From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=n6FYSULTvco

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

Oh

the suit to tonight is the Chula sunyata

suta number 121 the shorter discourse on

voidness thus have I heard on one

occasion the blessed one was living in

sawadee in the eastern park in the

palace of majora's mother then when it

was evening the venerable amount ananda

rose from meditation went to the Blessed

One after paying homage to him sat down

at one side and said to the Blessed One

venerable sir on one occasion the

blessed one was living at the sake and

country where there's a town of the sake

ins named Naga raga there venerable sir

I heard and learned this from the

blessed one's own lips now Ananda I

often abide in voidness did I hear that

correctly venerable sir did I learned

that correctly attend to that correctly

remember that correctly certainly Ananda

you heard that correctly learned that

correctly and attended that correctly

remembered that correctly as formerly

Ananda so now I too often abide in

voidness Ananda just as this palace of

majora's mother is void of elephants

cattle horses and mares void of gold and

silver void of the Assembly of men and

women there is present only this non

voidness namely the singleness dependent

on the Sangha of monks so to a monk not

attending to perception of a village not

attending to the perception of people

attends to the singleness depend

dependent on the perception of forest

his mind enters into that perception of

forest and acquires confidence

steadiness and resolution he understands

whatever disturbances there might be

dependent on the perception of village

those are not present here whatever

disturbance there might be dependent on

the perception of people those are not

present here there is only this amount

of disturbance namely the singleness

dependent on the perception of forest he

understands this field of perception is

void of the perception of village this

field of perception is void of the

perception of people there's only

present this non voidness namely the

singleness dependent on a perception of

forest thus he regards it as void of

what is not there but as to what remains

to what remains there he understands

that which is present thus this is

present the sananda this is his genuine

undistorted peer descent into voidness

okay

again Ananda a monk not attending to the

perception of people not attending to

the perception of forest attends to the

singleness dependent on the perception

of the kissena earth the earth element

his mind enters into that perception of

earth and acquires confidence steadiness

and resolution just as a bull's hide

becomes free from folds when fully

stretched with a hundred pigs so to a

monk not attending to any ridges or

hollows of this earth into the rivers

and ravines the tracks of stumps the

thorns the mountains and uneven places

attends to the singleness dependent on

the perception of Earth this actually i

think is coming from the vasudha maaga

because there's a big big section on the

earth element when it starts talking

about one pointed concentration and I'm

eager to find out what the what the sub

commentary says about that his mind

enters into the perception of earth

acquires confidence steadiness and

resolution he understands thus whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the perception of people those are not

present here whatever disturbances there

might be dependent on the perception of

forest those are not present here there

is present only this amount of

disturbance namely the singleness

dependent on the perception of

he understands this field of perception

his void of the perception of people

this field of perception is void of the

perception of forest there is present

only this non voidness namely the

singleness dependent on the perception

of earth and thus he regards it as void

of what is not there but as to what

remains there he understands that which

is present thus this is present the

sananda this too is his single genuine

undistorted pure descent into voidness

again ananda a monk not attending to the

perception of forest not attending to

the perception of earth attends to the

singleness dependent on the perception

of the base of infinite space he's

talking about getting to the 4th jhana

and now he's experiencing infinite space

his mind enters into that perception of

the base of infinite space and acquires

confidence steadiness and resolution he

understands thus whatever disturbances

there might be dependent on the

perception of forest those are not

present here whatever disturbances there

might be dependent on the perception of

Earth those are not present here there

is present only the amount of

disturbance namely the singleness

dependent on the perception of the base

of infinite space he understands this

field of perception is void of the

perception of forest this field of

perception is void of the perception

of Earth there is present only this non

voidness namely the singleness dependent

on the perception of the base of

infinite space thus he regards it as

void of what is not there but as to what

remains he understands that which is

present thus this is present the sananda

this too is his genuine undistorted pure

descent into voidness again ananda a

monk not attending to the perception of

earth not attending to the perception of

the base of infinite space attends to

the singleness dependent on the

perception of the base of infinite

consciousness his mind enters into that

perception of the base of infinite

consciousness and acquires confidence

steadiness and resolution he understands

thus whatever disturbances there might

be dependent on the perception of Earth

those are not present here whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the perception of the base of infinite

