From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=7-WsxHKUhPU
Context: Throughout this transcript, Bhante Vimalaramsi is the speaker unless otherwise indicated.
yeah thus have I heard in one occasion
the blessed one was living in Swati and
Jettas Grove anithing pendejas park then
a brahmin students abha tow diaz son
went to the blessed one exchange
greetings with him when this courteous
and amiable talk was finished he sat
down at one side and asked the blessed
one master Gautama what is the cause and
condition why human beings are seen to
be inferior and superior for people are
seen to be short-lived and long-lived
sickly and healthy ugly and beautiful
I'm influential and influential poor and
wealthy lowborn and highborn stupid and
wise what is the cause and condition
master Gautama why human beings are
seemed to be inferior and superior
student beings are owners of their
actions heirs of their actions they
originate from their actions are bound
to their actions have their actions as
their refuge it is action that
distinguishes beings as inferior and
superior I do not understand in detail
the meaning of master Gautama statement
which he spoke of in which he spoke and
brief without expounding the meaning in
detail
it would be good if master Gautama would
teach me the Dhamma so I might
understand it in detail the meaning of
master go to my statement he was a smart
little guy because the Buddha would come
out and say oh monks what are you
talking about and they would tell him
and then he would give them a dama talk
in brief and he'd hesitate for a minute
and then he would get up and leave and
then the monks went I wonder what that
meant so they would go to another monk
that was well versed and they would ask
him the meaning and then they would get
scolded for not asking from the Buddha
himself when he was there and available
then he would give them the dhamma talk
and then he told them to go to the
Buddha after he gave the talk to see
whether it was correct or not of course
it was always correct but if they had
thought to ask the Buddha then then he
would have stayed and he would give he
would have given a talk in detail some
of the some of the talks that the Buddha
gave would last for long periods of time
he might start in the evening and the
talk would last all night and he had
enough repeating and all of that sort of
thing that the monks would really
understand what he was saying by the
time
done then student listen and attend
closely to what I shall say yes
venerable sir the Brahmin student sub ha
replied the blessed one said this here
student some man or woman kills living
beings and his murderous bloody-handed
given to blows and violence merciless to
living beings because of performing and
undertaking such action on dissolution
of the body after death he reappears in
a state of deprivation in an unhappy
destination even in hell but if on the
dissolution of the body after death he
does not reappear in a state of
deprivation in an unhappy destination
but instead comes back to the human
state then wherever he is reborn he is a
short lift this is the way student that
leads to short life namely one kills
living beings and his murderous
bloody-handed given to blows violence
and merciless living beings but here
student some man or woman abandoning the
killing of living beings abstained from
killing living beings with rod and
weapon laid aside gentle and kindly he
abides compassionate to all living
beings because of performing and
undertaking such action on the
dissolution of the body after death he
reappears in a happy destination even in
the heavenly world but if on the
dissolution of the body after death he
does not reappear in a happy destination
in a heaven
a world but instead comes back to the
human state then wherever he is reborn
he has a long life that is the way
student that leads to long life namely
abandoning the killing of living beings
one abstained from killing living beings
with rod and weapons laid aside gentle
and timely one abides compassionate to
all living beings here students a man or
woman is given to injuring beings with
the hand with a clod with a stick with a
knife because of performing and
undertaking such action on the
dissolution of the body after death he
reappears in the state of deprivation
but if instead he comes back to the
human state then wherever he is reborn
he is sickly this is the way student
that leads to sickliness namely one has
given to injuring beings with the hand
with a clod with a stick with a knife
but here student some manner woman is
not given to injuring living beings with
the hand with a clod with a sticker with
a knife because of performing and
undertaking such action on the Des
Aleutian of the body after death he
reappears in a happy destination but if
instead he comes back to the human state
than wherever he is reborn he is healthy
this is the way student that leads to
health namely one is not given to
injuring beings with the hand with a
clod with a stick with a knife here
student some man or woman is of an angry
and irritable character
even when criticized a little he is
offended becomes angry hostile resentful
displays anger hate and bitterness
because of performing and undertaking
such action he reappears in a state of
deprivation but if he but it if instead
he comes back to the human state then
wherever he is reborn he is ugly that is
the way student that leads to ugliness
namely one is of an angry irritable
character and displays a lot of anger
hate and bitterness in Asia if you see
an asian getting angry their face
actually turns black and they their
faces amazingly it turns really ugly you
don't see that so much here but you
start to look at what it's like
especially for women if they get angry
they go from being a beautiful young
girl to a very ugly young girl because
of the anger that they have and when
they start changing that into their
habit that starts changing their looks
and they are not pleasing to look at but
here students a man or woman is not an
angry or irritable character even when
criticized a lot he is not offended does
not become angry hostile resentful and
does not display anger hate and
bitterness because of performing and
undertaking such action
reappears in a happy destination but if
instead he comes back to the human state
then wherever he is reborn he is
beautiful this is the way student that
leads to being beautiful namely one is
not an angry or irritable character and
does not display anger hate and
bitterness hair student some man or
woman is envious who envies resents
begrudges the the gains honor respect
reverence salutation and veneration
received by others because of performing
and undertaking such action he reappears
in a state of deprivation but if instead
he comes back to the human state then
wherever he is reborn he is uninfluenced
this is the way student that leads to
being uninfluenced one is envious
towards the gain honor respect reverence
salutation and veneration received by
others but here student some man or
woman is not envious one does not one
who does not envy resent begrudge the
gain honors respect Reverend salutation
and veneration received by others
because of performing and undertaking
such action he reappears in the happy
destination but if instead he comes back
to the human state then wherever he is
reborn he is influential this is a way
student that leads to being influential
