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

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

thus have I heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living in chondral can

Jolla gonca can Jenga gala in the grove

of some mochila trees mckee loop trees

never heard of that kind of tree before

then the Brahmin student Otara a pupil

of a Brahma para Satya went to the

blessed one in exchange greetings with

him when this courteous and amiable talk

was finished he sat down at one side the

Buddha then ask him Mutara does your

Brahmin teacher teaches disciples the

development of the faculties he does

Master Gautama but Mutara how does he

teach his disciples the development of

the faculties here master Gautama one

does not see forms with the I one does

not hear sounds with the ear that is how

the Brahmin teacher teaches his

disciples the development of the

faculties if that were so utara then a

blind and deaf man will have developed

his faculties according to what your

teacher says

for a blind man does not see forms with

his eyes and a deaf man does not hear

sounds with the ear when this was said

the brahmin student who thara SAT silent

dismayed with shoulders drooping and

head down blum and without response then

knowing this the blessed one addressed

the venerable Ananda Ananda the Brahman

teacher teaches his disciples the

development of the faculties in one way

but in the noble ones discipline the

supreme development of the faculties is

otherwise now is the time blessed one

now is the time sublime one for the

blessed one to teach the supreme

development of faculties in the noble

ones discipline having heard it from the

blessed one the monks will remember it

and I can get these pages okay now this

is in a real important statement then

listen Ananda and attend closely to what

I shall say yes venerable serve the

blessed one said this now Ananda how is

there the Supreme development of the

faculties in the noble ones discipline

here Ananda when a monk sees a form with

the eye there are rises in him what is

agreeable there arises what is

disagreeable there arises what is both

agreeable and disagreeable he

understands thus there has arisen and me

what is agreeable there has arisen in me

what is disagreeable there has arisen in

me what is agreeable and disagreeable

it's it's neither nor agreeable or

disagreeable actually but that is

conditioned gross dependently arisen

this is peaceful this is possibly that

is equanimity the agreeable that arose

the disagreeable that arose the neither

agreeable nor disagreeable that arose

cease in him and equanimity is

established just as a man with good

sight having opened his eyes might shut

them or having shut his eyes might open

them so too concerning anything at all

the agreeable that arose the

disagreeable that arose the neither

agreeable nor disagreeable that arose

cease just as quickly just as rapidly

just as easily and equanimity is

established this is called the noble

ones discipline the supreme development

of the faculties regarding forms

cognizable by the eye again when a monk

hears a sound with the ear there are

rises in him what is agreeable there

arises what is disagreeable there are

Rises what is neither agreeable nor

disagreeable he understands thus and

equanimity is established just as a

strong man might easily snap his fingers

so too concerning anything at all the

agreeable that arose the disagreeable

that arose

the neither agreeable nor disagreeable

that arose cease just as quickly just as

rapidly just as easily and equanimity is

established this is called in the noble

ones discipline the supreme development

of the faculties regarding sounds

cognizable by the ear now when you're

practicing one pointed concentration

when you're trying to just stay on your

object of meditation and a sound arises

it can make you boink and then dislike

arises very easily sounds are just

sounds they're not good sounds they're

not bad sounds they're simply sounds but

because the concentration is out of

balance with the mindfulness

concentration is much deeper that's what

makes if start and one of my teachers in

Burma used to say that a sound is a

thorn in the side of the meditators and

the only reason it's a thorn in the side

of the meditators is because they're

taking that sound personally and not

liking it and wanting it to be different

than it is and their concentration is

not in balance with their mindfulness

during that time that he was talking

about that he decided that it was time

to drill another water well he drilled

the water well right outside the

meditation Hall on the side that has all

of the screen doors they had an old

engine that sometimes would backfire and

from eight o'clock in the morning till

six o'clock at night it was going over

our are so much for the sound being a

thorn in your side and it would stop at

six o'clock and for about a half an hour

it was blissfully peaceful and home now

his meditation center winning when he

first started it it was outside of town

but the town started growing around the

meditation center and it turned into a

major street now when when the Burmese

drive they drive by sound that means

honking their horn Longhorn means the

long beep means something a short beat

means something else and about 6 30

there was a sidewalk outside the wall of

the monastery and that's where they

would set up their tea and loudspeakers

and play music and it was loud and that

happened until about ten o'clock at

night

then they would turn that off and that's

when the neighbors would start up their

generators so that they had lights at

night and they'd run the generators all

night so as a result my practice was

letting a sound be there without paying

attention to it even when it backfired

they didn't have any muffler on this

motor either so it was really loud so

people come in this country you're

supposed to tiptoe in the meditation

Hall not making any sound at all if you

close the door loudly people will

complain about the sound of the door

being closed one time I was at a

meditation center or retreat and it was

like 95 outside and it was not an

air-conditioned building so i turn the

fan on and people complain because of

the sound of the fan now what was the

real problem of this well they were

practicing one-pointed concentration and

any sound that all the wind sun-times

would catch a door and slam and they

would everybody in the meditation Hall

would jump a little bit and then they

would write their notes to the teacher

about the sound bothering their

meditation but that doesn't sound like

what we're talking about here

a sound is a vibration that hits the ear

and the ear and mine recognizes it as a

sound oh that's only part of the noises

that happened when they finally stopped

drilling the well there was oh it was

about a hundred people that work for the

railroad and their boss told them all

that they had to come to this monastery

and practice meditation for a week these

guys were not interested in doing any

meditation but because the boss said it

they did it sitting in the meditation

Hall people started doing things to

entertain themselves passing gas was one

of the things the louder it could go the

better because they were in in that

culture they spit a lot it's like the

Chinese do a lot of spitting but they

didn't just spit they hot now this is

why you're sitting in the meditation

hall and they're sitting right beside

you okay they had some spit tunes out

there but they didn't just let it drop

in they spit it in and you'd sometimes

you'd feel a little bit speck it

here and there and then sometimes they

would get up and they would do it a

walking meditation there was one guy

that was absolutely brilliant at

belching on every step and it was loud

and everybody in the meditation Hall

knew that this guy was doing is walking

meditation now can you imagine that here

in this country anybody doing that sort

of thing they'd get stoned meditation

supposed to be quiet but we didn't

complain about it it was just something

else they let go of it's just a sound so

the whole point of this is when you hear

a sound you allow the sound to be there

without liking or disliking it and it's

the same way with all of the five

faculties with your eyes your ears your

nose your tongue and your body it

doesn't matter in Asia there's ants and

I mean there's ants a lot of different

kinds of ants and we were smart we got

this truck from China that you put

around you it wasn't on a rug it was on

a wood floor so you put this chalk

around you and the ants would walk right

up to that turn around and walk away so

we didn't get bit by the ants while

we're meditating but after a little bit

the ants started to get smart and they

would go to the wall go up the wall

cross to the ceiling and dive bomb and

you'd be sitting there and I didn't have

a this kind of shirt on it was just bare

shoulder and I be sitting there and I'd

feel on it and they always like to bite

someplace that's particularly sensitive

so how much better do we have things

here and still people complain see the

whole thing is you have to be able to

watch your mind things are not always

going to happen the way you want them to

what is your mind do with that if

there's a site that's not pleasant or a

sound that's not pleasant and it

disturbs you why does it disturb you

because I don't like it who has some

craving in their mind with the I don't

like wants things to be different than

they actually are what is one of the

definitions of suffering not getting

what you want or getting what you don't

want that's one of the definitions of

suffering and it always comes down to

who suffers see the the practice of six

ours is very good it's very easy to

carry with you but you have to remember

to let your thoughts your opinions your

ideas you have to let them go your

opinions your ideas your story your

emotional response causes the birth of

action and that leads to sorrow

cementation pain grief this bear and

that's how this whole mass of suffering

arises it's a real interesting phenomena

that if you have a desire for something

to happen in a particular way that

desire in meditation will stop you from

attaining it I had a good sitting this

morning I want a good sitting this

afternoon but it's not coming right the

way I want it to so I try harder and

then you start getting restless and then

you try harder and now your mind is

thinking all kinds of stuff and you're

really a long ways away from your object

of meditation and that desire to have

your meditation be like it was doesn't

go away until you let it go away you'll

hold on to it and then you six are and

you come and tell me well the six our

stuff doesn't work well you know it

