WEBVTT 02:17.697 --> 02:18.578 Good evening everyone. 02:19.039 --> 02:20.681 Welcome to our live broadcast. 02:25.808 --> 02:30.154 Tonight we are looking at Anguttara Nikaya Buku 4, Sutta 49. 02:30.334 --> 02:44.394 The Vipalasa Sutta. 02:44.414 --> 02:46.236 Vipalasa is... 02:53.067 --> 02:55.149 I usually translate it as perversion. 02:55.530 --> 03:03.840 Bhikkhu Bodhi translates it as inversion, which to me is kind of too technical. 03:05.542 --> 03:07.604 It's not the word that the Buddha would have used, I don't think. 03:09.286 --> 03:15.193 Inversion is, you invert something, like an inverted letter or something. 03:16.439 --> 03:17.861 Perversion is more to the point. 03:18.001 --> 03:22.948 But perversion is, of course, probably... Well, it's a good word because it's so provocative. 03:24.310 --> 03:27.555 And that's good because we can talk about what we mean by perversion. 03:29.338 --> 03:29.838 Good question. 03:29.878 --> 03:31.381 What is perversion in Buddhism? 03:32.262 --> 03:35.727 What does Buddhism consider perverse or perverted? 03:39.332 --> 03:43.358 So if we step back and think about how society looks at perversion... 03:46.460 --> 03:54.953 Sometimes it's a little bit arbitrary, usually based on religion, but tends to be what society thinks is perverse. 03:56.255 --> 04:02.985 So for example, for a long time, in many societies, polygamy seemed like a reasonable way to live. 04:04.066 --> 04:06.289 Nowadays it's considered perverse, perverted. 04:09.274 --> 04:14.121 The majority of the world still considers homosexuality perverted, I think. 04:16.008 --> 04:22.956 And yet many high-minded individuals are starting to say, well, there's nothing terribly perverse about it. 04:26.279 --> 04:29.903 There don't seem any reason to think this or that is perverse. 04:30.584 --> 04:38.573 There was a time when eating pig was considered perverse, perverted, perverse. 04:40.848 --> 04:49.577 There are people in the world, vegetarians, who think meat eating in general is perverse, disgusting. 04:53.461 --> 05:05.634 So it tends to be those things that society or the beholder, I suppose, considers to be wrong. 05:08.757 --> 05:10.399 So it's basically about what's wrong. 05:11.695 --> 05:21.757 It's a decision, sometimes arbitrary, about what is right and what is wrong. 05:21.777 --> 05:26.949 There are many things in society that we consider perverse and perverted. 05:26.969 --> 05:31.138 Now, perversion in Buddhism is, of course, different. 05:33.245 --> 05:42.459 The idea of something being perverse has only to do with whether it's right or wrong about reality. 05:45.484 --> 05:53.616 So if you believe something that doesn't go according to reality or if you think something or even if you feel something 05:55.705 --> 06:07.816 That doesn't go according to reality, isn't in line with what is appropriate, what is reasonable, what is logical, what accords with reality. 06:08.637 --> 06:10.519 That's what we consider perversion. 06:15.223 --> 06:17.865 And so there are four perversions in Buddhism. 06:19.627 --> 06:25.172 But before we talk about them, we have to talk about the levels of perversion. 06:26.587 --> 06:31.432 There are three levels of perversion, meaning that altogether there's twelve, three times four. 06:37.178 --> 06:41.043 The first level of perversion is just a feeling you get, or a perception. 06:42.004 --> 06:49.091 A perception, a reception, how you receive something. 06:51.173 --> 06:52.975 A perception is the word. 06:54.017 --> 06:55.378 Sanya vipalasana. 07:00.657 --> 07:10.547 The second one is beyond just getting a sense that something is like the way it isn't, wrong perception, wrong sense. 07:12.749 --> 07:21.278 There's wrong, there's perverted thought and perversion of thought, citta vipalasa. 07:21.298 --> 07:28.065 And beyond even that is the perversion of view, which we call ditti vipalasa. 07:30.425 --> 07:32.788 So the way it goes is someone might perceive something. 07:34.890 --> 07:39.895 You might see something that is very bad for you, poison, say. 07:41.196 --> 07:46.102 And you might perceive it to be good and wholesome and healthy for you, medicine. 07:48.584 --> 07:51.608 So you see it and you say, oh, that looks healthy, that looks good. 07:51.888 --> 07:58.575 Well, I think that there's a perception, sorry, not even the thought, but just the positive perception 07:59.922 --> 08:08.092 It works better when you think of something ugly, something, something not even ugly, but something. 08:10.134 --> 08:13.959 Well, it'll become clear when we talk about the four different types of perversion. 08:14.980 --> 08:23.630 And it's just a sense you get, a perception, the recognition, oh, that's nice, or not nice. 08:23.650 --> 08:29.237 Citta Vipala says when you think something, when it actually becomes a thought, so based on the perception usually, 08:30.432 --> 08:31.474 there comes about a thought. 08:32.796 --> 08:34.799 And ditti is when the thought becomes a view. 08:35.540 --> 08:38.044 So you can think something and not actually believe it. 08:39.046 --> 08:47.439 So the thought comes up and you say, well, that's ridiculous. 08:47.459 --> 08:56.473 I guess it would be in a non-ethical sense, it would be if you're sitting and meditating, say, and suddenly you get a sense of yourself being upside down, 08:57.922 --> 09:06.637 You get a sense of, more common, you get a sense that you have no body, a sense that your body disappeared. 09:08.280 --> 09:15.492 Or sometimes you see bright light and you get a sense that someone has pulled the roof off your kuti, your room. 09:17.041 --> 09:18.422 and the sun is shining down. 09:18.543 --> 09:21.866 Some people actually open their eyes because they think the sun is shining down. 09:21.986 --> 09:24.448 There's a hole in the roof or something. 09:25.670 --> 09:26.551 Or the door is open. 09:26.611 --> 09:28.052 Someone opened the door or window. 09:31.155 --> 09:32.557 So that sense is wrong. 09:33.277 --> 09:34.599 It's not according with reality. 09:34.739 --> 09:39.043 But then if you think to yourself, oh, someone, maybe someone opened the door. 09:39.383 --> 09:43.407 When you think it to yourself, that's citta vipulas. 09:43.427 --> 09:44.989 And if you firmly believe 09:46.032 --> 09:47.454 Say, for example, a ghost. 09:47.814 --> 09:56.063 You're sitting and meditating and you hear a sound and you think, you perceive it as footsteps in your room. 09:58.106 --> 09:59.027 A ghost in your room. 09:59.047 --> 10:01.309 And then you think to yourself, there's a ghost in my room. 10:02.190 --> 10:08.397 But then it happens every night and you have the belief, you come to believe that it's a ghost in your room. 10:09.318 --> 10:13.423 Until someone explains to you, oh, it's probably just the mice in your ceiling or something. 10:16.998 --> 10:21.223 I have an example I often tell of there was a shutter banging in my house. 10:21.263 --> 10:24.007 I was alone in the house at night and I heard this noise. 10:24.187 --> 10:24.588 Boom! 10:24.628 --> 10:27.692 It sounded very much like footsteps pounding on the stairs. 10:28.953 --> 10:32.758 I woke up in the morning and I found that it was just this shutter banging against the window. 10:33.639 --> 10:38.745 But I was convinced that it was some monster, ghost or something. 10:40.327 --> 10:42.330 Terrible thing to have to hear when you're alone in the house. 10:46.023 --> 10:49.887 But this is not relating to ethics or anything really important. 10:50.767 --> 10:52.849 This isn't really what is important. 10:52.869 --> 10:58.995 So what is important from a Buddhist point of view is these four types of perversion. 11:11.326 --> 11:13.448 It's got them in the wrong order for me, but OK. 11:15.436 --> 11:17.859 Not start at the beginning, start at the end actually. 11:17.899 --> 11:22.024 So we're going to put them out of order because... 11:22.044 --> 11:23.185 Okay, let's do them in order first. 11:23.826 --> 11:40.465 So the first one the Buddha says, In regards to what is impermanent, one has a perverted perception or perverted sense of it being permanent. 11:43.921 --> 11:50.792 So when we meditate, this is mostly related to the mind, in the sense of the mind lasting. 