WEBVTT 00:04.452 --> 00:05.454 Good evening, everyone. 00:05.935 --> 00:15.071 Welcome to our live broadcast. 00:15.091 --> 00:24.148 Tonight, we're looking at the Anguttaranikaya Book of Threes, Sutta number 35, the Hathaka Sutta. 00:28.651 --> 00:35.759 It's not much to this sutta, but it is memorable for two reasons. 00:35.779 --> 00:41.185 It's memorable for what it teaches, and it's also memorable for the setting in which it is taught. 00:44.048 --> 00:46.171 So where was the Buddha dwelling? 00:46.211 --> 00:47.913 It's an odd one. 00:47.973 --> 00:53.819 It's a curious sutta, because he's actually dwelling at Alawi. 00:53.839 --> 00:56.262 I don't know where Alawi is. 00:57.457 --> 01:02.123 on a heap of leaves spread out on a cow track in a singsapa grove. 01:02.343 --> 01:04.205 Singsapa is a type of tree. 01:09.632 --> 01:17.582 So he was resting, perhaps traveling on his way somewhere, most likely. 01:19.024 --> 01:23.329 And he was sleeping on some leaves spread out on a cow track. 01:24.878 --> 01:32.787 So it was, it would have been, I guess the cow track would be flattened and the brush would have been removed by the cows. 01:32.847 --> 01:40.135 So it would have been an area that was more habitable. 01:46.342 --> 01:47.864 And then Hataka of Alawi. 01:47.884 --> 01:52.489 Hataka is someone, 01:56.063 --> 01:57.304 Someone who lived in Alawi. 01:57.885 --> 01:59.387 There's going to be a story behind him. 01:59.407 --> 02:00.328 Actually, I can look him up. 02:01.950 --> 02:02.971 Let's look up Hattaka. 02:09.860 --> 02:12.062 It says he was a... 02:12.082 --> 02:15.687 Right, we know Hattaka, the lay disciple. 02:15.707 --> 02:17.429 But not Hattaka Alawi. 02:17.449 --> 02:18.690 I think it's a different person. 02:24.978 --> 02:25.058 Hmm. 02:32.446 --> 02:34.710 Oh yeah, it is him. 02:34.730 --> 02:48.835 So before he... At one point, not quite clear when, Ataka, one of the Buddhas, he was actually a Buddhist, one of the disciples of the Buddha. 02:49.917 --> 02:56.428 He came upon the Buddha, or maybe he knew that the Buddha was dwelling there, perhaps with a retinue of bhikkhus, perhaps alone. 02:57.556 --> 03:03.965 And he saw the Buddha sitting in this grove where he was dwelling. 03:05.448 --> 03:09.554 So he approached the Buddha and asked him a simple question. 03:11.737 --> 03:12.178 Bhante. 03:13.940 --> 03:14.761 Let's look at the Pali. 03:14.862 --> 03:15.743 This is always nice. 03:18.106 --> 03:19.568 Kachi Bhante Bhagava. 03:19.588 --> 03:22.473 Kachi is how you ask a yes-no question. 03:22.493 --> 03:24.536 Kachi means is it that, sort of. 03:25.117 --> 03:26.078 Kachi Bhante. 03:27.408 --> 03:28.970 Bante, venerable sir. 03:29.050 --> 03:33.136 Kachi bagawa sukama, sukama sayita. 03:35.198 --> 03:36.280 Sukama sayita. 03:36.580 --> 03:39.264 Sukang, happiness or happily. 03:39.905 --> 03:43.129 Asayita, from say means to sleep. 03:44.471 --> 03:45.893 Asayita, slept. 03:46.854 --> 03:48.256 Has the blessed one slept well? 03:48.356 --> 03:50.479 So if you want to ask someone, have they slept well? 03:51.893 --> 03:56.159 Kaji sukkamasa ita, except it wouldn't be ita, it would be sukkamasa iha. 03:57.481 --> 04:03.970 Sukkamasa iha. 04:12.842 --> 04:14.104 I can look up the word. 04:45.083 --> 04:48.709 We don't have a... 04:48.729 --> 04:49.811 Anyway. 04:49.831 --> 04:50.593 That's how you would say it. 04:50.733 --> 04:51.574 Asaita. 04:51.594 --> 04:54.299 Yeah, that's how you would ask a respected person. 04:54.780 --> 04:56.283 Asaita is actually plural. 04:57.204 --> 05:00.971 So if you want to ask someone, it has to be someone who's respected. 05:01.011 --> 05:05.379 If you're asking someone who's a close friend, you wouldn't ask it this way. 05:05.779 --> 05:09.606 You have to remember what is the aorist of 05:11.206 --> 05:15.973 of for second person singular. 05:15.993 --> 05:17.054 And Polly's a bit rusty. 05:17.255 --> 05:17.815 Apologies. 05:18.536 --> 05:19.898 Anyway, he asked him, how have you slept? 05:19.918 --> 05:20.659 Did you sleep well? 05:21.501 --> 05:24.825 And the Buddha said, Yes, young man. 05:29.452 --> 05:31.495 I have slept well. 05:32.677 --> 05:36.522 Whoever in this world sleeps well, I am among them. 05:38.678 --> 05:41.461 I am one of them. 05:41.602 --> 05:42.863 I'm a certain one of them. 05:45.266 --> 05:51.473 And he's a little bit suspicious or surprised, amazed. 05:51.493 --> 05:53.195 He finds it wonderful, perhaps. 05:55.278 --> 05:56.960 He said, it's cold. 05:57.160 --> 05:59.123 It is cold. 05:59.163 --> 06:02.847 Cold are the winter nights. 06:05.088 --> 06:06.289 Antaratako. 06:06.309 --> 06:08.372 Antaratako is between the eights. 06:09.293 --> 06:11.055 And there's an explanation of this. 06:11.155 --> 06:13.117 It's the coldest time of the year. 06:13.138 --> 06:16.441 It's a name for the cold of winter. 06:18.103 --> 06:21.928 And he says, Himapatasamayo. 06:22.028 --> 06:24.070 It is the time of the falling of snow. 06:25.292 --> 06:26.133 Snow would fall. 06:26.413 --> 06:28.115 This would have been in North India, I suppose. 06:30.198 --> 06:31.039 Kara. 06:31.599 --> 06:34.723 It is Karagokantakahata. 06:36.273 --> 06:42.883 Hard is the cattle, the path. 06:44.245 --> 06:50.795 Sleeping where the cows have tramped it down in the winter, the ground will be quite hard. 06:53.459 --> 06:54.020 It's rough. 06:55.002 --> 06:55.783 That's what I was thinking. 06:55.803 --> 06:58.126 Have you ever seen where cows walk? 06:58.167 --> 07:00.891 It's not a smooth path like where humans walk. 07:00.911 --> 07:04.997 It's all dug up and rutted. 07:06.597 --> 07:26.380 The ground that is dug up by the hooves of the cows is rough. 07:26.560 --> 07:30.124 Let me see. 07:31.589 --> 07:33.694 Yeah, thin is the spread of leaves. 07:34.095 --> 07:36.040 So he's sleeping on leaves and spread out. 07:36.100 --> 07:36.842 He says it's thin. 07:38.205 --> 07:40.912 Anyway, let's not dwell too much on the Pali. 07:40.932 --> 07:43.819 He says the leaves on the tree are sparse. 07:44.039 --> 07:49.733 So there's no shade or protection from the trees. 07:54.067 --> 07:55.050 And you're thin. 07:55.090 --> 07:57.037 Your robes are quite thin. 07:57.639 --> 07:59.444 The ochre robes leave one cold. 07:59.986 --> 08:04.441 It's not like you're wearing furs or parka or something. 08:05.484 --> 08:07.671 And the gale wind blows cold. 08:08.900 --> 08:11.223 So basically, you're living in this miserable place. 