WEBVTT 03:14.482 --> 03:16.945 Hello and welcome to our broadcast. 03:17.846 --> 03:18.688 What have I forgotten? 03:18.728 --> 03:32.626 Oh, it started automatically. 03:33.527 --> 03:34.068 That's funny. 03:39.936 --> 03:41.738 Alright, I no longer have to start it. 03:43.743 --> 03:46.788 I think I just messed it up. 03:46.808 --> 03:47.589 Good evening everyone. 03:47.630 --> 03:49.052 Welcome to our broadcast. 03:51.276 --> 03:59.009 Tonight we're looking at Anguttara Nikaya, Book of Sixes, Sutta 53. 03:59.049 --> 04:08.164 The Appamada Sutta. 04:13.527 --> 04:29.307 And so it starts, At that time, a certain Brahmin approached the Bhagava, the Blessed One. 04:34.153 --> 04:41.762 Having approached the Blessed One, he chatted with him. 04:42.248 --> 04:44.732 Samodhi is pleasantries. 04:49.479 --> 05:09.247 After having exchanged pleasantries, pleasant talk, that was kind and so on. 05:09.268 --> 05:10.990 He sat at one side and then he asked, 05:14.885 --> 05:27.197 This should be a familiar question, I think. 05:30.340 --> 05:31.442 Well, at least this part of it. 05:32.743 --> 05:42.833 Tell me, Gotama, Reverend Gotama, is there one Dhamma, one thing, 05:45.361 --> 05:46.543 It's a common question, no? 05:46.643 --> 05:48.226 We want the short version. 05:48.266 --> 05:51.972 We want one Dhamma. 05:51.992 --> 05:53.094 Give me one teaching. 05:53.835 --> 05:56.239 Don't give me all these lists of things, right? 05:57.862 --> 06:01.188 You'll be happy tonight we don't have a list of six, even though it's the book of sixes. 06:01.208 --> 06:02.129 We just got one thing. 06:02.790 --> 06:06.677 Eko Dhammo Bhavito Bahuli Kato 06:10.454 --> 06:30.437 when cultivated, when made much of, that I don't quite understand that. 06:42.196 --> 06:45.221 It's able to accomplish, I'm not sure how that works. 06:46.343 --> 06:53.556 It's able to accomplish both benefits. 06:54.157 --> 07:02.411 I'll just read in English the benefits in this life, or benefit in this life, and benefit in the life hereafter. 07:03.393 --> 07:05.436 Atto samparāyiko. 07:11.086 --> 07:15.130 I say this is familiar because it sounds like he's looking for a shortcut, right? 07:16.971 --> 07:18.913 He's looking for a quick fix. 07:20.234 --> 07:21.396 This should sound familiar. 07:22.717 --> 07:31.185 Many of us were looking for a quick fix. 07:31.205 --> 07:32.606 It's kind of lazy in a sense. 07:32.646 --> 07:37.030 We don't want to have to work or anything complicated or involved. 07:37.510 --> 07:39.152 Something you have to get caught up in. 07:43.672 --> 07:45.494 That's a good question, it's not a bad question. 07:45.975 --> 07:50.681 The question is, what is that one thing? 07:50.701 --> 08:01.796 Here the Buddha's been teaching for 45 years, so many different Dhammas, so many complex teachings, and here this guy wants him to sum it up in one Dhamma. 08:03.238 --> 08:04.039 Can he do that? 08:04.580 --> 08:10.287 And indeed the Buddha does that, and it's given away in the title of this sutta. 08:13.709 --> 08:20.580 The Buddha says, There is indeed one Dhamma. 08:20.600 --> 08:29.073 And you go, well, what is it? 08:29.093 --> 08:38.147 And the Buddha says, Appamada is that one Dhamma, the Buddha said. 08:46.312 --> 08:47.013 Appamada. 08:47.053 --> 08:57.775 Appamada is the, many people will call it the key to the Buddha's teaching and it's the summary of the Buddha's teaching. 08:58.576 --> 09:06.632 The commentary says all of the Tapitika can be boiled down to this one thing, the path of Appamada. 09:08.080 --> 09:11.666 It's the last words of the Buddha, right? 09:12.968 --> 09:19.138 become accomplished or fulfill your self. 09:20.280 --> 09:28.553 Become fulfilled with, filled up with, accomplished in . 09:38.911 --> 09:46.102 One of the most useful aspects of this teaching is trimming away all the fat. 09:49.147 --> 09:53.915 You might have doubt that it was actually possible to boil it all down to one Dhamma. 09:53.935 --> 10:06.555 It might seem like an impossible task, but the immediate benefit of being able to do so makes things a lot more simple. 10:10.231 --> 10:19.786 Unfortunately, at the same time, it removes any excuse or escape from actually doing the work. 10:22.611 --> 10:27.378 Because it's basically saying, how do you succeed? 10:27.659 --> 10:29.642 You work, right? 10:29.662 --> 10:37.134 So for anyone who thought they could find a quick fix or a shortcut, a way around the practice, no. 10:37.154 --> 10:38.095 Because up a moda, 10:39.307 --> 10:41.131 Appamut is a difficult word to translate. 10:42.053 --> 10:49.688 We have translations and we can make approximations, but it's also useful to go down to the root of the word, which comes from mud. 10:49.728 --> 10:52.534 Mud is a root. 10:52.895 --> 11:00.049 Root means it's the kernel in the middle of the word that spawns all sorts of other words. 11:02.223 --> 11:14.016 And it relates to, it has a kernel of meaning relating to confusion, darkness, cloudiness, that kind of thing. 11:16.178 --> 11:21.104 Muddy, maybe where the word mud comes from in English. 11:21.124 --> 11:22.085 It's clear as mud. 11:27.410 --> 11:28.872 But when it becomes pa-mud, 11:31.383 --> 11:34.566 Pamad is a little more serious, because pa strengthens. 11:36.529 --> 11:42.074 But pamad is generally used to refer to intoxication, a drunken state. 11:42.195 --> 11:50.143 So not just confused in an ordinary sense, but in a really bad way. 11:52.586 --> 11:54.668 Confused in the bad sense. 11:54.788 --> 11:56.430 Because a good person can be confused. 11:57.751 --> 12:01.255 If you ask someone something, if you're not clear, then they might be unsure. 