From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Dz03V6qQsG8

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

okay the discourse tonight is the

greater series of questions and answers

suit of forty-three

now the reason that i'm going to be

giving this tonight is because this is

one of the deeper sutas and it's very

precise

okay thus if i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living in sawatee and

jetta's grove

kohita rose from meditation and went to

the venerable sariputta

and exchanged greetings with him

when this courteous inhabitable talk was

finished he sat down at one side and

said to the venerable sorry putta

yes

one who is unwise one who is unwise is

said friend

now you have to again remember that when

you hear the word wise or wisdom we're

talking about the links of dependent

origination and the four noble truth

uh

one does not wisely understand one does

not wisely understand friend that's why

it is said

one who is unwise

and what doesn't one wisely understand

one does not wisely understand this is

suffering

one does not wisely understand this is

the origin of suffering

one does not wisely understand this is

the cessation of suffering

one does not wisely understand this is

the way leading to the cessation of

suffering

what is the way leading to the cessation

of suffering

is

that's right

excellent

one does not wisely understand friend

that is why it is said one who is unwise

during the time of the buddha all of the

monks addressed each other as friends

right before the buddha died

that from now on

the junior monk was called friends

meaning reverend sir

is

but over the years

since the buddha

passed away

the monks just call each other bante

that's it

uh

my

my name is actually vimala ramsey

what is the meaning of

uh that's

when i first got the name

the name i originally was given was

allah

m

another monk that was my teacher decided

that

he wanted to have some say in my name so

he gave me

ramsay

ramsay is like uh

like the glowing of the sun or when the

sun goes through the clouds and it has

that radiant sunlight coming through

that's

uh ram

so if you put my name together

technically it means

pure radiance

i don't know if i live up to that name

but

that doesn't

delighted and rejoiced in the venerable

sariputa's

words then he asked a further question

one who is wise one who is wise is said

friend

chirons

ramirez

with reference to what is this said one

who is wise

one wisely understands one wisely

understands

one wisely understands this is the

cessation of suffering

one wisely understands this is the way

leading to the cessation of suffering

one wisely understands one wisely

understands friend that's why it is said

one who is wise

consciousness is said friend with

reference to what is consciousness

it cognizes friend that's why

consciousness

in english we have a word that we use a

lot

recognize

comes from your memory

you see this flower your mind says this

flower is a rose

the reason you reckon you see this as a

rose

is because

you've seen roses before

so you recognize

because

recognizing

we're talking about in the present

moment

you see something arise

there is a cognizant

recognize

somebody

it cognizes this is pleasant

it cognizes this is painful

it cognizes this is neither painful nor

pleasant

it cognizes it cognizes friend that's

why consciousness is

are these states conjoined or disjointed

and is it possible to separate each of

these states from the other in order to

describe the difference between them

young

wisdom and consciousness friend these

states are conjoined

not this joint

and it is impossible to separate each of

these three states from the other in

order to describe the difference between

them

listening

that one wisely understands

so now you get the idea that we're

talking about

very

fine states of mind

that have the lengths of dependent

origination and you're able to recognize

feeling

is so when feeling arises

your mind cognizes that in the present

moment

because

and it is able to

see it as a link of dependent

origination

young

that is why these states are conjoined

not disjoined

in and it is impossible to separate each

of these states from the other in order

to describe the difference between them

yes

what is the difference

friend between wisdom and consciousness

these states that are conjoined not

disjointed just disjoined

the difference

between wisdom and consciousness

these states that are conjoined not

disjoined

in

is this

wisdom is to be developed

and consciousness is to be fully

understood

wisdom is to be developed how do you

develop wisdom

by seeing the links of dependent

origination and seeing how they arise

so

you see each of these links and you

understand what they are

young

feeling feeling is said friend

with reference to what is feeling said

it feels it feels friend

that is why feeling is said

what does it feel

like

it feels it feels friend

that is why feeling is said

it doesn't say who feels

that's all

perception is something that's not

really well understood in the buddhist

world

perception is the part of the mind

that

puts names on things

uh

perception

is the part of your mind

that

put the name on this and it is the start

of

concepts

uh

okay

you say what's the concept

of

is it the brakes

is it the tire

concepts are ideas that

make up

are a lot of little tiny things

put together to make up

car

we only think in concepts

let's say we take a word like

pain

uh

it's made up of a lot of different

little things

that when you put them together we call

it paint

perception is

making that concept so that you can

communicate

with

me

so how can we talk about

something like nibana

iran

there are no concepts in hibana

how can you talk about something that

has no concepts

with concepts

can you

and then you hear somebody has had that

experience and you go to them and you

say what was that like how did it what

happened

they can't answer

them

because they experienced

a realm that has no concepts in it

there are no conditions

how can you talk about something that

has no conditions in a conditioned world

okay

now we'll go back to the word

perception

yeah

it perceives

it perceives friend that's why

perception is said

what does it perceive

it perceives white

try to describe these colors to someone

that has been blind since birth

impossible

now this also has memory in it

okay

it perceives it perceives friend that's

why perception is said

feeling

perception

and consciousness friend

are these states conjoined or disjoint

and is it possible to separate each of

these states from the others

in order to describe the difference

between them

feeling perception and consciousness

friends

these states are conjoined

not disjoint

and it's impossible to separate each of

these states from the others

in order to describe the difference

between them

is

for what one feels

and what one perceives

that one

cognizes

now

we have this thing called the five

aggregates

and consciousness

but these three

things feeling perception and

consciousness can't be separated

so these five aggregates are actually

three aggregates

okay

that is why these states are conjoined

not disjoined and it is impossible to

separate each of these states from the

others in order to describe the

section that says knowable by mind alone

what can be

known by purified mind consciousness

mind consciousness released from the

five faculties

the base of infinite space can be known

thus

space is infinite

many of you have already experienced

this

the base of infinite consciousness can

be known thus

consciousness is infinite

what does one understand a state that

can be known

one understands a state that can be

