From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=nsNJhpUDA8A

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

a lot of bright faces very good

so the discourse tonight is certain

number 121 the chula soon yatta suta the

shorter discourse on voidness an awful

lot of Buddhists have a belief of

voidness that means nothing at all

there is nothing and that is not the

definition that the Buddha gives and

this this suit shows you what he's

talking about

thus have I heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living in Swati and is

that okay are you comfy the blessed one

was living in Swati in the Eastern Park

and the palace of Megara 'he's mother

then when it was evening the venerable

ananda rose from meditation and went to

the blessed one then after paying homage

to him sat down at one side and said to

the blessed one venerable sir

on one occasion the blessed one was

living in this akheon country where

there was a town of the sake ins named

naga raga there the venerable sir their

venerable sir i heard and learned this

from the blessed one's own lips now

Ananda I often abide in voidness did I

hear that correctly venerable sir did I

learn that correctly attend to that

correctly remember it correctly

certainly Ananda you heard that

correctly learned that correctly and

attended to that correctly as formerly

Ananda so now - I often abide in

voidness Ananda just as this palace of

Megara 'he's mother is void of elephants

cattle horses and mares void of gold and

silver void of the Assembly of men and

women there is present only this non

voidness namely the singleness dependent

on the Sangha of monks

Megara x' mother her name actually was V

Sokka and she was a very very wealthy

woman and she was the chief supporter of

the Sangha she was a the anathan panda

co was the male supporter and she was

the female supporter she took care of

whatever Sangha members needed food or

robes or medicine or a place to stay now

the way this palace came into being was

when the Sokka got married she was from

a very very wealthy family and she

married into a very very wealthy family

and she had a cape that was made of all

kinds of gems and gold and silver and it

was all woven together and it was very

very expensive and she wore it were that

one day when she went out and she

decided that she wanted to come and

visit with the Buddha but she was

wearing this very expensive cape and she

thought that that was not right to go

visit the Buddha while she was wearing

that so she took it off and she gave it

to her attendant and told her to take

care of it and then she went to see the

Buddha and the attendant put that Cape

someplace and she went to listen to the

Buddha

and they they became so happy listening

to whatever labuda was telling them at

that time and the attendant forgot the

Cape and they went back to their house

and the Sokka asked the attendant what

happened to the Cape and she said oh I

forgot it I put it in a special place

and I just forgot to pick it up this

akka said well we have to go get it so I

want you to go back and get it but if

that Cape has been touched by the

venerable Ananda I want you to leave it

there and Ananda was very good about

walking around the monastery finding

things that were out of place and

putting him in place and taking care of

things and he saw this cape and he moved

it so it would be in a safe place

whenever they came to get it and the

attendant said I went and asked where

the Cape was because it wasn't where she

left it and she asked Ananda if he had

moved it and he said yes so he left the

Cape she left the Cape there and went

back to be Sokka and told her and she

said this is a good way to make merit

what I want to do is I want to sell this

Cape and whatever money there is from

the set the sale of this Cape then I

want to build a palace for monks so they

have a place to stay

as it happens nobody in the whole area

had enough money to buy it and she

thought well nobody can afford to buy

so I'm gonna buy it myself and use that

money to make this palace now this

palace was really quite something it was

a lot of rooms in it but it didn't have

a lot of the decorations didn't have

pictures on the walls and that sort of

thing because that wasn't right to be in

a monastery and she built this palace

and it had rugs throw rugs and things

like this on it it was very nice for the

monks to be able to stay in the way he

became me gaara's mother was that Megara

was her father-in-law and he was very

much influenced by Brahmanism and she

talked with him and convinced him that

the Buddha's path was better and he

started calling her his mother because

she turned him on to the Buddha's

teaching and they they invited the the

Buddha there for an end the monks for

whatever some kind of meal or such

anyway

yeah the foundation of some of them is

still around like every every time you

hear me give a discourse quite often

you'll hear me talk about the Bhutto was

at an ANA thumpin teeka's park and

jeta's grove the buddha stayed in what

was called the perfect perfume chamber

it was not an overly big place but it

was a place for him to kind of disappear

and do his own practice and that sort of

thing he stayed in that place for 20

years and he was also going out and

traveling so it wasn't a continuous 20

years but the foundation of that place

is still around and one of my dreams is

to go to Sawat tea and do a retreat

sitting in the on the foundation of the

perfume chamber

maybe one of these days I'll get to go

we'll see so when they're talking about

the palace of Majora's Mother being void

of elephants and cattle and horses they

didn't let any of those animals near

because they didn't want the waste of

those animals drawing flies and that

wouldn't interfere with the meditations

that the monks were doing that stayed at

that place and they didn't they didn't

doll it up like they would normally with

gold and silver and gems and all of this