11:51.953 --> 11:57.362 If you don't actually meditate, there's a sense that your mind continues from one moment to the next. 11:57.502 --> 11:59.345 We exist from one moment to the next. 11:59.365 --> 12:02.910 There's something that exists permanently, stably. 12:03.591 --> 12:05.254 And this also relates to stability. 12:06.432 --> 12:11.341 You think of things as stable, everything around us, our possessions, our bodies. 12:12.443 --> 12:18.214 Yeah, I know my body, my body is, you know, I have this temperament and this digestion and so on. 12:19.377 --> 12:22.463 My teeth are like this, my nails are like that, my hair is like this. 12:25.027 --> 12:28.474 And you think, you feel, you get a sense that it's stable. 12:31.525 --> 12:34.290 Of course this is a perversion or it's wrong. 12:34.330 --> 12:40.261 It's a perverted sort of view because it doesn't accord with reality. 12:40.441 --> 12:43.307 Our bodies change and they can change in quite dramatic ways. 12:43.547 --> 12:55.609 Our whole temperament, the whole nature of the body can change in a moment, quite quickly, with sickness, with age, many different things, through an accident. 13:02.474 --> 13:13.611 And then if you think to yourself, well, yes, this mind lasts from moment to moment, or this thing is stable, or my character, my personality is stable. 13:13.771 --> 13:14.452 You think like that. 13:15.494 --> 13:16.535 That's citta vipadasa. 13:16.695 --> 13:21.242 And then if you believe it, if you say, yes, the mind, this is true. 13:21.803 --> 13:23.005 The mind lasts. 13:23.686 --> 13:27.792 The mind is stable and permanent and lasting forever. 13:27.852 --> 13:28.453 There's a soul. 13:28.513 --> 13:29.815 This is the idea of a soul. 13:31.651 --> 13:33.292 a lasting soul in that sense. 13:34.854 --> 13:36.996 This is a perversion of view because none of that's true. 13:37.296 --> 13:41.239 The mind is just, what we call mind is just moments of experience. 13:42.601 --> 13:46.844 And the idea that anything might last is just a thought in our mind. 13:46.904 --> 13:48.546 It doesn't have any basis in reality. 13:49.567 --> 13:53.250 Because in reality all that, everything that arises is uncertain. 13:54.171 --> 13:55.992 It's uncertain what's going to come next. 13:56.032 --> 14:00.156 There's quite a bit of chaos. 14:05.350 --> 14:06.171 That's the first one. 14:06.211 --> 14:10.778 The number one is duke bhikkave sukantin. 14:11.079 --> 14:14.704 In regards to what is unsatisfying, one sees it as satisfying. 14:14.884 --> 14:16.847 What is unpleasant, one sees it as pleasant. 14:17.067 --> 14:19.811 What is happiness, one sees it as suffering. 14:19.832 --> 14:22.195 What is suffering, one sees it as happiness. 14:29.212 --> 14:32.578 So this is, of course, in regards to all the things that we chase after. 14:32.638 --> 14:40.591 Food, sex, music, art, beauty, all these things. 14:42.174 --> 14:44.898 We chase after them because we think they're going to make us happy. 14:47.383 --> 14:50.287 Mainly, when it all boils down to it, it's the pleasant sensation. 14:50.328 --> 14:52.992 So this one mostly has to do with weight and feelings. 14:54.862 --> 14:58.228 You feel happy when you feel a pleasant feeling, you think, well, that's happiness. 14:58.448 --> 14:59.971 And so we get this addiction to it. 15:00.992 --> 15:16.498 There are so many ways by which we can come by this pleasant feeling that we build up a repertoire of habits, personality based on the habits of addiction, of clinging, of desire. 15:19.297 --> 15:20.579 And it doesn't make us more happy. 15:20.619 --> 15:22.682 We don't become happier over time. 15:23.924 --> 15:25.666 We become actually less satisfied. 15:26.627 --> 15:32.295 So this is, if we feel something, we have a pleasant feeling and we have a feeling of liking it. 15:32.676 --> 15:34.859 If you like it, that's the sannyavipala. 15:38.284 --> 15:40.427 Citta vipala says when you think that's good. 15:41.892 --> 15:46.597 You think to yourself, yes, I would be really happy if I had some pizza right now. 15:48.038 --> 15:49.019 You think that to yourself. 15:49.039 --> 15:52.683 You think, oh man, what I wouldn't do for it. 15:52.703 --> 15:55.005 That would really hit the spot, this kind of thought. 15:55.926 --> 16:05.316 But then when you have the view, this is just a thought that most of us have, but many people actually have the view that, of course, pleasant feelings make you happy. 16:05.736 --> 16:06.777 That's what happiness is. 16:06.997 --> 16:08.659 That's where true happiness lies. 16:09.753 --> 16:12.678 Happiness lies in getting as much pleasant feelings as you can. 16:13.038 --> 16:14.100 That's true happiness. 16:15.582 --> 16:19.909 And that's dittiri palasa, view that is perverse. 16:19.930 --> 16:20.611 It doesn't hold up. 16:21.752 --> 16:28.824 You just become less satisfied, more distressed, more cranky, more frustrated, more bored, more depressed. 16:29.605 --> 16:33.151 The more you cling, the more you crave, the more you desire. 16:36.076 --> 16:36.857 That's number two. 16:38.137 --> 16:53.879 Number three, in regards to what is not self, one sees it as self. 16:53.899 --> 16:55.501 So we think, oh, this is self. 16:56.543 --> 16:59.086 We have this perception of something being self. 16:59.106 --> 17:00.388 Self can mean it's mine. 17:01.489 --> 17:04.093 We look at things and we think, hey, that's mine, right? 17:05.423 --> 17:07.747 It could mean this is I. 17:08.007 --> 17:10.651 We look at the body and we think, hey, this is me. 17:15.319 --> 17:19.886 We think of our personality and we think of a being who exists, an I. 17:21.369 --> 17:24.073 Good or bad, it's me. 17:30.432 --> 17:33.036 And if it's just a perception, it's sannyavipalatsa. 17:33.076 --> 17:36.642 When it becomes a thought, when you think to yourself, hey, that's mine. 17:38.525 --> 17:39.967 When you say out loud, that's mine. 17:39.987 --> 17:50.724 But when you really believe that there's something to this, that you can possess things and that things are you, that this body is me, that there is an I, that's view. 17:51.244 --> 17:54.870 The view that there exist things like people, places. 17:55.880 --> 18:20.875 objects, possessions because it doesn't hold up it's perverse because it doesn't hold up in reality reality is completely impersonal you can call something yourself but it's meaningless in terms of ultimate reality you can say this I am, this is me, this is myself this is my soul doesn't have any basis or any 18:22.306 --> 18:37.508 The only repercussions is it makes you act and all of these make you act and speak and even think in ways that make you ridiculous and that cause you to be out of order, out of harmony with reality. 18:42.295 --> 18:48.364 So our meditation practice is about righting these wrongs, righting the wrong perceptions. 18:51.331 --> 18:53.293 It's not about all the other kinds of perversion. 18:54.835 --> 19:01.041 Although many kinds of perversion that society thinks of as perverse are also done away with. 19:01.061 --> 19:02.502 That's not the focus in Buddhism. 19:02.542 --> 19:05.505 The focus is on our misunderstandings. 19:06.166 --> 19:08.849 Perversion in Buddhism is a misunderstanding of reality. 19:11.751 --> 19:12.612 Oh, sorry, I missed one. 19:12.632 --> 19:13.213 The fourth one. 19:13.233 --> 19:16.376 Or did I skip one? 19:17.617 --> 19:21.321 Asubhe bhikkhuve subhanti. 19:22.735 --> 19:28.821 So the fourth one is in regards to what is ugly, one sees it as beautiful. 19:31.183 --> 19:33.946 Or just simply asubha could just mean not beautiful. 19:34.947 --> 19:37.149 In regards to what is not beautiful, one sees it as beautiful. 19:40.472 --> 19:46.458 So beauty in terms of Buddhism, I think you could give a blanket statement as being delusion. 19:48.560 --> 19:49.681 Beauty just means you like it. 19:50.121 --> 19:51.122 That's all beauty means. 19:52.773 --> 19:54.395 Beauty means you're attracted to it. 19:55.217 --> 19:57.059 So we think of certain things as attractive. 19:57.099 --> 20:07.634 It may seem kind of cold and impersonal, but there's no such thing as, you know, beauty isn't real. 20:10.539 --> 20:14.664 Beauty is a desire, a liking, which makes you happy. 