known

with the eye of

wisdom

that's a knowing

by

r by cognizing

whatever it is that arises

when you cognize what arises in the

present moment

that means

you are seeing it

without

any

craving

now you get more and more the idea of

why i keep telling you to use the six

r's

so the state comes up and u6 are

now you cognize that state

without any interference from craving

without

taking it

personally

the eye of wisdom

is

seeing

whatever arises with a pure

mind

what's the cause of suffering

there only

craving

what is the way leading to the cessation

of suffering

very good

so you see how this is all

interconnected

and when you see

something without craving you're seeing

it

as it actually is

and you're seeing the three

characteristics of all existence

of

and just the fact that it arose

is a form of suffering

and when you practice the six hours

you

are seeing the impersonal

nature of whatever it is that arose

the other half of the six r's is

bringing up something wholesome

and staying with it

this is very

very important that you smile as much as

you can

why

because

your mind is wholesome

your mind is

lighter

so your mind is very pure

your mind is very clean

because you let go of the craving

now

i practiced meditation for

38 years

uh

for 20 years i was taught

to

watch something that came up when it

pulled my attention to it and stay with

it until it went away

and then go back to my object my primary

object of meditation

is

i wasn't relaxing and letting go of the

craving

so i kept bringing the craving back to

my primary object of meditation

no

why don't we go

what

this

one small

little tiny step

of relaxing that tension and tightness

and letting it go

changes

the entire meditation

right now

in buddhism

all over the world

there are many people practicing

not letting go of cravings

they are not even recognizing

what craving truly is

now

you have started a meditation retreat

six days ago

look at the progress that you have made

in six days

some of you

have practiced meditation with other

teachers how fast was your progression

sometimes it takes years to be able to

experience what you have

in six days

foreign

if you can remember

these two things

i don't care what kind of meditation

you're doing

if you use these two things smiling and

relaxing

your meditation will be successful

foreign

when

you describe the dhamma that the buddha

taught

one of the words is in pali it's a

kaliko

uh

immediately effective

when you let go of that tightness in

your mind you see it's immediately

effective

there's just this clean mind that you

bring back to your object of meditation

i used one sentence

to describe what this meditation really

is

when you smile

and you laugh

the meditation is fun

because you're progressing and you see

and you understand

how

mind and body actually work

the biggest problem i have in teaching

people

is trying to convince them that this is

easy

uh

everybody thinks that meditation is

and some people even complain when i

tell them they have to smile

but after a short period of time

everybody starts smiling and they start

feeling good

because they're doing the practice that

the buddha taught

on this retreat

i can't really predict because it's all

up to you

more

if you remember to follow the

instructions just like i give you just

like the buddha gives you

you will be successful you

oh i know korean men are never supposed

to smile you're supposed to be stoic

but

you can be

have

no smile

but you also don't have very fast

progress because you don't smile

you don't have fast progress

in general

and the more you do smile

the more you start practicing

giving that smile away to other people

i had a talk with a doctor

dr lee

and he was telling me that koreans don't

smile in public

because

if you see me smile

you think what's wrong with that person

he's crazy

you have to remember that a smile

is

showing your inner happiness

about two years ago

someone made a youtube

this man walked onto a train

and a lot of people were riding in the

train going to work or coming

this man started smiling

before long everybody in that car

started smiling and they started

laughing

so he was an example of

giving happiness to other people without

saying anything to them

we have a tendency to get too serious

and when we forget to smile

our mind has craving in it

smile and relax

meditation is not just

about

sitting

the buddha repeats this over and over

again

that is not only giving material things

but

smiling and giving your smile away

cruz

and saying things that make people

happy

sometimes at the center people start

arguing with each other

i've trained them enough

that they come and they talk to me while

they're fighting

they come into my cootie and they are

angry

then instead of talk talk talk talk talk

and being angry

then they start lowering their voice

they stop yelling at each other and they

start discussing what the

then they start laughing with each other

now they say well i've got this work to

do i've got to go do it thanks ponte

and

the more you can smile and put loving

and kind thoughts

with the people around you

the more you affect the world in a

positive way

throw

this is the strongest power that i know

of in the entire universe

it is so powerful it can take someone

that's angry and make them happy

okay

so

when we practice wisdoms i

we are

seeing things as they truly are

without any distraction

uh chris

the purpose of wisdom friend is direct

knowledge

its purpose is full understanding

its purpose is abandoning

that's what happens when you use the six

arcs you abandon

i am that

and you see

this is only these things are rising and

passing away that's all

how many conditions are there for the

arising of right view

friend there are two conditions for the

arising of right view

it's not me it has nothing to do with me

i wouldn't know this

if the buddha hadn't shown us

these are the two conditions for the

how many factors is right view assisted

when it has deliverance of mind for its

uh

path and deliverance of mind for its

fruition

when it has deliverance by wisdom for

its path

and deliverance by wisdom for its path

and fruition

right view is assisted by five factors

when it has deliverance of mind for its

path

and deliverance of mind for its path and

fruition

when it has deliverance by wisdom for

its path

and deliverance by wisdom for its path

and fruition

young

right view is assisted by virtue

the first part is practicing your

generosity

the second part is taking and keeping

the five precepts without ever

i had one student in malaysia that she

kept the five precepts very very closely

for many years

so i gave her the instructions in the

meditation and she started doing it

after she ate lunch i came to her and i

said how is your meditation going

she said the meditation is very good but

i can only sit for 45 minutes

so naturally i said why don't you sit

longer

she said

my whole life i've been sitting in

chairs and when i have to sit on the

floor my legs hurt so bad after 45

her next sitting was

four hours

and she experienced jhana in

the first time she ever really tried to

do it

chris

when you keep the precepts very well

over a period of time your mind

naturally

becomes more tranquil

anytime you break a precept

you feel guilty for breaking the precept

and that affects the meditation

i have one student that i've been

teaching for 30 years

every time he comes to do a two-week

retreat

he has

a lot of things

a lot of hindrances arising

because of those actions

uh

one or two days before the retreat is

over his mind starts to settle down

um

i've told him over and over and over and

over again that

