Okay, good evening.
Continuing on with our study of the Dhammapada today, verses 206 to 208, which read as follows.
Sahu dasanam maryanam sani vaso sadasukho Adasanena balanam nityameva sukhisya
Bāla-saṅgata-cārīhi dīgham mad-dhāna śocati dukho bālehi saṅvāso amitte neva sambhadā dhīro ca sukha saṅvāso jñāti naṅva samāgamu
tasmāhi dhīrañca panyanca bahusuttanca dhor raiha-sīlaṁ vata-vantamaryam tam tadisam sapurisam sumedham
which means it is good to see the noble ones.
Being in their company is always happiness.
Not seeing
by never seeing fools, foolish people.
Never seeing foolish people would be ever happiness.
It would be happiness to never see foolish people.
One who fares together with fools indeed sorrows for a long time
Painful, stressful is the association with fools who are always like enemies.
And association with the steadfast is happiness.
Just like associating or living together with relatives
Therefore, indeed, one who is steadfast, wise, well learned, bahusutta, with good morality or ethics, who is dutiful and noble
such a person, a person of such a sort, who is a gentle, a good fellow, a good person, sapurisa, who is wise, sumedha.
Bhajeta, you should follow such a person.
Like the stars follow the moon.
Do the stars follow the moon?
No, sorry, the moon follows the stars.
I don't know astrology, astronomy enough to know whether that's true.
I don't think the moon actually follows the stars, but it may look like that.
So these three verses were taught in relation to, as a result of Saka.
Saka was the king or is the king of the gods of the 33.
So there's this group of angels or gods, deva we would call them.
And they're not, the devas are not
They're not enlightened necessarily.
They can be.
But it doesn't take enlightenment to be king of the gods.
So they're not considered very high up in the scheme of things in Buddhism.
But there's something quite impressive and special in a sense of the goodness that's required to become a deva.
And especially to become the king, well, that's an impressive feat.
And take some greatness of mind if you learn anything about Saka, if you ever read his story.
He did a lot of good things for his society and his community and his family when he was on earth.
And as a result of that, being sort of a leader, but a leader not in the sense of ordering people around, but in the sense of giving a good example and helping and supporting his community.
There's really a good story in the Jataka about it.
As a result, he became king.
Humility is often a cause for people to become high rank.
high society.
Often, but maybe not always.
It doesn't always appear that way when you look at people who make it to high society, to a high rank, a high status, to positions of leadership.
But of course we don't know people's past lives.
At any rate, Saka was quite special in this way.
He was a very good and very noble being, even before he became Sotapanna, which apparently he now is.
But when he heard that the Buddha was going to pass away, remember we heard earlier the story of the Buddha telling his monks that he was going to pass away four months.
Well, he traveled for some time and then four months later he had a meal that disagreed with him.
Or it may or may not have been the meal, depends I think on who you ask.
The commentary seems to think it was
unrelated to the meal I'm not sure but at any rate the Buddha became quite ill and became sick with dysentery
And Saka heard about this and came all the way from his wonderful place in heaven and came to where the Buddha was lying there.
And he started massaging the Buddha's feet.
And it was dark, I guess.
Maybe the Buddha couldn't see who it was.
And he said, who is that?
But the Buddha also asked these questions.
They say the Buddha knew these sorts of things, and he wouldn't have been unknowing of who it was, but it's a good way to start a conversation.
So he asked, who is that?
And Saka told him, it's me, Saka.
And the Buddha said, Saka, why are you here?
You're
Your home is so far more pleasant than this place.
And the smell, he said, the smell of human beings.
Devas can smell human beings from a thousand leagues, which is about 16,000 miles.
And they get anywhere close to human beings and they can already start to smell the disgusting smell of the filth and the vile coarseness of humanity.
He said, you can smell that from so far away and yet here you are.
What are you doing here?
And Saka said, oh, venerable sir, from even further away than that, I could smell the greatness and the goodness of who you are, the nobility of who you are.
And so being in your presence is always like a breath of fresh air.
And he spent the time looking after the Buddha while the Buddha was sick and every day he would take the Buddha's chamber pot out.
The chamber pot is a pot that you urinate and defecate in and it has to be, in the olden days they didn't of course have flush toilets, so it has to be carried outside and washed out.
And every day he would pick up this pot and he would place it on top of his head and walk outside with it.