20:15.606 --> 20:17.869 Something makes you happy, makes you feel pleasure. 20:20.077 --> 20:35.093 We're able to transform sensory experience, which is completely neutral. 20:37.055 --> 20:39.158 We're able to transform that into pleasure or pain. 20:40.099 --> 20:45.865 When we see something, certain things, the mind is able to trigger a pleasure response. 20:48.764 --> 20:53.695 When we see other certain things, the mind instead triggers a displeasure result. 20:56.341 --> 21:04.089 When we hear certain things, smell certain things, taste certain things, some things trigger pleasure, some things trigger displeasure. 21:05.231 --> 21:06.652 But there's no rhyme or reason to it. 21:06.672 --> 21:08.955 This is why they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 21:09.015 --> 21:11.337 What they mean is it's a delusion. 21:12.158 --> 21:19.746 That's not what they say, but it's not what they think they mean, but what it means is there's no truth to beauty. 21:22.689 --> 21:25.993 A dog finds another dog attractive 21:29.483 --> 21:32.627 dogs find feces attractive. 21:34.670 --> 21:35.091 They eat. 21:35.692 --> 21:39.216 Many dogs eat feces. 21:39.236 --> 21:40.799 Some humans apparently do as well. 21:42.982 --> 21:48.389 It's based on a delusion really, but a habit of attraction. 21:52.194 --> 21:53.135 Usually based on the body. 21:53.296 --> 21:54.437 The body is the most common. 21:55.038 --> 21:58.663 We look at the body, we think of it as beautiful, and we spend so much time looking in the mirror 22:00.095 --> 22:01.937 Trying to find the sign of beauty. 22:02.598 --> 22:04.441 Change a little bit of this, a little bit of that. 22:05.462 --> 22:07.405 Tweak it so we can find the sign of beauty. 22:07.425 --> 22:08.386 Wear different clothes. 22:10.309 --> 22:11.210 Make it attractive. 22:12.211 --> 22:16.056 We get caught up, intoxicated by beauty. 22:16.076 --> 22:20.823 Beautiful sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings, thoughts. 22:20.843 --> 22:22.044 So we cultivate addiction. 22:23.286 --> 22:24.968 Addiction is an interesting thing, of course. 22:24.988 --> 22:26.490 Addiction is not static. 22:27.736 --> 22:30.059 You can't be stably addicted to something. 22:30.981 --> 22:34.827 The more you indulge in your addiction, the more addicted you become. 22:36.890 --> 22:44.681 So most people mitigate this by vacillating back and forth, by going through withdrawal. 22:45.342 --> 22:48.647 So they'll work all day and they'll be going through withdrawal and it's unpleasant. 22:50.821 --> 23:03.379 Where in fact working all day wouldn't be unpleasant if we weren't constantly jonesing for the hit, aching for the pleasure. 23:06.160 --> 23:15.536 And then when we get the pleasure, well, we can become addicted again, but we're able to be stable in it because, more or less stable, because we go through withdrawal. 23:16.839 --> 23:18.201 We take the time to go through withdrawal. 23:18.221 --> 23:22.228 If you didn't have to go to work, you would just become more and more addicted to the things that please you. 23:23.129 --> 23:23.911 And some people do this. 23:23.971 --> 23:25.534 This is how children become spoiled. 23:25.554 --> 23:27.477 This is how rich people become spoiled. 23:37.835 --> 23:53.160 So meditation is, the four foundations of mindfulness actually are designed to, one way of looking at them is that they're designed to counter, to dispel these perversions. 23:54.473 --> 24:00.280 If you focus on the body, you'll start to see through the idea that anything could be beautiful. 24:01.041 --> 24:11.833 You'll see that the body is actually quite repulsive, which makes it quite clear that this idea of beauty is not something rational. 24:12.514 --> 24:20.143 You could say the body isn't repulsive, but for an ordinary individual, if they are not attracted to it, the body is quite repulsive. 24:20.123 --> 24:28.812 Of course for a meditator they are repulsed by it, but they come to see that if anything we should be repulsed by the body because it's quite disgusting. 24:28.872 --> 24:38.641 But it just goes to show that beauty and repulsiveness are very much in the mind of the individual. 24:38.701 --> 24:45.608 This body that is full of blood and urine and feces and smells bad. 24:49.047 --> 24:50.210 It looks ugly. 24:50.711 --> 24:55.501 There's nothing beautiful about this body full of veins and hair and wrinkles. 24:55.602 --> 24:56.644 It's just disgusting. 24:58.268 --> 25:02.176 If you were to think about it, it's actually quite... 25:02.196 --> 25:06.145 I know most people don't like to hear this and they're not happy and disagree, in fact. 25:07.880 --> 25:10.684 Ultimately, it's neither beautiful nor ugly. 25:11.986 --> 25:16.572 But objectively, as an ordinary individual, there's no reason why we should think the body is attractive. 25:17.814 --> 25:25.224 I mean, the reason why we don't think apes' bodies are attractive or dogs' bodies are attractive is because they're not, but neither are human bodies. 25:26.887 --> 25:35.659 We've just become so habitually inclined to think of the body as attractive, life after life after life. 25:42.153 --> 25:54.003 You focus on feelings, you start to overcome the idea of happiness, that anything in the world can be happy, or the idea of things that are suffering as being happy. 25:55.365 --> 26:06.935 Because you start to look at pleasant feelings, and you see that they change, that they disappear, they don't last, they aren't under your control, and they don't satisfy. 26:06.955 --> 26:10.438 They're replaced by pain. 26:13.068 --> 26:23.010 uncertain and so to cling to them is a bad idea there's nothing happy there's no happiness to be found in pleasant feelings we don't need the true happiness and peace 26:26.213 --> 26:32.962 If you focus on the mind, you start to see through the perversion in regards to permanence. 26:33.763 --> 26:36.928 You see the mind is actually made up of moments. 26:36.948 --> 26:38.530 You really do see this as you meditate. 26:38.590 --> 26:47.442 You'll see the mind arising and ceasing first here, then there, sometimes completely unrelated from moment to moment. 26:47.462 --> 26:50.466 You start to see through this idea that there is a permanent mind. 26:54.428 --> 27:00.835 And dhamma is the main one that's said to relate to atta. 27:01.055 --> 27:04.499 That's really a good way of looking at what we mean by dhamma. 27:04.519 --> 27:08.143 Dhamma is things like aspects of reality. 27:09.584 --> 27:13.909 So you've got the hindrances, I mean it's a specific dhamma, but it's mainly our emotions. 27:15.451 --> 27:18.394 Our emotions are not who we are, they're just experiences. 27:20.348 --> 27:24.814 They arise, they cease, they're unmanageable, uncontrollable. 27:27.378 --> 27:35.409 The senses, when you meditate on the senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling, thinking, you come to see that that's really all there is. 27:36.190 --> 27:37.832 That's what makes up me and I. 27:38.232 --> 27:41.537 There's no I besides that, no self besides that. 27:42.999 --> 27:47.385 There's no concrete whole, compact entity. 27:52.445 --> 27:58.036 When you focus on the aggregates, of course, you're able to break reality up into its constituent parts. 27:59.639 --> 28:06.592 Helps you see through the idea that there is a complete whole or an entity or a self or a soul. 28:09.618 --> 28:13.305 So this is quite a useful teaching, one to keep in mind. 28:15.243 --> 28:17.807 It's something we should recognize in our meditation. 28:17.867 --> 28:23.035 Sometimes we have perceptions that are just wrong, objectively wrong. 28:23.776 --> 28:29.946 This is really what we're going for because we often don't realize that. 28:30.487 --> 28:35.935 Through meditation we slowly, slowly uncover these and we're able to see through them. 28:37.248 --> 28:39.912 Sometimes it's a thought, but even a thought is not a view. 28:40.493 --> 28:42.876 So if it's just a thought, we just say thinking, thinking. 28:43.837 --> 28:48.985 It's a problem that often when a thought arises, we stress about it. 28:49.706 --> 28:52.189 Oh, I thought something terrible, how awful of me. 28:52.810 --> 28:55.694 But thoughts are just thoughts, they're not views. 