kind of stuff it was rather plain so the

only the only thing that was in the

palace was monks so this is why it's

saying mcGarry's mother is void of

elephants cattle horses and mares void

of gold and silver void of the Assembly

of men and women they didn't let laymen

in that was for monks only there is

present only this non voidness namely

the singleness dependent on the Sangha

of monks so to a monk not attending to

the perception of village not attending

to the perception of people attends to

the singleness dependent on the

perception of a forest his mind enters

into that perception of forest and

acquires confidence steadiness and

resolution and on a lot of times monks

would go into the forest for meditation

and sometimes they would live in the

forest depending on conditions

he understands whatever disturbances

there might be dependent on the

perception of a village those are not

present in the forest

whatever disturbances there might be

dependent on the perception of people

those are not present there there is

present only this amount of disturbance

namely the singleness dependent on the

perception of forest there's still some

sounds in the forest and that sort of

thing he understands this field of

perception is void of the perception of

a village so it doesn't come into his

mind this field of perception is void of

the perception of people because they go

off into the by themselves into the

forest

there's present only this non voidness

namely the singleness dependent on the

perception of the forest

thus he regards it a void as void of

what is not there but as to what remains

there he understands that which is

present thus this is present thus Ananda

this is his genuine undistorted pure

descent into voidness so voidness

doesn't mean nothing voidness means that

there are distractions but there are

certain other things that are still

there like being in the forest where

there's no people and there's no village

so he's not going to think about them

but he is going to notice what's in the

forest

again Ananda among not attending to the

perception of people not attending to

the perception of forest attends to the

singleness dependent on the perception

of Earth now this is where some of the

ideas from the Vasudha maha are

interjected because they they say there

well when it starts talking about

meditation

the first thing they talk about is the

sina meditation a cocina is a circle

that's about about a foot across and it

has cloth on it and then they take mud

and they put on it and they they get it

real smooth and then let it dry and then

they hold it up in front of them they

can and use that as their object of

meditation now the reason that I say

this is from the viscera Mogga

is because the kind of meditation you

use with that kind of cocina is one

pointed concentration they say that the

cocina can be either the earth or it can

be water or it can be fire or it can be

air or it can be colors they take piece

of cloth and put over a circle like that

and then you start staring at that and

close your eyes until you can see it in

your mind's eye and then you use that as

your object of meditation I did that for

six weeks or two months I don't remember

anymore and I did that every day and it

was quite interesting and you can

develop very deep concentration by

holding that and then you get a cocina

the

nimita arising yeah and then you take

the nimita as your object of meditation

and you can do all kinds of interesting

things with a nimita you can make it big

you can make it small you can make it

bounce around you can do all kinds of

other things with it but that's your

object of meditation until your mind

gets into one-pointed concentration and

you can get into absorption it doesn't

take very long to do that it does that

kind of meditation does not lead to

Navona

after a couple of months of being fairly

skilled at being able to do that I

decided that that wasn't the kind of

meditation I wanted to do what I did was

I took the cover of for a bowl and I put

white cloth on it and I made it real

tight and took string and tied to Dawn's

put it on the wall and I would sit down

and I would stare at that and it was

kind of interesting at first I would

just look at that and close my eyes and

I could kind of see it and then after a

while it got much clearer and I could

see that and one day I was I had my eyes

open and I was looking at the Cocina and

there was an ant walking across the

cocina and I closed my eyes and I saw

the cocina in my mind with an ant

walking across it kind of fun but

casinos are our mention sometimes in the

suit does and I have not run across one

person who can tell me how to do that

without it being an absorption

concentration

it does describe it in a Vasudha Mogga

but the Vasudha manga is not the

commentary to use for something like

that anyway they're talking about the

earth cocina and with the earth casino

what you do is you put the mud on it and

it's all nice and and flat and it's dry

earth and then you you stare at that and

you start saying earth earth earth earth

earth and then you close your eyes and

try to bring that the the idea of the

earth

into your mind so this is I don't know

how to tell anybody honestly how to do

that without developing one pointed

concentration your mind gets real one

point it there's no getting around that

but you don't learn much from it his

mind enters into the perception of Earth

and acquires confidence steadiness and

resolution just as a bull's-hide becomes

free from folds when stretched

fully stretched with a hundred pegs so

to a monk not attending to any of the

ridges and hollows of the earth to the

rivers or n ravines the tracks of of

stubs and thorns and mountains and

uneven places attends to the singleness

dependent on the perception of earth his

mind enters into the perception of Earth

and acquires confidence steadiness and

resolution he understands thus whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