works but there is something causing

that restlessness to arise what is that

something I want this to be a good

meditation what happens when you do that

you start leaning out of the present

moment waiting for the next present

moment to be better okay and it turns

into a vicious cycle

you have to let go of your expectations

I really would like this to happen the

way I want it to okay you can like that

all you want but that doesn't mean

that's what you're going to get it's a

letting go and being in the present

moment without likes and dislikes

without longing for meditation to be

better than it is and sometimes the

longing can be very very subtle it

doesn't have to be a big desire your

meditation is great you've been sitting

in the meditation for a long time and it

seems like nothing's happening well I've

been waiting for the Nibhana to come

mine edit ation is deep enough well what

happens if you let go of waiting because

you don't know what's going to happen

next nobody knows what's going to happen

next so you let go of that little subtle

attachment I want this to happen and

I'll wait here until it does that stops

that from occurring

so you develop your beginner's mind you

don't know what's going to happen next

and whatever happens next is okay it has

to be okay because whatever arises it's

there that's the truth what do you do

with that well I've had this feeling

before and I always try to stuff the

feeling stop the feeling from

distracting me from my meditation and

now you're following into falling into

your old habitual emotional tendency of

trying to control your meditation so it

will be the way I want it to be and then

you start getting into some kind of

action it's the birth of some kind of

action to try to adjust and you adjust

in a hard way and always the adjustment

causes mine to get tight when you do it

that way because you have a particular

desire that you want it to be the way

you want it to be when you want it to be

that way and reality is not matching

your desires so what do you do

old habits mean that you keep on trying

to do it in the same old way expecting a

different result okay Einstein said the

definition of insanity is doing the same

thing over and over again and expecting

a different result okay we're all crazy

it's okay to be insane but when you

start seeing that you're causing

yourself pain and you're always handling

that in exactly the same way it's time

to try something different now always

the the try something different is to

allow it to be there and back away from

it it's not from yours you didn't ask it

to come up but as soon as it came up you

took possession of it and tried to

control it and then you cause yourself

pain you cause yourself suffering and

you can't blame somebody else you can't

blame an external source for your

suffering because you're doing this to

yourself you're causing your own pain

and you keep on doing it over and over

again okay that same kind of suffering

is going to continue to come up over and

over again until you learn that that's

not the way to handle it what do you do

you use the six hours but you ask the

question what's the cause and condition

of this feeling arising what's the cause

and condition of this blockage whatever

it happens to be

and when you ask that question and you

continue on with your practice your

intuition will tell you what the cause

and condition is for that suffering now

you have the insight now you have the

answer what are you going to do with

that answer how do you adjust so that

you don't have that causing so much pain

and causing so much suffering at any one

of the sense doors any one of these

faculties so you ask the question and

the answer comes while I'm doing this

this is the cause of that suffering okay

now you have understanding as soon as

you understand what the real cause of

the suffering is then you can come up

with a different way of handling

whatever it is that arose the biggest

problem with this is is it's too simple

all of the answers that the Buddha gave

for overcoming suffering he told you the

simplest way to let it go he told you

how to recognize how to ask the question

and how to let it go

so when that insight comes well I've

been doing it this and I don't like that

and I'm trying to overcome that when you

get the answer as to what the problem is

the answer always comes let go of that

dislike of the present moment let go of

that desire for the present moment to be

in a particular way 6r come back to your

object of meditation and then you'll get

a sense of relief now what's your mind

really trying to show you what your old

habits are and how you're attached to

them and how to let them go

but i always have sadness or rice okay

fine whose sadness is it who's this

light of it is it who's trying to

control it and who makes it bigger

because of that desire to control you

know what the answer is this is my

sadness this is me this is who I am and

it always comes up and I always try to

stuff it I always try to make it stop I

always try to change it but the truth is

sadness is sadness and it's okay for it

to be there has to be because that's the

truth so you allow that feeling to be

there without trying to change it

without trying to make it any different

than it is and the allowing it to be

there means that you're releasing it

you're not keeping your attention on it

anymore now you relax that tightness in

your head caused by that little smile in

your mind come back to your object of

meditation 06 ours again but the sadness

didn't go away I've done this a dozen

times I've done it two dozen times and

it's still there so it's okay it could

be there as long as it wants to be there

my mother died a couple of years ago

there was sadness and it's okay for this

ad pneus to be there I miss her a lot

when you try to control what arises in

the present moment with your thoughts

and your opinions and your ideas and

your concepts that causes an old

habitual tendency to arise and that is

where your emotional attachments are and

heavy duty identification with those

things and there's a lot of pain and

what do you do with a pain try to push

it down I don't want that pain there

well the the truth anytime you fight

with the truth any time you try to

change the truth you're fighting with

reality because it's there now I used to

work with the hospice and one of the

things that they've discovered is that

somebody a family member dies and people

get real sad and if they don't recognize

what the grief is and they try to

control it and push it away and pretend

that they're not sad at some time in the

next two years they're going to have

some kind of major problem in their body

why is that because they tried to ignore

the pain they tried to control the pain

they tried to distract themselves so

they didn't see the paint and that

turned into a habitual tendency and that

pain and suffering got stuck somewhere

in their body

the thing with death death in the family

death of a loved one whatever it happens

to be it doesn't necessarily have to be

in your family is that people feel

helpless I don't know what to do I don't

know what to say when there's a death in

the family so what can you do you can

reload loving kindness to yourself you

can radiate loving kindness to all of

the family members you can radiate

loving kindness to the dead person but

when you do that what happens is that

grief that's there that you're trying to

push down and not allow it to be let go

that grief starts to dissipate because

you're doing something that is not only

helping you but it's helping everyone

else around you how grief is a real

interesting word it's a concept

sometimes grief can be sadness sometimes

grief can be anger it can be any variety

of emotions and that's what you call

grief but what is grief really it is

whatever that feeling is that arises

that's my feeling that's who I am and I

don't like that feeling and I don't want

it there and I want it to go away that's

real grief now remember back to the

instructions

in the meditation you're sitting very

still very quietly you're not moving

your body at all and a pain arises first

thing you'll notice is you have thoughts

about that pain and the more you think

about the pain the bigger and more

intense the pain becomes so what do you

do first you let go of your thinking

about it and relax now you see that

tight mental fist wrapped around there I

don't like it I don't want it there

that's a version but when you notice

that the truth is it's there and it has

to be okay for it to be there then you

allow it to be there okay what almost

everybody does is it's like you take a

hot charcoal out of the barbecue and you

put it in your hand you say boy that's

hot and so what you do is you start

squeezing tighter and tighter and

tighter and that's what you do with your

mind trying to control that pain instead

of letting it go okay the pains still

going to be there but it's not going to

be quite so intense and it has to be all

right for it to be there because that's

the truth now you relax smile come back

to your object of meditation when

somebody dies that pain is going to be

there a lot that dissatisfaction of

they're not there anymore and it makes

me sad okay let be there relax my

come back if you have an opinion you

have a concept that this is never going

to go away and you're always going to be

sad guess what happens the six RS don't

work so good and that pain and that

suffering comes up over and over and

over again it can be so intense you feel

like your heart is getting torn out of

your chest that's how much pain there

can be and it's okay your heart can take

it can you what do you do with it you

allow it to be you relax let go of your

opinions let go of your thoughts let go

of your concepts let go of the story and

when you do that your old habitual

tendency of trying to think the feeling

won't come up so it's a continual

process of letting go of your thoughts

letting go of your opinions letting go

of your ideas about the way it's

supposed to be and allowing it to be

there and relaxing into it when you do

that with somebody that's very dear that

just died you still can have the sadness

there but the pain is not there anymore

you'll still have memories of that

person and it won't be painful memories

so you see

this practice works very very well

especially when you let go of opinions

ideas concepts oh but the tightness

doesn't go away it will as you soften

and let go of your attachment to it

that's how it works so the more you

realize that you have old habitual

tendencies that always cause pain to

arise the more you are aware of how that

process works the easier it is to

recognize it every time it comes up and