namely one is not envious towards the
gain honor respect reverence salutation
and veneration received by others
here student some manner woman does not
give food drink clothing carriages
garland sense unguent beds dwelling and
lamps to wreak losses or Brahmans
because of performing and undertaking
such action he reappears in a state of
deprivation but if instead he comes back
to the human state then wherever he is
reborn he is poor this is the way
student that leads to poverty namely one
does not give food and lamps tarik
looses and brahmins david and i had a
teacher came from india we're both at
the same place and we would sit down to
eat and he was always taking food off
his plate putting it on other people's
plates all around him it was always
sharing his food and it was real
inspiring to be around him because it
was always sharing things and he was
more than happy to do that and he shared
Dhamma a lot he did start giving talks
and he would talk for three hours
sometimes a little longer but the thing
is and this is one way of sharing so
that you'll be prosperous but there are
a lot of other ways of sharing that help
you to be prosperous when you're smiling
and you give your smile away you're
being generous when you use
herbs that are kind to other people and
make them feel good and you appreciate
them and that makes them feel good
that's being generous practicing your
generosity it's not only material things
that you can practice your generosity
with when you think of different
individuals you have thoughts of them
and you start radiating loving kindness
to them you're giving them a gift
whether they they realize it or not
doesn't matter so it's a real
interesting thing to practice your
generosity as much as you can and that
way you will always have abundance you
always have prosperity and prosperity
comes in all kinds of different ways
so it turns into a kind of protection
for you as you practice giving not only
material things but of your energy that
always comes back to you and positive
ways I mean I just traveled around the
world I don't have any money but people
donated monies to have me come here
there it's quite an interesting trip a
little bit long for my taste I don't
think I'm ever going to do that again
but we'll see but the more you can
practice your generosity and giving
things away the more uplifted your mind
becomes the lighter your mind becomes
the easier it is to recognize when your
mind starts to get heavy so it helps
your mindfulness very much to have a
very light mind means to have a mind
that doesn't want to control and make
things be the way you want them to be it
means that you have a mind that opens up
and allows things to be there and you
can observe much more easily with a
light mind and having a light mind with
a sense of fun is a very desirable kind
of existence when I first went to
Malaysia they asked me to help them
build meditation centres monastery and
all of the people that came they put out
a lot of effort and a lot of energy and
they really tried hard but they were all
sour had sour faces they couldn't smile
they had the idea that the only way to
be successful in life was to be serious
and these these were mostly Chinese
they're very ambitious folks and they're
quite good at business but they didn't
they didn't back off very well for their
meditation as a result their meditation
progresses was very slow and even to
this day they're practicing meditation
and they've been doing it for years and
they still have
gotten the idea that you have to have a
light mind you go in to where they're
practicing their do a retreat and it's
like walking into a very heavy mud
because it's just it's hard to move
around because their minds are so
serious and they're trying so hard that
they're developing a concentration that
is not appropriate for the meditation
and they haven't learned over the years
that their mind is supposed to be light
as a result when I was away from
Malaysia for 15 years I came back and
they're still in the same spot they were
when I left they haven't really learned
a lot so the whole point of practicing
your generosity especially with material
things but in all ways is that it helps
your mind become lighter and you don't
get so attached to things and you don't
become so upset so easily so it's a real
interesting phenomena when you see
people that are quote practicing
Buddhism but they haven't really learned
what the Buddha was talking about and
the Buddha was most interested in having
everyone have an uplifted mine have a
wholesome mind a mind that didn't have
any craving in it during the time of the
Buddha there was 60 million people that
became Buddhists and that was before
radio and television how that must mean
that he had something to give that they
really agreed with
and the the monks at that time because
they had him as their teacher they were
smiling and happy most of the time and
they were very good examples of what the
Buddha's teaching really is all about
your meditation is three parts this is
the definition of meditation practicing
your generosity keeping your precepts
without breaking them and then having
quiet time so you can do some meditation
people will follow this their their
progress in the meditation is really
fast doesn't take long at all for them
to understand because they don't have a
lot of hindrances coming up in their
mind they don't have a lot of problems
from breaking precepts and feeling
guilty so as a result their mind becomes
very peaceful and very calm very quickly
and that is directly from following the
whole path of meditation not just
sitting in meditation I think that's a
mistake that's happening in this country
because people want to learn how to
meditate but they don't want to learn
how to let go of things I want to attain
the abana but I want to stay the way I
am well it doesn't work very well
it's not what you would call immediately
effective practice so it's a needed
thing to let people know that when
you're practicing meditation you have to
be willing to change you have to be
willing to let go of your whole
detachments your opinions your ideas and
develop a mind that's more open and
accepting and clear and when you get off
retreat that doesn't mean you stop
meditating you can carry this meditation
with you all the time and it's actually
preferable to carry it with you all the
time so it's really a nice kind of
practice because it leads you more and
more to a mind as uplifted and with an
uplifted mind you have a tendency to
pull people that are very positive that
are fun to be around you have those kind
of friends coming to you because that's
the way you are but you have to be
willing to let go of your old ways of
thinking and acting and develop new ways
that are inspiring not only to you but
to everyone else around you so this
practicing of generosity is is a real
important aspect because of performing
and undertaking such action he reappears
in a happy destination but if instead he
comes back to the human state then
wherever he is reborn
as wealthy that is the way student that
leads to wealth namely one gives food
and requisites to recluses and monks
here students a man or woman is
obstinate arrogant does not pay homage
to those who should receive hommage does
not rise up for one and whose presence
he should rise up does not offer a seat
to one who deserves the seat does not
make way for one for whom he should make