a perception of people

those are not present here whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the perception of forest those are not

present here there is present only this

amount of disturbance namely the

singleness dependent on the perception

of Earth now when you practice the

Cocina of Earth according to the Vasudha

manga you can get at least to the fourth

jhana and again I don't quite know how

to describe that I didn't do it long

enough I started realizing that it was

one pointed concentration and I didn't

want to develop that I've it seems like

I've already done that before and that

wasn't the way he understands the field

is of the this field of perception is

void of the perception of people this

field of perception is void of the

perception of forest there is present

only this non voidness namely the

singleness dependent on the perception

of earth thus he regards it as void of

what is not there but as to what remains

he understands that which is present

thus this is present thus Ananda this

too is his genuine undistorted pure

descent into voidness again and under a

monk not attending to the perception of

forest not attending to the perception

of Earth attends to the singleness

dependent on the perception of the base

of infinite space so you carry this to

the fourth jhana

and then your meditation changes and you

start to feel the expansion in your mind

in all directions with no center point

and that is the perception of infinite

space now you've been practicing the

brahma vihara z-- and the brahma vihara

z-- that will take him to the fourth

jhana then the feeling of method changes

to a feeling of compassion and you feel

this expansion in all directions at the

same time with compassion one of the

things that happens in especially

Mahayana Buddhism is that they make a

big deal of compassion and they call it

developing infinite compassion and that

is a misunderstanding what it is is

compassion with infinite space and

nobuta used to sit with that every

morning for an hour or two and have his

compassion with infinite space and he

was radiating that compassion to all

beings

his mind enters into the perception of

the base of infinite space acquires

confidence steadiness and resolution he

understands thus whatever disturbances

there might be dependent on the

perception of forest those are not

present here

whatever disturbances there might be

dependent on the perception of for of

Earth those are not present here there

is present only this amount of

disturbance namely the singleness

dependent on the perception of the base

of infinite space he understands this

field of perception is void of the

perception of forest this field of

perception as void of the perception of

Earth here is present only this non

voidness namely the singleness dependent

on the perception of the base of

infinite space now the singleness

dependent on a perception of infinite

space is not quite quite what you're

experiencing it's not single because you

have the feeling of compassion with

infinite space so it's a little bit

different with the brahma vihara z--

thus he regards it as void of what is

not there but as to what remains he

understands that which is present thus

this is present thus Ananda this too is

his genuine undistorted pure descent

into voidness so the definition of

voidness starts changing a little bit

depending on your object of meditation

again Ananda a monk not attending to the

perception of Earth not attending to the

perception of the base of infinite space

a

tends to the singleness dependent on the

perception of the base of infinite

consciousness he enters into that

perception of the base of infinite

consciousness and acquires confidence

steadiness and resolution he understands

thus whatever disturbances there might

be dependent on the perception of Earth

those are not present here what ever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the perception of the base of infinite

