From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=PmN1WdcHWWs

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

this particular

suit is real interesting

because it starts with

being at the fourth drama and goes

up from there and explains a lot

so that's what we're going to do tonight

thus if i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living in the kuru

country

at a town of the kurus named casa sadama

there the blessed one addressed the

monks thus

monks venerable sir they replied the

blessed one said this

monks sensual pleasures are impermanent

hollow false deceptive

they are illusionary illusion

illusory excuse me the prattle of fools

central pleasures here and now and

sensual pleasures and lives to come

sensual perceptions here and now and

sensual perceptions and lives to come

both alive are mara's realm

mara's domain mara's bait mara's hunting

ground

now all of this talk about mara is

the coming up of hindrances

and when you are able to six har the

hindrances mara

disappears but it can be

sometimes the hindrances when they come

up they can be

real enticing

especially sensual pleasures

your sensual pleasures are

for contact you see somebody is very

beautiful that walks by

you start thinking about them and

your mind becomes completely distracted

and then you can start thinking about

them at other times

and get into your imagination and become

completely distracted so you want to be

aware of the sensual pleasures for some

people

it's sexual pleasure for some people

it's the taste of food

for some people it sounds

for some people it's odors

so you have bodily contacts

so all of these sensual pleasures when

they arise

they are the realm of mara

and they're there to distract you

away from your object of meditation

and if you indulge in these

then what you think

and ponder on that's the inclination

of your mind the more you think about

these kind of things the more often they

come up

yeah so is thinking

and imagining also essential pleasure it

can be

indulging about the up in the planet

so that's a considered

the reason that i want you to make the

six

r's a habit

so that it becomes automatic and so that

you won't get caught by these things for

long periods of time

now if you get caught by them

you can't criticize yourself because you

were caught

why you're still identifying with

thoughts and feelings

and that is unwholesome

what we're here for is to recognize the

unwholesome

release the unwholesome and relax

bring up the wholesome smile and

come back to your object of meditation

and stay with your object of meditation

as long as you possibly can

it doesn't matter how

many times you have to use the six

r's before something goes away

it will stay that hindrance will stay

as long as you're attached to it

now every time you you use the 6rs

you're letting go of the attachment for

a short period of time

eventually that hindrance will become

weak

and it won't come up with such strength

and pull you away for such a long period

of time

so

we have to learn to

practice what the buddha taught and that

is patience leads to

the obama

you're not using the 6rs as a stick

to beat away the hindrance you're not

using the six r's

as a way to control the hindrance

you're using the six r's to take your

attention

for a moment away from that hindrance so

you can start to see

how mind's attention moves back

to it

okay when you start taking an

interest in how mind's attention

moves from one thing to another you are

starting to recognize

how the lengths of dependent origination

work

now the thing that's real important to

remember

is that this isn't about control

it's not about suppressing it's about

allowing it to be without keeping your

attention on it

so it keeps coming back okay

it keeps coming back fine you know what

to do with it

well it doesn't go away well you're not

trying to make it go away

if you're trying to make it go away

who's

trying who doesn't like it

who wants it to be different than it is

the six r's are not that the six

r's are allowing the space for that to

be but not keeping your attention on it

when you start taking your attention and

putting it back

on smiling relaxing smiling

coming back to your object of meditation

you stop feeding that hindrance

and when it doesn't have any food it

doesn't grow any bigger

eventually it becomes weak

until finally it fades away

getting involved with sensual pleasures

is a trap

and most of it is in your imagination

and in your indulging

it's not seeing how things really arise

it's taking that personally and grabbing

onto it and say i

like that i want that

and then you get caught up in your story

and the thing about this story is it's a

bunch of repeat thoughts

and it's like it's on a tape deck you

know it's the same

thoughts same order

so you want to be aware of this so you

can

gently let it be without

keeping your attention on it that's what

the six

hours are all about it's allowing

whatever is there to be there

but you don't keep your attention on you

gently relax

smile come back to your object to

meditation

now i'm going to read this a sentence

again

sensual pleasures here and now and

sensual pleasures and lives to come

lives to come what does that mean does

that mean when you die from this realm

and then you're reborn in another realm

that you have to put up with it again

no you're continually

being born and dying

as the present moment changes to another

present moment

that was the birth and death of that

present moment

the more you think and ponder on

indulging in a sensual pleasure

the bigger and more intense it becomes

and your mind tends towards that

and when it tends towards it it likes it

so it does it more

and you start identifying with it more

and more

so who's causing their own pain

who's causing their own suffering

do you see how

we have to take responsibility for our

own

stories our own

attachments you can't blame somebody out

here

for your pain

why because you're causing your pain to

yourself

by indulging

by thinking and pondering on an

unwholesome thing

so the unwholesome thing keeps coming

back up and up and up and up

both the sensual pleasures

and the sensual perceptions both like

karmara's realm

mara's domain mara's bait anything to

get you distracted

away from the present moment

maura loves that sort of stuff

it's mara's hunting ground on account of

them

these evil unwholesome mental states

such as

lust ill will and presumption

arise

and they constitute an obstruction to

the noble

discipline in training here

now herein monks a noble disciple

considers the

sensual pleasures here and now and

sensual pleasure in lives to come

constitute an instruction to the noble

discipline and training here

suppose i were to abide with a mind

abundant

exalted having transcended the world

with a mind

firm with and

dyslexia is coming up excuse me i'll try

that again

suppose i were to abide with a mind

abundant and exalted

having transcended the world letting go

of what

right and made a firm determination with

the mind

when i do so there will be no more evil

unwholesome

states such as lust ill will

and presumption in me and with the

abandoning of them

my mind will be unlimited immeasurable

well-developed now what are we talking

about we're talking about being in the

fourth genre where your mind

becomes imperturbable why because you

have this very strong

equanimity

and only when your mindfulness

becomes weak

do you get out of that state

so you want to take more interest in

staying with your objective meditation

more interest and

interest is kind of a

interesting thing if you put too much

interest in it then you start trying too

hard and you have

a hindrance arise again because of

putting in too much

energy too much effort

so you have to back off but you still

keep strong

interest

so it's real important

to learn how to develop this

when a person practices in this way and

frequently abides thus his mind acquires

confidence in this base

an interesting thing that happens an

awful lot of teachers will tell you

that the only way that you can

experience the fourth

jhana is while you're sitting in

meditation

because they're practicing absorption

type of concentration

can you feel balance while you're

walking from here

to get a cup of tea

can you keep your balance going

well then you're practicing perfectly

you're not letting your mind flip flop

around you're not letting distractions

come in and pull you away

you're leaving mara alone

i one time was giving uh a talk about

the four

jhanas right after somebody else gave a

talk about the four genres

the day before and they were laughing

saying some people think that you can

carry jonah with you whenever you're

doing anything

and that's just not possible

and i came along and i i knew

i was at that talk before and i said

can you feel joy while you're doing your

activities

and after the joy fades away can you

feel

nice and tranquil and very comfortable

and you stay with what you're doing for

a fairly long period of time

then you're staying in the first journal

it's not just about doing the sitting

this is about being able to carry the

meditation

with you all the time

so it's the same with the equanimity

carry the equidimity with you when it

starts to fade a little bit

six are the distraction and come back to

it

that's what this practice is all about

that's why we we need to develop this

practice

so that we can have a balanced mind

even though painful things

arise

once there's full confidence he either

attains to the imperturbable now

or else he resolves upon it with

wisdom what does that mean

you see how the links of dependent

origination

work with this balanced mind

you still are going to have some

distractions

but you're going to see how the process

works

it doesn't matter whether you're walking

or

going to the toilet or eating your food

you can still see the links of dependent

origination

don't let your mindfulness slip

the function of mindfulness is to

remember

to remember what to remember to observe

how mind's attention moves

and when you're observing how

mind's attention moves from one thing to

another

you're looking very closely

at how this process works

on the desolution of the body

after death it is possible that this

consciousness of his leading to rebirth

may pass on to rebirth in the

imperturbable

this monks is declared to be the first

way

to the imperturbable and other words

you die you leave this body

with a balanced mind without attachments

to it

the rebirth you have will be in a very

high brahmaloka realm

a um local realm if you're in the fourth

jhana

you will be reborn in that realm and you

can stay there

for 500 mahakatas before the

the merit of attaining this kind of

balance of mind

starts to slip a little bit and then you

reborn in other places

is made up of four asan kayas

and asankaya is

10 with 160 zeros behind it that's how

many years

one asenkaya is multiply

that times four

okay the the way the universe works

right now everything is

moving

there is the expansion of the universe

that's happening

from the time it went from the big bang

until it stops going out that's one

asankaya

and then it will stop for one assaintaya

and then it will contract for one

assaint kaya

and then it will stop for one ah saying

kaya

the only time life occurs

on planets is when there is expansion in

the universe

okay now now consider that times 500

it is a happy realm

as a matter of fact your food

the nourishment you need

while you're in that realm is

radiating equanimity

balance it's a wonderful realm to be

reborn in

there's better

it's it's pretty good

again a noble disciple considers thus

there are sexual pleasures here and now

and central pleasure in lives to come

sensual perceptions here and now on

central perceptions and lives to come

whatever material form there is

all material form is the four

great elements and material form

derived from the four grade elements the

four

grade elements the earth element the

fire element

the water element and the air element

of these four elements

the strongest one actually is the air

element error element is

movement and vibration

now tell me something in the universe

that's not moving

or vibrating

you get right down to it all of your

little atoms running around

they got movement and vibration in them

the only thing that doesn't have any

movement or vibration

in it is super mundane [ __ ]

