From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=gT7dO1XGvsQ

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

you

okay thus have I heard on one occasion

the blessed one was living in Swati and

Jettas Grove an attempt in digas park

then Brom on student sub hot toady his

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 as

inferior and superior for people to be

seen as short-lived and long-lived

sickly and healthy ugly and beautiful an

influential and influential poor and

wealthy lowborn and highborn stupid and

wives what is the cause and condition

master Gautama why human beings are seen

to be inferior and superior now listen

very closely to this students 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 being as

inferior and superior I do not

understand in detail the meaning of

master Gautama statement which he spoken

brief without expounding the meaning

in detail so that tells you right there

he's smart because he didn't just take

what the Buddha said and the Buddha

would get quiet nobody says anything he

gets up and goes away but Sabah was very

clever in that he asked him to expound

it more it would be good if master

Gautama would teach me the Dhamma so I

might understand in detail the meaning

of master go to my statement then

student listen and attend closely to

what I shall say yes he has served the

Brahmin student sub how 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 the dissolution of the

body after death he reappears in a state

of deprivation in an unhappy destination

and perdition even in hell perdition and

hell are one in the same thing so I'm

not going to repeat that like that again

but if on the death solution of the body

after death he does not a repair 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 short-lived

this is the way student that leads to a

short life namely one kills living

beings and his murderous bloody-handed

given to blows and violence merciless to

living beings but here student some man

or woman abandoning the killing of

living beings abstained from killing

living beings on purpose that is a very

important thing to say because when you

have a body just the fact that you have

a body beings die but it's not your

intention to kill them so there is no

wrongdoing 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 that

the world but if on the dissolution of

the body after death he does not

reappear in a happy destination in a

heavenly world but instead comes back to

the human state then wherever he is

reborn he is long-lived this is the way

student that leads to long life namely

abandoning the killing of living beings

one abstains from killing living beings

with rod and weapon laid aside gentle

and kindly one abides compassionate to

all living beings it's it's a real

interesting phenomena especially in

Burma the average person that doesn't

doesn't follow Dhamma as closely as they

can and they live their life men when

they get to be 30 years old they start

looking for a wife who is around 20

years old and they eat the food that

they normally eat which is very high in

oil that means oil so thick that things

float in it

and when they get to be sick 60 they

have a heart attack and die now the

interesting part of this is monks and

Burma generally live to be between 85

and a hundred because they keep their

precepts they don't break the precepts

by killing living beings and when you go

and even now if I would go and see some

of the people that I went to school with

mmm 50 years ago they would be hobbling

around not healthy having a lot of

diseases and that sort of thing 50 years

don't let me think about that again

keep me distracted

but it is kind of an interesting things

because monks generally lived between 85

and and a hundred years old because of

the choice of lifestyle here student

some manner woman is given to injuring

beings with a hand with a clod with a

stick with a knife because of performing

and undertaking such action on the death

solution of the body after death he

reappears in a state of deprivation but

if instead he comes back to the human

state then wherever he is reborn he is

sickly when I was in Burma I went out to

some villages and I met a lady that was

living in a heavy duty malaria area she

never had malaria and her whole life and

she was living where the mosquitoes were

really thick a lot of people around her

got very sick she she was healthy her

whole life and she lived to be a long

long long life

this is the way student that leads to

sickliness namely one is given to

injuring beings with a hand with a clod

with a stick with a knife but here

students a man or woman is not 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 a happy

destination but if instead he comes back

to the human state then 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 with a car there's some some

animals get run over quite often

here student some man or woman is an

angry irritable character even when

criticized the little he is offended he

becomes angry hostile and resentful and

displays anger hate and bitterness

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 ugly now think about this I

