From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=c-p7NLN_lc8

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

thus if i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living in sawatee in

genta's grove and at the bendicas park

then when it was evening the venerable

moji

rose from meditation

went to the venerable sorry puta and

exchanged greetings with him

when this greediest and amiable talk was

finished he sat down at one side and

said to the venerable sorry putta

one who is unwise

one who is unwise is said friend

with reference to what was this said one

who is unwise

one does not wisely understand

one does not wisely understand friend

that's why it is said one who is unwise

and what

doesn't one wisely understand

one does not wisely understand

this is suffering

one does not wisely understand

this is the origin of suffering

one does not wisely understand this is

the cessation of suffering

one does not wisely understand this is

the way leading to the cessation of of

suffering now what are we actually

talking about here

anytime you hear the word wise or wisdom

we're talking about the links of

dependent origination

and how they work

and how they work with the four noble

truths

okay

now this is from the samut nikaya number

14 for aesthetics and brahmanas

monk says to those ascetics and

brahmanas who do not understand these

things

that is suffering

the origin of these things the second

noble truth

the cessation of these things and the

way leading to the cessation of these

things what are these things that they

do not understand

whose origin they do not understand

whose cessation they do not understand

and the way leading to whose cessation

they do not understand

they do not understand aging and death

that's dukkha that's the suffering

that's the first noble truth

it's origin

it's cessation and the way leading to

its cessation

they do not understand birth

habitual tendency clinging craving

feeling contact the sixth sense bases

mentality materiality consciousness

formations

their origin their cessation in the way

leading to their cessation

these are the things that they do not

understand whose origin they do not

understand whose cessation they do not

understand and the way leading to whose

cessation they do not understand

these i do not consider to be ascetics

among ascetics or brahman among

brahmanas

and these venerable ones do not

by realizing it for themselves with

direct knowledge in this very life enter

and dwell in the goal of

asceticism or the goal of brahman hood

that means nibana

so you have these 12 lengths of

dependent origination and

with each link there is

suffering

the cause of suffering the link that

happened first

the one right before that the cessation

of suffering the letting go of the

craving caused by that

and

the path leading to the cessation of

suffering

so when we go back to

to the suta when we're talking about

the noble truths

and the

this is suffering

this is the origin this is

a cessation and this is the way leading

to cessation

if you don't understand that

you're missing

what the buddha's

teaching actually is about

you're you're completely missing the

whole point

of the buddha's teaching if you don't

have someone that can show you

clearly

what the links of dependent origination

are and how they work

and if you don't have that

how can you attain nibana that's what it

said

said you can't attain nibana until you

really do

see and realize for yourself with direct

experience

how

all of the links of dependent

origination actually work

okay

so one who is unwise is a person that

doesn't see the noble truths

or the links of dependent origination

now the problem right now with most

meditation

is that everybody is very much involved

in

seeing impermanence

suffering

and not self or the impersonal nature of

everything

when you just look at that

you're looking at a very surface view of

the buddha's teaching

when you want to get in depth into the

buddhist teaching

you have to be able to see and

understand

how all of these links and the four

noble truths work with each link

in mahavaga

it says

a person can see one

or all of the three links

of uh

not three links

this is three signs

of existence

that is anitra dukanata without ever

seeing the links of dependent

origination

but anyone

who sees the links of dependent

origination always sees impermanence

suffering and not self

so that right there gives you an idea of

that

if you're just looking for these

characteristics these

impermanent suffering and not self

you're missing something

you're missing the deeper teaching of

the buddha

okay

one does not wisely understand one does

not wisely understand friend that's why

it is said one who is unwise

saying good friend the venerable

mahakohita delighted and rejoiced in the

venerable sariputa's words then he asked

him a further question

one who is wise one who is wise is said

friend

with reference to what was this said one

who is wise

one wisely understands one wisely

understands friend

and what

that is why it is said one who is wise

what does one wisely understand one

wisely understands this is suffering

one wisely understands this is the

origin of suffering

one wisely understands this is the

cessation of

suffering one wisely understands this is

the way leading to the cessation of

suffering

one wisely understands one wisely

understands friend that's why it is said

one who is wise

so

when you

realize

how these links arise

and how they cease

then you're practicing the way leading

to the cessation of suffering

and what is that

when you practice right effort

which is what the six hours are

you're practicing the entire eightfold

path at that time

when you recognize release

relax

re-smile

return

repeat

every time there's any disturbance in

your mind

then you will notice

as soon as you relax there is no more

tightness or tension in your mind there

are no thoughts

your mind is clear your mind is bright

your mind is pure

why is it pure because you have let go

of craving

so

practicing

the six r's

with that relaxed step in it

is the way

to the cessation of suffering

okay

consciousness consciousness is said

friend with reference to what is

consciousness said

it cognizes

it cognizes friend

now that's kind of an interesting word

cognize

we

use the word recognize

but what does recognize mean

you're working with your memory

and you're seeing because it's seeing

things because of past events

but when you cognize something

that means you're seeing it just as it

is in the present moment

so you're you're able to

observe

when you cognize you are able to observe

what's happening in the present moment

now a lot of you are beginning to

understand the lengths of dependent

origination very well

there's contact feeling craving clinging

birth or habitual tendency birth

and sorrow lamentation pain grief

see that that's great

that's like a choir

a little slow

so when you see a feeling arise

right on its

heel

there is tension and tightness

and that's how you recognize the craving

right after the craving then there's the

clinging

your opinions your concepts your stories

your ideas

and

the big personal belief

that all of these are yours

that's clinging

clinging is a rare

rather interesting phenomena because

once you

have clinging arise your mind sends to

jump from here to there to there to

there until you're a thousand miles away

thinking about other things

and

you don't even know where you are or

that you have a body

so clinging is a real

problem

until you start developing the way that

you

can

see what restlessness is and how it

arises because that's the start of

restlessness the craving and the

clinging

then you have your habitual tendency

your habitual tendency is when this kind

of feeling comes up

i have these kind of thoughts and i

always act in this way

now when you have pain arise in your

body you're made up of five

things body

feeling

perception perception is the concepts

and

the naming part of your mind

you have thoughts

you have consciousness

when a painful feeling arises the first

thing your mind does is try to think

the feeling away

but thoughts are one thing and feelings

are something else

not the same

so when a painful feeling arises

and you get caught

with

trying to think you're feeling away the

first thing you have to do is let go of

your thinking

let go of the thoughts

and relax the tightness in your head

caused by

that disturbance

now you see feeling for what it actually

is feeling is either pleasant

or painful neither painful nor pleasant

if it's a painful feeling

what arises with that

as craving is i don't like that

if it's a pleasant feeling what arises

is i like that

craving is the i like it i don't like it

mind

it's the very start of the false belief

that this is yours personally

when you get into cree into clinging

then that belief becomes very

big

and solid in all of your thoughts about

that feeling

make that feeling bigger and more

intense

so the first thing you do is let go of

the feeling

and

relax then you see that

let go of the thoughts and relax excuse

me then you see that feeling

and there's a tight mental fist wrapped

around that feeling

i don't like this i don't want it to be

here why does it have to bother me now

that's aversion

so

the truth of the present moment is

when a feeling arises

it's there

that's the truth

the profound truth

so what you have to realize is that you

need to allow the space for that feeling

to be there by itself

it's okay for that feeling to be there

has to be okay because it's the truth

it's there

this is the dhamma of the present moment

it's not your feeling it's just feeling

so you allow the space for that feeling

to be there and then you notice the

tension and tightness in your head in

your mind

and relax

and then

you have let go of an unwholesome thing

what is the unwholesome thing i am that

now you bring up something wholesome

smile

and

your object of meditation

and you stay with your object of

meditation

as long as mind will

every time you let go of that craving

there's no thoughts your mind is pure

and you're bringing that pure mind

back to your object of meditation

so many times

people want to teach meditation and they

completely ignore the every lack step

that means that they're bringing this

tightness

and this belief in itself

back to the object of meditation

and that leads the meditation in a

completely different way

than what the buddha intended

when you cognize something that means

you see it

in the present moment as it actually is

okay

that is

why consciousness is is said what does

it cognize

it cognizes this is pleasant

it cognizes this is painful

it cognizes this is neither painful nor

pleasant it cognizes it cognizes friend

that's why

consciousness is said

what does it cognize it cognizes feeling

when you're really

quiet

and your mind gets distracted by

something at one of the success doors

feeling always arises

okay

you have a good working eye

it hits color and form

good working eye hits the color and form

i consciousness arises the meaning of

these three different things

is called eye contact

with eye contact as condition

eye feeling arises

pleasant

painful

neither painful nor pleasant

with i

uh contact as condition i feeling arises

with i feeling as conditioned i

craving arises

that's the tension and tightness that's

how you can recognize that

with i

craving as condition clinging arises

this kind of feeling and these kind of

thoughts arise

and then we get into that nasty habit of

trying to think the feeling away

but they're not the same thing

it never

ever works

this is why people get depressed

a painful feeling arises

i don't like that

i got a story about that

and my habitual tendency is to play that

story over and over again and try to

control

the feeling with the thoughts

and the feeling gets bigger and more

intense

now you really get stuck

and you're identifying heavily with that

feeling

and you're trying to control the feeling

and you're making yourself more and more

miserable and you get more and more

depressed because it doesn't work and

never has

why do you think it will this time

but we're not aware enough to really

see this

it takes someone to tell you about this

process

in order for you to start seeing

and it's really

quite amazing that

sometimes

around we run across people that are

very depressed and we sit and talk with

them for a little while and before long

they're going you mean this isn't my

feeling

it's not my depression

there's a way to let it go