now what are you doing every time you

practice the six hours

you're letting go of the craving when

you let go

of the craving your mind is bright your

mind is alert

your mind is very much in the present

moment

and you bring that mind back to your

object of meditation

at first your mind flip-flops it's going

all over the place and there's all kinds

of huge

movements as you go down

as you go deeper in the dramas the

movement is not quite so much

and when you get to the fourth jhana

instead of huge

movements of mind's attention now it's

vibration

and as you continue six aring that

vibration becomes less

and less and less until you can't tell

really whether it's doing anything or

not

until you reflect on what's happening

while you're

in that and you see there's still some

movement and some vibration

every time you let go of craving

your mind becomes more

calm

more alert more at ease and the

vibrations become

less and less and less and as you

continue doing that

eventually it stops

that's the cessation of perception

feeling and consciousness

it is not impossible to get into this

i promise all you have to do is practice

your 6rs

until they become automatic

and then you keep watching

and you'll see all of these different

states that i'm going to be talking

about in a little bit

now these four great elements

all material form

come from these four elements

they're all different degrees of earth

element

fire element water element and

air element

when he practices in this way and

frequently

abides thus his mind acquires confidence

in this base

once there's full confidence he either

attains to the imperturbable now

that means you attain me bona now

or else

he develops his his attention

so that he sees with wisdom

that's what i'm continually encouraging

you to do

this is declared to be the second way

directed to the imperturbable

again a noble disciple considers thus

sensual pleasures here and now on

central pleasures and lives to come

central perceptions here and now and

sensual perceptions and lives to come

what are sensual perceptions

i want an answer you can't sit here and

not say something

what is a sensual perception anything it

comes to the

sixth whole faith i

see what is perception

something that you recognize realizing

you understand the definitions that i

give you about the five aggregates and

what is the perception

aggregate it is the

naming this is where your concepts

are in other words sensual concepts

that you get involved in that means

thinking don't sit with your legs

crossed please

material forms here and now in material

forms and lives to come

perceptions of forms here and now and

perceptions of forms and lives to come

both alike are impermanent

what is impermanent is not worth

delighting

and not worth welcoming not worth

holding

to now that means

everything because everything is a state

of

change right everything is impermanent

so what what he's really saying here it

doesn't matter

whether it's a thought it doesn't matter

whether it's a feeling it doesn't matter

if it's a sensation

it's all impermanent

and it's not worth holding on to it's

not worth

welcoming it's just something that

arises because the conditions are right

for it to arise what you do

with what arises in the present moment

dictates what happens in the future

if you take a hold of it

and think you can control it and you

want to indulge in it

then you can look forward to having

suffering

arise and not just

a little bit a lot

well i don't like the way he said that i

don't like the way he

acts i don't i don't i don't

who's involved with not liking what

arises in the present moment

who's taking those thoughts and concepts

and opinions and making them personal

now this goes back to the other suta

number 21 that i was talking about

the other day what did the buddha say

when somebody comes up it doesn't matter

whether it's timely or untimely

it's true or false it's pleasant or

unpleasant

it's spoken with loving kindness or with

hatred

it doesn't matter what is the job

of what is our job

our job is not to fight with that other

person

our job is to send

loving and kind thoughts to that person

that takes it away from making whatever

they say

something personal

and you start radiating loving kindness

to that person and then

you radiate loving kindness to all

beings you use that

as the reminder to keep your mind

uplifted

immeasurable

radiating loving kindness no matter what

when you do that

mara is defeated mara

cannot arise

but when you start taking what somebody

else says personally

and say well i have to protect myself

because they said this or they did that

or they said something that was hurtful

who's fighting with the present moment

who's causing themselves pain more you

can keep your mind

focused in the present moment

there is no suffering

there is no pain there is no

dissatisfaction

there's only the present moment how can

you be dissatisfied with that

it's right here in front of you it's not

good it's not bad

it's just the present moment

and it's okay for it to be the way it is

because that's the truth

when it is the present moment and you

start to fight with the present moment

you can look forward to lots of

suffering

or

you can see the present moment has

painful thoughts in it

it has painful feeling and it is is

unsatisfactory

but you know that the present moment is

changing continually moment to moment to

moment

if you grab onto this present moment by

the time you grab onto it you're already

into the next present moment

in the next present moment and that

holding on to

that craving

is going to cause suffering

everything is in a state of change

that's the way it works

i wish it didn't

but the whole universe is like this

you're learning right now how to let go

of that suffering

you're learning right now how to stay

with the mind

and still with the mind and at

ease with the mind that's in the present

moment

what relief that is

yeah but it's boring nothing happening

who's bored

i want some excitement

mind wants some excitement let's throw

another hindrance at him so we can be

excited

36r all of this you don't get involved

with it

what is impermanent is not worth

delighting

in not worth welcoming

not worth holding on to

that means there's nothing worth holding

on to

and what's that saying

when you let go of craving there's

nothing

holding

okay it's pretty straightforward

this is one of the deeper suit

when he practices in this way and

frequently abides thus his mind acquires

confidence in this base

in this kind of understanding

you heard me talking about the eightfold

path and

what is harmonious perspective

the harmonious perspective is always

this is an impersonal thing that's here

right here right now

it's not words don't take it as yours

once there's full confidence he either

attains the imperturbable now

contains nirvana or

he still is watching with

wisdom

on the desolution after god of the body

after death it is possible that this

consciousness

of his leading to rebirth

may pass on to another rebirth

in the imperturbable this monks is

declared to be the third way

directed to the imperturbal

now we're going to go to the base of

nothingness

again a noble disciple considers thus

sensual pleasures here and now and

sensual pleasures and lives to come

sensual perceptions here and now and

central perceptions and lives to come

material form here and now in material

forms and lives to come

perception of forms here and now and

perceptions of forms and lives to come

perceptions of the imperturbable are

all perceptions

what does that mean they're all

still mundane they're

all still part of your worldly

experience perceptions are concepts

that's the naming part of your mind

that starts the concepts arising it puts

the name on something

and makes it a concept

is a state of no concept

when i first realized that i did blew my

mind

i just sat back in like wow

a state of no concept

what a wonderful thing

there's no opinions there's no thinking

there's

no

no way for there to ever be any

distraction

if there is no concept

where these perceptions cease without

remainder

that is peaceful that is

a blind

when he practices in this way and

frequently abides thus

his mind acquires confidence and this

base

in the base of nothingness

and there is full confidence either

retains to the base of nothingness now

or else he resolves upon seeing with

wisdom

on the desolution after by

desolution of the body after death

it is possible that this consciousness

of his

leading to rebirth may pass on to

rebirth in the base of nothingness

now i was talking about getting into the

fourth drama and

sitting and if you don't go any further

than that then you're reborn

in a in a state that lasts for five

hundred mah copies

if you get into nothingness and you

don't go any higher than that

this state this immaterial state

lasts for 60 000

that's what you'd call a pretty long

time

and it's a material state immaterial

state so it's just a mental state

but your mind is pure your mind is alive

there is still some observations that

still occur

this monks is declared to be the first

way directed to the base of nothingness

again a noble disciple gone to the

forest or to the root of the tree or an

empty hut

considers thus this is void of the self

or what belongs to itself have you heard

that one before

this is not me this i am not

this is not myself

i have a student that

can get into this realm and then his

mind

always starts putting too much energy

and he develops doubt

what is this am i doing this right

it seems i'm missing something

so i tell him for a day

what i want you to do with whatever

arises i don't

care repeat

this statement this is not me

this is not mine this is not myself

and then he settles down and he gets

back into this

and he's very good for a period of time

and then he starts pushing again

i can't get him to stop trying so hard