used to hand out to all of my students a

mirror that they could carry with him

and i told them especially when they

were angry to pull out the mirror and

look at their face the skin color

changes especially with asians they get

black in the face their features are

very very ugly and they are doing that

to themselves

and then when I win they're smiling I

tell them to put out the pull out the

mirror and see themselves smiling and

which way do they want to look this is a

way student that leads to ugliness

namely one is open angry irritable

character and displays anger hate and

bitterness but here student one man or

woman is not of an angry irritable

character even when criticized a lot he

is not offended does not become angry

hostile and resentful and does not

display anger hate and bitterness

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in a happy

destination but if instead he comes back

to the human state and wherever he is

reborn he is beautiful this is the way

student that leads to being beautiful

namely one is not of an angry irritable

character and does not display anger

hate and bitterness one of the the real

advantages of practicing loving-kindness

meditation is because your face does get

beautiful that's one of the advantages

it says that in suit this so when I

would have a lot of women doing a

retreat and after a few days I would

look out and their faces were starting

to glow and become very nice their faces

were soft and and quite beautiful

and I told them that I ought to start

trying to bottle some of this loving

kindness because I make a fortune and I

let them all know personally that their

faces were very beautiful because that's

what was in their mind beautiful things

not angry not bitter not wanting revenge

because somebody wrong them in one way

or another

here student some man or woman is

envious one who envies resents and B

grudges the gain honor respect reverence

salutation and veneration received by

others because of performing and

undertaking such action he reappears in

the state of deprivation but if instead

he comes back to the human state than

wherever he is reborn he is uninfluenced

this is the way student that leads to

being uninfluenced namely one is envious

towards the gain honor respect Reverend

salutation and veneration received by

others but here student some manner

woman is not envious he does doesn't one

who does not envy resent begrudge the

gain honor respect reverence I you

tation and veneration received by

another others that is part of the

Brahma viharas to and that is rejoicing

and others gains keeping your mind

uplifted thinking you know they really

deserve that because they're nice and

you don't hold any envy well I want that

I want to be like that well if you want

to be like that you have to act like

that

because of performing and undertaking

such action he reappears in a happy

destination being happy with other

people's success for couples

the thing with being married is learning

how to support each other and appreciate

each other's good qualities and tell the

other person of their good qualities

that leads to more balance in life okay

so being married means being a true

partner that gets happy when another

person is successful and helps them and

reminds them when they're feeling down

how you appreciate their good qualities

and tell them what those good qualities

are that's very much appreciated when

you when you hear somebody that you

trust that you very much wish happiness

for they will respond to that in a very

positive way and that makes for a happy

marriage a lot of times in marriage

there you always do this I love that

statement you always act this way when

this is like that and I don't like that

and I want you to change but if you

overlook some of the little flaws and

focus on the positive things that takes

away the fight

but if instead he comes back to the

human state wherever he is reborn he is

influential because you don't you don't

envy other people they're good they're

success it makes you happy that they're

successful

namely one is not envious toward the

game honors respect veneration

salutation and received by others here

students a man or woman does not give

food drink clothing carriages garland

sense unguent beds dwellings and lamps

to wreak losses and brahmanas because of

performing an undertaking such action he

reappears in a state of deprivation but

if instead he comes back to the human

state wherever he is reborn he is poor

this is the way student that leads to

poverty namely one does not give food

and requisites to recluses and brahmins

that's one of the reasons that monks

they will accept almost anything that's

given as long as it's wholesome we will

accept anything that's given but monks

are not supposed to say thank you

because if I say you give something you

offer some some food or you offer a robe

if I say thank you what I'm doing is I'm

making it a personal gift between you

and me so you don't make very much merit

monks are supposed to say I rejoice in

your merit for this gift or to say saadu

well done at one time I was in Australia

and I had I was there on the shortest

day of the year the longest day of the

year on the other side of the Equator

shortest day of the year here and it was