space those are not present here there's

present only this amount of disturbance

and again there's two things not not the

single thing when you get into or you go

beyond the base of infinite space the

feeling of loving kindness changes into

a feeling of joy and then you're able to

see individual consciousnesses arise and

pass away very quickly some some people

have trouble recognizing that but when

you start developing mastery you'll see

it very easily and I'm I can teach you

mastery of the jhanas but it takes more

than 10 days to do it depending on the

person's abilities - sometimes it can go

fast but generally it takes a couple of

weeks it takes like 14 days to get

mastery in each one of the dramas the

way that I teach mastery is after you've

gotten to a certain degree of the

meditation and you want to gain mastery

what you do is

you make a determination before you sit

that for this meditation I'm going to go

no higher than the first jhana and then

you make a determination that you're

going to go in and out of the jhana of

the first jhana

in 15 minutes it's not the same every

time one time it's 14 minutes and 56

seconds

one time it's fifteen minutes and three

seconds and you keep on changing the

time until you're able to hit it exactly

every time

whatever your determination is then you

practice hitting that that exact time

that you put your attention on it and

that means going into the first jhana

sitting in the first rana coming out to

the second when you're able to do that

then I will tell you you make a

determination to go no higher than the

first jhana for that sitting every time

you have to make that kind of

determination and now you'll sit for 30

minutes and again it's not always 30

minutes exactly you change it around so

that there's a little differences and

when you can hit that every time then I

will tell you to to go no higher than

the first jhana for this sitting and sit

for one hour see this is why it takes a

little bit longer to do this and that

means you go into the first jhana you're

there you come out at exactly one hour

five seconds three seconds whatever it

happen

to be when you do that then you make a

strong determination to go in and out of

the jhana in six seconds or five seconds

and when you can do that every time then

I will tell you to go to the second John

make a determination that you're only

going to go to the second drama and you

do that for 15 minutes and then thirty

minutes and then one hour and then a few

seconds so it takes some time to be able

to develop your internal clock now I

suggested at the start of the retreat

that you would make a determination of

waking up and try to hit it exactly what

time you're going to wake up and change

the numbers of occasionally 459 501 like

that the reason I told you to do that is

so that you get used to your body clock

being able to hit it so when you start

working with mastery then you're

fine-tuning your body clock so you can

go in and out more quickly at a

determined time

so after you do the second jhana then

you make a determination not to go

higher than the third jhana and you go

in and out in 15 minutes you go in and

out at 30 minutes you go in and out at

an hour and then a few seconds in and

out so you're really gaining not only a

lot of confidence in your ability to go

in and out of the jhana you're also

fine-tuning your internal clock so you

don't need to use a clock eventually and

then you do that to the fourth drama and

then you do that with infinite space and

infinite consciousness and nothingness

and neither perception nor

non-perception when you're able to do

that and go all the way through the

jhanas then you can be walking down the

street and decide that you want to be in

and in a jhana and all you do is make a

determination and you can be in that

drana it's a real useful tool especially

when people want to take pictures of you

yeah come out he come out in the first

channel

well you come out and you're out of the

drama okay

and when you can hit it exactly to the

second with each one of those you have

diva you have developed your body clock

to a very fine degree and some people

are so skilled that when they're talking

in between the words they can go in and

out of a drama you want some power and a

talk it takes practice it's not an easy

thing but it is very useful because you

can be going to a hospital and seeing

somebody that that's suffering a lot you

can go in and out of jhana of joy or

equanimity whatever it happens you

choose to go in and out of and you're

starting to radiate that kind of feeling

in the room and that helps the person

that's in that sick then you go you make

a determination that you're going to go

in the first jhana for four seconds and

then you come out make a determination

you're going to go in nothingness for a

period of time and then you start

popping around so you don't just do it

in order so you can you can have the

ability to get into any one of these

jhanas in and out with your

determination mind is going to do this

for this period of time

sometimes it's very it can be a for a

long time if you want to sit and you can

expand it to more than one hour

I just just practice going in and out

the Venerable sorry put was very very

skilled at doing that and sometimes he

would make a determination that today

I'm only gonna sit in the fourth jhana

or I'm only gonna sit in the first jhana

whatever it happens to be so he could

see and understand the first jhana

completely and Ananda would see him

coming out and he'd see him walking

around and he would go up to Sri puta

and he would say venerable sir what

jhana were you sitting in today your

features are very bright they're very

clear what were you doing in your

meditation today and he would say well I

was in the first jhana all day and then

he would do that with the other jhanas

so you can carry this kind of mastery to

a very very fine degree it does take

time because you need an hour or two

hours or three hours to be able to do it

so you can hit it right on and extend

that to whenever you need it

actually it's not well no it's there's

there are no hindrances when you're in

that and when you're in that drama so

that means there's no craving generally

speaking I won't teach somebody unless

they have some kind of attainment so get

to work guys then we'll start having fun

sometimes I do teach it but not very

often

okay okay there is present only this

amount of disturbance namely the

singleness dependent on the perception

of the base of infinite consciousness

the thing was infinite consciousness is

when you get into this and you could sit

with it for a while and you barely

become familiar with it it is teaching

you some very big insights because

you're seeing consciousness arise and