the faster you start letting go of the

suffering and what happens when you let

go of the suffering your mind starts to

get equanimity in it your mind starts to

get real balanced with it well the

sadness is there still okay so it's okay

for it to be there now you've let go of

the attachment of wanting it to be

different than it is you have let go of

suffering

and the thing especially with the death

and the family is everything can be fine

for a period of time and there's not a

lot of sadness and and dislike and

you'll be sitting down and eating and

all of a sudden you're lonesome you

missed that person very much and that

whole thing comes up again and the pain

and the suffering and the desire for

that not to have have have happened so

you have to let go of not liking that

feeling because the truth is it's

painful it's hard to let go of but what

else can you do did you ask that feeling

to arise can you make that feeling go

away so what else can you do but allow

that feeling of sadness to be there and

six are all of the thoughts relax send

somebody loving and kind thoughts and at

that time to somebody that you really

need to send the loving kind thoughts to

yourself

and it'll come up over and over again

over even as long as a year okay fine

but when you let go of that craving you

let go of that dislike of the present

moment and the want to control the

present moment to be the way you want it

to be when you let go of that then the

memories of that person that died

they're still there but the pain isn't

there anymore you've let go of the grief

so the more you can notice that all of

the five faculties they are real when

they arise you can't shut those

faculties down when you see something

you see it when you hear something you

hear it now what are you going to do

about it what are you going to do with a

bad smell or a bad taste or pain in your

body or sound that's not not so nice or

sites that are not so nice what are you

going to do with these use the six hours

that's the key that's what you really

really need to keep in mind let go of

your opinions about whether it should be

there or not I had to do that when i was

in burma and they started up that motor

every morning okay the truth is it's

there it's going to be there all day

fine then the teeth the tea shops they

were brilliant because there would be

one tape and there might be 60 shops so

they they run it down to the next one so

you get to hear it over again they run

it down to the next one you get to hear

it over again now you can you can see

this is not appropriate this is not a

place that I want to do my meditation

and that did happen and the teacher

would say fine you can leave he couldn't

change it he couldn't make it any

different than it was because that's

what had to be done at that time

yeah but a meditation center is supposed

to be super quiet well and what happens

if it's not there was one monk that he

got on the internet and he ordered a

pair of earmuffs he was wearing his

earmuffs so he could quote meditate but

did he really so the whole thing comes

down to your acceptance of the present

moment without judging it without

condemning it okay there's sound buying

their sound I can still be happy even if

there is sound I can be happy even if

there is smells I can be happy if

there's sites that are absolutely

horrible because that's the truth of the

present moment any time you try to fight

with the truth you are going to suffer

and you are there used to be a program

on TV called you are there and what

happens when you are there there's as

tightness it happens and then these

thoughts about well it shouldn't be like

that that's not the way it's supposed to

be and then the emotional well I don't

like that the anger

frustration the sadness the fear

whatever then you have your birth of

action and quite often your birth of

actions trying to stuff it stop it from

bothering you now what did the Buddha

say about that well if you're blind in

your and your def then you've got no

problems with seeing and hearing other

than that there's pleasant sites there's

painful sites there's Pleasant sounds

there's painful sounds now how do you

develop that equanimity to these kind of

disturbances and that's what they are

you can call them hindrances if you want

but they're disturbances what do you do

with something like that first you have

to let go of your opinions your ideas

develop that mind that is the beginner's

mind it's there I don't know what to do

with it but I know what the instructions

are so i'll try the instructions again

let go of your thinking about relax let

go that tight mental fist relax bring up

a wholesome object stay with the

wholesome object for as long as you can

so it's a real interesting kind of

practice because it doesn't matter what

arises what does your mind do with that

how much suffering do you cause yourself

because it's not what I want it's

supposed to be this way and I like it

this way but I don't like it that way

and with that kind of attachment to an

opinion a thought an idea that starts

clouding the way you see the present

moment and that makes suffering a lot

bigger and more intense so you always

try to handle it in the same way when

this kind of thing comes up but you know

it doesn't work then be mindful that it

doesn't work the way you handled it

before and try something do try letting

go of your opinions of the way you think

it should be and accept the way it is

now this doesn't mean if somebody comes

up and pokes you in the face that you

don't defend yourself you do but you

don't do it with anger

and what do you do after he's hit you

and gone away what are you doing with

your mind most people they're playing

that whole scene over again in their

mind what this other person did how much

pain cause what I did what I wish I

would have done and that person was

absolutely wrong and I'm right now what

is that all of those thoughts what do

you call those kinds of thoughts those

kind of thoughts are called clinging and

craving craving always arises first it's

always there and then your story and

then your emotional habitual tendency

what is equanimity do for you in your

daily life it gives you a sense of

balance right so the emotional tendency

of I don't like this I I'm happy I'm sad

I'm happy and sad these kind of things

will happen all day and then you get so

tired by the end of the day that I gotta

lay down take rest but when you have

equanimity the high highs and low lows

start to balance out a little bit

doesn't mean that there's going to be

easy sailing for the rest of your life

welcome to the real world some things

are going to be nice and some things are

going to be not so nice what do you do

that with that in your mind when you

have equanimity the emergency of the

cause of the suffering seems to

disappear you don't have so much

emergency when you have an emotional

attachment to something being the way

you want it to be it turns into this

huge problem and it's so big there's no

way to get over it there's no way to go

around it it's just this problem now

what can I do to solve this problem you

let go of your attachment to the problem

and you let go of the way you think

suppose things are supposed to be and

accept the way things are now that huge

problem is this little tiny bump in the

road the one that was so big before and

it's an emergency I have to do something

about this that's your emotional mind

that's your habitual tendencies coming

up and that's what causes a lot of

suffering so when you develop your

equanimity now you're going to be able

to see okay this feeling at the eye at

the year at the nose at the tongue at

the body is causing me all of these

problems ok ok so there's problems last

spring we had a tornado hit our land

tore down a bunch of stuff I happen to

be in town with came on somebody called

up and said the tornado came and it

knocked up all these cabins around and

our upside down and all of this problem

and she came out and told me and what

was my response to that I left ok well

aren't you upset well not particularly

why should I get upset by something like

that well your cabin is upside down they

said well wit let's wait and see so we

got to the land and there was trees in

the way and there was there was a lot of

damage that was done my cabin got picked

up and moved over about six feet and

then put down again so I went inside my

cabin to see all of the mess you know

everything is going to be off the

shelves and it's going to be a real mess

and I walked in and I had this small

table where I had some crystals they

were fairly tall about that big around I

had three of them on the tape

they were still standing on the table

and yeah it was a hassle there were some

problems but okay there's problems see

the equanimity starts to kick in and

then it's well we got to do this and we

got to do that and we have all these

trees down now we got to cut them up and

we want to trip them and use the chips

for other things and the real problem

the biggest problem was our big trees

got knocked out now there's no shame

there and that's a problem so we got to

plant some more trees okay yeah and we

knew that there was going to be there

was warnings on the radio and all this

kind of stuff so we knew that there was

going to be some kind of problem

somewhere in the area and there we went

into the bank and the bank people they

said well they're telling us we got to

go into vault and close the door well if

they do that they're not going to get

out till tomorrow and I was standing

there and I said you don't have to worry

about being hit by a tornado here I'm

here those kind of things don't happen

to me and I wasn't at the center I most

of the time I'm in my cabin doing this

or that and I wasn't there so that

happened but where I was it didn't

happen and I said it's been like that

before

kinds of weird thing we had high winds a

couple of years before and my mother was

sick at the time and I was going to go

to California come to California and D

with her now always when we say we're

going to leave at this time we're always

between a half an hour and an hour

behind this particular morning we're on

time we're leaving and I'm going wow

this is really something how unusual we

get all the way in the st. Louis the

high winds hit knocked down hundreds and

hundreds of trees it took her six hours

to get home it was an hour and a half

drive there because the trees are on the

road didn't happen when I was there so I

have no fear of those kind of things

it's not going to happen if I'm here

any way you can get mad at the wind but

what good does that do so you have some

equanimity with it okay there's a lot of

trees down we got to do this we got to