cold and I just come from Malaysia where

it was 85 all the time and just great

weather and I'm walking around with

Fahrenheit it's about 60 and that cold

was getting into my bones I didn't I

wasn't prepared for cold weather at all

and I started thinking it would really

be nice if I had a pair of socks just

something to keep my feet warm because i

was suffering

and I went to visit a monk and one of

the first things he did he looked at my

feet and my feet were blue and he said I

want to give you some socks just sauce I

do yes that's a good thing and it turned

on my sock karma and within a week I had

the nine or ten pairs of socks and by

the end of the range retreat I must had

24 pairs of socks people kept on giving

me socks and to this day people keep

giving me sucks I went to California

somebody gave me 24 pairs of socks what

in the world am I going to do with 24

pairs of socks but I'm not gonna say no

I don't want him because that'll hurt

their feeling

it's much more difficult to accept a

gift than it is to give the gift and

that was one of the lessons I had to

learn because I was great at giving but

somebody wanted to give something to me

and our no I don't need it but monks are

in the position that they're not

supposed to do that so there is the

acceptance of whatever is offered now

think of it this way I go out on alms

round and somebody has been up for two

hours cooking a very special kind of

food to give to the monks and that kind

of food is not agreeable what am I going

to do when they start to put it in the

bowl tell no thanks I don't want that

kind of food that's like slapping them

in the face

when somebody else wants to offer you

something whether you want it or not you

accepted with gratitude now what you do

with that gift after it's been given is

up to you and I learned that early on I

accept with this hand gladly

loving-kindness and I give it away with

that him I supplied all of the monks

that i was around with socks and they

appreciated it because it was cold and

it's it's kind of a nuisance to carry

around huge quantities of stuff as you

as a monk so you start giving away

things

one of the gifts that seems to come

towards me very often is Buddha images

if I'm traveling I don't want to carry a

Buddha image that's this big with me but

I'll run across someone else that really

appreciates that so I give a blessing

and give them the Buddha

so the more you can practice your

generosity and accept gifts because

that's part of generosity to the more

prosperous you become

and being prosperous doesn't necessarily

mean money but being prosperous means

can be friends and they're you become

influential with them because they know

you appreciate them and you want to

share with them and that makes them

happy and when they're happy I'm happy

so it's a great way of sharing and there

is a thing that monks can perfect their

generosity it takes 12 years and you

have to have agreement with whatever

monastery you're staying and that is

monks will go out on I'm from and when

they come back from the arms around they

go to the abbot and they say is there

any food here that you want and they

take whatever they want and you go to

the next monk and say the next senior

monk and you say is there any food here

that you want and you keep on going till

everybody in the monastery is fed before

you go and eat now sometimes you might

have to go on out on alms round two or

three times the trick is

you can't hold one thought moment of

regret for giving that food to someone

else sometimes monks are not as easy to

get along with as you would think they

should be and if you share your food

with that monk and he does something

that you don't like you can't regret

giving him that food okay you have to do

this for 12 years without a break every

day the advantage of sharing in that way

is that wherever you happen to be when

it's time to eat you'll always have food

in the bowl whether anybody else is

around or not if you're out in the in

the forest and it's getting time to get

something to eat and you're too far away

to go out on an arms round you open up

your bowl and there's food there to be

nice

have I ever met a monk that has done

that practice no it's difficult for 12

years but think of how kind and generous

you develop your mind the generosity

just starts to be natural yes here take

some of this whatever it is it's nice to

be around somebody that's like that

because they make you happy and then you

start practicing your generosity to

but here students a man or woman gives

food or requisites to recluses and

brahmins 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 he is wealthy this

is the way student that leads to wealth

namely one gives food and requisites to

recluses or brahmins here students a man

or woman is obstinate and arrogant he

does not pay homage to one who should

receive homage does not rise up for one

in whose presence he should rise up does

not offer a seat to one who deserves a

seat does not make way for one who he

should make way for and does not honor

respect Revere and venerate one who

should be honored respected revered and

venerated because of performing such

undertaking 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 born he is low born this

