From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=EC3RscWtjMI
Context: Throughout this transcript, Bhante Vimalaramsi is the speaker unless otherwise indicated.
you
I always like the suta because higher
training in Pali the word is papi dama
but this is not talking about the
philosophy of a hobby della this is
talking about the training the higher
training the training that leads to the
bottom so thus have I heard on one
occasion the blessed one was living in
this akheon country at cap kilowatt - at
Negro DES park now on that occasion a
new Assembly Hall had recently been
built for the sake ins of capital about
- and it had not been inhabited by any
recluse or Brahman or human being at all
then the sake ins of cat Villa Batu went
to the Blessed One after paying homage
to him they sat down at one side and
said to him venerable sir a new Assembly
Hall has recently been built here for
the sake ins of kept bill about - and it
has not been inhabited by any reef loose
or Brahman or human being at all I want
to stop here to let you know that the
they used to build assembly halls and
any time a group of ascetics came into
town they would let him sleep in the
Assembly Hall no this particular
assembly hall they hadn't started that
yet so this is completely brand new what
Advent generally boils down to is
what it boils down to is the the roof is
generally made of palm fronds and it
creates feed and they have sometimes
they put walls on them and sometimes
they don't that's just the way they
didn't did things back then this was one
of the fancier ones actually and they
did put walls on it so you stay out of
the wind and that sort of thing okay
venerable sir let the blessed one be the
first to use it when the blessed one has
had has used it first then the sucker
sake ins of capital about to will use it
afterwards that will lead to their
welfare and happiness for a long time
the blessed one consented in silence in
other words he shook his head yes okay
then when they saw that he had consented
they got up from their seats and after
paying homage to him keeping him on the
right side they went to the assembly
hall they covered it completely with
carvings and prepared seats and they put
out a large water drug and hung an oil
lamp when they went then they went to
the Blessed One after paying homage to
him they stood at one side and said
venerable sir the Assembly Hall has been
covered completely and with with covers
and seats that have been prepared a
large water drug has put been put out
and an oil lamp on up let the Blessed
One come for at his own convenience then
the blessed one dressed
taking his bowl and out of
they went with the Sango of monks to the
assembly hall why did he travel with his
bowl and robe because if he left it
behind somebody would take him that's
though they didn't have any locks on
their doors so that's that's why they he
was always taking his bowl and rope with
him he went with the Sangha bhikkhus to
the assembly hall when he arrived he
washed his feet and then he entered the
hall and sat down in the set by the
center pillar facing the east and the
monks washed their feet and when they
entered the hall sat down by the western
wall facing the east with the Blessed
one before them and the sake ins of kept
the lava to wash their feet and enter
the hall and sat down by the eastern
wall facing the West with the what
blessed one before them they did some
studies on the different directions and
when you're facing the east and you're
giving a Dhamma talk you generally have
a lot more energy if you face the north
you don't have very much energy if you
sleep with your head towards the north
you generally have more sound sleep
if you have restlessness if you start
facing the north then you won't have the
restlessness won't be near the strong if
you have sloth and torpor it's best to
face the east because that picks up your
energy there was a book by Patrick
Flanagan on the pyramids actually and he
had devices that he could measure the
subtle energies and tried to figure out
why they put the pyramids the way they
did in the positions that they did so
that's that's where I got that
information but it does work actually I
used to always travel with a compass
because I'm really lousy with directions
and if I was getting sleepy then I would
start facing the east and my energy
would pick up I was very restless then I
would face the north and it would settle
my mind won't settle down don't believe
anything I say try it to see if it works
for you if it does use it if it doesn't
don't
then when the blessed one had instructed
urged roused and glad the sake ins of
capital bought to with the talk on the
domina force for much of the night he
said to the venerable Ananda Ananda
speak to the sake ins of capital about
to about the this disciple in higher
training who has entered upon the way my
back is uncomfortable I will rest it
yes venerable sir the venerable Ananda
replied then the Blessed One prepared
his patchwork cloak folded it in forth
and laid down on his right side in the
Lions pose with one foot overlapping the
other mindful and fully aware after
noting in his mind the time for rising
now this implies that he went to sleep
but actually he didn't you'll find out
later now the information that you're
getting here about he is talking to
Ananda said you start talking because my
back it hurts what this says is this is
during the later part of the Buddha's
life because he started getting a lot of
back pains and he had to relieve the
pain
it didn't make his mind
shake he didn't have any aversion to the
pain but this was real pain what do you
do with meditation pain how do you tell
the difference between the
pain and real pain meditation pain is
pain that arises while you're sitting it
can be very intense but when you get up
and start doing your walking the pain
disappears in five or ten seconds you
forget about it very quickly if it is
real pain then that pain will not go
away so you don't sit like that can
water you don't need to hurt your body
while you're doing the meditation so you
find a posture that brings relief if
there is real pain and that's what the
motor did he didn't want to [ __ ]
himself so this kind of paying attention
to what your body is doing in the
present moment is an important aspect of
the meditation now I had I had some
teachers when I was in Vermont they