pass away arise and pass away with

ordinary mind you think that when you

see something it's a continuous sight

and now when you get in infinite

consciousness you're seeing it arise and

pass away very quickly and it's the same

with all of the sense doors including

mind and you're seeing that everything

really really is impermanent

and you're also seeing that there is an

unsatisfactory nature in being able to

see this because there is disturbance

there and that's a form of suffering and

you're seeing the impersonal nature of

the each of these consciousnesses arise

and pass away arise and pass away

there's no controller it's just there so

now you're seeing up close and personal

Anitra dukkha and anatta and that's not

as fine as it goes for seeing those

because you will see impermanence

suffering and not self in every link of

dependent origination

so you're seeing arising passing away

rising passing away very very quickly at

this stage but when you get into neither

perception nor non-perception you're

starting to see individual

consciousnesses and 1/12 of each

individual consciousness you can see

that that's why I've been talking about

you get into this exquisite peaceful

calm bright mind very alert and you'll

start to see little vibrations and I'm

telling you you need the six are those

what are you seeing the individual links

so you're seeing impermanence suffering

and the impersonal nature of every link

it's a little bit different than just

seeing impermanence this is fine tuning

it so that it's very very subtle states

that you're able actually deceive for

yourself

anyway he understands this field of

perception as void of the field are the

perception of Earth this field of

perception as void of the perception of

the base of infinite space there is

present only this non voidness namely

the singleness dependent on the

perception of the base of infinite

consciousness thus he regards it as void

of what is not there but as to what

remains he understands that which is

present thus this is present thus Ananda

this too is his genuine undistorted pure

descent into voidness again Ananda a

monk not attending to the perception of

the base of infinite space not attending

to the perception of the base of

infinite consciousness attends to the

singleness dependent on the perception

of the base of nothingness his mind

enters into that perception of the base

of nothingness and acquires confidence

steadiness and resolution he understands

thus whatever disturbances there might

be dependent on the perception of the

base of infinite space those are not

present here whatever disturbances there

might be dependent on the perception of

the base of infinite consciousness the

are not present here there is present

only this amount of disturbance namely

the singleness dependent on the

perception of the base of nothingness

now when you get deeper in your

meditation and the infinite

consciousness fades away get into a

space that's called nothingness this is

where mind is not looking outside of

itself anymore and actually this is one

of the more interesting states of

meditation to be in it's really nice and

there's nothing there but this is where

you learn to fine tune your energy now I

tell you that this is where equanimity

is is your object of meditation and to

use that as your object of meditation

and if you put too much attention into

trying to see your object of meditation

more clearly then your mind will start

to get restless of the kind of

restlessness that arises is an

unpleasant feeling it's not a pleasant

feeling it has some static in it and

your mind is used to being very peaceful

and calm with nothing there but all of

the sudden because you're using too much

energy and effort to see more clearly

then you have more disturbance in your

mind and that will turn into wandering

thoughts and other kinds of distraction

that will

pull your attention away from the

equanimity itself so you have to back

off a little bit just a little tiny bit

and it doesn't happen right away that

your mind is going to become calm again

sometimes it happens quick sometimes it

doesn't sometimes it might take 15 or 20

seconds or 30 seconds before your mind

becomes calm again after you've made

that adjustment now if you start backing

away too much when you relax a little

too much then the other problem arises

and this is torpor it's not sloth

anymore

it's just torpor torpor means dullness

your mind dulls out you don't see as

clearly as you need to so then you have

to put a little tiny bit more attention

in observing the equanimity so now

you're learning how to fine tune and

this is one of the great fun lessons

that you learn when you're in the realm

of nothingness how to fine tune how to

adjust so that everything is in balance

and there are other things that happen

in the realm of nothingness for some

people I'm saying your mind is on your

object of meditation and it starts the

mind's attention starts moving a little

bit and wobbling and if you six are

right then your mind will settle down

and just be on your object of meditation

without any problem but there's

something that happens before mind's

attention starts moving a little bit and

I want you to tell me what that is

so what I'm really saying when I ask

what happens right before that is how

sharp is your mindfulness at that time

are you able to see something else

arising before your mind's attention

starts moving and when you see that then

I ask you another question what happens

before that this is subtle stuff to be

quite honest not that many people really

notice the thing before that I'll let

you work for a little while and then

I'll tell you that shows you that I'm

compassionate okay he understands this

field of perception as void of the

perception of the base of infinite space

this field of perception is void of the

perception of the base of infinite

consciousness there is only present this

non voidness namely the this singleness

dependent on the perception of the base

of nothingness

thus he regards it as void of what is

not there but as to what remains he

understands there is present thus this

is present thus Ananda this too is his

genuine undistorted pure descent into

voidness again Ananda

a month not attending to the perception

of the base of infinite consciousness

not attending to the base of their

perception of the base of nothingness

attends to the singleness dependent on

the perception of the base of neither

perception nor non-perception his mind

enters into that perception of the base

of neither perception nor non-perception

and acquires confidence steadiness and

resolution he understands thus whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the perception of the base of infinite

