From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=da6ZO4luff8

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

[Music]

this discourse was the first discourse

given by

ahsoka's son

ahsoka's son was an arahat

can't think of his name right off

unfortunately

[Music]

but this is one of the favorite uh

discourses in

sri lanka

because it was the first

the second discourse

was

uh the smaller smaller

discourse on the

simile of the elephant's footprint that

was given by his daughter who was an

aaron

so

cold here

i'm walking in the cold always takes my

breath away so it takes a minute

thus as i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living at sawati and

jettas grove veneth and pendicas park

there are the venerable sorry puta

dressed amongst us friends

friend they replied the venerable sorry

puta said this

this is how they address themselves in

the sangha just as friend it didn't

matter whether they were

a senior monk or a junior monk

they were called a wusso friend

when

the buddha

was on his

dying day

he told ananda

that

the senior monks

need to be called

ante

and that's what i go by and a lot of

people think that's my first name

but it's not

it's

a very highly polite way of addressing a

monk

so anytime you talk with a mob

please

talk with reverence and

politeness by saying bante

okay

friends

just as a foot

footprint of any living being walks

can be placed within the elephant's

footprint

and so the elephant's footprint is

declared the chief among

them because of its great size

so too all wholesome states been can be

included in the four noble truths

as i keep reading the form the

different sutas i start

seeing the four noble truths more and

more

in each suta

it's kind of like it's hidden

but it's there

so it gets to be kind of fun to read the

suit does

and find out

where the four noble trues are

it's a it's a good fun exercise

what are the four

in the noble truth of suffering

in the noble truth of the origin of

suffering

in the noble truth of the cessation of

suffering

and in the noble truth of the way

leading to the cessation of suffering

excuse me

and what is a noble truth of suffering

birth

is suffering

aging is suffering death is suffering

sorrow lamentation pain grief and

despair are suffering

not to obtain what one wants is

suffering

and it seems to me that that's that's

the standard way of talking about the

first noble truth

but i always put

getting what you don't want

is suffering

and it seems like it should be added

into that but that's just my personal

opinion

the five aggregates affected by craving

and clinging are suffering

and what are the five aggregates

affected by craving and clinging

they are material form aggregate

affected by craving and

clinging the feeling aggregate affected

by craving and clinging

the perception aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

the formation aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

the consciousness aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

now

the

five aggregates

and the four foundations of mindfulness

are a different way of saying the same

thing

and it says that in many other suttas

so

and what is a material form affect a

material form aggregate affected by

craving and cleaning

the four great elements

and the material form derived from the

four grade elements

every one of the elements has the

elements in it

but just the different degrees and

that's why you have the difference

between hot and soft and

and

uh so on

and what are the four great elements

they are the earth element the water

element the fire element

and the air element

in chinese medicine they say there's

five elements

and they put space in there

but space

is

one of the four elements

they're just more of one than there is

the other

so

the earth element

and what friend is the earth element

the earth element may be either internal

or external

what is the internal earth element

whatever internally belonging to oneself

is solid

solidified craved and clung to

that is head hairs body hairs nails

teeth

fleshing new bones bone marrow kidneys

heart

liver diaphragm spleen lungs and large

intestines small intestines

contents of the stomach

or feces

whatever else internally belonging to

oneself is solid solidified craved and

clung to

that is called the internal earth

element

now both the internal earth element and

the external earth element are simply

earth element

now when

people talk about the casinos

they are talking about

uh the hindu kind of practice it's a

one-pointed kind of concentration

unfortunately it's mixed in with some of

the suttas here

when the buddha was talking about the

different elements he was talking about

the five aggregates and and so on

so it's a little bit different

and that should be seen as it actually

is with proper wisdom thus oh i find um

you may know you may not know i i did

the earth casino for

uh about six weeks

and i could do all kinds of interesting

things with it but i didn't see it

leading anywhere so i stopped doing it

so i really don't recommend doing the

earth element unless you want or any of

the other elements unless you want to

learn eventually how to develop

psychic abilities walking through the uh

a mountain

diving into the earth and coming out

things like that

i had a student that was very very good

at that

and wherever i happened to be she'd come

and visit

and one day she forgot to take into

account the

uh time change and she called me at two

o'clock in the morning or she came in at

two o'clock in the morning she was in my

room

and i told her don't ever do that again

i don't ever want to see you again

this is wrong practice and i don't want

anything to do with it

so that was the last time we saw her

the thing is when you start seeing

things as they actually are with proper

wisdom

this is not mine this i am not this is

not myself

everything on the human plane

is impersonal

now last week i talked a little bit

about disenchantment

and

disenchantment means

which is quite interesting you lose

your emotional excitement about things

okay

now it doesn't mean you still will

keep your precepts or you can still do

other things it's just that you don't

have the emotional attachments to them

and i was watching a basketball game on

on

television and there was great stuff

that was happening these guys are truly

athletic and they're wonderful to watch

but i started noticing that i didn't

have

any emotional thoughts about the game

about who won who didn't win

it didn't matter

and that's because disenchantment

and i've watched other things and and

done some things with some suttas

and i see that i don't think about what

i'm doing

i just do it

without any disturbance

so i i can be walking along

i might have some thoughts about what

i'm seeing

or feeling at the time

but i don't have any

habitual

chatter

going on in my mind

and there's so much relief on that

so

it's just an observation that i'm giving

you about the advantages of getting into

the higher ghana so that you can

actually experience this

it's good fun

when one sees it thus as it actually is

with proper wisdom one becomes

disenchanted with the earth element and

makes his mind

dispassionate towards the earth element

that just means letting go of all

emotional stuff

and that's that way with every one of

the elements

now there comes a time when the water

element is disturbed

and when the external water element

vanishes

when even this external water element

great as it is

is seen to be impermanent

subject to

destruction disappearance

and change

what if this body

which is craved and clung to by craving

and lasts for a short while

there can be no considering that i or my

or mine or i am

so then if others abuse reviles gold

harass a monk

who has seen this element as it actually

is

he understands thus

this painful feeling

born of ear contact

has arisen in me

that is dependent not independent

dependent on what

dependent on contact

when he sees that contact is impermanent

that feeling is impermanent

that perception is impermanent

that formations are impermanent

and that consciousness is impermanent

and his mind having made an element its

objective support

enters into that new objective support

and acquires confidence steadiness and

resolution

this is a natural outcome of

disenchantment

now if others attack that monk in ways

that are

unwished for and desire disagreeable by

contacts with fists with clods with

sticks or knives

he understands thus

this body is of such a nature that

contact with fists clots sticks and

knives

assail it

but there

but this has been said by the blessed

one and his advice on the assembly of

this all

monks

even if bandits

excuse me

were to sever you savagely limb by a

limb with a two-handed saw

he who gave rise to a mind of hate

towards them

would not be carrying out my teaching

that sounds pretty radical

but when you have disenchantment you're

not going to be pulling up hatred and

and

revenge and all of these other things

that are attached to unwholesome states

so tireless energy shall be aroused in

me

and unremitting mindfulness established

unremitting mindfulness means

observing how mind's attention moves