12:04.373 --> 12:10.259 But only a person who has unwholesomeness in their mind can be intoxicated. 12:11.341 --> 12:14.104 It's also used to talk about physical intoxications. 12:14.184 --> 12:20.451 That's where the word... That's where the word... That's also used there. 12:21.071 --> 12:26.377 So in the fifth precept, alcohol is something that leads to pamada. 12:26.397 --> 12:28.499 And that pamada is just a negation. 12:28.760 --> 12:31.022 So it's the opposite of being intoxicated. 12:32.622 --> 12:34.346 It's the opposite of being inebriated. 12:39.498 --> 12:48.640 And so you can think of it as analogous to 12:50.122 --> 12:51.505 Physical intoxication. 12:52.546 --> 12:54.991 Just like physical intoxication with alcohol. 12:55.873 --> 12:57.075 It's a big problem for you. 12:57.776 --> 12:59.479 There's also mental intoxication. 13:00.180 --> 13:06.091 There's intoxication through greed, through anger, through delusion. 13:08.816 --> 13:10.600 Greed is something that intoxicates us. 13:10.620 --> 13:13.024 A person full of greed can't think clearly. 13:14.573 --> 13:18.438 A person full of anger certainly isn't thinking clearly. 13:19.720 --> 13:24.866 And a person full of delusion, arrogance, conceit, don't think clearly. 13:25.747 --> 13:35.620 Egotism, high self-esteem, low self-esteem, it all muddies your thought, muddies your mind. 13:41.118 --> 13:50.046 So apamāda is this clarity of mind, really, this unsulliedness, might be a good translation. 13:50.086 --> 13:56.732 We often try to find a positive, or we often translate in a positive sense, which is problematic. 13:56.752 --> 14:07.181 Like if you say vigilance, which I've used tonight for the name of this talk, and heedfulness, these are positive versions. 14:07.281 --> 14:09.583 But apamāda is actually a negation of something. 14:09.603 --> 14:10.804 It's like not something. 14:14.834 --> 14:21.061 But you can see how it relates to vigilance, heedfulness, non-negligence. 14:23.763 --> 14:25.005 It's a little bit awkward. 14:29.069 --> 14:44.385 The unconfusedness, the unconfused nature of the mind, the mind that is not confused, deluded, distracted from the reality. 14:51.723 --> 14:54.209 The mind that sees things as they are, that's appamāda. 14:55.392 --> 15:05.698 If you have that clarity of mind, that perfect sobriety, that's appamāda. 15:10.454 --> 15:13.739 And so if you ever, this should answer a lot of questions. 15:13.999 --> 15:32.646 I hear the Buddha is saying it relates to benefits even in this life, or benefits in this life, but even benefits in terms of your afterlife, in terms of your soul, for lack of a better word, your spiritual journey through samsara. 15:33.427 --> 15:35.871 And unspoken, of course, is the benefit 15:36.998 --> 15:41.886 in an ultimate sense, in terms of freeing oneself from samsara. 15:41.966 --> 15:44.110 This is the Dhamma that you need. 15:44.210 --> 15:45.132 But there's no shortcut. 15:45.152 --> 15:47.676 There's no way around it. 15:47.716 --> 15:49.519 A lot of the questions, how do I deal with this? 15:49.579 --> 15:50.480 How do I deal with that? 15:51.903 --> 15:55.168 Or even, how do I know my practice is working? 15:55.228 --> 15:58.133 How do I know I'm practicing correctly? 15:58.173 --> 16:02.280 There's only one correct practice in Buddhism, really. 16:03.560 --> 16:10.188 All other practices have to be relegated to a supportive role. 16:11.689 --> 16:19.759 And the only Dhamma that is truly the path, that is intrinsic to the path, is Appamada. 16:21.020 --> 16:22.202 That's maybe not quite true. 16:22.222 --> 16:24.204 There are many Dhammas that come along with it. 16:25.686 --> 16:31.052 But the leader, the Dhamma that is the chief, 16:32.922 --> 16:34.584 And so that's what the Buddha says in this sutta. 16:34.604 --> 16:35.925 That's why we have Book of Sixes. 16:35.965 --> 16:37.086 There are six similes. 16:38.608 --> 16:53.404 He says, just like the elephant's footprint is the biggest footprint, and all other animal footprints fit into the elephant's footprint. 16:53.424 --> 16:55.346 So the elephant's footprint is foremost. 16:56.107 --> 16:57.208 Appamada is like that. 17:00.175 --> 17:01.677 Or the rafters of a house. 17:02.098 --> 17:05.983 If you have a peaked house, one of the houses that's like a round roof or a tipi kind of. 17:07.165 --> 17:08.567 They all lean towards the peak. 17:10.710 --> 17:15.957 In the same way all Dhammas lean towards Appamada. 17:26.892 --> 17:28.454 And he has a simile of a reed cutter. 17:28.494 --> 17:29.676 I don't understand that. 17:35.748 --> 17:39.094 I guess you cut a bunch of reeds, you grab them by the top. 17:40.577 --> 17:45.787 I think that you have to grab the reeds by the top for some reason. 17:46.609 --> 17:49.815 So the top is appamāda, I guess. 17:49.835 --> 17:57.730 When you cut a bunch of mangoes from the tree, they all cling to the stalk and follow the stalk. 17:57.750 --> 17:59.072 So the stalk is appamāda. 18:03.035 --> 18:09.147 And just like all princes and royals are vassals of a wheel turning monarch. 18:09.769 --> 18:11.612 Wheel turning monarch is like the king of the world. 18:11.672 --> 18:17.203 The king is in charge. 18:18.867 --> 18:20.470 So Appamada is like the king. 18:25.175 --> 18:32.988 Or just as in the sky, when you look up at the light from the stars, you have all the light from all these stars, bright, twinkling bright. 18:34.090 --> 18:37.416 They don't amount to a 16th part of the radiance of the moon. 18:38.197 --> 18:40.180 So the radiance of the moon is foremost. 18:42.244 --> 18:48.735 The light of the moon is far brighter than the light that we see from all the stars. 