From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=wpJbh5SpENo

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

okay

this is a suta that i gave last retreat

on the shorter

series of questions and answers

um

thus if i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living at raja gaha in

the bamboo grove the squirrel sanctuary

and after paying homage to her sat down

at one side and asked her

medina was uh

awarded

the title of foremost in wisdom

and being able to

to preach

lady identity identity is said what is

called identity by the blessed one

friendly soccer these five aggregates

affected by craving and clinging are

called identity by the blessed one

the feeling aggregate affected by

craving and cleaning

the perception aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

the consciousness aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

these five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging are called identity

by the blessed one

saying good lady the lay follower of

isaka delighted and rejoiced in the

bhikkhuni damadina's words

origin of identity origin of identity is

said

what is called the origin of identity by

the blessed one

which brings renewal of being and is

accompanied by delight and lust

that is craving for sensual pleasures

craving for habitual tendencies and

craving for non-being

this is called the origin of identity by

the blessed one

ladies cessation of identity cessation

of identity is said what is called the

cessation of identity by the blessed one

friend

it is the remainderless fading away and

ceasing

the giving up relinquishing letting go

and rejecting of that same cravings

craving

what happens when you use the six r's

six others

cravings

this is called the cessation of identity

by the blessed

one this is real interesting because

craving is the start

of the false belief of i am

but clinging is where your false

identity starts to take on

bigger form

because you start identifying with your

thoughts and opinions and ideas and your

stories

so it's important to remember to use

your six hours so you can let go of that

craving and that stops a lot of

suffering

the way leading to the cessation of

identity the way leading to the

cessation of identity what is called the

way leading to the cessation of identity

by the blessed ones

now i change a lot of the words of the

eightfold path so it's a little easier

to understand

one of the things in english when they

say the eightfold path they always start

out with the word right

and i like

to use the word harmonious instead

so the first fold of the eightfold path

is harmonious perspective

it is the result of using the 6rs

in other words

the unharmonious past is the one where

you are identifying with it personally

and the harmonious path

is

seeing that everything that arises is

impersonal

so whenever you're using this the

uh six r's

you are observing

harmonious perspective

the next part of the eightfold path

they call it right

thinking

is

if you believe that you're prosperous

then

you become prosperous

and my family

doesn't know how i do it

they keep on asking me where i get my

money and i tell them i don't have any

money this

but people think enough of me that they

invite me to different places

i just got through building

a dining hall and a kitchen and a

library and it cost two hundred and

fifty thousand dollars

how can i build that i don't have any

money

but i'm prosperous

see it's the idea that you hold about

yourself

so you

one of the

things in

uh suta number 19 in the middle link

and ponder upon

that's the inclination of your mind

now what i've been trying to show you in

this retreat is

think

and ponder on

being happy

so the more you think and ponder on

loving kindness

the more loving kindness comes up for

you and the more your mind

tends towards

in other words you're holding an image

of being

so you are

we

are in the

final stages of building our meditation

center

okay

and that's costing about two hundred

thousand dollars

how can we do that

we're just poor monks

so what kind of an image do you hold

that you want to see happen

you hold an image of being happy

then you will be happy

you hold an image of being prosperous

you will be prosperous

you know right now

there's all kinds of financial problems

that are happening especially in america

a lot of people losing their jobs

and they're all holding the image of

being poor now

they haven't learned how to

image being prosperous

you can't

think you're going to be prosperous you

have to know that you are prosperous

so the more you hold that image

and the longer you hold that image

the faster the universe makes it sound

why do you think i tell you i want you

to smile all the time

so you won't get depressed

so your mind stays happy all the time

i do understand how the world works

and there are times when things are very

difficult

it's your choice do you want to focus on

the difficult things you don't like or

do you want to focus on the way you want

things to be

what

you think and ponder on smiling happy

thoughts

or you can

think all kinds of negative thoughts and

that's the kind of results

look at how many friends i have here

isn't that being prosperous

what do you want in your life

you want to be prosperous and have a lot

of friends

know that you're prosperous and you will

have a lot of friends

a lot of the korean men that i've met

hold an image

of

not being happy

but when you start thinking

happy thoughts

that image starts to change

except for some of them

one of the things was with having the

harmonious imaging power

uh

and when life is more fun

then

you really

become more

efficient

with what you're

so the harmonious imaging is a real

important aspect of the eightfold path

that most people don't really talk about

they don't really know

and

for some people it's really hard work

to change the image in their mind

because of their

craving and attachments

here

you can have a difficult time or you can

have a fun time

your choice

when you have a fun time then other

people around you start to loosen up and

they start having fun too

um

okay the next part of the eightfold path

is called right speech and i call this

harmonious communication

almost

everyone

is over critical of themselves

okay modernity

you can do 25 things in a day that are

absolutely brilliant and helpful for

people around you and you really smile

and you

and then you do one thing

that your mind said oh i shouldn't have

done that that's no good

