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Okay, hello.

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Back to studying the Dhammapada.

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Today we continue on with verse number 182, right?

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Yes, 182.

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which goes as follows which is another I don't know I guess they're all famous but this is another one that's particularly well known

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Especially it's one that my teacher, our teacher Ajahn Tong would repeat to us often.

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Something he would always teach at an ordination ceremony, probably still to this day teaches to new monks.

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It's hard, hard is it to be born a human being.

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Hard is the life of humans.

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Hard it is to hear the Dhamma.

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How hard is it to find difficult?

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Is it for a Buddha to arise, for the Buddhas to arise?

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Difficult is the arising of the Buddhas.

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So this verse was taught in

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Well, again, as with all the stories, you have to either have an appreciation or belief in some supernatural things.

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And by supernatural, it doesn't really mean supernatural.

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There's no such thing as something supernatural, I suppose, unless you want to count nibbana or things that are only conceptual.

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Like if you conceive of something in your mind, like a rabbit with horns, well that's supernatural because you're not going to find that in nature, I don't think.

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So by supernatural it just means something that is outside of anything we've experienced, anything that we're familiar with as being a part of reality.

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Nagas in particular.

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This is a story about Nagas, which are apparently dragons.

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I guess what would modern times be known as dragons?

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Serpent creatures that had or have higher intelligence than ordinary animals.

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But in Buddhism are still considered animals and thus unable to become enlightened.

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So the story goes that there was a monk in the time of Kasapa Buddha, that's the last Buddha, before Gautama, still a very long time ago.

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By very long, we don't mean two or three years or even thousands of years.

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I don't know how long ago it was.

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A long, long time.

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It's very rare.

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Remember this is Kichobudhanamupadho.

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It's very rare, the arising of a Buddha.

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So there was a monk in the time of Kasapabuddha and he was on a boat once.

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And as they were traveling close, they were on a river, I guess, traveling close to the bank, he grabbed onto some grass just idly and the boat was going quickly and he didn't let go and he uprooted the grass or broke the grass.

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And you may not know, but that's an offense against the Vinaya.

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It's actually probably one of the least of the offenses.

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Well, it's considered to be a pachitya offense.

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But at least it just means it's not really a bad, it's not an evil thing to cut grass.

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Certainly not immoral or unethical.

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But it's not right for monks.

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We're not supposed to get involved with farming or harvesting or destruction of, destruction really of nature.

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We have to be quite careful.

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And he didn't think about it at first, kind of forgot about it, didn't ever confess his offense.

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And then right before he passed away, he'd practiced meditation, they say, for thousands of years.

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And this was a time when beings lived much longer than they do now.

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He practiced meditation for a long time.

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And when he was on his deathbed, he remembered it.

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And he realized he hadn't confessed this offense.

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And it hit him really hard.

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He was quite concerned about it, lost all his concentration, all of his meditative attainments.

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and passed away with a fearful heart, worried.

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And he was born a Naga.

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He was born a Naga king.

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His name was Arakapatta.

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Arakapatta is the grass that he pulled.

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And patta, I think, means cut.

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Patta, broke, maybe.

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I can't remember, fallen maybe, I'm not sure.

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He fell because of the grass, I'm not sure.

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That's the name of this king, Dragon King.

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And he was so, he had such great splendor.

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He was born with great riches, but he was an animal.

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And he looked around and he said to himself, all the years of meditation couldn't save me.

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I've been born in this abode of frogs, he called it, I think.

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The swamp.

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Yeah, Naga kings, I think, live underwater.

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There's another Naga king.

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They live a long time.

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And there's another Naga king who apparently still lives under the river where the Bodhisatta floated his bowl.

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He took his alms bowl after he had eaten and he said to himself,

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I shouldn't reenact it.

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I'm not pretending to be Bodhisattva.

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But he took his bowl and he said, if I am to become a Buddha, may this bowl float up river.

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It was a bowl that was given to him for the meal that he ate just before he became enlightened.

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And he placed it on the river.

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And it floated up river, floated up river, I don't know how, I can't remember how long, a long ways, and then sunk to the bottom.

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Now apparently this is something that every Bodhisatta does in that exact same spot.

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And so there were three bowls already at the, four bowls already at the bottom.

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No, three bowls already at the bottom.

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And the Bodhisatta's bowl went

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and sunk to the bottom and clinked against the other bowls.

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And there was a naga living there, sleeping between the times when the Buddha rose and woke up when he heard the clink.

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And he said, wow, these Bodhisattvas, these Buddhas, they just come every day.

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Almost like every day there's a new Bodhisattva, a new Buddha coming.

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Apparently Ajahn Thong tells that story as well.

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He says, Oh, Buddha Jiao Ge Khun Teng Wan Teng Wan.

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Teng Wan means every day, kind of.

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But this is another Naga also waiting.

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He said to himself, I'm lost.

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I don't know.

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I have to find another Buddha who can teach me, who can pull me out of this.

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He's not able to become enlightened, but he needed to be reborn as a human being.

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So he said, I'll dedicate myself to Buddhism.

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And so for the period of time between the Buddhas, between Kasaba Buddha and Gautama Buddha, he, every Uposatha day, the full moon day, he would rise up to the surface of the Ganga River and

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I don't know, I think the English text is not so clear, but I didn't read the Pali closely.

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So he was a snake king, and I guess he had a hood, like a cobra, right?

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And he would put his daughter, have his daughter stand on his hood and dance and sing a question.

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And he said, whoever can answer her question, I'll give my daughter in marriage.

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and all sorts of riches and power.

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He spread this proclamation throughout the world of men.

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I guess Naga princesses were also quite beautiful.

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They can turn into human beings.

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It's a story.

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These are not the important parts.

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But it's quite a powerful sort of imagery.

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The lengths that this monk fell to and then the lengths he went to try to climb back up, spending every fortnight waiting for a Buddha to arise.

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So this question was,

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so that he could hear answers and find out if a Buddha had aroused.