18:54.082 --> 18:56.165 The same way Appamāda is like the moon. 18:57.126 --> 18:59.109 Compare that to the light from all the other stars. 18:59.970 --> 19:02.333 It means all other dhammas are insignificant really. 19:07.881 --> 19:09.343 And so this is what we have to cultivate. 19:09.383 --> 19:19.937 Appamāda is like this continual state of clarity, the cultivation of moments of clarity. 19:23.663 --> 19:40.915 the changing or building up of proper habits and the cutting down of improper habits, just like cutting down a jungle to make arable farmland. 19:42.838 --> 19:47.106 You cut down all the thicket and you organize. 19:50.039 --> 19:51.281 make the land livable. 19:51.481 --> 20:12.672 We do the same with our minds, cutting down all the habits and all the cobwebs in our minds, all those things in our minds that cultivate our breeding ground for greed, anger, and delusion. 20:14.963 --> 20:16.064 It's quite a simple practice. 20:16.084 --> 20:18.167 I mean, this is what mindfulness is, right? 20:18.948 --> 20:32.223 The Buddha said, to never be without mindfulness, is what the Buddha said. 20:32.243 --> 20:35.466 This is what apamada is. 20:35.527 --> 20:37.389 Mindfulness is really what he means here. 20:38.710 --> 20:41.173 Or sati, when you remember yourself. 20:42.773 --> 20:50.758 So this act of reminding ourselves, the clarity of mind that you feel, I mean, it's a shame that there's so many questions about 20:52.561 --> 21:00.876 about the benefit of the practice, where everyone's focused on some measure, which is very difficult, especially in the beginning. 21:00.896 --> 21:04.042 How can you measure how far you've gotten, how good this is for you? 21:04.723 --> 21:06.727 And we ignore the greatness of the moment. 21:07.208 --> 21:10.273 At that moment when you're mindful, how can you doubt that? 21:11.175 --> 21:16.324 That state of apamada, where you're perfectly sober, see things perfectly clear. 21:17.890 --> 21:20.373 Really, in a sense, who cares what comes from it? 21:21.054 --> 21:26.361 Why would you focus on what comes from it when you know that your mind is pure, is clear? 21:27.743 --> 21:36.054 That in and of itself is the first benefit of mindfulness, the Buddha said. 21:37.196 --> 21:40.500 The purification of beings. 21:40.520 --> 21:41.662 Just the purity of mind. 21:43.644 --> 21:46.288 And the building up of that habit. 21:46.308 --> 21:47.830 Changing the way we look at things. 21:49.210 --> 22:02.930 So rather than reacting and being all muddled and intoxicated by experiences, to live our lives free from intoxication, to live our lives objective and pure and clear. 22:05.934 --> 22:07.677 That's what we're aiming for in the meditation. 22:08.117 --> 22:09.379 That's what we get every moment. 22:10.928 --> 22:14.392 And as you build up moments and moments, it's like rain pouring down. 22:15.333 --> 22:16.315 Little drops of rain. 22:16.355 --> 22:19.679 This is why it's discouraging, because each moment is just like a drop of rain. 22:19.739 --> 22:21.741 So people say, well, is this really doing anything? 22:23.343 --> 22:26.327 Just like the people who see the rainfall and say, it's not going to flood. 22:28.970 --> 22:30.172 Yeah. 22:30.192 --> 22:32.154 And they get swept away by the flood. 22:34.597 --> 22:35.478 This is a good flood. 22:36.520 --> 22:39.163 It's a bit of a bad analogy, because this flood is actually 22:40.831 --> 22:47.139 Don't worry, the flood will come and sweep you away for your betterment. 22:50.222 --> 22:51.964 Alright, so that's the Dhamma for tonight. 22:52.925 --> 22:58.132 That's a simple talk on Appamada. 22:58.152 --> 23:01.255 But good to remember, keep to the principles. 23:02.877 --> 23:07.363 And it's good to see there's not that much we have to learn. 23:07.383 --> 23:10.146 You learn the four Satipatthana, then you've got Appamada and 23:10.717 --> 23:14.723 You're good to go. 23:14.743 --> 23:15.764 Okay. 23:15.784 --> 23:16.966 Do we have any questions? 23:18.628 --> 23:19.149 Yes, we do. 23:21.031 --> 23:30.184 We have one person asking many, many questions, and I'm going to single you out because, as I said, the person who asks a lot of questions, it's often a sign that they're not meditating. 23:33.829 --> 23:40.538 I'm going to keep a close eye on those people who ask lots of questions, and we'll be especially hard on them 23:47.555 --> 23:49.237 Sorry, Bhante, my screen is loading. 23:49.658 --> 23:50.820 Should be just another moment. 23:50.840 --> 23:54.084 Let's see if I can... Yeah, I got the first one. 23:54.405 --> 23:55.626 These are actually good questions. 23:55.686 --> 24:02.576 I was being hard and I was trying to go through and delete some, but couldn't come up with any worth deleting, so that's a good sign. 24:05.881 --> 24:14.693 If the Buddha had created comprehensive teachings on rebirth, yet he had previously relinquished religious dogmatism and pursuit, 24:15.230 --> 24:19.041 Could it be assumed he had an actual source for his information? 24:19.082 --> 24:25.762 Is it safe to just trust someone's unwieldy and lofty claims at how rebirth works? 24:26.544 --> 24:28.851 How would he have known, upon his awakening? 24:30.755 --> 24:32.717 The Buddha saw it happening. 24:33.038 --> 24:42.229 He was able to use his mental powers to watch people being reborn and dying and further was able to remember his own past lives. 24:42.249 --> 24:56.627 So that's the best way, to be able to remember your own past lives and to be able to see with your mind, to be able to watch the spiritual plane of beings being born and dying and going according to their karma, which is incredibly instructive. 