um

huh

that one thing that you did that's a

marginal thing or that 25 things

that were actually brilliant and really

nice

we have this idea in our mind that we're

supposed to be perfect all the time

and when we don't meet our expectations

we

what kind of an image do you hold of

yourself when you're grumpy

what kind of communication do you have

with yourself when you make a mistake

harmonious communication mostly means

harmonious communication with yourself

you start recognizing when you're hard

on yourself

and start letting that go and send

loving and kind thoughts to yourself or

forgive yourself

and you'll find out that you're actually

pretty nice personally

one of the things that the buddha said

that was very

anyone that truly loves themself will

never harm another

what does that mean

harmonious communication not only with

yourself but everybody else

okay the next part of the eightfold path

is called

right action i call it harmonious

movement

uh

the harmonious movement is learning how

to back away and not try so hard

okay the next part of the eightfold path

is called right livelihood

i call it harmonious lifestyle

you read the newspapers

you watch television

what kind of things are you putting in

front of your mind

in america i have a recommendation for

people that watch tv

it's called a brick

rick

just just say brick

put it through the television so you

don't see it anymore

there's we can't get

television reception and we barely get

radio reception

so we don't have to we don't get to

watch it isn't that wonderful we have

more time to do other things

and we don't need an evening meal so we

have even more time to do things

i know that you won't do that here but

that's okay

so harmonious lifestyle what are you

putting in front of your mind

whatev whatever you put in front of your

mind then you start thinking about it

oh the state of the world is all

crumbling

i should worry about that

have you ever known worry

change anything or make it better

where does fear come from where does

worry come from

the things we put in front of

i us this story last retreat so you have

to bear with me

there was a woman in malaysia that came

to me and she complained about having

nightmares

and i said why do you have nightmares

she said i don't know but it seems like

every time i go to the movies

i come home and i have nightmares

oh i like

but she said i like scary movies

you put kind loving things in front of

your mind

your mind tends to be kind and lovingly

the next part of the eightfold path they

call it right effort i call it

harmonious practice

what is harmonious practices

ah

six hearts

doesn't that put your mind into balance

it don't you feel harmonious when you

use the six r's

remember you can take the six hours with

you

wherever you go

and what helps you to remember to use

the six r's

very good smile

you see how this is all interconnected

now this doesn't mean that when you get

out into your daily life that you won't

have some emotional things come up

but when you remember to six are then

those emotional problems seem to fade

away much faster

okay the next part of the eightfold path

they call it right mindfulness

i call it harmonious observation

uh

remember to observe how mind's attention

the whole time that you've been

meditating you've been seeing movement

and you're being mindful of it and

and smaller and smaller until it's just

and eventually you get to a mine that's

just brilliantly clear

without disturbance

and

so

mindfulness

or your harmonious observation is a

major part of this practice

harmonious perspective is a major part

of your practice

now the last part of the eight-fold path

is they call it right concentration but

i call it harmonious

collectedness

when your mind

becomes

calm still

composed but alert

every time you use the six r's you are

following the entire

eightfold path

six hours

every time

you smile

you're following the eightfold path

so

this is the way leading to the cessation

of suffering

okay lady is that clinging the same as

these five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging

or is this clinging something apart from

the five aggregates affected by craving

and clinging

foreign

craving

is neither the same as these five

aggregates affected by craving and

clinging

nor is it

is clinging something apart

from these five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging

it is the desire and lust in regard to

these five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging

that is the clinging here

anytime any of the aggregates are

affected by your thinking

identity view

lady how does identity view come to be

here friend visaka an untaught ordinary

person

who has no regard for noble ones and is

unskilled and undisciplined in their

dharma

who has no regard for true men and is

unskilled and undisciplined in their

dharma

all of these are talking about your

personal belief in a self i am that

this feeling is me this

it's an interesting thing when feeling

arises did you ask it to come up

did you say to yourself i haven't had a

pain for a while i might as well have it

come up now

um

no

why

because it isn't yours it just comes up

when the conditions

are right for it to come up

you get up in the middle of the night to

go to the bathroom and you stub your toe

did you ask that pain to arise

it arose because the conditions were

right for that painful feeling to arise

is that your feeling

but actually it's only a feeling

it's a painful feeling for sure

what happens when a painful feeling

arises

like stubbing your toe

what is your mind

your mind has a tendency to curse a

little bit and get angry

right

but when your mindfulness is good

you say ah that's a painful feeling and

you six are and then you start sending

loving kindness into that feeling

when you change from an unwholesome

object

to a wholesome object

mind tends to become

more in balance and in harmony with the

way things actually are

in

in balance not in balance

so

when you start sending loving and kind

thoughts to that sore toe

what happens

before long

it doesn't hurt so much

and after that you kind of forget that

you did it

so then you go take care of your

business whatever you're doing

see this is a scientific fact

that

if you hold

anger

aversion dislike

of a painful feeling that painful

feeling gets bigger and more intense

now what actually happens when a painful

feeling arises

and when that happens you have a gland

in the middle of your head called the