and it's amazing how fast some people

can catch on to this

this is one of the reasons

that when you're talking about the good

attributes of the dhamma

one of the things it says is

this is immediately effective

you let go of the thought you relax

you bring up something wholesome

smile well i don't feel like smiling i'm

depressed

i don't care

as long as you follow those instructions

don't add anything

don't change anything

the whole point of the meditation

is to learn how mind's attention moves

from one thing to another

not why we don't care about why you can

leave that for the psychologist they

love that stuff

we're learning how the process works

in other words

if you come and start meditating and

you've never meditated before

and you start practicing with me you're

going to start hearing how dependent

origination works from the very

beginning

and you might not recognize it so easily

but

as you hear this over and over and then

start saying it for yourself

and you start saying that you can go

deeper in your practice than you've ever

done before

then you start to pay attention to that

and you start practicing that

now when i first started out with this

after 20 years of vipassana

and i was told to take the commentaries

and

put them someplace else

and just go to the suttas when i started

reading

that the instructions in the meditation

are so simple

and when i started doing that

i went deeper in the first sitting than

i'd ever done in 20 years of epasada

and i come out of the meditation and i'm

going

wow

i'm seeing things in a whole different

way

when i practice vipassana

the first five years

i spent finding out what meditation

wasn't

and there were always questions about

whether i was doing it correctly or not

when you add this extra step that they

seem to forget when they're practicing

vyapasana

of you add this step of relaxing

you don't have to ask anybody whether

you're progressing or not you know that

you're doing it

you start to get confidence

and with that confidence you start

having more interest and having more fun

with the meditation

and

you go deep very quickly

some of you have only practiced

meditation with me for a few days

but you're starting to really understand

this process and you're starting to go

deep

that doesn't happen with most people

that practice meditation

you know you you're br you're cutting

your teeth on the first one month

retreat

then you think well i need a three month

retreat and you wind up not

understanding what was happening during

the three-month retreat well i must do

it again

sound familiar scott

38 years

38 years later

okay

wisdom and consciousness friend

are these states conjoined or disjoined

and is it possible to separate each of

these states from the other in order to

describe the difference between them

good question

wisdom and consciousness friend

these states are conjoined not disjoined

and it is impossible to separate each of

these states from the other in order to

describe the difference between them

why

it's a morgan here

why

because when you're seeing the links of

dependent origination you're cognizing

at that time

see how simple it is

for what one wisely understand that one

cognizes

and what one cognizes that one wisely

understands

that is why these states are conjoined

not disjoined

and it is impossible to separate each of

these states from the other in order to

describe the difference between them

so it just gets through i love this it

just gets through saying it's impossible

to separate each of these things so

so

what's the next question well what's the

difference

between consciousness and wisdom

these states that are conjoined not

disjoint

the difference friend between wisdom and

consciousness these states that are

conjoined not disjoint

is this

wisdom is to be developed

and consciousness is to be fully

understood

okay how do you develop wisdom

by quieting your mind down enough so

that you can see how these links work

and when you see

you understand

yes this is a process and it's not my

process

this is a process that happens by itself

wisdom is to be developed

and consciousness is to be fully

understood

feeling

feeling is said friend with reference to

what is feeling said it feels it feels

friend that's why feeling is said what

does it feel it feels pleasure it feels

pain it feels neither pain nor pleasure

it feels

it feels friend

that is why feeling is said

perception

perception is said friend

with reference to what is perception

said

it perceives

it perceives friend that's why

perception is said

what does it perceive

it perceives blue it proceeds yellow it

perceives red it perceives white

that's the naming quality of mind

you see something that's white your mind

says white

okay that's the part of the mind that

puts names on things

this is the very start

of

concepts

okay the naming of things is the start

of a concept

we only think

in concepts

so what is a concept

well you say you're sitting in a chair

where is the chair

is it the arms is it the legs

is it the back

is it the seat

it's all of these different things put

together

to make up the concept of a chair

all of our thoughts are the same

now we have a word like pain

what is pain

well it's a sensation and there's a

feeling and there's

hardness and softness and there is heat

and vibration and all of these different

things

to make up this concept of pain

we only think in concepts this is one of

the reasons why

when you're talking about nibana

attaining nibana the super mundane one

of the definitions of nibana

is

no

more

concepts

it's the unconditioned state

everything in a concept is conditioned

right

so this this whole thing

is it gets a little bit tricky

but you have to be able to recognize

what this stuff is

so that you don't attach to it

i am that it's only a color it's only a

thought it's only a sensation

that's why perception is sent said

now here's the interesting part of this

whole suta at least for me

it says feeling perception and

consciousness friends are these states

conjoined or disjoined

and is it possible to separate each of

these states from the other in order to

describe the difference between them

feeling perception and consciousness

friend

these states are conjoined not disjoint

and it is impossible to separate each of

these states from the others in order to

describe the difference between them

for what one feels

that one perceives

and what one perceives

that

one

cognizes

so this is a real interesting thing

now i've read

actually quite a few books

on

feeling

on perception

on

consciousness but they've never been put

together

and that's one of the things that's

happening

right now in buddhism

is

everybody wants to make their mark

and write a book that's

that other people really think is

good

so they pick out one little part

and they expound it into a whole book

but they never

put everything together

so you have feeling

and you can have a brilliant book on

feeling and it can be applauded by a lot

of different people because you thought

up all of these different ways to

describe it and it really is works

and the same i i saw a very uh

advanced

or

advanced

um

yeah that's what my mind needs to do

a very popular monk

that came from england and he was here

for a long time now he's gone back to

england

he wrote a beautiful article on

perception

but he never mentioned feeling her

consciousness

yeah

and this this sutra right here

when it

says feeling perception and

consciousness these states are conjoined

not disjoined and it is impossible to

separate each of these states from the

others in order to describe the

difference between them

you can't separate these

but that's what's happening in buddhism

right now

everything is getting down well they've

already written about this i've got to

find something new to write about

and

because of some of the commentaries that

have been around for 1500 years or so

it takes one little thing

and makes a big deal out of it and there

are ten of these and five of those and

it

it breaks it up

but it

it makes the buddha's teaching disjoint

and that's kind of the problem right now

there's not enough teachers around that

are bringing all of these things

together

and showing how they're supposed to work

and that's why there's so many different

styles of buddhism

and so many different

ideas in buddhism

one of the things that i do is read the

text

and this is my guideline for a dhamma

talk

it's not

just picking out one little part of the

suit and say this is it

and expound for an hour hour and a half

on that one little part

the the beauty of the suttas is that it

brings everything together so it's

understandable

and workable

so

may i ask the question of course

i don't understand

how perception feeling and consciousness

i don't understand the relationship

between them okay and it seems like

there's

they're separating the links and i don't

even understand where perception comes

from

it's not it's not separating

consciousness

no no no

you're getting things a little bit mixed

up yeah when you're thinking of the lynx

independent origination when

consciousness arises that's the

potential for consciousness to arise

but it needs some other links

in order for that to occur

but this is the potential so that's why

you're getting

a little bit

yeah because then

one consciousness meets the other two

things and you have your contact you

have

right you you have to have that sense

door gotcha in order for consciousness

to arise and that happens

in uh

i think it's a saty but thomas

goes over that

we'll do that one of these days

okay for what one feels

that one perceives and what one

perceives that one cognizes

that is why these states are conjoined

not disjoined and is it possible to

separate each of these states from the

other in order to describe the

difference between them

oh

you'll get more of an idea right here

okay noble by mind alone

friend

what can be

known by purified mind conscious re

consciousness released from the five

faculties

friend by purified mind consciousness

released from the five faculties

the base of infinite space can be known

thus

space is infinite

the base of infinite consciousness can

be known thus

consciousness is infinite

the base of nothingness can be known

thus

there is nothing

friend

with what does one understand the state

that can be known

friend one understands a state that can

be known

with the eye of wisdom

okay what is the eye of wisdom

the eye of wisdom

is

the mind that doesn't have any craving

in it

that's the pure mind

that's the observation mind

and there's no coloring

with i like it i don't like it then

thinking

this this is the mind that just simply

observes the eye

as they are as they are as they actually

but actually it's

clarity of mind it's clarity of mind

that's why

and

you could you could change the eye of

wisdom to

seeing with wisdom okay all

yeah right clear

or understanding with wisdom

friend what is the purpose of wisdom

the purpose of wisdom friend is direct

knowledge

its purpose is full understanding

its purpose is abandoning

okay seeing things as they are and

getting into your dispassion is yeah

it's there so what

who cares

right view

now this is one of the things that i've

been talking about for a couple of days

friend how many conditions are there for

the arising of right view

friend there are two conditions for the

arising of right view

the voice of another

and wise attention

see

ananda

when he first became a monk

he was

he became a sodapana

and a sodapana without fruition

okay

then he started

being the attendant for the buddha after

after quite a few years

and

one day he got the fruition

the fruition of seeing and understanding

completely dependent origination seeing

and understanding

and he went to the buddha

and he said i don't know what the big

deal is about dependent origination this

is so easy to understand it's easy to

see

and the buddha admonished him and said

no it's not

this is not easy to see it's not easy to

understand

why because you need the voice of

another person to tell you about it

or else you can't do it

that's what the buddha why the buddha

became the buddha because he figured it

out himself

it's magnificent that he did it

he really worked hard and long

to figure out all of these different

links and how to explain to other people

how they work and he experienced it

directly and then well

he

he figured it out

and he started applying it

but it wasn't until the night of his

awakening

that he

realized it

so he realized the four noble truths and