24:56.607 --> 25:01.840 in terms of seeing the ways in which it works and how complicated it was, right? 25:01.860 --> 25:09.779 So he was able to see the complexity and the intricacies of how the mind works at the moment of death and how it leads to rebirth. 25:10.681 --> 25:12.405 That's the realm of magical 25:12.385 --> 25:30.968 powers so most of us well most people will doubt that that's even possible let alone ever have a hope of realizing that power for themselves but I mean rebirth isn't something that takes faith it takes faith to believe that at death the mind stops you know if you take on 25:30.948 --> 25:43.877 the paradigm of experiential reality, where you see things in terms of the very, which turns out to be the very basis of reality, experience. 25:45.140 --> 25:52.009 We only have the conjecture of the world around us, this body, this life, because of experience. 25:52.649 --> 26:00.299 So we conjecture, we extrapolate, but we extrapolate based on our subjective experience. 26:00.519 --> 26:06.507 And so the idea that this ceases because of some extrapolated 26:06.487 --> 26:34.097 reality that we interpret from a perceived event that we've no recollection of experiencing ourselves there's problems with that the idea that death stops everything is speculative so it's not fair to say that death is the null hypothesis in my mind I mean obviously many people would disagree with that but 26:35.326 --> 26:36.870 That's all I got to say about that. 26:36.891 --> 26:38.154 And I say that many times. 26:38.194 --> 26:40.581 I've talked about this in my other videos. 26:44.753 --> 26:46.258 Can I meditate on anger? 26:46.960 --> 26:47.802 How do I do this? 26:48.223 --> 26:50.550 I get angry and anxiety a lot. 26:52.133 --> 26:54.536 Well, it sounds like you might want to read my booklet. 26:56.698 --> 26:59.361 Because if you had read my booklet, it should have told you that. 26:59.882 --> 27:02.545 Yes, you can meditate on anger and anxiety. 27:02.565 --> 27:04.447 You might want to look up my video on anxiety. 27:05.168 --> 27:09.553 Probably better that I don't get into it here because I've got lots of videos on these things. 27:10.394 --> 27:11.636 You can go to Video Wiki. 27:11.696 --> 27:13.498 If you look at the top there, there's a link to it. 27:13.838 --> 27:18.023 And it's got lots and lots of videos on different topics. 27:19.825 --> 27:21.247 But definitely read the booklet. 27:21.488 --> 27:24.152 That would be a good place to start. 27:27.758 --> 27:34.950 We should probably include a link to the booklet here in the notes at the top, if anybody from the IT team is listening. 27:35.190 --> 27:38.035 So we've got the video wiki and the FAQ. 27:38.055 --> 27:44.145 We should have something that says, please make sure you've read our booklet. 27:44.125 --> 27:57.963 That booklet is, I mean, I'm sorry to make it a Bible because I wrote it, it's kind of disgusting in that way, but it's not my teachings and it really is, the reason for writing that is, look, this is what you really need to know if you want to follow this tradition. 27:58.063 --> 28:08.496 I mean, unfortunately, it would be nice if we could cater to all Buddhists, but it makes it much more difficult when we deal with people who have different views and then start arguing. 28:15.766 --> 28:19.718 Do the three characteristics mutually evidence themselves? 28:20.420 --> 28:24.493 If so, how does Fuuka provide evidence of Anata? 28:25.773 --> 28:35.026 There is a sense, I just recently did a talk on that, that you understand dukkha through anicca, and you understand anatta through dukkha. 28:36.067 --> 28:43.257 So dukkha provides not evidence of anatta, but leads to anatta, because when you see things as dukkha, you don't want to have anything to do with them. 28:43.357 --> 28:46.542 You lose any sense of connection with them. 28:47.042 --> 28:53.451 I mean, if something is dukkha, then how can you say it's yours, say in terms of... 28:55.591 --> 28:57.937 In terms of being under your control. 28:58.438 --> 29:02.428 If it was under your control, why would you torture yourself? 29:02.448 --> 29:03.691 Why can't you stop it from hurting? 29:05.075 --> 29:07.140 Why can't you make it satisfying? 29:07.180 --> 29:08.503 Why can't you make it stable? 29:10.222 --> 29:18.014 So dukkha and anicca both provide evidence or lead one to the idea of anatta in that sense. 29:18.535 --> 29:21.540 That you can't control it because if you could it wouldn't be dukkha, obviously. 29:22.381 --> 29:25.266 But also that it's a bit more simple than that. 29:25.306 --> 29:26.207 It's not intellectual. 29:26.227 --> 29:29.012 It's just in the sense the person gives it up. 29:30.034 --> 29:32.678 Anatta means it's not mine. 29:32.958 --> 29:34.120 I don't want anything to do with it. 29:36.496 --> 29:44.952 It's like if a guy finds out that a woman's pregnant, he immediately wants to disavow fatherhood because he knows how much stress and suffering. 29:45.052 --> 29:53.448 It's a terrible example, but it is a good example of how the mind feels when it realizes that this is suffering. 29:53.488 --> 29:54.690 It says, oh, no, no. 29:54.670 --> 29:56.774 Ajahn Tong tells a funny story. 29:56.814 --> 30:11.160 It's actually from the Visuddhimagga, but of course he tells it in a more entertaining way about this guy who wakes up early in the morning to drive his cow. 30:11.140 --> 30:20.117 So he has to, in the pitch dark, he has to go and find his cow and then he starts beating it, hitting it and driving it up to the pasture. 