decided that I needed to sit for long
periods of time and you've heard this
story a few times I think No
I got there the first day of the retreat
I walked in and the teacher said how's
your meditation going I said good
everything is fine no problem how long
are you sitting I sit for an hour I walk
for an hour that was the standard
practice so he said why don't you sit
longer and said fine came in the next
day he said how long did you stay set me
set for two hours walk for an hour oh
good
why don't you sit longer okay so I came
in the next day then he said how long
did you sit I said three hours walk for
an hour it was a killer lot of pain
coming up and I said good why don't she
said longer so I came in the next day
hobbling and he said how long did you
sit I said i sat for hours I walked for
an hour
it was really hard a lot of pain coming
up he said did you move I said yeah I
was moving all over the place it was
painfully still don't move yeah okay so
I came back the next day how long did
you sit I sat for four hours I walked
for an hour I have tears running down my
cheeks and I'm not crying it's just like
you you whack your head real good and
tears come out that's what it was like
and he said did you move and I said no
and I never want to experience that
again it was really hard and he just
kind of look
and shook his head and said hmm why
don't you sit longer and I said no I'm
not gonna sit any longer four hours is
plenty hard enough I don't need to add
any more to it but eventually I started
sitting for longer periods of time now
this kind of meditation was a forceful
kind of meditation and I wound up
hurting my body and developing blood
clots in my legs that this was in 1990
and that's 17 years ago and I still got
off thank you very much that was the
wrong way to do the practice and I
really do not recommend that but when
you're sitting in meditation and your
meditation is good sit as long as it's
good after a period of time you'll start
developing the ability to sit a little
longer and a little longer and sometimes
your mind will come up and say well
that's time to get up don't get up right
away sit for another five or ten minutes
to see whether that's just your restless
mind coming up or maybe it really is
time to get out you have to wait and see
so you can extend your sitting a little
bit five or ten minutes at a time
sometimes you go through that
restlessness and you might sit for
another hour or hour and a half
it's very comfortable to sit for three
or four hours when your when your
meditation is good and you actually
learn a lot when you do that but don't
forcefully do it that's the key and this
particular teacher is always encouraging
people to sit longer and longer and
about half of the people that get done
with the retreat with him wind up with
some kind of problem from their knees
down so it's really not a recommended
practice to do that so
then the venerable Ananda addressed
Mahanama the sake and thus maha nama
here a noble disciple is possessed of
virtue guards the doors of his sense
faculties his moderate and eating and
devoted to wakefulness
he possesses seven good qualities and he
is one who obtains that will without
trouble or difficulty the four Jonah's
that constitute the higher mind and
provide a pleasant abiding here and now
remember jhana means level of
understanding you have certain
experiences that happen while you're in
each one of these dramas and we'll talk
about that in a bit and how does a noble
disciple guard the doors of his sense
faculties on seeing a form with the eye
a noble disciple does not grasp at its
signs and features what does that mean
grasp it at signs and features
then come back yeah it means that you
grab on to it and I really like this
site and I want this site to always stay
there now you hear a lot of I in that
and want to control in that and when
that site changes as it will then you
start longing for that site beautiful
sunset whatever it doesn't really matter
that's what it's talking about when when
is talking about grabbing at its signs
and features
since if he left the I faculty unguarded
evil unwholesome states of covetousness
I like it and brief I don't like it
might invade might invade him he
practices the way of its restraint he
guards the I faculty he undertakes the
restraint of the I faculty now what are
we really undertaking the restraint up
the I faculty or releasing the craving
that arises because the I faculty hit
something and I feeling a rose when I
feeling arises if right then you relax
you are letting go of the craving and
when you let go of the crave in your
mind is very clear there is no clinging
there are no thoughts at that time and
your mind is not only clear but it's
pure because there is no craving and
there is no identification with that
craving I like that I don't like that if
you let go of that when you let go of
that your mind is pure and you bring
your pure mind back to your object of
meditation now does this mean that
you're going to try to stop sites from
occurring no it means you're going to
let go of the craving that arises and
the clinging now what happens when when
you don't let go of the craving then you
start
thinking about that site and how you'd
like that and oh I remember when I saw
another thing just like that a few years
ago I went to this thing and all of a
sudden you're five miles away in a
hundred miles away and a thousand miles
away thinking about this and that and
that's the danger of getting caught by
the signs and features as you look at
something and relax into it you can
continue looking at it and you actually
wind up seeing it it's not a distraction
in thoughts about it in other words
you're letting go of all of the concepts
and ideas and stories and now you're
actually you see a very beautiful flower
when you let go of that craving and
craving always manifest as tension and
tightness in your mind and in your body
when you let go and relax that tightness
that happens in your mind and in your
body then you're seeing that flower as
it truly is the colors are more vivid
the shape is more noticeable because you
don't have the distraction of thinking
about so you see it more fully and this
is the same way with all of the sense
doors yes so your your experience is
staying in the present moment and the
present illness
as long as the site is there yer