08:12.264 --> 08:15.889 You don't have a fire to warm you. 08:15.929 --> 08:19.213 You don't have four walls to keep out the elements. 08:19.293 --> 08:25.701 You don't have thick blankets and soft beds and pillows to comfort you. 08:26.442 --> 08:29.666 Yet the Blessed One says thus, yes, Prince, I sleep well. 08:29.766 --> 08:33.270 I am one of those in the world who sleep well. 08:33.510 --> 08:34.131 I am one. 08:37.503 --> 09:02.076 why how how could that be so how is it how is this amazing thing and he says well then he uses the word prince right that's interesting he shouldn't really use the word prince kumara just means although he may be bikkubon you know something i don't but kumara just means young boy young man but in popular in sri lankan culture 09:03.558 --> 09:09.887 perhaps in Sri Lankan culture anyway, in like Thai culture, Kumara is like Raja Kumara. 09:09.907 --> 09:13.652 In Indian culture, they have the word Raja Kumara, which means prince. 09:13.872 --> 09:19.680 So Kumara is known for being used for a prince, but actually it just means young man. 09:22.163 --> 09:22.604 That's true. 09:22.624 --> 09:24.847 Maybe he wouldn't, it's odd that he's using the word Kumara. 09:24.867 --> 09:26.950 He may be using it in terms of prince. 09:28.094 --> 09:30.357 So he says, well then, Prince, let me ask you this. 09:30.377 --> 09:33.481 I was going to ask him a question. 09:33.521 --> 09:35.744 And this is the Buddha answering questions. 09:35.784 --> 09:37.486 He wouldn't always give a direct answer. 09:38.187 --> 09:42.112 He said, some questions have to be replied to with a question, which is what he's doing here. 09:43.013 --> 09:47.739 Some questions have to be put aside so you can explain something else first. 09:48.300 --> 09:50.503 So he says, well, let me explain this first. 09:51.524 --> 09:53.467 And some questions should just be put aside. 09:53.547 --> 09:54.388 You shouldn't answer them. 09:57.237 --> 09:59.861 But this one is one he's going to answer with a question of himself. 09:59.921 --> 10:02.304 He says, what do you think, Prince? 10:03.746 --> 10:18.045 Suppose there were a householder, someone who lives in a house, who has a house with a peaked roof plastered inside and out, draft-free with bolts fastened and shutters closed. 10:19.788 --> 10:22.131 A nice warm house like we've got here. 10:23.444 --> 10:33.077 There he might have a couch spread with rugs, blankets, and covers, with an excellent covering of antelope hide, with a canopy above and red bolsters at both ends. 10:33.938 --> 10:35.340 An oil lamp would be burning. 10:36.821 --> 10:43.410 And his four wives, four wives, would serve him in extremely agreeable ways. 10:45.702 --> 10:47.184 In India, they had multiple wives. 10:47.204 --> 10:51.271 It was a polygamous society for men. 10:51.712 --> 10:53.134 Women didn't have two husbands. 10:53.775 --> 10:54.316 Not often. 10:54.436 --> 10:58.042 Actually, there may be some stories where that was actually the case. 10:58.062 --> 11:03.911 But in India in the time of the Buddha, one man, lots of women. 11:05.694 --> 11:07.216 And the women would tend to serve. 11:07.397 --> 11:11.423 Well, it means they were attending to his sensual desires. 11:13.360 --> 11:13.981 What do you think? 11:14.001 --> 11:15.122 Would he sleep well or not? 11:15.242 --> 11:16.423 Or what do you think about this? 11:17.544 --> 11:18.645 What do you think about this? 11:18.665 --> 11:19.386 Would he sleep well? 11:20.828 --> 11:21.608 What do you guys think? 11:22.970 --> 11:24.431 Would such a person sleep well? 11:25.472 --> 11:26.694 He would sleep well, Bhante. 11:26.754 --> 11:29.256 He would be one of those in the world who'd sleep well. 11:29.937 --> 11:32.439 He would surely be one. 11:32.459 --> 11:33.581 Oh, really? 11:35.242 --> 11:36.203 Well, let me ask you this then. 11:36.223 --> 11:36.884 What do you think? 11:37.665 --> 11:40.988 Might there arise in that householder or householder's son 11:41.795 --> 11:49.646 Bodily and mental fevers born of lust, which would torment him so that he would sleep badly. 11:51.209 --> 11:54.373 You ever wanted something so bad? 11:54.433 --> 11:58.419 Lusting after women, perhaps. 11:58.839 --> 12:04.988 Maybe he's got four wives, but he saw a young woman in the market who he wants to make his fifth wife. 12:05.129 --> 12:07.211 And so he stays up all night thinking of her. 12:07.312 --> 12:09.675 Or maybe he's lusting after money. 12:10.752 --> 12:14.218 Maybe he's not rich enough and he's worried about his riches. 12:16.742 --> 12:19.246 Think scheming about how he can get richer. 12:20.628 --> 12:27.940 Maybe he's thinking of a nicer bed or maybe he's thinking about good food. 12:27.980 --> 12:30.284 Right? 12:30.304 --> 12:31.225 Because it's never enough. 12:32.403 --> 12:35.507 You think this guy, you think, wow, you know, this guy's got it made. 12:36.828 --> 12:38.771 Nobody thinks that way, not when they've got it made. 12:40.012 --> 12:44.498 When they've got it, when anyone has, when they get what they want, right? 12:44.518 --> 12:47.802 Those people who have it made are least satisfied. 12:49.344 --> 12:50.345 Those ones who want more. 12:55.271 --> 13:01.819 And he says, yes, bante, ama bante, indeed, there might arise that lust. 13:04.617 --> 13:09.725 Bodily and mental fevers, lust affects the body and the mind. 13:11.508 --> 13:13.331 Lust is something that arises in the mind. 13:13.451 --> 13:17.598 There isn't bodily lust, although you could argue the chemicals and so on, it's all physical. 13:18.980 --> 13:22.045 But that's the thing, is our lust and desire, it affects the body. 13:22.085 --> 13:24.549 It creates a fever, a heat in the body. 13:25.231 --> 13:27.334 It's very hard to sleep when you're full of lust, right? 13:29.491 --> 13:38.502 When you're in a situation where you don't have what you want, where your wants are more than your attainments. 13:40.905 --> 13:42.166 Yes, he would sleep badly. 13:42.247 --> 13:47.753 But the Tathagata has abandoned such lust, cut it off at the root, made it like a palm stump. 13:49.836 --> 13:54.081 When you cut out the top, if you don't know, if you cut the top of a palm tree, it never grows again. 13:54.635 --> 13:56.897 If you cut a normal tree, it can grow again. 13:57.297 --> 13:58.418 But a palm tree will not grow. 13:58.438 --> 13:59.720 All you have to do is cut the top off. 14:01.301 --> 14:04.664 It won't grow again, as I understand. 