dependent origination

could we close that yes

thank you

i'm getting old i get cold easy

these are the two conditions for the

arising of right view

friend

by how many factors is right view

assisted

when it has deliverance of mine for its

path

deliverance of mine for its

path and fruition

when it has deliverance by wisdom for

its path

and deliverance by wisdom for its path

and fruition

friend right view is assisted by five

factors when it has deliverance of mind

for its path

deliverance of mind for its path and

fruition

when it has deliverance by wisdom for

its path

and deliverance by wisdom for its path

and fruition

here friend right view is assisted by

virtue

learning

discussion

serenity

and insight

one of the things that's happening i

think it might be because of

some of the first people that brought

buddhism to this country

they say you should never talk to

anybody about your practice

only talk to your teacher

and there is a rule for the monks that

say that we should not

falsely talk about our experience but it

doesn't say we can't talk about it

and that's misunderstood a lot

so people discuss

with each other when you get

together with the sangha

the sangha there's

there's ten kinds of sangha

there's

the monastic sangha

there's the ley sangha

and then there's

the eight kind of individuals

that are worthy of gifts that is sort of

sodopano with fruition saktagami

saktagami with fruition and so on

so when you get together with other

like-minded people that are doing the

practice it's good to talk with each

other monks do it we talk to each other

all the time about our practice

and it's helpful

so this idea that

uh you're never supposed to talk about

your practice

is really one of the things that's a

problem in this country

so right view is assisted by virtue

keeping your precepts without breaking

them

at all

for any reason

not breaking them at all for any reason

purposefully

when i was in indonesia

i was teaching a bunch of hours talking

with a bunch of sixth seventh and eighth

graders

one of the

excuse me

one of the questions they asked me

was

is this the end of the world

they just had a volcano merapi it had

had gone off

and there was a lot more talk about

other volcanoes on the islands that were

getting active

and there was a lot of fear and anxiety

so they asked me is is this the end of

the world are we all going to die

and i said well

a lot of that depends on you

if you keep your five precepts without

ever breaking them that is a kind of

protection

and it says in in the books

that

you will not die an unnatural death that

means old age

you won't die by accidents

you won't die by having things fall on

you and killing you you won't die by

somebody shooting you

so i told them

you keep your precepts

you are protected

you break your precepts

you're not protected

then you have accidents then you have

problems

keeping your precepts without breaking

them

leads to a mind that is completely

free

from remorse

completely free from any kind of guilty

feeling arising because when you break a

precept your mind says i shouldn't have

done that

but you can get into the habit of

breaking the precepts so often that your

mind just stops talking to you about it

and therein lies a problem

so virtue is a very important aspect of

the buddha's teaching

but in this country

nobody likes to talk about morality

why mostly because it's been pushed down

people's throats

and they don't see

the

the real

benefit

of

having a calm mind that

concentrates very easily

having a lot of problems with accidents

hurting yourself that sort of thing

having the hindrances arise

so you get into your anger real easy and

you get into your lust real easy and you

get completely distracted away from

what's happening in the present moment

but when you keep your precepts without

breaking them

you have the conscious decision

no i won't do that

i won't break this precept for no reason

i had a student in malaysia

she'd been practicing practicing

buddhist her whole life

beautiful person

she was

i guess she was 45 right around there

she would never even consider breaking a

precept not even consider it

so she came to me one time

and she said

i want to learn how to meditate

and i said fine i'm giving a weekend

retreat come this weekend i'll show you

never done any meditation in her life

so i gave her the instructions and then

we ate lunch

and after lunch i walked over to her and

i said how you doing

and she said fine i said how long are

you sitting

well i can only sit for about 45 minutes

only

why don't you sit longer

well you know i've never been good at

sitting on the floor

and i can only stand the pain

for about 45 minutes before i get up and

move

and i told her

there's no magic in the floor you don't

have to sit on the floor there's chairs

around here sit in the chair

her next sitting

four hours

got into the jhana

first day she ever tried to meditate

that's

remarkable

so much so i wanted to go up and go

nobody's that good

but that's the advantage of keeping your

precepts

oh

the learning discussion serenity and

insight all of these things will come

naturally to you

as you listen to dhamma talks you start

taking more interest

especially when you start seeing that

when you practice

you're smiling and being happy with your

daily life

you start getting confidence that hey

this stuff works

there's no messing around here

i'm used to giving retreats

i teach people both insight and

serenity at the same time

people get into drownings

now this is some something that

the fear of god has been put into a lot

of people with that word

but the kind of drama i teach is not the

same as an absorption type of genre

this is an insight type of genre

and i am

very used to having people

getting into

the first jhana

the second or third day of a retreat

by the end of a seven or eight day

retreat

95 of them get at least into the third

genre

or

the fourth genre when you get to the

fourth genre you're considered an

advanced meditator

when i was in thailand

when the monks were practicing one

pointed concentration they were

practicing absorption concentration they

said if you want to get into it john

it's going to take you

at least 10 years

what's the difference here

you practice with me for

one week

and you're in the jaundice

or you practice with them for 10 years

your choice

right view is assisted by these five

factors has deliverance of mind for its

path deliverance of mind for its fruit

these these two deliverances of mines

are talking about

getting into

the

first four genres

and

the four arupa jhanas

that's the deliverance of mind

that they're talking about here and then

the deliverance of mind by wisdom that

means

seeing dependent origination

how many kinds of being are there

there are these three kinds of being

friends sense sphere being

the sense sphere being is what i call

your habitual

emotional tendency

okay you have the fine material being

that means the first four genus

and the immaterial being that means

the

immaterial realms

friend how is renewal of being in the

future

generated

friend renewal of being in the future is

generated through the delighting and

this and that

on the part of beings who are

hindered by ignorance

and fettered by

craving

so what's the definition of ignorance

not knowing and seeing the four noble

truths

you know what the definition of craving

is now it's the tension and tightness

the i like it i don't like it mind

friend how is the renewal of being in

the future not generated

friend

with the fading away of ignorance

and with the arising of true knowledge

with the cessation of

craving renewal of being in the future

is not generated

simple enough right

how many more days to this retreat

now we're going to talk about the first

jhana

friend what is the first jhana jhana is

a pali word

it is translated mostly as meaning

concentration

that is at best a very poor

definition

jhana is a level of understanding

understanding what

how the links of dependent origination

works

how

when hindrances arise

how to let go of the hindrance so you

can go deeper and you can experience

this level of understanding

here quite secluded from sensual

pleasures secluded from unwholesome

states

a monk enters upon and abides in the

first genre which is accompanied by

thinking and examining thought

with joy and happiness born of seclusion

this is called the first jhana

friend

how many factors does the first jhana

have

friend

the first jhana has five factors

here

when a monk has entered upon

the first jhana

there occur

thinking

examining thought

joy

happiness and unification of might

that is how the

first jhana has five factors

how many factors are abandoned in the

first jhana

and how many factors are possessed

friend in the first genre five factors

are abandoned

and five factors are possessed

here when a person is entered upon the

first jhana

sensual desire is abandoned

ill will is abandoned

sloth and torpor are abandoned

restlessness and anxiety are abandoned

doubt and perplexity are abandoned

and there occur

thinking examining thought joy happiness

and unification of mine

when you get into the drama the

hindrances will not

arise

until

your mindfulness slips for whatever

reason then you have a hindrance arising

but the hindrances aren't the problem

so you see the hindrance

needs to come up so you can go deeper

with your understanding because you're

seeing how your mind gets distracted

and you start to understand more and

more clearly

how to let go of

these hindrances and relax into them

so the hindrances help improve your

mindfulness

when your mindfulness gets to a certain

point that hindrance fades away now you

go into the next

level of understanding so the hindrances

are helping you to understand

how the links of dependent origination

work

that is how the first jhana

five factors are abandoned and five

factors are possessed

now we're going to talk about the five

faculties this is what you need

friend these faculties each have a field

a separate field

a separate domain

and do not experience each other's field

and domain that is

the i faculty the ear faculty the nose

faculty the tongue faculty and the body

faculty

now these five faculties each have a

separate field a separate domain

not experiencing each other's field and

domain

what is their resort

what experiences their fields and domain

in other words you don't smell

with your eyes

and you don't

taste with your ears

so each each faculty has its own

its own job

friend these five faculties each have a

separate field a separate domain and do

not experience each other's field and

domain that is the eye ear nose tongue

and body faculty

now these faculties each having a

separate field

a separate domain not experiencing each

other's field or domain

have mind as their resort

and mind experiences their fields and

domains

got it

friend

as to these five faculties that is the

eye ear nose tongue

and body faculty

what do these five faculties stand

independence on

friend as to these five faculties that

is the eye ear nose tongue and body

faculty these five faculties stand

independence on

vitality

friend what does vitality stand

independence on

vitality stands independence on

heat

friend

what does heat stand independence on

heat stands independence on

vitality

uh just now friend we understood the

venerable sariputa to have said vitality

stands independence on heat

and now we understand him to say

he stands independence on vitality

how should

the meaning of these statements be

regarded good question what do you think

in this case friend i shall give you a

simile for some wise men are here

understand the meaning of a statement by

means of a simile

just as when an oil lamp is burning

its radiance is seen independent on its

flame

and its flame is seen in dependence on

its radiance

got it

you want me to do it again

got it

okay

so too vitality stands independence on

heat and heat stands in dependence on

vitality

can't have one without the other

friend

are vital formations things that can be

felt

or are vital formations one thing

and things that can be felt another

vital formations friends are not things

that can be felt

if vital formations were things that can

be felt then a monk

who has emerged upon the cessation of

perception feeling and consciousness

would not be seen to emerge from it

in other words he'd get caught

because vital formations are one thing

and things that can be felt

another

a monk who has entered upon the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