and gets caught up in things

my body shall remain

tranquil and untroubled my mind

collected and unified

and now let contact with this clod

sticks and knives a sailless body

for this is just how the buddha's

teaching is practiced

that doesn't mean you don't get out of

the way of those sort of things

you avoid them as much as possible

but if you see someone else being

attacked you'll get in the middle of

that

and that that attack will stop

when that monks

thus

recollects the buddha

the dhamma and the sangha if equinemnity

supported by wholesome does not become

established in him

then he arouses a sense of urgency thus

it is a loss for me it is no gain for me

it is bad for me it is no good for me

that when i thus recollect the buddha

dhamma and sangha

equanimity supported by the wholesome

does not become established in me

one of the protections

that i've practiced and i've practiced

three months of reciting these

nine times a day

i got pretty good and i could i could

go through

the beads

very fast

and i could do the nine rounds

of that in about 10 minutes

that means that i was very skilled at

that time

i've since not done it so much

but

it takes longer now but not that much

longer it's maybe 15 minutes instead of

10 minutes

when you recite

the good qualities of the buddha dhamma

and sangha

fear will not arise in your mind at all

this is the advantage

of

doing this practice

an interesting thing happened to me

while i was doing the good qualities of

the buddha was

an image apply a rose in my mind of the

buddha shaking his head like he was

agreeing with what i was doing

and i got real excited by that

i thought that was really something

and it was

just as when a daughter-in-law seeks her

father-in-law

she arouses a sense of urgency to please

him

so too when that monk thus recollects a

buddha dhamma and sangha

if equinemnity supported by the

wholesome does not become established in

him he arouses that sense of urgency

but if when he recollects a buddha

dhamma and sangha

equanimity supported by the wholesome

becomes established in him

then he is satisfied with it

at that point friends

much has been done by that monk

a water element

what friends is the water element the

water element may be either internal or

external

what is the internal water element

whatever internally belonging to oneself

is water watery craved and clung to

now this set of

water elements are the things that

when i was doing

uh

the foulness of the body meditation

which should only be done with a teacher

uh

it always my body always disgusted me

when i got to this point it was real

easy to be oh

why do i want this to continue

this body is full of so many foul

bad smelling things

anyway

bile phlegm pus blood sweat fat

tears grease spittles snot

oil of the joints

urine or whatever else internally

belonging to oneself is water watery

craved and clung to

this is called the internal water

element

when i was teaching a bunch of college

students they were

20 21 22 years old and their

hormones were really starting to act up

and they started complaining about

the

lust coming up in their mind

so i told them the next time you see a

beautiful person walk by

turn them inside out

tell me how beautiful their pus and

blood and snot and oil of the joints are

oh what a lovely liver you have

i haven't seen a set of intestines like

that for a long time

and what happens in your mind is you you

lose lust

it just won't stay anymore

now this is another part of the

enchantment that happens

is you you lose the

lustful feelings

now both the internal water element and

external water element are simply water

element

and that should be seen as it actually

is with proper wisdom thus

this is not mine this i am not this is

not myself

when one sees it thus as it actually is

with proper wisdom

one becomes disenchanted with the water

element

and makes his mind dispassionate towards

the water element

now there comes a time when the external

water element is disturbed

it carries away villages towns cities

districts and countries

there comes a time when the waters in

the great

ocean sink down 100 leagues 200

up to 500

or a thousand leagues

there comes a time when the waters of

the great ocean stand seven palms deep

all the way down to one palm tree there

comes a time

when the water

in the great ocean stands seven thousand

feet

deep

down to one

there comes a time when the waters of

the great ocean stand half a fathom deep

only waist deep only knee deep

only ankle deep

there comes a time when the waters in

the great ocean are not enough

to even

wet one joint of the finger

this is over huge long periods of time

this happens

because everything is changing right

the only change there is in the universe

is change itself

it sounds really profound and it is

but try to try to try to tell me one

thing that doesn't change

oh my everlasting love for my mate

that changes sometimes in one day

everything is in a state of impermanence

and because of that it's really

unsatisfactory

it's re it hurts

everything is changing this is one thing

that

a lot of religions

they are looking for something that is

everlasting and never changing

so they say well god is that way

but the only

good definition you can give to god with

that kind of a

philosophy

is god is impermanent

interesting

even when this external water element

great as it is

is seen to be impermanent subject to

destruction

disappearance and change

what of this body

that is craved and cloned to by craving

and

lasts for but a short well

there can be no considering that as i or

my over i am

so with others

if others abuse revile scold and harass

a monk

who has seen this water element as it

actually is

he understands

that everything is impermanent

at that point too friends

much has been done by that monk

the fire

no friend what is the fire element

that's heat cold

the fire element may be either internal

or external what is internal fire

whatever internally belonging to oneself

is fire fiery craves and clung to

that is

that by which one is warmed ages and is

consumed

and that by which what is eaten drunk

consumed tasted

gets completely digested

one of the things that

scientists and doctors

over

millennium have tried to figure out is

how to slow down

the heating process in the body so that

you can live longer

of course they haven't been able to do

it they talk about

well there was this one guy one time

where

i don't believe that either

so the thing is

heat

is

the cause of your

being born

growing up getting old

and dying

because of the heat

what's the cause of heat

you know

breathing

well

as a baby i can't control whether

there's heat or not well yeah you can

because in your past lifetimes

you broke precepts

and that's why we keep being reborn over

and over and over again

until we run across somebody like a

buddha

that can explain this to us

in a simple way to understand

that's the key

okay

and now

both the internal fire element and

external fire element are simply fire

element

and that should be seen as it actually

is with proper wisdom thus

this is not mine this i am not this is

not myself

when one sees it thus as it actually is

with proper wisdom

one becomes disenchanted with the fire

elements and makes his mind

dispassionate towards the fire element

now there comes a time when the external

fire is disturbed

it burns up villages towns cities

districts countries

it goes out due to lack of fuel only

when it comes to green grass or to a

road or a rock

or to water

or to a fair open space

there comes a time when they seek to

make a fire even

with

a cock's feathers and hide bearings

when even this external fire element

great as it is is seen to be impermanent

subject to destruction disappearance and

change

what of this body which is clung to by

craving and clinging and last

but for a short while

there can be no considering as

this is i

or mine or i am

so then if others abuse revile scold

harass a monk

who has seen this element as it actually

is he understands thus

this too is impermanent subject to

change

at that point too friends

much has been done by that monk

now they keep on saying monk

but it's everybody

too many times people think that because

you put on robes that you're going to be

a different

person than they are no you're still a

human being

every human being is the same

and they still have these four elements

so when you hear

monk

think person

because it's always

a different kind of person

what friends is the air element

the air element may be either internal

or external

what is the internal element

whatever internally belonging to oneself

is air airy craved and clung to that is

upgoing winds

downgoing winds

winds in the belly winds in the bowels

winds that course through the limbs in

and out breath

or whatever else internally belonging to

oneself is air airy craved and clung to

this is called the internal air element

now both internal air element and

external air element are simply air

elements

and that should be seen as it actually

is with proper wisdom thus

this is not mine this i am not this is

not myself

when one sees it thus as it actually is

with proper wisdom

one becomes disenchanted with the error