do that okay fine we can do that might

take a long time to recover fine it has

to be fine because that's way it is

disliking it wanting it to be different

than it is certainly doesn't help you to

get the job done in the present moment

but having a light buoyant mind a mind

it accepts yeah that happened and this

is real now you become more efficient at

what you do while you're doing it

because you're not clouded by the

dislike of that situation this is really

practical stuff and the more you can get

into having that equanimity it's okay

there's a suit to hear that is really an

amazing suit I was using it just about

every time I gave a talk okay and this

is fairly short it says monks there are

these five courses of speech that others

may use when they address you their

speech may be timely your untimely true

or untrue gentle or harsh connected with

good or with harm spoken with a mind of

loving kindness or with inner hate when

others address you their speech may be

timely or untimely and goes through that

whole thing

monks you should train thus our minds

will remain unaffected no matter what

somebody says to you and we shall utter

no evil words we shall abide

compassionate for their welfare with a

mind of loving-kindness without inner 8

we shall abide pervading that person

with a mind imbued with loving-kindness

and starting with him we shall abide

pervading the all-encompassing world

with a mind imbued with loving kindness

abundant exalted immeasurable without

hostility and without ill will that is

how you should train isn't that

interesting then it says one more thing

monks if you keep this advice constantly

in mind do you see any course of speech

trivial or gross that you could not

endure no venerable sir therefore monks

you should keep this advice constantly

in mind that will lead to your welfare

and happiness for a long time so

somebody comes up and they start talking

to you make your mindfulness of them

remind you to radiate loving kindness to

them no matter what they're saying and

use that person as the reminder to make

that big bubble of loving-kindness and

surround the whole world with it

huh well but that though the point is if

you take offense at what somebody else

says what's happening in your mind

dissatisfaction dislike and I don't like

it and it's mine I wish this guy go away

this guy's a turkey what he's thinking

it doesn't make sense but when you start

radiating loving kindness to that being

what happens is they start to change and

they're thinking in the way that they're

facing the world at my monastery

sometimes people get unhappy with each

other now the rule at the monastery is

if you're going to fight you got to come

and fight in front of me so come into

the cabin heavy duty words thrown at

each other really highly emotional I'm

not going to get in the middle of that

I'm not dumb so what do i do I start

radiating loving kindness doesn't matter

what they're saying absolutely doesn't

matter at all and before long the highly

emotional talk starts to calm down and

then it starts to be regular talk and

now people are starting to solve the

problem the misunderstanding that they

had and I'm still sitting there

radiating loving-kindness and then they

start laughing with each other

and then before long they say well I've

got to go do all this work thanks bonte

and I didn't say a word but I affected

the world around me in a positive way by

radiating loving kindness by not getting

caught up in the words it works when you

can remember to do it

so this whole thing with of the the

supreme use of the faculties is learning

how to develop your equanimity and add

that to what you've learned here and

radiate loving kindness to people that

have that are upset or they're saying

things that aren't very good it's okay

they're flat-out lying to you so what

rady loving kindness to them their

speech will change takes two to fight so

if you're not playing that game you're

not fighting then the fight goes out of

the other person and then they start

getting more and more reasonable about

things but if there's a version to it if

there's L will towards the person that's

doing that now that there's there is two

people they're fighting and that's how

you start wars so the more you can

continually practice loving kindness

towards everybody you talk to make that

your practice and use the person you're

talking to as the reminder let's send

loving kindness to all beings everywhere

then you are affecting the whole world

in a positive way now there's an awful

lot of people because of what's

happening in the world and the craziness

with the banks and all of this nonsense

stuff they get into their fear and their

anxiety and their frustration and

dislike of the prez

moment they're perpetuating that they're

continuing that kind of thing happening

because that's what their imaging in

their mind change the image radiates the

loving kindness everybody you see and

you speak to and the more you can do

that the less and less people will be

afraid people will be angry people will

be overly emotional about things okay

I've talked for a long time anybody have

any questions comments statements ideas

oh one last thing don't believe anything

that I say do it and see whether it

actually works or now

everything in Buddhism is about direct

experience and understanding and if your

understanding causes pain and suffering

to you or someone else around you then

notice that don't do that again if it

produces harmony and love and a peaceful

mind then do that over and over again so

radiating loving kindness every person

that you're talking to what a wonderful

reminder it is how your mind can be

uplifted and happy so you let go of the

dissatisfaction of things happening in

the present moment more and more and you

gain balance with it with that balance

comes the solution for the problem

okay anybody yeah it's called the simile

of the saw suit to number 21 pretty

amazing little lieutenant it's got kind

of a neat story in it too I don't I

don't move through that very often but

yeah protect yourself do what's

necessary there is a story about men

Indra he was in India and he had this

woman student that she got on a the took

took the three wheeler and somebody

jumped up and they started molesting her

and she didn't know what to do she

fought him off but she went to minh

Indra and she said what am I supposed to

do if somebody is trying to do this to

me and maninder ovary calmly said well

you send them loving and kind thoughts

and take your umbrella and hit him on it

they ran over to the car and opened the

door and grab this woman's first and 70

she got out and started counting she was

pounding really hard of the head he was

down and the cop and the guy that was

reporting this I mean he had a little

recorded her there and he had his

telephone so you could see what was

happening and these three ladies are

just beating the heck out of this guy

and he's laughing so hard he can hardly

describe it oh the other one got out of

the car and now she's kicking him what I

do I keep reading the story about side

where you know he was known for his

patience and he can't get he couldn't

get angry basically and one Bobby I'm

sure you know the story

very well known in that village says you

mean to tell me that no matter what you

do to side PETA there's no way he's

going to get angry leave it up to me so

he goes and they all the students don't

realize what he's about to do and while

sorry because you know walking on his

own ground he goes and smacks him on his

back and something just continues

walking screening and ramen is beside

himself he just falls on his knees and

begs and forgiveness and so I was like

what happened so and then he describes

him and then it's it these months and

the late followers attendance they want

to you know really give it to him that

his brother and the Brahmin begs him to

to take him back to his house so that he

could offer him Donna and you know arm

school so he goes and then they catch up

with him on the way out of his house

started without and they pull this guy

out of his house and they want to beat

him the lake the lake followers and

started because there's why are you

doing this did he do anything to eat

they say know about they did it to you

on there we can't tolerate this this

world I for gaming so later on the story

gets reported to the Buddha and the

Buddha says I think it's either Bruno or

side of the fence help says he uses the

analogy of the mother earth that he says

well earth planet earth takes in all the

filth that we produce equally as as it

does any other beautiful thing takes the

bodies to fill the sewage everything it

never says I will accept this and it's

the same thing with sorry

so now that you've described that not

getting bad part but you know loving

kindness he said to them and defending

yourself yeah loving kindness doesn't

make you stupid okay it really doesn't

it does it seems to I don't have any

trouble with tornadoes or things not

tonight oh yeah yeah I was flying from

Malaysia to America and as we stopped at

Hong Kong so I get out and I'm walking

down and this man walked up to me and he

slapped me in the face really hard and I

looked at him and I said why did you do

that and he said I hate these you Hari

Krishna and I said well actually I'm not

a Hari Krishna I'm a Buddhist monk and I

talked with him for a little while and

he actually bought me a meal but I said

don't don't hit me again please you know

once once is enough you said here here's

a copy of my book okay information

but because I didn't over react and then

I found out what the real problem was

and then started explaining some of

Buddhism and what how you have to have a

balanced mind and that sort of thing he

bought me lunch so i had to pay my dues

to get that lunch spits unda i heard the

story about so I came up it was like

what else would you like to say and I

got frustrated your left yeah it sounds

like a Mahayana story more than a

Buddhist story yeah yeah yeah and there

there's a story of the Buddha this guy

didn't like the Buddha and he was

walking around for alms round and he

abides him in and then he tells the

Buddha get out and then I invites him

back in and curses at him and get up and

he invites him in and get out and he

tried it one more time in the Buddha

said no and there was a big story about

his not accepting the nastiness that

this guy was doing so he walked on oh

boy

there's a story about this big tub in

one of the hell realms that's filled

with molten lead and these people would

do certain things and they get reborn

there and they go down and take 50

thus have I heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living in chondral can