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If there was no wisdom in the world that could answer the question properly, he knew that a Buddha hadn't arisen.

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So he kept listening.

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Whoever could answer it correctly, he was waiting.

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The question was, I guess I'll give the question now.

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Let's go over this.

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Because in this story, I brought the text because

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We're not just going to go over the verse here.

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There's some interesting teachings in the actual story, and I don't normally go into the teachings that are in the story, but I think this one, in this instance, we're going to.

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So his question was, And the reason I'm going to go over the Pali is because the English doesn't do it justice.

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There's a play on words.

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There's more than one play on words in all this.

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Raja is a king of course.

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Adipati means domination.

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Adipati is actually a word we use for the idipata, the roads of success.

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It means something that is chief, is in domination.

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So in what way does a Raja become truly a ruler or in dominion, become in charge or chief or the highest?

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King Suraja Rajisaro

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How does, by what, or in regards to what, in what way, does a Raja, a king, Rajisara, Rajam here means either kingdom, but it's a play on words.

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Isara means dominated again, or lord.

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Raja here would mean kingdom, so Rajisara would mean the lord of a kingdom.

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But the Buddha's going to answer it a different way.

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And I think that's the idea is that this is meant to fool anyone who's not a Buddha.

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By what things is one free from raja?

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Raja here means stain.

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There's no play on words really, but you see it's like raja, raja and raja.

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Raja here means stain.

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How does one become free from stains?

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How is one called a fool?

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That's the song she sang.

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Everybody tried to answer these questions.

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Four questions, right?

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How does a king become a ruler?

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How does one become the lord of a kingdom?

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How does a king become the lord of a kingdom?

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How does one become free from stains?

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And by what is one called a fool?

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For what is one called a fool?

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And then there arose a Buddha.

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Siddhartha Gautama went forth, became a Buddha.

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We heard last time about the turning of the wheel of Dhamma.

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And then there came

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a Rakapata or Rakapata was there the Buddha came to came to I guess it would have been it says where he was look at the English

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Yeah, Varanasi.

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Varanasi is right next to the Ganga River.

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So he would have been just outside of Varanasi.

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He was sitting under a tree.

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And he thought to himself, well, I'll just wait here.

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Because he sort of knew what was going to happen.

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He had this ability to see the future.

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And this Brahmin youth, Uttara,

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came walking along and saw the Buddha.

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The Buddha looked at him and said, where are you going?

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And he said, oh, this Naga king has offered his daughter to anyone who can answer his questions, her questions.

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And he said, oh, you have an answer?

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And he said, what's the answer?

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Uttara gives his answer and the Buddha says, that's not an answer.

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It doesn't say what Uttara's answer is.

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It's probably not very memorable.

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He was just a youth, probably quite intent upon the beauty of the Naga princess.

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And the Buddha says to him, I'll give you an answer.

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If I give you an answer, will you go and give it to the

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the king?

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He said, yes, I will.

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So the Buddha says, okay, what's the question?

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And he says the question.

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The Buddha gives an answer.

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And here's the Buddha's answer.

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Buddha says, if he tells you, if he asks you that question, here's the answer you give him.

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When a king, one is truly a king if one has a

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dominion over the six sense doors?

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Only a Buddha would answer something like that.

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What should a king have dominion over?

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The six senses.

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The six doors of the senses.

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One is a Rajisara.

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Rajisara, he takes it to not mean ruler of a kingdom, but one who is ruled by lust, by passion.

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Raja can either mean a kingdom or passion because it's just derived differently.

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One is ruled by passion through being passionate.

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One is called Rajisara because one is ruled by passion.

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One is free from stain when one gives up passion, when one has no passion.

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One is called stainless.

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One is called a fool because one is rajya, one is lustful.

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This is the answer.

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And he says, when you answer that, he's going to ask you another question.

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There's more.

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This is why I brought this up.

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There's some interesting teachings here.

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Food for thought, anyway.

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Something for us to learn about.

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At least to go over some of the things that define how a Buddha would answer such these questions.

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So the next question he's going to ask you By what things are that fool led by?

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What pull him along?

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What string him along or her along?

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How does a wise man cut them off or destroy them?

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How does a wise person nudity cut them off?

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How does one become a yoga kema?

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Yoga kema means freedom from yoga.

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We talked about yoga.

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Yoga has two meanings.

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And here it's a, there's going to be another play on words here.

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But here in this, in that yoga kema, it means bondage.

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Remember I talked about the yoke?

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Yoke can be thought of as a good thing because it means you're devoted to a task.

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But it also means bondage.

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Obviously the ox didn't decide to put the yoke on.

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But a harness is bondage because we have to work in order to appease our addictions.

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In order to be pleased in samsara we have to get caught up in suffering.

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We get bound to the wheel of birth and death.

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So this time only three questions.

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This I ask.

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And so when he asks these questions, see the Buddha is prophetic.

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He knows what he's going to ask.

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When he asks you that, you have to answer.

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By the flood, the fool is carried away.

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The wise person cuts off or destroys, does away with bonds.

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Yoga.

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No, no, that's not right.

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By yoga.

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Yeah, I don't know.

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I'm not quite convinced, but the commentary says that the second part is not free from the binds, but a wise person frees themselves with yoga, with the good kind of yoga, with work, with endeavor.

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And the third part, saba-yoga-visanyuto, untying all binds, yogaki-miti-muchati, one is called one who is free from yoga, free from bondage.

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That's the teachings.

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We'll get back to that when we talk about what this all means.

231
00:22:06,896 --> 00:22:07,417
He does that.

232
00:22:08,177 --> 00:22:11,862
He gives those to Uttara and Uttara does what he said.

233
00:22:12,163 --> 00:22:20,153
He goes to Rakapatta and his daughter and he says, I have an answer.

234
00:22:20,213 --> 00:22:26,701
And the daughter sings the question and he answers it as the Buddha said.

235
00:22:26,721 --> 00:22:29,545
She sings the second question and he answers that one as well.