way and does not honor respect Revere
venerate one who should be honored
respected revered and venerated because
of performing and undertaking such
action he reappears in a state of
deprivation but if he comes back in the
human state then wherever he is reborn
he is lowborn one of the things that
causes low birth is continual cursing
using foul language when you get around
people that are more educated the foul
language disappears don't hear it so
much but when I went that went to Asia I
came back 12 years later I was
completely shocked at how course
everybody's language was they on radio
they were talking about all kinds of
things that they never would have said
that when I was growing up but there's
they're talking about it on the radio
and they think it's cute but they're
showing off how lowborn they really are
how course their personnel
he is so it's learning how to let go of
that and that leads to a mind that is
much more uplifted almost everybody that
curses they have an awful lot of anger
inside them and they won't let go of
that anger they like being able to use
that kind of language and that's kind of
a shame but it does get in the way of
your meditation because of the anger
you're not willing to change you're not
willing to clean up your speech so you
can clean up your mind that's just
another way of showing your immaturity
even though they can be in their 70s and
80s they're still being immature by
using foul language like that this is a
way student that leads to low birth
namely one is obstinate and arrogant
does not honor respect Revere and
venerate one who should be honored
respected revered and venerated but here
students a man or woman is not obstinate
and arrogant he pays homage to one who
should be he should receive hommage
rises up for one whose presence he
should rise up offers a seat to one who
deserves the seat makes way for one whom
he should make way honors respects
venerates and gent and Revere's one who
should be honored respected revered
generated because of performing and
undertaking such action he reappears in
the happy destination but if instead he
comes back to the human state then
wherever his reborn he is highborn this
is the way student that leads to high
birth namely one is not obstinate and
arrogant and honors respects Revere's
and venerates one who should be honored
respect respected revered and venerated
here students a man or woman does not
visit a recluse or Brahman and ask
venerable sir what is wholesome what is
unwholesome what is blameable what is
blameless what should be cultivated what
should not be cultivated what kind of
action will lead to my harm and
suffering for a long time what kind of
action will lead to my welfare and
happiness for a long time because of
performing's and undertaking such action
he reappears in the state of deprivation
but if instead he comes back to the
human state then wherever he is reborn
he is stupid not asking questions will
tend to make you not as art as you could
be and I've told the story a lot of
times but I took care of venerable
Lucille Ananda who was a very very
educated monk I mean he he memorized
this many books and took tests on it and
he was number one in the country not
making a mistake and as that's very
difficult test
and when he came to America started
being his attendant and I asked him if I
could be his attendant because I had a
lot of questions about Buddhism I had a
lot of questions about how things work
so I was asking him questions all the
time and I was if I stayed with him for
about two years and finally he got so
tired of hearing me ask can I ask you a
question he said you know if you don't
attain nirvana in this lifetime you're
going to be reborn a human being and
you're going to be the smartest person
in the whole world just because of all
the questions you'd keep asking over and
over and over and I wanted to know the
little tiny nuances and things like that
and the way karma works guess what kind
of students I have especially sister
quema she comes to me oh not so much
anymore it's only five or six times a
day and says can I ask you a question
she still like that and of course
there's no such a thing as a stupid
question unless you already know the
answer and you're just trying to test if
you already know the answer that I don't
need to answer that so
but here monks a man or woman visits a
recluse or Brahman and asked venerable
sir what is wholesome what kind of
action will lead to my welfare and
happiness for a long time because of
performing of performing an undertaking
such action he reappears in a happy
destination but if instead he comes back
to the human state then wherever he is
reborn he is wise this is a way student
that leads to wisdom namely one visits a
recluse or Brahman and ask such
questions the student the way that leads
to short life makes people live short
the way that leads to long life makes
people live long the way that leads to
sickliness makes people sickly the way
that leads to health makes people
healthy the way that leads to the
ugliness makes people ugly the way that
leads to beauty makes people beautiful
the way that leads to being an
influential makes people and influential
the way that leads beings to being
influential makes people influential the
way that leads to poverty makes people
poor the way that leads to wealth makes
people wealthy the way that leads did
low birth makes people lowborn the way
that leads to high birth makes people
highborn the way that leads to stupidity
makes people stupid the way that leads
to wisdom
makes people wise beings are owners of
their actions heirs of their actions
they originate from their actions are
bound to their actions have their
actions as their refuge it is action
that distinguishes beings as being
inferior and superior when this was said
the Brahmin students of hot odious on
said to the blessed one magnificent
master Gautama magnificent master
Gautama has made the Dhamma clear in
many ways as though he were turning up
right what had been turned over turned
revealing what was hidden showing the
way to one who was lost or holding up a
lamp in the dark for those with eye
sight to see forms I go to master
Gautama for refuge and to the Dhamma
into the Sangha of monks let master go
to remember me as a lay follower who has
gone to him for refuge for life and
generally when you hear that kind of
statement at the end of a suit it means
that that person had become a soda fauna
so that's it's a nice
no no do you think they experienced
Nibhana because it clicks in them some
of the things that we're stopping them
from going deeper it improved their
understanding
no like sorry boot I mean all we had to
do was hear one thing about dependent
origination and he he understood it and
that he became a soda Potter because of
that so it's not necessarily from
becoming a a meditator that you can get
up to fairly high stages it is through
your understanding I had one student
that they spent an awful lot of time
looking at and studying dependent
origination and the way they were
looking at it was from the big picture
and when I came and I gave them a talk
on dependent origination as being very
subtle very small and telling them that
it could be big or it could be small
depending on your your perspective
they got it they've just needed that
little bit of understanding and then
they became sort of on it can happen