14:06.886 --> 14:13.392 But he has obliterated so that there is no more subject of future arising. 14:13.472 --> 14:21.740 Therefore, I have slept well. 14:21.920 --> 14:23.241 It's a memorable teaching. 14:24.740 --> 14:34.190 When you think of all the wonderful things you can have in this world, the realization that they're not enough, that they're not really what makes you happy. 14:34.730 --> 14:39.936 They're not really the determinant of whether you're happy or tormented. 14:39.956 --> 14:42.679 Torment doesn't come. 14:42.699 --> 14:48.925 Of course, this householder's son, if he were lying out in the wilderness on a cow path, 14:50.272 --> 14:57.323 He would be wailing and moaning and he would run away as quick as he could. 15:00.989 --> 15:16.093 But it doesn't matter where he goes because if he has this desire, and the second one, if he has hatred, aversion, or delusion, any of these three, he is most likely to suffer. 15:44.255 --> 15:47.000 And we know this is the case. 15:47.060 --> 15:48.022 It's not just greed. 15:48.082 --> 16:05.335 If you have anger or delusion, these as well will cause you to lose sleep, cause you to suffer. 16:11.744 --> 16:12.966 But I don't have any of those. 16:13.166 --> 16:15.810 I don't have any of the delusion, the greed, the anger. 16:19.175 --> 16:19.776 I don't suffer. 16:29.050 --> 16:30.753 And he recites a poem. 16:32.295 --> 16:35.440 He always sleeps well, the Brahman who has attained Nibbana. 16:37.158 --> 16:40.743 cooled off without acquisitions, not tainted by sensual pleasures. 16:41.604 --> 16:48.733 Having cut off all attachments, having removed anguish in the heart, the peaceful one sleeps well, having attained peace of mind. 16:48.753 --> 17:02.490 . 17:05.356 --> 17:07.319 It's a good quote, no? 17:07.339 --> 17:17.013 The peaceful one sleeps happily having attained peace of mind. 17:17.033 --> 17:29.111 This is a really good example of the importance of the mind in determining happiness. 17:29.592 --> 17:33.658 Because here you have a situation that most of us would be 17:33.875 --> 17:40.544 would think would be incredibly unpleasant and intolerable. 17:42.306 --> 17:48.354 And yet it's incredible how much of that is in the mind. 17:50.397 --> 17:52.559 I have a story that goes with this. 17:52.579 --> 17:53.601 I've told this story before. 17:53.621 --> 17:55.603 I'm sure some of you remember me telling it. 17:58.026 --> 18:00.430 But I was in California. 18:00.450 --> 18:02.312 I had 18:03.794 --> 18:06.478 Had some trouble with the monastery where I was staying. 18:06.518 --> 18:16.952 There was a misunderstanding and a misalignment of expectations. 18:18.033 --> 18:25.043 And the expectations weren't clearly spelled out until it was too late, and I actually had to leave. 18:28.735 --> 18:30.139 I can't even remember if that was the case. 18:30.159 --> 18:31.603 Anyway, maybe this was all before. 18:31.643 --> 18:35.634 This was all even before all that happened. 18:35.874 --> 18:44.297 Anyway, there were expectations, and I knew there were expectations, and I couldn't hang out with the other monks because we had different practices, and so I decided to leave. 18:46.218 --> 18:49.084 And boy, did I have trouble finding another place to stay. 18:49.144 --> 18:55.497 There was a couple of people who were going to actually give me their house to stay in. 18:56.479 --> 19:02.472 But all of their friends told them not to do it because it would put them out of... 19:02.452 --> 19:05.256 It would put them out of the comfort of their home. 19:05.296 --> 19:06.919 They would have to go stay with someone else. 19:06.999 --> 19:22.823 And so many of my students actually betrayed me and started to, not betrayed, but went against this intention, sort of made it not possible because they were horrified at the thought that these people would have to give up their house. 19:24.929 --> 19:28.556 you know, which made me kind of seem like the bad guy, I suppose. 19:29.378 --> 19:30.359 But it was their offer. 19:30.420 --> 19:31.401 I'd never even asked them. 19:33.205 --> 19:34.848 And so it went back and forth. 19:34.908 --> 19:37.353 And I ended up, I was flying out to another state. 19:37.413 --> 19:39.898 And I flew, I had been teaching in Minnesota, actually. 19:40.980 --> 19:42.322 And I flew back. 19:43.164 --> 19:47.292 And when I got back, I found out 19:47.710 --> 19:51.974 When I got picked up at the airport, I found out that I would have to stay at someone else's house. 19:53.195 --> 20:02.444 It was a house with a woman, and I would have to stay in the same house with this woman and her son. 20:05.146 --> 20:15.996 I just decided, you know, I'm being pulled around and being controlled, you know. 20:17.562 --> 20:39.828 It wasn't the control, it was the compromising, having to really be hopeless, helpless to do the right thing, being subject to the whims of people who really didn't have the same intention as me. 20:39.848 --> 20:44.734 That's sort of putting it somewhat diplomatically. 20:45.608 --> 20:53.136 So I made up my mind on that night because it had been, I suppose, a fairly stressful period. 20:53.296 --> 20:56.360 Not stressful, but just confusing what to do. 20:58.221 --> 21:05.029 And so I just got to this person's house, opened the door of the vehicle, and walked away. 21:05.089 --> 21:07.431 And I went and slept in a park. 21:08.152 --> 21:13.658 I don't want to get into the gory details of this situation, but I just left. 21:14.802 --> 21:17.928 I just went and slept in a park and decided that I was going to. 21:17.969 --> 21:35.545 I'd been thinking this for a while, that I was just going to walk somewhere through America, which in the long run, eventually I realized that was probably not a safe sort of proposition considering the climate. 21:37.010 --> 21:39.335 in much of America, especially California. 21:40.718 --> 21:48.035 And by climate, I don't actually mean the physical climate, the human climate. 21:48.055 --> 21:51.002 I ended up eventually getting arrested and put in jail 21:51.742 --> 21:53.785 in California. 21:54.746 --> 22:00.114 But anyway, I went and slept in this park, and it was such a relief, such freedom. 22:01.196 --> 22:11.331 I went to this park and found a picnic bench, and I sort of crawled underneath this picnic bench, which was on concrete. 