30:21.059 --> 30:26.549 And he gets up to his pasture and just as the sun is coming up, he looks at the cow and he realizes, that's not my cow. 30:28.152 --> 30:33.182 And he gets scared because he's stolen somebody else's cow. 30:34.343 --> 30:49.346 There's a lot of stories like that in the Visuddhi Manga, this realization that something isn't yours, that something isn't, there isn't a goodness to your attachment to it, basically. 30:49.426 --> 30:51.289 There's a sort of realization that comes, 30:52.720 --> 30:55.105 disavow the thing once you see it clearly. 30:55.125 --> 31:00.997 I know that's even a little clearer because when you look at things you see clearly that they're non-self. 31:01.157 --> 31:04.784 That doesn't actually relate to the other characteristics. 31:04.805 --> 31:10.476 But it's the idea of this waking up to the reality of things. 31:10.456 --> 31:12.640 But I wouldn't overthink that connection. 31:12.660 --> 31:14.142 You don't have to realize. 31:14.663 --> 31:21.895 What the cow example shows, you don't have to realize one, and you don't usually actually realize one from the other. 31:21.935 --> 31:25.361 But they do go hand in hand. 31:25.421 --> 31:30.169 Realizing one is enough to have an understanding of the other. 31:30.149 --> 31:37.519 But the way you'll perceive them, not often, you'll always perceive them one by the other. 31:38.500 --> 31:43.587 But what it means is that understanding one is enough to already understand the other. 31:43.707 --> 31:47.232 Once you see that something is dukkha, it'll be very unsatisfying. 31:48.553 --> 31:52.439 There's no question of it being impermanent and it being non-self. 31:52.519 --> 31:59.548 And likewise, if you see something as impermanent and you really see that, the corollary is that it's suffering and non-self. 32:03.983 --> 32:14.993 so it's more like that they really mean pretty much the same thing in an ultimate sense what is citta? 32:15.013 --> 32:17.856 is it actually actual metaphysical entity? 32:18.596 --> 32:21.599 does it abide in any sense of the word? 32:23.000 --> 32:33.670 no, citta is something that arises and ceases citta refers to the moment where the mind experiences a thing the thing which experiences 32:35.540 --> 32:41.893 the knowledge, or not the thing, but the knowledge of something, the knowledge that arises and ceases, the awareness that arises and ceases. 32:41.913 --> 32:48.586 So when you see something, there's an awareness of the seeing, and that awareness arises and ceases with the object. 32:48.606 --> 32:50.791 It's a little, even a little bit more complicated than that. 32:50.811 --> 32:56.923 It'll arise and cease many times for the same object, but that's maybe a little overly technical. 33:05.155 --> 33:07.340 How do you define Karuna? 33:08.703 --> 33:24.278 Karuna is the mental bent, for lack of a better word, or inclination towards preventing the suffering of others. 33:27.008 --> 33:34.946 And in an ultimate sense, the basis of it is not causing the cruelty. 33:35.467 --> 33:41.440 So inclining away from causing harm to others. 33:42.121 --> 33:42.823 That's karuna. 33:44.238 --> 33:53.592 Now it can manifest itself positively in terms of actually working to alleviate other people's suffering. 33:54.393 --> 33:59.180 So this is opposed to metta, which is working towards the promoting of happiness. 33:59.881 --> 34:05.429 But they're in some ways different sides of the same coin. 34:07.633 --> 34:10.617 Because freeing people from suffering also makes them happy, right? 34:16.688 --> 34:18.912 Which of the four elements is pain? 34:18.952 --> 34:26.905 It's not one of the four elements, but... 34:34.198 --> 34:42.612 I mean, vedana is mental, but there is something called dukkha-kaya vedana. 34:44.853 --> 34:46.655 And I think that's just a technical term. 34:48.057 --> 34:49.479 Because pain is actually mental. 34:50.541 --> 34:52.884 The feeling of pain, vedana is a mental thing. 34:53.265 --> 34:54.546 The body doesn't feel pain. 34:56.048 --> 35:01.936 So technically it would be when the body is, when the elements are out of balance. 35:03.138 --> 35:05.461 Like you have an extreme amount of pressure. 35:07.023 --> 35:11.890 Pressure is probably, the vayodhatu is probably the most common cause of pain. 35:13.287 --> 35:15.890 the physical pain, too much pressure. 35:15.950 --> 35:26.360 So swelling will do it, bending of the body, pinching. 35:28.482 --> 35:33.247 But then the whole idea of the nerves, right, the nerves in the body, that doesn't work. 35:33.287 --> 35:34.048 It's the experience. 35:35.189 --> 35:35.849 But it's different. 35:36.070 --> 35:41.115 Pain and the elements, the elements are just a cause of pain. 35:41.895 --> 35:42.636 They're not the pain. 35:51.172 --> 35:52.234 Good evening, Bhante. 35:52.755 --> 35:57.362 Can you tell me what exactly is enlightenment as defined in the Theravada tradition? 35:58.143 --> 36:04.533 It seems different schools of Buddhism have different ideas on what this is, which is confusing. 36:04.754 --> 36:08.860 I did a video on this, I think, that was fairly comprehensive. 36:08.901 --> 36:17.314 Again, I don't want to make a long answer to any of these questions, so you can go and hopefully try and find that, or maybe someone in the chat can... 36:17.294 --> 36:21.600 People are so good about finding these videos if you can find it and post it. 36:24.083 --> 36:28.108 But we don't actually use the word enlightenment so much. 36:28.629 --> 36:36.940 The word is budjati which means to awaken or to come to know. 36:37.983 --> 36:43.271 to wake up, so awakening, or to come to know, there's two meanings. 36:44.533 --> 36:45.795 But it actually is the same meaning, right? 