space those are not present here there

is present only this amount of

disturbance namely the singleness

dependent on the perception of the base

of infinite consciousness he understands

this field of the perception this field

of perception is void of the perception

of Earth this field of perception is

void of the perception of infinite

consciousness there is present only this

non voidness namely the singleness

dependent on the perception of the base

of infinite consciousness thus he

regards that

as void of what is not there but as to

what remains there he understands that

which is present thus this is present

the sananda this too is is genuine

undistorted pure descent into voidness

no this isn't the full Sam mutiny kya

where oh okay yeah now this is this is

the old version they put it all into one

book in the polytek society they have it

in five books and he put it all into one

so that you get to carry around a book

that weighs five pounds which doesn't

sound like a lot but when you have two

or three books that each of them weigh

the same thing that it starts to get

problem again Ananda a monk not

attending to the perception of the base

of infinite space not attending to the

perception of the base of infinite

consciousness attends to the singleness

dependent on the perception of the base

of nothing's his mind enters into that

perception of the base of nothingness

and acquires confidence steadiness and

resolution he understands whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the perception of infinite space those

are

those are not present here whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the perception of the base of infinite

consciousness those are not present here

there's present only this amount of

disturbance namely the singleness

dependent on the perception of the base

of nothingness he understands us feel

the perception is void of the perception

of the base of infinite space this field

of perception is void of the perception

of the base of infinite consciousness

there is present only this non-void

pneus namely the singleness dependent on

the perception of the base of

nothingness thus he regards it as void

of what is not there but as to what

remains there he understands that which

is present thus this is present the

sananda this too is is genuine

undistorted pure descent into voidness

again ananda a monk not attending to the

perception of base of infinite

consciousness not attending to the

perception of the base of nothingness

attends to the singleness dependent on

the perception of the base of neither

perception nor non perception his mind

enters into that perception of the base

of neither perception or non perception

and acquires confidence steadiness and

resolution he understands thus whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the perception of the base

