could bottle

this stuff i'd be one rich monk

so you want to be more

beautiful smile more

laugh more

be happy

wish other people happiness

the first part of meditation is

practicing your generosity

how do you practice your generosity

you practice your generosity with your

speech

you practice generosity with your

actions

you practice generosity

with your mind

you can't give something away that you

don't have

when you're practicing loving-kindness

you make a wish for happiness and bring

that feeling of that wish into your own

heart

and feel it yourself

then you can give it away

now we were talking about

karma and we're talking about

uh making merit

doing good actions

now one of the highest ways that you can

practice

meditation and get good results is

through

loving kindness meditation

and one of mahasi sayadaw's book and i

have no idea how he figured this out so

don't ask me

he said

that

doing loving-kindness meditation one

time a day for 30 minutes

is equivalent in merit to feeding three

thousand people a day

that gives you an idea of what you're

doing here

how much good merit do you make

every day we share merit with all beings

we share all of this

good feeling with everybody

so we're really doing a major

good thing

not just a little good thing a major

good thing

by practicing loving kindness

okay

here students some man or woman is

envious

one who envies resents and begrudges the

gain honor respect reverence salutations

and veneration received by others

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in a state of

deprivation

but if he comes back to the human state

then wherever he is reborn he is

uninfluential

you can be right all day but you won't

have any influence to convince other

people that what you're saying is true

and that comes from being envious and

wishing somebody else

didn't have that kind of

uh honor and renown

but here students some man or woman is

not envious

one does not envy resent begrudge the

gain honor

respect reverence salutations and

veneration received by others because of

performing and undertaking such action

he reappears in a happy destination

but if instead he comes back to the

human state then wherever he is reborn

he is influential

this is the way student that leads to

being influential

naming not being envious towards the

gain honor respect reverence veneration

and salutations received by others

here students some man or woman does not

give food drink clothing carriages

garland scents unguents beds dwellings

and lamps to recluses or brahmins

now basically what this is is

supplies the requisites for

the monks

the requisites are food

clothing

robes

a place to stay

and medicine when it's needed

you make a huge amount of merit when you

help support a monk in this way

that merit comes back to you in all

kinds of fun ways

now the the thing with generosity

is that what you give you get

now think about this

why are you in this country at this time

there's abundant food

there's richness that's unbelievable

why are you here

and not in bangladesh

or in africa

where the suffering is so great

or in india

because in the past you gave food and

clothing

and shelter

and

medicine

you shared that

and that's why

you're here now you're in an incredibly

rich country

okay there's economic stuff that's

happening right now that doesn't take

away from the richness

now

in the eightfold path

the first part of the eightfold path is

they call it right understanding or

right view i call it harmonious

perspective

the harmonious perspective is

the view that everything that arises in

your mind and in your body is

impersonal

you don't have any control over it

you can sit there and all of a sudden

you have an itch did you ask that itch

to come up

did you say you know i haven't had any

itches for a long time i might as well

have one now

no it came up by itself

again

what you do with what arises in the

present moment dictates what happens in

the future

this is karma

if you resist what's happening in the

present moment if you don't like what's

happening in the present moment

if you try to change what the present

moment is

you can look forward to having the same

kind of situation come up over and over

and over again until you learn

that this is part of an impersonal

process and you let it go

and let it be and relax into it

the second

factor of the eightfold path

is called right thought and i really

don't like that definition

i call it harmonious imaging

okay

you have images in your mind

i don't like this

what are you imaging something negative

you hold a positive image in your mind

and

all of a sudden magical things start to

happen

you hold the image in your mind

i'm broke

what's going to happen

you're going to stay broke

i'm poor

what's going to happen you're going to

stay poor

why because you're holding that image in

your mind

you hold your image of dissatisfaction

in your mind the thing you're

dissatisfied with is going to continue

you start holding positive images in

your mind

you start

holding up uplifting wholesome images in

your mind

and

then

wholesome

things and prosperity will start to come

to you

you're worried about this or that what

kind of an image are you holding in your

mind

negative

so what's going to happen

negative things are going to come happen

for you

you hold a positive image in your mind

you hold happiness in your mind

you hold generosity and giving your

smile and your good feeling to other

people

instead of worry and anxiety and

depression

what's going to happen

prosperity in all kinds of ways is going

to be rushing to you

the universe wants to give you what you

want

and when you

entertain

negative images