he really has the desire to attain

nibana

and it's very strong and it's getting in

his way

he has to let go of that desire

and i don't know how many times i've

talked with him about that

stop insisting

that the next present moment be it

now when sorry

he was he's actually kind of slow in

attaining our ahacha

he was the first noble but he was a

first disciple he was second to the

buddha and wisdom

in other words he was second to the

buddha in

understanding all of the different

aspects of dependent origination and how

it worked

it took him two weeks

the second chief disciple it only took

one week

right but because he was intellectual

he wanted to know everything there was

to know about everything

in the way of dependent origination that

little tiny curiosity

of is it going to be different

is there something i'm missing that

little curiosity

stopped him from attaining our ahacha

so one day he's fanning the buddha

hot day buddha's giving talks to people

and he's listening to the talk while

he's talking to someone else and he

realizes

the buddha is not even attached to the

dhamma

and he saw how he was slightly attached

to the dumb

and while he was fanning he let it go

and he saw dependent origination coming

up and going down coming up and going

down became an arab

with fruition

he start going like this

well i'm sure he was banning the buddha

anyway oh

wow

i still want a magazine

when he practices in this way frequently

and he abides thus

his mind acquires confidence in this

base

once there's full confidence he attains

to the base of nothingness

now or else he resolves

and still continues to see dependent

origination

on the dissolution of the body after

death

it is possible that this consciousness

of his

leads to rebirth there can still be

slight

attachments even when you're in the

realm

of nothingness they're not big

but they're still there there's still a

want

for things to be

but you're getting better and better at

recognizing in six

areas seeing how these distractions pull

you away in

six are

making this an absolute

automatic process

anyway they may pass on to the to

rebirth in the

base of nothingness which lasts 60

000 mahakapas this

monks is declared to be the second way

directed to the base of nothingness

again

a noble disciples that considers thus

i am not anything belonging to anyone

anywhere nor is there anything belonging

to me

in anyone anywhere

but i'm married

concept

when he practices in this way and

frequently abides thus now these are the

kind of reflections that you can carry

with you with your daily activities

this isn't me i don't belong to anyone

nobody belongs to me

there's nothing to hold on to

there's nothing to become

there's only the present moment

these are just different ways of

coming up to that realization

when he frequently practices in this way

and frequently abides thus his mind

acquires confidence in this base

once there's full confidence he either

attains to the base of nothingness

now or else he resolves upon with wisdom

on the dissolution of the body after

death it is possible that

this consciousness of his leading to

rebirth

may pass on to rebirth in the realm of

not a base of nothingness

this too is declared to be the third way

directed to the base of nothingness

now we're going to be talking about the

base of neither perception

or non-perception

neither feeling nor non-feeling

neither consciousness nor

non-consciousness

can't have one without the other

remember

they showed you in that one suit where

these three three things

are con

comedy

thank you

again a noble disciple considers thus

sensual pleasures here and now in

sensual pleasures and lives to come

sensual perceptions here and now on

sexual

sensual perceptions and lives to come

material forms here and now on material

forms and lives to come

perceptions of forms here and now and

perception of forms and lives to come

perceptions of the imperturbable and

perceptions of the base of nothingness

all our perceptions

where these perceptions cease without

remainder

that is the peaceful that is the sublime

namely the base of neither perception or

non-perception

or feeling or consciousness

when you get into this state you don't

know you're in that state

until you come out you're still alert

you're still

mindful but

mine now has become so

vibrating so little it's hard to tell

whether it's moving or not

when you come out of that state

then you reflect on what happened while

you were

in that state

you can see forms you can see colors

and there's other things

i need to know those when i'm talking to

you when

you experience these kinds of states

when he practices in this way and

frequently abides thus oh

when you come out of that state and you

see these different things you six

argos right then right there

and then you just sit

in this exquisite stillness

and you'll be sitting in there for a

period of time sometimes it can be a

real

long time sometimes a few hours

and then you'll go be going deep enough

and all of a sudden

it happens again that state of being

asleep but not to being aware

at the same time is what it feels like

then you reflect on what happened while

you were in that in six

hours whatever arises

it takes very sharp mindfulness to do

this

when he practices in this way and

frequently abides thus

his mind acquires confidence in this

base

once there's full confidence he either

attains to the base of neither

perception nor non-perception

now or else he resolves upon

it with wisdom you can still see

some of the links of dependent

origination when you reflect

on that movement of mind's attention

that came up with the colors and shapes

and other things that arise

but you six are it on the dissolution of

the body after

death it is possible that this

consciousness of his

leading to rebirth so there's still

a slight tiny tiny bit

of attachment

may pass on to rebirth in the base of

neither perception

or non-perception now this state only

lasts for eighty-four thousands

now people that are practicing

absorption concentration

this is all they can get to they can't

get

any further why because when you're

practicing absorption concentration

you're bringing

back the craving to your object

of meditation

when you practice the six r's you don't

right so you're still

able to go to the unconditioned state

all of these still are conditioned

states

okay now

let's talk a little bit about nibana

when this was said the venerable ananda

said to the blessed one

venerable seer venerable sir here a monk

is practicing thus

it might not be and it might not be

mine it will not be and it will not be

mine what exists what has come to be

that i am abandoning

thus he obtains equanimity venerable sir

does such a monk attain nibana

what is the cause and reason venerable

sir why

one monk here might attain the ibana

while another

monk here might not attain nirvana

here ananda a monk is practicing thus

it might not be and it might not be mind

it will not be

and it will not be mine what exists what

has come to be

that i am abandoning thus he obtains

equanimity

he delights in that equanimity welcomes

it and remains holding to it

slight tiny attachment

as he does so his consciousness

becomes dependent on it and clings to it

now claims here doesn't mean getting

into your thoughts and opinions about it

it means

holding on to it

a monk hernandez who is affected by

clinging does not

attain honor

but venerable sir

that mom when that monk clings

what does he cling to to the base of

neither venerable sir

it seems he clings to the best object of

clinging

when that monk clings ananda he clings

to the best object of clinging

for this is the best object of clinging

namely the base of neither perception or

non-perception

so if you've got to be attached the

buddhists say and be attached to that

here and on manka's practicing thus

it might not be it might not be

mine it will not be and it will not be

mine

what exists what has come to be that i

am

abandoning thus he obtains

equanimity he does not delight in that

equanimity

welcome or remain holding to it

he just observes that's all

since he does not do so his

consciousness does not become

dependent on it and does not cling to it

a monk ananda who is without clinging

attains nibada

that means when all of your

enlightenment factors

are in perfect balance that's when you

contain the body

it is wonderful venerable sir it is

marvelous the blessed one indeed has

explained to us

the crossing of the flood independence

upon

one support or another but venerable sir

what is noble liberation

noble disciple considers thus

sensual pleasures here and now in

sensual pleasures and lives to come

sensual perceptions here and now in

central perception and lives to come

material forms here and now and material

forms and lives to come

perceptions of forms here and now on

perception

of forms and lives to come perceptions

of the imperturbable perceptions of the

base of nothingness perception of the

base of

neither perception or non-perception

this is all personality as far as

personality extends

this is the death list namely the

liberation of mind through

not craving or

the way directed to the imperturbable i

have taught the way directed to the base

of nothingness i've taught the way

directed to the base of neither

perception or non-perception

i have taught the crossing of the flood

independence upon one support or another

i have taught noble liberation

what should be done for his disciples

out of compassion by a teacher who seeks

their welfare

and has compassion for them that i have

done for you

ananda there are these

roots of trees these empty huts

meditate ananda do not delay or else

you'll regret it later

this is our instruction to you

that is what the blessed one said the

venerable ananda was satisfied and

delighted in the blessed one's words

and i would hope that he would be