experiencing this present moment present
moment present moment right instead of
instead of moving along and thinking
about how it was yes or how it will be
or how it will be capturing its truest
and says it happens mm-hmm so is this so
the colors get more more vivid they get
more bright that the beauty of it
becomes more real because you're not by
the clinging and your habitual tendency
of thinking about is this also the same
as the gratification the danger and the
escape in the other could you just use
the danger and you just kind of used the
gratification that you hear in the other
suit cos yes of course
so one of the things that an awful lot
of people that are practicing meditation
will talk about is I say something to
the effect of I like cheesecake and they
will immediately say oh you're attached
and I'm not attached if I eat that
cheese cake without any craving or
clinging for habitual tendency if I'm
right there with it there's nothing
wrong with liking certain kinds of food
there was a time during the time of the
Buddha that this one woman she listened
to the Buddha gives some vomitoxin she
started meditating and she became an
Hana Gandhi which is the third stage of
awakening
and she developed the skill of reading
minds and the monks that were at the
monastery they would have a craving for
a certain kind of food and she would fix
that food for them and she would bring
that food in and she said well this one
for you and oli this one's for you and
it was different food but that was what
they wanted and their progress in the
meditation was very good now after the
rains retreat they went to the Buddha
and they started talking about this lady
and saying how nice it was and this
month got this idea ah this is great
stuff I'm gonna go visit where she is
because I get any kind of food I want
that way so he did and then right in the
morning he would have a craving for a
certain kind of food and she would fix
that food for it and then after a little
while he started realizing if she can
read my mind about food she's reading my
mind about everything I don't want to be
here so he went to the Buddha and he
said venerable sir I think it's time for
me to move on to another place and the
Buddha said no this is the place that
you absolutely have to be and why was
that because when he went back he
started guarding his
door and being more careful with the
thoughts that he was indulging him and
his progress and the meditation became
very good and he became a Nara hot
because of that now when I was I went to
Asia and for the first three years being
an Asia I eat rice every day now for a
meat and potato guys eating rice was a
tough thing and I really started to get
tired of it and then I decided that I
was going to go to a certain teacher
that happened to be in Australia and I
wound up staying with this teacher and
somebody decided that they were gonna
take us to a Pizza Hut no the pizza had
I lived on Pizza I thought it was great
stuff it was one of my favorite foods
so we go to the Pizza Hut and I'm
shoveling it down I mean I'm really
eating a lot of pizza and the monk
started laughing because I was eating so
much pizza and I said I haven't been
around pizza for more than three years
I've been eating rice and I'm real tired
too right so this is the kind of food
I'm used to eating so I'm gonna eat a
lot of it this time and they laughed and
they said oh you're so attached and I
said okay you come to my country where
we don't eat rice and you live there for
three years without eating and then I'm
gonna give you a bowl of rice how much
rice are you gonna need and all of a
sudden they stop
there are certain foods that we didn't
used to eating and we have preferences
for those foods that doesn't mean were
attached I wasn't thinking about eating
pizza when I was eating rice but when
the pizza appeared I ain't quite a bit
and they thought that was a great thing
the people that were getting this they
were offering the food so the next week
they took us to the Shakey's Pizza
Parlor again and this time I only just a
regular mouth I didn't overeat at all
and they said well don't you like it as
much as you did last time
and I said I like it just as much but I
satisfied that desire I don't mean so
much anymore and that happens a lot
lucila Nando the last time he went to
Burma he'd been in America for years and
years eating American food
he went to Burma and the Burmese food is
very oily and they overcook them
vegetables I mean that's mush vegetables
and they always pour oil on the
vegetables and everything else I mean
when I say oily I mean is that thick and
oil everything so he comes back from
from Asia and the first meal that he
comes back he's fouling down I mean he's
really eating a lot because that's the
food that he was used to eating and
there's nothing your own
that that doesn't mean that he was
attached it just means that he was
starving himself in Burma I think came
back and he got rid of some of that
starvation but especially in Asia if you
say I I like this or like that the first
thing people will say is oh you're
attached to that and quite often it
doesn't have anything to do with
attachment not real attachment their
understanding of what attachment is is
not very strong they think that when you
have a sight if it is a pleasing sight
then you're supposed to close your eyes
and not look at it or else somebody will
accuse you of being attacked but the
attachment comes from the craving and
the clinging and letting go of that that
tension and tightness in your head in
your mind and when you do that then
you're not pulled away thinking this and
that you're not cut off that caught up
in the story about what you're looking
at so your mind is pure and looking at
something and really intently looking at
it
watching your mind to see if there's any
tension or tightness and relaxing into
it it is not a bad thing it's a good
thing
what you have to be careful of is
getting so caught up in looking at one
thing that you lose everything else
around you if you lose everything else
around you if you don't hear anything if
you don't notice anything but what your
focus is on that is the kind of one
point of concentration there has to be
the relaxing in there there has to be
the awareness of that tension and
tightness when it first starts to a
right you have to notice that there is