pineal gland

and that gland has

a painkiller in it

called endorphins

it's about 10 times stronger than

morphine

so when you jump around and you're angry

and that tightness happens in your head

that stops the endorphins from coming

into your body

the pain last for a lot longer

so you can walk around limping for a few

days

but

when you notice that painful feeling and

start putting loving kindness and the

six

the tightness in your head relaxes

the endorphins

are released into your body and the

painkiller helps the pain to subside

there is a

china endorphin

oxygen

so

your choice what do you want to do when

a painful feeling arises in your body

you want to get mad at it you want your

anger to come up and your

dissatisfaction

and cause yourself more pain

or do you want that pain to go away more

quickly by loving it

foreign

forgot what i was going to say next

it's your choice

oh that's right it is your choice

you can make yourself suffer

or not

now when you practice this one simple

thing

of sending loving and kind thoughts into

a painful thing in your body

when a big painful thing happens

it won't be such a shock and you'll know

what to

so you're using the eightfold path

you can carry this with you all the time

the trick is remembering to do it

and if you do that with a little pain

then when a big pain comes you'll

remember

okay

so we're gonna

we've already covered that one we're

going to eight

lady how does identity view

not come to be

here friendsaka a well-taught noble

disciple who has regard for noble ones

and is skilled and disciplined

and is skilled and disciplined in their

dharma

in other words you see everything as it

actually is

last night

venerable was reading to you about the 6

sets of 6.

and there was a long section about this

is not me this i am not this is

not myself

anytime you take anything personally if

it's a feeling if it's an emotion

if it's a thought

you are not seeing it properly

when you have good balance in your mind

you see that everything is impersonal

that's the beautiful thing about

dependent origination

that's the way things really are

okay let's go down

okay let's go to 10 now

lady is the noble eightfold path

conditioned or unconditioned

are the three aggregates included in the

noble eightfold path

or is the noble eightfold path included

by the three aggregates

the three aggregates are not included in

the noble aid full path friendly

but the noble eightfold path is included

by the three aggregates

harmonious communication harmonious

movement harmonious lifestyle

these states are included in the

aggregate of virtue

harmonious practice harmonious

observation and harmonious collectedness

these states are included in the

aggregate of collectedness

harmonious perspective and harmonious

imaging

what is the development of collectedness

unification of mine friend visaka is

collectedness

the four foundations of mindfulness are

the basis of collectedness

the six ours are the equipment of

collectedness

the repetition development and

cultivation of these same states is the

development

you have to use the six hours a lot

that's what the repetition is all about

okay

lady how many formations are there

there are these three formations

the bodily formation the verbal

formation and the mental formation

what is the bodily formation what is the

verbal formation

what is the mental formation

breathing in and breathing out friend

visaka are the bodily formation

perception feeling and consciousness are

the mental formation

but lady why are in breathing and out

breathing the bodily formation

why our thinking and examining thought

the verbal formation

in breathing and not breathing or bodily

tradition

these states are bound up with the body

that is why in breathing and out

breathing are the bodily formation

first one thinks

and examines and subsequently

one breaks out into speech

that is why thinking and examining

thought are verbal formations

perception feeling and consciousness are

mentally

that is why perception feeling and

consciousness are the mental formation

lady how does the attainment of the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness come to be

when a monk is attaining the cessation

of perception feeling in consciousness

i shall attain the cessation of

perception feeling in consciousness

or i am attaining the cessation of

perception feeling in consciousness

or i have attained the cessation of

perception feeling and consciousness

but rather his mind has previously been

developed in such a way that it leads

him to that statement

lady when a monk is attaining the

cessation of perception feeling in

consciousness

which states cease in him first

the bodily formation the verbal

formation or the mental formation

when a monk is attaining the cessation

of perception feeling in consciousness

how does emergence from the attainment

of the cessation of perception feeling

and consciousness

come to be

of perception feeling and consciousness

it does not occur to him i shall emerge

from that attainment of cessation of

perception feeling in consciousness

or i am emerging from the attainment of

the cessation

or i have emerged from the attainment of

the cessation of perception feeling in

consciousness

now before we go too much further

when you get to the cessation of

perception feeling and consciousness for

the first time

you will go into it and come out of it

without having to make a determination

it will just happen automatically

who can go into this state whenever they

want

so in the lower stages of awakening it

happens by itself

and in the higher stages they have

enough control

that they can determine how long they

can stay in and when to come out

but rather his mind has previously been

developed in such a way

that it leads him to that statement

lady when a monk is emerging from the

attainment of the cessation of

perception feeling in consciousness

is emerging from the attainment of the

cessation

of perception feeling and consciousness

first the mental formation arises then

the bodily formation then the verbal

formation

when a monk has emerged from the

attainment of the cessation of

perception feeling and consciousness

when a monk has emerged from the

attainment of the cessation of

perception feeling in consciousness

three kinds of contact

has emerged from the attainment of the

cessation of perception feeling in

consciousness

visakha when a monk

has emerged from the attainment of the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