can be seen to emerge from it

you'll understand more in a moment

friend when this body is bereaved of how

many states is it discarded

and forsaken left lying senseless like a

log

when a body is bereaved of three states

vitality

heat

and consciousness

it is then discarded and forsaken left

laying

senseless like a log

friend what is the difference between

one who is dead

who has completed his time

and a monk who has entered upon the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

friend in this case one who is dead who

has completed his his time

his bodily formations have ceased and

subsided his verbal formations have

ceased and subsided

his mental formations have ceased and

subsided

his vitality is exhausted

and his heat has been dissipated

and his faculties are fully broken up

in the case of a monk who has entered

upon the cessation of perception feeling

in consciousness

his bodily formations have ceased and

subsided

his verbal formations have ceased and

subsided

his mental formations have ceased and

subsided

but his vitality is not exhausted

his heat has not been dissipated

and his fact faculties become

exceptionally clear

this is the difference between one who

is dead who has completed his time and a

monk who has entered upon

the cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

anytime anybody gets into this state

when they come out they are absolutely

radiant

and you see a lot of

pictures of saints and these kind of

things with that halo around them

well this happens around the whole body

anytime you see somebody like that

give them

something

give them food give them anything

there's great merit in that

friend when many can

how many conditions are there for the

attainment of neither painful nor

pleasant deliverance of mind

friend there are four conditions for the

attainment of neither painful or

pleasant deliverance of mind here

with the abandoning of pleasure and pain

with a previous disappearance of joy and

grief

a person

enters upon and abides in the fourth

jhana which has neither pain nor

pleasure

and purity of mindfulness

due to equanimity

these are the four conditions for the

attainment of neither painful nor

pleasant deliverance of mind

how many conditions are there for the

attainment of the signless deliverance

of mind the signless deliverance of mine

is a cessation

of perception feeling in consciousness

it's not necessarily

nirvana

although it can be that

there are two conditions for the

attainment of the signless deliverance

of of mind

non-attention to all signs

and attention to the signless element

these are the two conditions for the

attainment of the signless deliverance

of mind

friend how many conditions are there for

the persistence of the signless

deliverance of mind

friend there are three conditions for

the persistence of the signless

deliverance of mind

non-attention to all signs

attention to the signless element

and the prior determination of its

duration

these are the three

three conditions for the persistence

of the signless deliverance of mind

the determination you have to be able to

be good with determinations

and i haven't said this on this retreat

yet

before you go to bed at night

please make two determinations

one

that when you wake up in the morning you

will be smiling and happy

and

you make a determination

as to what time you're going to wake up

to

the second

when you get good at being able to wake

up when you make that determination

you're just starting out with

determinations

okay and there there are

i have some students that i've taught

them

how to

get into mastery of going in and out of

drama and that takes determinations

so i say

okay i want you to sit

go no higher than the first jhana

for 14 minutes and 31 seconds

and the next time

15 minutes and three seconds

and the next time

and then when they can hit that exactly

right on every time

then

okay sit in the first jhana and sit for

29 minutes and 18 seconds

and you keep changing the length of time

that you're

coming out of the genre then when you

can hit that right on

then

good

go into the first jhana

come out

59 minutes

12 seconds

or 61 minutes five seconds

and then when you get out of that

i want you to go in and out of the first

jhana in four seconds

okay after you do that then you go

through

all of the other genres

including the immaterial

genres when you get done with that your

determinations are really pretty good

and you can

you can be in any kind of a situation

you can call up any of the dramas for

any length of time

so this is this is a very useful skill

let's put it that way

so making determinations is is a as an

important aspect

when you're getting into the signless

deliverance of mind where that is a

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

and let's say you only have five days

where you can be in that

and then you

make the determination in five days and

14 hours and 31 minutes and five seconds

i'm going to come out of that

and you do

you can sit in this state for seven days

if you make a determination

for eight days

your heat and vitality dissipate and you

become

like a log

friend how many condition

conditions are there for the emergence

from the signless deliverance of mind

friend there are two conditions for the

emergence from the signless deliverance

of mind

attention to all signs and non-attention

to the signless element

these are the two conditions for the

emergence of the signless deliverance of

mine

friend the immeasurable deliverance of

mind

the deliverance of mind through

nothingness

the deliverance of mind through voidness

the signless deliverance of mine are

these states different in meaning and

different in name

or are they one in meaning and different

in name only

friend the immeasurable deliverance of

mind the measurable deliverance of mine

is the forebrahma viharas

loving-kindness compassion joy and

equanimity

the deliverance of mind through

nothingness

that is getting up to the realm of

nothingness

the deliverance of mind through voidness

that is

doing the practice of

whatever arises this is not me this is

not mine this i am not

the signless deliverance of mine

we've already gone through that one

there is a way in which these states are

different in meaning and different in

name

and there is a way in which they are one

in meaning and different in name only

what friend is the way in which these

states are different in meaning and

different in name here a monk abides

pervading one quarter

with a mind imbued with loving kindness

likewise the second likewise the third

likewise the fourth

sound familiar

so above below around and everywhere

to all as to himself he abides pervading

the all-encompassing world with a mind

imbued with loving kindness

abundant exalted immeasurable without

hostility and without ill will

he avoids pervading one quarter with a

mind imbued with compassion

he abides pervading one quarter with a

mind imbued with joy

he abides pervading one quarter with a

mind imbued with

equanimity it goes through the second

and the third and fourth it's it's the

same

with just a different object of

meditation

so above below around and everywhere as

to all

uh to all as to himself

he abides pervading the all-encompassing

world with a mind imbued with

equinimnity

abundant exalted immeasurable without

hostility and without ill will

this is called the immeasurable

deliverance of mind

and what friend is a deliverance of mine

through nothingness

here with the complete surmounting of

the base of infinite space

aware that there is nothing

a monk enters upon and abides in the

base of nothingness this is called the

deliverance of mind through nothingness

and what friends is the deliverance of

mind through voidness

hear a monk gone to the forest or to the

root of the tree or an empty hut

reflects thus

this is void of itself

or of what belongs to a self

this is called the deliverance of mind

through voidness

which is a distinct difference between

what other traditions call voidness

and what friend is the signless

deliverance of mind

here

with non-attention to all signs a monk

enters upon and abides in the signless

collectedness of mind

this is called the signless deliverance

of mind

this is a way in which these states are

different in meaning and different in

name

and

friend and what friend is the way in

which these states are one in meaning

and different enamel

lust is a maker of measurement

hate is a maker of measurement

delusion is a maker of

measurement

a monk whose taints are destroyed

these are abandoned cut off at the root

make like a palm stump done away with so

that they know are no longer subject to

future arising

lust

hatred and delusion

are another way

of describing

craving

okay do you understand that

craving is the maker of measurement

i am that

right

so lust hatred and delusion they're all

makers of measurement because i am there

of all the kinds of immeasurable

deliverance of mind the unshakable

deliverance of mind is pronounced the

best

now that unshakable deliverance of mine

is void of lust void of hate and void of

delusion

lust is a something

hate is a something

delusion is a something

in a person whose taints are destroyed

these are abandoned cut off at the root

made like a palm stump done away with

so that they are no longer subject to

future arising

of all the kinds of deliverance of mine

through nothingness

the unshakeable deliverance of mind is

pronounced the best

now that unshakable deliverance of mind

is void of lust void of hate and void of

delusion

lust is a maker of signs

hate is a maker of signs

delusion is a maker of signs why because

they lead to

distraction of mine

they lead to craving they lead her that

is craving they lead to clinging they

lead to habitual tendency

they lead to a lot of sorrow lamentation

pain grief

that's

better a monk whose taints are destroyed

these are abandoned cut off at the root

made like a palm stump done away with so

there are no more

they are no longer subject to future

arising

of all the kinds of signless deliverance

of mind the unshakable deliverance of

mind is pronounced the best

now that unshakable deliverance of mine

is void of lust void of hate and void of

delusion

this is the way in which these states

are one in meaning and different in name

only

that is what the venerable sorry putin

said the venerable mahakohita was

satisfied and delighted in the venerable

sorry buddha's works

so i gave you a lot tonight

i would like to see

the amount of talking

cut down

for the retreat

okay

i would like to see that everybody is

meditating at the very least

eight hours a day

again this is a walk in the park

you guys have no idea how tough it is

the teachers are in asia

but they don't have the relaxed steps so

it makes it different

meditating for

16 or 18 hours a day

is

at least

difficult

and there was no time for talking

there was no time for anything but

walking and sitting

the other

four to six hours a day had to do with

sleep and

eating a meal and

taking care of bodily needs like that

so i'm only asking you to do it for

eight hours a day and i'm giving you the

opportunity to have eight hours sleep

isn't this a walk in a park

easy right

please take advantage of this

sit as long as you are comfortable

sitting

and then add another five minutes

just to see if that pain will go away by

itself

so

anything else

the cherished samaritan

may suffering once be suffering free and

the fear struck fearless feet

may the grieving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

are all beings share this merit that we

thus acquire

for the acquisition of all kinds of

happiness

many beings inhabiting space and earth

devas and naga's mighty powers of ours

dispensation

you

thus if i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living in sawatee in