element and makes his mind dispassionate

towards the air element

now there comes a time when the external

air element is disturbed

it sweeps away villages town cities

districts and countries

there may come a time in the last month

of the hot season

when they see wind by means of a fan

or bellows

and even with strands of saw

in a dipped fringe in the thatch

not stirred

when even this external air element

great as it is is seen to be impermanent

subject to destruction disappearance and

change

what of this body which is

clung to by craving and lasts but for a

while

there can be no considering that i or my

or i am

so when others abuse reviles gold and

harass

a person who has seen this element as it

actually is understands thus

this too is impermanent

at that point too friends much has been

done by that person

friends just as when a spare

when a space is enclosed by timber and

creepers grass or clay

it becomes termed house

so too

when a space isn't

enclosed by

bones in you flesh and skin

it comes to be termed as material form

if friends internally the eye

is intact

with no external come into any range

there is no corresponding consciousness

engaged

i talked with a

japanese

senior monk he was actually quite famous

and i said

do you think that persons if they're

blind if they have no eyeballs they're

out of their head

can see does it does the consciousness

still able to arise and he said yes

and i said you have to explain that to

me it doesn't make sense

and he couldn't

but he didn't change his view

that just shows you how stubborn some

people can be

when they hold on to a view that they

think is right

so

be fluid be able to change don't be

afraid to say oops i made a mistake

i do that all the time you know

and it's okay

that's a mark of a good person

showing that you

are able to be flexible enough to give

up

ideas that aren't quite right

and accept other ideas that are right

and this is done by your own experience

this is why i keep telling people you

are your own teacher

and you teach yourself from direct

practice

and i'm not saying that

direct practice is sitting in meditation

i'm saying direct practice is life

that's why i wrote the book life is

meditation meditation is life there's no

difference between the two

if internally the eye is intact external

forms come into range

but there's no corresponding

consciousness conscious engagement

then there is no manifestation of the

corresponding section of consciousness

how can that be

what happens if there's no light

that's that that's still there but that

consciousness can arise

see how simple this is

but

when internally the eye is intact

external forms come into range

and there is the corresponding

consciousness conscious engagement

then there is the manifestation of the

corresponding section of consciousness

how simple it is

but why do we try to keep making things

complicated

that's really a good question

the simpler it is the easier it is to

understand

the deeper your mind goes

in that understanding

it's like i read a sentence that there

were

words no more than four letters long

and as soon as i read that sentence i

understood it completely i knew that

yeah

i know what you're talking about

but it's kind of funny when you go to

college and you have all these

quote learned people

that really don't understand much

that

use great big words

that you have to have a dictionary with

you to find out what the heck they're

talking about

that's just a waste of time it's a waste

of time being around people like that

so

the material form and what has thus come

to be is included in the material form

aggregate affected by craving and

blinging

now what's the difference between

a regular human being in an area

the arahat has no

crazing arising ever

still has the five aggregates

he still feels things

but his mind is so disenchanted

and dispassionate

that it doesn't cause him

any kind of

suffering although physically there

might be a lot of suffering

in his mind it's all accepting

um to me like that's worth working for

and this is the same with

the feeling aggregate perception

aggregate

formation aggregate and

the consciousness aggregate

if he understands thus

indeed is how there comes to be the

inclusion gathering a massing of things

into the five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging

now this has been said by the blessed

one one who sees dependent origination

sees the dhamma

one who sees the dhamma sees dependent

origination

simple statement

whoa deep

when i ran across this when i was

writing my first book

on

the anapanasati suta

i was truly amazed

how people would read that and go over

that and they didn't make a

comment

it's like

this is the most profound thing

in my whole book

and you're taking it like it's everyday

knowledge

amazing

and these five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging are

dependently arisen

they don't arise if there's not

something else there to egg it on

that's what dependent origination is

about

and when you

attain nibana there's no more becoming

of anything

there's no arising of anything it's a

different kind of state entirely

you don't find me getting much into

discourses about

dependent origination or about

nibana and how it's supposed to be

what's there to talk about

it's unconditioned i only have

conditioned words to talk about it

how can it even make sense

the desire indulgence inclination

holding based on the five aggregates

affected by craving and clinging

is the origin of suffering

the removal of desire and lust

the abandonment of desire and lust for

the five aggregates affected by craving

and clinging

is the cessation of suffering

at that point too friends

there is much done by that person

because he understands it

friend internally of the ear

and the eye and the nose

and the tongue

and the body and the

mind

if internally mind is intact

with no external object coming into

range

there's no corresponding consciousness

then there's no manifestation of

consciousness

if internally the mind is intact

external objects come into range

but there's no corresponding

consciousness

then there is no corresponding

consciousness

when internally the mind is intact

external objects are in in range

and there is a corresponding

consciousness then there is the

manifestation of that consciousness

the material form in what it has come to

be is included in material form

aggregate affected by craving and

clinging

and the feeling and the perception and

the formations and the consciousness

he understands thus this indeed is how

there comes to be the inclusion

gathering amassing of things

into the five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging

now this has been said by blessed one

one who sees dependent

origination sees the dhamma

one who sees the dhamma is these

dependent origination

five aggregates affected by craving and

clinging are dependently arisen

the desire indulgence inclination

holding base on the five aggregates

affected by craving and flinging his

origin of suffering

and our removal and abandonment

is the cessation of suffering

at this point too friends much has been

done by that person

now it doesn't mention the fourth noble

truth

because that's how you get rid of it

and how do you get rid of it

the six r's

the six r's are the fourth noble truth

isn't it fun how things are

interconnected and interwoven

the actual meaning

or one of the meanings

for suta in pali

is

weaving together

i like that

because you can you can make a

truly magnificent

rug

by weaving together all of this

knowledge that you've got today

it's that simple

it's that easy

and you'll notice more and more

how your face becomes more clear more

bright

and people will strangers will even come

up to you and say

boy your face is really bright

yeah of course

okay

that is what the venerable sorry putta

said the monks were satisfied and

delighted in the venerable sorry putta's

words

so

that was a fairly quick suta

not even an hour

i should pat myself on the back for that

[Laughter]

if you have any questions

any comments anything yeah

hi bonte uh thank you so much

um

so i did have a question um

right before it goes to the water

element it talks about

um he aroused a sense of urgency

yeah right and it and it refers to it

the same sense of urgency as a

daughter-in-law who sees her

father-in-law

she arouses a sense of emergency but

this is the urgency that we're supposed

to arouse right seeking out and

understanding dependent origination and

understanding

the impersonal nature of everything

and understanding the impermanent nature

of everything right

right

and then at the end or almost like at

the end of every paragraph it says

at this point friends much has been done

by this person right so it means that

this person is doing this right because

they're seeking they're following

through

and they're working hard

and everybody that has experienced at

least one time in their life

jhana

they are able to do that

now to get to

this enchantment

you have to go to the realm of

nothingness

but once you've experienced that

you're that way for the rest of your

your life

and it's really kind of amazing i ran

across a few

[Music]