again the experience of nibana

is getting to a place where there is

no perception there is no feeling there

is no consciousness

you'll be in that state for a little

while

when you come out you will see the links

of dependent origination arising and

passing

away you'll see how they arise

and you will see how they pass away

when you see this completely

all ignorance ceases

when ignorance ceases nibbana

occurs there are no more

conditions

let's be excited

so from the suta you can have a few

take a few tips from it especially the

one

about when you're getting caught

when you're starting to think about this

or that is this me

is this mine is this myself

do you know the answer

this is why the step of relaxing is so

incredibly important from the time you

first start

sitting in jhana and your mind is

flip-flopping like this

until it starts vibrating

the craving is the thing that becomes

less

endless and less until there is no more

vibration

there is the cessation

perception feeling and consciousness

that is such a major insight

that

your perception will never be the same

after that

you lose all kinds of fetters

all kinds of things that could possibly

come up

you lose a belief that there is

nibana can be attained by doing rights

and rituals

you blew you lose doubt

you lose a belief in a permanent self

you let go completely

of all lust and hatred now think about

that for a minute

what would it be to live a life that

your mind was such had such strong

balance in it that lust or hatred never

arose again

never what relief

you lose the desire to be reborn in

another

realm

restlessness disappears think about that

one never

having restlessness arise sloth and

torpor disappears

never having a dull mind ever again

and you don't have any pride

i'm special

i don't have this stuff i'm something

good

it doesn't even come up

and your understanding of the four noble

root truths

is absolute

so no more ignorance can arise

that seems worth it to me

look at how much suffering we've caused

ourselves just in this lifetime

look at how much pain we've gone through

just in this lifetime

and we keep doing it over and over and

over again because we don't learn

that everything is part of an impersonal

process

it's not me it's not mine it is

not myself i don't care what it

is

anytime you see yourself getting serious

guess who has an attachment

guess who's taking that and trying to

control it because you think you're in

control of whatever arises

guess who's causing themselves pain

well don't do that anymore

right

well but i've always trained myself to

be a serious person

wrong bad training

what have i been telling you the whole

retreat i want you to laugh

i want you to smile i want you to have

fun

why because your mind is light

your mindfulness is sharp and you can

see the traps that you set for yourself

and cause yourself suffering

you see the trap of identifying with

things

when you laugh with yourself for being

attached

you are not there anymore

it's only this feeling it's only this

anger it's only the sadness

it's only this perplexity

what's that let it go

but when you start taking it personally

well it hurts

stop causing pain to yourself

have this uplifted mind that's alert

that's bright that's very much in the

present moment

there's no suffering there

that's a promise

when you become an arahat

you're always in the present moment

your mind doesn't think about this and

that and wander around and wonder

what it's going to be like tomorrow

you're in the present moment

what more do you need

oh but i'm afraid to be coming in our

hot i still have my attachments you know

but you know let's let's rephrase that i

still have my pain

you know

let go of it

let go of the suffering let go of all

the pain

let go of all of the identification

with whatever arises

how do you do that practice the six

hours

remember to observe

how mind's attention actually

does

you get a whole lot of oh wows when you

do that

and you not only start seeing how

dependent origination

arises in you you start seeing how it

arises in other people

and then that causes compassion to arise

are you paying attention to what they're

saying when they have anger

when they have dissatisfaction towards

you

are you paying attention to what they're

saying and trying to defend

yourself or are you seeing that other

person

suffering immeasurably and have

compassion towards that other person and

start radiating loving kindness to them

that always makes the situation better

you know this thing that we read every

morning hatred cannot be overcome

by hatred in this world hatred can only

be overcome by love

it's not just something to repeat it's

something to practice

the more you keep your mind focused on

loving kindness

the more pure your mind becomes

why because you're practicing your six

hours

right six hours will take you all the

way

right up to the doorstep

anybody have any questions comments

this is a very good suitable yeah i

think

david is right okay

i thought it was really nice because he

pointed out that

that you can enjoy the moment but it's

holding on to it

that's the wanting it problem last

longer so this is really clear that i

mean you can still enjoy something

beautiful or see something that's

happening or hear something

but it's carrying it around with you

beyond the present moment that makes the

problem

right when you don't carry things with

you

you can see things

completely you can see things

totally

and that leads to real contentment

i have a number of questions i'll keep

it to one

that's okay we went all of them

so it turned into an interview

one of my teachers i think it was

menindra

talked about creating sankaras

kind of was that i don't know if you

recall that it was

thought forms that come out of

clinging thought forms are part of

clinging yes

yes they first arise as the potential

of formations

the potential is there because of past

action

then you have your

body speech in mind okay that's the

potential there and as the dependent

origination goes you get up to the

clinging

and now you're starting to create more

unwholesome situations

and there's

and we have all these old habits

thinking about this or thinking about

that whatever it happens to be

and all habits don't have to be a

problem

if your mindfulness is sharp enough to

see it

and let it go and relax into it

and come back to your smiling

and laughing your object to meditation

i have to say it gets pretty tiring

because it's the same

bad jokes

it is

it is and that's one of the things that

can help you laugh with it so it's not

you anymore

he's pretty pathetic

the word presumption is used in there

yeah

what does that mean exactly in the sense

that it's being used

you assume assuming

pretty soon

just bring your dictionary with nope

say that

i can't get it is that the leaning

that's the main way

to expect okay

there's all different kinds of words

that you can use for not being precisely

in the present moment

when you assume that something is going

to be the same

all the time

yeah then you start leaning and saying

well i know this one i'm gonna

see if i can get beyond this one and

start leaning a little bit then you have

restlessness

oh yeah

me and mara are friends

i keep trying to get rid of it

friends like that i don't need

peace

all kinds of happiness means and

happening to place on earth

davids and nagas of mighty power shared

in the spirit of ours

may they long to protect the greatest

dispensation

this particular

suit is real interesting

because it starts with

being at the fourth drama and goes

up from there and explains a lot

so that's what we're going to do tonight

thus if i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living in the kuru

country

at a town of the kurus named casa sadama

there the blessed one addressed the

monks thus

monks venerable sir they replied the

blessed one said this

monks sensual pleasures are impermanent

hollow false deceptive

they are illusionary illusion

illusory excuse me the prattle of fools

central pleasures here and now and

sensual pleasures and lives to come

sensual perceptions here and now and

sensual perceptions and lives to come

both alive are mara's realm

mara's domain mara's bait mara's hunting

ground

now all of this talk about mara is

the coming up of hindrances

and when you are able to six har the

hindrances mara

disappears but it can be

sometimes the hindrances when they come

up they can be

real enticing

especially sensual pleasures

your sensual pleasures are

for contact you see somebody is very

beautiful that walks by

you start thinking about them and

your mind becomes completely distracted

and then you can start thinking about

them at other times

and get into your imagination and become

completely distracted so you want to be

aware of the sensual pleasures for some

people

it's sexual pleasure for some people

it's the taste of food

for some people it sounds

for some people it's odors

so you have bodily contacts

so all of these sensual pleasures when

they arise

they are the realm of mara

and they're there to distract you

away from your object of meditation

and if you indulge in these

then what you think

and ponder on that's the inclination

of your mind the more you think about

these kind of things the more often they

come up

yeah so is thinking

and imagining also essential pleasure it

can be

indulging about the up in the planet

so that's a considered

the reason that i want you to make the

six

r's a habit

so that it becomes automatic and so that

you won't get caught by these things for

long periods of time

now if you get caught by them

you can't criticize yourself because you

were caught

why you're still identifying with

thoughts and feelings

and that is unwholesome

what we're here for is to recognize the

unwholesome

release the unwholesome and relax

bring up the wholesome smile and