infinite consciousness those are not

present here whatever disturbances there

might be dependent on the perception of

the base of nothingness those are not

present here there is present only this

amount of disturbance namely the

singleness dependent on the perception

of the base of nothing had neither

perception or non perception he

understands this field of perception as

void of the perception of the base of

infinite consciousness this field of

perception is void of the perception of

the base of infinite nothing of

nothingness there's present only this

non-void 'no stainle the singleness

dependent on the perception of the base

of neither perception or non perception

thus he regards it as void of what is

not there but as to what remains he

understands that which is present thus

this is present the sananda this too is

is genuine undistorted pure descent into

voidness now what when you get to the

4th jhana your mind is not swinging so

much and what happens is you start

getting into vibration more and as you

go deeper the vibration becomes finer

and finer until you can't really tell

whether it's there or not

and then when you continue on and this

is this is why the six RS are so

incredibly important is because every

time you let go of craving you're

letting go of the need of mine to have

any movement at all you'll get to a

place where it stops there's not going

to be anything that will arise in your

mind nothing there's no feeling there's

no perception there's no consciousness

then when you come out of that state you

will see how dependent origination in

consciousness and all of the different

links actually work you'll see the cause

and effect of every one of these

different links arising and then if this

link or doesn't arise then that link

won't arise if that link want arised

this link wanna right and you'll see

that and as you're seeing this you're

seeing the Four Noble Truths in each

link and how they cease when you finally

let go of all ignorance there is the

experience of Nibhana your mind

immediately feels how I understand and

you'll be in the state of Nirvana for a

period of time it doesn't take very long

and when you come out of that state you

will have joy bubbling out of every cell

in your body and you come to me and say

well it's happened I've seen dependent

origination and I say yeah good and then

I say okay fine goose it but it's real

hard to sit that because it's it's such

an incredibly deep insight into the true

nature of everything how it arises and

how it ceases that you start reviewing

it naturally this this is called the

path knowledge okay in order to have the

fruition knowledge it will have to

happen again only you want to taint

Nibhana what will happen is you'll hit

the cessation of perception feeling in

consciousness you will see dependent

origination arise and how it ceases in

that like cements your your fruition

this is called the fruition

now when when the Buddha was discussing

the Sangha and all the good attributes

of the Sangha one of the things that it

talks about as the four pairs of

individuals so that would be the soda

panna and the soda panna with fruition

the sock tegami the sock tegami with

fruition the jana ghamidi on agami with

fruition the ARA hot and the ARA hot

with fruition there's no real true

personality change until you get to the

fruition so you have to be real careful

there's a suit to hear that talks about

that so you need to keep practicing and

you'll start seeing more and more in

detail how the past knowledge really

worked and you'll keep going deeper into

your practice until you finally have

that cessation again now the cessation

can happen at any time you can be

washing the dishes you can be going to

the toilet you can be taking a bath

you'd be working at something but you'll

feel it coming on and then you drop what

you're doing and just sit down for a

little while and then you will see the

cessation occur and when it comes back

then you will see the links of dependent

origination again

and that cements the view that cements

the personality change and if you just

get to the first stage of awakening

that's so dupatta you will not break a

precept for any reason at all on purpose

I mean they're they're our accident

somebody runs out in front of your in

the car and you didn't see them and you

kill them but there was no intention to

do that so there is no breaking of the

preset no because your mind will not

accept your breaking any precept on

purpose your mind will just reject it no

say you want to test and see whether

you're a soda Potter or not so you say

okay I'm going to say something I know

absolutely is not true you can think it

but it won't come out your mouth

you won't break any precept on purpose

and you have become what is commonly

known as a saint if you become a soda

panna at the most times you're going to

be reborn seven and seven different

lifetimes and you will never be reborn

lower than a human being that's really

strong stuff in case you were wondering

but sometime in that seven lifetimes you

will attain our hot chip and get off the

wheel of samsara if you go and you

become a socket egami that's a second

stage of awakening the socket agami the

first three fetters are gone they won't

arise anymore that means doubt in the

past belief that rites and rituals

really are leading to Nirvana and you

lose the belief in a personal self

doesn't mean you still don't have your

eyes and all of that just it's much

easier to recognize and let it go when

you experience the second stage of

awakening you will see dependent

origination arise and all of the links

arise and cease two types

when you become a socket egami you're

your lust and hatred become reduced very

draft drastically they are they're still

there but it's just not near as strong

when you get to the third stage of

awakening you will see the dependent

origination arise in pass away three

types lust and hatred are completely

eradicated they won't arise in your mind

for any reason

when you become an era hot that's the

fourth stage you will see the arising

and passing away of dependent

origination four times I'm not making

this up this is what happens and

unfortunately it's not from personal

experience I would love to be in Arad

but it hasn't happened I'm not an aura

sure why not no I'm not longing for it

i'm just saying i would really it would

be nice if i was how many more people

could i benefit if I was it would be

nice there's not enough of them in the

world

dinner'll life supposedly but I looked

real hard real long but I couldn't look

everywhere you know what I mean there

are very few let's put it that way

probably less than the fingers on my

hands oh they're dropping off like

leaves they became our hats after one

talk but they were all be able to get

there that fast they all had worked at

meditation very hard they just did the

wrong kind of meditation and all the

Buddha had to do was come and tweak it a

little bit for him and that was it when

you get the fruition of being a Nara hot

then there's five fetters that are

destroyed no more restlessness no more

sloth and torpor no more desire to be

reborn than in the other realm no more

pride

and no more ignorance nice think about

having a mind like that that would be

really nice there's nothing that could

ever knock your mind off balance cover

because you've seen the entire game

you've seen exactly how everything works

and you see exactly that there is no

controller would you still be alive yes

would you still go around and do this

and that yes but you do it you become a

servant for the Dhamma and you go around

and see different people and they ask

your questions and you give them this

absolutely brilliant clear answer

because there's no craving in your mind

at all this is like being plugged in to

the source

so there's some real advantage yeah

anyway he understands where am I oh good

again Ananda a monk not attending to the

perception of the base of nothingness

not attending to the perception of the

the base of neither perception or non

perception attends to the singleness

dependent on the sign lyst concentration

of mind his mind enters into that sign

less concentration of mind and acquires

confidence steadiness and resolution he

understands thus whatever disturbances

there might be dependent on the

perception of the base of nothingness

those are not present here whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the perception of the base of neither