he has to stop doing that if he wants

progress in his meditation

but he does what he

wants so every time he comes for a

meditation retreat

he can expect the same thing every time

lots of hindrances lots of problems with

the meditation

because

okay all of those days before he spent

re-purifying his mind

now sometimes people ask me

how about white lies they're just little

lies

when you say something you know is not

true your mind very quietly says

i shouldn't have said that

um

so the

precepts and the hindrances are very

close together

okay

so right view is assisted by virtu

discussion

right view is assisted by these five

factors

as deliverance of mine for its path

deliverance of mind for its path and

fruition

it has deliverance by wisdom for its

path and deliverance by wisdom for its

path and fruition

uh

how many kinds of beings are there

sphere

that means

uh for us human life

which is in the sense sphere um

that means being reborn in the

immaterial realm

now

if you have

one experience of being in a jhana

uh

and you never practice meditation again

for the rest of your life

that the last moment before you die you

will remember that

and be reborn in a brahman

where

and if you don't go any further

you will be reborn in a heavenly realm

that lasts for five hundred maha kappas

against

is

the expansion of the universe and

contraction of the universe

you have one experience

of

infinite space

uh

that experience is so strong

that if you don't ever go any higher in

this life

and you die you will be reborn

in

an arupa

loka

your

if you experience

infinite

consciousness

and die you will be reborn in a

if you experience the realm of

nothingness and you die then you will be

reborn in a

arupa

a rupa loka that lasts for

sixty thousand maha kappas you're gonna

if you experience neither perception nor

non-perception

and you die

you will

be in that uh brahmaloka for 84 000 maha

kappas

uh

now think about your experience that

you've had in these last six days

almost everyone here

has experienced the fourth genre

a lot have experienced

the compassion with infinite space

fewer still but still quite a lot have

experienced infinite consciousness

the couple have experienced neither

perception or non-perception

do you see how powerful what i'm showing

you is

i am helping you all

to have a happy existence for a very

long period of time

and maybe some of you will experience

we still have some days left

friend how is renewal of being

in uh in the future generated

friend renewal of being in the future is

generated through delight in this and

that

on the part of beings

who are hindered by ignorance

and fettered by

craving

for your

so these two things cause you to keep

being reborn

ignorance of how the four noble truths

actually work

with the arising of true knowledge

and with the cessation of cravings

renewal of being in the future is not

generated

okay i'm gonna i'm gonna

let go of this uh first jhana

and we'll get to the five faculties okay

it's number 21. yeah

these five faculties each have a

separate field a separate domain and do

not experience each other's field and

domain

the nose faculty the tongue faculty and

the body faculty

so what this is saying is

the tongue cannot hear

and the ear cannot smell

each one has its own separate function

now these five factors each having a

separate field and a separate domain

not experiencing each other's field and

domain

what is their resort

what

what experiences their fields and domain

these five faculties each have a

separate field and a separate domain and

do not experience each other's field and

domain

year faculty knows faculty tongue

faculty and body faculty

now these five faculties each having a

separate field a separate domain not

experiencing each other's field and

domain

have mind as their resort

and mind experiences their fields and

domains

you

friend as to these five faculties that

is the eye ear nose tongue and body

faculty

what do these five faculties stand

independence on

board

friend as to these five faculties that

is the eye ear nose tongue and body

faculty

these five faculties stand independence

on vitality

either um

friend what does vitality stand

independence on

you

vitality stands independent

just now friend we understood the

venerable sorry

to have said vitality stands

independence

how should the meaning of these

statements be regarded

in that case friend i shall give you a

simile for some wise men here understand

the meaning

of a statement by means of assembly

um

just as when an oil lamp is burning

its radiance is seen independence on its

flame

and its flame is seen in dependence on

its radiance

the flame

will be radiant it will give light out

it depends on that flame

in order to give light

so they depend on each other in order to

function

together

so to vitality stands independence on

heat and heat stands independence on

vitality

friend our vital formations things that

can be felt or are vital formations one

thing and things that can be felt

another

push

vital formations friends

are not things that can be felt

if vital formations were things that can

be felt

who has entered upon

the cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

because vital formations are one thing

a monk who has entered upon the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

can be seen to emerge from it

when you have the experience of the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

it's just like somebody turned out the

lights there's nothing

much

you don't see anything you don't

perceive anything there is no

consciousness to recognize it

but

a monk can go into that state and still

come out of that state

now one of the things i ask you to do at

the start of the retreat was when you go

to bed

i want you to make two determinations

before

going to sleep

and i also said

i want you to make the determination

to wake up smiling and happy

watching

now these two determinations are

important

because later in the practice when you

get to be able to experience the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

you need to be able to make a

determination that you're going to be in

that state for this period of time

to the second you will get out of that

state when what whatever you've

determined

we'll get into that in just a minute

again

friend when this body is bereaved of how

many states is it then discarded

forsaken left lying senseless like a log

friend when this body is bereaved

it is then discarded and forsaken

left lying like a senseless log

friend what is the difference between

one who is dead

who has completed his time

and a monk who has entered upon the

cessation

of perception feeling and consciousness

friend in the case of one who is dead

who has completed his time

his bodily formations have ceased and

subsided

his verbal formations have ceased and

subsided

his mental formations have ceased and

subsided

his vitality is exhausted

his heat has dissipated

and his faculties are fully broken up

in the case of a monk who has entered

upon the cessation

of perception feeling and consciousness

his bodily formations have ceased and

subsided

his verbal formations have ceased and

subsided

as mental formations have ceased and

subsided

but his vitality is not exhausted

his heat has not been dissipated

and his faculties become exceptionally

clear

if you happen to run across anyone that

has just come out of that state it is

good to give them a gift

it will come back to you many many times

even something as simple as a glass of

water

this is the difference between one who

is dead who has completed his time

and

and a monk who has entered upon the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