genta's grove and at the bendicas park

then when it was evening the venerable

moji

rose from meditation

went to the venerable sorry puta and

exchanged greetings with him

when this greediest and amiable talk was

finished he sat down at one side and

said to the venerable sorry putta

one who is unwise

one who is unwise is said friend

with reference to what was this said one

who is unwise

one does not wisely understand

one does not wisely understand friend

that's why it is said one who is unwise

and what

doesn't one wisely understand

one does not wisely understand

this is suffering

one does not wisely understand

this is the origin of suffering

one does not wisely understand this is

the cessation of suffering

one does not wisely understand this is

the way leading to the cessation of of

suffering now what are we actually

talking about here

anytime you hear the word wise or wisdom

we're talking about the links of

dependent origination

and how they work

and how they work with the four noble

truths

okay

now this is from the samut nikaya number

14 for aesthetics and brahmanas

monk says to those ascetics and

brahmanas who do not understand these

things

that is suffering

the origin of these things the second

noble truth

the cessation of these things and the

way leading to the cessation of these

things what are these things that they

do not understand

whose origin they do not understand

whose cessation they do not understand

and the way leading to whose cessation

they do not understand

they do not understand aging and death

that's dukkha that's the suffering

that's the first noble truth

it's origin

it's cessation and the way leading to

its cessation

they do not understand birth

habitual tendency clinging craving

feeling contact the sixth sense bases

mentality materiality consciousness

formations

their origin their cessation in the way

leading to their cessation

these are the things that they do not

understand whose origin they do not

understand whose cessation they do not

understand and the way leading to whose

cessation they do not understand

these i do not consider to be ascetics

among ascetics or brahman among

brahmanas

and these venerable ones do not

by realizing it for themselves with

direct knowledge in this very life enter

and dwell in the goal of

asceticism or the goal of brahman hood

that means nibana

so you have these 12 lengths of

dependent origination and

with each link there is

suffering

the cause of suffering the link that

happened first

the one right before that the cessation

of suffering the letting go of the

craving caused by that

and

the path leading to the cessation of

suffering

so when we go back to

to the suta when we're talking about

the noble truths

and the

this is suffering

this is the origin this is

a cessation and this is the way leading

to cessation

if you don't understand that

you're missing

what the buddha's

teaching actually is about

you're you're completely missing the

whole point

of the buddha's teaching if you don't

have someone that can show you

clearly

what the links of dependent origination

are and how they work

and if you don't have that

how can you attain nibana that's what it

said

said you can't attain nibana until you

really do

see and realize for yourself with direct

experience

how

all of the links of dependent

origination actually work

okay

so one who is unwise is a person that

doesn't see the noble truths

or the links of dependent origination

now the problem right now with most

meditation

is that everybody is very much involved

in

seeing impermanence

suffering

and not self or the impersonal nature of

everything

when you just look at that

you're looking at a very surface view of

the buddha's teaching

when you want to get in depth into the

buddhist teaching

you have to be able to see and

understand

how all of these links and the four

noble truths work with each link

in mahavaga

it says

a person can see one

or all of the three links

of uh

not three links

this is three signs

of existence

that is anitra dukanata without ever

seeing the links of dependent

origination

but anyone

who sees the links of dependent

origination always sees impermanence

suffering and not self

so that right there gives you an idea of

that

if you're just looking for these

characteristics these

impermanent suffering and not self

you're missing something

you're missing the deeper teaching of

the buddha

okay

one does not wisely understand one does

not wisely understand friend that's why

it is said one who is unwise

saying good friend the venerable

mahakohita delighted and rejoiced in the

venerable sariputa's words then he asked

him a further question

one who is wise one who is wise is said

friend

with reference to what was this said one

who is wise

one wisely understands one wisely

understands friend

and what

that is why it is said one who is wise

what does one wisely understand one

wisely understands this is suffering

one wisely understands this is the

origin of suffering

one wisely understands this is the

cessation of

suffering one wisely understands this is

the way leading to the cessation of

suffering

one wisely understands one wisely

understands friend that's why it is said

one who is wise

so

when you

realize

how these links arise

and how they cease

then you're practicing the way leading

to the cessation of suffering

and what is that

when you practice right effort

which is what the six hours are

you're practicing the entire eightfold

path at that time

when you recognize release

relax

re-smile

return

repeat

every time there's any disturbance in

your mind

then you will notice

as soon as you relax there is no more

tightness or tension in your mind there

are no thoughts

your mind is clear your mind is bright

your mind is pure

why is it pure because you have let go

of craving

so

practicing

the six r's

with that relaxed step in it

is the way

to the cessation of suffering

okay

consciousness consciousness is said

friend with reference to what is

consciousness said

it cognizes

it cognizes friend

now that's kind of an interesting word

cognize

we

use the word recognize

but what does recognize mean

you're working with your memory

and you're seeing because it's seeing

things because of past events

but when you cognize something

that means you're seeing it just as it

is in the present moment

so you're you're able to

observe

when you cognize you are able to observe

what's happening in the present moment

now a lot of you are beginning to

understand the lengths of dependent

origination very well

there's contact feeling craving clinging

birth or habitual tendency birth

and sorrow lamentation pain grief

see that that's great

that's like a choir

a little slow

so when you see a feeling arise

right on its

heel

there is tension and tightness

and that's how you recognize the craving

right after the craving then there's the

clinging

your opinions your concepts your stories

your ideas

and

the big personal belief

that all of these are yours

that's clinging

clinging is a rare

rather interesting phenomena because

once you

have clinging arise your mind sends to

jump from here to there to there to

there until you're a thousand miles away

thinking about other things

and

you don't even know where you are or

that you have a body

so clinging is a real

problem

until you start developing the way that

you

can

see what restlessness is and how it

arises because that's the start of

restlessness the craving and the

clinging

then you have your habitual tendency

your habitual tendency is when this kind

of feeling comes up

i have these kind of thoughts and i

always act in this way

now when you have pain arise in your

body you're made up of five

things body

feeling

perception perception is the concepts

and

the naming part of your mind

you have thoughts

you have consciousness

when a painful feeling arises the first

thing your mind does is try to think

the feeling away

but thoughts are one thing and feelings

are something else

not the same

so when a painful feeling arises

and you get caught

with

trying to think you're feeling away the

first thing you have to do is let go of

your thinking

let go of the thoughts

and relax the tightness in your head

caused by

that disturbance

now you see feeling for what it actually

is feeling is either pleasant

or painful neither painful nor pleasant

if it's a painful feeling

what arises with that

as craving is i don't like that

if it's a pleasant feeling what arises

is i like that

craving is the i like it i don't like it

mind

it's the very start of the false belief

that this is yours personally

when you get into cree into clinging

then that belief becomes very

big

and solid in all of your thoughts about

that feeling

make that feeling bigger and more

intense

so the first thing you do is let go of

the feeling

and

relax then you see that

let go of the thoughts and relax excuse

me then you see that feeling

and there's a tight mental fist wrapped

around that feeling

i don't like this i don't want it to be

here why does it have to bother me now

that's aversion

so

the truth of the present moment is

when a feeling arises

it's there

that's the truth

the profound truth

so what you have to realize is that you

need to allow the space for that feeling

to be there by itself

it's okay for that feeling to be there

has to be okay because it's the truth

it's there

this is the dhamma of the present moment

it's not your feeling it's just feeling

so you allow the space for that feeling

to be there and then you notice the

tension and tightness in your head in

your mind

and relax

and then

you have let go of an unwholesome thing

what is the unwholesome thing i am that

now you bring up something wholesome

smile

and

your object of meditation

and you stay with your object of

meditation

as long as mind will

every time you let go of that craving

there's no thoughts your mind is pure

and you're bringing that pure mind

back to your object of meditation

so many times

people want to teach meditation and they

completely ignore the every lack step

that means that they're bringing this

tightness

and this belief in itself

back to the object of meditation

and that leads the meditation in a

completely different way

than what the buddha intended

when you cognize something that means

you see it

in the present moment as it actually is

okay

that is

why consciousness is is said what does

it cognize

it cognizes this is pleasant

it cognizes this is painful

it cognizes this is neither painful nor

pleasant it cognizes it cognizes friend

that's why

consciousness is said

what does it cognize it cognizes feeling

when you're really

quiet

and your mind gets distracted by

something at one of the success doors

feeling always arises

okay

you have a good working eye

it hits color and form

good working eye hits the color and form

i consciousness arises the meaning of

these three different things

is called eye contact

with eye contact as condition

eye feeling arises

pleasant

painful

neither painful nor pleasant

with i

uh contact as condition i feeling arises

with i feeling as conditioned i

craving arises

that's the tension and tightness that's

how you can recognize that

with i

craving as condition clinging arises

this kind of feeling and these kind of

thoughts arise

and then we get into that nasty habit of

trying to think the feeling away

but they're not the same thing

it never

ever works

this is why people get depressed

a painful feeling arises

i don't like that

i got a story about that

and my habitual tendency is to play that

story over and over again and try to

control

the feeling with the thoughts

and the feeling gets bigger and more

intense

now you really get stuck

and you're identifying heavily with that

feeling

and you're trying to control the feeling

and you're making yourself more and more

miserable and you get more and more

depressed because it doesn't work and

never has

why do you think it will this time

but we're not aware enough to really

see this

it takes someone to tell you about this

process

in order for you to start seeing

and it's really

quite amazing that

sometimes

around we run across people that are

very depressed and we sit and talk with

them for a little while and before long

they're going you mean this isn't my

feeling

it's not my depression

there's a way to let it go

and it's amazing how fast some people

can catch on to this

this is one of the reasons

that when you're talking about the good

attributes of the dhamma