come back to your object of meditation

and stay with your object of meditation

as long as you possibly can

it doesn't matter how

many times you have to use the six

r's before something goes away

it will stay that hindrance will stay

as long as you're attached to it

now every time you you use the 6rs

you're letting go of the attachment for

a short period of time

eventually that hindrance will become

weak

and it won't come up with such strength

and pull you away for such a long period

of time

so

we have to learn to

practice what the buddha taught and that

is patience leads to

the obama

you're not using the 6rs as a stick

to beat away the hindrance you're not

using the six r's

as a way to control the hindrance

you're using the six r's to take your

attention

for a moment away from that hindrance so

you can start to see

how mind's attention moves back

to it

okay when you start taking an

interest in how mind's attention

moves from one thing to another you are

starting to recognize

how the lengths of dependent origination

work

now the thing that's real important to

remember

is that this isn't about control

it's not about suppressing it's about

allowing it to be without keeping your

attention on it

so it keeps coming back okay

it keeps coming back fine you know what

to do with it

well it doesn't go away well you're not

trying to make it go away

if you're trying to make it go away

who's

trying who doesn't like it

who wants it to be different than it is

the six r's are not that the six

r's are allowing the space for that to

be but not keeping your attention on it

when you start taking your attention and

putting it back

on smiling relaxing smiling

coming back to your object of meditation

you stop feeding that hindrance

and when it doesn't have any food it

doesn't grow any bigger

eventually it becomes weak

until finally it fades away

getting involved with sensual pleasures

is a trap

and most of it is in your imagination

and in your indulging

it's not seeing how things really arise

it's taking that personally and grabbing

onto it and say i

like that i want that

and then you get caught up in your story

and the thing about this story is it's a

bunch of repeat thoughts

and it's like it's on a tape deck you

know it's the same

thoughts same order

so you want to be aware of this so you

can

gently let it be without

keeping your attention on it that's what

the six

hours are all about it's allowing

whatever is there to be there

but you don't keep your attention on you

gently relax

smile come back to your object to

meditation

now i'm going to read this a sentence

again

sensual pleasures here and now and

sensual pleasures and lives to come

lives to come what does that mean does

that mean when you die from this realm

and then you're reborn in another realm

that you have to put up with it again

no you're continually

being born and dying

as the present moment changes to another

present moment

that was the birth and death of that

present moment

the more you think and ponder on

indulging in a sensual pleasure

the bigger and more intense it becomes

and your mind tends towards that

and when it tends towards it it likes it

so it does it more

and you start identifying with it more

and more

so who's causing their own pain

who's causing their own suffering

do you see how

we have to take responsibility for our

own

stories our own

attachments you can't blame somebody out

here

for your pain

why because you're causing your pain to

yourself

by indulging

by thinking and pondering on an

unwholesome thing

so the unwholesome thing keeps coming

back up and up and up and up

both the sensual pleasures

and the sensual perceptions both like

karmara's realm

mara's domain mara's bait anything to

get you distracted

away from the present moment

maura loves that sort of stuff

it's mara's hunting ground on account of

them

these evil unwholesome mental states

such as

lust ill will and presumption

arise

and they constitute an obstruction to

the noble

discipline in training here

now herein monks a noble disciple

considers the

sensual pleasures here and now and

sensual pleasure in lives to come

constitute an instruction to the noble

discipline and training here

suppose i were to abide with a mind

abundant

exalted having transcended the world

with a mind

firm with and

dyslexia is coming up excuse me i'll try

that again

suppose i were to abide with a mind

abundant and exalted

having transcended the world letting go

of what

right and made a firm determination with

the mind

when i do so there will be no more evil

unwholesome

states such as lust ill will

and presumption in me and with the

abandoning of them

my mind will be unlimited immeasurable

well-developed now what are we talking

about we're talking about being in the

fourth genre where your mind

becomes imperturbable why because you

have this very strong

equanimity

and only when your mindfulness

becomes weak

do you get out of that state

so you want to take more interest in

staying with your objective meditation

more interest and

interest is kind of a

interesting thing if you put too much

interest in it then you start trying too

hard and you have

a hindrance arise again because of

putting in too much

energy too much effort

so you have to back off but you still

keep strong

interest

so it's real important

to learn how to develop this

when a person practices in this way and

frequently abides thus his mind acquires

confidence in this base

an interesting thing that happens an

awful lot of teachers will tell you

that the only way that you can

experience the fourth

jhana is while you're sitting in

meditation

because they're practicing absorption

type of concentration

can you feel balance while you're

walking from here

to get a cup of tea

can you keep your balance going

well then you're practicing perfectly

you're not letting your mind flip flop

around you're not letting distractions

come in and pull you away

you're leaving mara alone

i one time was giving uh a talk about

the four

jhanas right after somebody else gave a

talk about the four genres

the day before and they were laughing

saying some people think that you can

carry jonah with you whenever you're

doing anything

and that's just not possible

and i came along and i i knew

i was at that talk before and i said

can you feel joy while you're doing your

activities

and after the joy fades away can you

feel

nice and tranquil and very comfortable

and you stay with what you're doing for

a fairly long period of time

then you're staying in the first journal

it's not just about doing the sitting

this is about being able to carry the

meditation

with you all the time

so it's the same with the equanimity

carry the equidimity with you when it

starts to fade a little bit

six are the distraction and come back to

it

that's what this practice is all about

that's why we we need to develop this

practice

so that we can have a balanced mind

even though painful things

arise

once there's full confidence he either

attains to the imperturbable now

or else he resolves upon it with

wisdom what does that mean

you see how the links of dependent

origination

work with this balanced mind

you still are going to have some

distractions

but you're going to see how the process

works

it doesn't matter whether you're walking

or

going to the toilet or eating your food

you can still see the links of dependent

origination

don't let your mindfulness slip

the function of mindfulness is to

remember

to remember what to remember to observe

how mind's attention moves

and when you're observing how

mind's attention moves from one thing to

another

you're looking very closely

at how this process works

on the desolution of the body

after death it is possible that this

consciousness of his leading to rebirth

may pass on to rebirth in the

imperturbable

this monks is declared to be the first

way

to the imperturbable and other words

you die you leave this body

with a balanced mind without attachments

to it

the rebirth you have will be in a very

high brahmaloka realm

a um local realm if you're in the fourth

jhana

you will be reborn in that realm and you

can stay there

for 500 mahakatas before the

the merit of attaining this kind of

balance of mind

starts to slip a little bit and then you

reborn in other places

is made up of four asan kayas

and asankaya is

10 with 160 zeros behind it that's how

many years

one asenkaya is multiply

that times four

okay the the way the universe works

right now everything is

moving

there is the expansion of the universe

that's happening

from the time it went from the big bang

until it stops going out that's one

asankaya

and then it will stop for one assaintaya

and then it will contract for one

assaint kaya

and then it will stop for one ah saying

kaya

the only time life occurs

on planets is when there is expansion in

the universe

okay now now consider that times 500

it is a happy realm

as a matter of fact your food

the nourishment you need

while you're in that realm is

radiating equanimity

balance it's a wonderful realm to be

reborn in

there's better

it's it's pretty good

again a noble disciple considers thus

there are sexual pleasures here and now

and central pleasure in lives to come

sensual perceptions here and now on

central perceptions and lives to come

whatever material form there is

all material form is the four

great elements and material form

derived from the four grade elements the

four

grade elements the earth element the

fire element

the water element and the air element

of these four elements

the strongest one actually is the air

element error element is

movement and vibration

now tell me something in the universe

that's not moving

or vibrating

you get right down to it all of your

little atoms running around

they got movement and vibration in them

the only thing that doesn't have any

movement or vibration

in it is super mundane [ __ ]