36:45.815 --> 36:48.640 Because when you're asleep, you don't know, right? 36:48.740 --> 36:49.661 In a general sense. 36:49.741 --> 36:52.185 And when you wake up, you come to know. 36:52.245 --> 36:53.587 That's where Buddha comes from. 36:57.533 --> 37:00.598 But the word enlightenment is generally used to refer to... 37:02.232 --> 37:09.067 I would say two different, let's make it simple and say there are two different aspects, two different things. 37:09.087 --> 37:13.778 So, the Buddha is enlightened in the sense that he knows everything. 37:15.597 --> 37:20.145 But an Arahant who follows him is enlightened in the sense that they've given up everything. 37:21.448 --> 37:24.353 Now Buddha also gives up everything, so that's part of his enlightenment. 37:24.373 --> 37:29.683 But the other part of the Buddha's enlightenment is to come to know everything, generally. 37:29.703 --> 37:34.872 I mean there's a few more aspects to it, but the main aspect is knowing everything. 37:34.852 --> 37:36.754 That's a very simple explanation. 37:36.774 --> 37:40.459 It's a bit of an oversimplification, but there it is. 37:41.781 --> 37:55.117 The corollary or the consequences of that is that an arahant isn't personally able to explain the path without the help of a Buddha. 37:55.878 --> 37:59.222 And the Buddha, on the other hand, is able to teach. 38:09.817 --> 38:13.483 I have found Vipassana useful for panic attacks. 38:13.503 --> 38:21.495 However, for me there is much restlessness and I feel I need a more comprehensive approach at overcoming this. 38:22.616 --> 38:28.365 I read the Buddha for this restlessness prescribed the calm abiding factors of enlightenment. 38:28.885 --> 38:43.342 However, could you elaborate on what it means to exactly calm the mind, and whether such only suppresses the restlessness, or if the mind is made more resilient to restlessness and more adept to handle it? 38:44.203 --> 38:50.691 Are the effects of the mind's aforementioned calming entirely impermanent, or does it truly make the mind more resilient? 38:51.852 --> 38:54.977 No, I mean the real point there is a bit more intellectual. 38:55.598 --> 39:00.888 And the real point is that there's only one of the seven factors of enlightenment. 39:01.068 --> 39:04.734 There are three that are calm and there are three that are energetic. 39:05.636 --> 39:09.743 And the seventh one, the only one that's always useful is sati. 39:11.005 --> 39:26.837 So if you want to follow that teaching, and that's the thing, in a sense it's pointing out that you have a problem if you try to cultivate any one of them because they're only useful in certain instances. 39:26.817 --> 39:53.382 but the one that is useful in terms of balancing the rest is mindfulness or sati which is again getting back to this idea of apamada so that's how you do it if you're very restless you would still use mindfulness not vipassana you don't use vipassana vipassana is the outcome 39:53.362 --> 40:02.173 And it will, yeah, if you cultivate eventually vipassana, it will calm you down, but the practice is mindfulness. 40:03.294 --> 40:14.307 So you should be mindful of your anxiety and you should stop trying to control it in terms of trying to get rid of it, trying to cure it. 40:15.822 --> 40:19.788 Mindfulness is more about understanding and seeing and letting go of it. 40:19.808 --> 40:22.192 And of course the anxiety does disappear when you do that. 40:22.293 --> 40:23.955 But it's the approach. 40:24.356 --> 40:27.361 Your approach should not be seeing anxiety as the enemy. 40:27.381 --> 40:33.190 It's not really a matter of seeing enemies. 40:33.230 --> 40:36.756 It's a matter of seeing things as they are and being objective. 40:37.016 --> 40:39.481 A judge doesn't make judgments. 40:40.382 --> 40:41.644 A judge doesn't make judgments. 40:43.092 --> 40:47.539 A judge acts impartially and goes according to facts. 40:51.605 --> 40:55.731 So you try to be as neutral about things as you can, just seeing them as they are. 40:58.796 --> 40:59.918 And that will calm the mind. 41:02.842 --> 41:12.036 It kind of sounds like you want a quick fix and you're not satisfied by the fact that you've been practicing and it's still not all gone. 41:13.349 --> 41:15.491 So welcome to the path. 41:15.992 --> 41:20.196 It's not going to just all go away just because you want it gone now. 41:23.139 --> 41:30.927 Maybe more patience, maybe. 41:30.947 --> 41:41.618 In the case of malignant laughter in which one laughs at an individual but cannot refrain from doing so because one cannot purportedly help but laugh, 41:43.572 --> 41:54.207 Is such, in Buddhism, understanding of the nature of karma still bad karma, if suffering of the laughed at is nonetheless caused? 41:57.899 --> 41:59.781 You keep asking questions about laughter. 41:59.801 --> 42:04.828 I'm starting to get the sense that you're a bit attached or obsessed with this. 42:05.909 --> 42:09.073 So I just point that out because that will be a hindrance in your practice. 42:09.153 --> 42:12.137 But in this case, karma is momentary. 42:12.177 --> 42:13.959 Karma is the mental state. 42:14.560 --> 42:18.625 When you have greed, anger, delusion in your mind, that's bad karma. 42:18.605 --> 42:24.446 So non-greed, non-anger, non-delusion in your mind and everything you do based on that mind will be good karma. 42:24.487 --> 42:26.936 So it's very much one state of mind. 42:27.016 --> 42:30.589 It's nothing to do with the suffering that's caused, not directly. 42:40.407 --> 42:55.933 It's the goal of meditation to just be in the present moment as in the here and now experiencing things as they come with your five senses without using any memory, but just reacting within the moment. 