friend how many conditions are there for

the attainment of neither painful nor

pleasant deliverance of mind

friend there are four conditions for the

attainment of the neither painful nor

pleasant deliverance of mind

here with the abandoning of pleasure and

pain

and with the previous disappearance of

joy and grief

a person enters upon and abides in the

fourth genre

which has neither pain nor pleasure and

purity of mindfulness due to equanimity

these are the four conditions for the

attainment of neither painful nor

pleasant deliverance of mind

friend how many conditions are there for

the attainment of the signless

deliverance of mind

friend there are two conditions for the

attainment of the signless deliverance

of mind

non-attention to all

that is the cessation of perception

feeling and consciousness

you don't know you're in that state

why

because there's no feeling perception or

consciousness

only when you get out of that state do

you recognize that you were in that

state

these are the two conditions for the

attainment of the signless deliverance

of mind

friend how many conditions are there for

the persistence of the signless

deliverance of mind

friend there are three conditions for

the persistence of the signless

deliverance of mind

non-attention to all signs

and the prior

determination of its duration

so what i've done by getting you to

start making determinations

is

at different times you will use that for

uh learning

mastery

of going in and out of the dramas

so you make a determination i'm gonna

sit in the jhana for

three hours

15 minutes and 12 seconds

and exactly to the second that's when

you get out of the channel

you can have mastery of going in and out

of any

genre

just takes practice

what's the advantage of doing that

you're with somebody that's sad

you get into the second genre you have

joy and radiate that joy to that person

and then they get happy

the buddha was so skillful

that he could go in and out of any jhana

in between the words that he spoke

these are the three conditions for the

persistence of the signless deliverance

of mind

friend how many conditions are there for

the emergence from the signless

deliverance of mine

friend there are two conditions for

emergence from the signless deliverance

of mind

attention to all signs

and not attention to the silence element

these are the two conditions for the

emergence from the signless deliverance

of mind

i've been talking for a real long time

so i'm going to stop with this now

do you have any questions

yes

secession of perception and feeling and

sleep

um

sleeping occurs for anybody

but only getting into the cessation of

perception

feeling and consciousness occurs for

people who have

uh developed their mindfulness

if you went to sleep and you came back

out of the sleep

and you would be

really really really radiant like you

see some of the buddha images that have

the glow around him

that would be extraordinary

most people go to sleep and when they

wake up

they stumble over things and they

bump into things and it takes a while to

wake up

but when you get out of the cessation of

perception feeling in consciousness you

are very alert you're very awake and

your mind is

exceptionally

pure

sometimes when i walk in here in the

morning and i see you meditating

your faces are starting to get that glow

like the what's described for the buddha

and one of the advantages of doing the

loving kindness meditation i wish i

could bottle it and sell it

is that it makes your face

very beautiful

very radiant very alive

and

women especially

they start looking younger and younger

because all of the

the wrinkles and that sort of thing that

just fades away

see if i could put that in a bottle i

would be a millionaire monkey

anybody else

about five presets when

housewives prepare food

at home

they have to use many uh fish alive

and they have to

kill

i would suggest you learn other forms of

making a meal

okay in order to kill there are five

things that have to take place

the being has to be alive

there has to be intention to kill the

being

let's say it this way there is a weapon

and you use the weapon

and the being dies

now if you go into a store

and you see a piece of

or fish laid out that's not alive

is there any wrongdoing

did you have intention on killing that

fish

did you take a weapon and use the weapon

and have the being die

so

you're not

you are not responsible for the death of

that

that fish

so there is no wrongdoing

and you don't feel guilty because of

killing

one of the things that happens and this

happens fairly often with people that

come and practice with me

is they

have been killing beings for a while

and they have very much fear arising in

their mind

so i have to give them special kinds of

meditation to overcome the fear

one of the things i tell them to do

is i tell them to go

buy

animals that are going to be killed

and then take those live animals and let

them go free

the gift of life is very very powerful

in malaysia

they have

uh

when you go to the butcher they have

live chickens

and there was a lady that she had guilty

feeling for killing beings

so i told her to buy an animal that was

going to be killed and let it go free

she went to the butcher

and

she bought two chickens

but not let the butcher kill the

chickens

and they tied the feet together and gave

them to her

now

these chickens even though they're just

dumb little birds they see

that any time the butcher comes and

takes one of them out that he kills them

so they have a lot of fear in their mind

and then it's their turn

now this chicken knows that it's going

to be killed

but instead of being killed they just

tie his feet up

and then they take the chickens out to

the forest

untie the feet and let them go free

what happens in the chicken's mind

the chicken knows that it's going to be

killed

and has a lot of fear and dislike of

that situation

now they take them out to the forest and

untie the feet and let them go free

the chicken just went from the worst day

in their life they knew they were going

to be killed

to the best day in their life because

they can live longer

now the the woman that did that

i told her when she lets them go free

she lets go of the guilty feeling

of killing those other animals that she

killed

then she went home with an exceptionally

happy mind

okay

um

foreign

he says that

you said

we should not send the loving kindness

to a dead existence right

because there is no

in

advantage

retreat that doesn't mean that you can't

send loving kindness to

family members that have died you can

but it doesn't help your meditation

during the retreat you can do that after

retreating

tradition

if

your

father died

or mother died on the anniversary of

their death

you think of them

you prepare food take it to the

monastery offer the food to the sangha

and then you share merit with your

mother or father

and

in the theravada tradition you do that

every year

now you're sending loving and kind

thoughts

to somebody that has died

and you're wishing them happiness and

you're

giving them the merit

of

the gift

so that they can be happy

and of course the monks do a little bit

of chanting and other things like that

it doesn't give you any advantage to

send loving-kindness to someone that is

not alive

during a retreat

because

it doesn't help your your mind to become

peaceful and calm

at any other time yes you can it's your

choice

okay okay

let's share some merit

may suffering ones be suffering free and

the fear struck fearless being

may the grieving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

may all beings share this merit that

we've thus acquired for the acquisition

of all kinds of happiness

may beings inhabiting space and earth

devas and nagas of mighty power share

may they long protect the buddha's

dispensation

you

okay the discourse tonight is the

greater series of questions and answers

suit of forty-three

now the reason that i'm going to be

giving this tonight is because this is

one of the deeper sutas and it's very

precise

okay thus if i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living in sawatee and