perception or non perception those are

not present here there is present only

this amount of disturbance namely that

connected with the six bases that are

dependent on this body and conditioned

by life got it six cent stores he

understands this field of perception as

void of the perception of the base of

nothingness this feel the perception is

white of the perception of the base of

neither perception or non perception

there is present only this non voidness

namely that connected with the six bases

that are dependent on this body and

condition

by life thus he regards it as Boyd of

what is not there but as to what remains

there he understands that which is

present thus this is present the sananda

this too is his genuine and distorted

pure descent into voidness again ananda

a monk not attending to the perception

of the base of nothingness not attending

to the perception of the base of neither

perception or non protect perception

attends to the singleness dependent on

the silence collectiveness of mind his

mind enters into that Silas collected

pneus of mind and acquires confident

steadiness and resolution he understands

thus this Silas collected pneus of mind

is conditioned and volitional II

produced that is definitely not right

now if you can't make it happen

but whatever is conditioned and and

produced is impermanent subject to

cessation when he knows and sees thus

his mind is liberated from the taint of

central desire from the taint of being

from the taint of ignorance when it is

liberated there comes the knowledge it

is liberated he understands bertha's

destroyed the holy life has been lived

what had to be done has been done there

is no more coming to any state of being

he understands thus whatever

disturbances there might be dependent on

the taint of sensual desire those are

not present here whatever disturbances

there might be dependent on the taint of

being those are not present here

whatever disturbances there might be

dependent on the taint of ignorance

those are not present here there is

present only this amount of disturbance

namely that connected with the six bases

that are dependent on this body in

conditioned by life he understands this

field of perception is void of the taint

of sensual desire this field of

perception is void of the taint of being

this field of perception is void of the

taint of ignorance there is present only

this non voidness namely that connected

with the six bases that are dependent on

this body and conditioned by life thus

he regards it regards it as void of what

is not there but as to what remains

there he understands that which is

present thus this is present the sananda

this is his genuine and

Jordan pure descent into voidness

supreme and unsurpassed Ananda whatever

recluses and brahmins in the past

entered upon and abided in pure supreme

unsurpassed voidness all entered upon

and abided in this same voidness supreme

unsurpassed voidness whatever recluses

and brahmins in the future will enter

upon and abide in pure supreme

unsurpassed voidness all will enter upon

and abide in this same pure supreme

unsurpassed voidness whatever recluses

and brahmins in the present enter upon

and abide in pure supreme unsurpassed

voidness all enter upon and abide in

this same pure supreme unsurpassed

voidness therefore Ananda you should

train thus we will enter upon and abide

in pure supreme unsurpassed voidness

that is what the Blessed One said the

venerable Ananda was satisfied and

delighted in the Blessed ones words so

that gives you more of an idea of what

voidness is it's not nothing but that's

what an awful lot of people talk about

as being void that in suit does it does

use voidness in a few different ways not

only the way he described it here but

void of being a personal self in the

Vasudha maaga which is supposed to be

the Encyclopedia of meditation for the

tera vaada Buddhist venerable Buddha

gosa named 40 different meditations and

voidness meditation is not among them

and the void pneus of a self is not

among them I have found about I think it

was 52 different meditation objects

that's 12 more than pretty cosa fountain

but this is straight from the suit is so

i just mentioned two ways of of

attaining Nibhana that he didn't mention

at all and some of the ways that he

mentions that are questionable

so

it's always best even though the current

translation might be influenced pretty

heavily by the vasudha maaga it's still

best to go with this translation until I

can come up with my translation

so do you have any questions

the meditation I guess I mean there's

some were things that happened i don't

know if i should mention the order if

you don't know about it why would you

not mention it so when I don't know it's

been working as it's sometimes a

different thing happens what does that

mean so like one hour I'll feel kind of

this kind of sphere of loving-kindness

that's just kind of growing and the next

hour I'll just feel my head and it's

like I feel like it's a hot air balloon

like they like the helium balloon like

it's going to bounce around and see you

like that's right player can look down

at my god right that's what it feels

like yeah no problem

don't let that bubble be a hindrance and

letting it go out just let it go out as

big as far as it can don't break your

sitting keep yours keep your city and

going when you get up and you do your

walking and that gets a little weird

because all you feel is your head and

the bottom of your feet because that's

where the contact it even when I said

during your talk who's parse just was

good no problem okay now you're starting

to extend more and more and that's a

good thing

so how long is your longest city okay

that's good

walk no more than 45 minutes but stay

with lovingkindness tall beings because

when I you first told me I'm it you know

I'd be watching you try to push in all

directions no none that how it works at

all I do it I just let it come as if

gonna come how much I back off what is

what is it I tell you get out of the way

get out of the way let it grow as big as

it wants as fast as it what it's okay

and

one of the things I was doing wrong

before it was that I was you know

obviously trying to make things happen

number one there were two focusing on

you know trying to watch my mind and you

know wait for a hindrance to come up 6r

but if I just stay on object keep all my

focus on that feeling is kind of happy

Oh more naturally yes I always stay on

your objective meditation always always

also it's all the time it's just all

interesting stuff that's how I said I

learn more but this doesn't so I

understand not to worry okay good

they suffering ones be suffering free in

the fierce strut fearless be may the

grieving shed all grief and may all

beings find relief may all beings share

this merit that we've thus acquired for

the acquisition of all kinds of

happiness me beings inhabiting space and

earth Ava's and not as a mighty power

share this merit of ours may they long

protect the Buddha's dispensation Sabu