uh aborigines in

australia

and they would sit sometimes six and

eight hours not moving

their eyes were open they were very much

alert

their mind was

quiet oh

i like being around them

because they had

really good focus

they had

a perspective of life that's so much

different than

people who break precepts all the time

who have active minds who wants to be

around somebody with an active mind

if there's so much relief being with

people

that have a quiet mind

and you don't feel like you have to

entertain

anything

although you entertain very easily and

you laugh more

because

the ironic nature of things sometimes is

really funny

so is there any other question or

comment

yeah great i thank you

uh you mentioned just near the end of

your talk uh and i've heard you say it

before that

the fourth noble truth is the six r's

and i can

fairly

clearly see

how we need wisdom and i can also

clearly see

how

uh

it leads us to collectedness so i'm just

wondering if you can

highlight for me more where the sealer

comes into the

6r's you use the six hours to get into

jono once you're in jhana

your mind is pure

while you're in that genre okay

and that's where disenchantment it

starts growing

and gets better and stronger as you go

along the path

at first it takes effort but then they

get to a place where it doesn't take any

effort it's always like that

got it thanks

okay

anybody else

regarding the dependent origination

feeling craving

clinging

i heard from you mentioning and also

from suta

that

after feeling there is this perception

yeah and can you please tell us more

about perception because sometimes it is

mentioned as just memory has some memory

need to name things

yes

but i have the impression

it feed a little bit more into the

craving

bringing kind of volition in it bringing

all

or it's just naming things

no it just it just names the kind of

feeling that arises oh this is pleasant

this is painful

okay

now they use perception in different

senses in the suttas

but when it's talking about feeling

independent origination

then it's only talking about the naming

of the feeling

and because that feeling has occurred

before that's from memory

but it might be memory from other

lifetimes who knows

doesn't really matter

okay and that could direct the feeling

because

i mean so

when something happened

a person may feel

pleasure maybe a person

can feel something else so i depended on

those memory right

yeah you've got it

okay thank you

okay

i just wanted to ask uh what would you

like to comment on the

line by the boot one who sees dependent

origami nation sister dharma and one who

sees the dumbest his dependent

organization

i i didn't catch the first part of what

you just said try it again i i just

wanted to ask like how would you

kind of open this sentence a little bit

uh like uh

i wouldn't

i wouldn't okay and then it's it's open

completely okay

okay

yeah a lot less time to meditate on it

yeah yeah it completely shocked me with

these very advanced

teachers of meditation they didn't take

that as any particular

kind of statement yes it's a dhamma the

buddha said it i agree with it all the

way

they didn't take it as seriously as i

did

i was

the first time i read that i i had to

sit back for a while and consider it

that is one of the most wonderful

statements i've ever heard

yeah i hope you enjoy it as much as i do

yeah

all right

thank you michael

monte

great to see you thank you

can you hear me okay

yeah all right great

um

yeah i would not be here had it not been

the um

you know the pillar of your teaching

which is you are your own teacher

right you know after years of looking

outside

you know to have that land on my ears

has just

been an awakening in and of itself and

the intuition

it is it's so wonderful

yeah and um

so the intuition

you know is is uh as a result of course

flowering

and um

one of the intuitions i want to share

is that the first step of the six r's

recognition

for me resonates with the uh phrase in

today's suta

uh this is not me i am not that right

uh this is not mine uh that's the

recognition right out of the gate

yeah and and and the rest of the four

noble truths kind of flowers

for me from from that

that's a wonderful way of looking at it

i like that very much yeah so to

recognize right out the gate

to to to to to you know begin to

cultivate that

that

living a life that's

where everything is not personal

non-personal

is is liberating

you bet so you bet

thank you

thank you for that

you know wait may i ask again though

are there particular uh

sutas

that led you to conclude in your journey

that you are your own teacher

you know

not not that i can think of it just kind

of accumulated and i kept on saying well

yeah that's right

or no that's not right

it just took me a long time to realize

that but i have a slow mind well i do

too but uh

that's why the beard is as gray as it is

but um

uh

what was it not the uh when when the

blessed one said don't take my word for

it

find out for yourself

no

for me it wasn't like that that would

have been a bombshell for me if i would

have taken it that way i see but it was

just over a period of time

seeing that how true that statement was

well i thank you once again

jeanette

take the mute off thank you hello funny

wonderful to see you again my friend

great to see you and i'm in your retreat

in a few weeks so i'm really excited

about that

next week actually

um

back to um what our friends said about

um

being our own teacher i remember a suta

that you taught us

about a raft

and

buddha said

this is just the raft and when you get

to the other side you don't need it and

you don't need me and be your own light

and that was when you taught us that

that's what really

um solidified that were our own teacher

because buddha said so too

he says that a lot of times it just i'm

so slow it blows my mind sometimes

it takes me a long time to figure things

out but once i figure them out i have it

i understand it

when i was in school

my teachers thought i was

kind of slow

it takes him a long time i had dyslexia

i couldn't copy from the board

to my notes

i could never finish

so he's slow he can't do this kind of

work well yeah i can do the kind of work

but just takes me a little while longer

what can i say

well that's really challenging i have

the same issue and um

i memorized my social security number

wrongly and it's created the big mess

the office

just bring every pay stub you've ever

had and we can straighten it out and i'm

like oh my goodness

well i'm glad it wasn't too painful

you know

that's kind of worries me sometimes

that it isn't at all actually

well that's that's the

miracle of disenchantment

thank goodness good timing

yeah

perfect

i can also say it's the magic of

disenchantment yes

because we're all magicians

we take unwholesome and make it

wholesome

that's magic

that's really really the truest form of

magic

when you help somebody overcome their

suffering and they start to be happy

what else could you call it except magic

and it's not your magic

it's you showed someone else

how to develop that magic

that's the biggest magic i think

oh yeah

by far

okay anybody else

yes

i don't know if you remember me from

long ago in fremont i think you do

remember me yes

very very vaguely but yes

i just popped in after our

lunch offering i wanted to say i've been

appreciating your

your talks your sessions it has been

very helpful

um

and

keep it up

well i've been doing that for a lot of

years now

i know

yeah i was just at the thai temple wat

bu dinosaur and talking with the

the abbot i said oh i see vimala ramsay

online a lot and uh

and they also have a zoom session on

tuesday night

where i'm gonna help

at least this tuesday i've done it a few

times but uh

hope i hope to come and see you at

zamasu

oh i i would

open open arms

oh thank you

may you be well happy and peaceful are

you one

okay so

be well and happy

all of you

and

this year is going to be a good year

just feel it in my bones

so it's going to be interesting

so look forward to it

okay

so let's share samaritan

may suffering ones be suffering free and

of fear struck fearless be

may the graving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

may all beings share this merit that we

have thus acquired for the acquisition

of all kinds of happiness

may beings inhabiting space and earth

devas and nagas of mighty power share

this merit of ours may they long protect

the buddhist dispensation

[Music]

you

[Music]