jetta's grove

kohita rose from meditation and went to

the venerable sariputta

and exchanged greetings with him

when this courteous inhabitable talk was

finished he sat down at one side and

said to the venerable sorry putta

yes

one who is unwise one who is unwise is

said friend

now you have to again remember that when

you hear the word wise or wisdom we're

talking about the links of dependent

origination and the four noble truth

uh

one does not wisely understand one does

not wisely understand friend that's why

it is said

one who is unwise

and what doesn't one wisely understand

one does not wisely understand this is

suffering

one does not wisely understand this is

the origin of suffering

one does not wisely understand this is

the cessation of suffering

one does not wisely understand this is

the way leading to the cessation of

suffering

what is the way leading to the cessation

of suffering

is

that's right

excellent

one does not wisely understand friend

that is why it is said one who is unwise

during the time of the buddha all of the

monks addressed each other as friends

right before the buddha died

that from now on

the junior monk was called friends

meaning reverend sir

is

but over the years

since the buddha

passed away

the monks just call each other bante

that's it

uh

my

my name is actually vimala ramsey

what is the meaning of

uh that's

when i first got the name

the name i originally was given was

allah

m

another monk that was my teacher decided

that

he wanted to have some say in my name so

he gave me

ramsay

ramsay is like uh

like the glowing of the sun or when the

sun goes through the clouds and it has

that radiant sunlight coming through

that's

uh ram

so if you put my name together

technically it means

pure radiance

i don't know if i live up to that name

but

that doesn't

delighted and rejoiced in the venerable

sariputa's

words then he asked a further question

one who is wise one who is wise is said

friend

chirons

ramirez

with reference to what is this said one

who is wise

one wisely understands one wisely

understands

one wisely understands this is the

cessation of suffering

one wisely understands this is the way

leading to the cessation of suffering

one wisely understands one wisely

understands friend that's why it is said

one who is wise

consciousness is said friend with

reference to what is consciousness

it cognizes friend that's why

consciousness

in english we have a word that we use a

lot

recognize

comes from your memory

you see this flower your mind says this

flower is a rose

the reason you reckon you see this as a

rose

is because

you've seen roses before

so you recognize

because

recognizing

we're talking about in the present

moment

you see something arise

there is a cognizant

recognize

somebody

it cognizes this is pleasant

it cognizes this is painful

it cognizes this is neither painful nor

pleasant

it cognizes it cognizes friend that's

why consciousness is

are these states conjoined or disjointed

and is it possible to separate each of

these states from the other in order to

describe the difference between them

young

wisdom and consciousness friend these

states are conjoined

not this joint

and it is impossible to separate each of

these three states from the other in

order to describe the difference between

them

listening

that one wisely understands

so now you get the idea that we're

talking about

very

fine states of mind

that have the lengths of dependent

origination and you're able to recognize

feeling

is so when feeling arises

your mind cognizes that in the present

moment

because

and it is able to

see it as a link of dependent

origination

young

that is why these states are conjoined

not disjoined

in and it is impossible to separate each

of these states from the other in order

to describe the difference between them

yes

what is the difference

friend between wisdom and consciousness

these states that are conjoined not

disjointed just disjoined

the difference

between wisdom and consciousness

these states that are conjoined not

disjoined

in

is this

wisdom is to be developed

and consciousness is to be fully

understood

wisdom is to be developed how do you

develop wisdom

by seeing the links of dependent

origination and seeing how they arise

so

you see each of these links and you

understand what they are

young

feeling feeling is said friend

with reference to what is feeling said

it feels it feels friend

that is why feeling is said

what does it feel

like

it feels it feels friend

that is why feeling is said

it doesn't say who feels

that's all

perception is something that's not

really well understood in the buddhist

world

perception is the part of the mind

that

puts names on things

uh

perception

is the part of your mind

that

put the name on this and it is the start

of

concepts

uh

okay

you say what's the concept

of

is it the brakes

is it the tire

concepts are ideas that

make up

are a lot of little tiny things

put together to make up

car

we only think in concepts

let's say we take a word like

pain

uh

it's made up of a lot of different

little things

that when you put them together we call

it paint

perception is

making that concept so that you can

communicate

with

me

so how can we talk about

something like nibana

iran

there are no concepts in hibana

how can you talk about something that

has no concepts

with concepts

can you

and then you hear somebody has had that

experience and you go to them and you

say what was that like how did it what

happened

they can't answer

them

because they experienced

a realm that has no concepts in it

there are no conditions

how can you talk about something that

has no conditions in a conditioned world

okay

now we'll go back to the word

perception

yeah

it perceives

it perceives friend that's why

perception is said

what does it perceive

it perceives white

try to describe these colors to someone

that has been blind since birth

impossible

now this also has memory in it

okay

it perceives it perceives friend that's

why perception is said

feeling

perception

and consciousness friend

are these states conjoined or disjoint

and is it possible to separate each of

these states from the others

in order to describe the difference

between them

feeling perception and consciousness

friends

these states are conjoined

not disjoint

and it's impossible to separate each of

these states from the others

in order to describe the difference

between them

is

for what one feels

and what one perceives

that one

cognizes

now

we have this thing called the five

aggregates

and consciousness

but these three

things feeling perception and

consciousness can't be separated

so these five aggregates are actually

three aggregates

okay

that is why these states are conjoined

not disjoined and it is impossible to

separate each of these states from the

others in order to describe the

section that says knowable by mind alone

what can be

known by purified mind consciousness

mind consciousness released from the

five faculties

the base of infinite space can be known

thus

space is infinite

many of you have already experienced

this

the base of infinite consciousness can

be known thus

consciousness is infinite

what does one understand a state that

can be known

one understands a state that can be

known

with the eye of

wisdom

that's a knowing

by

r by cognizing

whatever it is that arises

when you cognize what arises in the

present moment

that means

you are seeing it

without

any

craving

now you get more and more the idea of

why i keep telling you to use the six