tension when you're holding on and
keeping one thing in front of you and
when you develop your concentration to a
certain depth it will stop or suppress
the hindrances from arising anytime you
stop or suppress distractions from
taking your mind out of the present
moment
you're not seeing how the process of
mine actually works and you need to
practice relaxing more so you can see
how your mind jumped from this point
over to that point it didn't all of a
sudden just appear there is a process
that happens minds movement is contained
we going from one thing to another and
you have to be able to recognize how
Minds attention moves from one thing to
another this is not only during the
sitting practice this is during the
entire day so when you see that you're
over focusing to things that you can do
relax and laugh when you laugh it
changes your perspective a little bit
and that lightens up your mind so that
you can see that you were focusing a
little bit too heavily and relaxed again
and lightly start looking at things but
watch how Minds attention moves from one
thing to another that's where the real
lesson is in meditation that's what
meditation is for it's not to develop
this mind that's so extremely
concentrated that you forget everything
else that you're you're you forget to
see anything else that arises an awful
lot of people are caught in one pointed
concentration and they
they are extremely relaxed they're very
tranquil and blissful when they stay on
one object of meditation and it's true
they are but they're not learning how my
attention moves from one thing to
another because the force of the
concentration stops mine from moving
around and there's all kinds of weird
things that can happen when you get into
your one-pointed concentration you can
get ringing in your ears they call it
and the Brahmins and some of the yoga
people call it the who experience where
they have this sound that's always and
they think this is really neat that's
always happening in their air they lose
their balance very easily they can get
over concentrated when they're doing
simple mundane things like driving in a
car and not see what what else is around
them this is dangerous
you don't want to be caught like that
you want to have full awareness and
that's one of the definitions of the
Buddha's meditation is having full
awareness of everything anyway
okay on hearing a sound with the ear on
smelling an odor with the nose on
tasting a flavor with the tongue on
touching a tangible with the body on
cognizing a mind object with the mind a
noble disciple does not grasp at its
signs and features since if he left mind
faculty unguarded evil unwholesome
states of covetousness and grief might
invade him he practices the way of its
restraint he guards the mind faculty
undertakes the restraint of the mind
faculty and that is how the noble
disciple guards the doors of his sense
faculties and how is a noble disciple
moderate in eating this sounds like kind
of a weird thing to be moderate in
eating during the time of the Buddha
that they had famines and all kinds of
nasty things so when food was around
they would really pack it in and eat a
lot afraid that a famine might be coming
so when you overeat what happens is all
that energy that you would normally be
putting into watching how your
atención moons goes to your stomach and
that Energy starts to zap your body
energy and you feel kind of lazy after
you need a big meal and this is because
of over filling your stomach now when
the Buddha talked about eating there was
a couple things that I've noticed is
that people that are overweight they
don't chew their food very much they'll
chew their food three or four times and
swallow when the Buddha ate he chewed
until everything in his mouth turned to
liquid and then he would swallow now
what's the advantage of doing that it
helps your digestion immeasurably
because the saliva needs to get mixed up
with your food that's the first part of
your digestion so another thing that
happens with people that are overweight
is they tend to eat very fast in other
words in five or ten minutes they'll eat
an entire plate of food when you start
slowing down and chewing your food then
you're not gonna eat a meal in five or
ten minutes it's going to take a half an
hour or 45 minutes to eat your food I
had some friends that were doctors and I
was staying at a monastery
and he said we would like to eat with
you and I said fine I'm gonna eat with
my bowl right here you can eat over
there and I had taken just started my
second spoon of food and they had
cleaned their plates and we're getting
up and starting to walk away I couldn't
believe that anybody could eat that fast
doctors are supposed to be healers right
they're not treating their own bodies
very well and this is one of the reasons
that a lot of doctors don't live to be
very old because they they spend their
time quote healing other people that
they don't heal themselves they don't
take care of themselves
so when your stomach gets half full then
you stop eating and you drink water till
your stomach is three-quarters full
and then you're done you leave the rest
for air when you do this your body will
stay very healthy
and you don't get the munchies so much
the cravings for this or that because
you're actually digesting the food more
than you normally would you eat quickly
so this is one of the things that the
Buddha noticed that was a real important
aspect for people during his time was to
be moderate and eating even till your
stomach is a full drink water and made
some room for error now a lot of people
they notice that I only eat one meal a
day and they think that that's really
peculiar how can you stay healthy when
you eat one meal a day I stay healthier
eating one meal a day than I do when I
have to last day
when I was in Australia I went there on
the shortest day of the year and on
Australia which was June 21st or
whatever it was and we went out and we
stayed at this place out in the forest
and it was cold the frost would stay on
the ground until sometimes 11 o'clock in
the morning yep this cold I was eating
one meal a day never caught a cold then
it started warming up I've been there
about five months or so and I started
going around and being around people
that were eating breakfast and before
long I was taking a little bite of this
or a little bite of that and then I