is a way student that leads to low birth

namely one is obstinate arrogant and

does not honor respect Revere and venery

one who should be honored respected

revered and ven

read it but here student some manner

woman is not obstinate and arrogant he

pays homage to one who should receive

homage rises up for one in whose

presence he should rise up offers a seat

to one who deserves the seat makes way

for one to whom he should make way

honors respects Revere's and venerates

one who should be honored respected

revered and venerated 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 he is

highborn the being influential and being

highborn are close to the same where you

say something people they listen they

could try to pay attention because

you're you're very influential and you

come from a very good cultured family

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 respected revered and venerated

here student some man or woman does not

visit a recluse or Brahman and asked

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 so there are

many questions that can be asked because

of performing and undertaking such

action he reappears in the state of

deprivation but if instead he comes back

to the human state than wherever he is

reborn he is stupid this is the way

students that leads to stupidity namely

one does not visit a recluse or Brahman

then ask such questions now this is a

quite a strong cultural thing especially

with the Chinese they never ask

questions they're taught never to ask a

question and when I was giving Dhamma

talks in Malaysia I was continually

asking questions and wanting somebody to

answer and they would sit there and not

do or say anything so I would pull the

suit out and I would tell them that if

you don't ask questions and don't find

out how things actually work and what

the Dhamma is that you're going to be

reborn stupid all of a sudden some hands

started coming up Chinese in particular

are very ambitious so they wanted to be

reborn clever they wanted to be reborn

very smart so that they could do the

things they wanted to do without having

a lot of problems now the opposite is

true if you go and ask a lot of

questions you're going to be reborn

intelligent I was the I was a layman

attendant for Lucille Ananda who was one

of the brightest most intelligent men

have ever met when I came to anything to

do with the dom i he'p his mind was

quick he was right there and he could

give you the answer I didn't do it in

front of other people but when he and I

got alone I bombarded him with questions

every day I was asking him 10 or 12 or

15 questions how does this work don't

understand that teach me about this I

want to know more more deeply how this

stuff works

and after two years of that one day I

asked him a question and he stopped and

he looked at me and he said when you're

reborn a human being you're going to be

smarter than Einstein you asked so many

questions all the time I really like

that I thought that was great and

because I asked so many questions now I

have a number of students that are

paying me back and asking questions if

you have any doubts if you have any

things that you're not sure of i will

try to answer it if I know the answer if

I don't know the answer i will tell you

i don't know the answer i don't know

what to do what to do with that but

I have enough books around that I can

generally find the answer if it's Dhamma

questions or I will tell the student

don't ask me that question go to this

book see what it says there when i was

first came back to this country had been

a monk for 12 years and i was running

across an awful lot of people that were

reading a lot of books on Buddhism but

they weren't understanding what they

were reading because there's so many

things that are contradictory so I told

them I don't want you to read anything

for a year if you want to practice with

me I don't want you to read I want you

to practice and later I started making

that less and less a period of time as

people started to get better and better

with the meditation I started

understanding it then it got too well

you get to the 4th jhana then you can

start reading because you've heard the

Dhamma talks and you know by your own

direct experience what is right and what

is it

and then I had these little tiny books

and I would say here read that and it

was just like one subject read that and

then they come back and we would discuss

and then I give him another book and

another and another and one of the

things that I'm very generous with his

books as a result I get a lot of books

and

after a period of time they would still

come and be asking questions and I'd

give him more books that were bigger and

after a period of time when they got

used to that then they would come and

ask me a question and I would tell them

to go sit and then I would give them

other books to read that's one of the

things about this being gradual practice

is you have to read a lot of things over

and over again expressed in different

ways before it really gets set

especially when you're doing your own

meditation you're seeing for yourself

then I will give them the madman nagaiah

and they come with a question as a you

go find it yourself read this book read

that book that will give you the answer

don't ask me that question and that's a

very effective way of learning Dhamma

because you have the book learning and

when somebody says something that's not

quite right you'll be able to see it and

recognize it no wait that doesn't sound

right and you'll be able to go and find

in the suit test whether it was correct

or not so it gets easier and easier to

explain to other people how this process

works

so asking questions is the first part of

learning how to be intelligent taking an

interest wanting to know there is no

such a thing as a dumb question i

remember when i was first time I met my

Aussie saida I was with a large group of

people and all of the monks that he was

traveling with or glasses somebody said

does meditation make your eyes bed and

he gave a brilliant answer that was dama

but most people would consider that a

dumb question

and that was the first time that I'd met

who ceylon on de marisol Ananda a new

Jonica mohave saya dah in Hawaii and

then they moved to or they moved to

America and then you seal Ananda was

told I want you to stay stay here and

teach I was exceptionally fortunate to

be able to be his assistant because he

had such a great mind and he was really

kind and really generous and really

helpful so as a result I picked up some

of those qualities not helpful all the

time but a lot of the time I am

the student the made the way that leads

to short life makes people short lived

the way that leads to long life makes

people long lived the way that leads to

sickliness makes people sick me the way

that leads to health makes people

healthy the way that leads to ugliness

makes people ugly the way that leads to

beauty makes people beautiful the way

that leads to being an influential makes

people uninfluenced the way that leads

to being influential makes people

influential the way that leads to

poverty makes people for the way that

leads to wealth makes people wealthy the

way that leads to 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 actions as their refuge it is