Jolla gonca can Jenga gala in the grove

of some mochila trees mckee loop trees

never heard of that kind of tree before

then the Brahmin student Otara a pupil

of a Brahma para Satya went to the

blessed one in exchange greetings with

him when this courteous and amiable talk

was finished he sat down at one side the

Buddha then ask him Mutara does your

Brahmin teacher teaches disciples the

development of the faculties he does

Master Gautama but Mutara how does he

teach his disciples the development of

the faculties here master Gautama one

does not see forms with the I one does

not hear sounds with the ear that is how

the Brahmin teacher teaches his

disciples the development of the

faculties if that were so utara then a

blind and deaf man will have developed

his faculties according to what your

teacher says

for a blind man does not see forms with

his eyes and a deaf man does not hear

sounds with the ear when this was said

the brahmin student who thara SAT silent

dismayed with shoulders drooping and

head down blum and without response then

knowing this the blessed one addressed

the venerable Ananda Ananda the Brahman

teacher teaches his disciples the

development of the faculties in one way

but in the noble ones discipline the

supreme development of the faculties is

otherwise now is the time blessed one

now is the time sublime one for the

blessed one to teach the supreme

development of faculties in the noble

ones discipline having heard it from the

blessed one the monks will remember it

and I can get these pages okay now this

is in a real important statement then

listen Ananda and attend closely to what

I shall say yes venerable serve the

blessed one said this now Ananda how is

there the Supreme development of the

faculties in the noble ones discipline

here Ananda when a monk sees a form with

the eye there are rises in him what is

agreeable there arises what is

disagreeable there arises what is both

agreeable and disagreeable he

understands thus there has arisen and me

what is agreeable there has arisen in me

what is disagreeable there has arisen in

me what is agreeable and disagreeable

it's it's neither nor agreeable or

disagreeable actually but that is

conditioned gross dependently arisen

this is peaceful this is possibly that

is equanimity the agreeable that arose

the disagreeable that arose the neither

agreeable nor disagreeable that arose

cease in him and equanimity is

established just as a man with good

sight having opened his eyes might shut

them or having shut his eyes might open

them so too concerning anything at all

the agreeable that arose the

disagreeable that arose the neither

agreeable nor disagreeable that arose

cease just as quickly just as rapidly

just as easily and equanimity is

established this is called the noble

ones discipline the supreme development

of the faculties regarding forms

cognizable by the eye again when a monk

hears a sound with the ear there are

rises in him what is agreeable there

arises what is disagreeable there are

Rises what is neither agreeable nor

disagreeable he understands thus and

equanimity is established just as a

strong man might easily snap his fingers

so too concerning anything at all the

agreeable that arose the disagreeable

that arose

the neither agreeable nor disagreeable

that arose cease just as quickly just as

rapidly just as easily and equanimity is

established this is called in the noble

ones discipline the supreme development

of the faculties regarding sounds

cognizable by the ear now when you're

practicing one pointed concentration

when you're trying to just stay on your

object of meditation and a sound arises

it can make you boink and then dislike

arises very easily sounds are just

sounds they're not good sounds they're

not bad sounds they're simply sounds but

because the concentration is out of

balance with the mindfulness

concentration is much deeper that's what

makes if start and one of my teachers in

Burma used to say that a sound is a

thorn in the side of the meditators and

the only reason it's a thorn in the side

of the meditators is because they're

taking that sound personally and not

liking it and wanting it to be different

than it is and their concentration is

not in balance with their mindfulness

during that time that he was talking

about that he decided that it was time

to drill another water well he drilled

the water well right outside the

meditation Hall on the side that has all

of the screen doors they had an old

engine that sometimes would backfire and

from eight o'clock in the morning till

six o'clock at night it was going over

our are so much for the sound being a

thorn in your side and it would stop at

six o'clock and for about a half an hour

it was blissfully peaceful and home now

his meditation center winning when he

first started it it was outside of town

but the town started growing around the

meditation center and it turned into a

major street now when when the Burmese

drive they drive by sound that means

honking their horn Longhorn means the

long beep means something a short beat

means something else and about 6 30

there was a sidewalk outside the wall of

the monastery and that's where they

would set up their tea and loudspeakers

and play music and it was loud and that

happened until about ten o'clock at

night

then they would turn that off and that's

when the neighbors would start up their

generators so that they had lights at

night and they'd run the generators all

night so as a result my practice was

letting a sound be there without paying

attention to it even when it backfired

they didn't have any muffler on this

motor either so it was really loud so

people come in this country you're

supposed to tiptoe in the meditation

Hall not making any sound at all if you

close the door loudly people will

complain about the sound of the door

being closed one time I was at a

meditation center or retreat and it was

like 95 outside and it was not an

air-conditioned building so i turn the

fan on and people complain because of

the sound of the fan now what was the

real problem of this well they were

practicing one-pointed concentration and

any sound that all the wind sun-times

would catch a door and slam and they

would everybody in the meditation Hall

would jump a little bit and then they

would write their notes to the teacher

about the sound bothering their

meditation but that doesn't sound like

what we're talking about here

a sound is a vibration that hits the ear

and the ear and mine recognizes it as a

sound oh that's only part of the noises

that happened when they finally stopped

drilling the well there was oh it was

about a hundred people that work for the

railroad and their boss told them all

that they had to come to this monastery

and practice meditation for a week these

guys were not interested in doing any

meditation but because the boss said it

they did it sitting in the meditation

Hall people started doing things to

entertain themselves passing gas was one

of the things the louder it could go the

better because they were in in that

culture they spit a lot it's like the

Chinese do a lot of spitting but they

didn't just spit they hot now this is

why you're sitting in the meditation

hall and they're sitting right beside

you okay they had some spit tunes out

there but they didn't just let it drop

in they spit it in and you'd sometimes

you'd feel a little bit speck it

here and there and then sometimes they

would get up and they would do it a

walking meditation there was one guy

that was absolutely brilliant at

belching on every step and it was loud

and everybody in the meditation Hall

knew that this guy was doing is walking

meditation now can you imagine that here

in this country anybody doing that sort

of thing they'd get stoned meditation

supposed to be quiet but we didn't

complain about it it was just something

else they let go of it's just a sound so

the whole point of this is when you hear

a sound you allow the sound to be there

without liking or disliking it and it's

the same way with all of the five

faculties with your eyes your ears your

nose your tongue and your body it

doesn't matter in Asia there's ants and

I mean there's ants a lot of different

kinds of ants and we were smart we got

this truck from China that you put

around you it wasn't on a rug it was on

a wood floor so you put this chalk

around you and the ants would walk right

up to that turn around and walk away so

we didn't get bit by the ants while

we're meditating but after a little bit

the ants started to get smart and they

would go to the wall go up the wall

cross to the ceiling and dive bomb and

you'd be sitting there and I didn't have

a this kind of shirt on it was just bare

shoulder and I be sitting there and I'd

feel on it and they always like to bite

someplace that's particularly sensitive

so how much better do we have things

here and still people complain see the

whole thing is you have to be able to

watch your mind things are not always

going to happen the way you want them to

what is your mind do with that if

there's a site that's not pleasant or a

sound that's not pleasant and it

disturbs you why does it disturb you

because I don't like it who has some

craving in their mind with the I don't

like wants things to be different than

they actually are what is one of the

definitions of suffering not getting

what you want or getting what you don't

want that's one of the definitions of

suffering and it always comes down to

who suffers see the the practice of six

ours is very good it's very easy to

carry with you but you have to remember

to let your thoughts your opinions your

ideas you have to let them go your

opinions your ideas your story your

emotional response causes the birth of

action and that leads to sorrow

cementation pain grief this bear and

that's how this whole mass of suffering

arises it's a real interesting phenomena

that if you have a desire for something

to happen in a particular way that

desire in meditation will stop you from

attaining it I had a good sitting this

morning I want a good sitting this

afternoon but it's not coming right the

way I want it to so I try harder and

then you start getting restless and then

you try harder and now your mind is

thinking all kinds of stuff and you're

really a long ways away from your object

of meditation and that desire to have

your meditation be like it was doesn't

go away until you let it go away you'll

hold on to it and then you six are and

you come and tell me well the six our

stuff doesn't work well you know it

works but there is something causing

that restlessness to arise what is that

something I want this to be a good