started eating a breakfast and
immediately they caught a cold
then I backed off and I went to one meal
a day the cold went away very quickly in
one or two days and I didn't catch a
cold again so
I know that there's an awful lot of
ideas about food out there and how out
of it
breakfast is your most important meal
well one meal a day is fine you don't
mean to eat more than that but it does
take getting used to and you have to
know how to eat you have to know what is
soft food that digest is very fast and
what is hard food that kind of sticks to
your ribs so you don't wind up being
hungry all the time so hard foods would
be beans sticky rice things like that
some nuts but if you're going to eat
nuts you want to soak your nuts in water
at least 12 hours before you good for
your body
okay here
wisely reflecting a noble disciple takes
food neither for amusement nor for
intoxication nor for the sake of
physical beauty or in attractiveness but
only for the endurance and continuance
of this body for ending this comfort and
for assisting the holy life consider
thus I shall terminate old feelings
without arousing new feelings and I
shall be healthy and blameless and live
in comfort that is how a noble disciple
is moderate and food some of the rules
of the monks are kind of interesting
concerning food because there were monks
that because you don't eat after 12
o'clock they got this idea that they're
going to eat their fill and then throw
up and then eat more and that turned
into not such a good idea
so the Buddha made rules not to eat that
way and one of the rules that I've
always loved is that it says that you
can't take a lump of rice bigger than a
peacock egg and put it in your mouth all
at the same time into it that makes your
cheeks bulge out when you're chewing
peacock you know what a size of peacock
8 and that somebody told me well the
size of a chicken egg is okay do you
know how much food that is to put it in
your mouth I mean that's a huge amount
of food maybe they were talking about it
could be because yeah because you know
there and this is one of the sticking
points with a lot of people they say you
know we can't attain what people did
during the time of the Buddha because
they were more pure than we are today
and we have so many rules that are so
disgusting with the things that the
monks did at that time they weren't any
different than we are today the whole
thing comes down to following the
directions precisely in exactly as the
Buddha laid them out and that means the
importance of relaxing can't be
overstated
every time you relax you let go of
craving every time you let go of craving
you are purifying your mind and that is
the cessation of suffering so relaxing
noticing when there is tension and
tightness being able to recognize it
release it
relax smile
important part of the meditation then
you return your mind back to your object
of meditation and repeat keep going
continue on that's what we call the six
R's and that's exactly how to meditate
according to the Buddhist teaching
people success with practicing the six
RS is just one step short of phenomenal
I mean it's really good understanding
how Minds attention moves becomes much
easier to see and to notice how this
process works of minds attention moving
from one thing to another and that's
what the the directive that the Buddha
gave us gave us this directive to be
able to watch how Minds attention moves
from one thing to another
how it tightens down around some things
how emotions get carried away in how you
can let those unwholesome states go and
how is a noble disciple devoted to
wakefulness here during the day while
walking back and forth and sitting a
noble disciple purifies his mind from of
obstructive States in the first watch of
the night while walking back and forth
the city he purifies his mind of
obstructive States in the middle watch
of the night he lies down on his right
side and the Lions pose with one foot
overlapping the other mindful and fully
aware after waked after noting in his
mind that
per Isaac after rising in the third
watch of the night while walking back
and forth them sitting he purify his
mind of obstructive state that is how a
noble disciple is devoted to wakefulness
when I first became a monk I was told
flat out you don't need to meditate
right now you need to learn what being a
monk is all about watch what happens
with your mind while you're walking back
and forth and said just watch and when
somebody that's a layman for 40 years
takes on the monks robes they still have
40 years worth of old habitual
tendencies with your mind and you get a
chance to watch that now the first watch
of the night is from 7 o'clock until 11
evening the second watch of the night
that you sleep is from 11 o'clock until
3 o'clock and the third watch of the
night is from 3 o'clock until 7 o'clock
in the morning
so they recommended that you only get
four hours sleep and that's difficult at
least when you first take on the ropes
and they start doing that kind of
practice you walk around being tired for
a lot and I didn't see that that was
necessarily a good thing but I did it
anyway
but being devoted to wakefulness means
watching how your old habitual
tendencies come up your dislikes your
judgments your ideas how you make
stories up about other people that you
see all of this kind of stuff comes up
and get a chance to watch how that
happens so
and how does a noble disciple possess
seven good qualities here in noble
disciple has faith he places his faith
in the two Daugava enlightened at
agatha's enlightenment fest the blessed
one has accomplished fully enlightened
perfect in true knowledge and conduct
sublime nor of the world's incomparable
leader of persons to be tamed teacher of
gods and humans enlightened and blessed
he has shame is ashamed of misconduct in
body speech and mind ashamed of engaging
and evil unwholesome deeds he has fear
of wrongdoing he is afraid of misconduct
and body speech and mind afraid of
engaging in the evil and wholesome deeds
he has learned much remembers what he
has learned that consolidates what he
has learned such teachings are such
teachings as are good in the beginning
good in the middle
and good at the end with the right
meaning and phrasing and affirm a holy
life that is utterly perfect and pure
such teachings as these he has learned
much of remembered recited verbally