occlusion

painful feeling and neither pleasant or

painful feeling

but lady what is pleasant feeling what

is painful feeling what is neither

painful nor pleasant feeling

whatever is felt bodily

or mentally as pleasant and soothing is

pleasant feeling

whatever is felt bodily or mentally

as painful and hurting is a painful

feeling

whatever is felt bodily or mentally as

neither soothing nor hurting

is neither painful nor pleasant feeling

what is pleasant and what is painful in

regard to pleasant feelings

what is painful and what is pleasant in

regard to painful feeling

what is pleasant and what is painful in

regard to neither painful nor pleasant

feeling

pleasant feeling is pleasant when it

persists and painful when it changes

painful feeling

is painful when it persists and pleasant

when it changes

neither painful nor pleasant feeling is

pleasant

when there is knowledge of it

and painful when there is no knowledge

what underlying tendency underlies

pleasant feeling

what underlying

tendency underlies painful feeling

what underlying tendency underlies

neither painful nor pleasant feeling

the underlying tendency to last under

lies pleasant feelings

the underlying tendency to aversion

underlies painful feeling

the underlying tendency to ignorance

underlies neither painful nor pleasant

feeling

lady does the underlying tendency to

lust underlie all pleasant

does the underlying tendency to aversion

underlie all painful feelings

does the underlying tendency to

ignorance underlie all neither painful

or pleasant feeling

the underlying tendency to lust does not

underlie all painful pleasant feelings

the underlying tendency to aversion does

not underlie all painful feelings

underlying tendency to ignorance does

not underlie all neither painful or

pleasant feeling

what should be abandoned in regard to

painful

asaka the underlying tendency to lust

should be abandoned in regard to

pleasant feelings

the underlying tendency to aversion

should be abandoned in regards to

painful feeling

the underlying tendency to ignorance

should be abandoned in regard to neither

painful nor pleasant feeling

lady does the underlying tendency to

lust have to be abandoned

in regard to all pleasant feelings

does the underlying tendency to aversion

have to be abandoned

in regard to all painful feelings

does the underlying tendency to

ignorance have to be abandoned in regard

to all neither painful nor pleasant

feeling

visakha the underlying tendency to lust

does not have to be abandoned in regard

to all pleasant feelings

the underlying tendency to aversion

does not have to be abandoned in regard

to all painful feelings

the underlying tendency to ignorance

does not have to be abandoned in regard

to all neither painful or pleasant

feeling

quite secluded from sensual pleasures

secluded from unwholesome states

is accompanied by thinking and examining

thought

with joy and happiness born of seclusion

with that he abandons lust and the

underlying tendency to lust

does not underlie that

when shall i enter upon and abide in

that base that the noble ones now enter

upon and abide in

and one who generates a longing for

supreme liberation

grief arises

that means trying too hard right

that means

i want this to happen

or

there's a different kind of longing that

can arise

in other words if you're waiting for

something to happen you have an

expectation

and you have to give up all expectations

do you know what's going to happen in

five minutes

are you curious about what's going to

happen in five minutes

those kind of thoughts make you put too

much energy into it and you're

identifying with

you have to give up

all desire to attain it

even the littlest desire

the mind to develop is

i wonder what's going to happen next

that's what

uh suzuki roshi a zen master called the

beginner's mind

you don't know what's going to happen

next so there's no expectation

that's the mind you want to cultivate

or

you will have grief arise because your

impatience takes over

with that he abandons aversion and the

underlying tendency to aversion

here with the abandoning of pleasure and

pain with the previous with the previous

disappearance of joy and grief

a monk enters upon and abides in the

fourth jhana which has neither pain nor

pleasure and purity of mindfulness due

to equanimity

with that he abandons ignorance and the

underlying tendency to ignorance

painful feeling is the counterpart of

pleasant feeling

what is the counter part of painful

feeling

pleasant feeling is the counterpart of

painful feeling

what is the counter part of neither

painful nor pleasant feeling

what is the counterpart of ignorance

what is the counterpart of true

knowledge

you have pushed this line of questioning

too far

you are not able to grasp the limit to

questions

go to the blessed one and ask him about

the meaning of this

as the blessed one explains it to you

you should remember

then the lay follower of isakka having

delighted and rejoiced in the bhikkhuni

damadina's words

and after paying homage to her keeping

her on his right

he went to the blessed one

after paying homage to him he sat down

at one side and told the blessed one his

entire conversation

with the bhikkhuni medina

has great wisdom

if you ask me the meaning of this i

would have explained it to you in the

same way that the bhikkhuni

damadina has explained it

the lay follower of isaka was satisfied

and delighted in the blessed

i've actually run across very few women

that don't like that suit

there's

there's a lot of sutas that are given by

monks

but not not quite so many by the

bikunis

may suffering ones be suffering free and

the fear struck fearless be

may the grieving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

may all beings share this merit that we

have thus acquired

for the acquisition of all kinds of

happiness

inhabiting space and

earth devas and nagas of mighty power

share this merit of

may they ours protect the buddha's

dispensation

you

okay

this is a suta that i gave last retreat

on the shorter

series of questions and answers

um

thus if i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living at raja gaha in