now what are you doing every time you

practice the six hours

you're letting go of the craving when

you let go

of the craving your mind is bright your

mind is alert

your mind is very much in the present

moment

and you bring that mind back to your

object of meditation

at first your mind flip-flops it's going

all over the place and there's all kinds

of huge

movements as you go down

as you go deeper in the dramas the

movement is not quite so much

and when you get to the fourth jhana

instead of huge

movements of mind's attention now it's

vibration

and as you continue six aring that

vibration becomes less

and less and less until you can't tell

really whether it's doing anything or

not

until you reflect on what's happening

while you're

in that and you see there's still some

movement and some vibration

every time you let go of craving

your mind becomes more

calm

more alert more at ease and the

vibrations become

less and less and less and as you

continue doing that

eventually it stops

that's the cessation of perception

feeling and consciousness

it is not impossible to get into this

i promise all you have to do is practice

your 6rs

until they become automatic

and then you keep watching

and you'll see all of these different

states that i'm going to be talking

about in a little bit

now these four great elements

all material form

come from these four elements

they're all different degrees of earth

element

fire element water element and

air element

when he practices in this way and

frequently

abides thus his mind acquires confidence

in this base

once there's full confidence he either

attains to the imperturbable now

that means you attain me bona now

or else

he develops his his attention

so that he sees with wisdom

that's what i'm continually encouraging

you to do

this is declared to be the second way

directed to the imperturbable

again a noble disciple considers thus

sensual pleasures here and now on

central pleasures and lives to come

central perceptions here and now and

sensual perceptions and lives to come

what are sensual perceptions

i want an answer you can't sit here and

not say something

what is a sensual perception anything it

comes to the

sixth whole faith i

see what is perception

something that you recognize realizing

you understand the definitions that i

give you about the five aggregates and

what is the perception

aggregate it is the

naming this is where your concepts

are in other words sensual concepts

that you get involved in that means

thinking don't sit with your legs

crossed please

material forms here and now in material

forms and lives to come

perceptions of forms here and now and

perceptions of forms and lives to come

both alike are impermanent

what is impermanent is not worth

delighting

and not worth welcoming not worth

holding

to now that means

everything because everything is a state

of

change right everything is impermanent

so what what he's really saying here it

doesn't matter

whether it's a thought it doesn't matter

whether it's a feeling it doesn't matter

if it's a sensation

it's all impermanent

and it's not worth holding on to it's

not worth

welcoming it's just something that

arises because the conditions are right

for it to arise what you do

with what arises in the present moment

dictates what happens in the future

if you take a hold of it

and think you can control it and you

want to indulge in it

then you can look forward to having

suffering

arise and not just

a little bit a lot

well i don't like the way he said that i

don't like the way he

acts i don't i don't i don't

who's involved with not liking what

arises in the present moment

who's taking those thoughts and concepts

and opinions and making them personal

now this goes back to the other suta

number 21 that i was talking about

the other day what did the buddha say

when somebody comes up it doesn't matter

whether it's timely or untimely

it's true or false it's pleasant or

unpleasant

it's spoken with loving kindness or with

hatred

it doesn't matter what is the job

of what is our job

our job is not to fight with that other

person

our job is to send

loving and kind thoughts to that person

that takes it away from making whatever

they say

something personal

and you start radiating loving kindness

to that person and then

you radiate loving kindness to all

beings you use that

as the reminder to keep your mind

uplifted

immeasurable

radiating loving kindness no matter what

when you do that

mara is defeated mara

cannot arise

but when you start taking what somebody

else says personally

and say well i have to protect myself

because they said this or they did that

or they said something that was hurtful

who's fighting with the present moment

who's causing themselves pain more you

can keep your mind

focused in the present moment

there is no suffering

there is no pain there is no

dissatisfaction

there's only the present moment how can

you be dissatisfied with that

it's right here in front of you it's not

good it's not bad

it's just the present moment

and it's okay for it to be the way it is

because that's the truth

when it is the present moment and you

start to fight with the present moment

you can look forward to lots of

suffering

or

you can see the present moment has

painful thoughts in it

it has painful feeling and it is is

unsatisfactory

but you know that the present moment is

changing continually moment to moment to

moment

if you grab onto this present moment by

the time you grab onto it you're already

into the next present moment

in the next present moment and that

holding on to

that craving

is going to cause suffering

everything is in a state of change

that's the way it works

i wish it didn't

but the whole universe is like this

you're learning right now how to let go

of that suffering

you're learning right now how to stay

with the mind

and still with the mind and at

ease with the mind that's in the present

moment

what relief that is

yeah but it's boring nothing happening

who's bored

i want some excitement

mind wants some excitement let's throw

another hindrance at him so we can be

excited

36r all of this you don't get involved

with it

what is impermanent is not worth

delighting

in not worth welcoming

not worth holding on to

that means there's nothing worth holding

on to

and what's that saying

when you let go of craving there's

nothing

holding

okay it's pretty straightforward

this is one of the deeper suit

when he practices in this way and

frequently abides thus his mind acquires

confidence in this base

in this kind of understanding

you heard me talking about the eightfold

path and

what is harmonious perspective

the harmonious perspective is always

this is an impersonal thing that's here

right here right now

it's not words don't take it as yours

once there's full confidence he either

attains the imperturbable now

contains nirvana or

he still is watching with

wisdom

on the desolution after god of the body

after death it is possible that this

consciousness

of his leading to rebirth

may pass on to another rebirth

in the imperturbable this monks is

declared to be the third way

directed to the imperturbal

now we're going to go to the base of

nothingness

again a noble disciple considers thus

sensual pleasures here and now and

sensual pleasures and lives to come

sensual perceptions here and now and

central perceptions and lives to come

material form here and now in material

forms and lives to come

perception of forms here and now and

perceptions of forms and lives to come

perceptions of the imperturbable are

all perceptions

what does that mean they're all

still mundane they're

all still part of your worldly

experience perceptions are concepts

that's the naming part of your mind

that starts the concepts arising it puts

the name on something

and makes it a concept

is a state of no concept

when i first realized that i did blew my

mind

i just sat back in like wow

a state of no concept

what a wonderful thing

there's no opinions there's no thinking

there's

no

no way for there to ever be any

distraction

if there is no concept

where these perceptions cease without

remainder

that is peaceful that is

a blind

when he practices in this way and

frequently abides thus

his mind acquires confidence and this

base

in the base of nothingness

and there is full confidence either

retains to the base of nothingness now

or else he resolves upon seeing with

wisdom

on the desolution after by

desolution of the body after death

it is possible that this consciousness

of his

leading to rebirth may pass on to

rebirth in the base of nothingness

now i was talking about getting into the

fourth drama and

sitting and if you don't go any further

than that then you're reborn

in a in a state that lasts for five

hundred mah copies

if you get into nothingness and you

don't go any higher than that

this state this immaterial state

lasts for 60 000

that's what you'd call a pretty long

time

and it's a material state immaterial

state so it's just a mental state

but your mind is pure your mind is alive

there is still some observations that

still occur