28:55.714 --> 28:58.378 You just see them as a thought and let them go, there's no problem. 28:59.489 --> 29:01.031 It's the views that are the real problem. 29:01.632 --> 29:10.282 If a person has a view of self or a view of beauty or a view of happiness or a view of permanent, this is what really gets in the way of meditation. 29:11.063 --> 29:28.585 Once it's got to the point of being a view where you believe it, it's very difficult for you to see the truth because you'll constantly be misinterpreting and diverting your attention away from what's really going on because it doesn't accord with your beliefs. 29:33.442 --> 29:34.844 Anyway, this is our goal. 29:35.344 --> 29:41.132 It's our goal to do away with our wrong views, our wrong thoughts, and our wrong perceptions. 29:42.033 --> 29:45.938 Wrong not because society says they're wrong or religion, the Buddha says they're wrong. 29:46.579 --> 29:47.860 They're wrong because they're just wrong. 29:47.960 --> 29:48.721 They're not true. 29:48.761 --> 29:51.825 They don't have any basis in reality. 29:53.207 --> 29:54.328 That's what we mean by wrong. 29:55.390 --> 29:56.111 So it's a challenge. 29:56.131 --> 29:57.913 It's a claim that can be challenged. 29:59.024 --> 30:00.627 There's no need to believe or argue. 30:00.687 --> 30:02.550 This isn't something to be argued about. 30:02.570 --> 30:15.852 It's something to be seen or disproved through your own practice, through your own observation. 30:16.693 --> 30:25.588 When you see for yourself these things, all that we ask in Buddhism or all that we press is that you 30:27.037 --> 30:27.778 Investigate. 30:28.379 --> 30:29.620 Investigate these beliefs. 30:30.621 --> 30:36.509 Because it would be wrong to think that something that is ugly is beautiful, or not beautiful is beautiful. 30:36.589 --> 30:39.192 Something that is not happiness is happiness. 30:40.153 --> 30:41.735 Something that is not permanent is permanent. 30:41.755 --> 30:48.724 There's real profound implications and consequences in believing any of these things. 30:49.801 --> 30:59.494 This is what informs our actions and our ambitions, our desires, our goals and so on. 30:59.514 --> 31:11.690 So we wouldn't want to be chasing after something that was any of these, was not any of these things, chasing after it thinking that it was beautiful, happy, permanent or controllable self. 31:12.992 --> 31:15.915 That kind of thing. 31:15.935 --> 31:16.416 So, 31:17.358 --> 31:18.719 That's the demo for tonight. 31:19.620 --> 31:20.961 One more little bit. 31:23.704 --> 31:28.688 I'm assuming we have some questions from not broadcasting last night. 31:30.190 --> 31:31.751 We do have some questions, Vande. 31:32.632 --> 31:33.973 The audio's not so good. 31:39.578 --> 31:41.120 We should shut off video. 31:42.201 --> 31:45.524 Would it help if we turned off video in the video conference? 31:45.544 --> 31:45.964 Sure. 31:50.078 --> 31:50.979 Okay, try now. 31:51.801 --> 31:52.141 Okay. 31:52.682 --> 31:53.463 How's that, Bhante? 31:53.684 --> 31:54.765 Yeah, much better. 31:54.785 --> 31:54.966 Okay. 31:55.487 --> 32:05.042 Anjali Bhante, would it be possible to revive Srimongalo International Presents series and possibly have Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi and other inspiring people on it? 32:05.883 --> 32:14.637 Even if not, I think just a simple Skype session between yourself and Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi discussing Dhamma-related topics would be most helpful. 32:15.138 --> 32:15.959 Could that be arranged? 32:16.299 --> 32:17.301 Thanks very much. 32:17.720 --> 32:21.163 Yeah, it would be very much up to Bhikkhu Bodhi for that example. 32:22.164 --> 32:23.085 He's quite busy. 32:25.768 --> 32:28.510 We are friends, mostly on the internet. 32:32.854 --> 32:36.778 But I don't think I'd want to personally invite him. 32:36.838 --> 32:40.842 I don't know if someone knows him and would like to talk to him about it. 32:43.244 --> 32:47.068 I'm not sure I'd personally want to bother him. 32:48.989 --> 32:51.412 I don't know how interesting it would be for me and him to talk. 32:51.753 --> 32:55.358 I'm better off listening to him talk or listening to me talk. 32:55.619 --> 32:59.504 We probably have different views on various things as well, I'm not really sure. 33:02.989 --> 33:08.517 It's sort of the kind of thing you'd only want to do with someone in your own tradition. 33:13.407 --> 33:16.411 I must avoid junk food and other types of food that tempt me. 33:17.192 --> 33:27.544 Before starting vipassana meditation, my resistance to these foods was strong, because I had, from a meditative point of view, an unwholesome fear of eating them. 33:27.584 --> 33:34.993 However, I have found that vipassana is dissolving this fear as it purifies my mind, but much to my displeasure. 33:35.665 --> 33:42.713 Could I say wanting, wanting to form a more wholesome awareness of my desire to eat these foods in order to avoid temptation? 33:42.753 --> 33:43.894 Thank you. 33:44.695 --> 33:51.122 To clarify, would saying wanting, wanting whenever I feel tempted to eat something I should avoid help me avoid it? 33:51.562 --> 33:52.203 Thanks again. 33:53.684 --> 33:54.846 Yeah, I mean, it will help. 33:55.066 --> 33:56.808 It's often not strong enough. 33:56.828 --> 34:00.792 One thing you have to realize is deep down you don't believe that they're bad for you. 34:00.832 --> 34:03.495 Deep down you don't see the problem in eating them. 34:05.095 --> 34:07.239 In fact, there isn't a big problem in eating them. 34:07.259 --> 34:14.434 And this is a good example of the sort of thing that we overreact to. 34:14.474 --> 34:17.560 And I don't mean you're overreacting in an intellectual sense. 34:18.482 --> 34:20.266 But your mind doesn't believe you. 34:20.446 --> 34:22.851 Your mind is not falling for it. 34:23.962 --> 34:27.328 Your heart is saying, you know, no, really I want these things. 34:27.408 --> 34:28.870 That's why you have to force ourselves. 34:29.752 --> 34:35.301 So what meditation really does is it shows you what's really going on. 34:35.701 --> 34:44.095 It helps you see clearer and see habitually, to see again and again what's wrong with certain behaviors. 34:44.196 --> 34:46.339 So eating junk food is actually not a big problem. 34:46.980 --> 34:49.885 Liking junk food is a problem. 34:49.865 --> 35:15.332 and not just because of your health reasons it's actually not related to your health health is a really bad reason to to try and hammer something home you know to think okay i have to stop this because it's bad for my health why because it's too hard for your your psyche to believe it the best reason is because it causes you suffering 35:16.578 --> 35:18.780 And so you could argue, okay, well, if you're sick, that's suffering. 35:18.800 --> 35:27.029 Well, sure, but it's too hard for you to process that in terms of reality, on a visceral level. 35:28.010 --> 35:34.156 What we can understand viscerally is that desire itself is stressful, because you can't always get what you want. 35:34.417 --> 35:36.939 And that's how you have to approach it from a Buddhist point of view. 35:36.959 --> 35:44.307 That's the only way to really and truly be free from desire, is to see that desire itself is... 35:44.287 --> 35:49.135 useless, stressful, problematic, and creates addiction. 35:51.900 --> 35:57.629 And the things that you desire are likewise useless, undesirable. 35:58.871 --> 36:04.561 So not only wanting, but when you do eat the foods, to say to yourself, tasting, tasting. 36:05.723 --> 36:09.990 Meditators, if you talk to my meditators who've been here for quite some while, they don't even want to eat anymore. 36:11.287 --> 36:17.513 We have so much food piling up, I'm going to have to tell our people to stop, our organization to stop sending food. 36:18.213 --> 36:18.994 We have too much of it. 36:19.054 --> 36:20.375 The meditators are not eating. 36:20.395 --> 36:23.318 I mean, they're eating, but they're eating just basic food. 36:23.338 --> 36:27.242 They don't have any desire for special food or lots of food. 36:28.403 --> 36:31.005 It becomes more a chore, like, oh, I've got to go up and eat again? 