the bamboo grove the squirrel sanctuary

and after paying homage to her sat down

at one side and asked her

medina was uh

awarded

the title of foremost in wisdom

and being able to

to preach

lady identity identity is said what is

called identity by the blessed one

friendly soccer these five aggregates

affected by craving and clinging are

called identity by the blessed one

the feeling aggregate affected by

craving and cleaning

the perception aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

the consciousness aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

these five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging are called identity

by the blessed one

saying good lady the lay follower of

isaka delighted and rejoiced in the

bhikkhuni damadina's words

origin of identity origin of identity is

said

what is called the origin of identity by

the blessed one

which brings renewal of being and is

accompanied by delight and lust

that is craving for sensual pleasures

craving for habitual tendencies and

craving for non-being

this is called the origin of identity by

the blessed one

ladies cessation of identity cessation

of identity is said what is called the

cessation of identity by the blessed one

friend

it is the remainderless fading away and

ceasing

the giving up relinquishing letting go

and rejecting of that same cravings

craving

what happens when you use the six r's

six others

cravings

this is called the cessation of identity

by the blessed

one this is real interesting because

craving is the start

of the false belief of i am

but clinging is where your false

identity starts to take on

bigger form

because you start identifying with your

thoughts and opinions and ideas and your

stories

so it's important to remember to use

your six hours so you can let go of that

craving and that stops a lot of

suffering

the way leading to the cessation of

identity the way leading to the

cessation of identity what is called the

way leading to the cessation of identity

by the blessed ones

now i change a lot of the words of the

eightfold path so it's a little easier

to understand

one of the things in english when they

say the eightfold path they always start

out with the word right

and i like

to use the word harmonious instead

so the first fold of the eightfold path

is harmonious perspective

it is the result of using the 6rs

in other words

the unharmonious past is the one where

you are identifying with it personally

and the harmonious path

is

seeing that everything that arises is

impersonal

so whenever you're using this the

uh six r's

you are observing

harmonious perspective

the next part of the eightfold path

they call it right

thinking

is

if you believe that you're prosperous

then

you become prosperous

and my family

doesn't know how i do it

they keep on asking me where i get my

money and i tell them i don't have any

money this

but people think enough of me that they

invite me to different places

i just got through building

a dining hall and a kitchen and a

library and it cost two hundred and

fifty thousand dollars

how can i build that i don't have any

money

but i'm prosperous

see it's the idea that you hold about

yourself

so you

one of the

things in

uh suta number 19 in the middle link

and ponder upon

that's the inclination of your mind

now what i've been trying to show you in

this retreat is

think

and ponder on

being happy

so the more you think and ponder on

loving kindness

the more loving kindness comes up for

you and the more your mind

tends towards

in other words you're holding an image

of being

so you are

we

are in the

final stages of building our meditation

center

okay

and that's costing about two hundred

thousand dollars

how can we do that

we're just poor monks

so what kind of an image do you hold

that you want to see happen

you hold an image of being happy

then you will be happy

you hold an image of being prosperous

you will be prosperous

you know right now

there's all kinds of financial problems

that are happening especially in america

a lot of people losing their jobs

and they're all holding the image of

being poor now

they haven't learned how to

image being prosperous

you can't

think you're going to be prosperous you

have to know that you are prosperous

so the more you hold that image

and the longer you hold that image

the faster the universe makes it sound

why do you think i tell you i want you

to smile all the time

so you won't get depressed

so your mind stays happy all the time

i do understand how the world works

and there are times when things are very

difficult

it's your choice do you want to focus on

the difficult things you don't like or

do you want to focus on the way you want

things to be

what

you think and ponder on smiling happy

thoughts

or you can

think all kinds of negative thoughts and

that's the kind of results

look at how many friends i have here

isn't that being prosperous

what do you want in your life

you want to be prosperous and have a lot

of friends

know that you're prosperous and you will

have a lot of friends

a lot of the korean men that i've met

hold an image

of

not being happy

but when you start thinking

happy thoughts

that image starts to change

except for some of them

one of the things was with having the

harmonious imaging power

uh

and when life is more fun

then

you really

become more

efficient

with what you're

so the harmonious imaging is a real

important aspect of the eightfold path

that most people don't really talk about

they don't really know

and

for some people it's really hard work

to change the image in their mind

because of their