this discourse was the first discourse

given by

ahsoka's son

ahsoka's son was an arahat

can't think of his name right off

unfortunately

[Music]

but this is one of the favorite uh

discourses in

sri lanka

because it was the first

the second discourse

was

uh the smaller smaller

discourse on the

simile of the elephant's footprint that

was given by his daughter who was an

aaron

so

cold here

i'm walking in the cold always takes my

breath away so it takes a minute

thus as i heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living at sawati and

jettas grove veneth and pendicas park

there are the venerable sorry puta

dressed amongst us friends

friend they replied the venerable sorry

puta said this

this is how they address themselves in

the sangha just as friend it didn't

matter whether they were

a senior monk or a junior monk

they were called a wusso friend

when

the buddha

was on his

dying day

he told ananda

that

the senior monks

need to be called

ante

and that's what i go by and a lot of

people think that's my first name

but it's not

it's

a very highly polite way of addressing a

monk

so anytime you talk with a mob

please

talk with reverence and

politeness by saying bante

okay

friends

just as a foot

footprint of any living being walks

can be placed within the elephant's

footprint

and so the elephant's footprint is

declared the chief among

them because of its great size

so too all wholesome states been can be

included in the four noble truths

as i keep reading the form the

different sutas i start

seeing the four noble truths more and

more

in each suta

it's kind of like it's hidden

but it's there

so it gets to be kind of fun to read the

suit does

and find out

where the four noble trues are

it's a it's a good fun exercise

what are the four

in the noble truth of suffering

in the noble truth of the origin of

suffering

in the noble truth of the cessation of

suffering

and in the noble truth of the way

leading to the cessation of suffering

excuse me

and what is a noble truth of suffering

birth

is suffering

aging is suffering death is suffering

sorrow lamentation pain grief and

despair are suffering

not to obtain what one wants is

suffering

and it seems to me that that's that's

the standard way of talking about the

first noble truth

but i always put

getting what you don't want

is suffering

and it seems like it should be added

into that but that's just my personal

opinion

the five aggregates affected by craving

and clinging are suffering

and what are the five aggregates

affected by craving and clinging

they are material form aggregate

affected by craving and

clinging the feeling aggregate affected

by craving and clinging

the perception aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

the formation aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

the consciousness aggregate affected by

craving and clinging

now

the

five aggregates

and the four foundations of mindfulness

are a different way of saying the same

thing

and it says that in many other suttas

so

and what is a material form affect a

material form aggregate affected by

craving and cleaning

the four great elements

and the material form derived from the

four grade elements

every one of the elements has the

elements in it

but just the different degrees and

that's why you have the difference

between hot and soft and

and

uh so on

and what are the four great elements

they are the earth element the water

element the fire element

and the air element

in chinese medicine they say there's

five elements

and they put space in there

but space

is

one of the four elements

they're just more of one than there is

the other

so

the earth element

and what friend is the earth element

the earth element may be either internal

or external

what is the internal earth element

whatever internally belonging to oneself

is solid

solidified craved and clung to

that is head hairs body hairs nails

teeth

fleshing new bones bone marrow kidneys

heart

liver diaphragm spleen lungs and large

intestines small intestines

contents of the stomach

or feces

whatever else internally belonging to

oneself is solid solidified craved and

clung to

that is called the internal earth

element

now both the internal earth element and

the external earth element are simply

earth element

now when

people talk about the casinos

they are talking about

uh the hindu kind of practice it's a

one-pointed kind of concentration

unfortunately it's mixed in with some of

the suttas here

when the buddha was talking about the

different elements he was talking about

the five aggregates and and so on

so it's a little bit different

and that should be seen as it actually

is with proper wisdom thus oh i find um

you may know you may not know i i did

the earth casino for

uh about six weeks

and i could do all kinds of interesting

things with it but i didn't see it

leading anywhere so i stopped doing it

so i really don't recommend doing the

earth element unless you want or any of

the other elements unless you want to

learn eventually how to develop

psychic abilities walking through the uh

a mountain

diving into the earth and coming out

things like that

i had a student that was very very good

at that

and wherever i happened to be she'd come

and visit

and one day she forgot to take into

account the

uh time change and she called me at two

o'clock in the morning or she came in at

two o'clock in the morning she was in my

room

and i told her don't ever do that again

i don't ever want to see you again

this is wrong practice and i don't want

anything to do with it

so that was the last time we saw her

the thing is when you start seeing

things as they actually are with proper

wisdom

this is not mine this i am not this is

not myself

everything on the human plane

is impersonal

now last week i talked a little bit

about disenchantment

and

disenchantment means

which is quite interesting you lose

your emotional excitement about things

okay

now it doesn't mean you still will

keep your precepts or you can still do

other things it's just that you don't

have the emotional attachments to them

and i was watching a basketball game on

on

television and there was great stuff

that was happening these guys are truly

athletic and they're wonderful to watch

but i started noticing that i didn't

have

any emotional thoughts about the game

about who won who didn't win

it didn't matter

and that's because disenchantment

and i've watched other things and and

done some things with some suttas

and i see that i don't think about what

i'm doing

i just do it

without any disturbance

so i i can be walking along

i might have some thoughts about what

i'm seeing

or feeling at the time

but i don't have any

habitual

chatter

going on in my mind

and there's so much relief on that

so

it's just an observation that i'm giving

you about the advantages of getting into

the higher ghana so that you can

actually experience this

it's good fun

when one sees it thus as it actually is

with proper wisdom one becomes

disenchanted with the earth element and

makes his mind

dispassionate towards the earth element

that just means letting go of all

emotional stuff

and that's that way with every one of

the elements

now there comes a time when the water

element is disturbed

and when the external water element

vanishes

when even this external water element

great as it is

is seen to be impermanent

subject to

destruction disappearance

and change

what if this body

which is craved and clung to by craving

and lasts for a short while

there can be no considering that i or my

or mine or i am

so then if others abuse reviles gold

harass a monk

who has seen this element as it actually

is

he understands thus

this painful feeling

born of ear contact

has arisen in me

that is dependent not independent

dependent on what

dependent on contact

when he sees that contact is impermanent

that feeling is impermanent

that perception is impermanent

that formations are impermanent

and that consciousness is impermanent

and his mind having made an element its

objective support

enters into that new objective support

and acquires confidence steadiness and

resolution

this is a natural outcome of

disenchantment

now if others attack that monk in ways

that are

unwished for and desire disagreeable by

contacts with fists with clods with

sticks or knives

he understands thus

this body is of such a nature that

contact with fists clots sticks and

knives

assail it

but there

but this has been said by the blessed

one and his advice on the assembly of

this all

monks

even if bandits

excuse me

were to sever you savagely limb by a

limb with a two-handed saw

he who gave rise to a mind of hate

towards them

would not be carrying out my teaching

that sounds pretty radical

but when you have disenchantment you're

not going to be pulling up hatred and

and

revenge and all of these other things

that are attached to unwholesome states

so tireless energy shall be aroused in

me

and unremitting mindfulness established

unremitting mindfulness means

observing how mind's attention moves

and gets caught up in things

my body shall remain

tranquil and untroubled my mind