22:11.751 --> 22:20.584 So I ended up sitting on this concrete with a robe about as thick as this robe, which is fairly thick for a Buddhist robe, for a monk's robe nowadays anyway. 22:22.353 --> 22:27.965 And I sat there, did some meditation for a while. 22:28.025 --> 22:34.478 And eventually, I got a bit tired, and I lay down. 22:34.498 --> 22:43.517 And I sort of curled up my robe and put the robe on the concrete and actually lay on the concrete like a homeless person, which, of course, we are. 22:45.168 --> 22:48.611 And I remember feeling such happiness, such peace. 22:49.412 --> 22:50.193 I didn't sleep long. 22:50.253 --> 22:53.876 It was the middle of winter in California, which, if you know, is actually quite cold. 22:54.757 --> 22:55.858 And there was a strong wind. 22:56.539 --> 22:58.381 Deserts can be quite cold in the winter. 22:58.441 --> 23:01.884 So I slept about three hours, but I felt great. 23:02.985 --> 23:04.126 It was a great three hours. 23:04.146 --> 23:11.514 I got up, had some more sitting, and eventually went back to, eventually they came and found me. 23:11.574 --> 23:15.057 They didn't know where I'd gone, but then they came and found me in the morning. 23:16.572 --> 23:17.553 went and had breakfast. 23:18.754 --> 23:25.059 The only thing about that story is just how great it is to be free. 23:25.540 --> 23:44.596 Here's a situation, a young monk who was somewhat overwhelmed with his circumstances and feeling trapped by machinations of lay people and monastics alike, really, and just able to find freedom, able to leave it all behind. 23:44.656 --> 23:46.377 Even the Buddha did this. 23:47.369 --> 23:55.080 I'm going to criticize that the Buddha was of this sort as well when there was too much craziness going on and everyone arguing. 23:55.140 --> 23:58.746 The Buddha just left as well and went and lived in the forest. 24:01.209 --> 24:10.683 So what it means, the meaning behind this, the import that we should take from this, I think, is how important it is to be content in the mind. 24:11.264 --> 24:13.748 And moreover, how important it is to be at peace in your mind. 24:15.179 --> 24:23.487 And how much of our suffering has nothing to do with our environment, but with how we react to it. 24:25.870 --> 24:28.732 How much more important our minds are than our environment. 24:28.752 --> 24:35.579 That you can actually go and live on a cattle path in the forest, or a cement, crying out loud. 24:35.619 --> 24:44.528 Lie on the cement and be at peace in the middle of North Hollywood, which is not a good area, actually. 24:47.883 --> 24:58.244 Anyway, so this is a memorable teaching to me, not just because of my story, but because of how powerful it is. 24:58.705 --> 25:02.854 It's this kind of story that leads one to think you can just go and sleep in a park some night. 25:04.218 --> 25:05.600 Obviously, there are other concerns. 25:05.660 --> 25:06.922 Humans are actually the worst. 25:07.723 --> 25:10.927 Sleeping in the forest like this isn't all that dangerous. 25:12.089 --> 25:13.050 But humans are the worst. 25:13.571 --> 25:20.280 And this other story many of you have heard of when I went to sleep in a, I went to stay in a rain forest. 25:21.102 --> 25:24.627 Because again, I was in a monastery and there were issues. 25:25.067 --> 25:26.910 So I decided to go and find my own monastery. 25:26.930 --> 25:28.051 And I found a monastery. 25:28.772 --> 25:32.858 And I ended up being sort of the unofficial head monk of this monastery. 25:34.559 --> 25:35.620 But it wasn't a monastery. 25:35.841 --> 25:38.724 It had been a monastery like hundreds and hundreds of years ago. 25:38.965 --> 25:44.952 And all that was left were little piles of bricks that were covered in leaves and actually trees growing out of them. 25:45.032 --> 25:47.375 It was a very old monastery. 25:48.056 --> 25:49.077 At one time it had been. 25:49.798 --> 25:57.027 And I just parked my stuff there and set up a tent, actually, and stayed there in the forest. 25:57.047 --> 25:57.728 And it was great. 25:59.230 --> 26:03.115 And eventually I got chased out by a tiger. 26:04.732 --> 26:06.133 I had to leave because of a tiger. 26:07.375 --> 26:11.399 But the funny thing is, and how it relates to what I was just saying, is that it wasn't a tiger. 26:11.419 --> 26:19.427 These people came in the middle of the night and started telling me, and came to my tent, found me in the middle of the rainforest, and said, Ajahn, you have to leave. 26:19.467 --> 26:19.927 You have to leave. 26:19.947 --> 26:20.768 There's a tiger here. 26:20.828 --> 26:21.389 And I said, what? 26:21.449 --> 26:21.809 There's no. 26:22.610 --> 26:23.671 I'm not worried about a tiger. 26:23.911 --> 26:25.793 They said, oh, Ajahn, you don't know a tiger. 26:26.454 --> 26:27.215 Very dangerous. 26:27.235 --> 26:28.276 And I said, he's not going to come here. 26:28.336 --> 26:29.417 Well, what do you do if he comes? 26:30.097 --> 26:31.219 I'll just send loving kindness. 26:31.259 --> 26:32.680 And they wouldn't let me stay. 26:33.419 --> 26:34.040 But I wouldn't go. 26:34.120 --> 26:34.861 And I was stubborn. 26:34.881 --> 26:35.942 And so they ended up leaving. 26:37.203 --> 26:40.827 And then I went and found out in the morning that it had been a dog. 26:41.388 --> 26:42.549 Or not in the morning, no. 26:43.290 --> 26:45.232 I found out like a week later that it was a dog. 26:45.252 --> 26:46.853 And they had seen these dog footprints. 26:46.933 --> 26:49.556 And this dog had chased some cows. 26:50.577 --> 26:53.801 And they saw the footprints and thought it was a tiger that had chased these cows. 26:54.602 --> 26:55.623 Turns out it was just a dog. 26:56.584 --> 26:58.446 But in the meantime, they wouldn't let me stay. 26:58.486 --> 27:03.291 And the park manager wouldn't let me stay in the park anymore because he was afraid of the tiger. 27:04.688 --> 27:06.391 Maurya just didn't want me there. 27:06.471 --> 27:08.455 He was looking for an excuse to get me out. 27:11.701 --> 27:13.284 So yeah, people have the real problem. 27:16.110 --> 27:20.458 Ajahn Tong says, and I'm not sure where he's getting it from, but he says there's two kinds of forest. 27:20.478 --> 27:25.347 There's the forest of wood and the forest of defilement. 27:26.035 --> 27:29.902 Nowadays, we tend to live in the forest of defilements. 27:29.923 --> 27:30.544 Monks, I mean. 27:32.007 --> 27:34.992 Lay people tend to live in the forest of defilements. 