36:31.045 --> 36:31.526 Why? 36:33.708 --> 36:34.569 But the food is fine. 36:34.749 --> 36:35.389 The food is great. 36:35.409 --> 36:39.353 I keep asking them, and they keep saying, oh, the food is wonderful. 36:40.835 --> 36:41.976 They're not really inclined to eat. 36:45.000 --> 36:50.588 You have to get to that state where you start to see that food is just medicine. 36:50.608 --> 36:52.030 It's just something to keep you alive. 36:55.674 --> 37:01.662 So rather than avoiding it per se, you would want to learn to be mindful of it. 37:10.568 --> 37:38.584 here is a laconic version of yesterday's inquiry in summary i don't feel really anxious or any extremely potent negative emotions from my vipassana meditation practice yet my insomnia persists fairly strongly i just started vipassana september 1st 2016 but have been meditating since may 2016 though without a real technique this is the same guy who didn't 37:40.066 --> 37:41.788 He's still not asking a question. 37:43.610 --> 37:44.071 No good. 37:44.131 --> 37:44.771 Is it good? 37:44.812 --> 37:45.753 It's no good, isn't it? 37:47.134 --> 37:48.075 There's no question there. 37:50.458 --> 37:51.519 No, I'm not going for it. 37:51.539 --> 37:54.323 I'm not going to conjecture on what your question is because there's no question there. 37:55.804 --> 37:59.068 I get a sense of what you're probably going to ask, but I'm not going to conjecture. 37:59.949 --> 38:01.190 You ask it or you don't ask it. 38:03.033 --> 38:03.373 That's all right. 38:05.615 --> 38:08.530 Is there merit in taking care of old people as a nurse? 38:09.093 --> 38:12.672 Does that bring good karma even if helping them is mainly for money? 38:14.828 --> 38:16.770 Karma again is momentary. 38:17.731 --> 38:23.116 You can think of things in terms of their potential for setting you up for good karma. 38:24.197 --> 38:31.004 Working as a nurse has a potential for you to set yourself up for good karma. 38:31.024 --> 38:32.666 Working as a teacher I think also does. 38:33.667 --> 38:34.688 But it's only potential. 38:35.148 --> 38:39.272 If you're a mean and nasty nurse, you're not building any good karma. 38:41.054 --> 38:42.996 Not very much anyway. 38:43.938 --> 39:10.536 So it's very much your state of mind and so so most of your if you're getting paid for it most of your good deeds so-called good deeds are going to be mixed because Part of you is doing it only for money only because you have to Not out of any realization that it's good for you But remember that remember that Karma is momentary that's what sort of Karma rests in the moment 39:11.815 --> 39:14.039 So you can do anything and make it good karma. 39:14.079 --> 39:24.076 If you're scrubbing toilets, it can be good karma if you think of the benefits that that brings to people. 39:24.757 --> 39:26.440 Or if you do it mindfully, it's good karma. 39:26.460 --> 39:29.706 If you do scrubbing toilets mindfully, it's very good karma. 39:34.934 --> 39:38.220 Is getting old a good result of karma or a bad result? 39:38.260 --> 39:39.603 It depends what you mean by getting old. 39:39.923 --> 39:43.510 If you mean living a long time, well, living a long time is a result of good karma. 39:44.211 --> 39:48.419 But the aging process is a result of bad karma, more or less. 39:48.519 --> 39:51.044 I mean, it's a bit more complicated than that. 39:51.104 --> 39:53.208 It's just, I mean, getting old is a part of life. 39:53.909 --> 39:54.951 It's the nature. 39:54.931 --> 39:57.254 So you want to say it's a result of bad karma. 39:57.274 --> 40:02.000 What that means is the desire to be born as a human being with such a coarse body. 40:02.600 --> 40:04.423 That is of a nature to get old. 40:04.643 --> 40:09.229 You set yourself up for it with your karma. 40:09.249 --> 40:10.590 That's what it means. 40:10.610 --> 40:15.656 Set yourself up for the potential old age, sickness and death that is an inevitable part of the birth. 40:16.097 --> 40:24.347 The strength that comes from youth and health and life. 40:29.879 --> 40:33.446 I think I am interested in becoming a monk, but do not know with certainty. 40:34.127 --> 40:38.796 Would you recommend that I at least get a bachelor's degree in computer science as a backup? 40:39.898 --> 40:45.188 As well, being an African American male, I am uncertain how I would be received in foreign countries. 40:46.315 --> 40:50.681 in foreign country monasteries, not to sound ignorant or suggest bigotry. 40:51.362 --> 40:57.871 Thus, if I would intend to become a Buddhist monk, would you recommend I join a United States or Canadian monastery? 40:58.351 --> 40:58.792 Thanks. 40:59.353 --> 41:01.576 Let's deal with the first part. 41:04.360 --> 41:08.425 I think in general, no, getting a degree as a backup is 41:10.008 --> 41:10.529 I don't know. 41:10.589 --> 41:14.856 I mean, probably I should be saying yes, it's a good idea to have a backup. 41:15.717 --> 41:20.766 But it sounds like you're probably not at the point where you should become a monk. 41:23.090 --> 41:28.759 You should only become a monk if your practice takes you to the point where you say, I just can't live in lay life anymore. 41:30.123 --> 41:34.609 Up until that point, I wouldn't concern yourself with becoming a monk. 41:34.769 --> 41:35.650 I tell this to everyone. 41:37.473 --> 41:51.612 Because so many people become monks and don't last, which isn't in and of itself a problem, but I don't know that it's in the end as useful as it, as much trouble, worth as much as it is trouble. 41:52.793 --> 41:55.557 I think it might be more trouble than it's worth, is what I'm trying to say. 41:56.701 --> 42:11.912 As far as being African-American, I do know that Thailand, I mean, I've heard Thai people get rather racist and have no compunction against being racist. 42:13.095 --> 42:15.199 They feel no guilt in being racist. 42:15.179 --> 42:18.205 Not racist, it's not actually race, it's skin color. 42:19.307 --> 42:23.115 They think dark skin is ugly, is dirty. 42:23.737 --> 42:29.168 One monk actually said to me way back when he saw a black person, he said, oh, that's dirty. 42:30.931 --> 42:34.639 So, you know, full disclosure, that sort of thing, but 42:36.138 --> 42:38.401 It wouldn't really be a problem even in Thailand. 42:38.901 --> 42:40.363 Absolutely not. 42:40.403 --> 42:44.548 I've had people from Africa come to study with me in Thailand. 42:45.349 --> 42:46.290 They were treated fine. 42:46.850 --> 42:53.057 This one guy had been in Thailand for quite a while, from Nigeria. 42:54.279 --> 42:57.122 Unfortunately, he eventually wrote me a letter from jail. 42:57.182 --> 43:02.348 He failed to leave the country in a timely manner and they caught him. 43:02.328 --> 43:17.097 So you might argue that potentially if he had white skin he may have, you know how it goes, racism is alive and well, so if he had white skin, it's not even race really, well maybe it is, but it's more the skin color. 43:18.359 --> 43:19.641 So Thailand, yeah, there's that. 43:19.681 --> 43:23.486 I don't know how Burma is, but I imagine there may be something like that. 43:23.886 --> 43:28.532 Sri Lanka has it, but there's a lot of dark-skinned people in Sri Lanka, so it's not nearly as pronounced. 43:29.394 --> 43:31.056 Of course, Canada has it everywhere. 43:31.536 --> 43:34.420 Maybe Canada not so much. 43:34.440 --> 43:41.570 But I wouldn't let that be a deciding factor, because I don't think it would be an issue. 43:42.070 --> 43:47.978 If anything, it would be a fun sort of practice to have to deal with it and to help to challenge people's 43:49.291 --> 43:50.012 Colorism? 43:50.913 --> 43:51.454 Racism? 43:53.357 --> 43:56.381 I wouldn't let that be a deciding factor. 43:56.401 --> 43:57.102 It's a good question. 43:58.564 --> 44:03.090 But becoming a monk is much more about are you at the point where you just have to do it? 44:04.532 --> 44:04.912 I think. 44:04.932 --> 44:14.826 I mean, maybe that's more related to modern times because it's much harder to be a monk in modern times unless you find one of those places where you can go off in the forest and live. 44:14.926 --> 44:17.830 But even then, you really should be ready for it. 44:19.885 --> 44:28.715 Often these places have a year where they make you train before they'll even think to ordain you, which might be a replacement for what I'm talking about. 