there are some people some monks in in
Burma that their confidence is so strong
that they talked to people about keeping
their precepts and then after that they
give the precepts to them and people
become so deposit rate that it can
happen of course there's a lot of other
people that look at that and go yeah
yeah I don't believe that understanding
right how they do purify you yes and the
understanding that somehow got from just
getting straightened out that made his
mind very peaceful and calm and he had
this relief that happened because now he
understood how this all works and there
is there's a lot of you see monks that
from other sects that come and they
talked to the Buddha and just during the
first time they ever heard him give a
talk they become our hearts well they
had done a lot of work they've done a
lot of meditation they were able to
really understand what the Buddha was
saying and mostly what he was saying was
use right effort have that relaxed step
in there
and that's that's just the one piece
that was missing so there's there are
different ways and and what is it the
get it Gary suit it discusses different
ways of attaining Nevada and they one of
the lower kinds of soda pond is called a
faith follower and their faith is so
strong that the buddha was enlightened
being that all i do is hear what the
buddha said and they become so dupatta
and then there's a dhama follower and
they're the ones that started doing a
little bit of meditation and they heard
some of the some of the discourses and
they became some soda pop but the only
way you can get to the higher stages and
that's on egami and son are aha chip is
through development of your
understanding through direct experience
and it's a direct experience that is so
valuable so that you can go deeper and
that's why I was you know you were
talking about Brenda asking know where
does it say this well you don't get to
these deep states of of understanding by
just surfaced knowledge it has to be
direct experience and you see for
yourself this is exactly how the links
of dependent or injured
nation work
so
yeah poor translation they try to take
and break words up okay and eeka means
one but the actual word is it comes from
the base e kaga which stands for
tranquil then that's then that's the
meaning of that but because it has been
poorly translated and Lucille Ananda
wrote a book on the site a putana ceuta
and he had five or six different
definitions of ACOG oughtta and none of
them really fit very well and when he
got to the instructions in the
meditation where it says that on the
in-breath you tranquilize your bodily
formation on the out-breath you
tranquilize your bodily formation well
he just kind of lightly skipped over
that part
you're stepping yes it has and it's just
like the word Jonna I mean the word
Jonna to almost everybody that you talk
about is a stage of concentration
started listening to see ya understand
not really much understanding but the
thing is when I started changing that I
had an awful lot of resistance no it
doesn't mean that it means a stage of
concentration because that's what Jonna
is and the insight is a separate kind of
meditation but when you start looking at
the suit isn't seeing how there when you
have insight and vipassana together I
mean there must in the measurement
nakaya there must be 10 or 11 times that
these are mentioned and you go to the
suta that it talks about it and you'll
see it's the possono with samhita or
they'll say serenity or one of those
kind of words so that's I can see how
easily Buddhism when it started going
into other countries how it got changed
because people were already practicing
their one put
concentration and then they try to just
soften it down a little bit and get
people to understand but it they've got
to some of the people that were really
really staunch absorption persons and
like a lot of the Tibetans I'm not
saying all but I'm saying a lot of the
Tibetans they say practice many many
different forms of absorption
concentration but when you talk to them
about adding that relaxed step that's a
foreign idea to them and there's so much
into their different psychic things I
mean there's how many books of you
tibetan buddhism have you read yeah you
know if i fly through the air and yeah I
dry the blankets around with the
yeah they're really into that and I I
see that as a one point in kind of
concentration but then there's some real
fantastic things that can happen through
one pointed concentration is just what
is the end result if you want to work to
have a rainbow body you can certainly do
that and then when you die you got this
big rainbow around but how how is that
helpful yeah I know they can but that's
the ones that still doing it when when
the body has died that yeah
well yeah and it is that's real
interesting that's it's like there was
some in the 1920s there was some some
people that were really really good at
one point in concentration and they
started pointing their mind at being
able to see what was the smallest thing
that they could see and they were the
ones that by their description they were
describing quirks that they could see
that and that's truly wonderful but what
is the advantage of that does that biju
further along the path to liberation to
being awake instead of enlightened
yeah would be a very apt description yes
opposed to one point of this oh yeah but
you can you can do it you can do it both
ways that's the thing well like I said
you had I have done it both ways and
it's real powerful both ways it's just
that one leads to deeper understanding
the other one leads to blissful state
and then they're both real nice you're
not going to understand how mines
attention really does work
yeah and they're doing studies now with
people that are practicing one pointed
concentration and they're saying that
there is a change in energy that the
heart space does change energy and it
affects people around and that that's a
real good advantage it's a nice thing
but does it lead to you to understand
how minds attention really does work and
does it lead you to see the impersonal
nature of everything that's the thing
with doing the one pointed concentration
radiation because I'm doing it and I'm
helping you and it just doesn't work as
well that no because you're not letting
go of craving well they put a lot of
Buddhist texts then try to justify it
but that's the way the asians are about
things it's a little bit off track
because they they have a tendency to put
this practice is this in this practice
is this and this practice is this and
they don't see how things are supposed
to be like this I don't see how things
are intertwined and when I first started
teaching loving-kindness meditation in
Malaysia
boy there was there a lot of resistance
to that how very something like that
it's not vipassana and I started saying
well yes it is it's just a different
object of meditation that's all and then
people started getting successful with
it and all of a sudden they started not
criticizing so much yeah so it's a it's
been a long haul but it's definitely
worth it so why don't we share some
merit he's suffering ones be suffering
free and the fierce grunt fearless be
may the grieving shed all grief and may
all being find relief may all beings
share this merit that we've thus
acquired for the acquisition of all
kinds of the happiness may beings
inhabiting space under Davis and routers