27:36.395 --> 27:37.557 But it's still just a forest. 27:37.698 --> 27:47.757 And if you just see it as trees and a place to lay your head, then you don't have to suffer from it. 27:49.137 --> 27:50.459 OK, so enough of that. 27:51.521 --> 27:52.602 Good teaching, I think. 27:52.823 --> 27:53.744 Good one to remember. 27:54.906 --> 27:59.372 Be content and remember that the true suffering comes from greed, anger, and delusion. 27:59.653 --> 28:06.223 It doesn't come from your situation, no matter what your situation. 28:06.243 --> 28:07.965 Work on your own mind. 28:09.408 --> 28:14.976 And this is what really defines whether you're happy or whether you're in torture. 28:16.913 --> 28:18.835 All right, so that's the teaching for tonight. 28:20.216 --> 28:21.057 I have some questions. 28:21.638 --> 28:26.262 We didn't have any, but I'm assuming people have been asking while I've been here. 28:27.063 --> 28:34.951 Someone was asking some a while ago, but I didn't really want to answer them, because it looks like they weren't a meditator, and they were kind of speculative. 28:35.992 --> 28:37.614 OK, the ones from three hours ago? 28:37.934 --> 28:40.877 Yeah, let's go ahead to ones where people were actually meditating. 28:41.478 --> 28:41.858 Sure. 28:52.672 --> 28:57.782 I believe you've said before that the mind isn't continuous and it's constantly going through birth. 28:58.724 --> 29:03.653 I was meditating and thought of this and was having difficulty with it as I feel there is continuity. 29:04.395 --> 29:09.364 Can you elaborate on this idea or point me towards a sutra or video that would help me understand? 29:13.495 --> 29:16.219 There's no sutta or video that's going to help you understand. 29:16.439 --> 29:24.872 This is what you start to, this is what, this is one of the most important realizations and, well, it's one of the important realizations in meditation practice. 29:25.152 --> 29:25.833 Keep practicing. 29:26.234 --> 29:27.937 You'll see the mind arising and ceasing. 29:28.598 --> 29:31.622 The continuity, that is the illusion of continuity. 29:32.260 --> 29:37.930 There are three things, and this is a teaching that I probably don't give enough, and probably should be in my meditation. 29:38.511 --> 29:39.753 There are three things that hide. 29:39.793 --> 29:42.999 This will be in my last, I've got a good way to start the last chapter. 29:43.019 --> 29:44.983 I include this in the last chapter of the book. 29:45.604 --> 29:47.787 I was just thinking today, how am I going to start this chapter? 29:47.928 --> 29:48.930 What am I going to talk about? 29:49.350 --> 29:51.354 There's not so much to talk about. 29:51.374 --> 29:51.955 Here's a good one. 29:52.897 --> 29:56.563 Three things that hide impermanent suffering and non-self, the three characteristics. 29:57.573 --> 29:58.314 Let me see if I can get it. 29:58.354 --> 30:02.258 What hides impermanence is continuity, the illusion of continuity. 30:06.623 --> 30:07.184 The speed. 30:07.244 --> 30:13.371 So if you look at these lights in this room, the lights appear to be constant. 30:14.292 --> 30:25.365 But as we all know, if you've ever, especially if you've ever taken photography or video, videography, when you do video, you need a certain frame rate. 30:25.385 --> 30:27.327 If you use the wrong frame rate, you get flickering. 30:28.150 --> 30:28.651 Why is that? 30:28.751 --> 30:30.273 Because the light isn't constant. 30:30.293 --> 30:34.218 The light is blinking on and off, but we're not quick enough to see it. 30:35.239 --> 30:36.261 And the same is with the mind. 30:36.281 --> 30:39.965 I mean, that really has nothing to do with the mind, but the same is true with the mind. 30:40.526 --> 30:45.993 Because it's arising and ceasing so quickly, there comes about this illusion of continuity. 30:46.013 --> 30:47.355 So what you're seeing is not the truth. 30:48.116 --> 30:51.921 You're not yet able to penetrate and to see the mind arising and ceasing. 30:51.961 --> 30:53.483 But eventually, if you're quick enough, 30:53.463 --> 31:04.421 if you're not quick, but you become skilled enough so that the mind becomes quicker and more adept in seeing the reality, you'll start to see that the mind actually doesn't continue. 31:04.481 --> 31:05.583 It arises and ceases. 31:06.224 --> 31:08.468 And this is just an illusion. 31:09.983 --> 31:14.110 Suffering is concealed by change. 31:15.252 --> 31:21.903 And specifically, the specific one is the change of postures. 31:22.904 --> 31:24.347 So we aren't able to see suffering. 31:24.507 --> 31:33.101 Why we can't see that life has got lots of stress and that there's stress in just being is because we change all the time, right? 31:33.662 --> 31:35.846 When there's suffering in the body, what do you do? 31:36.406 --> 31:36.767 You move. 31:38.317 --> 31:44.083 If you ever give a Dhamma talk, you can look at the audience and watch everybody shift. 31:44.103 --> 31:46.946 Or if you ever go to a Dhamma talk, you can see everyone shifting. 31:46.986 --> 31:48.788 This is how we hide it. 31:48.968 --> 31:55.075 Even sitting here, when you're sitting at your computer chair, you'll find yourself shifting every so often. 31:55.095 --> 31:56.416 Well, you won't unless you notice. 31:57.898 --> 32:04.124 So this is why sitting in meditation is such a great tool for seeing the truth, because you're forced to sit. 32:04.144 --> 32:07.648 You try to sit perfectly still, and oh boy, then you have to deal with suffering. 32:08.793 --> 32:10.114 And you think, well, why am I doing this? 32:10.194 --> 32:11.876 Why am I torturing myself? 32:12.617 --> 32:13.778 That's the point. 32:13.818 --> 32:19.084 The point is we avoid the truth of the torture of just being. 32:20.305 --> 32:22.707 We avoid it by bathing and showering. 32:22.887 --> 32:25.230 We avoid it by finding new things to think about. 32:25.410 --> 32:26.451 Ah, don't dwell on it. 32:27.232 --> 32:27.833 Come do this. 32:28.033 --> 32:29.054 Come enjoy yourself. 32:30.355 --> 32:32.557 So it's basically forget about your troubles. 32:33.458 --> 32:34.159 Not a good thing. 32:38.628 --> 33:02.138 And what hides non-self is something to do with the compactness, which I think, this one was a little bit incomprehensible to me, but I think it's the fact that things appear to be entities, or the concept, the conceiving in the mind of entities, I think. 