44:29.556 --> 44:32.659 You've got that year to really consider what you're doing and to prepare for it. 44:35.922 --> 44:46.534 But I guess simply, if you're not going to become a monk right away, then sure, go ahead and continue on as you were. 44:48.100 --> 44:49.863 Maybe that's not even still good. 44:50.083 --> 44:55.291 If you're inclined to become a monk or a meditator, why not find a simpler way of living? 44:56.633 --> 45:00.800 One that's cheaper, so you don't have to worry too much about money or that kind of thing. 45:01.300 --> 45:03.183 So you don't have to stress going to university. 45:03.203 --> 45:08.832 I don't know. 45:09.473 --> 45:11.516 It's hard for me to give specific advice. 45:11.536 --> 45:12.177 Should I do this? 45:12.217 --> 45:12.878 Should I do that? 45:13.920 --> 45:16.504 I'm not going to tell you you should or shouldn't get a computer degree, I guess. 45:21.597 --> 45:25.361 Sir, I would like to study the Satipatthana Sutta in more depth. 45:26.062 --> 45:31.368 Do you have a recommendation for a publication that is annotated or has commentary? 45:32.269 --> 45:36.214 Well, there's the ancient commentary that's translated as The Way of Mindfulness. 45:36.274 --> 45:38.196 I've been mentioning that book. 45:38.216 --> 45:40.719 It's worth picking up, the book called The Way of Mindfulness. 45:40.979 --> 45:41.780 It's on the internet. 45:42.521 --> 45:47.487 You download a copy, print it up, whatever. 45:47.467 --> 45:48.788 About a modern commentary? 45:48.808 --> 45:49.890 It's a good question, really. 45:50.791 --> 45:54.295 Mahasi Sayadaw's commentary, I haven't even read because it's not in English. 45:55.256 --> 45:59.881 But his books on vipassana are very much based on mindfulness. 46:00.081 --> 46:01.002 I would read his books. 46:01.943 --> 46:04.005 It's just not directly on the sutta. 46:05.887 --> 46:07.309 It would be interesting to find someone. 46:07.790 --> 46:10.793 Gee, I wish I was in a position to be able to write a commentary on it. 46:13.296 --> 46:17.220 I wonder if I could put something together from the Thai and Burmese sources that I have. 46:19.242 --> 46:21.085 Maybe I could write a commentary on it. 46:21.546 --> 46:22.487 I don't know how good it would be. 46:26.374 --> 46:28.878 Maybe that's something to do once I get my PhD or something. 46:33.125 --> 46:36.851 Is intelligence important on this path, in being mindful? 46:40.196 --> 46:40.677 Not really. 46:43.559 --> 46:47.090 I think intelligence in a worldly sense is good. 46:47.130 --> 46:49.878 There's a power to intelligence. 46:52.085 --> 46:54.854 So I'd say from a Buddhist point of view it would allow you to do more. 46:54.934 --> 46:57.602 You're better equipped to teach, for example. 46:59.894 --> 47:04.699 but it's independent of your progress. 47:04.919 --> 47:10.524 So if you're intelligent but not enlightened, the intelligence isn't going to do you all that much good. 47:10.544 --> 47:15.990 And then if you're enlightened but not intelligent, it's not really a problem. 47:16.010 --> 47:18.332 Of course, they aren't independent entirely. 47:18.412 --> 47:23.517 Enlightenment does tend to make you more intelligent because your mind is clearer. 47:23.557 --> 47:29.563 And conversely, being not enlightened tends to make you dumber. 47:33.374 --> 47:36.617 Oh, we still got lots of questions. 47:36.637 --> 47:37.037 We do. 47:38.178 --> 47:45.505 Okay, although the self is illusory, corporal forms have limitations that also have a limiting effect on the mental. 47:46.325 --> 47:52.811 If men are inherently non-equal, how does one overcome the physical mental limitations in the meditation process? 47:53.512 --> 47:55.553 Is the hardware capable of objectivity? 47:58.236 --> 47:59.037 My brain hurts. 48:00.518 --> 48:01.879 Does your brain hurt reading that? 48:03.327 --> 48:05.310 I'm not really hurt, I'm just being facetious. 48:06.111 --> 48:06.852 That's a tough one. 48:07.953 --> 48:08.715 I don't really get it. 48:10.477 --> 48:13.281 There's too much going on in this complex question. 48:14.362 --> 48:20.171 I can grasp the not overcoming physical mental limitations, but we're not trying to. 48:20.211 --> 48:27.681 There are certain limitations, sure, but they're not hard limitations either. 48:30.563 --> 48:34.328 The limitations are soft limitations. 48:34.448 --> 48:42.780 It means they can be broken, perhaps not in this life, not necessarily, but certainly in the next life. 48:42.800 --> 48:50.310 I think you may be on a different plane than me with that question, maybe overthinking things a little bit. 48:51.640 --> 48:59.134 But I wouldn't say that there's any hard limitation, or not many anyway, and certainly none that we're interested in. 48:59.174 --> 49:11.117 Because from a meditation point of view, it's much more about learning about the nature of our mind and the limitations and the interactions, the way it works. 49:18.826 --> 49:24.616 Is it okay to think of things like science or math when you're doing other things like walking in a park or eating food? 49:26.579 --> 49:27.340 Is this wholesome? 49:28.623 --> 49:32.529 I feel satisfied and happy when I crack through questions in theory. 49:33.070 --> 49:35.434 I'm not sure how to relate this to mindfulness. 49:35.735 --> 49:36.897 Some insight would be helpful. 49:37.157 --> 49:37.618 Thank you. 49:37.858 --> 49:39.501 That's a good question. 49:41.202 --> 49:42.385 It's probably not wholesome. 49:43.487 --> 49:45.151 It's much more related to delusion. 49:46.975 --> 49:55.313 What that means is that there will be a subtle undercurrent of identification. 49:55.814 --> 49:56.916 I'm thinking. 49:56.896 --> 50:13.067 Anytime that you're not absolutely mindful and present and seeing things arise and cease, there will be an undercurrent of identification and it builds up this delusion, feeds our delusion that we're doing things, feeds the ego. 50:13.207 --> 50:15.932 So when you come to this conclusion, you feel proud of it. 50:15.992 --> 50:17.335 That's where the pride comes from. 50:18.665 --> 50:24.090 But liking the fact that you've solved something is greed, is attachment, and it becomes addictive. 50:24.591 --> 50:26.333 It sounds like you're actually somewhat addicted. 50:26.613 --> 50:30.116 It's a mild addiction, but it is an addiction. 50:30.136 --> 50:33.980 So it's something you should say, liking, liking, that kind of thing. 50:34.000 --> 50:35.041 But is it okay? 50:35.081 --> 50:36.322 It's not going to kill you. 50:36.343 --> 50:37.624 It's not going to send you to hell. 50:37.804 --> 50:43.930 It's probably going to get in the way of rapid attainment of enlightenment. 50:48.820 --> 50:53.766 During daily life, I try to be mindful of my body sensations and of my emotions. 50:54.427 --> 50:57.050 However, I often feel sleep deprived and foggy brained. 50:57.270 --> 51:01.695 And so I have difficulty with immediately and thoroughly noting these things. 51:02.376 --> 51:05.700 Should I just try my best to not worry about quickly making note of these things? 51:06.060 --> 51:06.801 Would that be enough? 51:07.622 --> 51:09.505 Well, if you worry, you should say worried, worried. 51:10.586 --> 51:14.350 I mean, the idea is you'll get better at it if you're dedicated to it. 51:15.792 --> 51:17.494 So absolutely worry is not useful. 51:22.503 --> 51:25.147 It's not meant to be easy to practice. 51:26.689 --> 51:39.586 I hope I've never said that it's going to be easy, because it certainly isn't for most people going to be an easy path to walk. 51:39.606 --> 51:44.933 Does one necessarily need to have a spiritual crisis if one is going to become spiritually enlightened? 51:47.174 --> 51:56.889 No, but one has to have a desire to change, and the desire to change usually comes about with, not necessarily a crisis, but a realization that something's wrong. 51:57.870 --> 52:00.895 If you don't have a realization that something's wrong, why would you want to change? 