236
00:22:32,140 --> 00:22:45,481
And Irakabhata hears this and he surfaces up and they say he makes a big splash and sends everyone, everyone was standing around watching the spectacle and gets them all wet.

237
00:22:46,844 --> 00:22:52,873
And he goes and he stands, Irakabhata goes and stands by this Brahmin youth and says, where is the Buddha?

238
00:22:52,893 --> 00:22:53,835
The Buddha has arisen.

239
00:22:54,276 --> 00:22:55,878
Bring me to him.

240
00:22:55,898 --> 00:22:57,000
And they go to see the Buddha.

241
00:22:58,583 --> 00:23:04,891
And he bows down to the Buddha, pays respect to the Buddha, and he says, he tells his, he says, who are you?

242
00:23:04,931 --> 00:23:12,860
I was a monk in the time of Kasaba Buddha, and he tells the story.

243
00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:17,766
And he says, in all this time, I've been lost.

244
00:23:18,547 --> 00:23:23,393
I fell to this low state of being a naga.

245
00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:27,842
And then the Buddha tells this verse.

246
00:23:27,862 --> 00:23:31,665
He says, yes, it's very hard to be born a human.

247
00:23:33,467 --> 00:23:35,549
It's very hard to live the human life.

248
00:23:37,231 --> 00:23:39,113
It's hard to hear the Dhamma.

249
00:23:39,133 --> 00:23:41,175
Very hard thing to find an opportunity.

250
00:23:44,579 --> 00:23:47,281
Hard to find the arising of a Buddha.

251
00:23:49,043 --> 00:23:49,864
So that's the verse.

252
00:23:50,024 --> 00:23:51,726
That's 182 in the Dhammapada.

253
00:23:53,950 --> 00:24:18,323
So what this means for our practice, the Dhammapada verse, the verse that sparks the story, 182, is really a good verse to focus our attention on the need to practice and provide encouragement.

254
00:24:18,364 --> 00:24:21,628
I mean, remind us of fairly important truths

255
00:24:27,532 --> 00:24:34,459
I think being born a human is probably the one we overlook the most.

256
00:24:34,759 --> 00:24:35,620
We take it for granted.

257
00:24:37,983 --> 00:24:44,469
And this is due to the nature of the corporeal world.

258
00:24:44,669 --> 00:24:46,231
We're born into a womb.

259
00:24:46,271 --> 00:24:49,594
We forget anything that came before.

260
00:24:49,614 --> 00:24:56,121
Nine months of creating new experiences.

261
00:24:58,514 --> 00:25:00,662
no connection with the old experiences.

262
00:25:00,682 --> 00:25:06,703
And we become intoxicated.

263
00:25:06,743 --> 00:25:10,296
We get caught up in the new life, the new experience.

264
00:25:12,065 --> 00:25:30,057
If you read the second noble truth which we talked about last time, it says, The craving which leads us to suffer.

265
00:25:31,893 --> 00:25:33,656
finds happiness wherever it goes.

266
00:25:34,137 --> 00:25:39,726
It delights in whatever rebirth it acquires.

267
00:25:40,968 --> 00:25:44,974
So if you're born a dung beetle, you're very excited about being a dung beetle.

268
00:25:46,276 --> 00:25:50,543
If you're born a human, you just get caught up in humanity.

269
00:25:50,523 --> 00:26:10,978
everyone who doesn't think if you haven't had some kind of religious belief or idea who doesn't think that humanity is reality you know being a human is how it is having 10 toes and 10 fingers that's that's what you have right

270
00:26:12,325 --> 00:26:14,508
It can never be something else.

271
00:26:14,528 --> 00:26:16,330
10 is what we have.

272
00:26:17,251 --> 00:26:19,173
We identify with this body, with you.

273
00:26:19,193 --> 00:26:19,994
This is it.

274
00:26:20,334 --> 00:26:21,255
This is everything.

275
00:26:22,617 --> 00:26:24,939
And in fact, it's such a small part of everything.

276
00:26:25,340 --> 00:26:27,262
It's so contrived and artificial.

277
00:26:28,263 --> 00:26:33,309
We weren't made in God's image.

278
00:26:34,330 --> 00:26:35,371
God doesn't look like this.

279
00:26:36,493 --> 00:26:38,535
There is no God to speak of.

280
00:26:42,312 --> 00:26:44,279
Certainly there are other types of being out there.

281
00:26:45,584 --> 00:26:48,173
Snake kings, I don't know how many toes and fingers they have.

282
00:26:48,796 --> 00:26:50,743
I guess none when they're in snake form.

283
00:26:51,746 --> 00:26:53,352
I don't know if they have claws or not.

284
00:27:00,217 --> 00:27:03,121
There's nothing exceptional about humanity.

285
00:27:03,401 --> 00:27:06,085
It's not the only way of life.

286
00:27:07,087 --> 00:27:08,909
But there is something special about it.

287
00:27:09,831 --> 00:27:12,855
It does happen to be a state where you can become free from suffering.

288
00:27:14,217 --> 00:27:21,928
Of course, angels and devas can also become free from suffering, but animals can't.

289
00:27:21,948 --> 00:27:24,351
And so the challenge of being born a human being

290
00:27:29,427 --> 00:27:47,689
It's like we've won the lottery, a very special sort of lottery, but not exactly because it means we've refined our minds and

291
00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:56,272
all of the conditions came together at the right time to allow us the opportunity.

292
00:27:56,292 --> 00:28:04,986
You know, you read the story about this monk who broke a piece of grass and that was all it took for him to get worried when he died.

293
00:28:06,113 --> 00:28:08,998
And just that worry, his inability to stay mindful.

294
00:28:09,499 --> 00:28:18,697
I mean, maybe the meditation he was doing was just tranquility meditation, which doesn't really help you deal with death, for example.

295
00:28:19,839 --> 00:28:23,105
Well, it can, but it also may not.

296
00:28:24,507 --> 00:28:26,130
It doesn't involve mindfulness.