33:03.232 --> 33:13.711 So when you think of this as a person, you look at me and you think of me as a person, that concept stops you until you can let go of those concepts and remind yourself that's just seeing. 33:13.892 --> 33:14.933 It's not a person there. 33:15.374 --> 33:16.997 It's just light touching my eye. 33:17.017 --> 33:17.859 It's just seeing. 33:17.899 --> 33:24.531 Until you can stop seeing things as entities, you won't be able to see non-self. 33:25.456 --> 33:29.973 So here specifically is the continuity that you're seeing. 33:30.515 --> 33:32.222 So it's just hiding the truth from you. 33:32.784 --> 33:34.470 And it's just because the mind is not quick enough. 33:36.020 --> 33:41.968 No video is going to help you understand that this is one of those specific things that you have to learn from meditation practice. 33:41.988 --> 33:45.152 It's why we do this kind of strobe effect. 33:45.432 --> 33:52.020 It's not quick, but it's like hammering it now, now, seeing, seeing, seeing, hearing. 33:52.261 --> 33:54.664 You're trying to catch a moment. 33:55.665 --> 33:58.609 And if you start to catch the moment, you'll see it ceasing, ceasing. 33:58.649 --> 34:03.495 And you'll start to see that everything ceases and that that continuity is an illusion. 34:16.503 --> 34:26.094 Is it OK to gently repeat in your mind buddho, buddho, buddho as taught by the Theravada Willpower Institute while doing walking or sitting meditation? 34:27.235 --> 34:31.280 Or is saying in your mind what you are doing better, does it really matter? 34:31.300 --> 34:38.388 Saying buddho, buddho is buddhanusati. 34:38.408 --> 34:39.690 It's mindfulness of the Buddha. 34:41.011 --> 34:44.215 It's not as good objectively. 34:44.701 --> 34:52.473 you know, good, bad, but if you want to use such words, it's less good, it's not, the way we do is better. 34:53.675 --> 34:56.479 Because buddho, buddho is not what you're doing, it's not reality. 34:57.260 --> 34:59.944 You know, Buddhism is all about learning the truth of reality. 35:00.365 --> 35:02.288 So when you walk, is that buddho? 35:03.370 --> 35:04.652 When you sit, is that buddho? 35:04.832 --> 35:04.992 No. 35:06.094 --> 35:08.177 So buddho is a way of remembering the Buddha. 35:09.676 --> 35:10.458 It's a good thing. 35:10.498 --> 35:11.641 It's a positive. 35:13.004 --> 35:24.732 It's going to have positive effect on your mind, but it's inferior to actually learning about reality, to actually trying to understand things as they are. 35:42.616 --> 35:48.944 So the difference is that one is Samatha and one is Vipassana, if you want to know the technical details. 35:54.571 --> 35:56.654 Samatha is something that calms the mind. 35:57.295 --> 36:00.139 Vipassana is that which allows you to see clearly. 36:01.560 --> 36:03.263 So it's not exactly that one is. 36:04.224 --> 36:05.946 But it's inferior. 36:05.986 --> 36:11.273 Samatha is inferior because it can't 36:11.590 --> 36:13.973 lead you to nibbana, it's impermanent. 36:15.374 --> 36:17.036 So you might feel peaceful. 36:18.858 --> 36:19.298 Are we gone? 36:19.358 --> 36:20.360 Did we get cut off? 36:25.906 --> 36:26.847 It says we got cut off. 36:29.850 --> 36:31.231 Seems like everything's still working. 36:33.794 --> 36:36.417 Oh, the questions got cut off, old questions. 36:45.475 --> 36:49.460 What is your opinion of the Theravada Buddhist Willpower Institute? 36:49.500 --> 36:51.183 You've asked one of the forbidden questions. 36:51.824 --> 36:53.566 I think I know who you're referring to. 36:53.606 --> 36:56.149 I remember the word Willpower Institute. 36:56.189 --> 36:57.992 That's the guys in Niagara Falls, isn't it? 36:58.913 --> 37:01.316 This sounds like this is probably someone who's in Ontario. 37:01.817 --> 37:04.901 So right down the road, we have a meditation center. 37:09.668 --> 37:15.195 And they teach a six-month course in Samatha meditation. 37:16.508 --> 37:25.437 It's interesting because we once wanted to use their facilities to do an insight meditation course. 37:25.457 --> 37:28.105 And they replied back, 37:29.047 --> 37:33.774 that their teacher doesn't approve of the teaching of Vipassana meditation. 37:33.995 --> 37:35.197 These are the words we got. 37:35.697 --> 37:40.164 And the person who found this out for me said this is probably not from the teacher because he would never say something. 37:40.184 --> 37:40.805 I'm not so sure. 37:41.827 --> 37:45.613 But apparently this is what we were told. 37:45.673 --> 37:50.160 We were told that the teacher doesn't approve of the teaching of Vipassana meditation because 37:50.140 --> 37:56.396 people nowadays aren't able to understand it, aren't able to benefit from it. 37:56.416 --> 38:02.873 The best people can do is gain samatha jhana. 38:02.893 --> 38:03.956 So that's what he teaches. 38:04.136 --> 38:05.179 That's why he teaches that. 38:08.365 --> 38:10.728 I don't want to say anything good or bad about this group. 38:10.788 --> 38:14.712 Obviously, I don't teach what they teach, and I don't really necessarily approve. 38:14.793 --> 38:17.516 I have heard bad things that I won't repeat here. 38:18.877 --> 38:27.107 Not horrible things, but some things that make me just kind of be disinclined to. 38:27.828 --> 38:30.091 I mean, I'm not inclined anyway, so let's just leave it at that. 38:30.591 --> 38:31.352 It's a different group. 38:33.256 --> 38:34.098 It's not uncomfortable. 38:34.118 --> 38:37.464 It's just a, well, yeah, it's potentially uncomfortable. 38:37.484 --> 38:43.896 So I kind of avoid questions, what do you think of x, where x has nothing to do with my technique and my tradition? 38:45.499 --> 38:47.904 If you want to, what do you think of something in my tradition? 38:47.944 --> 38:49.527 Well, I can certainly talk about that. 38:51.010 --> 38:52.092 But otherwise, yeah. 38:55.413 --> 38:57.056 Bante, my own add-on question. 38:57.897 --> 39:03.086 Willpower is part of their name in terms of Buddhism. 39:03.166 --> 39:07.112 Is that a commonly used concept in Buddhism? 39:07.132 --> 39:07.353 Good. 39:07.553 --> 39:09.636 You're triggered by that is a good point. 39:12.040 --> 39:13.242 But it's very much what they do. 39:13.523 --> 39:16.628 They're very much into mind over matter. 39:17.384 --> 39:25.672 And willpower is kind of an appeal to Western, as I understand, appeal to Western concepts of mental development. 