42:55.953 --> 42:58.197 The goal of meditation is to see things clearly. 43:00.353 --> 43:05.360 The practice of meditation is the reminding yourselves of the objective nature of things. 43:05.380 --> 43:15.895 So when you say to yourself, seeing, seeing, you're reminding yourself that that's just seeing and it cultivates the ability to see things clearly, to see seeing just as seeing and therefore as it is. 43:17.197 --> 43:22.645 Once you see things as they are, you let go of them because you see that nothing's worth clinging to and when you let go, then you're free. 43:23.526 --> 43:25.028 So the ultimate goal is freedom. 43:31.235 --> 43:33.378 My question is why enlightenment? 43:35.040 --> 43:36.562 My question is why enlightenment? 43:37.043 --> 43:41.389 What if people just want to live as they are and die and get reincarnated? 43:41.950 --> 43:42.671 No problem. 43:42.751 --> 43:45.455 Power to you. 43:45.475 --> 43:47.237 That's probably what happens most of the time. 43:47.938 --> 43:49.120 Yeah, I mean, don't do anything. 43:49.400 --> 43:50.101 Just go home. 43:51.764 --> 43:53.106 If you're satisfied with it. 43:53.126 --> 43:57.732 I mean, I guess the one thing you could say is that, well, you know, good luck and 43:59.062 --> 44:07.453 don't turn on the news and find out all the suffering that's going on out there and all the potential suffering that you are faced with. 44:07.493 --> 44:13.941 I mean, we would argue that most people have their head in the sand in terms of the potential future waiting for them, the dangers. 44:15.583 --> 44:17.365 Maybe you want to watch my talk on dangers. 44:19.127 --> 44:23.753 I read about the Buddha's teaching on the dangers of samsara because, you know, 44:25.235 --> 44:26.136 There's a reason. 44:26.637 --> 44:35.627 When I was a young boy, I sat down and I realized that all my family members were going to die and it really moved me because I couldn't do anything about it. 44:35.647 --> 44:40.452 That's just a simple suffering, death. 44:40.872 --> 44:45.498 It's shocking for a young child, but there's a lot more suffering out there than that. 44:45.538 --> 44:50.743 Enlightenment frees you from suffering. 44:50.823 --> 44:54.027 If you want to continue to suffer, power to you. 45:00.318 --> 45:01.080 Good evening. 45:01.100 --> 45:06.954 I am a man interested in becoming a monk and would like to know if it is possible to have you as my teacher. 45:08.878 --> 45:09.921 Yep. 45:09.941 --> 45:11.003 That's what I'm here for. 45:12.248 --> 45:15.531 You don't have to call me your teacher or anything. 45:15.551 --> 45:18.654 If you want to learn, you're welcome to learn. 45:18.694 --> 45:20.055 There are ways. 45:20.135 --> 45:25.139 You can set up an online meeting every week. 45:25.159 --> 45:27.401 But you should read my booklet. 45:27.421 --> 45:30.344 And if you're just interested in becoming a monk, well, that's not what I teach. 45:30.424 --> 45:31.384 I teach meditation. 45:31.425 --> 45:41.293 Of course, if someone is a long-term meditator in our tradition and is committed to this tradition of meditation, the possibility of becoming a monk is there. 45:44.024 --> 45:47.998 Someone just phoned me from Mexico this evening asking basically that. 45:51.109 --> 45:52.273 Everyone wants to become a monk. 45:53.457 --> 45:55.082 Sorry, it's not that easy. 45:55.323 --> 45:56.447 If only it were that easy. 46:00.325 --> 46:06.596 Sometimes when I do sitting meditation and start I get this feeling like I'm losing my body consciousness. 46:07.497 --> 46:13.568 Then it's like I'm lifting it up suddenly the whole outside world disappears and I start expanding. 46:14.589 --> 46:15.191 Pardon? 46:15.211 --> 46:18.296 Sorry, I should just let you finish but there was no question there. 46:21.201 --> 46:21.321 Right? 46:22.988 --> 46:34.906 And I think this person should probably read the booklet, because if you read the booklet, you will hopefully not have these types of questions. 46:36.288 --> 46:41.637 I think the next one is a little bit of a continuation. 46:42.658 --> 46:43.900 Is this okay? 46:47.727 --> 46:50.613 Omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. 46:51.254 --> 46:52.055 That would be awesome. 46:52.316 --> 47:03.357 If you were truly, you'll have to excuse me for being skeptical as to your omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence, because if you're omniscient, you wouldn't have to ask me if it was okay. 47:05.092 --> 47:14.326 I think it's maybe hyperbole, knowing you just have this wonderful experience that makes you think that you're, makes you overestimate yourself in this way. 47:16.229 --> 47:16.849 Read my booklet. 47:17.230 --> 47:18.913 That's not the meditation I teach. 47:19.153 --> 47:21.356 If it happens, you should note it. 47:26.684 --> 47:33.394 I'm much more interested in the mundane reality, the mundane aspects of reality. 47:36.867 --> 47:40.671 Dear Bhikkhu, I am a long-time practitioner of Vipassana. 47:41.292 --> 47:51.263 Recently, I came across a book titled Working with the Five Hindrances, and it says that any person with a mental disturbance should not practice meditation. 47:52.004 --> 47:53.185 I have mental illness. 47:54.046 --> 47:54.927 Now, is this true? 48:01.875 --> 48:03.337 If you ask me, that's not true. 48:05.159 --> 48:06.300 But... 48:08.238 --> 48:16.341 with the proviso that with the qualification that 48:17.080 --> 48:19.883 There are only certain types of meditation that you should practice. 