craving and attachments

here

you can have a difficult time or you can

have a fun time

your choice

when you have a fun time then other

people around you start to loosen up and

they start having fun too

um

okay the next part of the eightfold path

is called right speech and i call this

harmonious communication

almost

everyone

is over critical of themselves

okay modernity

you can do 25 things in a day that are

absolutely brilliant and helpful for

people around you and you really smile

and you

and then you do one thing

that your mind said oh i shouldn't have

done that that's no good

um

huh

that one thing that you did that's a

marginal thing or that 25 things

that were actually brilliant and really

nice

we have this idea in our mind that we're

supposed to be perfect all the time

and when we don't meet our expectations

we

what kind of an image do you hold of

yourself when you're grumpy

what kind of communication do you have

with yourself when you make a mistake

harmonious communication mostly means

harmonious communication with yourself

you start recognizing when you're hard

on yourself

and start letting that go and send

loving and kind thoughts to yourself or

forgive yourself

and you'll find out that you're actually

pretty nice personally

one of the things that the buddha said

that was very

anyone that truly loves themself will

never harm another

what does that mean

harmonious communication not only with

yourself but everybody else

okay the next part of the eightfold path

is called

right action i call it harmonious

movement

uh

the harmonious movement is learning how

to back away and not try so hard

okay the next part of the eightfold path

is called right livelihood

i call it harmonious lifestyle

you read the newspapers

you watch television

what kind of things are you putting in

front of your mind

in america i have a recommendation for

people that watch tv

it's called a brick

rick

just just say brick

put it through the television so you

don't see it anymore

there's we can't get

television reception and we barely get

radio reception

so we don't have to we don't get to

watch it isn't that wonderful we have

more time to do other things

and we don't need an evening meal so we

have even more time to do things

i know that you won't do that here but

that's okay

so harmonious lifestyle what are you

putting in front of your mind

whatev whatever you put in front of your

mind then you start thinking about it

oh the state of the world is all

crumbling

i should worry about that

have you ever known worry

change anything or make it better

where does fear come from where does

worry come from

the things we put in front of

i us this story last retreat so you have

to bear with me

there was a woman in malaysia that came

to me and she complained about having

nightmares

and i said why do you have nightmares

she said i don't know but it seems like

every time i go to the movies

i come home and i have nightmares

oh i like

but she said i like scary movies

you put kind loving things in front of

your mind

your mind tends to be kind and lovingly

the next part of the eightfold path they

call it right effort i call it

harmonious practice

what is harmonious practices

ah

six hearts

doesn't that put your mind into balance

it don't you feel harmonious when you

use the six r's

remember you can take the six hours with

you

wherever you go

and what helps you to remember to use

the six r's

very good smile

you see how this is all interconnected

now this doesn't mean that when you get

out into your daily life that you won't

have some emotional things come up

but when you remember to six are then

those emotional problems seem to fade

away much faster

okay the next part of the eightfold path

they call it right mindfulness

i call it harmonious observation

uh

remember to observe how mind's attention

the whole time that you've been

meditating you've been seeing movement

and you're being mindful of it and

and smaller and smaller until it's just

and eventually you get to a mine that's

just brilliantly clear

without disturbance

and

so

mindfulness

or your harmonious observation is a

major part of this practice

harmonious perspective is a major part

of your practice

now the last part of the eight-fold path

is they call it right concentration but

i call it harmonious

collectedness

when your mind

becomes

calm still

composed but alert

every time you use the six r's you are

following the entire

eightfold path

six hours

every time

you smile

you're following the eightfold path

so

this is the way leading to the cessation

of suffering

okay lady is that clinging the same as

these five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging

or is this clinging something apart from

the five aggregates affected by craving

and clinging

foreign

craving

is neither the same as these five

aggregates affected by craving and

clinging

nor is it

is clinging something apart

from these five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging

it is the desire and lust in regard to

these five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging

that is the clinging here

anytime any of the aggregates are

affected by your thinking

identity view

lady how does identity view come to be

here friend visaka an untaught ordinary

person

who has no regard for noble ones and is

unskilled and undisciplined in their

dharma

who has no regard for true men and is

unskilled and undisciplined in their

dharma

all of these are talking about your

personal belief in a self i am that

this feeling is me this

it's an interesting thing when feeling

arises did you ask it to come up