meditation what happens when you do that

you start leaning out of the present

moment waiting for the next present

moment to be better okay and it turns

into a vicious cycle

you have to let go of your expectations

I really would like this to happen the

way I want it to okay you can like that

all you want but that doesn't mean

that's what you're going to get it's a

letting go and being in the present

moment without likes and dislikes

without longing for meditation to be

better than it is and sometimes the

longing can be very very subtle it

doesn't have to be a big desire your

meditation is great you've been sitting

in the meditation for a long time and it

seems like nothing's happening well I've

been waiting for the Nibhana to come

mine edit ation is deep enough well what

happens if you let go of waiting because

you don't know what's going to happen

next nobody knows what's going to happen

next so you let go of that little subtle

attachment I want this to happen and

I'll wait here until it does that stops

that from occurring

so you develop your beginner's mind you

don't know what's going to happen next

and whatever happens next is okay it has

to be okay because whatever arises it's

there that's the truth what do you do

with that well I've had this feeling

before and I always try to stuff the

feeling stop the feeling from

distracting me from my meditation and

now you're following into falling into

your old habitual emotional tendency of

trying to control your meditation so it

will be the way I want it to be and then

you start getting into some kind of

action it's the birth of some kind of

action to try to adjust and you adjust

in a hard way and always the adjustment

causes mine to get tight when you do it

that way because you have a particular

desire that you want it to be the way

you want it to be when you want it to be

that way and reality is not matching

your desires so what do you do

old habits mean that you keep on trying

to do it in the same old way expecting a

different result okay Einstein said the

definition of insanity is doing the same

thing over and over again and expecting

a different result okay we're all crazy

it's okay to be insane but when you

start seeing that you're causing

yourself pain and you're always handling

that in exactly the same way it's time

to try something different now always

the the try something different is to

allow it to be there and back away from

it it's not from yours you didn't ask it

to come up but as soon as it came up you

took possession of it and tried to

control it and then you cause yourself

pain you cause yourself suffering and

you can't blame somebody else you can't

blame an external source for your

suffering because you're doing this to

yourself you're causing your own pain

and you keep on doing it over and over

again okay that same kind of suffering

is going to continue to come up over and

over again until you learn that that's

not the way to handle it what do you do

you use the six hours but you ask the

question what's the cause and condition

of this feeling arising what's the cause

and condition of this blockage whatever

it happens to be

and when you ask that question and you

continue on with your practice your

intuition will tell you what the cause

and condition is for that suffering now

you have the insight now you have the

answer what are you going to do with

that answer how do you adjust so that

you don't have that causing so much pain

and causing so much suffering at any one

of the sense doors any one of these

faculties so you ask the question and

the answer comes while I'm doing this

this is the cause of that suffering okay

now you have understanding as soon as

you understand what the real cause of

the suffering is then you can come up

with a different way of handling

whatever it is that arose the biggest

problem with this is is it's too simple

all of the answers that the Buddha gave

for overcoming suffering he told you the

simplest way to let it go he told you

how to recognize how to ask the question

and how to let it go

so when that insight comes well I've

been doing it this and I don't like that

and I'm trying to overcome that when you

get the answer as to what the problem is

the answer always comes let go of that

dislike of the present moment let go of

that desire for the present moment to be

in a particular way 6r come back to your

object of meditation and then you'll get

a sense of relief now what's your mind

really trying to show you what your old

habits are and how you're attached to

them and how to let them go

but i always have sadness or rice okay

fine whose sadness is it who's this

light of it is it who's trying to

control it and who makes it bigger

because of that desire to control you

know what the answer is this is my

sadness this is me this is who I am and

it always comes up and I always try to

stuff it I always try to make it stop I

always try to change it but the truth is

sadness is sadness and it's okay for it

to be there has to be because that's the

truth so you allow that feeling to be

there without trying to change it

without trying to make it any different

than it is and the allowing it to be

there means that you're releasing it

you're not keeping your attention on it

anymore now you relax that tightness in

your head caused by that little smile in

your mind come back to your object of

meditation 06 ours again but the sadness

didn't go away I've done this a dozen

times I've done it two dozen times and

it's still there so it's okay it could

be there as long as it wants to be there

my mother died a couple of years ago

there was sadness and it's okay for this

ad pneus to be there I miss her a lot

when you try to control what arises in

the present moment with your thoughts

and your opinions and your ideas and

your concepts that causes an old

habitual tendency to arise and that is

where your emotional attachments are and

heavy duty identification with those

things and there's a lot of pain and

what do you do with a pain try to push

it down I don't want that pain there

well the the truth anytime you fight

with the truth any time you try to

change the truth you're fighting with

reality because it's there now I used to

work with the hospice and one of the

things that they've discovered is that

somebody a family member dies and people

get real sad and if they don't recognize

what the grief is and they try to

control it and push it away and pretend

that they're not sad at some time in the

next two years they're going to have

some kind of major problem in their body

why is that because they tried to ignore

the pain they tried to control the pain

they tried to distract themselves so

they didn't see the paint and that

turned into a habitual tendency and that

pain and suffering got stuck somewhere

in their body

the thing with death death in the family

death of a loved one whatever it happens

to be it doesn't necessarily have to be

in your family is that people feel

helpless I don't know what to do I don't

know what to say when there's a death in

the family so what can you do you can

reload loving kindness to yourself you

can radiate loving kindness to all of

the family members you can radiate

loving kindness to the dead person but

when you do that what happens is that

grief that's there that you're trying to

push down and not allow it to be let go

that grief starts to dissipate because

you're doing something that is not only

helping you but it's helping everyone

else around you how grief is a real

interesting word it's a concept

sometimes grief can be sadness sometimes

grief can be anger it can be any variety

of emotions and that's what you call

grief but what is grief really it is

whatever that feeling is that arises

that's my feeling that's who I am and I

don't like that feeling and I don't want

it there and I want it to go away that's

real grief now remember back to the

instructions

in the meditation you're sitting very

still very quietly you're not moving

your body at all and a pain arises first

thing you'll notice is you have thoughts

about that pain and the more you think

about the pain the bigger and more

intense the pain becomes so what do you

do first you let go of your thinking

about it and relax now you see that

tight mental fist wrapped around there I

don't like it I don't want it there

that's a version but when you notice

that the truth is it's there and it has

to be okay for it to be there then you

allow it to be there okay what almost

everybody does is it's like you take a

hot charcoal out of the barbecue and you

put it in your hand you say boy that's

hot and so what you do is you start

squeezing tighter and tighter and

tighter and that's what you do with your

mind trying to control that pain instead

of letting it go okay the pains still

going to be there but it's not going to

be quite so intense and it has to be all

right for it to be there because that's

the truth now you relax smile come back

to your object of meditation when

somebody dies that pain is going to be

there a lot that dissatisfaction of

they're not there anymore and it makes

me sad okay let be there relax my

come back if you have an opinion you

have a concept that this is never going

to go away and you're always going to be

sad guess what happens the six RS don't

work so good and that pain and that

suffering comes up over and over and

over again it can be so intense you feel

like your heart is getting torn out of

your chest that's how much pain there

can be and it's okay your heart can take

it can you what do you do with it you

allow it to be you relax let go of your

opinions let go of your thoughts let go

of your concepts let go of the story and

when you do that your old habitual

tendency of trying to think the feeling

won't come up so it's a continual

process of letting go of your thoughts

letting go of your opinions letting go

of your ideas about the way it's

supposed to be and allowing it to be

there and relaxing into it when you do

that with somebody that's very dear that

just died you still can have the sadness

there but the pain is not there anymore

you'll still have memories of that

person and it won't be painful memories

so you see

this practice works very very well

especially when you let go of opinions

ideas concepts oh but the tightness

doesn't go away it will as you soften

and let go of your attachment to it

that's how it works so the more you

realize that you have old habitual

tendencies that always cause pain to

arise the more you are aware of how that

process works the easier it is to

recognize it every time it comes up and

the faster you start letting go of the