48:19.903 --> 48:24.868 I mean, there are certain types of meditation that would be very, very dangerous for a person with mental illness. 48:25.128 --> 48:27.450 Samatha meditation would probably be pretty dangerous. 48:28.251 --> 48:31.995 And I would recommend sticking to Satipatthana meditation. 48:32.876 --> 48:35.038 But it shouldn't make you more crazy. 48:35.058 --> 48:36.720 I've worked with people. 48:37.360 --> 48:43.847 It can, but, you know, it does because people don't understand how to practice. 48:43.827 --> 48:46.892 or the teachers, you know, lead them into craziness. 48:47.753 --> 49:04.861 Crazy person, I mean, a person with, let's say, schizophrenia or psychotic delusions, I don't know, a bipolar, something fairly serious, you have to be very careful dealing with them, and the teacher has to be on point. 49:04.881 --> 49:08.046 And I've only had sort of fleeting experiences 49:09.595 --> 49:12.159 interaction with such people. 49:12.199 --> 49:26.399 There was one girl came to our meditation center in Thailand and she had, I mean, from what I could see, she was caught up in delusions and sort of psychotic delusions. 49:26.499 --> 49:31.947 I guess you'd say, you know, not really in reality. 49:31.967 --> 49:38.016 And I made the mistake of leaving. 49:40.122 --> 49:47.794 I was young and I was caught up in other things and I went to Bangkok to teach meditation. 49:48.676 --> 49:52.522 I was trying to get some sort of support, I suppose. 49:52.943 --> 49:53.383 I don't know. 49:53.944 --> 49:57.370 My rationalization was people invited me to Bangkok, so I went to teach in Bangkok. 49:57.390 --> 50:04.982 But I left this woman with a nun who had been given permission to teach. 50:06.953 --> 50:13.727 But there was this one morning, like, I said, okay, you teach this woman. 50:13.767 --> 50:19.159 Didn't know that she had mental problems, but it was like, okay, you'll teach her because Ajahn Tong has given you permission. 50:19.199 --> 50:19.640 There you go. 50:21.042 --> 50:25.131 And then she was concerned, so she brought her to me, and I spent, like, 50:25.111 --> 50:50.460 five, ten minutes with her and I could tell what was wrong with her and it was pretty easy to see how to help it and so I talked with her and I was able to talk her down from her episode and sort of clear some things out and just that memory of that experience makes me confident that if the teacher knows how to teach and sticks to the books and doesn't start obsessing or feeding the person's delusions 50:50.440 --> 50:52.503 worrying about the meditator. 50:52.523 --> 50:59.111 Because this nun, she ended up worrying about the meditator and obsessing over her, telling her she had to meditate together with her. 50:59.171 --> 51:00.913 Don't ever do that. 51:03.336 --> 51:09.584 When you start fussing over a person with mental delusions, you're just feeding them. 51:10.425 --> 51:17.494 So what you want to do is talk them down and help them feel normal, you know. 51:19.162 --> 51:31.481 help them get into the sense of seeing things as just normal, just ordinary, and not ascribing meaning to things or inventing meaning where there isn't any. 51:34.225 --> 51:37.931 But then I left, went to Bangkok, and she went crazy and ended up in the mental hospital. 51:37.951 --> 51:42.377 So that's my one story of dealing with a person with mental illness. 51:42.397 --> 51:46.063 I went to visit her in the mental hospital, but I couldn't do much then. 51:47.782 --> 51:49.344 I actually went into her cell. 51:49.405 --> 51:52.129 They had her in this prison cell in the mental hospital. 51:53.571 --> 51:57.297 And I actually was able to go in and talk to her, but she was gone by that point. 51:57.698 --> 51:58.900 I wasn't able to help her after that. 51:58.960 --> 52:02.345 She had sort of lost any interest in meditation. 52:02.605 --> 52:07.393 It was deep in her fantasies, unfortunately. 52:08.690 --> 52:13.457 So long story short, no, don't let anyone tell you that, but be careful. 52:13.958 --> 52:23.211 Find a teacher, a practice, a way that is simple and objective, and you have to stick to the objectivity like glue. 52:24.152 --> 52:29.860 Don't ever let yourself build any delusions or emotions or anything like that. 52:31.062 --> 52:31.963 Just let them go. 52:32.143 --> 52:33.826 See them, note them, let them go. 52:33.846 --> 52:34.647 It's not easy. 52:36.179 --> 52:45.631 So it goes without saying that it'll be more difficult for a person with mental illness. 52:45.651 --> 52:47.334 I have been a long time meditator. 52:47.374 --> 52:49.516 However, I do not live near a monastery. 52:50.137 --> 52:53.181 Is there one you can recommend in either the US or Canada? 52:54.964 --> 52:55.304 Not really. 52:56.546 --> 52:57.647 Not particularly. 52:59.163 --> 53:01.046 There's one in San Jose. 53:01.286 --> 53:02.648 I guess I could maybe recommend that. 53:02.688 --> 53:08.356 I've never been there, but at the Tagata Meditation Center in Half Moon Bay, California. 53:12.302 --> 53:13.604 That would be the only one I could think of. 53:14.485 --> 53:17.870 Oh no, there's another one in Las Vegas, the Burmese Monastery in Las Vegas. 53:18.291 --> 53:21.215 I think I could do well to recommend that. 53:23.639 --> 53:26.503 Just because they're both in our tradition. 53:28.036 --> 53:30.924 So if you're looking for other recommendations, you've got to ask other people. 53:35.116 --> 53:36.540 And you're all caught up, Bhante. 53:36.560 --> 53:36.821 All right. 53:37.061 --> 53:38.004 Good night. 53:38.385 --> 53:38.947 Thank you all. 53:38.987 --> 53:40.070 Thanks, Robin, for your help. 53:41.233 --> 53:42.637 Thank you, Bhante. 53:42.657 --> 53:43.058 Good night.