of mighty power share this merit of ours
may they long protect the Buddha's
dispensation
yeah thus have I heard in one occasion
the blessed one was living in Swati and
Jettas Grove anithing pendejas park then
a brahmin students abha tow diaz son
went to the blessed one exchange
greetings with him when this courteous
and amiable talk was finished he sat
down at one side and asked the blessed
one master Gautama what is the cause and
condition why human beings are seen to
be inferior and superior for people are
seen to be short-lived and long-lived
sickly and healthy ugly and beautiful
I'm influential and influential poor and
wealthy lowborn and highborn stupid and
wise what is the cause and condition
master Gautama why human beings are
seemed to be inferior and superior
student beings are owners of their
actions heirs of their actions they
originate from their actions are bound
to their actions have their actions as
their refuge it is action that
distinguishes beings as inferior and
superior I do not understand in detail
the meaning of master Gautama statement
which he spoke of in which he spoke and
brief without expounding the meaning in
detail
it would be good if master Gautama would
teach me the Dhamma so I might
understand it in detail the meaning of
master go to my statement he was a smart
little guy because the Buddha would come
out and say oh monks what are you
talking about and they would tell him
and then he would give them a dama talk
in brief and he'd hesitate for a minute
and then he would get up and leave and
then the monks went I wonder what that
meant so they would go to another monk
that was well versed and they would ask
him the meaning and then they would get
scolded for not asking from the Buddha
himself when he was there and available
then he would give them the dhamma talk
and then he told them to go to the
Buddha after he gave the talk to see
whether it was correct or not of course
it was always correct but if they had
thought to ask the Buddha then then he
would have stayed and he would give he
would have given a talk in detail some
of the some of the talks that the Buddha
gave would last for long periods of time
he might start in the evening and the
talk would last all night and he had
enough repeating and all of that sort of
thing that the monks would really
understand what he was saying by the
time
done then student listen and attend
closely to what I shall say yes
venerable sir the Brahmin student sub ha
replied the blessed one said this here
student some man or woman kills living
beings and his murderous bloody-handed
given to blows and violence merciless to
living beings because of performing and
undertaking such action on dissolution
of the body after death he reappears in
a state of deprivation in an unhappy
destination even in hell but if on the
dissolution of the body after death he
does not reappear in a state of
deprivation in an unhappy destination
but instead comes back to the human
state then wherever he is reborn he is a
short lift this is the way student that
leads to short life namely one kills
living beings and his murderous
bloody-handed given to blows violence
and merciless living beings but here
student some man or woman abandoning the
killing of living beings abstained from
killing living beings with rod and
weapon laid aside gentle and kindly he
abides compassionate to all living
beings because of performing and
undertaking such action on the
dissolution of the body after death he
reappears in a happy destination even in
the heavenly world but if on the
dissolution of the body after death he
does not reappear in a happy destination
in a heaven
a world but instead comes back to the
human state then wherever he is reborn
he has a long life that is the way
student that leads to long life namely
abandoning the killing of living beings
one abstained from killing living beings
with rod and weapons laid aside gentle
and timely one abides compassionate to
all living beings here students a man or
woman is given to injuring beings with
the hand with a clod with a stick with a
knife because of performing and
undertaking such action on the
dissolution of the body after death he
reappears in the state of deprivation
but if instead he comes back to the
human state then wherever he is reborn
he is sickly this is the way student
that leads to sickliness namely one has
given to injuring beings with the hand
with a clod with a stick with a knife
but here student some manner woman is
not given to injuring living beings with
the hand with a clod with a sticker with
a knife because of performing and
undertaking such action on the Des
Aleutian of the body after death he
reappears in a happy destination but if
instead he comes back to the human state
than wherever he is reborn he is healthy
this is the way student that leads to
health namely one is not given to
injuring beings with the hand with a
clod with a stick with a knife here
student some man or woman is of an angry
and irritable character
even when criticized a little he is
offended becomes angry hostile resentful
displays anger hate and bitterness
because of performing and undertaking
such action he reappears in a state of
deprivation but if he but it if instead
he comes back to the human state then
wherever he is reborn he is ugly that is
the way student that leads to ugliness
namely one is of an angry irritable
character and displays a lot of anger
hate and bitterness in Asia if you see
an asian getting angry their face
actually turns black and they their
faces amazingly it turns really ugly you
don't see that so much here but you
start to look at what it's like
especially for women if they get angry
they go from being a beautiful young
girl to a very ugly young girl because
of the anger that they have and when
they start changing that into their
habit that starts changing their looks
and they are not pleasing to look at but
here students a man or woman is not an
angry or irritable character even when
criticized a lot he is not offended does
not become angry hostile resentful and
does not display anger hate and
bitterness because of performing and
undertaking such action
reappears in a happy destination but if
instead he comes back to the human state
then wherever he is reborn he is
beautiful this is the way student that
leads to being beautiful namely one is
not an angry or irritable character and
does not display anger hate and
bitterness hair student some man or
woman is envious who envies resents
begrudges the the gains honor respect
reverence salutation and veneration
received by others because of performing
and undertaking such action he reappears
in a state of deprivation but if instead
he comes back to the human state then
wherever he is reborn he is uninfluenced
this is the way student that leads to
being uninfluenced one is envious
towards the gain honor respect reverence
salutation and veneration received by
others but here student some man or
woman is not envious one does not one
who does not envy resent begrudge the
gain honors respect Reverend salutation
and veneration received by others
because of performing and undertaking
such action he reappears in the happy
destination but if instead he comes back
to the human state then wherever he is
reborn he is influential this is a way
student that leads to being influential
namely one is not envious towards the
gain honor respect reverence salutation