52:01.075 --> 52:11.832 And spirituality is all about, and Buddhism is all about change, so if you have no desire to change things, it's not likely to, you're not likely to be inclined towards enlightenment. 52:11.812 --> 52:14.596 On the other hand, that's just part of the process. 52:15.076 --> 52:22.185 We're always seeing things that are potentially wrong, so it's just a matter of being clearly aware when something goes wrong. 52:22.626 --> 52:27.532 When you misunderstand something and it has consequences, it makes you upset or suffer. 52:28.533 --> 52:29.475 That's always going on. 52:30.436 --> 52:32.098 All you have to do is start seeing it. 52:33.209 --> 52:36.554 Of course, usually it's the slap in the face when something big goes wrong. 52:37.896 --> 52:39.097 And you're not ready for it. 52:39.117 --> 52:39.999 You're not prepared for it. 52:40.019 --> 52:41.982 You suffer intensely. 52:42.142 --> 52:45.747 That helps you to start to wonder, why is this? 52:46.007 --> 52:48.130 Why is it that I... How can this be? 52:49.012 --> 52:51.195 More like, what can I do to prevent this? 52:51.816 --> 52:52.877 What can I do to cure this? 52:54.399 --> 52:56.362 And you start to see, well, it's just your attachment. 52:57.264 --> 53:03.132 If you were reactionary, none of your experiences would have the power over you. 53:04.563 --> 53:05.384 power to hurt you. 53:10.734 --> 53:17.325 Is there such a thing as mental fatigue, wherein you've used your mind a lot, and it doesn't function as efficiently as it used to? 53:17.365 --> 53:20.591 For example, you can't think or comprehend clearly? 53:21.472 --> 53:21.673 Yes. 53:23.335 --> 53:24.437 It's dinamidha. 53:24.678 --> 53:25.980 It's one of the five hindrances. 53:31.563 --> 53:39.374 What is your understanding of the culmination or continuation of all things in comparison to the understanding of other religions? 53:43.219 --> 53:43.600 I don't understand. 53:43.620 --> 53:46.384 Sorry. 53:46.404 --> 53:50.169 Buddhism advocates to not cling to things, for it might lead to suffering. 53:50.730 --> 53:57.199 However, how do you see the wanting liking for learning, such as when studying or working intently to gain knowledge? 53:59.474 --> 54:04.135 Can this also lead to suffering, for otherwise it acts as a big motivational tool? 54:04.737 --> 54:05.782 I don't quite understand. 54:06.123 --> 54:08.353 Any insight on this would be helpful. 54:11.422 --> 54:14.127 Well, not all things we do are from desire. 54:14.387 --> 54:20.358 Some things are just from the natural inclination of the mind or the natural path that the mind is currently on. 54:20.919 --> 54:23.404 Often they are echoes of past desires. 54:23.744 --> 54:30.156 So if you used to desire something, chances are it will be habitual for you to continue doing that even if you don't desire it. 54:30.136 --> 54:31.058 For example. 54:32.200 --> 54:35.306 But that being said, any desire is unwholesome. 54:35.827 --> 54:46.288 Desire for even to meditate is unwholesome because it leads to stress, it leads to disappointment, it leads to withdrawal eventually. 54:46.268 --> 54:49.075 And so wanting to learn is just the same. 54:49.135 --> 55:02.370 I mean there's a lot of ego involved with learning, feeling good about yourself, being intelligent, but even just desiring, wanting to learn is going to leave you disappointed because you can't, because it's addictive. 55:04.257 --> 55:06.882 It's called bhava tanha, I think, I would think. 55:07.263 --> 55:24.915 Bhava tanha is desire for something to be that's not exactly clinging to something that's attractive, but it's clinging to the idea of being learned or so on, or learning something, knowing something, being smart, makes you feel good. 55:29.857 --> 55:56.117 is burnout real if so how should we deal with it can one be burned out from meditating too much it's just a habit what we would call burnout would be a habit of disliking meditation say you get so averse to it that eventually you just can't bring yourself to do it the energy to do it is less than the aversion it's easy you just you just start reversing it i mean we would know disliking disliking 55:58.443 --> 55:59.704 or just note whatever it is. 55:59.784 --> 56:01.546 I mean, it's just a habit that will change. 56:02.808 --> 56:09.295 Or it's a result of habitual behavior. 56:09.315 --> 56:13.259 Looking forward to your commentary on Satipatthana Sutta. 56:13.760 --> 56:17.304 Were you referring to the Manual of Insight by Mahasi Sayadaw? 56:17.945 --> 56:21.008 No, I think he actually did a commentary on the Satipatthana Sutta. 56:24.987 --> 56:27.431 Yeah, I wouldn't hold your breath about my commentary. 56:27.751 --> 56:28.493 I'm not that smart. 56:32.659 --> 56:33.721 I probably get things wrong. 56:36.145 --> 56:43.637 In meditation, we keep the noting to simple hearing, seeing, thinking, et cetera, trying not to jump too much from object to object. 56:44.022 --> 56:52.375 How does one note more complicated things in everyday life, such as putting on shoes or tying shoelaces or pulling your jumper over your head or buttoning a blouse? 56:53.958 --> 56:55.240 You can be general about it. 56:55.300 --> 57:00.248 As long as it helps keep you present, it's helpful. 57:00.828 --> 57:06.537 But if you can be specific, you note the bodily movements and sensations. 57:06.558 --> 57:08.240 So you lift the jumper, it's lifting. 57:08.280 --> 57:10.063 You stretch it, it's pulling. 57:10.043 --> 57:12.788 raising your arms, raising, lowering. 57:13.209 --> 57:18.820 When it touches your head, you say feeling, pulling, pushing your arm out. 57:19.201 --> 57:19.922 It's complicated. 57:20.463 --> 57:23.269 And it obviously takes a lot of work to get good at that. 57:24.130 --> 57:25.413 But it's quite useful if you can. 57:25.673 --> 57:28.018 You can turn everything into a meditation and I'm good on you. 57:32.285 --> 57:37.755 But you can also just, what would it be like, wearing, wearing or something. 57:38.837 --> 57:40.981 If you're lazy, it's helpful. 57:41.001 --> 57:42.464 It keeps you aware of what you're doing. 57:43.025 --> 57:44.127 Putting on, putting on. 57:46.291 --> 57:50.378 It's not as useful as being actually aware of the individual movements. 57:55.775 --> 57:59.361 Please explain the significance of a person's mindset before death. 58:00.042 --> 58:01.745 Do drugs have any effect on this? 58:02.566 --> 58:17.310 Drugs, yes, because we react to our state of being on drugs, and it's very hard for us to generally overcome the drugged state. 58:18.978 --> 58:21.921 But the drugs affect the brain. 58:22.202 --> 58:24.304 So when you die, the brain stops working. 58:25.005 --> 58:28.188 And once the brain stops working, the mind is free from the effect of drugs. 58:28.869 --> 58:37.379 The bigger problem would be during the time that you're on drugs, you're cultivating all sorts of confused and unwholesome mind states. 58:37.399 --> 58:40.602 So when finally you're free, you've got to deal with all of that. 58:40.643 --> 58:45.508 So it's much harder for an ordinary individual to cultivate a clear mind. 58:45.488 --> 58:48.434 Through drugs, when they're on drugs. 58:48.635 --> 58:55.831 I mean, I would say that's actually somewhat speculative, but certainly drugs don't help things. 58:55.851 --> 59:00.621 But that is a good point, that at the moment of death the drugs won't have any effect because the brain is already dead. 59:01.924 --> 59:03.868 The brain dies before the mind moves on. 59:09.451 --> 59:13.447 During my visit in Thailand I often saw food offerings left rotting in the sun. 59:13.487 --> 59:15.455 What is your opinion on that? 59:15.797 --> 59:16.339 Thank you. 59:18.260 --> 59:21.566 What would you have the monks do if monks get so much food? 59:21.586 --> 59:27.055 One thing you might have them do is not accept so much, but that's not easy. 59:28.237 --> 59:29.499 The Buddha wasn't critical of it. 59:29.880 --> 59:34.928 He said putting the food somewhere where ants might get it is actually merit. 59:34.948 --> 59:37.192 That's the only comment that you'll find the Buddha. 59:37.934 --> 59:40.538 He said don't throw in water because... 