39:26.133 --> 39:27.354 Willpower, mind over matter. 39:28.415 --> 39:30.657 The head monk is supposed to have magical powers. 39:31.137 --> 39:32.419 This is what people have told me. 39:32.479 --> 39:34.641 He's able to sit on snow. 39:35.522 --> 39:38.645 He found a bunch of jade rock. 39:39.165 --> 39:44.050 Not jade, but it's something that would be jade in like millions of years, but it's pre-jade. 39:44.789 --> 39:51.319 In Canada, Canada has one of the largest deposits of this stone in the world. 39:51.780 --> 39:52.621 It's quite valuable. 39:52.661 --> 39:54.864 It's not as valuable as jade, but we got a lot of it. 39:55.806 --> 40:01.514 And through his meditation, he is supposed to have found it and told these miners where to dig. 40:01.534 --> 40:02.996 And they dug there. 40:03.577 --> 40:09.987 They found this stone, and he bought some of it and made a Buddha out of it that is now in Bangkok. 40:10.508 --> 40:14.053 And there's a big stone in Niagara Falls that is, I guess, a big piece of it. 40:15.046 --> 40:24.916 Which in and of itself makes you wonder, because what the heck does that have to do with anything? 40:24.936 --> 40:26.858 But different folks, different strokes. 40:28.320 --> 40:32.344 Ponte, the jade statue, does that travel around? 40:32.384 --> 40:38.971 Because I actually went to Massachusetts to see a display of a jade Buddha statue that was traveling around. 40:39.352 --> 40:40.733 There's many jade Buddhas. 40:41.135 --> 40:45.846 The major jade Buddha is the one in Bangkok, or it's called the Emerald Buddha, I guess. 40:45.966 --> 40:47.791 But it's probably made of jade. 40:51.179 --> 40:52.963 But they don't really get very close to it. 40:52.983 --> 40:54.166 And it's our national treasure. 40:54.527 --> 40:58.536 The Lao people say they stole it from Laos, which is probably true. 40:58.904 --> 41:01.210 Because in Laos, they've got a stand for it. 41:01.471 --> 41:05.942 There's a monastery that has the stand for the Emerald Buddha. 41:05.962 --> 41:10.032 And the Thai people have it in Bangkok. 41:10.052 --> 41:11.496 But it's a nice thing to go see. 41:12.455 --> 41:18.621 And so there might be a, you know, I guess there was sort of a tradition of jade Buddha. 41:20.242 --> 41:25.627 But any kind of tour that you're hearing about, it's an attempt to drum up support. 41:25.687 --> 41:27.589 And that's what a jade Buddha is. 41:27.649 --> 41:36.697 A jade Buddha is something that people, especially Asian people, Chinese culture, look very highly upon. 41:36.717 --> 41:42.462 You know, jade is one of the greatest sort of matter substances. 41:42.442 --> 41:50.045 What does depression and anxiety mean according to Buddhism? 41:51.449 --> 41:53.977 Depression is based on anger. 41:54.478 --> 41:56.805 It's an anger-based mind. 41:58.220 --> 42:21.747 with with some delusion you know depression is not a thing it doesn't exist but it's like you mix stuff together and you get a soup right well the soup isn't soup it's a bunch of molecules or different things there's the salt molecules but it's not easy to separate them out uh so you call it soup but depression is is a whole bunch of stuff and it's it's bouncing back and forth right there's the thinking about the thing that's making you depressed 42:21.727 --> 42:24.592 Then there's the disliking of it, which is the anger base. 42:24.612 --> 42:27.897 But the thinking about it, there will become some kind of delusion. 42:27.957 --> 42:30.681 There's delusion in the whole process. 42:30.762 --> 42:32.524 Any unwholesome mind is delusion. 42:33.226 --> 42:34.828 It's always got delusion as the base. 42:35.369 --> 42:37.432 Like soup has water as its base. 42:37.993 --> 42:39.175 All soup has water in it. 42:39.195 --> 42:43.482 All unwholesome minds have delusion in them. 42:44.778 --> 42:48.564 But there's the anger part. 42:48.584 --> 42:53.693 There's the ego in the sense of clinging to it as me as mine. 42:54.915 --> 43:03.690 And then there's the sort of the habitual simmering nature of it, which is just what is cultivated. 43:03.730 --> 43:05.453 Depression is something you have to cultivate. 43:06.783 --> 43:10.049 You can't, I don't think, become immediately depressed. 43:10.149 --> 43:18.984 Depression is generally something that arises from sustained disliking, sustained sadness kind of thing. 43:22.350 --> 43:25.435 Anxiety, on the other hand, is pure delusion. 43:25.495 --> 43:28.400 Anxiety doesn't have anger in it. 43:28.420 --> 43:31.305 Anxiety is a pure delusion mind. 43:33.682 --> 43:35.665 maybe there's some fear. 43:35.745 --> 43:38.009 If you talk about fear, fear is an anger mind. 43:38.850 --> 43:42.136 But simple anxiety, I don't know. 43:42.156 --> 43:45.040 I guess anxiety, as we look at it, it also has some disliking. 43:45.120 --> 43:46.663 There's got to be a lot of anger minds. 43:46.923 --> 43:50.770 But a moment of worry, anxiety, is pure delusion. 43:51.711 --> 43:52.753 It's got kukucha in it. 43:53.754 --> 43:56.579 But for most anxious people, there's a lot of anger there because you don't like it. 43:57.220 --> 43:58.542 You're not happy about the anxiety. 44:00.023 --> 44:02.307 You're not happy about whatever it is that's making you anxious. 44:02.327 --> 44:05.934 So there's usually anger and fear in there as well. 44:05.954 --> 44:16.573 But anxiety is that mind that is concerned about something, sees something as a problem, really. 44:17.334 --> 44:18.977 It's the mind that says, this is a problem. 44:20.220 --> 44:24.327 This needs to be fixed. 44:28.458 --> 44:31.584 And something like that. 44:32.085 --> 44:34.149 How do you define anxiety? 44:34.189 --> 44:35.491 But you're anxious, right? 44:35.511 --> 44:36.313 You're quivering. 44:37.755 --> 44:40.681 You're worried about it. 44:40.721 --> 44:44.468 And that's the sense you're obsessed or you're involved in it. 44:46.171 --> 44:47.714 It matters to you. 44:49.077 --> 44:49.858 And so you suffer. 44:50.598 --> 44:54.064 But there's a lot of physical sensations associated with both of these. 44:54.725 --> 44:55.827 And they are not depression. 44:55.847 --> 44:56.949 They are not anxiety. 44:56.969 --> 44:58.733 And that's important as well. 44:58.753 --> 45:02.499 With all these things, it's important to be able to differentiate the physical and the mental. 45:02.960 --> 45:04.563 So when you're anxious, you feel tension. 45:04.603 --> 45:06.106 You feel butterflies in your stomach. 