297
00:28:26,150 --> 00:28:28,775
It doesn't involve dealing with your problems.

298
00:28:28,795 --> 00:28:29,657
And so it's...

299
00:28:29,637 --> 00:28:40,359
still always very possible that you might give rise to the worry and then that's not something you know how to deal with because your meditation is focused on tranquility.

300
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,506
That may have been the case with this monk.

301
00:28:43,526 --> 00:28:48,797
It could have been just bad luck.

302
00:28:48,937 --> 00:28:49,198
But

303
00:28:50,562 --> 00:28:57,815
You know, the idea, what we're doing here, there's a strong tradition.

304
00:28:59,218 --> 00:29:00,320
Believe what you believe.

305
00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:02,123
You don't have to believe.

306
00:29:02,985 --> 00:29:12,081
But there's a strong tradition, and it comes from the Visuddhimagga, that just attaining the second of the 16 stages of insight knowledge is enough to stop this.

307
00:29:13,057 --> 00:29:23,386
And so it's quite unlikely from an orthodox perspective that this guy had done any insight meditation, any real mindfulness.

308
00:29:23,466 --> 00:29:25,848
It must have been some kind of tranquility meditation.

309
00:29:29,691 --> 00:29:42,422
Because when you enter into mindfulness practice, even just for a few days, you come here, you do intensive practice, even just after a few days you realize karma, you understand cause and effect.

310
00:29:44,123 --> 00:29:58,087
You're incapable any longer, at least in this life, of getting caught up in bad states that might lead you to be reborn as in the animal realm.

311
00:29:59,069 --> 00:30:01,493
You're too clear on the workings of the mind.

312
00:30:03,576 --> 00:30:05,119
It's called .

313
00:30:09,352 --> 00:30:15,783
But just thinking about this and hearing this story gives us some kind of fear, I think.

314
00:30:17,185 --> 00:30:18,608
What might happen to me when I die?

315
00:30:18,668 --> 00:30:19,930
Will I be ready when I die?

316
00:30:21,272 --> 00:30:25,740
I think a meditator who practices mindfulness will be much more reassured

317
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:30,265
That they're not likely to fall into great states of evil.

318
00:30:31,446 --> 00:30:31,686
Why?

319
00:30:31,766 --> 00:30:33,328
Because they know how to deal with worry.

320
00:30:33,448 --> 00:30:38,233
If they're afraid or feel guilty about something, yeah, it doesn't mean they can make it go away.

321
00:30:39,575 --> 00:30:41,757
But they don't cling to it or obsess over it.

322
00:30:41,777 --> 00:30:45,281
They don't build it up and build it up because they know how to be mindful.

323
00:30:45,301 --> 00:30:50,446
They've got a natural capacity to be mindful and also a wisdom and understanding.

324
00:30:52,909 --> 00:30:53,810
This is not me.

325
00:30:53,830 --> 00:30:54,711
This is not mine.

326
00:30:54,731 --> 00:30:54,951
This is

327
00:30:56,821 --> 00:30:57,602
It is what it is.

328
00:31:05,294 --> 00:31:08,740
But so hard is it to attain even that?

329
00:31:09,180 --> 00:31:11,644
Well, it seems fairly simple if you come here to practice.

330
00:31:12,505 --> 00:31:19,416
I mean, you know how difficult this is, how much of a challenge it is just to be mindful.

331
00:31:20,378 --> 00:31:21,259
And how many

332
00:31:22,792 --> 00:31:33,262
millions and billions of people will never, have never, in the history of humanity, come close to that kind of understanding.

333
00:31:37,105 --> 00:31:42,050
And so when they die from a human realm, they mostly are reborn in the lower realms.

334
00:31:43,892 --> 00:31:45,113
Mostly animals, I suppose.

335
00:31:47,996 --> 00:31:49,457
With the advent of the Buddha,

336
00:31:50,720 --> 00:32:08,580
We have many more animals, not just Nagas, but also animals that are put in touch with wholesome things, put in touch with beings, humans who are enlightened or on the path to enlightenment or speaking about enlightened things.

337
00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:17,389
And so they're able to resonate with that and it becomes much more likely for them to be born as humans.

338
00:32:17,970 --> 00:32:19,832
This population explosion,

339
00:32:21,213 --> 00:32:29,342
I don't know, we might think that some of the goodness of the Buddha had played a part in that, or is playing a part in that.

340
00:32:31,605 --> 00:32:41,276
Regardless, it seems like it is a sign that perhaps we are getting better, even with all the stories of doom that we hear.

341
00:32:43,579 --> 00:32:46,562
And this time, at least, more humans is a good sign.

342
00:32:48,972 --> 00:32:52,195
Because if you look at billions, you think billions of humans is a lot.

343
00:32:53,457 --> 00:32:56,560
And you don't know how many animals there are, how many insects there are.

344
00:32:58,582 --> 00:33:02,966
Just looking at the animal realm.

345
00:33:03,067 --> 00:33:05,369
It's very difficult to be born human.

346
00:33:06,570 --> 00:33:08,592
You have to keep the five precepts.

347
00:33:09,033 --> 00:33:12,857
Being reborn as a human means basic morality and ethics.

348
00:33:14,038 --> 00:33:18,102
If you don't have that, your mind will be too fraught with

349
00:33:19,381 --> 00:33:21,703
unwholesome thoughts.

350
00:33:21,844 --> 00:33:26,489
And animals have of course a very hard time refraining from things like killing and stealing.

351
00:33:26,509 --> 00:33:32,795
Even just giving rise to some wholesome state that is above that kind of activity.

352
00:33:36,259 --> 00:33:39,803
Very easy for an animal to be reborn an animal.

353
00:33:39,823 --> 00:33:43,627
Very easy for a human to be reborn as an animal.

354
00:33:43,647 --> 00:33:44,848
It's like we've surfaced

355
00:33:46,145 --> 00:33:48,554
and we may drown again.

356
00:33:48,594 --> 00:33:51,625
Humans are not the default.