and veneration received by others
here student some manner woman does not
give food drink clothing carriages
garland sense unguent beds dwelling and
lamps to wreak losses or Brahmans
because of performing and undertaking
such action he reappears in a state of
deprivation but if instead he comes back
to the human state then wherever he is
reborn he is poor this is the way
student that leads to poverty namely one
does not give food and lamps tarik
looses and brahmins david and i had a
teacher came from india we're both at
the same place and we would sit down to
eat and he was always taking food off
his plate putting it on other people's
plates all around him it was always
sharing his food and it was real
inspiring to be around him because it
was always sharing things and he was
more than happy to do that and he shared
Dhamma a lot he did start giving talks
and he would talk for three hours
sometimes a little longer but the thing
is and this is one way of sharing so
that you'll be prosperous but there are
a lot of other ways of sharing that help
you to be prosperous when you're smiling
and you give your smile away you're
being generous when you use
herbs that are kind to other people and
make them feel good and you appreciate
them and that makes them feel good
that's being generous practicing your
generosity it's not only material things
that you can practice your generosity
with when you think of different
individuals you have thoughts of them
and you start radiating loving kindness
to them you're giving them a gift
whether they they realize it or not
doesn't matter so it's a real
interesting thing to practice your
generosity as much as you can and that
way you will always have abundance you
always have prosperity and prosperity
comes in all kinds of different ways
so it turns into a kind of protection
for you as you practice giving not only
material things but of your energy that
always comes back to you and positive
ways I mean I just traveled around the
world I don't have any money but people
donated monies to have me come here
there it's quite an interesting trip a
little bit long for my taste I don't
think I'm ever going to do that again
but we'll see but the more you can
practice your generosity and giving
things away the more uplifted your mind
becomes the lighter your mind becomes
the easier it is to recognize when your
mind starts to get heavy so it helps
your mindfulness very much to have a
very light mind means to have a mind
that doesn't want to control and make
things be the way you want them to be it
means that you have a mind that opens up
and allows things to be there and you
can observe much more easily with a
light mind and having a light mind with
a sense of fun is a very desirable kind
of existence when I first went to
Malaysia they asked me to help them
build meditation centres monastery and
all of the people that came they put out
a lot of effort and a lot of energy and
they really tried hard but they were all
sour had sour faces they couldn't smile
they had the idea that the only way to
be successful in life was to be serious
and these these were mostly Chinese
they're very ambitious folks and they're
quite good at business but they didn't
they didn't back off very well for their
meditation as a result their meditation
progresses was very slow and even to
this day they're practicing meditation
and they've been doing it for years and
they still have
gotten the idea that you have to have a
light mind you go in to where they're
practicing their do a retreat and it's
like walking into a very heavy mud
because it's just it's hard to move
around because their minds are so
serious and they're trying so hard that
they're developing a concentration that
is not appropriate for the meditation
and they haven't learned over the years
that their mind is supposed to be light
as a result when I was away from
Malaysia for 15 years I came back and
they're still in the same spot they were
when I left they haven't really learned
a lot so the whole point of practicing
your generosity especially with material
things but in all ways is that it helps
your mind become lighter and you don't
get so attached to things and you don't
become so upset so easily so it's a real
interesting phenomena when you see
people that are quote practicing
Buddhism but they haven't really learned
what the Buddha was talking about and
the Buddha was most interested in having
everyone have an uplifted mine have a
wholesome mind a mind that didn't have
any craving in it during the time of the
Buddha there was 60 million people that
became Buddhists and that was before
radio and television how that must mean
that he had something to give that they
really agreed with
and the the monks at that time because
they had him as their teacher they were
smiling and happy most of the time and
they were very good examples of what the
Buddha's teaching really is all about
your meditation is three parts this is
the definition of meditation practicing
your generosity keeping your precepts
without breaking them and then having
quiet time so you can do some meditation
people will follow this their their
progress in the meditation is really
fast doesn't take long at all for them
to understand because they don't have a
lot of hindrances coming up in their
mind they don't have a lot of problems
from breaking precepts and feeling
guilty so as a result their mind becomes
very peaceful and very calm very quickly
and that is directly from following the
whole path of meditation not just
sitting in meditation I think that's a
mistake that's happening in this country
because people want to learn how to
meditate but they don't want to learn
how to let go of things I want to attain
the abana but I want to stay the way I
am well it doesn't work very well
it's not what you would call immediately
effective practice so it's a needed
thing to let people know that when
you're practicing meditation you have to
be willing to change you have to be
willing to let go of your whole
detachments your opinions your ideas and
develop a mind that's more open and
accepting and clear and when you get off
retreat that doesn't mean you stop
meditating you can carry this meditation
with you all the time and it's actually
preferable to carry it with you all the
time so it's really a nice kind of
practice because it leads you more and
more to a mind as uplifted and with an
uplifted mind you have a tendency to
pull people that are very positive that
are fun to be around you have those kind
of friends coming to you because that's
the way you are but you have to be
willing to let go of your old ways of
thinking and acting and develop new ways
that are inspiring not only to you but
to everyone else around you so this
practicing of generosity is is a real
important aspect because of performing
and undertaking such action he reappears
in a happy destination but if instead he
comes back to the human state then
wherever he is reborn
as wealthy that is the way student that
leads to wealth namely one gives food
and requisites to recluses and monks
here students a man or woman is
obstinate arrogant does not pay homage
to those who should receive hommage does
not rise up for one and whose presence
he should rise up does not offer a seat
to one who deserves the seat does not
make way for one for whom he should make
way and does not honor respect Revere
venerate one who should be honored