investigated with the mind and
penetrated well by view when during the
time of the Buddha he was always talking
about perfecting your body speech and
mind as much as possible and being
ashamed of doing things that it's
considered misconduct is a way of
developing your mind so you won't do
that anymore it's learning how to be
aware and when people first ordained
they have to learn all of these things
and it's not an easy task when you
ordained it's like before you are Dane
you had a lot of padding around you and
you didn't have a lot of real strong
awareness but when you were a Dane it's
like all of that padding is taken away
and the slightest little touch or
misconduct causes pain so you become
more and more aware of how that process
works so you don't you know you have
fear of wrongdoing you don't want to
make mistakes because you understand
that the immediate Carmel will come back
and pinch you a little bit let you know
that the
wasn't a good thing to happen now as far
as he has learned much remembers what he
has learned and consolidates what he has
learned that is for the meditators
consolidating what we learned is taking
the six arts and practicing the six arts
that is a full path completely but
that's consolidating that's making it
simple so that you can do that during
the time of the Buddha there were monks
that didn't want to do anything like
that they just wanted to memorize all of
the soot is that the Buddha the
discourse is that that would have gained
so they would sit around all day
memorizing and wreath reciting out loud
now this is talking about both kinds of
monks in this particular part of the
suit
he is energetic in abandoning
unwholesome States in undertaking
wholesome States he is steadfast firm
and striving not remiss in developing
the wholesome States the more fun you
have with your meditation and the more
you smile into things and the more
interest you put into developing your
smile and your uplifted mind the easier
the meditation becomes no this is what
is talking about is he is energetic and
abandoning unwholesome states every time
you see your mind starting to get heavy
about anything then that is considered
an unwholesome state why because you're
starting to identify with those thoughts
and feeling and taking the personal when
you let go of that heaviness of mind and
you start relaxing and smiling your mind
becomes uplifted and that is wholesome
the more you develop your wholesome mind
that uplifted mind that sense of fun in
life and relaxing the more pure your
mind it works
and it works quite well he has
mindfulness he possesses the highest
mindfulness and skill he recalls and
recollect what was done long ago
and spoken long ago I don't understand
why they are talking about mindfulness
in this way they're talking about not
mindfulness they're talking about memory
and how in every morning we we read some
of the verses of the Dhammapada about
practicing joy and the more you practice
joy the more you remember doing it the
more joyful you become that's what this
is talking about remembering uplifting
wholesome things from the past but not
dwelling them identifying with them just
remembering that feeling so you can have
that feeling come up the more you have
this happy feeling this uplifted feeling
and give that feeling away the more
relief you have in your practice
and how is a noble disciple one who
attains at will without trouble or
difficulty the four Jonah's that
constitute the higher mind and provide a
pleasant abiding here and now here quite
secluded from sensual pleasures you
remember what you do with sensual
pleasures you'll allow them to be
without getting involved with them when
you are truly secure the secluded from
sensual pleasures while you're sitting
in meditation your eyes are closed okay
when we are quite secluded from sensual
pleasures that mean when you're sitting
in meditation you close your eyes and
the central pleasure of seeing is very
secluded at that time because you can't
see anything when there is a distracting
sound you hear people talking there
might be music whatever as soon as you
notice that Romanian goes to that
distraction and let that distraction go
relax and come back to your object of
meditation that is how you become
secluded from the sensual pleasure of
hearing and it's the same with all of
this s doors being secluded from
unwholesome States that means that
whenever
and rinse arises you see how it arises
you know that'd be you relax and come
back to your object of meditation after
you do that that attendance becomes
weaker and weaker until it disappears
when that disappears you have a sense of
relief and then you have a lot of joy
arising when you have this kind of joy
then no more hindrances at that time
will arise
a noble disciple enters upon and abides
in the first job you have joy of arising
which is an uplifted joy is very light
in your mind light in your body when joy
arises that can turn into a distraction
if you try to hold on to it so you allow
that feeling to be there relax and come
back to your object of meditation after
a period of time that joy will fade away
and you start to feel very strong
tranquility of mind very peaceful very
calm and you feel very comfortable in
both mind
body this is what the Buddha called
happy your mind stays with your object
of meditation without any distractions
in it
it's very composed very collected on
your object of meditation with the
stilling of thinking and examining
thought he enters upon and abides in the
second round when you get into the
second jhana you have a lot of
self-confidence the joy that arises is
much stronger you feel much lighter in
your mind much lighter in your body you
will be smiled when the dry fades away
the tranquility is very strong and then
you start to feel scuse me that felt
that coming they couldn't stop and you
begin to feel really very comfortable in
your mind and in your body and your mind
is very very composed it's very much in
the games this is where when you're
practicing loving-kindness you stop
making a wish verbally in your mind if
you continue making a wish you will have
a headache when you stop and let go and
relax then this is called the state
excuse me I've gotta do it again it's
coming
it's mother please
this is called the state of global
silence where you don't verbalize a wish
these are all states that occur while