357
00:33:52,749 --> 00:33:54,315
You can't coast to being a human.

358
00:33:56,607 --> 00:33:57,608
But all of you are safe.

359
00:33:59,110 --> 00:34:03,717
The orthodox doctrine is that you're all safe, at least for this life.

360
00:34:04,958 --> 00:34:14,732
Even if you haven't attained Sotapanna, if you haven't gone to see the experience of cessation, you're still a Chula Sotapanna.

361
00:34:14,752 --> 00:34:15,894
So in this life you're safe.

362
00:34:17,015 --> 00:34:22,783
There's too much goodness and clarity in your minds to be reborn as an animal in this next life.

363
00:34:26,392 --> 00:34:31,638
So rare is it to be born human.

364
00:34:32,119 --> 00:34:40,068
It's a very good teaching for reminding us not to take it for granted, not to let it slip us by.

365
00:34:42,912 --> 00:34:46,476
So my teacher always says, that's how he starts this talk.

366
00:34:46,496 --> 00:34:48,338
He says, don't let the moment pass you by.

367
00:34:48,418 --> 00:34:50,020
Gano wo ma upachaga.

368
00:34:52,042 --> 00:34:53,444
Don't let the moment pass you by.

369
00:34:53,464 --> 00:35:06,580
It's sort of become a cliche saying, but it's actually probably the Buddha said it first, or maybe it's just such an obvious thing to say, but the meaning in Buddhism is deeper, or has its own depth.

370
00:35:09,463 --> 00:35:15,310
Don't let this moment in mindfulness pass us by, but don't let the moment, the opportunity that we've been born a human being.

371
00:35:18,975 --> 00:35:20,817
Hityang machana jiwitang.

372
00:35:22,518 --> 00:35:28,170
Another reason not to take for granted being a human is because you don't know how long you're going to live.

373
00:35:29,052 --> 00:35:30,715
Life as a human being is difficult.

374
00:35:31,657 --> 00:35:39,414
Some human beings die in the womb, some die after a few years or even just a few days.

375
00:35:41,578 --> 00:35:42,400
We can all

376
00:35:44,388 --> 00:35:47,452
suffer sickness and death quite quickly.

377
00:35:47,592 --> 00:35:50,816
Cancer can even get you very quickly, but you can get in an accident.

378
00:35:52,398 --> 00:35:53,279
You can be murdered.

379
00:35:53,299 --> 00:35:54,720
That always might happen.

380
00:35:56,002 --> 00:35:59,506
Even if you do live, it's difficult.

381
00:35:59,927 --> 00:36:03,151
The life of a human being is a challenge.

382
00:36:05,233 --> 00:36:10,159
So another good quality of this teaching is

383
00:36:10,763 --> 00:36:31,236
in in appreciation appreciation for you guys that you've that you've lived till today bravo you haven't been killed or died or fell ill to sickness good luck for you congratulations but also that you've

384
00:36:32,583 --> 00:36:44,313
taken the bull by the horns, you have grabbed life and found a way in this challenge, this incredibly difficult thing of being a human being, of being alive.

385
00:36:46,856 --> 00:37:00,868
And you have made it work so that you were able to put the brakes on and steer yourself in a way that brought you here, that now you are dedicating your life to the Buddha's teachings, dedicating your whole day, day and night,

386
00:37:02,097 --> 00:37:09,185
to the practice of the Dhamma, to mindfulness, to clarity, to something that anyone can see as pure.

387
00:37:10,307 --> 00:37:11,468
Well, not anyone.

388
00:37:11,488 --> 00:37:18,796
Anyone who seriously and honestly looks at it can see that there's nothing.

389
00:37:19,938 --> 00:37:27,066
This isn't about nagas or angels or mythical creatures, any kind of thing that's hard to believe.

390
00:37:27,106 --> 00:37:27,987
It's about mindfulness.

391
00:37:32,337 --> 00:37:32,998
You've done that.

392
00:37:33,038 --> 00:37:33,900
And that's the third one.

393
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:36,805
You've heard the Dhamma.

394
00:37:40,492 --> 00:37:41,734
You've heard the Dhamma.

395
00:37:41,814 --> 00:37:48,466
You've come to listen and not listen in a way that, I guess that's the difference.

396
00:37:48,526 --> 00:37:49,388
Hearing is one thing.

397
00:37:49,408 --> 00:37:50,129
You've listened.

398
00:37:51,853 --> 00:37:53,215
Many people hear the Dhamma.

399
00:37:54,815 --> 00:37:57,317
It's not quite as difficult to hear the Dhamma.

400
00:37:57,577 --> 00:37:59,379
In Sri Lanka they play it on the radio.

401
00:38:01,721 --> 00:38:02,862
Day, every day, every day.

402
00:38:03,543 --> 00:38:05,404
It's very hard to listen to the Dhamma.

403
00:38:05,465 --> 00:38:08,387
Listen in the English sense that we use the word.

404
00:38:09,468 --> 00:38:10,409
Are you listening to me?

405
00:38:11,470 --> 00:38:13,111
You're hearing me, but are you really listening?

406
00:38:14,633 --> 00:38:17,475
We might say in order to listen you really have to hear.

407
00:38:17,495 --> 00:38:18,796
Do you really hear me?

408
00:38:19,717 --> 00:38:20,858
Do you hear what I'm saying?

409
00:38:20,918 --> 00:38:22,780
Do you hear the meaning is what we mean by that.

410
00:38:25,645 --> 00:38:26,286
Sawana.

411
00:38:27,148 --> 00:38:33,979
So we have to explain it in this way, because to truly sawana, to truly hear the Dhamma, sutta is sawana.

412
00:38:34,420 --> 00:38:35,742
It's the same word, really.

413
00:38:37,224 --> 00:38:39,849
Sutta is something that you've heard, eva mei suttang.

414
00:38:41,952 --> 00:38:42,633
Well, maybe not.

415
00:38:42,653 --> 00:38:47,902
Sutta actually means something else, but it could mean this.