collected and unified

and now let contact with this clod

sticks and knives a sailless body

for this is just how the buddha's

teaching is practiced

that doesn't mean you don't get out of

the way of those sort of things

you avoid them as much as possible

but if you see someone else being

attacked you'll get in the middle of

that

and that that attack will stop

when that monks

thus

recollects the buddha

the dhamma and the sangha if equinemnity

supported by wholesome does not become

established in him

then he arouses a sense of urgency thus

it is a loss for me it is no gain for me

it is bad for me it is no good for me

that when i thus recollect the buddha

dhamma and sangha

equanimity supported by the wholesome

does not become established in me

one of the protections

that i've practiced and i've practiced

three months of reciting these

nine times a day

i got pretty good and i could i could

go through

the beads

very fast

and i could do the nine rounds

of that in about 10 minutes

that means that i was very skilled at

that time

i've since not done it so much

but

it takes longer now but not that much

longer it's maybe 15 minutes instead of

10 minutes

when you recite

the good qualities of the buddha dhamma

and sangha

fear will not arise in your mind at all

this is the advantage

of

doing this practice

an interesting thing happened to me

while i was doing the good qualities of

the buddha was

an image apply a rose in my mind of the

buddha shaking his head like he was

agreeing with what i was doing

and i got real excited by that

i thought that was really something

and it was

just as when a daughter-in-law seeks her

father-in-law

she arouses a sense of urgency to please

him

so too when that monk thus recollects a

buddha dhamma and sangha

if equinemnity supported by the

wholesome does not become established in

him he arouses that sense of urgency

but if when he recollects a buddha

dhamma and sangha

equanimity supported by the wholesome

becomes established in him

then he is satisfied with it

at that point friends

much has been done by that monk

a water element

what friends is the water element the

water element may be either internal or

external

what is the internal water element

whatever internally belonging to oneself

is water watery craved and clung to

now this set of

water elements are the things that

when i was doing

uh

the foulness of the body meditation

which should only be done with a teacher

uh

it always my body always disgusted me

when i got to this point it was real

easy to be oh

why do i want this to continue

this body is full of so many foul

bad smelling things

anyway

bile phlegm pus blood sweat fat

tears grease spittles snot

oil of the joints

urine or whatever else internally

belonging to oneself is water watery

craved and clung to

this is called the internal water

element

when i was teaching a bunch of college

students they were

20 21 22 years old and their

hormones were really starting to act up

and they started complaining about

the

lust coming up in their mind

so i told them the next time you see a

beautiful person walk by

turn them inside out

tell me how beautiful their pus and

blood and snot and oil of the joints are

oh what a lovely liver you have

i haven't seen a set of intestines like

that for a long time

and what happens in your mind is you you

lose lust

it just won't stay anymore

now this is another part of the

enchantment that happens

is you you lose the

lustful feelings

now both the internal water element and

external water element are simply water

element

and that should be seen as it actually

is with proper wisdom thus

this is not mine this i am not this is

not myself

when one sees it thus as it actually is

with proper wisdom

one becomes disenchanted with the water

element

and makes his mind dispassionate towards

the water element

now there comes a time when the external

water element is disturbed

it carries away villages towns cities

districts and countries

there comes a time when the waters in

the great

ocean sink down 100 leagues 200

up to 500

or a thousand leagues

there comes a time when the waters of

the great ocean stand seven palms deep

all the way down to one palm tree there

comes a time

when the water

in the great ocean stands seven thousand

feet

deep

down to one

there comes a time when the waters of

the great ocean stand half a fathom deep

only waist deep only knee deep

only ankle deep

there comes a time when the waters in

the great ocean are not enough

to even

wet one joint of the finger

this is over huge long periods of time

this happens

because everything is changing right

the only change there is in the universe

is change itself

it sounds really profound and it is

but try to try to try to tell me one

thing that doesn't change

oh my everlasting love for my mate

that changes sometimes in one day

everything is in a state of impermanence

and because of that it's really

unsatisfactory

it's re it hurts

everything is changing this is one thing

that

a lot of religions

they are looking for something that is

everlasting and never changing

so they say well god is that way

but the only

good definition you can give to god with

that kind of a

philosophy

is god is impermanent

interesting

even when this external water element

great as it is

is seen to be impermanent subject to

destruction

disappearance and change

what of this body

that is craved and cloned to by craving

and

lasts for but a short well

there can be no considering that as i or

my over i am

so with others

if others abuse revile scold and harass

a monk

who has seen this water element as it

actually is

he understands

that everything is impermanent

at that point too friends

much has been done by that monk

the fire

no friend what is the fire element

that's heat cold

the fire element may be either internal

or external what is internal fire

whatever internally belonging to oneself

is fire fiery craves and clung to

that is

that by which one is warmed ages and is

consumed

and that by which what is eaten drunk

consumed tasted

gets completely digested

one of the things that

scientists and doctors

over

millennium have tried to figure out is

how to slow down

the heating process in the body so that

you can live longer

of course they haven't been able to do

it they talk about

well there was this one guy one time

where

i don't believe that either

so the thing is

heat

is

the cause of your

being born

growing up getting old

and dying

because of the heat

what's the cause of heat

you know

breathing

well

as a baby i can't control whether

there's heat or not well yeah you can

because in your past lifetimes

you broke precepts

and that's why we keep being reborn over

and over and over again

until we run across somebody like a

buddha

that can explain this to us

in a simple way to understand

that's the key

okay

and now

both the internal fire element and

external fire element are simply fire

element

and that should be seen as it actually

is with proper wisdom thus

this is not mine this i am not this is

not myself

when one sees it thus as it actually is

with proper wisdom

one becomes disenchanted with the fire

elements and makes his mind

dispassionate towards the fire element

now there comes a time when the external

fire is disturbed

it burns up villages towns cities

districts countries

it goes out due to lack of fuel only

when it comes to green grass or to a

road or a rock

or to water

or to a fair open space

there comes a time when they seek to

make a fire even

with

a cock's feathers and hide bearings

when even this external fire element

great as it is is seen to be impermanent

subject to destruction disappearance and

change

what of this body which is clung to by

craving and clinging and last

but for a short while

there can be no considering as

this is i

or mine or i am

so then if others abuse revile scold

harass a monk

who has seen this element as it actually

is he understands thus

this too is impermanent subject to

change

at that point too friends

much has been done by that monk

now they keep on saying monk

but it's everybody

too many times people think that because

you put on robes that you're going to be

a different

person than they are no you're still a

human being

every human being is the same

and they still have these four elements

so when you hear

monk

think person

because it's always

a different kind of person

what friends is the air element

the air element may be either internal

or external

what is the internal element

whatever internally belonging to oneself

is air airy craved and clung to that is

upgoing winds

downgoing winds

winds in the belly winds in the bowels

winds that course through the limbs in

and out breath

or whatever else internally belonging to

oneself is air airy craved and clung to

this is called the internal air element

now both internal air element and

external air element are simply air

elements

and that should be seen as it actually

is with proper wisdom thus

this is not mine this i am not this is

not myself

when one sees it thus as it actually is

with proper wisdom

one becomes disenchanted with the error

element and makes his mind dispassionate