one of the things it says is

this is immediately effective

you let go of the thought you relax

you bring up something wholesome

smile well i don't feel like smiling i'm

depressed

i don't care

as long as you follow those instructions

don't add anything

don't change anything

the whole point of the meditation

is to learn how mind's attention moves

from one thing to another

not why we don't care about why you can

leave that for the psychologist they

love that stuff

we're learning how the process works

in other words

if you come and start meditating and

you've never meditated before

and you start practicing with me you're

going to start hearing how dependent

origination works from the very

beginning

and you might not recognize it so easily

but

as you hear this over and over and then

start saying it for yourself

and you start saying that you can go

deeper in your practice than you've ever

done before

then you start to pay attention to that

and you start practicing that

now when i first started out with this

after 20 years of vipassana

and i was told to take the commentaries

and

put them someplace else

and just go to the suttas when i started

reading

that the instructions in the meditation

are so simple

and when i started doing that

i went deeper in the first sitting than

i'd ever done in 20 years of epasada

and i come out of the meditation and i'm

going

wow

i'm seeing things in a whole different

way

when i practice vipassana

the first five years

i spent finding out what meditation

wasn't

and there were always questions about

whether i was doing it correctly or not

when you add this extra step that they

seem to forget when they're practicing

vyapasana

of you add this step of relaxing

you don't have to ask anybody whether

you're progressing or not you know that

you're doing it

you start to get confidence

and with that confidence you start

having more interest and having more fun

with the meditation

and

you go deep very quickly

some of you have only practiced

meditation with me for a few days

but you're starting to really understand

this process and you're starting to go

deep

that doesn't happen with most people

that practice meditation

you know you you're br you're cutting

your teeth on the first one month

retreat

then you think well i need a three month

retreat and you wind up not

understanding what was happening during

the three-month retreat well i must do

it again

sound familiar scott

38 years

38 years later

okay

wisdom and consciousness friend

are these states conjoined or disjoined

and is it possible to separate each of

these states from the other in order to

describe the difference between them

good question

wisdom and consciousness friend

these states are conjoined not disjoined

and it is impossible to separate each of

these states from the other in order to

describe the difference between them

why

it's a morgan here

why

because when you're seeing the links of

dependent origination you're cognizing

at that time

see how simple it is

for what one wisely understand that one

cognizes

and what one cognizes that one wisely

understands

that is why these states are conjoined

not disjoined

and it is impossible to separate each of

these states from the other in order to

describe the difference between them

so it just gets through i love this it

just gets through saying it's impossible

to separate each of these things so

so

what's the next question well what's the

difference

between consciousness and wisdom

these states that are conjoined not

disjoint

the difference friend between wisdom and

consciousness these states that are

conjoined not disjoint

is this

wisdom is to be developed

and consciousness is to be fully

understood

okay how do you develop wisdom

by quieting your mind down enough so

that you can see how these links work

and when you see

you understand

yes this is a process and it's not my

process

this is a process that happens by itself

wisdom is to be developed

and consciousness is to be fully

understood

feeling

feeling is said friend with reference to

what is feeling said it feels it feels

friend that's why feeling is said what

does it feel it feels pleasure it feels

pain it feels neither pain nor pleasure

it feels

it feels friend

that is why feeling is said

perception

perception is said friend

with reference to what is perception

said

it perceives

it perceives friend that's why

perception is said

what does it perceive

it perceives blue it proceeds yellow it

perceives red it perceives white

that's the naming quality of mind

you see something that's white your mind

says white

okay that's the part of the mind that

puts names on things

this is the very start

of

concepts

okay the naming of things is the start

of a concept

we only think

in concepts

so what is a concept

well you say you're sitting in a chair

where is the chair

is it the arms is it the legs

is it the back

is it the seat

it's all of these different things put

together

to make up the concept of a chair

all of our thoughts are the same

now we have a word like pain

what is pain

well it's a sensation and there's a

feeling and there's

hardness and softness and there is heat

and vibration and all of these different

things

to make up this concept of pain

we only think in concepts this is one of

the reasons why

when you're talking about nibana

attaining nibana the super mundane one

of the definitions of nibana

is

no

more

concepts

it's the unconditioned state

everything in a concept is conditioned

right

so this this whole thing

is it gets a little bit tricky

but you have to be able to recognize

what this stuff is

so that you don't attach to it

i am that it's only a color it's only a

thought it's only a sensation

that's why perception is sent said

now here's the interesting part of this

whole suta at least for me

it says feeling perception and

consciousness friends are these states

conjoined or disjoined

and is it possible to separate each of

these states from the other in order to

describe the difference between them

feeling perception and consciousness

friend

these states are conjoined not disjoint

and it is impossible to separate each of

these states from the others in order to

describe the difference between them

for what one feels

that one perceives

and what one perceives

that

one

cognizes

so this is a real interesting thing

now i've read

actually quite a few books

on

feeling

on perception

on

consciousness but they've never been put

together

and that's one of the things that's

happening

right now in buddhism

is

everybody wants to make their mark

and write a book that's

that other people really think is

good

so they pick out one little part

and they expound it into a whole book

but they never

put everything together

so you have feeling

and you can have a brilliant book on

feeling and it can be applauded by a lot

of different people because you thought

up all of these different ways to

describe it and it really is works

and the same i i saw a very uh

advanced

or

advanced

um

yeah that's what my mind needs to do

a very popular monk

that came from england and he was here

for a long time now he's gone back to

england

he wrote a beautiful article on

perception

but he never mentioned feeling her

consciousness

yeah

and this this sutra right here

when it

says feeling perception and

consciousness these states are conjoined

not disjoined and it is impossible to

separate each of these states from the

others in order to describe the

difference between them

you can't separate these

but that's what's happening in buddhism

right now

everything is getting down well they've

already written about this i've got to

find something new to write about

and

because of some of the commentaries that

have been around for 1500 years or so

it takes one little thing

and makes a big deal out of it and there

are ten of these and five of those and

it

it breaks it up

but it

it makes the buddha's teaching disjoint

and that's kind of the problem right now

there's not enough teachers around that

are bringing all of these things

together

and showing how they're supposed to work

and that's why there's so many different

styles of buddhism

and so many different

ideas in buddhism

one of the things that i do is read the

text

and this is my guideline for a dhamma

talk

it's not

just picking out one little part of the

suit and say this is it

and expound for an hour hour and a half

on that one little part

the the beauty of the suttas is that it

brings everything together so it's

understandable

and workable

so

may i ask the question of course

i don't understand

how perception feeling and consciousness

i don't understand the relationship

between them okay and it seems like

there's

they're separating the links and i don't

even understand where perception comes

from

it's not it's not separating

consciousness

no no no

you're getting things a little bit mixed

up yeah when you're thinking of the lynx

independent origination when

consciousness arises that's the

potential for consciousness to arise

but it needs some other links

in order for that to occur

but this is the potential so that's why

you're getting

a little bit

yeah because then

one consciousness meets the other two

things and you have your contact you

have

right you you have to have that sense

door gotcha in order for consciousness

to arise and that happens

in uh

i think it's a saty but thomas

goes over that

we'll do that one of these days

okay for what one feels

that one perceives and what one

perceives that one cognizes

that is why these states are conjoined

not disjoined and is it possible to

separate each of these states from the

other in order to describe the

difference between them

oh

you'll get more of an idea right here

okay noble by mind alone

friend

what can be

known by purified mind conscious re

consciousness released from the five

faculties

friend by purified mind consciousness

released from the five faculties

the base of infinite space can be known

thus

space is infinite

the base of infinite consciousness can

be known thus

consciousness is infinite

the base of nothingness can be known

thus

there is nothing

friend

with what does one understand the state

that can be known

friend one understands a state that can

be known

with the eye of wisdom

okay what is the eye of wisdom

the eye of wisdom

is

the mind that doesn't have any craving

in it

that's the pure mind

that's the observation mind

and there's no coloring

with i like it i don't like it then

thinking

this this is the mind that just simply

observes the eye

as they are as they are as they actually

but actually it's

clarity of mind it's clarity of mind

that's why

and

you could you could change the eye of

wisdom to

seeing with wisdom okay all

yeah right clear

or understanding with wisdom

friend what is the purpose of wisdom

the purpose of wisdom friend is direct

knowledge

its purpose is full understanding

its purpose is abandoning

okay seeing things as they are and

getting into your dispassion is yeah

it's there so what

who cares

right view

now this is one of the things that i've

been talking about for a couple of days

friend how many conditions are there for

the arising of right view

friend there are two conditions for the

arising of right view

the voice of another

and wise attention

see

ananda

when he first became a monk

he was

he became a sodapana

and a sodapana without fruition

okay

then he started

being the attendant for the buddha after

after quite a few years

and

one day he got the fruition

the fruition of seeing and understanding

completely dependent origination seeing

and understanding

and he went to the buddha

and he said i don't know what the big

deal is about dependent origination this

is so easy to understand it's easy to

see

and the buddha admonished him and said

no it's not

this is not easy to see it's not easy to

understand

why because you need the voice of

another person to tell you about it

or else you can't do it

that's what the buddha why the buddha

became the buddha because he figured it

out himself

it's magnificent that he did it

he really worked hard and long

to figure out all of these different

links and how to explain to other people

how they work and he experienced it

directly and then well

he

he figured it out

and he started applying it

but it wasn't until the night of his

awakening

that he

realized it

so he realized the four noble truths and

dependent origination

could we close that yes

thank you