consciousness those are not present here

whatever disturbances there might be

dependent on the perception of the base

of nothingness

those are not present here there is

present only this amount of disturbance

namely the singleness dependent on the

perception of the base of neither

perception nor non-perception he

understands this field of perception as

void of the perception of the base of

infinite consciousness this feel of

perception is void of the perception of

the base of nothingness

there's only present this amount of non

voidness namely the singleness dependent

on the perception of the base of neither

perception nor non-perception thus he

regards it as void of what is not there

but as to what remains there he

understands there that which is present

thus this is present in other words even

that fine state of neither perception

nor non-perception where your mind is

exceptionally bright and clear and still

your awareness still sees that and

that causes some disturbance okay even

this where you can sit for a half an

hour an hour an hour and a half without

having anything arise in your minds

attention at all oh that's boring

there's nothing there who's bored

who wants some excitement six are those

kind of thoughts six are those kind of

feelings

the sananda this too is his genuine

undistorted pure descent into avoid miss

again ananda a monk not attending to the

perception of the base of nothingness

not attending to the perception of the

base of neither perception nor

non-perception attends to the singleness

dependent on the signless collectiveness

of mind his mind enters into that

signless collectiveness of mine and

acquires confidence steadiness and

resolution he understands whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the perception of the base of

nothingness those are not present here

whatever disturbances there might be

dependant on the perception of the base

of neither perception nor non-perception

those are not present here there is

present only this amount of disturbance

namely that connected with the six bases

that are dependent on this body and

conditioned by life in other words the

only disturbance that you have you don't

really see it as a disturbance we

there is no perception there is no

feeling there is no consciousness at

that time but there is still some

disturbance because your body doesn't

die when you're in that state right you

still have the six cent stores they are

still there and these are conditioned by

life so this is where it gets this this

gets real interesting because when you

come out of that state you have a clean

slate

as far as consciousness is concerned

there's nothing there and then you start

seeing the links of dependent

origination and how the condition states

arise and then you see how the condition

states cease and when there is the final

letting go of formations there are no

more conditions and when there's no more

conditions what do we call that me but

there's no fireworks there is only this

mind that is incredibly alert and bright

and a feeling of relief that's almost

overwhelming at first it's really nice

and you will feel happy and I've had

students come to me and they tell me of

their experience like that and I said

well good you've attained nirvana you

become a sotapanna or whatever and they

say something to the effect of is that

always is that all there is

don't you feel that relief well yeah but

it's peaceful and calm well is that a

bad thing but there's no fireworks I

want that one explosions happening and

all kinds of I finally did it but your

mind is so alert then your mind is so

bright and the happiness just kind of

permeates everything it's a nice thing

to be in and it lasts for some days and

that's one of the ways that you tell

that you have had that attain it isn't

just a flash in the pan kind of

happiness that arises and then fades

away you will feel this three or four or

five six days and you'll still feel the

relief later you know that something

major has happened and this is the way

that you attain me but it's not through

just seeing impermanence or suffering or

not self

it's from seeing all of the links of

dependent origination and it can happen

really fast you might not even notice it

at first you come in and you talk to me

and you talk about the relief and being

peaceful and calm and they say did you

see any little blinking little things

happen well yeah yeah you saw the links

whether you recognize it for sure or not

as you continue meditating as you

continue going deeper everything starts

to slow down a little bit more and

you'll be able to see if it happens

again and you become a sock tegami

you'll be able to see more clearly

arising and passing away of these things

but it still happens fast but it happens

for a longer period of time because it

arises and passes away two times so it's

it's quite a few times that you're

seeing this and you can recognize those

little blips a little bit more clearly

as you continue on with your meditation

your awareness becomes super super sharp

and it's just like seeing the infinite

consciousness the arising and passing

away

well now you're gonna see these links

arise and pass away not quite as fast

and you'll be able to recognize them

even more clearly and they arise and

pass away three times

and if you keep going some people they

have the idea yeah I'd like to stop at a

Nogami Paulo team Nibbana next lifetime

not this lifetime so they don't go as

deep into meditation but they are able

now to sit in the cessation of

perception and feeling by using their

determination and determine that they're

going to do it for a length of time

depending on how much time they have

they can do it for two days three days