did you say to yourself i haven't had a

pain for a while i might as well have it

come up now

um

no

why

because it isn't yours it just comes up

when the conditions

are right for it to come up

you get up in the middle of the night to

go to the bathroom and you stub your toe

did you ask that pain to arise

it arose because the conditions were

right for that painful feeling to arise

is that your feeling

but actually it's only a feeling

it's a painful feeling for sure

what happens when a painful feeling

arises

like stubbing your toe

what is your mind

your mind has a tendency to curse a

little bit and get angry

right

but when your mindfulness is good

you say ah that's a painful feeling and

you six are and then you start sending

loving kindness into that feeling

when you change from an unwholesome

object

to a wholesome object

mind tends to become

more in balance and in harmony with the

way things actually are

in

in balance not in balance

so

when you start sending loving and kind

thoughts to that sore toe

what happens

before long

it doesn't hurt so much

and after that you kind of forget that

you did it

so then you go take care of your

business whatever you're doing

see this is a scientific fact

that

if you hold

anger

aversion dislike

of a painful feeling that painful

feeling gets bigger and more intense

now what actually happens when a painful

feeling arises

and when that happens you have a gland

in the middle of your head called the

pineal gland

and that gland has

a painkiller in it

called endorphins

it's about 10 times stronger than

morphine

so when you jump around and you're angry

and that tightness happens in your head

that stops the endorphins from coming

into your body

the pain last for a lot longer

so you can walk around limping for a few

days

but

when you notice that painful feeling and

start putting loving kindness and the

six

the tightness in your head relaxes

the endorphins

are released into your body and the

painkiller helps the pain to subside

there is a

china endorphin

oxygen

so

your choice what do you want to do when

a painful feeling arises in your body

you want to get mad at it you want your

anger to come up and your

dissatisfaction

and cause yourself more pain

or do you want that pain to go away more

quickly by loving it

foreign

forgot what i was going to say next

it's your choice

oh that's right it is your choice

you can make yourself suffer

or not

now when you practice this one simple

thing

of sending loving and kind thoughts into

a painful thing in your body

when a big painful thing happens

it won't be such a shock and you'll know

what to

so you're using the eightfold path

you can carry this with you all the time

the trick is remembering to do it

and if you do that with a little pain

then when a big pain comes you'll

remember

okay

so we're gonna

we've already covered that one we're

going to eight

lady how does identity view

not come to be

here friendsaka a well-taught noble

disciple who has regard for noble ones

and is skilled and disciplined

and is skilled and disciplined in their

dharma

in other words you see everything as it

actually is

last night

venerable was reading to you about the 6

sets of 6.

and there was a long section about this

is not me this i am not this is

not myself

anytime you take anything personally if

it's a feeling if it's an emotion

if it's a thought

you are not seeing it properly

when you have good balance in your mind

you see that everything is impersonal

that's the beautiful thing about

dependent origination

that's the way things really are

okay let's go down

okay let's go to 10 now

lady is the noble eightfold path

conditioned or unconditioned

are the three aggregates included in the

noble eightfold path

or is the noble eightfold path included

by the three aggregates

the three aggregates are not included in

the noble aid full path friendly

but the noble eightfold path is included

by the three aggregates

harmonious communication harmonious

movement harmonious lifestyle

these states are included in the

aggregate of virtue

harmonious practice harmonious

observation and harmonious collectedness

these states are included in the

aggregate of collectedness

harmonious perspective and harmonious

imaging

what is the development of collectedness

unification of mine friend visaka is

collectedness

the four foundations of mindfulness are

the basis of collectedness

the six ours are the equipment of

collectedness

the repetition development and

cultivation of these same states is the

development

you have to use the six hours a lot

that's what the repetition is all about

okay

lady how many formations are there

there are these three formations

the bodily formation the verbal

formation and the mental formation

what is the bodily formation what is the

verbal formation

what is the mental formation

breathing in and breathing out friend

visaka are the bodily formation

perception feeling and consciousness are

the mental formation

but lady why are in breathing and out

breathing the bodily formation

why our thinking and examining thought

the verbal formation

in breathing and not breathing or bodily

tradition

these states are bound up with the body

that is why in breathing and out

breathing are the bodily formation

first one thinks

and examines and subsequently

one breaks out into speech

that is why thinking and examining

thought are verbal formations

perception feeling and consciousness are

mentally

that is why perception feeling and

consciousness are the mental formation

lady how does the attainment of the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness come to be