416
00:38:47,922 --> 00:38:48,924
Eva mei suttang.

417
00:38:48,984 --> 00:38:50,286
Suttang there means heard.

418
00:38:52,527 --> 00:38:55,211
Thus I have heard, but I really heard it and I listened.

419
00:38:55,672 --> 00:38:56,433
That's what it means.

420
00:38:57,494 --> 00:39:01,680
Ananda didn't just hear it, let it go in one ear and out the other.

421
00:39:03,403 --> 00:39:07,068
He memorized it and eventually he practiced and became enlightened himself.

422
00:39:13,277 --> 00:39:14,198
It's very difficult.

423
00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:32,428
Well, I mean, the point here, I think, on a basic level is that it's just very difficult to find the opportunity to even learn about how to practice mindfulness, which is something we all take, something I take to heart, publishing our booklet, you know.

424
00:39:33,229 --> 00:39:38,157
I'm not about putting my teachings or my ideas out there.

425
00:39:39,079 --> 00:39:40,000
The booklet is just

426
00:39:41,144 --> 00:39:44,148
what I was taught, the technique.

427
00:39:44,168 --> 00:39:45,109
Here's the teaching.

428
00:39:45,990 --> 00:39:46,651
Get it out there.

429
00:39:48,093 --> 00:40:05,754
I have good news that apparently Inward Path, this Malaysian publishing company, a very big and wonderful company that's published a lot of Mahasi Sayadaw's books and other teachers, apparently they want to publish the other book we put together.

430
00:40:07,176 --> 00:40:08,097
So that's great news.

431
00:40:10,743 --> 00:40:12,512
Publishers like that do great work.

432
00:40:13,296 --> 00:40:15,808
And there's one in Taiwan that does great work.

433
00:40:17,358 --> 00:40:27,368
many Buddhist publishers and the publishers publishing our booklet is doing it, I think at cost, doing us a very good deal.

434
00:40:27,409 --> 00:40:37,359
There's a Sri Lankan man who's also helping to make sure that people can hear the Dhamma, a very difficult thing and something that we don't take for granted.

435
00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:45,087
All of you can go back once you've practiced and speak it to others so they can hear.

436
00:40:49,167 --> 00:40:50,890
Kicho buddhanam upadho.

437
00:40:51,431 --> 00:40:54,476
Difficult is it for the arising of Buddhas.

438
00:40:54,496 --> 00:41:00,687
Now, you could take this as not just meaning the Buddha, because the Buddha put it at the end here.

439
00:41:01,949 --> 00:41:09,522
So Buddha means one who knows or one who is awake.

440
00:41:09,502 --> 00:41:14,209
And so if you have Sama Sambuddha, well none of us are going to be that, I don't think.

441
00:41:16,273 --> 00:41:17,755
I think we're not here aiming for that.

442
00:41:18,977 --> 00:41:22,983
If you are, you're probably in the wrong place, but not necessarily.

443
00:41:23,925 --> 00:41:27,571
But Buddha could apply to all of us.

444
00:41:27,651 --> 00:41:32,218
We call Anubuddha, I think is the word, one who is a follower.

445
00:41:35,945 --> 00:41:44,056
So the arising of a Buddha can refer to all of us, that knowledge and awakening, of course, it arises in everyone.

446
00:41:44,076 --> 00:41:45,418
The Buddha said he was no different.

447
00:41:45,438 --> 00:41:47,360
He just found it first.

448
00:41:49,023 --> 00:41:56,653
He had other special qualities, they say, but in the essentials and what's most important, exactly the same.

449
00:41:58,220 --> 00:42:22,624
So difficult is it to hear the Dhamma, but what you are doing and what is great about what practitioners gain is they do what is most difficult of all, to practice, to attain the goal that is laid out in the teaching.

450
00:42:23,718 --> 00:42:31,224
to come to realize the teachings for themselves, to not have to just hear it, or even just listen to it.

451
00:42:31,244 --> 00:42:34,977
But having heard and listened, they put it into practice.

452
00:42:36,762 --> 00:42:39,569
Buddha said what to do, and they listened.

453
00:42:40,591 --> 00:42:41,453
And you all have listened.

454
00:42:42,616 --> 00:42:46,605
You inquired once about Buddhism, or you heard of it from somewhere.

455
00:42:47,507 --> 00:42:55,125
And when you heard that advice, you listened to that advice, and you took that advice, and you've come to practice that advice.

456
00:42:56,928 --> 00:43:07,802
So encouragement, appreciation for the work that you guys are doing, and a realization that it's not something simple and we shouldn't take it for granted.

457
00:43:09,384 --> 00:43:13,168
When Buddhism dies out, and it will die out, there will be no opportunity.

458
00:43:13,449 --> 00:43:18,195
Just think, the chance, opportunity, we think, ah, Buddhism, it's a part of life, right?

459
00:43:18,695 --> 00:43:19,857
The world has Buddhism in it.

460
00:43:20,758 --> 00:43:23,121
Well, it's only been here for two and a half thousand years, and

461
00:43:24,890 --> 00:43:30,398
It's not 100% healthy these days, so it's going to die out eventually.

462
00:43:30,418 --> 00:43:36,427
And then there will be no opportunity.

463
00:43:36,988 --> 00:43:38,250
Where will you get this teaching?

464
00:43:38,270 --> 00:43:39,872
You won't get this teaching.

465
00:43:40,293 --> 00:43:43,337
We'll be lost like this Naga king.

466
00:43:47,384 --> 00:43:49,188
That's the teaching of the verse.

467
00:43:49,208 --> 00:43:52,636
In and of itself, I could stop there, but I want to go through these two other verses.

468
00:43:52,956 --> 00:43:54,640
They're sort of lost verses.

469
00:43:54,740 --> 00:43:56,404
I don't know if the Buddha actually taught them.

470
00:43:57,106 --> 00:44:00,613
The commentary mentions them and says this is what the Buddha taught.