respected revered and venerated because
of performing and undertaking such
action he reappears in a state of
deprivation but if he comes back in the
human state then wherever he is reborn
he is lowborn one of the things that
causes low birth is continual cursing
using foul language when you get around
people that are more educated the foul
language disappears don't hear it so
much but when I went that went to Asia I
came back 12 years later I was
completely shocked at how course
everybody's language was they on radio
they were talking about all kinds of
things that they never would have said
that when I was growing up but there's
they're talking about it on the radio
and they think it's cute but they're
showing off how lowborn they really are
how course their personnel
he is so it's learning how to let go of
that and that leads to a mind that is
much more uplifted almost everybody that
curses they have an awful lot of anger
inside them and they won't let go of
that anger they like being able to use
that kind of language and that's kind of
a shame but it does get in the way of
your meditation because of the anger
you're not willing to change you're not
willing to clean up your speech so you
can clean up your mind that's just
another way of showing your immaturity
even though they can be in their 70s and
80s they're still being immature by
using foul language like that this is a
way student that leads to low birth
namely one is obstinate and arrogant
does not honor respect Revere and
venerate one who should be honored
respected revered and venerated but here
students a man or woman is not obstinate
and arrogant he pays homage to one who
should be he should receive hommage
rises up for one whose presence he
should rise up offers a seat to one who
deserves the seat makes way for one whom
he should make way honors respects
venerates and gent and Revere's one who
should be honored respected revered
generated because of performing and
undertaking such action he reappears in
the happy destination but if instead he
comes back to the human state then
wherever his reborn he is highborn this
is the way student that leads to high
birth namely one is not obstinate and
arrogant and honors respects Revere's
and venerates one who should be honored
respect respected revered and venerated
here students a man or woman does not
visit a recluse or Brahman and ask
venerable sir what is wholesome what is
unwholesome what is blameable what is
blameless what should be cultivated what
should not be cultivated what kind of
action will lead to my harm and
suffering for a long time what kind of
action will lead to my welfare and
happiness for a long time because of
performing's and undertaking such action
he reappears in the state of deprivation
but if instead he comes back to the
human state then wherever he is reborn
he is stupid not asking questions will
tend to make you not as art as you could
be and I've told the story a lot of
times but I took care of venerable
Lucille Ananda who was a very very
educated monk I mean he he memorized
this many books and took tests on it and
he was number one in the country not
making a mistake and as that's very
difficult test
and when he came to America started
being his attendant and I asked him if I
could be his attendant because I had a
lot of questions about Buddhism I had a
lot of questions about how things work
so I was asking him questions all the
time and I was if I stayed with him for
about two years and finally he got so
tired of hearing me ask can I ask you a
question he said you know if you don't
attain nirvana in this lifetime you're
going to be reborn a human being and
you're going to be the smartest person
in the whole world just because of all
the questions you'd keep asking over and
over and over and I wanted to know the
little tiny nuances and things like that
and the way karma works guess what kind
of students I have especially sister
quema she comes to me oh not so much
anymore it's only five or six times a
day and says can I ask you a question
she still like that and of course
there's no such a thing as a stupid
question unless you already know the
answer and you're just trying to test if
you already know the answer that I don't
need to answer that so
but here monks a man or woman visits a
recluse or Brahman and asked venerable
sir what is wholesome what kind of
action will lead to my welfare and
happiness for a long time because of
performing of performing an undertaking
such action he reappears in a happy
destination but if instead he comes back
to the human state then wherever he is
reborn he is wise this is a way student
that leads to wisdom namely one visits a
recluse or Brahman and ask such
questions the student the way that leads
to short life makes people live short
the way that leads to long life makes
people live long the way that leads to
sickliness makes people sickly the way
that leads to health makes people
healthy the way that leads to the
ugliness makes people ugly the way that
leads to beauty makes people beautiful
the way that leads to being an
influential makes people and influential
the way that leads beings to being
influential makes people influential the
way that leads to poverty makes people
poor the way that leads to wealth makes
people wealthy the way that leads did
low birth makes people lowborn the way
that leads to high birth makes people
highborn the way that leads to stupidity
makes people stupid the way that leads
to wisdom
makes people wise beings are owners of
their actions heirs of their actions
they originate from their actions are
bound to their actions have their
actions as their refuge it is action
that distinguishes beings as being
inferior and superior when this was said
the Brahmin students of hot odious on
said to the blessed one magnificent
master Gautama magnificent master
Gautama has made the Dhamma clear in
many ways as though he were turning up
right what had been turned over turned
revealing what was hidden showing the
way to one who was lost or holding up a
lamp in the dark for those with eye
sight to see forms I go to master
Gautama for refuge and to the Dhamma
into the Sangha of monks let master go
to remember me as a lay follower who has
gone to him for refuge for life and
generally when you hear that kind of
statement at the end of a suit it means
that that person had become a soda fauna
so that's it's a nice
no no do you think they experienced
Nibhana because it clicks in them some
of the things that we're stopping them
from going deeper it improved their
understanding
no like sorry boot I mean all we had to
do was hear one thing about dependent
origination and he he understood it and
that he became a soda Potter because of
that so it's not necessarily from
becoming a a meditator that you can get
up to fairly high stages it is through
your understanding I had one student
that they spent an awful lot of time
looking at and studying dependent
origination and the way they were
looking at it was from the big picture
and when I came and I gave them a talk
on dependent origination as being very
subtle very small and telling them that
it could be big or it could be small
depending on your your perspective
they got it they've just needed that
little bit of understanding and then
they became sort of on it can happen
there are some people some monks in in
Burma that their confidence is so strong