that's what you're going to get

and when you entertain positive images

that's what you're going to get

it doesn't always come in your time

frame

but it'll come

holding a negative image about this and

a positive image about that cancels each

other out

so then you're floating and you go

something seems to be changing nothing

seems to be getting better

well let go of that negative image

and develop that positive image

right now in this country there's a lot

of fear and

anxiety and you can pick that up from

people just by walking through a store

oh everything is so expensive i

have

scolded some of the people that go to

the store when they start complaining

about the cost of food

don't do that

what kind of an image are you

causing

to arise

what kind of thing are you manifesting

for yourself

the universe wants to give you what you

want when you talk about

how expensive everything is everything

is going to keep being expensive

things change

there is good economic times there's bad

economic times

but it doesn't matter if you hold a

positive image

you will

have positive things happening for you

when you wish other people well

stand in a store sometime when a grocery

store

and

listen for the little kids that are

crying and unhappy and the mother is

scolding them

go over to them and start radiating

loving kindness that little baby just

loves that

they will start to settle down

and feel very much at ease

and they'll start smiling and all of a

sudden the mom is going hey this is good

i like this thank you

so how are you affecting the world

around you by your imaging

so

we want to try to hold positive images

as much as we can

and not be envious of other people's

prosperity

their prosperity it's great for people

to be prosperous

what they do with their prosperity is up

to them

but be happy for them

then you will start to gain more and

more influence with the people around

you when you're holding

this positive image

here students some man or woman does not

give food clothing

drink carriages

beds

dwellings and lamps to recluses or

brahmanas because of performing and

undertaking such action

he reappears in a state of deprivation

but if instead he comes back to the

human state then wherever he is reborn

he is poor

so you don't practice your generosity

you don't help

and

you'll be rewarding poor or you might be

poor now because money will seem like

you just can't hold on to it it just

slides through your fingers

this is the way student that leads to

poverty namely one does not give food

and lamps to recluses and brahmanas but

it's not only recluses and brahmans

it's everybody around you

when i was at a meditation center i used

to

any time i would bite into a piece of

fruit and it was particularly good i

used to go around looking for somebody

to give it to

they started going you know every time

you give me a piece of fruit it's really

good

i say yeah

i want to give you the best

then they would their mouth started

watering when you see me coming

i

had an apple in my hand and oh boy i got

a treat coming now

but it was fun

it's fun to share

especially food

now the buddha said

if you saw the advantage

of sharing food you would never eat

alone

you would always share your food with

somebody else

why are you born in a country that has

so much food

because in the past you shared your food

continue sharing with everybody around

you as much as you can

it's one of the things that makes life

fun

it makes everything into a game it's

great

and that leads to a happy contented mind

practicing your generosity

when you practice your generosity even

when you're giving food

there's three things that you want to do

for sure

prepare your gift with a happy mind

give your gift with a happy mind

and after giving your gift

reflect on how much fun it was

with a happy mind

you're developing

new kinds of images when you do that

and they always come back

but here students some man or woman

gives food and lamps to recluses and

brahmans

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in a happy

destination

but if instead he comes back to the

human state then wherever he is reborn

he is wealthy

you want to be rich

you want to be prosperous

you've got to share

you got to practice your generosity

and do it in fun ways

as much as you can

this is a way student that leads to

wealth namely one gives food and lamps

to recluses and brahmanas

here students a man or woman is

obstinate and arrogant

he does not pay homage to one who should

receive homage

does not rise up for one and whose

presidency should rise up

does not offer a seat to one who

deserves this heat

does not make way for one for whom he

should make way

does not honor respect revere and

venerate one who should be honored

respected revered and venerated

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in the state of

deprivation

but if instead he comes back to the

human state then wherever he is reborn

he is low-born

this is how students

that

this is the way that leads to low birth

namely one is obstinate and arrogant and

does not honor respect revere and

venerate one

who should be honored respected revered

and venerated

but here students some man or woman is

not obstinate and arrogant

he repays he pays homage to one who

should receive homage

raises up for one in whose presence you

should raise up offers a seat to one who

deserves a seat

a story

i was

uh

i was in sri lanka and i was i was

riding a bus

and there was a pregnant lady sitting on

the bus and it was pretty full bus so i

was standing

and she got up

and

told me i had to take her place

wow

amazing

she had so much respect for the song