i'm getting old i get cold easy

these are the two conditions for the

arising of right view

friend

by how many factors is right view

assisted

when it has deliverance of mine for its

path

deliverance of mine for its

path and fruition

when it has deliverance by wisdom for

its path

and deliverance by wisdom for its path

and fruition

friend right view is assisted by five

factors when it has deliverance of mind

for its path

deliverance of mind for its path and

fruition

when it has deliverance by wisdom for

its path

and deliverance by wisdom for its path

and fruition

here friend right view is assisted by

virtue

learning

discussion

serenity

and insight

one of the things that's happening i

think it might be because of

some of the first people that brought

buddhism to this country

they say you should never talk to

anybody about your practice

only talk to your teacher

and there is a rule for the monks that

say that we should not

falsely talk about our experience but it

doesn't say we can't talk about it

and that's misunderstood a lot

so people discuss

with each other when you get

together with the sangha

the sangha there's

there's ten kinds of sangha

there's

the monastic sangha

there's the ley sangha

and then there's

the eight kind of individuals

that are worthy of gifts that is sort of

sodopano with fruition saktagami

saktagami with fruition and so on

so when you get together with other

like-minded people that are doing the

practice it's good to talk with each

other monks do it we talk to each other

all the time about our practice

and it's helpful

so this idea that

uh you're never supposed to talk about

your practice

is really one of the things that's a

problem in this country

so right view is assisted by virtue

keeping your precepts without breaking

them

at all

for any reason

not breaking them at all for any reason

purposefully

when i was in indonesia

i was teaching a bunch of hours talking

with a bunch of sixth seventh and eighth

graders

one of the

excuse me

one of the questions they asked me

was

is this the end of the world

they just had a volcano merapi it had

had gone off

and there was a lot more talk about

other volcanoes on the islands that were

getting active

and there was a lot of fear and anxiety

so they asked me is is this the end of

the world are we all going to die

and i said well

a lot of that depends on you

if you keep your five precepts without

ever breaking them that is a kind of

protection

and it says in in the books

that

you will not die an unnatural death that

means old age

you won't die by accidents

you won't die by having things fall on

you and killing you you won't die by

somebody shooting you

so i told them

you keep your precepts

you are protected

you break your precepts

you're not protected

then you have accidents then you have

problems

keeping your precepts without breaking

them

leads to a mind that is completely

free

from remorse

completely free from any kind of guilty

feeling arising because when you break a

precept your mind says i shouldn't have

done that

but you can get into the habit of

breaking the precepts so often that your

mind just stops talking to you about it

and therein lies a problem

so virtue is a very important aspect of

the buddha's teaching

but in this country

nobody likes to talk about morality

why mostly because it's been pushed down

people's throats

and they don't see

the

the real

benefit

of

having a calm mind that

concentrates very easily

having a lot of problems with accidents

hurting yourself that sort of thing

having the hindrances arise

so you get into your anger real easy and

you get into your lust real easy and you

get completely distracted away from

what's happening in the present moment

but when you keep your precepts without

breaking them

you have the conscious decision

no i won't do that

i won't break this precept for no reason

i had a student in malaysia

she'd been practicing practicing

buddhist her whole life

beautiful person

she was

i guess she was 45 right around there

she would never even consider breaking a

precept not even consider it

so she came to me one time

and she said

i want to learn how to meditate

and i said fine i'm giving a weekend

retreat come this weekend i'll show you

never done any meditation in her life

so i gave her the instructions and then

we ate lunch

and after lunch i walked over to her and

i said how you doing

and she said fine i said how long are

you sitting

well i can only sit for about 45 minutes

only

why don't you sit longer

well you know i've never been good at

sitting on the floor

and i can only stand the pain

for about 45 minutes before i get up and

move

and i told her

there's no magic in the floor you don't

have to sit on the floor there's chairs

around here sit in the chair

her next sitting

four hours

got into the jhana

first day she ever tried to meditate

that's

remarkable

so much so i wanted to go up and go

nobody's that good

but that's the advantage of keeping your

precepts

oh

the learning discussion serenity and

insight all of these things will come

naturally to you

as you listen to dhamma talks you start

taking more interest

especially when you start seeing that

when you practice

you're smiling and being happy with your

daily life

you start getting confidence that hey

this stuff works

there's no messing around here

i'm used to giving retreats

i teach people both insight and

serenity at the same time

people get into drownings

now this is some something that

the fear of god has been put into a lot

of people with that word

but the kind of drama i teach is not the

same as an absorption type of genre

this is an insight type of genre

and i am

very used to having people

getting into

the first jhana

the second or third day of a retreat

by the end of a seven or eight day

retreat

95 of them get at least into the third

genre

or

the fourth genre when you get to the

fourth genre you're considered an

advanced meditator

when i was in thailand

when the monks were practicing one

pointed concentration they were

practicing absorption concentration they

said if you want to get into it john

it's going to take you

at least 10 years

what's the difference here

you practice with me for

one week

and you're in the jaundice

or you practice with them for 10 years

your choice

right view is assisted by these five

factors has deliverance of mind for its

path deliverance of mind for its fruit

these these two deliverances of mines

are talking about

getting into

the

first four genres

and

the four arupa jhanas

that's the deliverance of mind

that they're talking about here and then

the deliverance of mind by wisdom that

means

seeing dependent origination

how many kinds of being are there

there are these three kinds of being

friends sense sphere being

the sense sphere being is what i call

your habitual

emotional tendency

okay you have the fine material being

that means the first four genus

and the immaterial being that means

the

immaterial realms

friend how is renewal of being in the

future

generated

friend renewal of being in the future is

generated through the delighting and

this and that

on the part of beings who are

hindered by ignorance

and fettered by

craving

so what's the definition of ignorance

not knowing and seeing the four noble

truths

you know what the definition of craving

is now it's the tension and tightness

the i like it i don't like it mind

friend how is the renewal of being in

the future not generated

friend

with the fading away of ignorance

and with the arising of true knowledge

with the cessation of

craving renewal of being in the future

is not generated

simple enough right

how many more days to this retreat

now we're going to talk about the first

jhana

friend what is the first jhana jhana is

a pali word

it is translated mostly as meaning

concentration

that is at best a very poor

definition

jhana is a level of understanding

understanding what

how the links of dependent origination

works

how

when hindrances arise

how to let go of the hindrance so you

can go deeper and you can experience

this level of understanding

here quite secluded from sensual

pleasures secluded from unwholesome

states

a monk enters upon and abides in the

first genre which is accompanied by

thinking and examining thought

with joy and happiness born of seclusion

this is called the first jhana

friend

how many factors does the first jhana

have

friend

the first jhana has five factors

here

when a monk has entered upon

the first jhana

there occur

thinking

examining thought

joy

happiness and unification of might

that is how the

first jhana has five factors

how many factors are abandoned in the

first jhana

and how many factors are possessed

friend in the first genre five factors

are abandoned

and five factors are possessed

here when a person is entered upon the

first jhana

sensual desire is abandoned

ill will is abandoned

sloth and torpor are abandoned

restlessness and anxiety are abandoned

doubt and perplexity are abandoned

and there occur

thinking examining thought joy happiness

and unification of mine

when you get into the drama the

hindrances will not

arise

until

your mindfulness slips for whatever

reason then you have a hindrance arising

but the hindrances aren't the problem

so you see the hindrance

needs to come up so you can go deeper

with your understanding because you're

seeing how your mind gets distracted

and you start to understand more and

more clearly

how to let go of

these hindrances and relax into them

so the hindrances help improve your

mindfulness

when your mindfulness gets to a certain

point that hindrance fades away now you

go into the next

level of understanding so the hindrances

are helping you to understand

how the links of dependent origination

work

that is how the first jhana

five factors are abandoned and five

factors are possessed

now we're going to talk about the five

faculties this is what you need

friend these faculties each have a field

a separate field

a separate domain

and do not experience each other's field

and domain that is

the i faculty the ear faculty the nose

faculty the tongue faculty and the body

faculty

now these five faculties each have a

separate field a separate domain

not experiencing each other's field and

domain

what is their resort

what experiences their fields and domain

in other words you don't smell

with your eyes

and you don't

taste with your ears

so each each faculty has its own

its own job

friend these five faculties each have a

separate field a separate domain and do

not experience each other's field and

domain that is the eye ear nose tongue

and body faculty

now these faculties each having a

separate field

a separate domain not experiencing each

other's field or domain

have mind as their resort

and mind experiences their fields and

domains

got it

friend

as to these five faculties that is the

eye ear nose tongue

and body faculty

what do these five faculties stand

independence on

friend as to these five faculties that

is the eye ear nose tongue and body

faculty these five faculties stand

independence on

vitality

friend what does vitality stand

independence on

vitality stands independence on

heat

friend

what does heat stand independence on

heat stands independence on

vitality

uh just now friend we understood the

venerable sariputa to have said vitality

stands independence on heat

and now we understand him to say

he stands independence on vitality

how should

the meaning of these statements be

regarded good question what do you think

in this case friend i shall give you a

simile for some wise men are here

understand the meaning of a statement by

means of a simile

just as when an oil lamp is burning

its radiance is seen independent on its

flame

and its flame is seen in dependence on

its radiance

got it

you want me to do it again

got it

okay

so too vitality stands independence on

heat and heat stands in dependence on

vitality

can't have one without the other

friend

are vital formations things that can be

felt

or are vital formations one thing

and things that can be felt another

vital formations friends are not things

that can be felt

if vital formations were things that can

be felt then a monk

who has emerged upon the cessation of

perception feeling and consciousness

would not be seen to emerge from it

in other words he'd get caught

because vital formations are one thing

and things that can be felt

another

a monk who has entered upon the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