r's

so the state comes up and u6 are

now you cognize that state

without any interference from craving

without

taking it

personally

the eye of wisdom

is

seeing

whatever arises with a pure

mind

what's the cause of suffering

there only

craving

what is the way leading to the cessation

of suffering

very good

so you see how this is all

interconnected

and when you see

something without craving you're seeing

it

as it actually is

and you're seeing the three

characteristics of all existence

of

and just the fact that it arose

is a form of suffering

and when you practice the six hours

you

are seeing the impersonal

nature of whatever it is that arose

the other half of the six r's is

bringing up something wholesome

and staying with it

this is very

very important that you smile as much as

you can

why

because

your mind is wholesome

your mind is

lighter

so your mind is very pure

your mind is very clean

because you let go of the craving

now

i practiced meditation for

38 years

uh

for 20 years i was taught

to

watch something that came up when it

pulled my attention to it and stay with

it until it went away

and then go back to my object my primary

object of meditation

is

i wasn't relaxing and letting go of the

craving

so i kept bringing the craving back to

my primary object of meditation

no

why don't we go

what

this

one small

little tiny step

of relaxing that tension and tightness

and letting it go

changes

the entire meditation

right now

in buddhism

all over the world

there are many people practicing

not letting go of cravings

they are not even recognizing

what craving truly is

now

you have started a meditation retreat

six days ago

look at the progress that you have made

in six days

some of you

have practiced meditation with other

teachers how fast was your progression

sometimes it takes years to be able to

experience what you have

in six days

foreign

if you can remember

these two things

i don't care what kind of meditation

you're doing

if you use these two things smiling and

relaxing

your meditation will be successful

foreign

when

you describe the dhamma that the buddha

taught

one of the words is in pali it's a

kaliko

uh

immediately effective

when you let go of that tightness in

your mind you see it's immediately

effective

there's just this clean mind that you

bring back to your object of meditation

i used one sentence

to describe what this meditation really

is

when you smile

and you laugh

the meditation is fun

because you're progressing and you see

and you understand

how

mind and body actually work

the biggest problem i have in teaching

people

is trying to convince them that this is

easy

uh

everybody thinks that meditation is

and some people even complain when i

tell them they have to smile

but after a short period of time

everybody starts smiling and they start

feeling good

because they're doing the practice that

the buddha taught

on this retreat

i can't really predict because it's all

up to you

more

if you remember to follow the

instructions just like i give you just

like the buddha gives you

you will be successful you

oh i know korean men are never supposed

to smile you're supposed to be stoic

but

you can be

have

no smile

but you also don't have very fast

progress because you don't smile

you don't have fast progress

in general

and the more you do smile

the more you start practicing

giving that smile away to other people

i had a talk with a doctor

dr lee

and he was telling me that koreans don't

smile in public

because

if you see me smile

you think what's wrong with that person

he's crazy

you have to remember that a smile

is

showing your inner happiness

about two years ago

someone made a youtube

this man walked onto a train

and a lot of people were riding in the

train going to work or coming

this man started smiling

before long everybody in that car

started smiling and they started

laughing

so he was an example of

giving happiness to other people without

saying anything to them

we have a tendency to get too serious

and when we forget to smile

our mind has craving in it

smile and relax

meditation is not just

about

sitting

the buddha repeats this over and over

again

that is not only giving material things

but

smiling and giving your smile away

cruz

and saying things that make people

happy

sometimes at the center people start

arguing with each other

i've trained them enough

that they come and they talk to me while

they're fighting

they come into my cootie and they are

angry

then instead of talk talk talk talk talk

and being angry

then they start lowering their voice

they stop yelling at each other and they

start discussing what the

then they start laughing with each other

now they say well i've got this work to

do i've got to go do it thanks ponte

and

the more you can smile and put loving

and kind thoughts

with the people around you

the more you affect the world in a

positive way

throw

this is the strongest power that i know

of in the entire universe

it is so powerful it can take someone

that's angry and make them happy

okay

so

when we practice wisdoms i

we are

seeing things as they truly are

without any distraction

uh chris

the purpose of wisdom friend is direct

knowledge

its purpose is full understanding

its purpose is abandoning

that's what happens when you use the six

arcs you abandon

i am that

and you see

this is only these things are rising and

passing away that's all

how many conditions are there for the

arising of right view

friend there are two conditions for the

arising of right view

it's not me it has nothing to do with me

i wouldn't know this

if the buddha hadn't shown us

these are the two conditions for the

how many factors is right view assisted

when it has deliverance of mind for its

uh

path and deliverance of mind for its

fruition

when it has deliverance by wisdom for

its path

and deliverance by wisdom for its path

and fruition

right view is assisted by five factors

when it has deliverance of mind for its

path

and deliverance of mind for its path and

fruition

when it has deliverance by wisdom for

its path

and deliverance by wisdom for its path

and fruition

young

right view is assisted by virtue

the first part is practicing your

generosity

the second part is taking and keeping

the five precepts without ever

i had one student in malaysia that she

kept the five precepts very very closely

for many years

so i gave her the instructions in the

meditation and she started doing it

after she ate lunch i came to her and i

said how is your meditation going

she said the meditation is very good but

i can only sit for 45 minutes

so naturally i said why don't you sit

longer

she said

my whole life i've been sitting in

chairs and when i have to sit on the

floor my legs hurt so bad after 45

her next sitting was

four hours

and she experienced jhana in

the first time she ever really tried to

do it

chris

when you keep the precepts very well

over a period of time your mind

naturally

becomes more tranquil

anytime you break a precept

you feel guilty for breaking the precept

and that affects the meditation

i have one student that i've been

teaching for 30 years

every time he comes to do a two-week

retreat

he has

a lot of things

a lot of hindrances arising

because of those actions

uh

one or two days before the retreat is

over his mind starts to settle down

um

i've told him over and over and over and

over again that

he has to stop doing that if he wants

progress in his meditation

but he does what he

wants so every time he comes for a

meditation retreat