you're in the second jhana
I
that's much better
now with a fading away as well of joy he
enters upon and abides in the third
jhana when you get into the third jhana
the joy is of course the feeling now you
still have happiness arising and this is
a very comfortable feeling in your mind
and in your body I'm very comfortable
the tranquility you have is very strong
at this time you have equanimity you
start to get very strong balance of mind
but you have full awareness as you start
to let go of the tension and tightness
in your mind you start to lose sensation
in your body because that's what you're
feeling this tension and tightness so
you'll be sitting and all of a sudden
years you don't feel your legs or you
don't feel your harness or a hand or a
shoulder whatever
but whenever there is contact someone
come up and they would touch you to do
and feel that that's how you still have
full awareness because there is with the
abandoning of pleasure and pain he
enters upon and abides in the fourth
journal which has neither pain nor
pleasure and purity of mindfulness due
to equanimity once you get to the fourth
jhana you don't have any feeling really
arising in your body at all because
you've let go of all tension in your
head in your mind and if there is
contact you will know that you are being
touched but you have such strong
equanimity that it doesn't make your
mind shake it's just very strong balance
that is how a noble disciple is one who
attains at will without trouble or
difficulty the four jhanas that
constitute the eye or mind and provide a
pleasant abiding here and now when a
noble disciple has thus become one who
is possessed of virtue who guards the
doors of his head's faculties who is
moderate in heating who's devoted to
wakefulness who possesses seven good
qualities and who attains at will
without trouble or difficulty the four
dramas that constitute the higher mind
provide a pleasant abiding here and now
he is called one of hire training who
has entered upon the way and his eggs
are unspoiled and he's capable of
breaking out capable of enlightenment
capable of attaining the supreme
security from bondage suppose there were
a hen with eight or ten or twelve eggs
which she has covered incubated and
nurtured properly even though she did
did not wish
oh that my chicks might pierce their
shells with the points of their claws
and beaks and hatch out safely
yet the chicks are capable of piercing
out their shells with the points of
their claws and beaks and hatching out
safely so too when a noble disciple has
thus become one who is possessed of
virtue is called one of higher training
who has entered upon the way his eggs
are unspoiled and he is capable of
breaking out capable of enlightenment
capable of attaining the supreme
security from bondage based on that same
supreme mindfulness whose purity is Duty
equanimity this noble disciple
recollects his manifold past lives
okay when his concentrated mine is
purified bright and unblemished rid of
imperfections Manuel will be steady and
attained to imperturbability then though
all of this is ascribe to the fourth
drummer you have such strong balance of
mind when you direct your mind to the
knowledge of the recollection of past
lifetimes you have to start oh yeah I
won't show you how to do this until you
get to the fourth jhana because you need
that equanimity as you will remember
past lifetimes it's learning how to
develop that skill of memory but there
are some things that we've done in past
lifetimes that aren't very nice and
there are some things that are real
scary that have happened to us in our
past lifetimes unless you have that
strong equanimity it's not it's very
dangerous to remember perhaps lifetimes
that is why when we talk about some
people getting hypnotized that they
remember so many past lifetimes in this
kind of thing unless that person is very
skilled
it is dangerous it's not it's not a toy
to be played with
he recollects his manifold past lifetime
that is one birth to birth three birds
four Birds five birth ten births twenty
thirty forty fifty births a hundred
births a thousand births a hundred
thousand births many eons of world
contraction many hands of world
expansion many eons of world expect
contraction and expansion there I was so
named such of such a clan with such an
appearance with such was my detriment
such my experience my pleasure in pain
such my life term and passing away from
there
i reared elsewhere and there - I was so
named with such a clan such of
appearance such mine was my nutriment
such my experience of pleasure and gain
such my life term in passing away from
there I reappeared thus with these
aspects in particulars he recollects the
manifold past lives
this is as first breaking out like that
of the hem hands tricks from their
shells based on that same supreme
mindfulness whose purity is due to
equanimity with the divine eye which is
purified and surpasses the humans this
noble disciple sees beings passing away
and reappearing when is concentrated
mine is thus purified bright unblemished
rid of imperfections malleable will be
and steady and attained to
imperturbability he directs it to the
knowledge of the passing away and
reappearance of beings what happens is
this actually happens naturally by
itself you start remembering past
lifetimes and has your you start
remembering more and more past lifetimes
you start really understanding how karma
works and there's no doubt in your mind
that karma is real but you start gaining
more and more equanimity with all of
these past actions and what happens is
you will go deeper into your meditation
and when you go deeper in their meditate
you will see basically which what what
happens is you start visiting other
realms heavenly realms hell realms ghost
realms all of these animal realms all of
these kinds of different places and you
see how people are born there some of
their actions that got them there how
long they live and they pass away and
used to really start to get a feel of
how everything is impermanent and the
wheel of samsara is continually going
around and around he directs the it
directs his mind to the knowledge of the
era passing away and reappearance of
being with the divine eye which is
purified and surpasses the human he sees
beings passing away and reappearing
inferior and superior fair and ugly
fortunate and unfortunate he understands