can be seen to emerge from it

you'll understand more in a moment

friend when this body is bereaved of how

many states is it discarded

and forsaken left lying senseless like a

log

when a body is bereaved of three states

vitality

heat

and consciousness

it is then discarded and forsaken left

laying

senseless like a log

friend what is the difference between

one who is dead

who has completed his time

and a monk who has entered upon the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

friend in this case one who is dead who

has completed his his time

his bodily formations have ceased and

subsided his verbal formations have

ceased and subsided

his mental formations have ceased and

subsided

his vitality is exhausted

and his heat has been dissipated

and his faculties are fully broken up

in the case of a monk who has entered

upon the cessation of perception feeling

in consciousness

his bodily formations have ceased and

subsided

his verbal formations have ceased and

subsided

his mental formations have ceased and

subsided

but his vitality is not exhausted

his heat has not been dissipated

and his fact faculties become

exceptionally clear

this is the difference between one who

is dead who has completed his time and a

monk who has entered upon

the cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

anytime anybody gets into this state

when they come out they are absolutely

radiant

and you see a lot of

pictures of saints and these kind of

things with that halo around them

well this happens around the whole body

anytime you see somebody like that

give them

something

give them food give them anything

there's great merit in that

friend when many can

how many conditions are there for the

attainment of neither painful nor

pleasant deliverance of mind

friend there are four conditions for the

attainment of neither painful or

pleasant deliverance of mind here

with the abandoning of pleasure and pain

with a previous disappearance of joy and

grief

a person

enters upon and abides in the fourth

jhana which has neither pain nor

pleasure

and purity of mindfulness

due to equanimity

these are the four conditions for the

attainment of neither painful nor

pleasant deliverance of mind

how many conditions are there for the

attainment of the signless deliverance

of mind the signless deliverance of mine

is a cessation

of perception feeling in consciousness

it's not necessarily

nirvana

although it can be that

there are two conditions for the

attainment of the signless deliverance

of of mind

non-attention to all signs

and attention to the signless element

these are the two conditions for the

attainment of the signless deliverance

of mind

friend how many conditions are there for

the persistence of the signless

deliverance of mind

friend there are three conditions for

the persistence of the signless

deliverance of mind

non-attention to all signs

attention to the signless element

and the prior determination of its

duration

these are the three

three conditions for the persistence

of the signless deliverance of mind

the determination you have to be able to

be good with determinations

and i haven't said this on this retreat

yet

before you go to bed at night

please make two determinations

one

that when you wake up in the morning you

will be smiling and happy

and

you make a determination

as to what time you're going to wake up

to

the second

when you get good at being able to wake

up when you make that determination

you're just starting out with

determinations

okay and there there are

i have some students that i've taught

them

how to

get into mastery of going in and out of

drama and that takes determinations

so i say

okay i want you to sit

go no higher than the first jhana

for 14 minutes and 31 seconds

and the next time

15 minutes and three seconds

and the next time

and then when they can hit that exactly

right on every time

then

okay sit in the first jhana and sit for

29 minutes and 18 seconds

and you keep changing the length of time

that you're

coming out of the genre then when you

can hit that right on

then

good

go into the first jhana

come out

59 minutes

12 seconds

or 61 minutes five seconds

and then when you get out of that

i want you to go in and out of the first

jhana in four seconds

okay after you do that then you go

through

all of the other genres

including the immaterial

genres when you get done with that your

determinations are really pretty good

and you can

you can be in any kind of a situation

you can call up any of the dramas for

any length of time

so this is this is a very useful skill

let's put it that way

so making determinations is is a as an

important aspect

when you're getting into the signless

deliverance of mind where that is a

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

and let's say you only have five days

where you can be in that

and then you

make the determination in five days and

14 hours and 31 minutes and five seconds

i'm going to come out of that

and you do

you can sit in this state for seven days

if you make a determination

for eight days

your heat and vitality dissipate and you

become

like a log

friend how many condition

conditions are there for the emergence

from the signless deliverance of mind

friend there are two conditions for the

emergence from the signless deliverance

of mind

attention to all signs and non-attention

to the signless element

these are the two conditions for the

emergence of the signless deliverance of

mine

friend the immeasurable deliverance of

mind

the deliverance of mind through

nothingness

the deliverance of mind through voidness

the signless deliverance of mine are

these states different in meaning and

different in name

or are they one in meaning and different

in name only

friend the immeasurable deliverance of

mind the measurable deliverance of mine

is the forebrahma viharas

loving-kindness compassion joy and

equanimity

the deliverance of mind through

nothingness

that is getting up to the realm of

nothingness

the deliverance of mind through voidness

that is

doing the practice of

whatever arises this is not me this is

not mine this i am not

the signless deliverance of mine

we've already gone through that one

there is a way in which these states are

different in meaning and different in

name

and there is a way in which they are one

in meaning and different in name only

what friend is the way in which these

states are different in meaning and

different in name here a monk abides

pervading one quarter

with a mind imbued with loving kindness

likewise the second likewise the third

likewise the fourth

sound familiar

so above below around and everywhere

to all as to himself he abides pervading

the all-encompassing world with a mind

imbued with loving kindness

abundant exalted immeasurable without

hostility and without ill will

he avoids pervading one quarter with a

mind imbued with compassion

he abides pervading one quarter with a

mind imbued with joy

he abides pervading one quarter with a

mind imbued with

equanimity it goes through the second

and the third and fourth it's it's the

same

with just a different object of

meditation

so above below around and everywhere as

to all

uh to all as to himself

he abides pervading the all-encompassing

world with a mind imbued with

equinimnity

abundant exalted immeasurable without

hostility and without ill will

this is called the immeasurable

deliverance of mind

and what friend is a deliverance of mine

through nothingness

here with the complete surmounting of

the base of infinite space

aware that there is nothing

a monk enters upon and abides in the

base of nothingness this is called the

deliverance of mind through nothingness

and what friends is the deliverance of

mind through voidness

hear a monk gone to the forest or to the

root of the tree or an empty hut

reflects thus

this is void of itself

or of what belongs to a self

this is called the deliverance of mind

through voidness

which is a distinct difference between

what other traditions call voidness

and what friend is the signless

deliverance of mind

here

with non-attention to all signs a monk

enters upon and abides in the signless

collectedness of mind

this is called the signless deliverance

of mind

this is a way in which these states are

different in meaning and different in

name

and

friend and what friend is the way in

which these states are one in meaning

and different enamel

lust is a maker of measurement

hate is a maker of measurement

delusion is a maker of

measurement

a monk whose taints are destroyed

these are abandoned cut off at the root

make like a palm stump done away with so

that they know are no longer subject to

future arising

lust

hatred and delusion

are another way

of describing

craving

okay do you understand that

craving is the maker of measurement

i am that

right

so lust hatred and delusion they're all

makers of measurement because i am there

of all the kinds of immeasurable

deliverance of mind the unshakable

deliverance of mind is pronounced the

best

now that unshakable deliverance of mine

is void of lust void of hate and void of

delusion

lust is a something

hate is a something

delusion is a something

in a person whose taints are destroyed

these are abandoned cut off at the root

made like a palm stump done away with

so that they are no longer subject to

future arising

of all the kinds of deliverance of mine

through nothingness

the unshakeable deliverance of mind is

pronounced the best

now that unshakable deliverance of mind

is void of lust void of hate and void of

delusion

lust is a maker of signs

hate is a maker of signs

delusion is a maker of signs why because

they lead to

distraction of mine

they lead to craving they lead her that

is craving they lead to clinging they

lead to habitual tendency

they lead to a lot of sorrow lamentation

pain grief

that's

better a monk whose taints are destroyed

these are abandoned cut off at the root

made like a palm stump done away with so

there are no more

they are no longer subject to future

arising

of all the kinds of signless deliverance

of mind the unshakable deliverance of

mind is pronounced the best

now that unshakable deliverance of mine

is void of lust void of hate and void of

delusion

this is the way in which these states

are one in meaning and different in name

only

that is what the venerable sorry putin

said the venerable mahakohita was

satisfied and delighted in the venerable

sorry buddha's works

so i gave you a lot tonight

i would like to see

the amount of talking

cut down

for the retreat

okay

i would like to see that everybody is

meditating at the very least

eight hours a day

again this is a walk in the park

you guys have no idea how tough it is

the teachers are in asia

but they don't have the relaxed steps so

it makes it different

meditating for

16 or 18 hours a day

is

at least

difficult

and there was no time for talking

there was no time for anything but

walking and sitting

the other

four to six hours a day had to do with

sleep and

eating a meal and

taking care of bodily needs like that

so i'm only asking you to do it for

eight hours a day and i'm giving you the

opportunity to have eight hours sleep

isn't this a walk in a park

easy right

please take advantage of this

sit as long as you are comfortable

sitting

and then add another five minutes

just to see if that pain will go away by

itself

so

anything else

the cherished samaritan

may suffering once be suffering free and

the fear struck fearless feet

may the grieving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

are all beings share this merit that we

thus acquire

for the acquisition of all kinds of

happiness

many beings inhabiting space and earth

devas and naga's mighty powers of ours

dispensation

you