that they talked to people about keeping
their precepts and then after that they
give the precepts to them and people
become so deposit rate that it can
happen of course there's a lot of other
people that look at that and go yeah
yeah I don't believe that understanding
right how they do purify you yes and the
understanding that somehow got from just
getting straightened out that made his
mind very peaceful and calm and he had
this relief that happened because now he
understood how this all works and there
is there's a lot of you see monks that
from other sects that come and they
talked to the Buddha and just during the
first time they ever heard him give a
talk they become our hearts well they
had done a lot of work they've done a
lot of meditation they were able to
really understand what the Buddha was
saying and mostly what he was saying was
use right effort have that relaxed step
in there
and that's that's just the one piece
that was missing so there's there are
different ways and and what is it the
get it Gary suit it discusses different
ways of attaining Nevada and they one of
the lower kinds of soda pond is called a
faith follower and their faith is so
strong that the buddha was enlightened
being that all i do is hear what the
buddha said and they become so dupatta
and then there's a dhama follower and
they're the ones that started doing a
little bit of meditation and they heard
some of the some of the discourses and
they became some soda pop but the only
way you can get to the higher stages and
that's on egami and son are aha chip is
through development of your
understanding through direct experience
and it's a direct experience that is so
valuable so that you can go deeper and
that's why I was you know you were
talking about Brenda asking know where
does it say this well you don't get to
these deep states of of understanding by
just surfaced knowledge it has to be
direct experience and you see for
yourself this is exactly how the links
of dependent or injured
nation work
so
yeah poor translation they try to take
and break words up okay and eeka means
one but the actual word is it comes from
the base e kaga which stands for
tranquil then that's then that's the
meaning of that but because it has been
poorly translated and Lucille Ananda
wrote a book on the site a putana ceuta
and he had five or six different
definitions of ACOG oughtta and none of
them really fit very well and when he
got to the instructions in the
meditation where it says that on the
in-breath you tranquilize your bodily
formation on the out-breath you
tranquilize your bodily formation well
he just kind of lightly skipped over
that part
you're stepping yes it has and it's just
like the word Jonna I mean the word
Jonna to almost everybody that you talk
about is a stage of concentration
started listening to see ya understand
not really much understanding but the
thing is when I started changing that I
had an awful lot of resistance no it
doesn't mean that it means a stage of
concentration because that's what Jonna
is and the insight is a separate kind of
meditation but when you start looking at
the suit isn't seeing how there when you
have insight and vipassana together I
mean there must in the measurement
nakaya there must be 10 or 11 times that
these are mentioned and you go to the
suta that it talks about it and you'll
see it's the possono with samhita or
they'll say serenity or one of those
kind of words so that's I can see how
easily Buddhism when it started going
into other countries how it got changed
because people were already practicing
their one put
concentration and then they try to just
soften it down a little bit and get
people to understand but it they've got
to some of the people that were really
really staunch absorption persons and
like a lot of the Tibetans I'm not
saying all but I'm saying a lot of the
Tibetans they say practice many many
different forms of absorption
concentration but when you talk to them
about adding that relaxed step that's a
foreign idea to them and there's so much
into their different psychic things I
mean there's how many books of you
tibetan buddhism have you read yeah you
know if i fly through the air and yeah I
dry the blankets around with the
yeah they're really into that and I I
see that as a one point in kind of
concentration but then there's some real
fantastic things that can happen through
one pointed concentration is just what
is the end result if you want to work to
have a rainbow body you can certainly do
that and then when you die you got this
big rainbow around but how how is that
helpful yeah I know they can but that's
the ones that still doing it when when
the body has died that yeah
well yeah and it is that's real
interesting that's it's like there was
some in the 1920s there was some some
people that were really really good at
one point in concentration and they
started pointing their mind at being
able to see what was the smallest thing
that they could see and they were the
ones that by their description they were
describing quirks that they could see
that and that's truly wonderful but what
is the advantage of that does that biju
further along the path to liberation to
being awake instead of enlightened
yeah would be a very apt description yes
opposed to one point of this oh yeah but
you can you can do it you can do it both
ways that's the thing well like I said
you had I have done it both ways and
it's real powerful both ways it's just
that one leads to deeper understanding
the other one leads to blissful state
and then they're both real nice you're
not going to understand how mines
attention really does work
yeah and they're doing studies now with
people that are practicing one pointed
concentration and they're saying that
there is a change in energy that the
heart space does change energy and it
affects people around and that that's a
real good advantage it's a nice thing
but does it lead to you to understand
how minds attention really does work and
does it lead you to see the impersonal
nature of everything that's the thing
with doing the one pointed concentration
radiation because I'm doing it and I'm
helping you and it just doesn't work as
well that no because you're not letting
go of craving well they put a lot of
Buddhist texts then try to justify it
but that's the way the asians are about
things it's a little bit off track
because they they have a tendency to put
this practice is this in this practice
is this and this practice is this and
they don't see how things are supposed
to be like this I don't see how things
are intertwined and when I first started
teaching loving-kindness meditation in
Malaysia
boy there was there a lot of resistance
to that how very something like that
it's not vipassana and I started saying
well yes it is it's just a different
object of meditation that's all and then
people started getting successful with
it and all of a sudden they started not
criticizing so much yeah so it's a it's
been a long haul but it's definitely
worth it so why don't we share some
merit he's suffering ones be suffering
free and the fierce grunt fearless be
may the grieving shed all grief and may
all being find relief may all beings
share this merit that we've thus
acquired for the acquisition of all
kinds of the happiness may beings
inhabiting space under Davis and routers
of mighty power share this merit of ours
may they long protect the Buddha's
dispensation