towards the air element

now there comes a time when the external

air element is disturbed

it sweeps away villages town cities

districts and countries

there may come a time in the last month

of the hot season

when they see wind by means of a fan

or bellows

and even with strands of saw

in a dipped fringe in the thatch

not stirred

when even this external air element

great as it is is seen to be impermanent

subject to destruction disappearance and

change

what of this body which is

clung to by craving and lasts but for a

while

there can be no considering that i or my

or i am

so when others abuse reviles gold and

harass

a person who has seen this element as it

actually is understands thus

this too is impermanent

at that point too friends much has been

done by that person

friends just as when a spare

when a space is enclosed by timber and

creepers grass or clay

it becomes termed house

so too

when a space isn't

enclosed by

bones in you flesh and skin

it comes to be termed as material form

if friends internally the eye

is intact

with no external come into any range

there is no corresponding consciousness

engaged

i talked with a

japanese

senior monk he was actually quite famous

and i said

do you think that persons if they're

blind if they have no eyeballs they're

out of their head

can see does it does the consciousness

still able to arise and he said yes

and i said you have to explain that to

me it doesn't make sense

and he couldn't

but he didn't change his view

that just shows you how stubborn some

people can be

when they hold on to a view that they

think is right

so

be fluid be able to change don't be

afraid to say oops i made a mistake

i do that all the time you know

and it's okay

that's a mark of a good person

showing that you

are able to be flexible enough to give

up

ideas that aren't quite right

and accept other ideas that are right

and this is done by your own experience

this is why i keep telling people you

are your own teacher

and you teach yourself from direct

practice

and i'm not saying that

direct practice is sitting in meditation

i'm saying direct practice is life

that's why i wrote the book life is

meditation meditation is life there's no

difference between the two

if internally the eye is intact external

forms come into range

but there's no corresponding

consciousness conscious engagement

then there is no manifestation of the

corresponding section of consciousness

how can that be

what happens if there's no light

that's that that's still there but that

consciousness can arise

see how simple this is

but

when internally the eye is intact

external forms come into range

and there is the corresponding

consciousness conscious engagement

then there is the manifestation of the

corresponding section of consciousness

how simple it is

but why do we try to keep making things

complicated

that's really a good question

the simpler it is the easier it is to

understand

the deeper your mind goes

in that understanding

it's like i read a sentence that there

were

words no more than four letters long

and as soon as i read that sentence i

understood it completely i knew that

yeah

i know what you're talking about

but it's kind of funny when you go to

college and you have all these

quote learned people

that really don't understand much

that

use great big words

that you have to have a dictionary with

you to find out what the heck they're

talking about

that's just a waste of time it's a waste

of time being around people like that

so

the material form and what has thus come

to be is included in the material form

aggregate affected by craving and

blinging

now what's the difference between

a regular human being in an area

the arahat has no

crazing arising ever

still has the five aggregates

he still feels things

but his mind is so disenchanted

and dispassionate

that it doesn't cause him

any kind of

suffering although physically there

might be a lot of suffering

in his mind it's all accepting

um to me like that's worth working for

and this is the same with

the feeling aggregate perception

aggregate

formation aggregate and

the consciousness aggregate

if he understands thus

indeed is how there comes to be the

inclusion gathering a massing of things

into the five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging

now this has been said by the blessed

one one who sees dependent origination

sees the dhamma

one who sees the dhamma sees dependent

origination

simple statement

whoa deep

when i ran across this when i was

writing my first book

on

the anapanasati suta

i was truly amazed

how people would read that and go over

that and they didn't make a

comment

it's like

this is the most profound thing

in my whole book

and you're taking it like it's everyday

knowledge

amazing

and these five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging are

dependently arisen

they don't arise if there's not

something else there to egg it on

that's what dependent origination is

about

and when you

attain nibana there's no more becoming

of anything

there's no arising of anything it's a

different kind of state entirely

you don't find me getting much into

discourses about

dependent origination or about

nibana and how it's supposed to be

what's there to talk about

it's unconditioned i only have

conditioned words to talk about it

how can it even make sense

the desire indulgence inclination

holding based on the five aggregates

affected by craving and clinging

is the origin of suffering

the removal of desire and lust

the abandonment of desire and lust for

the five aggregates affected by craving

and clinging

is the cessation of suffering

at that point too friends

there is much done by that person

because he understands it

friend internally of the ear

and the eye and the nose

and the tongue

and the body and the

mind

if internally mind is intact

with no external object coming into

range

there's no corresponding consciousness

then there's no manifestation of

consciousness

if internally the mind is intact

external objects come into range

but there's no corresponding

consciousness

then there is no corresponding

consciousness

when internally the mind is intact

external objects are in in range

and there is a corresponding

consciousness then there is the

manifestation of that consciousness

the material form in what it has come to

be is included in material form

aggregate affected by craving and

clinging

and the feeling and the perception and

the formations and the consciousness

he understands thus this indeed is how

there comes to be the inclusion

gathering amassing of things

into the five aggregates affected by

craving and clinging

now this has been said by blessed one

one who sees dependent

origination sees the dhamma

one who sees the dhamma is these

dependent origination

five aggregates affected by craving and

clinging are dependently arisen

the desire indulgence inclination

holding base on the five aggregates

affected by craving and flinging his

origin of suffering

and our removal and abandonment

is the cessation of suffering

at this point too friends much has been

done by that person

now it doesn't mention the fourth noble

truth

because that's how you get rid of it

and how do you get rid of it

the six r's

the six r's are the fourth noble truth

isn't it fun how things are

interconnected and interwoven

the actual meaning

or one of the meanings

for suta in pali

is

weaving together

i like that

because you can you can make a

truly magnificent

rug

by weaving together all of this

knowledge that you've got today

it's that simple

it's that easy

and you'll notice more and more

how your face becomes more clear more

bright

and people will strangers will even come

up to you and say

boy your face is really bright

yeah of course

okay

that is what the venerable sorry putta

said the monks were satisfied and

delighted in the venerable sorry putta's

words

so

that was a fairly quick suta

not even an hour

i should pat myself on the back for that

[Laughter]

if you have any questions

any comments anything yeah

hi bonte uh thank you so much

um

so i did have a question um

right before it goes to the water

element it talks about

um he aroused a sense of urgency

yeah right and it and it refers to it

the same sense of urgency as a

daughter-in-law who sees her

father-in-law

she arouses a sense of emergency but

this is the urgency that we're supposed

to arouse right seeking out and

understanding dependent origination and

understanding

the impersonal nature of everything

and understanding the impermanent nature

of everything right

right

and then at the end or almost like at

the end of every paragraph it says

at this point friends much has been done

by this person right so it means that

this person is doing this right because

they're seeking they're following

through

and they're working hard

and everybody that has experienced at

least one time in their life

jhana

they are able to do that

now to get to

this enchantment

you have to go to the realm of

nothingness

but once you've experienced that

you're that way for the rest of your

your life

and it's really kind of amazing i ran

across a few

[Music]