he can expect the same thing every time

lots of hindrances lots of problems with

the meditation

because

okay all of those days before he spent

re-purifying his mind

now sometimes people ask me

how about white lies they're just little

lies

when you say something you know is not

true your mind very quietly says

i shouldn't have said that

um

so the

precepts and the hindrances are very

close together

okay

so right view is assisted by virtu

discussion

right view is assisted by these five

factors

as deliverance of mine for its path

deliverance of mind for its path and

fruition

it has deliverance by wisdom for its

path and deliverance by wisdom for its

path and fruition

uh

how many kinds of beings are there

sphere

that means

uh for us human life

which is in the sense sphere um

that means being reborn in the

immaterial realm

now

if you have

one experience of being in a jhana

uh

and you never practice meditation again

for the rest of your life

that the last moment before you die you

will remember that

and be reborn in a brahman

where

and if you don't go any further

you will be reborn in a heavenly realm

that lasts for five hundred maha kappas

against

is

the expansion of the universe and

contraction of the universe

you have one experience

of

infinite space

uh

that experience is so strong

that if you don't ever go any higher in

this life

and you die you will be reborn

in

an arupa

loka

your

if you experience

infinite

consciousness

and die you will be reborn in a

if you experience the realm of

nothingness and you die then you will be

reborn in a

arupa

a rupa loka that lasts for

sixty thousand maha kappas you're gonna

if you experience neither perception nor

non-perception

and you die

you will

be in that uh brahmaloka for 84 000 maha

kappas

uh

now think about your experience that

you've had in these last six days

almost everyone here

has experienced the fourth genre

a lot have experienced

the compassion with infinite space

fewer still but still quite a lot have

experienced infinite consciousness

the couple have experienced neither

perception or non-perception

do you see how powerful what i'm showing

you is

i am helping you all

to have a happy existence for a very

long period of time

and maybe some of you will experience

we still have some days left

friend how is renewal of being

in uh in the future generated

friend renewal of being in the future is

generated through delight in this and

that

on the part of beings

who are hindered by ignorance

and fettered by

craving

for your

so these two things cause you to keep

being reborn

ignorance of how the four noble truths

actually work

with the arising of true knowledge

and with the cessation of cravings

renewal of being in the future is not

generated

okay i'm gonna i'm gonna

let go of this uh first jhana

and we'll get to the five faculties okay

it's number 21. yeah

these five faculties each have a

separate field a separate domain and do

not experience each other's field and

domain

the nose faculty the tongue faculty and

the body faculty

so what this is saying is

the tongue cannot hear

and the ear cannot smell

each one has its own separate function

now these five factors each having a

separate field and a separate domain

not experiencing each other's field and

domain

what is their resort

what

what experiences their fields and domain

these five faculties each have a

separate field and a separate domain and

do not experience each other's field and

domain

year faculty knows faculty tongue

faculty and body faculty

now these five faculties each having a

separate field a separate domain not

experiencing each other's field and

domain

have mind as their resort

and mind experiences their fields and

domains

you

friend as to these five faculties that

is the eye ear nose tongue and body

faculty

what do these five faculties stand

independence on

board

friend as to these five faculties that

is the eye ear nose tongue and body

faculty

these five faculties stand independence

on vitality

either um

friend what does vitality stand

independence on

you

vitality stands independent

just now friend we understood the

venerable sorry

to have said vitality stands

independence

how should the meaning of these

statements be regarded

in that case friend i shall give you a

simile for some wise men here understand

the meaning

of a statement by means of assembly

um

just as when an oil lamp is burning

its radiance is seen independence on its

flame

and its flame is seen in dependence on

its radiance

the flame

will be radiant it will give light out

it depends on that flame

in order to give light

so they depend on each other in order to

function

together

so to vitality stands independence on

heat and heat stands independence on

vitality

friend our vital formations things that

can be felt or are vital formations one

thing and things that can be felt

another

push

vital formations friends

are not things that can be felt

if vital formations were things that can

be felt

who has entered upon

the cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

because vital formations are one thing

a monk who has entered upon the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

can be seen to emerge from it

when you have the experience of the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

it's just like somebody turned out the

lights there's nothing

much

you don't see anything you don't

perceive anything there is no

consciousness to recognize it

but

a monk can go into that state and still

come out of that state

now one of the things i ask you to do at

the start of the retreat was when you go

to bed

i want you to make two determinations

before

going to sleep

and i also said

i want you to make the determination

to wake up smiling and happy

watching

now these two determinations are

important

because later in the practice when you

get to be able to experience the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

you need to be able to make a

determination that you're going to be in

that state for this period of time

to the second you will get out of that

state when what whatever you've

determined

we'll get into that in just a minute

again

friend when this body is bereaved of how

many states is it then discarded

forsaken left lying senseless like a log

friend when this body is bereaved

it is then discarded and forsaken

left lying like a senseless log

friend what is the difference between

one who is dead

who has completed his time

and a monk who has entered upon the

cessation

of perception feeling and consciousness

friend in the case of one who is dead

who has completed his time

his bodily formations have ceased and

subsided

his verbal formations have ceased and

subsided

his mental formations have ceased and

subsided

his vitality is exhausted

his heat has dissipated

and his faculties are fully broken up

in the case of a monk who has entered

upon the cessation

of perception feeling and consciousness

his bodily formations have ceased and

subsided

his verbal formations have ceased and

subsided

as mental formations have ceased and

subsided

but his vitality is not exhausted

his heat has not been dissipated

and his faculties become exceptionally

clear

if you happen to run across anyone that

has just come out of that state it is

good to give them a gift

it will come back to you many many times

even something as simple as a glass of

water

this is the difference between one who

is dead who has completed his time

and

and a monk who has entered upon the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