59:40.518 --> 59:55.877 It can kill the fish kind of thing, but putting food on the ground somewhere where there are no beings to be crushed by it is actually good merit, letting the ants have it or whatever. 59:57.933 --> 59:59.615 Buddhism is not our Buddhism. 59:59.815 --> 01:00:02.959 There are actually types of Buddhism that are very critical of leaving leftovers. 01:00:04.061 --> 01:00:06.324 Our Theravada Buddhism in general is not. 01:00:07.325 --> 01:00:07.946 Because what do you do? 01:00:07.986 --> 01:00:08.426 What is it? 01:00:08.466 --> 01:00:09.528 It's just rupa. 01:00:09.548 --> 01:00:10.709 It comes and it goes. 01:00:11.350 --> 01:00:14.854 The important thing of the food is not how much you get or how much is given or so on. 01:00:14.874 --> 01:00:16.036 It's the intention of giving. 01:00:16.076 --> 01:00:18.940 So suppose the monk only eats part of the meal. 01:00:19.020 --> 01:00:22.204 Did the givers only get part of the merit? 01:00:22.244 --> 01:00:23.485 No. 01:00:23.505 --> 01:00:24.447 They got the merit of giving. 01:00:24.907 --> 01:00:25.989 It's not about amount. 01:00:26.009 --> 01:00:27.130 It's about state of mind. 01:00:29.219 --> 01:00:30.862 I have to throw away food. 01:00:30.882 --> 01:00:31.964 We have to throw away food. 01:00:31.984 --> 01:00:33.587 But I don't feel bad about it. 01:00:33.767 --> 01:00:34.849 It's just rupai. 01:00:34.869 --> 01:00:38.696 It has nothing to do with the actual gift, actual good intention. 01:00:39.358 --> 01:00:43.185 But practically speaking, you should be somewhat circumspect about such things. 01:00:43.665 --> 01:00:48.915 I've been getting too much food lately, so I'm going to have to tell them to cut back. 01:00:50.633 --> 01:00:51.594 It's hard for me to tell. 01:00:51.634 --> 01:00:56.100 It's a new regimen, so I'm going to have to say, you know, look, I can't eat all that. 01:00:56.760 --> 01:01:00.365 But after years and years of being a monk, I can only eat so much, and I know exactly. 01:01:00.385 --> 01:01:12.340 I can't, you know, it's very hard to eat, to overeat, because when you eat only once a day, I guess, or when you're mindful, you eat so much, and then that's it. 01:01:12.360 --> 01:01:12.760 All right. 01:01:14.393 --> 01:01:25.596 I guess the other thing is not being led by your desire, because having been a meditator for a long time, you don't listen. 01:01:25.616 --> 01:01:33.232 You aren't fooled by your mind telling you to eat more, by your tongue saying, I want more taste, I want more taste. 01:01:34.314 --> 01:01:35.136 Yeah, tough luck. 01:01:36.466 --> 01:01:37.507 So you eat just enough. 01:01:38.388 --> 01:01:39.810 And then there's often leftovers. 01:01:39.850 --> 01:01:50.283 So sometimes I actually eat a little too much, because if I'm eating in public or something, I don't want them to criticize me for not eating, for leaving leftovers or something. 01:01:56.311 --> 01:02:05.342 Bonte, for a person who has the view of that everything ends at death, is there any spiritual progress possible? 01:02:06.098 --> 01:02:15.822 I've heard of it being called as both Sagawarna blocks the path to heaven and Magawarna blocks the path to Nirvana. 01:02:16.966 --> 01:02:18.468 Yeah, but only if you cling to it. 01:02:18.648 --> 01:02:20.410 Of course, anyone can give up their views. 01:02:21.351 --> 01:02:23.653 What is bad is niyata michaditi. 01:02:23.673 --> 01:02:25.034 You've heard of this, I'm sure. 01:02:25.134 --> 01:02:26.476 Niyata michaditi. 01:02:26.716 --> 01:02:30.900 It's niyata michaditi, which is the worst. 01:02:31.381 --> 01:02:32.602 The worst form of evil there is. 01:02:33.803 --> 01:02:42.573 Niyata meaning certain, when you're unable to let go of your view, when you're certain of the view, certain or stuck in the view, when you're fixed. 01:02:42.833 --> 01:02:45.876 Niyata means fixed or certain. 01:02:45.856 --> 01:02:48.961 That's what's bad. 01:02:49.221 --> 01:02:53.248 And so if you have those at the moment of death, then they're sa-ga-varana, ma-ga-varana. 01:02:54.590 --> 01:02:55.751 Or whenever you have them. 01:02:56.613 --> 01:03:00.539 But it doesn't mean having had them when you were young, say. 01:03:01.480 --> 01:03:03.323 You can't possibly ever become enlightened again. 01:03:03.343 --> 01:03:04.285 That would make no sense. 01:03:05.406 --> 01:03:06.749 Simply at the time that you hold them. 01:03:07.710 --> 01:03:10.294 And the problem is some people are unwilling to let go of their views. 01:03:16.096 --> 01:03:23.105 During examinations, or just learning in general, you are encouraged to recall information and think of relating information. 01:03:24.106 --> 01:03:28.572 This inlines to the more conventional notation of education. 01:03:28.592 --> 01:03:30.494 Is this still being mindful? 01:03:30.995 --> 01:03:35.961 Would you classify conventional education as hindering one's path to enlightenment? 01:03:36.245 --> 01:03:36.766 Anything? 01:03:36.806 --> 01:03:41.917 Well, no, I mean, no, I wouldn't. 01:03:43.300 --> 01:03:47.047 Potentially there's some small hindrance in the thinking, right? 01:03:47.308 --> 01:03:52.880 Because there will be a cultivation of ego and a cultivation of identification and that kind of thing. 01:03:52.900 --> 01:03:54.102 And that's a hindrance. 01:03:54.959 --> 01:03:57.862 But for the most part, all it would do is slow you down. 01:03:57.922 --> 01:03:59.323 That's all. 01:03:59.343 --> 01:04:00.404 I mean, that's what a hindrance is. 01:04:00.465 --> 01:04:04.388 But it would be a sort of slowing down because you're not meditating, basically. 01:04:06.951 --> 01:04:17.642 I would say it's on a higher level than, say, dancing or listening to music or playing computer games. 01:04:20.445 --> 01:04:21.225 Pokemon Go. 01:04:21.245 --> 01:04:23.688 Are they still playing that? 01:04:23.728 --> 01:04:24.949 I think it's actually died. 01:04:27.089 --> 01:04:28.270 We're so fickle, aren't we? 01:04:28.951 --> 01:04:31.954 Yeah, it was all over the news, and then it wasn't. 01:04:34.236 --> 01:04:36.338 Is wanting to avoid criticism a desire? 01:04:36.879 --> 01:04:38.580 How does one avoid clinging to this? 01:04:39.221 --> 01:04:41.763 Wanting to avoid criticism is more likely an aversion. 01:04:42.965 --> 01:04:49.331 You can phrase it as a desire, and the Buddha, I think, did at times, but it's more aversion, directly speaking. 01:04:50.652 --> 01:04:54.756 So if you're afraid or worried, let's say, it would be a fear or worry. 01:04:54.776 --> 01:04:56.758 You say afraid, afraid, or worried, worried. 01:04:57.380 --> 01:04:59.603 anxious, whatever. 01:05:01.165 --> 01:05:02.466 There's no way to avoid clinging. 01:05:02.667 --> 01:05:08.894 You can only learn not to cling by watching and seeing how much suffering you gain from clinging. 01:05:10.236 --> 01:05:13.460 If you haven't read my booklet on how to meditate, I would recommend it at this point. 01:05:13.560 --> 01:05:14.701 It sounds like you may not have. 01:05:15.863 --> 01:05:24.113 Once you've read it, you'll get a sense of the sort of answer I'll give to such a question, because it's all about denoting. 01:05:25.038 --> 01:05:30.203 Just in regards to that mindfulness in the last question, he's asking, is this mindfulness? 01:05:30.324 --> 01:05:35.809 It's important to clarify, there's two ways of understanding mindfulness in the conventional sense. 01:05:35.829 --> 01:05:41.255 Sati can refer to being able to remember things, having a good memory, that's sati. 01:05:41.275 --> 01:05:51.366 But in terms of the meditation, it means specifically being able to remember the present moment, being able to remember yourself, not losing track of the present moment. 01:05:51.346 --> 01:05:53.490 So it's a very specific thing. 01:05:53.530 --> 01:05:57.498 In our tradition, it would mean saying to yourself, seeing, seeing, hearing, hearing. 01:05:57.518 --> 01:05:58.760 That's what it would mean to be mindful. 01:06:02.928 --> 01:06:03.770 All right, we're caught up. 01:06:04.471 --> 01:06:05.533 Quick, while we're still caught up. 01:06:06.475 --> 01:06:07.136 Good night, everyone. 01:06:08.639 --> 01:06:10.122 Thank you, Robin, for helping out. 01:06:11.484 --> 01:06:12.246 Thank you, Dante. 01:06:12.266 --> 01:06:12.727 Good night. 01:06:13.108 --> 01:06:13.388 Good night.