this monks is declared to be the first

way directed to the base of nothingness

again a noble disciple gone to the

forest or to the root of the tree or an

empty hut

considers thus this is void of the self

or what belongs to itself have you heard

that one before

this is not me this i am not

this is not myself

i have a student that

can get into this realm and then his

mind

always starts putting too much energy

and he develops doubt

what is this am i doing this right

it seems i'm missing something

so i tell him for a day

what i want you to do with whatever

arises i don't

care repeat

this statement this is not me

this is not mine this is not myself

and then he settles down and he gets

back into this

and he's very good for a period of time

and then he starts pushing again

i can't get him to stop trying so hard

he really has the desire to attain

nibana

and it's very strong and it's getting in

his way

he has to let go of that desire

and i don't know how many times i've

talked with him about that

stop insisting

that the next present moment be it

now when sorry

he was he's actually kind of slow in

attaining our ahacha

he was the first noble but he was a

first disciple he was second to the

buddha and wisdom

in other words he was second to the

buddha in

understanding all of the different

aspects of dependent origination and how

it worked

it took him two weeks

the second chief disciple it only took

one week

right but because he was intellectual

he wanted to know everything there was

to know about everything

in the way of dependent origination that

little tiny curiosity

of is it going to be different

is there something i'm missing that

little curiosity

stopped him from attaining our ahacha

so one day he's fanning the buddha

hot day buddha's giving talks to people

and he's listening to the talk while

he's talking to someone else and he

realizes

the buddha is not even attached to the

dhamma

and he saw how he was slightly attached

to the dumb

and while he was fanning he let it go

and he saw dependent origination coming

up and going down coming up and going

down became an arab

with fruition

he start going like this

well i'm sure he was banning the buddha

anyway oh

wow

i still want a magazine

when he practices in this way frequently

and he abides thus

his mind acquires confidence in this

base

once there's full confidence he attains

to the base of nothingness

now or else he resolves

and still continues to see dependent

origination

on the dissolution of the body after

death

it is possible that this consciousness

of his

leads to rebirth there can still be

slight

attachments even when you're in the

realm

of nothingness they're not big

but they're still there there's still a

want

for things to be

but you're getting better and better at

recognizing in six

areas seeing how these distractions pull

you away in

six are

making this an absolute

automatic process

anyway they may pass on to the to

rebirth in the

base of nothingness which lasts 60

000 mahakapas this

monks is declared to be the second way

directed to the base of nothingness

again

a noble disciples that considers thus

i am not anything belonging to anyone

anywhere nor is there anything belonging

to me

in anyone anywhere

but i'm married

concept

when he practices in this way and

frequently abides thus now these are the

kind of reflections that you can carry

with you with your daily activities

this isn't me i don't belong to anyone

nobody belongs to me

there's nothing to hold on to

there's nothing to become

there's only the present moment

these are just different ways of

coming up to that realization

when he frequently practices in this way

and frequently abides thus his mind

acquires confidence in this base

once there's full confidence he either

attains to the base of nothingness

now or else he resolves upon with wisdom

on the dissolution of the body after

death it is possible that

this consciousness of his leading to

rebirth

may pass on to rebirth in the realm of

not a base of nothingness

this too is declared to be the third way

directed to the base of nothingness

now we're going to be talking about the

base of neither perception

or non-perception

neither feeling nor non-feeling

neither consciousness nor

non-consciousness

can't have one without the other

remember

they showed you in that one suit where

these three three things

are con

comedy

thank you

again a noble disciple considers thus

sensual pleasures here and now in

sensual pleasures and lives to come

sensual perceptions here and now on

sexual

sensual perceptions and lives to come

material forms here and now on material

forms and lives to come

perceptions of forms here and now and

perception of forms and lives to come

perceptions of the imperturbable and

perceptions of the base of nothingness

all our perceptions

where these perceptions cease without

remainder

that is the peaceful that is the sublime

namely the base of neither perception or

non-perception

or feeling or consciousness

when you get into this state you don't

know you're in that state

until you come out you're still alert

you're still

mindful but

mine now has become so

vibrating so little it's hard to tell

whether it's moving or not

when you come out of that state

then you reflect on what happened while

you were

in that state

you can see forms you can see colors

and there's other things

i need to know those when i'm talking to

you when

you experience these kinds of states

when he practices in this way and

frequently abides thus oh

when you come out of that state and you

see these different things you six

argos right then right there

and then you just sit

in this exquisite stillness

and you'll be sitting in there for a

period of time sometimes it can be a

real

long time sometimes a few hours

and then you'll go be going deep enough

and all of a sudden

it happens again that state of being

asleep but not to being aware

at the same time is what it feels like

then you reflect on what happened while

you were in that in six

hours whatever arises

it takes very sharp mindfulness to do

this

when he practices in this way and

frequently abides thus

his mind acquires confidence in this

base

once there's full confidence he either

attains to the base of neither

perception nor non-perception

now or else he resolves upon

it with wisdom you can still see

some of the links of dependent

origination when you reflect

on that movement of mind's attention

that came up with the colors and shapes

and other things that arise

but you six are it on the dissolution of

the body after

death it is possible that this

consciousness of his

leading to rebirth so there's still

a slight tiny tiny bit

of attachment

may pass on to rebirth in the base of

neither perception

or non-perception now this state only

lasts for eighty-four thousands

now people that are practicing

absorption concentration

this is all they can get to they can't

get

any further why because when you're

practicing absorption concentration

you're bringing

back the craving to your object

of meditation

when you practice the six r's you don't

right so you're still

able to go to the unconditioned state

all of these still are conditioned

states

okay now

let's talk a little bit about nibana

when this was said the venerable ananda

said to the blessed one

venerable seer venerable sir here a monk

is practicing thus

it might not be and it might not be

mine it will not be and it will not be

mine what exists what has come to be

that i am abandoning

thus he obtains equanimity venerable sir

does such a monk attain nibana

what is the cause and reason venerable

sir why

one monk here might attain the ibana

while another

monk here might not attain nirvana

here ananda a monk is practicing thus

it might not be and it might not be mind

it will not be

and it will not be mine what exists what

has come to be

that i am abandoning thus he obtains

equanimity

he delights in that equanimity welcomes

it and remains holding to it

slight tiny attachment

as he does so his consciousness

becomes dependent on it and clings to it

now claims here doesn't mean getting

into your thoughts and opinions about it

it means

holding on to it

a monk hernandez who is affected by

clinging does not

attain honor

but venerable sir

that mom when that monk clings

what does he cling to to the base of

neither venerable sir

it seems he clings to the best object of

clinging

when that monk clings ananda he clings

to the best object of clinging

for this is the best object of clinging

namely the base of neither perception or

non-perception

so if you've got to be attached the

buddhists say and be attached to that

here and on manka's practicing thus

it might not be it might not be

mine it will not be and it will not be

mine

what exists what has come to be that i

am

abandoning thus he obtains

equanimity he does not delight in that

equanimity

welcome or remain holding to it

he just observes that's all

since he does not do so his

consciousness does not become

dependent on it and does not cling to it

a monk ananda who is without clinging

attains nibada