friend how many conditions are there for

the attainment of neither painful nor

pleasant deliverance of mind

friend there are four conditions for the

attainment of the neither painful nor

pleasant deliverance of mind

here with the abandoning of pleasure and

pain

and with the previous disappearance of

joy and grief

a person enters upon and abides in the

fourth genre

which has neither pain nor pleasure and

purity of mindfulness due to equanimity

these are the four conditions for the

attainment of neither painful nor

pleasant deliverance of mind

friend how many conditions are there for

the attainment of the signless

deliverance of mind

friend there are two conditions for the

attainment of the signless deliverance

of mind

non-attention to all

that is the cessation of perception

feeling and consciousness

you don't know you're in that state

why

because there's no feeling perception or

consciousness

only when you get out of that state do

you recognize that you were in that

state

these are the two conditions for the

attainment of the signless deliverance

of mind

friend how many conditions are there for

the persistence of the signless

deliverance of mind

friend there are three conditions for

the persistence of the signless

deliverance of mind

non-attention to all signs

and the prior

determination of its duration

so what i've done by getting you to

start making determinations

is

at different times you will use that for

uh learning

mastery

of going in and out of the dramas

so you make a determination i'm gonna

sit in the jhana for

three hours

15 minutes and 12 seconds

and exactly to the second that's when

you get out of the channel

you can have mastery of going in and out

of any

genre

just takes practice

what's the advantage of doing that

you're with somebody that's sad

you get into the second genre you have

joy and radiate that joy to that person

and then they get happy

the buddha was so skillful

that he could go in and out of any jhana

in between the words that he spoke

these are the three conditions for the

persistence of the signless deliverance

of mind

friend how many conditions are there for

the emergence from the signless

deliverance of mine

friend there are two conditions for

emergence from the signless deliverance

of mind

attention to all signs

and not attention to the silence element

these are the two conditions for the

emergence from the signless deliverance

of mind

i've been talking for a real long time

so i'm going to stop with this now

do you have any questions

yes

secession of perception and feeling and

sleep

um

sleeping occurs for anybody

but only getting into the cessation of

perception

feeling and consciousness occurs for

people who have

uh developed their mindfulness

if you went to sleep and you came back

out of the sleep

and you would be

really really really radiant like you

see some of the buddha images that have

the glow around him

that would be extraordinary

most people go to sleep and when they

wake up

they stumble over things and they

bump into things and it takes a while to

wake up

but when you get out of the cessation of

perception feeling in consciousness you

are very alert you're very awake and

your mind is

exceptionally

pure

sometimes when i walk in here in the

morning and i see you meditating

your faces are starting to get that glow

like the what's described for the buddha

and one of the advantages of doing the

loving kindness meditation i wish i

could bottle it and sell it

is that it makes your face

very beautiful

very radiant very alive

and

women especially

they start looking younger and younger

because all of the

the wrinkles and that sort of thing that

just fades away

see if i could put that in a bottle i

would be a millionaire monkey

anybody else

about five presets when

housewives prepare food

at home

they have to use many uh fish alive

and they have to

kill

i would suggest you learn other forms of

making a meal

okay in order to kill there are five

things that have to take place

the being has to be alive

there has to be intention to kill the

being

let's say it this way there is a weapon

and you use the weapon

and the being dies

now if you go into a store

and you see a piece of

or fish laid out that's not alive

is there any wrongdoing

did you have intention on killing that

fish

did you take a weapon and use the weapon

and have the being die

so

you're not

you are not responsible for the death of

that

that fish

so there is no wrongdoing

and you don't feel guilty because of

killing

one of the things that happens and this

happens fairly often with people that

come and practice with me

is they

have been killing beings for a while

and they have very much fear arising in

their mind

so i have to give them special kinds of

meditation to overcome the fear

one of the things i tell them to do

is i tell them to go

buy

animals that are going to be killed

and then take those live animals and let

them go free

the gift of life is very very powerful

in malaysia

they have

uh

when you go to the butcher they have

live chickens

and there was a lady that she had guilty

feeling for killing beings

so i told her to buy an animal that was

going to be killed and let it go free

she went to the butcher

and

she bought two chickens

but not let the butcher kill the

chickens

and they tied the feet together and gave

them to her

now

these chickens even though they're just

dumb little birds they see

that any time the butcher comes and

takes one of them out that he kills them

so they have a lot of fear in their mind

and then it's their turn

now this chicken knows that it's going

to be killed

but instead of being killed they just

tie his feet up

and then they take the chickens out to

the forest

untie the feet and let them go free

what happens in the chicken's mind

the chicken knows that it's going to be

killed

and has a lot of fear and dislike of

that situation

now they take them out to the forest and

untie the feet and let them go free

the chicken just went from the worst day

in their life they knew they were going

to be killed

to the best day in their life because

they can live longer

now the the woman that did that

i told her when she lets them go free

she lets go of the guilty feeling

of killing those other animals that she

killed

then she went home with an exceptionally

happy mind

okay

um

foreign

he says that

you said

we should not send the loving kindness

to a dead existence right

because there is no

in

advantage

retreat that doesn't mean that you can't

send loving kindness to

family members that have died you can

but it doesn't help your meditation

during the retreat you can do that after

retreating

tradition

if

your

father died

or mother died on the anniversary of

their death

you think of them

you prepare food take it to the

monastery offer the food to the sangha

and then you share merit with your

mother or father

and

in the theravada tradition you do that

every year

now you're sending loving and kind

thoughts

to somebody that has died

and you're wishing them happiness and

you're

giving them the merit

of

the gift

so that they can be happy

and of course the monks do a little bit

of chanting and other things like that

it doesn't give you any advantage to

send loving-kindness to someone that is

not alive

during a retreat

because

it doesn't help your your mind to become

peaceful and calm

at any other time yes you can it's your

choice

okay okay

let's share some merit

may suffering ones be suffering free and

the fear struck fearless being

may the grieving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

may all beings share this merit that

we've thus acquired for the acquisition

of all kinds of happiness

may beings inhabiting space and earth

devas and nagas of mighty power share

may they long protect the buddha's

dispensation

you