action that distinguishes beings as

inferior and superior when this was the

Brahmins student sub hot toady his son

said to the blessed one magnificent

master

tamam magnificent master Gautam eyes

made the Dhamma clear in many ways as

though he were turning up right what had

been overturned revealing what was

hidden showing the way to one who was

lost or holding up a lamp in the dark

for those with eyesight to see forms I

go to master Gautama for refuge and to

the Dhamma and Sangha of monks let

master Gautama remember me as al a

follower has gone to him for refuge for

life anytime you hear that last little

bit about pastor Gautama being

magnificent and doing all of these

things what that's actually talking

about is that person has become so

DePalma they have there was something in

the Dhamma of that discourse that

clicked for them

so

what is the reason why we are born into

this life because of our past actions

because of our past craving because of

our

habitual tendencies and when you start

changing unwholesome habitual tendencies

into wholesome habitual tendencies then

it helps you develop your wisdom it

helps you to be able to see how these

links of dependent origination arise why

do formations arise because of your past

action and craving when you practice NC

and start letting go of the formations

there is no more condition you're going

beyond karma this is a problem that the

many of the brahmanas and the Hindus

have it is a problem because they

believe that there's a continual birth

reincarnation and you're either

reincarnating up to get off to become

one with brahma or God or whatever or

your spyler spiraling down and you're

going to be reborn as a hue as a Hungry

Ghost or even in the hell realms of

which there are many

so

karma is the thing that follows you

around until you learn to go beyond

those actions and you learn how to do it

by understanding exactly how everything

actually does work

ok

so

for my chance and power translate this

town

yes

yeah and bhikkhu Bodhi lately in his

some of his later editions of the madman

nakaya's changed right thought of a full

path into right intention and I have a

lot of problem with that because who

isn't ending so and and you can go in a

deeper way and say well yeah that's

actually really true that that is what's

happening you do have a decision to make

of either 6r or get caught up in but I

use the word imaging because that to me

is closer to what the Buddha actually

meant by right thought what kind of an

image do you hold of yourself you hold

an image of being kind and reverent and

then you venerate the right things or

are you not that way so when you start

imaging the wholesome and showing

respect and doing things that are very

helpful not only to you but to everyone

else around you then you're holding this

image of wholesomeness that comes with

you as as you tread the spiritual life

and I've said that's it's clearer that

way to me I hope it is to everybody else

and in a way intention is correct but

the way most people think about

intention it has to do with what I want

instead of what needs to be done

a lot of them mean you get the book the

secret it's all about intention but its

intention for me to get wealthy and

successful and it's it has a lot of

craving in it but when you when you add

the right there harmonious imaging with

harmonious perspective that turns it

into a very wholesome good path leading

to nibhana

ok

yeah I like it that you asked questions

believe me I really do

depending you see we've been around for

a long long long long long time even the

Buddha could not purify every action

that he ever did why do I say that

because in his later life he had back

pain and he knew the reason for that

back pain because he was a wrestler

fighter and he used to break people's

back and as a result of that karma he

had back pain in his last life moga Lana

in one of his many past lifetimes as his

mother and father were very ancient they

were old and they were both blind so he

had to take care of them which he did

without any problem until he married a