45:06.126 --> 45:07.709 You're heart beating quickly, headache. 45:08.490 --> 45:09.652 None of that is anxiety. 45:10.313 --> 45:14.200 And if you can't see the difference, it'll just make you more anxious because you think, oh, I'm so anxious. 45:14.260 --> 45:15.222 But you're not. 45:15.202 --> 45:19.973 You're only anxious for a moment and then it has physical effects. 45:20.374 --> 45:23.120 And those effects are actually neutral. 45:24.302 --> 45:25.565 We learned about them today, right? 45:25.625 --> 45:31.458 The unwholesome resultant, those experiences are abhayagata. 45:31.479 --> 45:33.042 They're not wholesome or unwholesome. 45:39.046 --> 45:43.432 I'm just going to skip one question real quick because there's a follow-up question on this. 45:44.213 --> 45:47.057 So anxiety has nothing or little to do with greed? 45:47.498 --> 45:50.162 Nope. 45:50.182 --> 45:51.043 And not anger either? 45:52.986 --> 45:55.089 As I said, there can be fear in there as well. 45:55.229 --> 45:56.411 But simple anxiety, no. 45:56.471 --> 46:02.860 Simple anxiety or worry, as we normally call it, is simple delusion. 46:03.903 --> 46:04.945 There are mind states. 46:04.985 --> 46:11.995 What that means is that there are mind states there in there that are just flustered in a sense. 46:12.015 --> 46:13.938 Flustered is maybe a better way of thinking of it. 46:15.400 --> 46:19.646 But worry, in English, it usually is associated with fear, right? 46:20.387 --> 46:21.709 And fear is an anger mind. 46:24.862 --> 46:25.663 Thank you, Bhante. 46:26.985 --> 46:29.608 Is it possible to accidentally become enlightened? 46:30.169 --> 46:39.000 I ask because once I stopped thinking and then left my body and traveled through a tunnel that was intense vibration, sound, and color. 46:39.581 --> 46:40.282 Then it stopped. 46:41.023 --> 46:43.546 I was in a white realm and had no form or thoughts. 46:44.267 --> 46:46.610 This lasted until my first thought, which was, wow. 46:47.191 --> 46:49.874 Then I went back through the tunnel into my body and heard bells. 46:50.535 --> 46:51.416 It was not performing. 46:51.436 --> 46:54.160 Isn't this the person whose questions I skipped? 46:55.456 --> 46:57.039 I didn't even see this one, actually. 46:57.700 --> 46:58.963 Chita has relayed it down. 46:59.023 --> 47:00.265 I didn't even see that one earlier. 47:00.706 --> 47:02.169 Yeah, I mean, this is not enlightenment. 47:02.189 --> 47:07.139 And so this person should probably read my booklet on how to meditate. 47:07.259 --> 47:16.317 And don't be concerned with such, well, or learn the difference, because that has nothing to do with our tradition. 47:20.127 --> 47:21.670 What am I going to say to that? 47:21.750 --> 47:24.635 Oh yes, that sounds like you became, that's not enlightenment. 47:24.655 --> 47:25.857 So those things happen. 47:26.638 --> 47:34.773 There are special experiences that arise, but it's nothing to do with enlightenment. 47:34.793 --> 47:37.798 If you've read my booklet, you know that you'd be mindful of all that. 47:39.280 --> 47:44.786 So leaving your body, you have to generally bring yourself back when you leave the body. 47:44.806 --> 47:46.788 But when you see things, you'd say seeing, seeing. 47:46.808 --> 47:48.670 When you feel things, you'd say feeling, feeling. 47:49.351 --> 47:50.132 And it'll all stop. 47:56.178 --> 48:03.786 Bonte, for older Buddhists living in Ontario, how can we be assured of a Buddhist funeral, Buddhist Theravada funeral when we pass? 48:05.791 --> 48:07.112 There's not really any such thing. 48:07.132 --> 48:11.256 In Buddhism, the body is the body. 48:11.916 --> 48:12.257 It's dead. 48:13.718 --> 48:14.339 No problem. 48:14.759 --> 48:16.220 Why worry about your body? 48:16.661 --> 48:18.542 Buddhist funeral is, don't worry about your body. 48:18.983 --> 48:19.603 Leave it behind. 48:20.424 --> 48:21.805 Get ready for what's coming next. 48:22.025 --> 48:22.626 Be prepared. 48:25.168 --> 48:29.412 Buddhist funeral is where the dead person says, sayonara. 48:31.594 --> 48:35.157 I'm moving on, leaving behind the snake skin. 48:39.777 --> 48:47.686 And where the people who are left behind watch this dead thing burn and then go home and move on. 48:48.689 --> 48:49.753 That's a Buddhist funeral. 48:50.290 --> 48:52.815 All this other stuff where people get together and do all that. 48:53.937 --> 48:58.106 I mean, that's maybe being facetious because it's an excuse. 48:58.907 --> 49:07.083 And for most people who are unable to understand, I mean, I'm being cold and callous and awful, really, because for most people, they're not able to do that. 49:07.204 --> 49:08.667 But that's a true Buddhist funeral. 49:09.588 --> 49:11.893 And there are monks who would probably tell you the same thing. 49:11.873 --> 49:18.301 but most people cry, you know, and suffer because of death. 49:18.521 --> 49:21.225 And so there are Buddhist ways of dealing with that. 49:22.587 --> 49:23.588 So there are Buddhist funerals. 49:23.628 --> 49:24.850 How would you guarantee? 49:24.890 --> 49:34.562 I guess put it in your will and find a monastery that you can be sure, you know, just leave it in your will. 49:34.602 --> 49:36.244 This is my will to have a Buddhist funeral. 49:38.232 --> 49:42.180 And find a Buddhist monastery that does those sorts of things. 49:42.240 --> 49:42.962 There are lots. 49:43.202 --> 49:45.467 A good one is the West End Buddhist Centre in Toronto. 49:46.509 --> 49:47.771 They will certainly perform a funeral. 49:49.375 --> 49:51.519 Of course, it might be good to get to know them first. 49:55.587 --> 49:56.429 Go and talk to them. 49:56.629 --> 49:58.553 Find a monastery that you're comfortable with. 50:00.271 --> 50:05.943 and set up a rapport with them and then leave it in your will. 50:06.885 --> 50:11.756 It's a good, it's a skillful means, especially if you've got relatives who are not very spiritual. 50:12.257 --> 50:18.330 It's a chance for, opportunity for them to learn about the Dhamma and learn how to practice and learn how to be free from suffering. 50:22.428 --> 50:24.273 OK, that's all for tonight. 50:24.594 --> 50:26.680 It's been almost an hour. 50:27.683 --> 50:28.325 Thank you all. 50:29.328 --> 50:31.012 Thank you, Robin, for joining me. 50:31.073 --> 50:33.820 And wish you all good night. 50:34.663 --> 50:35.505 Thank you, Bhante. 50:35.626 --> 50:36.167 Good night.