when a monk is attaining the cessation

of perception feeling in consciousness

i shall attain the cessation of

perception feeling in consciousness

or i am attaining the cessation of

perception feeling in consciousness

or i have attained the cessation of

perception feeling and consciousness

but rather his mind has previously been

developed in such a way that it leads

him to that statement

lady when a monk is attaining the

cessation of perception feeling in

consciousness

which states cease in him first

the bodily formation the verbal

formation or the mental formation

when a monk is attaining the cessation

of perception feeling in consciousness

how does emergence from the attainment

of the cessation of perception feeling

and consciousness

come to be

of perception feeling and consciousness

it does not occur to him i shall emerge

from that attainment of cessation of

perception feeling in consciousness

or i am emerging from the attainment of

the cessation

or i have emerged from the attainment of

the cessation of perception feeling in

consciousness

now before we go too much further

when you get to the cessation of

perception feeling and consciousness for

the first time

you will go into it and come out of it

without having to make a determination

it will just happen automatically

who can go into this state whenever they

want

so in the lower stages of awakening it

happens by itself

and in the higher stages they have

enough control

that they can determine how long they

can stay in and when to come out

but rather his mind has previously been

developed in such a way

that it leads him to that statement

lady when a monk is emerging from the

attainment of the cessation of

perception feeling in consciousness

is emerging from the attainment of the

cessation

of perception feeling and consciousness

first the mental formation arises then

the bodily formation then the verbal

formation

when a monk has emerged from the

attainment of the cessation of

perception feeling and consciousness

when a monk has emerged from the

attainment of the cessation of

perception feeling in consciousness

three kinds of contact

has emerged from the attainment of the

cessation of perception feeling in

consciousness

visakha when a monk

has emerged from the attainment of the

cessation of perception feeling and

consciousness

occlusion

painful feeling and neither pleasant or

painful feeling

but lady what is pleasant feeling what

is painful feeling what is neither

painful nor pleasant feeling

whatever is felt bodily

or mentally as pleasant and soothing is

pleasant feeling

whatever is felt bodily or mentally

as painful and hurting is a painful

feeling

whatever is felt bodily or mentally as

neither soothing nor hurting

is neither painful nor pleasant feeling

what is pleasant and what is painful in

regard to pleasant feelings

what is painful and what is pleasant in

regard to painful feeling

what is pleasant and what is painful in

regard to neither painful nor pleasant

feeling

pleasant feeling is pleasant when it

persists and painful when it changes

painful feeling

is painful when it persists and pleasant

when it changes

neither painful nor pleasant feeling is

pleasant

when there is knowledge of it

and painful when there is no knowledge

what underlying tendency underlies

pleasant feeling

what underlying

tendency underlies painful feeling

what underlying tendency underlies

neither painful nor pleasant feeling

the underlying tendency to last under

lies pleasant feelings

the underlying tendency to aversion

underlies painful feeling

the underlying tendency to ignorance

underlies neither painful nor pleasant

feeling

lady does the underlying tendency to

lust underlie all pleasant

does the underlying tendency to aversion

underlie all painful feelings

does the underlying tendency to

ignorance underlie all neither painful

or pleasant feeling

the underlying tendency to lust does not

underlie all painful pleasant feelings

the underlying tendency to aversion does

not underlie all painful feelings

underlying tendency to ignorance does

not underlie all neither painful or

pleasant feeling

what should be abandoned in regard to

painful

asaka the underlying tendency to lust

should be abandoned in regard to

pleasant feelings

the underlying tendency to aversion

should be abandoned in regards to

painful feeling

the underlying tendency to ignorance

should be abandoned in regard to neither

painful nor pleasant feeling

lady does the underlying tendency to

lust have to be abandoned

in regard to all pleasant feelings

does the underlying tendency to aversion

have to be abandoned

in regard to all painful feelings

does the underlying tendency to

ignorance have to be abandoned in regard

to all neither painful nor pleasant

feeling

visakha the underlying tendency to lust

does not have to be abandoned in regard

to all pleasant feelings

the underlying tendency to aversion

does not have to be abandoned in regard

to all painful feelings

the underlying tendency to ignorance

does not have to be abandoned in regard

to all neither painful or pleasant

feeling

quite secluded from sensual pleasures

secluded from unwholesome states

is accompanied by thinking and examining

thought

with joy and happiness born of seclusion

with that he abandons lust and the

underlying tendency to lust

does not underlie that

when shall i enter upon and abide in

that base that the noble ones now enter

upon and abide in

and one who generates a longing for

supreme liberation

grief arises

that means trying too hard right

that means

i want this to happen

or

there's a different kind of longing that

can arise

in other words if you're waiting for

something to happen you have an

expectation

and you have to give up all expectations

do you know what's going to happen in

five minutes

are you curious about what's going to

happen in five minutes

those kind of thoughts make you put too

much energy into it and you're

identifying with

you have to give up

all desire to attain it

even the littlest desire

the mind to develop is

i wonder what's going to happen next

that's what

uh suzuki roshi a zen master called the

beginner's mind

you don't know what's going to happen

next so there's no expectation

that's the mind you want to cultivate

or

you will have grief arise because your

impatience takes over

with that he abandons aversion and the

underlying tendency to aversion

here with the abandoning of pleasure and

pain with the previous with the previous

disappearance of joy and grief

a monk enters upon and abides in the

fourth jhana which has neither pain nor

pleasure and purity of mindfulness due

to equanimity

with that he abandons ignorance and the

underlying tendency to ignorance

painful feeling is the counterpart of

pleasant feeling

what is the counter part of painful

feeling

pleasant feeling is the counterpart of

painful feeling

what is the counter part of neither

painful nor pleasant feeling

what is the counterpart of ignorance

what is the counterpart of true

knowledge

you have pushed this line of questioning

too far

you are not able to grasp the limit to

questions

go to the blessed one and ask him about

the meaning of this

as the blessed one explains it to you

you should remember

then the lay follower of isakka having

delighted and rejoiced in the bhikkhuni

damadina's words

and after paying homage to her keeping

her on his right

he went to the blessed one

after paying homage to him he sat down

at one side and told the blessed one his

entire conversation

with the bhikkhuni medina

has great wisdom

if you ask me the meaning of this i

would have explained it to you in the

same way that the bhikkhuni

damadina has explained it

the lay follower of isaka was satisfied

and delighted in the blessed

i've actually run across very few women

that don't like that suit

there's

there's a lot of sutas that are given by

monks

but not not quite so many by the

bikunis

may suffering ones be suffering free and

the fear struck fearless be

may the grieving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

may all beings share this merit that we

have thus acquired

for the acquisition of all kinds of

happiness

inhabiting space and

earth devas and nagas of mighty power

share this merit of

may they ours protect the buddha's

dispensation

you