471
00:44:00,633 --> 00:44:01,976
But they're very orthodox.

472
00:44:02,277 --> 00:44:04,482
It's all part of what the Buddha taught.

473
00:44:06,149 --> 00:44:07,211
So I'll go through them quickly.

474
00:44:07,491 --> 00:44:09,895
I mean, it really just reaffirms a lot of the teachings.

475
00:44:10,997 --> 00:44:14,302
To be a real ruler, you have to guard the six senses.

476
00:44:15,765 --> 00:44:18,830
So if we're talking about kings, it applies, but it applies to us.

477
00:44:19,330 --> 00:44:21,835
Let's just take it as a reminder of the six senses.

478
00:44:21,875 --> 00:44:26,783
They're really the essence of reality from our perspective.

479
00:44:26,803 --> 00:44:28,926
What is the perspective on reality we should have?

480
00:44:29,567 --> 00:44:31,330
The six senses.

481
00:44:31,310 --> 00:44:32,131
They're the basis.

482
00:44:32,632 --> 00:44:39,001
Not people and places and things, but seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling, thinking.

483
00:44:39,041 --> 00:44:49,435
If you want to really be in control, if you want to really be a ruler in dominion, you have to conquer the six senses.

484
00:44:50,477 --> 00:44:52,980
Mindfulness is said to guard the six sense doors.

485
00:44:55,525 --> 00:45:00,433
And if you guard the six senses, you become the ruler of the kingdom.

486
00:45:00,874 --> 00:45:02,757
You're not ruled by defilements.

487
00:45:09,047 --> 00:45:18,141
Rajisaro is just a funny play on words, I think, but one who is a raja lord, a lord of rajas.

488
00:45:20,045 --> 00:45:20,947
So what is a kingdom?

489
00:45:20,987 --> 00:45:24,093
The Buddha refers to a kingdom as being a raja.

490
00:45:24,213 --> 00:45:27,640
The other kind of raja is being passion, lust.

491
00:45:29,042 --> 00:45:35,935
Which, you know, it's not just, I mean, of course it's not, it doesn't actually mean kingdom, but kind of is what a kingdom is, right?

492
00:45:36,096 --> 00:45:36,717
What is a king?

493
00:45:36,757 --> 00:45:39,943
Someone who has great wealth and luxury.

494
00:45:41,746 --> 00:45:43,488
They can do great things with it.

495
00:45:43,568 --> 00:45:46,792
The last king of Thailand did great things with his wealth, I think.

496
00:45:47,172 --> 00:45:52,918
But he was very wealthy and I assume lived a very luxurious life.

497
00:45:54,540 --> 00:45:56,582
But other kings do not and have not.

498
00:45:57,623 --> 00:46:00,627
And they live for the lust and the passion.

499
00:46:02,569 --> 00:46:09,897
Taking many wives and being cruel and mean to their subjects all for their own greed and benefits.

500
00:46:11,530 --> 00:46:13,332
So Rajisra is not a good thing.

501
00:46:14,633 --> 00:46:21,902
One who is lord of a kingdom, well, it's another name for one who is lorded by rajah, by lust.

502
00:46:24,404 --> 00:46:25,906
So how does one become stainless?

503
00:46:26,347 --> 00:46:27,908
Stainless is a virajah.

504
00:46:28,008 --> 00:46:31,693
That's a very, the Buddha used this word a lot, virajah, virajol.

505
00:46:33,595 --> 00:46:36,458
Arajang, when one has no lust or passion.

506
00:46:36,498 --> 00:46:37,319
These are the stains.

507
00:46:37,539 --> 00:46:38,280
A stain is

508
00:46:39,475 --> 00:46:43,981
Craving because nothing outside of us is going to satisfy.

509
00:46:44,922 --> 00:46:48,627
You can't find happiness in the objects of the sense.

510
00:46:49,608 --> 00:46:52,993
If your happiness depends upon a thing, well, all things, guess what?

511
00:46:54,134 --> 00:46:55,736
Everything that arises ceases.

512
00:46:58,019 --> 00:47:01,204
And not just when you want it to cease.

513
00:47:02,746 --> 00:47:07,592
They come and they go based on many things that are very much out of our control.

514
00:47:15,537 --> 00:47:21,944
If you get caught up in them, this is foolishness.

515
00:47:23,186 --> 00:47:26,049
Foolishness, it's a fool's errand, they might say.

516
00:47:27,050 --> 00:47:28,432
There's no good that comes from it.

517
00:47:28,472 --> 00:47:30,054
You don't actually become happier.

518
00:47:30,074 --> 00:47:35,520
It's because of lack of knowledge, lack of insight, lack of wisdom.

519
00:47:38,384 --> 00:47:39,065
First verse.

520
00:47:40,386 --> 00:47:41,207
Second verse.

521
00:47:42,993 --> 00:47:49,628
The fool is carried away by the flood.

522
00:47:52,662 --> 00:47:54,926
There are four floods, Oga in Buddhism.

523
00:47:54,946 --> 00:48:02,439
It's carried away by the flood is another fairly common teaching of the Buddha.

524
00:48:02,459 --> 00:48:03,701
He talks about the four floods.

525
00:48:03,902 --> 00:48:06,126
Kama is sensuality as a flood.

526
00:48:07,388 --> 00:48:08,710
Bhava is another flood.

527
00:48:09,091 --> 00:48:10,393
Bhava meaning becoming.

528
00:48:11,315 --> 00:48:13,759
So you can, this could maybe just refer to

529
00:48:15,022 --> 00:48:25,360
It could refer to desire for becoming, wanting to become, but really more generally you could think of it just as all the stuff that happens to us in life.

530
00:48:27,324 --> 00:48:29,167
Our relationships with other people.

531
00:48:29,788 --> 00:48:33,936
Baba here just means stuff, means existence or experience really.

532
00:48:34,897 --> 00:48:37,502
Well, existence, things that come into being.

533
00:48:38,714 --> 00:48:39,956
Our whole life is bhava.