suffering and what happens when you let

go of the suffering your mind starts to

get equanimity in it your mind starts to

get real balanced with it well the

sadness is there still okay so it's okay

for it to be there now you've let go of

the attachment of wanting it to be

different than it is you have let go of

suffering

and the thing especially with the death

and the family is everything can be fine

for a period of time and there's not a

lot of sadness and and dislike and

you'll be sitting down and eating and

all of a sudden you're lonesome you

missed that person very much and that

whole thing comes up again and the pain

and the suffering and the desire for

that not to have have have happened so

you have to let go of not liking that

feeling because the truth is it's

painful it's hard to let go of but what

else can you do did you ask that feeling

to arise can you make that feeling go

away so what else can you do but allow

that feeling of sadness to be there and

six are all of the thoughts relax send

somebody loving and kind thoughts and at

that time to somebody that you really

need to send the loving kind thoughts to

yourself

and it'll come up over and over again

over even as long as a year okay fine

but when you let go of that craving you

let go of that dislike of the present

moment and the want to control the

present moment to be the way you want it

to be when you let go of that then the

memories of that person that died

they're still there but the pain isn't

there anymore you've let go of the grief

so the more you can notice that all of

the five faculties they are real when

they arise you can't shut those

faculties down when you see something

you see it when you hear something you

hear it now what are you going to do

about it what are you going to do with a

bad smell or a bad taste or pain in your

body or sound that's not not so nice or

sites that are not so nice what are you

going to do with these use the six hours

that's the key that's what you really

really need to keep in mind let go of

your opinions about whether it should be

there or not I had to do that when i was

in burma and they started up that motor

every morning okay the truth is it's

there it's going to be there all day

fine then the teeth the tea shops they

were brilliant because there would be

one tape and there might be 60 shops so

they they run it down to the next one so

you get to hear it over again they run

it down to the next one you get to hear

it over again now you can you can see

this is not appropriate this is not a

place that I want to do my meditation

and that did happen and the teacher

would say fine you can leave he couldn't

change it he couldn't make it any

different than it was because that's

what had to be done at that time

yeah but a meditation center is supposed

to be super quiet well and what happens

if it's not there was one monk that he

got on the internet and he ordered a

pair of earmuffs he was wearing his

earmuffs so he could quote meditate but

did he really so the whole thing comes

down to your acceptance of the present

moment without judging it without

condemning it okay there's sound buying

their sound I can still be happy even if

there is sound I can be happy even if

there is smells I can be happy if

there's sites that are absolutely

horrible because that's the truth of the

present moment any time you try to fight

with the truth you are going to suffer

and you are there used to be a program

on TV called you are there and what

happens when you are there there's as

tightness it happens and then these

thoughts about well it shouldn't be like

that that's not the way it's supposed to

be and then the emotional well I don't

like that the anger

frustration the sadness the fear

whatever then you have your birth of

action and quite often your birth of

actions trying to stuff it stop it from

bothering you now what did the Buddha

say about that well if you're blind in

your and your def then you've got no

problems with seeing and hearing other

than that there's pleasant sites there's

painful sites there's Pleasant sounds

there's painful sounds now how do you

develop that equanimity to these kind of

disturbances and that's what they are

you can call them hindrances if you want

but they're disturbances what do you do

with something like that first you have

to let go of your opinions your ideas

develop that mind that is the beginner's

mind it's there I don't know what to do

with it but I know what the instructions

are so i'll try the instructions again

let go of your thinking about relax let

go that tight mental fist relax bring up

a wholesome object stay with the

wholesome object for as long as you can

so it's a real interesting kind of

practice because it doesn't matter what

arises what does your mind do with that

how much suffering do you cause yourself

because it's not what I want it's

supposed to be this way and I like it

this way but I don't like it that way

and with that kind of attachment to an

opinion a thought an idea that starts

clouding the way you see the present

moment and that makes suffering a lot

bigger and more intense so you always

try to handle it in the same way when

this kind of thing comes up but you know

it doesn't work then be mindful that it

doesn't work the way you handled it

before and try something do try letting

go of your opinions of the way you think

it should be and accept the way it is

now this doesn't mean if somebody comes

up and pokes you in the face that you

don't defend yourself you do but you

don't do it with anger

and what do you do after he's hit you

and gone away what are you doing with

your mind most people they're playing

that whole scene over again in their

mind what this other person did how much

pain cause what I did what I wish I

would have done and that person was

absolutely wrong and I'm right now what

is that all of those thoughts what do

you call those kinds of thoughts those

kind of thoughts are called clinging and

craving craving always arises first it's

always there and then your story and

then your emotional habitual tendency

what is equanimity do for you in your

daily life it gives you a sense of

balance right so the emotional tendency

of I don't like this I I'm happy I'm sad

I'm happy and sad these kind of things

will happen all day and then you get so

tired by the end of the day that I gotta

lay down take rest but when you have

equanimity the high highs and low lows

start to balance out a little bit

doesn't mean that there's going to be

easy sailing for the rest of your life

welcome to the real world some things

are going to be nice and some things are

going to be not so nice what do you do

that with that in your mind when you

have equanimity the emergency of the

cause of the suffering seems to

disappear you don't have so much

emergency when you have an emotional

attachment to something being the way

you want it to be it turns into this

huge problem and it's so big there's no

way to get over it there's no way to go

around it it's just this problem now

what can I do to solve this problem you

let go of your attachment to the problem

and you let go of the way you think

suppose things are supposed to be and

accept the way things are now that huge

problem is this little tiny bump in the

road the one that was so big before and

it's an emergency I have to do something

about this that's your emotional mind

that's your habitual tendencies coming

up and that's what causes a lot of

suffering so when you develop your

equanimity now you're going to be able

to see okay this feeling at the eye at

the year at the nose at the tongue at

the body is causing me all of these

problems ok ok so there's problems last

spring we had a tornado hit our land

tore down a bunch of stuff I happen to

be in town with came on somebody called

up and said the tornado came and it

knocked up all these cabins around and

our upside down and all of this problem

and she came out and told me and what

was my response to that I left ok well

aren't you upset well not particularly

why should I get upset by something like

that well your cabin is upside down they

said well wit let's wait and see so we

got to the land and there was trees in

the way and there was there was a lot of

damage that was done my cabin got picked

up and moved over about six feet and

then put down again so I went inside my

cabin to see all of the mess you know

everything is going to be off the

shelves and it's going to be a real mess

and I walked in and I had this small

table where I had some crystals they

were fairly tall about that big around I

had three of them on the tape

they were still standing on the table

and yeah it was a hassle there were some

problems but okay there's problems see

the equanimity starts to kick in and

then it's well we got to do this and we

got to do that and we have all these

trees down now we got to cut them up and

we want to trip them and use the chips

for other things and the real problem

the biggest problem was our big trees

got knocked out now there's no shame

there and that's a problem so we got to

plant some more trees okay yeah and we

knew that there was going to be there

was warnings on the radio and all this

kind of stuff so we knew that there was

going to be some kind of problem

somewhere in the area and there we went

into the bank and the bank people they

said well they're telling us we got to

go into vault and close the door well if

they do that they're not going to get

out till tomorrow and I was standing

there and I said you don't have to worry

about being hit by a tornado here I'm

here those kind of things don't happen

to me and I wasn't at the center I most

of the time I'm in my cabin doing this

or that and I wasn't there so that

happened but where I was it didn't

happen and I said it's been like that

before

kinds of weird thing we had high winds a

couple of years before and my mother was

sick at the time and I was going to go

to California come to California and D

with her now always when we say we're

going to leave at this time we're always

between a half an hour and an hour

behind this particular morning we're on

time we're leaving and I'm going wow

this is really something how unusual we

get all the way in the st. Louis the

high winds hit knocked down hundreds and

hundreds of trees it took her six hours

to get home it was an hour and a half

drive there because the trees are on the

road didn't happen when I was there so I

have no fear of those kind of things

it's not going to happen if I'm here

any way you can get mad at the wind but

what good does that do so you have some

equanimity with it okay there's a lot of

trees down we got to do this we got to