woman then she got tired of taking care

of the old people and said why don't you

go off and get rid of him go kill him we

don't need this

so he put them in a cart and took them

off and after a period of time he jumped

out of the cart and started making

sounds like there was a band of evil

people coming around and he started

hitting them with sticks and stones and

things like that and their only concern

was that their son would not have this

and they kept on telling to run away get

away from these people don't let them

harm you it doesn't matter about us and

mogul Anna started feeling very guilty

but by that time both of them were so

injured that they both died he spent a

long time in a hell realm because of

that in his last birth he was older than

the Buddha both bhosari puta & bogel

Anna were older than labuda that by 15

or 20 years and there was a place that

was kind of a favorite place for mogul

Lana called vultures peak in India and

he would come down every morning for

alms round and there was a queen that

was holding a grudge against all of the

Sangha members but especially mogul Anna

and she hired a bunch of thugs and they

would they knew his what he was going to

be doing and they would converge where

he was and when he saw them coming he

would use as a psychic ability and fly

away after a short period of time every

day this happening they were coming for

him and he tried to get his ability to

fly working and it didn't and in his

mind he said ah now I'm paying for my

past actions and they beat him up

thoroughly they said and I think it's a

commentary I don't think it's a suit

that they beat him up so bad that not

one piece of bone in his body was bigger

than a grain of rice I mean they really

did it to him while they were doing that

to his body he got into the cessation of

perception feeling and consciousness

didn't hurt and then when they went away

he saw what had happened to his body and

he had gained his psychic ability to fly

and he went back to the Buddha and paid

homage to him and thanked him for what

he had done and then he went off and

died on his own so no there is some

karma that you still have to pay but

when you have attained Nibhana and

become an are hot it doesn't make your

mind shake at all

physical pain and okay so what the

Buddha would is back became very painful

it didn't shake his mind at all but he

knew that if he continued sitting he

would harm himself even more so he would

say I've got to lie down now in the suit

is it talks about him lying down and it

infers that he went to sleep but that is

not what he did he lied down to give his

back some relief and he would listen to

an under or one of the other monks

finished the dhamma talk

so

we have been around so long that if you

put all of the tears that we have shed

over the lifetimes they would fill up

the oceans okay that we've been around a

long long time we've done a lot of good

things we've done a lot of bad things

we've had a measurable amounts of

suffering and pain when you start

letting go of the craving and relaxing

more and more then when pain arises it

doesn't grab you so tightly so you can

start relaxing into it and letting it be

you're gaining more and more equanimity

all the time in equanimity is a very

good thing to have because doesn't

matter whether it's pain pleasure your

mind stays in balance and that's what

happens when you start attaining the

different stages of Awakening and it

gets to be more and more subtle craving

is

probably the sneakiest thing that we can

experience because we think we've let go

of craving and there's some little tiny

thing that pops up and yeah but relax

and let it be and as you go deeper it

gets more subtle okay

so why don't we share some merit me

suffering ones be suffering free and the

veer struck fearless be me the grieving

[ __ ] all grief and may all beings find

relief may all being shared is merit

that we thus acquired for the

acquisition of all kinds of happiness

may beings inhabiting space and earth

divas and Nagas of mighty power share

this merit of ours may they long protect

the Buddhist dispensation