five days up to seven days and then they

make a determination to come out they

won't see the dependent origination

arising and passing away because they

make the determination that they don't

want to go any higher but the advantage

of being a non egami is nice because you

never have lust or hatred arise in your

mind ever again it just fades away no

more of those kind of entrances there's

still some fetters that can arise for

instance you can be a non egami and

still have torpor and you could be a non

egami and still have restlessness

but with the same beliefs and how you

mind mind it gets real tricky to try to

explain this you want to try

uie

what it what is the eye of wisdom that

is observation with no craving in it in

other words it's the pure mind that

observes that is the eye of wisdom and

that's why you go to Nepal and on the

stupas they have this eye with a little

curlicue above it they have the the I

think is the two eyes actually yeah

but I have seen some some stupids that

just had one eye and that's depicting

the eye of wisdom well it's it's deeper

than that I mean that that opening of

the third eye is that's kid stuff

and that that leads to a lot of psychic

things and you might develop that as you

see these links of dependent origination

and have these abilities but that's I'm

not interested in teaching anybody to

develop their psychic abilities there's

too much work well I've had telephone

calls as somebody that can you teach me

how to see was the third eye yes I can

it'll take ten years and it means

practice every day for 10 years to be

able to develop it without the

attachment to it and that's it's too

much work for me trying to pare down

somebody's way I'm hot stuff I can do

this and you don't show off ever no they

aren't reborn in this realm again

they're called a non returner they're

reborn in a special there's there's five

or six I don't remember how many brahma

locust that lasts for a long period of

time and they will attain our hot Shep

there and then when the Karma wears out

then they die and not are not reborn in

conventional kind of sense and I say

that meaning they don't have anymore

craving and craving is the thing that

holds this idea together and it's like a

sandcastle you can build a beautiful

sand cat

and a wave comes along and knocks it

down can you rebuild that sandcastle in

exactly the same way with each grain of

salt and a curb or sand in exactly the

same place that's what it is to attain

nirvana and not come back okay so I

spent 12 years looking for a Nara and I

never found one there's not so many of

them around and I'm not sure I would

actually be able to recognize and are a

hot because I'd have to spend an awful

long time with them I'd have to spend a

year or two just hanging out with them

to see what they do in every situation

to see if there's any slightest bit of

pride coming up or sloth and torpor or

restlessness or desire to be reborn

someplace else it takes a long time to

be able to recognize a true RI you can

go up and ask an are hot if he is in our

hot and he might answer you and he might

tell you it doesn't matter one way or

the other

and actually every attainment is like

that it doesn't matter one way or the

other to anybody else it matters to you

only what good does my being a Nara hat

do for you except if you ask a question

you know the answer is going to be

absolutely perfect

so there is there is no pride in a Nara

hot at all

there's no desire to be reborn in any

other realm there's no sloth and torpor

there's no restlessness and there is no

ignorance now if you can find somebody

to hang out that has that those

qualities that's a good thing or you can

keep doing the meditation and become a

Nara hot and then you can teach me and

what she tried to tell you yesterday was

I used to every morning when I was in

one particular temple there was I was

with a very very famous monk called Kate

Reed I'm Ananda he's written 60 or 70

books and he gave absolutely brilliant

Dhamma talks really good and I highly

recommend any of his books and any of

his talks and we have 20 some talks of

his want to listen to we can make copies

and send them to you really really good

stuff and a sense of humor was brilliant

so what I did was I would go down and I

would eat breakfast and at that time I

was eating breakfast and then I would go

to his office and he always had

this tape that was going on in a

continuous loop home mone padmi home and

it was kind of singing and one of the

things that happened every time I went

down to see him and it happened every

morning is we would start giggling and

laughing like little kids just saying

son this kind of ridiculous to make each

one of us laugh and it was great fun and

one day I walked into his office and he

was playing on mony brought me home and

in my mind I heard old mommy take me

home and I told him about that and he

made sure it was playing every time he

came in after that and we I'd just walk

in and start laughing that's great fun

he asked me to come to his temple he was

about 78 years old when that happened

and no 76 when I came to his temple he

wanted to find out about meditation but

he didn't tell me that that's what he

wanted so I was every night I was

teaching a meditation class at somewhere

on the monastery grounds and he would

come outside the door and listen to what

the Dhamma talks that I was giving and

then go back and start practicing on his

own and sometimes he would walk in but

just his presence made me very much more

careful of the things I was saying and

there's a lot of pressure and being with

somebody like that because he was he was

a very famous man and I

wanted to make sure that everything that

I said was correctly one time I was he