that means when all of your

enlightenment factors

are in perfect balance that's when you

contain the body

it is wonderful venerable sir it is

marvelous the blessed one indeed has

explained to us

the crossing of the flood independence

upon

one support or another but venerable sir

what is noble liberation

noble disciple considers thus

sensual pleasures here and now in

sensual pleasures and lives to come

sensual perceptions here and now in

central perception and lives to come

material forms here and now and material

forms and lives to come

perceptions of forms here and now on

perception

of forms and lives to come perceptions

of the imperturbable perceptions of the

base of nothingness perception of the

base of

neither perception or non-perception

this is all personality as far as

personality extends

this is the death list namely the

liberation of mind through

not craving or

the way directed to the imperturbable i

have taught the way directed to the base

of nothingness i've taught the way

directed to the base of neither

perception or non-perception

i have taught the crossing of the flood

independence upon one support or another

i have taught noble liberation

what should be done for his disciples

out of compassion by a teacher who seeks

their welfare

and has compassion for them that i have

done for you

ananda there are these

roots of trees these empty huts

meditate ananda do not delay or else

you'll regret it later

this is our instruction to you

that is what the blessed one said the

venerable ananda was satisfied and

delighted in the blessed one's words

and i would hope that he would be

again the experience of nibana

is getting to a place where there is

no perception there is no feeling there

is no consciousness

you'll be in that state for a little

while

when you come out you will see the links

of dependent origination arising and

passing

away you'll see how they arise

and you will see how they pass away

when you see this completely

all ignorance ceases

when ignorance ceases nibbana

occurs there are no more

conditions

let's be excited

so from the suta you can have a few

take a few tips from it especially the

one

about when you're getting caught

when you're starting to think about this

or that is this me

is this mine is this myself

do you know the answer

this is why the step of relaxing is so

incredibly important from the time you

first start

sitting in jhana and your mind is

flip-flopping like this

until it starts vibrating

the craving is the thing that becomes

less

endless and less until there is no more

vibration

there is the cessation

perception feeling and consciousness

that is such a major insight

that

your perception will never be the same

after that

you lose all kinds of fetters

all kinds of things that could possibly

come up

you lose a belief that there is

nibana can be attained by doing rights

and rituals

you blew you lose doubt

you lose a belief in a permanent self

you let go completely

of all lust and hatred now think about

that for a minute

what would it be to live a life that

your mind was such had such strong

balance in it that lust or hatred never

arose again

never what relief

you lose the desire to be reborn in

another

realm

restlessness disappears think about that

one never

having restlessness arise sloth and

torpor disappears

never having a dull mind ever again

and you don't have any pride

i'm special

i don't have this stuff i'm something

good

it doesn't even come up

and your understanding of the four noble

root truths

is absolute

so no more ignorance can arise

that seems worth it to me

look at how much suffering we've caused

ourselves just in this lifetime

look at how much pain we've gone through

just in this lifetime

and we keep doing it over and over and

over again because we don't learn

that everything is part of an impersonal

process

it's not me it's not mine it is

not myself i don't care what it

is

anytime you see yourself getting serious

guess who has an attachment

guess who's taking that and trying to

control it because you think you're in

control of whatever arises

guess who's causing themselves pain

well don't do that anymore

right

well but i've always trained myself to

be a serious person

wrong bad training

what have i been telling you the whole

retreat i want you to laugh

i want you to smile i want you to have

fun

why because your mind is light

your mindfulness is sharp and you can

see the traps that you set for yourself

and cause yourself suffering

you see the trap of identifying with

things

when you laugh with yourself for being

attached

you are not there anymore

it's only this feeling it's only this

anger it's only the sadness

it's only this perplexity

what's that let it go

but when you start taking it personally

well it hurts

stop causing pain to yourself

have this uplifted mind that's alert

that's bright that's very much in the

present moment

there's no suffering there

that's a promise

when you become an arahat

you're always in the present moment

your mind doesn't think about this and

that and wander around and wonder

what it's going to be like tomorrow

you're in the present moment

what more do you need

oh but i'm afraid to be coming in our

hot i still have my attachments you know

but you know let's let's rephrase that i

still have my pain

you know

let go of it

let go of the suffering let go of all

the pain

let go of all of the identification

with whatever arises

how do you do that practice the six

hours

remember to observe

how mind's attention actually

does

you get a whole lot of oh wows when you

do that

and you not only start seeing how

dependent origination

arises in you you start seeing how it

arises in other people

and then that causes compassion to arise

are you paying attention to what they're

saying when they have anger

when they have dissatisfaction towards

you

are you paying attention to what they're

saying and trying to defend

yourself or are you seeing that other

person

suffering immeasurably and have

compassion towards that other person and

start radiating loving kindness to them

that always makes the situation better

you know this thing that we read every

morning hatred cannot be overcome

by hatred in this world hatred can only

be overcome by love

it's not just something to repeat it's

something to practice

the more you keep your mind focused on

loving kindness

the more pure your mind becomes

why because you're practicing your six

hours

right six hours will take you all the

way

right up to the doorstep

anybody have any questions comments

this is a very good suitable yeah i

think

david is right okay

i thought it was really nice because he

pointed out that

that you can enjoy the moment but it's

holding on to it

that's the wanting it problem last

longer so this is really clear that i

mean you can still enjoy something

beautiful or see something that's

happening or hear something

but it's carrying it around with you

beyond the present moment that makes the

problem

right when you don't carry things with

you

you can see things

completely you can see things

totally

and that leads to real contentment

i have a number of questions i'll keep

it to one

that's okay we went all of them

so it turned into an interview

one of my teachers i think it was

menindra

talked about creating sankaras

kind of was that i don't know if you

recall that it was

thought forms that come out of

clinging thought forms are part of

clinging yes

yes they first arise as the potential

of formations

the potential is there because of past

action

then you have your

body speech in mind okay that's the

potential there and as the dependent

origination goes you get up to the

clinging

and now you're starting to create more

unwholesome situations

and there's

and we have all these old habits

thinking about this or thinking about

that whatever it happens to be

and all habits don't have to be a

problem

if your mindfulness is sharp enough to

see it

and let it go and relax into it

and come back to your smiling

and laughing your object to meditation

i have to say it gets pretty tiring

because it's the same

bad jokes

it is

it is and that's one of the things that

can help you laugh with it so it's not

you anymore

he's pretty pathetic

the word presumption is used in there

yeah

what does that mean exactly in the sense

that it's being used

you assume assuming

pretty soon

just bring your dictionary with nope

say that

i can't get it is that the leaning

that's the main way

to expect okay

there's all different kinds of words

that you can use for not being precisely

in the present moment

when you assume that something is going

to be the same

all the time

yeah then you start leaning and saying

well i know this one i'm gonna

see if i can get beyond this one and

start leaning a little bit then you have

restlessness

oh yeah

me and mara are friends

i keep trying to get rid of it

friends like that i don't need

peace

all kinds of happiness means and

happening to place on earth

davids and nagas of mighty power shared

in the spirit of ours

may they long to protect the greatest

dispensation