534
00:48:40,917 --> 00:48:42,339
You get a job, that's bhava.

535
00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:43,922
You have debt, that's bhava.

536
00:48:43,942 --> 00:48:45,123
You have a family, bhava.

537
00:48:45,744 --> 00:48:46,806
Relationship, bhava.

538
00:48:48,168 --> 00:48:49,510
You get in an accident, bhava.

539
00:48:50,711 --> 00:48:51,993
Stuff that happens to us.

540
00:48:53,355 --> 00:48:53,956
It's a flood.

541
00:48:54,136 --> 00:48:55,378
You get carried away by it.

542
00:48:55,418 --> 00:48:57,481
A fool gets carried away by it.

543
00:48:57,501 --> 00:48:59,524
You don't have to get carried away if you're wise.

544
00:49:01,073 --> 00:49:03,997
Very important benefit of mindfulness, right?

545
00:49:04,017 --> 00:49:09,644
Doesn't take you away from bhava, just stops you from getting carried away by it.

546
00:49:12,708 --> 00:49:14,290
And then avijja is another one.

547
00:49:14,410 --> 00:49:20,338
Ignorance is a flood because you get carried away by just stupidity.

548
00:49:21,419 --> 00:49:22,821
You don't know the right way to act.

549
00:49:23,361 --> 00:49:25,444
How are you going to act?

550
00:49:25,728 --> 00:49:28,793
Maybe today I'll act like this, tomorrow I'll act like that.

551
00:49:29,634 --> 00:49:34,682
Inconsistent, hypocritical, or just plain ignorant.

552
00:49:38,187 --> 00:49:42,454
And ditti, the fourth flood that carries us away is ditti, which is views.

553
00:49:44,137 --> 00:49:50,286
If you have religious views, like if I believe in God, I'll go to heaven, you'll get carried away with that.

554
00:49:50,727 --> 00:49:52,630
You'll lose sight of what's really important.

555
00:49:54,095 --> 00:49:57,158
You believe there's no result of bad deeds or good deeds.

556
00:49:58,079 --> 00:49:59,761
Good deeds don't make you a better person.

557
00:49:59,861 --> 00:50:01,663
Bad deeds don't make you a worse person.

558
00:50:01,824 --> 00:50:02,725
You'll get carried away.

559
00:50:04,647 --> 00:50:16,280
If you don't believe in things like respecting your parents, your teachers, that sort of thing, you'll become arrogant and cruel to your parents and that sort of thing.

560
00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:19,363
Lots of bad stuff.

561
00:50:19,383 --> 00:50:19,744
Views.

562
00:50:20,264 --> 00:50:21,606
How many views did they talk about?

563
00:50:21,646 --> 00:50:22,667
Those are the kind of views.

564
00:50:25,634 --> 00:50:27,837
Yoga nudati pandito.

565
00:50:27,958 --> 00:50:34,548
So it says with effort a wise man, wise person cuts them off.

566
00:50:34,568 --> 00:50:35,870
I can't remember what nudati is.

567
00:50:35,910 --> 00:50:40,297
Nudati is like nudati.

568
00:50:40,317 --> 00:50:40,878
Nudati.

569
00:50:42,660 --> 00:50:49,211
Which means to push, to drive out, to expel.

570
00:50:50,172 --> 00:50:54,038
One drives away the floods perhaps with effort.

571
00:50:56,566 --> 00:50:58,289
With dedication, devotion.

572
00:50:59,652 --> 00:51:02,337
Again with this, that in our practice we should be devoted.

573
00:51:02,858 --> 00:51:06,285
Ways we are devoted are the continuity of our practice.

574
00:51:07,848 --> 00:51:11,835
It's exceptional when you try to be mindful during your daily life even.

575
00:51:13,559 --> 00:51:16,705
Taking this advice of not putting down the burden.

576
00:51:16,865 --> 00:51:18,388
Anikita duro, that we said.

577
00:51:24,173 --> 00:51:31,525
One is called free from bondage, or safe, sorry.

578
00:51:32,647 --> 00:51:34,069
One who is safe from bondage.

579
00:51:34,109 --> 00:51:38,416
Yoga kema is a very common phrase that the Buddha used.

580
00:51:38,536 --> 00:51:46,328
I used it in different ways.

581
00:51:46,669 --> 00:51:49,894
So one who is, who has this freedom from bondage,

582
00:51:52,338 --> 00:51:54,582
There's one who has untied all the binds.

583
00:51:58,009 --> 00:52:00,734
I think it means something like untied.

584
00:52:01,556 --> 00:52:06,665
Become unconnected, unattached from all the bonds.

585
00:52:06,745 --> 00:52:10,092
And the yoga, I think the yoga are also the floods.

586
00:52:10,132 --> 00:52:12,296
It's the same four, but they're also called yoga.

587
00:52:12,597 --> 00:52:14,380
They're also things that get us bound.

588
00:52:16,435 --> 00:52:20,802
And then there's the Sangyojana, which is the same thing, but there's ten of those.

589
00:52:20,822 --> 00:52:22,585
I won't go into it.

590
00:52:27,212 --> 00:52:36,627
Really the essence there is how different the answer of the Buddha would have to be from, or is from, an ordinary answer.

591
00:52:38,270 --> 00:52:39,291
What makes one king?

592
00:52:39,371 --> 00:52:40,653
What makes one ruler?

593
00:52:41,755 --> 00:52:42,857
How is one a fool?

594
00:52:42,917 --> 00:52:44,299
What is a wise person?

595
00:52:48,211 --> 00:52:53,700
The theme in the Buddha's teaching is freedom from lust and passion and ignorance.

596
00:52:55,022 --> 00:52:58,467
It's dedication and devotion to wisdom and understanding.

597
00:53:03,154 --> 00:53:07,702
So, that's the story, that's the verse, that's Dhammapada 182.

598
00:53:08,523 --> 00:53:09,685
Thank you all for listening.

599
00:53:09,985 --> 00:53:10,506
Have a good night.