asked me to come and give a talk and

then he was going to give a talk and

there was another big monk from another

country and they were all going to be

giving talks and I went first and I was

so intimidated that I only gave a talk

for about 15 minutes and then I quit I

couldn't do any more because they were

there they're the ones I wanted to

listen to not me I was really kind of an

interesting phenomena anyway he did did

practice a meditation and he was

somewhat successful with his meditation

and when it got time for me to leave I

was going to be coming back to America

he kept on giving me things take this

back with you take this back with you I

never could figure out quite what he was

doing until the day before I left

somebody came in and said oh yeah he's

been practicing the way you teach and

he's he wants to give you gifts for

thanking me for helping you that's

amazing

anyway

he understands this feel of perception

as void of the perception of the base of

nothingness this field of perception is

void of the perception of the base of

neither perception nor non-perception

there is present only this non voidness

namely that connected with the sixth

sense bases that are dependent on this

body and conditioned by life thus he

regards it of as void of what is not

there but as to what remains there he

understands that which is present vests

this is present thus Ananda this too is

as genuine undistorted pure descent into

voidness and again Ananda a monk not

attending to the perception of the base

of nothingness not attending to the

perception of the base of neither

perception nor non-perception attends to

the singleness dependent on the signless

collected nosov mind that is a cessation

of perception feeling and consciousness

he enters into that silence

collectiveness of mine and acquires

confidence steadiness and resolution

this is just part of the formula and for

this particular part of the suta I would

take that sentence out because it's not

like he has any kind of control when

he's in and gain confidence in it's just

something that can arise and he can make

a determination to be in that but there

is no controller at all he understands

thus this signless collectiveness of

mine is conditioned

they here's a word that bhikkhu bodhi

really likes to use and is not one that

I prefer he says and volitional II

produced that means with his will he

produces it and that's that's an iffy

kind of translation we will get another

one just be patient it will be easier to

understand but whatever is conditioned

and volitionally produced is impermanent

subject to cessation when he knows and

sees thus his mind is liberated from the

taint of sensual desire from that the

disturbance from sensual desire from the

disturbance of habitual tendency from

disturbance of ignorance when it is

liberated there comes the knowledge it

is liberated he understands birth is

destroyed the holy life has been lived

what had to be done has been done there

is no more coming to any state of being

he understands thus whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the disturbance of sensual desire those

are not present here whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the disturbance of habitual tendency

those are not present here whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the disturbance of ignorance those are

not present here there is present only

this amount of disturbance namely that

connected with the six bases that are

dependent on his body and conditioned by

life he understands the feel of

perception is void of that the

disturbance of sensual desire

this field of perception is void of the

disturbance of habitual tendency this

field of perception is void of the

Tainter of the disturbance of ignorance

there's present only this non voidness

namely that connected with the six bases

that are dependent on this body and

conditioned by life thus he regards it

as void of what is not there but as to

what remains he understand that which is

present thus this is present thus Ananda

this too is his genuine undistorted pure

descent into voidness supreme and

unsurpassed Ananda whatever recluses and

brahmins in the past enter upon and

abide in pure supreme unsurpassed

voidness all entered upon and abided in

this same pure supreme unsurpassed

voidness whatever recluses and brahmins

in the future will enter upon and abide

in pure supreme unsurpassed and witness

all enter upon and abide in this same

pure supreme unsurpassed voidness what

other recluses and brahmins in the

present enter upon and abide in pure

supreme unsurpassed voidness all enter

upon and abide in this same pure supreme

unsurpassed voidness therefore Ananda

you should train thus we will enter upon

and abide in pure supreme unsurpassed

voidness that's what the Blessed One

said the venerable Ananda was satisfied

and delighted in the Blessed ones words

so when you're talking about voidness it

does not mean nothing is there I mean

even after you attained Nirvana or while

you're at a NEMA Bona there's still

something there and that something is

the sixth sense bases that keep the body

alive if someone these sides that they

become a Nara hot and they don't join

the Sangha for purity they will die

within seven days they need to have the

purity of the Sangha they will live

longer than they live for many years

then let's share some merit may

suffering ones be suffering free and the

fear struck fearless being may the

grieving fit all grief and may all

beings find relief may all being share

this merit that we've thus acquired for

the acquisition of all kinds of

happiness may beings inhabiting space

and earth David

Nagas a mighty power share this means

they long protect the Buddha's

dispensation

you