how beings pass on according to their
actions thus these worthy beings who
were ill conducted in body speech and
mind revilers of noble ones wrong in
their views giving effect to the wrong
view in their actions on the dissolution
of the body after death have reappeared
in a state of deprivation in a bad
destination in perdition even in hell
but these worthy beings who were well
conducted in body speech and mind not
prevail revilers of noble ones right in
their reviews giving a giving effect to
right view in their
actions on the dissolution of the body
after death have reappeared in a good
destination even in a heavenly world
thus with the divine eye which is
purified and surpasses the human he sees
beings passing away and reappearing
inferior and superior fair and ugly
fortunate and unfortunate and they
understand how beings pass on according
to their actions based on that same
supreme mindfulness whose purity is due
to equanimity by realizing for himself
with direct knowledge this noble
disciple here and now enters upon and
abides in the deliverance of mind and
deliverance by wisdom that our taint
--less with the destruction of the teens
this is the third breaking out that the
hinge chicks from their shells what
happens is after a period of time you
will be experiencing the cessation of
perception and feeling mine just clicks
off for a little bit when the perception
and feeling arises again you will see
the links of dependent origination and
that's what this means when it says
deliverance by wisdom every time the
word wisdom is used in the suit as it is
talking about seeing dependent
origination and how they didn't
origination was so what you see is what
you gain is deep understanding of how
this process of Isis and passes away and
you see very clearly for yourself that
this is an impersonal process and this
impersonal process means that there's
only cause and effect relationships that
are continually arising and passing away
arising and passing away
it's birth death birth
when you see this and you actually
understand it then there is the
experience of Nirvana that occurs so
that what we just went through is it's
called the TV ja t means three Vedra
means knowledge azure wisdoms and this
is the way that the Buddha experienced
navona he got to the fourth jhana that
he started remembering this past
lifetimes and he saw the rising and
passing away of beings and then he had
the experience of the cessation of
perception and feeling and seeing
dependent origination
when a noble disciple is possessed of
virtue that pertains to his conduct when
he guards the doors of his sense
faculties that pertains to his conduct
when he's moderate in meeting that
pertains to his conduct when he's
devoted to wakefulness that pertains to
his conduct when he possesses seven good
qualities that pertains to his conduct
when he is one who obtains at will
without trouble or difficulty before
dramas that constitute the higher mind
and provide a pleasant abiding here and
now that pertains to his conduct when he
recollects the manifold past lives with
their aspects of particulars that
pertains to his true knowledge when his
divine went with the divine eye he sees
beings passing away and reappearing and
understands how beings passed on
according to their actions that pertains
to his true knowledge when by realizing
for himself with direct knowledge he
here and now enters upon and abides in
the deliverance of mind and deliverance
by wisdom that our taint 'less with the
destruction of the tapes that pertains
to his true knowledge this noble
disciple is thus said to be perfect in
true knowledge perfect in conduct
perfect in true true knowledge and
conduct and this stanza was uttered by
the Brahman the noble plan is held to be
the best of people as to lineage but the
best of gods and humans is one perfect
and true knowledge
kondeh now that stands as well was well
sung by this Brahmin
not ill sung it was well spoken not ill
spoken it has meaning it is not
meaningless and it was approved of by
the blessed one when the blessing one
rose and addressed the venerable Ananda
thus good Ananda it is good that you
have spoken to the sake ins of capital
about - about the disciple in the higher
training who has entered upon the way
that was what the venerable Ananda said
the teacher approved and the sake ins of
capilla vaatu were satisfied and
delighted in the venerable Ananda words
so that turned into a lot longer suited
than I thought it with
the the true knowledge is that the
Buddha experienced on the night of his
enlightenment were real eyeopener's for
him but he had already experienced
seeing past life times before and he had
already experiencing the arising and
passing away of beings before and he did
understand dependent origination but he
had never realized those knowledge and
not the night of his enlightenment he
did realize those he saw them without
beyond the shadow of a doubt that this
is real this is the way this purpose
right before he became enlightened he
was attacked by a lot of hindrances big
time he had to work with those in
Princes by his not getting caught up in
the hindrances and allowing them to be
and relaxing into him coming back to his
object of meditation those hindrances
faded away and because those hindrances
were there and that's where his false
idea and herself was when he let those
go it was such a sense of relief and
that the experience of
and the cessation of all suffering
occurred the hindrances are very
necessary part of the practice you get
tired of hearing me say it don't you
they are very necessary because they are
showing you where your attachment is
they're showing you where your old
habitual tendencies always take you and
as you become more familiar with how
mines intention goes to those inferences
and how they arise you are teaching
yourself over and over again how the
process of dependent origination
actually does work a very necessary part
of the practice
so anything else sure Samantha
the suffering ones be suffering free and
the feared struck ferrets being near the
grieving shed all grief and may all
beings find relief they all being share
this merit that we have thus acquired
for the acquisition of happiness may
beings inhabiting space and earth Davis
and Nagas of mighty power share this
merit of ours may Allah protect on the
Buddhist dispensation
you