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in his oops

he reappears in a

happy destination

but if instead he comes back to the

human state

then wherever he is reborn he is

highborn

this is the way a student that leads to

high birth namely one is not obstinate

and arrogant and honor respect reveres

and venerates one who should be honored

respected revered and venerated i have

to tell you i felt guilty sitting down

but she insisted so what could i do

here a student some manner or a woman

when visiting a recluse or brahman does

not ask venerable sir

what is wholesome what is unwholesome

what is blameable what is blameless

what should be cultivated what should

not be cultivated

what kind of action will lead to my harm

and suffering for a long time

what kind of action will lead to my harm

of my welfare and happiness for a long

time

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in a state of

deprivation

but if instead he comes back to this

human state

then wherever he is reborn he is stupid

this is the way a student that leads to

stupidity namely one does not visit a

recluse or brahmana

and asks such questions

here student a man or a woman when

visiting recluses or brahmanas ask

venerable sir

what is wholesome what kind of action

will lead to my welfare and happiness

for a long time

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in a happy

destination

but if instead he comes back to the

human state

then wherever he is reborn he is wise

i was

the attendant for venerable ucla nanda

who was a very famous monk in burma

and very very intelligent

and i was asking him questions about

everything

for two years i'm asking him every day

i'm asking him 10 15 20 questions

and one day he stopped and he said

you know

when you're reborn you're gonna be

smarter than einstein

and as as karma will have it i seem to

have students

that always come up to me and say can i

ask you a question

and i've told one student in particular

i won't name any names

that

i was going to put that on her

gravestone when she died

excuse me i have a question can i ask a

question

so that was my karma for asking so many

questions i guess students that ask

questions all the time

the student the way that leads to short

life makes people short-lived

the way that leads to long life makes

people long-lived

the way that leads to sickliness makes

people sickly

the way that leads to health makes

people healthy

the way that leads to ugliness makes

people ugly

the way that leads to

being beautiful

makes people beautiful

the way that leads to being

uninfluential makes people uninfluential

the way that leads to being influential

makes people influential

the way that leads to poverty makes

people poor

the way that leads to health

makes people wealthy

our wealth makes people wealthy the way

that leads to low birth makes people

love born

the way that leads to high birth makes

people highborn

the way that leads to stupidity makes

people stupid

the way that leads to wisdom makes

people wise

beings are owners of their action

student

heirs to their action they originate

from their actions are bound to their

actions

have actions as their refuge

it is actions that distinguishes beings

as inferior and superior

when this was said the brahmana student

saba toadie's son said to the blessed

one magnificent master gautama

magnificent

master gotama has made the dhamma clear

in many ways as though he were turning

upright

what had been overturned

revealing what was hidden showing the

way to one who was lost

or holding up a lamp in the dark for

those with eyesight to see forms

i go to master gotama for refuge and to

the dhamma and sangha of monks

let master gotama remember me as a lay

follower

who has gone to him for refuge for life

so actions your karma is the thing that

dictates whether you have a successful

life or an unsuccessful life

whether it's influential or

uninfluential

because of the way the buddha teaches

meditation

and stresses

your generosity in all different kinds

of ways

when you practice your generosity

it opens your mind up when you practice

your naggardliness

and your stinginess

it closes your mind out

when you practice being stingy

nobody will help you and and

be generous with you

so you practice your generosity

with your speech

with your thoughts with your actions

you practice giving

in all kinds of different ways

doing things that make other people

smile

you affect the world around you it's

your choice how you want to affect that

world

you want to affect that world with anger

you can do that

but anger gets thrown back at you

you want to affect the world with love

you can do that

and love comes back to you

there's times that

i can be sitting

not meditating just sitting

maybe reading or doing something

and i feel

rushes of love coming to me

and sometimes it's like a hot flash all

of a sudden i'll break out in the sweat

and i feel all of this manta coming

of course i bounce it back to

whoever's doing it

but it's really nice

it really helps my mind be uplifted

but you have to give before you get

so the more you give loving kindness the

more loving kindness will come back to

you

now finding out that if you don't ask

any questions you're going to be reborn

stupid

is anybody

does anybody have any questions

okay

and let's hear some merit

may suffering ones be suffering free and

the fear struck fear of speaking

may the grieving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

may all be shared as merit that we thus

acquired for the acquisition of all

kinds of happiness

may beings inhabiting space and earth

devas and nadas of mighty power shares

as merit of ours

may they long protect the buddhist

dispensation

you