do that okay fine we can do that might

take a long time to recover fine it has

to be fine because that's way it is

disliking it wanting it to be different

than it is certainly doesn't help you to

get the job done in the present moment

but having a light buoyant mind a mind

it accepts yeah that happened and this

is real now you become more efficient at

what you do while you're doing it

because you're not clouded by the

dislike of that situation this is really

practical stuff and the more you can get

into having that equanimity it's okay

there's a suit to hear that is really an

amazing suit I was using it just about

every time I gave a talk okay and this

is fairly short it says monks there are

these five courses of speech that others

may use when they address you their

speech may be timely your untimely true

or untrue gentle or harsh connected with

good or with harm spoken with a mind of

loving kindness or with inner hate when

others address you their speech may be

timely or untimely and goes through that

whole thing

monks you should train thus our minds

will remain unaffected no matter what

somebody says to you and we shall utter

no evil words we shall abide

compassionate for their welfare with a

mind of loving-kindness without inner 8

we shall abide pervading that person

with a mind imbued with loving-kindness

and starting with him we shall abide

pervading the all-encompassing world

with a mind imbued with loving kindness

abundant exalted immeasurable without

hostility and without ill will that is

how you should train isn't that

interesting then it says one more thing

monks if you keep this advice constantly

in mind do you see any course of speech

trivial or gross that you could not

endure no venerable sir therefore monks

you should keep this advice constantly

in mind that will lead to your welfare

and happiness for a long time so

somebody comes up and they start talking

to you make your mindfulness of them

remind you to radiate loving kindness to

them no matter what they're saying and

use that person as the reminder to make

that big bubble of loving-kindness and

surround the whole world with it

huh well but that though the point is if

you take offense at what somebody else

says what's happening in your mind

dissatisfaction dislike and I don't like

it and it's mine I wish this guy go away

this guy's a turkey what he's thinking

it doesn't make sense but when you start

radiating loving kindness to that being

what happens is they start to change and

they're thinking in the way that they're

facing the world at my monastery

sometimes people get unhappy with each

other now the rule at the monastery is

if you're going to fight you got to come

and fight in front of me so come into

the cabin heavy duty words thrown at

each other really highly emotional I'm

not going to get in the middle of that

I'm not dumb so what do i do I start

radiating loving kindness doesn't matter

what they're saying absolutely doesn't

matter at all and before long the highly

emotional talk starts to calm down and

then it starts to be regular talk and

now people are starting to solve the

problem the misunderstanding that they

had and I'm still sitting there

radiating loving-kindness and then they

start laughing with each other

and then before long they say well I've

got to go do all this work thanks bonte

and I didn't say a word but I affected

the world around me in a positive way by

radiating loving kindness by not getting

caught up in the words it works when you

can remember to do it

so this whole thing with of the the

supreme use of the faculties is learning

how to develop your equanimity and add

that to what you've learned here and

radiate loving kindness to people that

have that are upset or they're saying

things that aren't very good it's okay

they're flat-out lying to you so what

rady loving kindness to them their

speech will change takes two to fight so

if you're not playing that game you're

not fighting then the fight goes out of

the other person and then they start

getting more and more reasonable about

things but if there's a version to it if

there's L will towards the person that's

doing that now that there's there is two

people they're fighting and that's how

you start wars so the more you can

continually practice loving kindness

towards everybody you talk to make that

your practice and use the person you're

talking to as the reminder let's send

loving kindness to all beings everywhere

then you are affecting the whole world

in a positive way now there's an awful

lot of people because of what's

happening in the world and the craziness

with the banks and all of this nonsense

stuff they get into their fear and their

anxiety and their frustration and

dislike of the prez

moment they're perpetuating that they're

continuing that kind of thing happening

because that's what their imaging in

their mind change the image radiates the

loving kindness everybody you see and

you speak to and the more you can do

that the less and less people will be

afraid people will be angry people will

be overly emotional about things okay

I've talked for a long time anybody have

any questions comments statements ideas

oh one last thing don't believe anything

that I say do it and see whether it

actually works or now

everything in Buddhism is about direct

experience and understanding and if your

understanding causes pain and suffering

to you or someone else around you then

notice that don't do that again if it

produces harmony and love and a peaceful

mind then do that over and over again so

radiating loving kindness every person

that you're talking to what a wonderful

reminder it is how your mind can be

uplifted and happy so you let go of the

dissatisfaction of things happening in

the present moment more and more and you

gain balance with it with that balance

comes the solution for the problem

okay anybody yeah it's called the simile

of the saw suit to number 21 pretty

amazing little lieutenant it's got kind

of a neat story in it too I don't I

don't move through that very often but

yeah protect yourself do what's

necessary there is a story about men

Indra he was in India and he had this

woman student that she got on a the took

took the three wheeler and somebody

jumped up and they started molesting her

and she didn't know what to do she

fought him off but she went to minh

Indra and she said what am I supposed to

do if somebody is trying to do this to

me and maninder ovary calmly said well

you send them loving and kind thoughts

and take your umbrella and hit him on it

they ran over to the car and opened the

door and grab this woman's first and 70

she got out and started counting she was

pounding really hard of the head he was

down and the cop and the guy that was

reporting this I mean he had a little

recorded her there and he had his

telephone so you could see what was

happening and these three ladies are

just beating the heck out of this guy

and he's laughing so hard he can hardly

describe it oh the other one got out of

the car and now she's kicking him what I

do I keep reading the story about side

where you know he was known for his

patience and he can't get he couldn't

get angry basically and one Bobby I'm

sure you know the story

very well known in that village says you

mean to tell me that no matter what you

do to side PETA there's no way he's

going to get angry leave it up to me so

he goes and they all the students don't

realize what he's about to do and while

sorry because you know walking on his

own ground he goes and smacks him on his

back and something just continues

walking screening and ramen is beside

himself he just falls on his knees and

begs and forgiveness and so I was like

what happened so and then he describes

him and then it's it these months and

the late followers attendance they want

to you know really give it to him that

his brother and the Brahmin begs him to

to take him back to his house so that he

could offer him Donna and you know arm

school so he goes and then they catch up

with him on the way out of his house

started without and they pull this guy

out of his house and they want to beat

him the lake the lake followers and

started because there's why are you

doing this did he do anything to eat

they say know about they did it to you

on there we can't tolerate this this

world I for gaming so later on the story

gets reported to the Buddha and the

Buddha says I think it's either Bruno or

side of the fence help says he uses the

analogy of the mother earth that he says

well earth planet earth takes in all the

filth that we produce equally as as it

does any other beautiful thing takes the

bodies to fill the sewage everything it

never says I will accept this and it's

the same thing with sorry

so now that you've described that not

getting bad part but you know loving

kindness he said to them and defending

yourself yeah loving kindness doesn't

make you stupid okay it really doesn't

it does it seems to I don't have any

trouble with tornadoes or things not

tonight oh yeah yeah I was flying from

Malaysia to America and as we stopped at

Hong Kong so I get out and I'm walking

down and this man walked up to me and he

slapped me in the face really hard and I

looked at him and I said why did you do

that and he said I hate these you Hari

Krishna and I said well actually I'm not

a Hari Krishna I'm a Buddhist monk and I

talked with him for a little while and

he actually bought me a meal but I said

don't don't hit me again please you know

once once is enough you said here here's

a copy of my book okay information

but because I didn't over react and then

I found out what the real problem was

and then started explaining some of

Buddhism and what how you have to have a

balanced mind and that sort of thing he

bought me lunch so i had to pay my dues

to get that lunch spits unda i heard the

story about so I came up it was like

what else would you like to say and I

got frustrated your left yeah it sounds

like a Mahayana story more than a

Buddhist story yeah yeah yeah and there

there's a story of the Buddha this guy

didn't like the Buddha and he was

walking around for alms round and he

abides him in and then he tells the

Buddha get out and then I invites him

back in and curses at him and get up and

he invites him in and get out and he

tried it one more time in the Buddha

said no and there was a big story about

his not accepting the nastiness that

this guy was doing so he walked on oh

boy

there's a story about this big tub in

one of the hell realms that's filled

with molten lead and these people would

do certain things and they get reborn

there and they go down and take 50