uh aborigines in

australia

and they would sit sometimes six and

eight hours not moving

their eyes were open they were very much

alert

their mind was

quiet oh

i like being around them

because they had

really good focus

they had

a perspective of life that's so much

different than

people who break precepts all the time

who have active minds who wants to be

around somebody with an active mind

if there's so much relief being with

people

that have a quiet mind

and you don't feel like you have to

entertain

anything

although you entertain very easily and

you laugh more

because

the ironic nature of things sometimes is

really funny

so is there any other question or

comment

yeah great i thank you

uh you mentioned just near the end of

your talk uh and i've heard you say it

before that

the fourth noble truth is the six r's

and i can

fairly

clearly see

how we need wisdom and i can also

clearly see

how

uh

it leads us to collectedness so i'm just

wondering if you can

highlight for me more where the sealer

comes into the

6r's you use the six hours to get into

jono once you're in jhana

your mind is pure

while you're in that genre okay

and that's where disenchantment it

starts growing

and gets better and stronger as you go

along the path

at first it takes effort but then they

get to a place where it doesn't take any

effort it's always like that

got it thanks

okay

anybody else

regarding the dependent origination

feeling craving

clinging

i heard from you mentioning and also

from suta

that

after feeling there is this perception

yeah and can you please tell us more

about perception because sometimes it is

mentioned as just memory has some memory

need to name things

yes

but i have the impression

it feed a little bit more into the

craving

bringing kind of volition in it bringing

all

or it's just naming things

no it just it just names the kind of

feeling that arises oh this is pleasant

this is painful

okay

now they use perception in different

senses in the suttas

but when it's talking about feeling

independent origination

then it's only talking about the naming

of the feeling

and because that feeling has occurred

before that's from memory

but it might be memory from other

lifetimes who knows

doesn't really matter

okay and that could direct the feeling

because

i mean so

when something happened

a person may feel

pleasure maybe a person

can feel something else so i depended on

those memory right

yeah you've got it

okay thank you

okay

i just wanted to ask uh what would you

like to comment on the

line by the boot one who sees dependent

origami nation sister dharma and one who

sees the dumbest his dependent

organization

i i didn't catch the first part of what

you just said try it again i i just

wanted to ask like how would you

kind of open this sentence a little bit

uh like uh

i wouldn't

i wouldn't okay and then it's it's open

completely okay

okay

yeah a lot less time to meditate on it

yeah yeah it completely shocked me with

these very advanced

teachers of meditation they didn't take

that as any particular

kind of statement yes it's a dhamma the

buddha said it i agree with it all the

way

they didn't take it as seriously as i

did

i was

the first time i read that i i had to

sit back for a while and consider it

that is one of the most wonderful

statements i've ever heard

yeah i hope you enjoy it as much as i do

yeah

all right

thank you michael

monte

great to see you thank you

can you hear me okay

yeah all right great

um

yeah i would not be here had it not been

the um

you know the pillar of your teaching

which is you are your own teacher

right you know after years of looking

outside

you know to have that land on my ears

has just

been an awakening in and of itself and

the intuition

it is it's so wonderful

yeah and um

so the intuition

you know is is uh as a result of course

flowering

and um

one of the intuitions i want to share

is that the first step of the six r's

recognition

for me resonates with the uh phrase in

today's suta

uh this is not me i am not that right

uh this is not mine uh that's the

recognition right out of the gate

yeah and and and the rest of the four

noble truths kind of flowers

for me from from that

that's a wonderful way of looking at it

i like that very much yeah so to

recognize right out the gate

to to to to to you know begin to

cultivate that

that

living a life that's

where everything is not personal

non-personal

is is liberating

you bet so you bet

thank you

thank you for that

you know wait may i ask again though

are there particular uh

sutas

that led you to conclude in your journey

that you are your own teacher

you know

not not that i can think of it just kind

of accumulated and i kept on saying well

yeah that's right

or no that's not right

it just took me a long time to realize

that but i have a slow mind well i do

too but uh

that's why the beard is as gray as it is

but um

uh

what was it not the uh when when the

blessed one said don't take my word for

it

find out for yourself

no

for me it wasn't like that that would

have been a bombshell for me if i would

have taken it that way i see but it was

just over a period of time

seeing that how true that statement was

well i thank you once again

jeanette

take the mute off thank you hello funny

wonderful to see you again my friend

great to see you and i'm in your retreat

in a few weeks so i'm really excited

about that

next week actually

um

back to um what our friends said about

um

being our own teacher i remember a suta

that you taught us

about a raft

and

buddha said

this is just the raft and when you get

to the other side you don't need it and

you don't need me and be your own light

and that was when you taught us that

that's what really

um solidified that were our own teacher

because buddha said so too

he says that a lot of times it just i'm

so slow it blows my mind sometimes

it takes me a long time to figure things

out but once i figure them out i have it

i understand it

when i was in school

my teachers thought i was

kind of slow

it takes him a long time i had dyslexia

i couldn't copy from the board

to my notes

i could never finish

so he's slow he can't do this kind of

work well yeah i can do the kind of work

but just takes me a little while longer

what can i say

well that's really challenging i have

the same issue and um

i memorized my social security number

wrongly and it's created the big mess

the office

just bring every pay stub you've ever

had and we can straighten it out and i'm

like oh my goodness

well i'm glad it wasn't too painful

you know

that's kind of worries me sometimes

that it isn't at all actually

well that's that's the

miracle of disenchantment

thank goodness good timing

yeah

perfect

i can also say it's the magic of

disenchantment yes

because we're all magicians

we take unwholesome and make it

wholesome

that's magic

that's really really the truest form of

magic

when you help somebody overcome their

suffering and they start to be happy

what else could you call it except magic

and it's not your magic

it's you showed someone else

how to develop that magic

that's the biggest magic i think

oh yeah

by far

okay anybody else

yes

i don't know if you remember me from

long ago in fremont i think you do

remember me yes

very very vaguely but yes

i just popped in after our

lunch offering i wanted to say i've been

appreciating your

your talks your sessions it has been

very helpful

um

and

keep it up

well i've been doing that for a lot of

years now

i know

yeah i was just at the thai temple wat

bu dinosaur and talking with the

the abbot i said oh i see vimala ramsay

online a lot and uh

and they also have a zoom session on

tuesday night

where i'm gonna help

at least this tuesday i've done it a few

times but uh

hope i hope to come and see you at

zamasu

oh i i would

open open arms

oh thank you

may you be well happy and peaceful are

you one

okay so

be well and happy

all of you

and

this year is going to be a good year

just feel it in my bones

so it's going to be interesting

so look forward to it

okay

so let's share samaritan

may suffering ones be suffering free and

of fear struck fearless be

may the graving shed all grief and may

all beings find relief

may all beings share this merit that we

have thus acquired for the acquisition

of all kinds of happiness

may beings inhabiting space and earth

devas and nagas of mighty power share

this merit of ours may they long protect

the buddhist dispensation

[Music]

you