And never once, the commentary says,
did he even wrinkle his face not one muscle in his face moved he was perfectly smiling even with a stench of the Buddha's feces and urine he wouldn't let anybody else do it and he took it outside washed it out and cared for the Buddha while he was sick
And the monks got together afterwards and they said amongst themselves, it's quite amazing that Saka would do such a thing.
After all, it's so hard for devas to bear with the stench of humans.
And the Buddha heard them talking as usual and he asked them, what are you talking about?
They told him and he said, oh, monks, it's not unusual.
It's not surprising.
And then he told the story of how he taught Saka and gave him the Dhamma and as a result Saka became a Sotapanna, which is an interesting story.
I won't go into the details of what he taught him, but it's something probably I'll try to give a talk in the future about the questions of Saka.
What he asked the Buddha is quite enlightening.
It shows the sort of heightened state of mind.
He's a very high-minded individual.
But because of that, Saka is very happy to be around me, the Buddha said, because of the greatness of being around noble ones.
And then, of course, he taught this verse.
It's great.
It's always happiness.
It's always pleasant, is the point, right?
Because of how unpleasant it is for angels to be around humans.
But it's always pleasant being around noble ones.
And then he said, conversely, being around foolish people, that you might even find foolish beings in heaven, would be very unpleasant.
And then he taught these verses.
So there's not a lot in here that is very related to the core specifics of practice.
There's some, and I'll go into that.
But it's a very important verse for practitioners and in the context of a meditation center and the practice of meditation.
because it works on two levels of course it's very practical advice and so on the first level we should take the advice of the Buddha to consider all the people we surround ourselves with in life, in the world the people you meet, the people you work with the friends you associate with and engage in recreational activities with even the people you talk philosophy and religion and Dhamma with
You should consider, are they foolish or are they wise?
But on a deeper level, and we have to acknowledge that to some extent, even people who are not vile and villainous and manipulative and so on, even us, we all come into this world, and even those of us who are interested in meditation, we can still be quite foolish.
And so the organization of meditation centers is a big part of, I think, the practice of Buddhism.
We take the example of a Buddhist monastery.
Buddhism is, I think, the most monastic-centric religion.
of all the major religions.
We don't have priests in early Buddhism or in Theravada Buddhism.
Monks are not priests, we are monks, and it's a little bit different than a person who might call themselves a priest.
And so we organize ourselves in monastic communities, and lay people organize themselves around monastic communities, get involved with monastic communities, but also organize their own communities.
So we have lay teachers throughout the history of Buddhism who created organizations and brought people together in ashrams and that sort of thing.
And this kind of community, this is the reason why we create a monastery and a meditation center.
In the beginning, of course, it was a chance to be close to the Buddha.
We could have this great friend, this wise person who we should and always should associate with.
But it of course evolved to still be quite useful.
Well, we don't have the Buddha, but then we have his enlightened disciples.
Or at the very least, we have all of us who are part of the process of enlightenment.
You could call a person who is not yet even a Sotapanna, you could call them an enlightened follower because they are on the path to become enlightened.
You might not call them an enlightened being, but they are a part of the process.
And so surrounding yourselves with even foolish people who are interested in not being foolish anymore, right?
It's an important part of the practice.
Surrounding ourselves with each other who are, well, still have foolish tendencies.
but are inclined and dedicated, really, to overcoming our own foolishness.
It's a very important quality.
So regardless of, or above and beyond the importance of, sort of,
reflecting on the friends that you keep, the company that you keep in your worldly activities, we also reflect upon the fact that it's good to organize your time around your meditation community and try your best to find time to leave behind even your good friends, even people you say, well, they're good people, they're keeping ordinary morality and ethics.
But you leave that all behind as a group or as an individual.
You come as friends even, right?
So here's a good example.
We have two friends here.
And they are good friends in the world.
Probably they keep good ethics and morality.
But even that's not enough because they can still be foolish together.
Because they know we have foolish tendencies.
So you bring your friends to a special state.
where you are really close to the Buddha.
You're close to a teacher who you can say, well, he or she is less foolish than we are, perhaps.
Or at the very least, they know teachings.
They can direct us in the teachings of the one who is the least foolish of all, or the completely non-foolish, which is the Buddha.
So part of our seeking for a life surrounded by wise people or in association with wise people, I think, is this creation of meditation centers, monasteries, places of practice.
And so I just wanted to stress that, because I think it points to the greatness of the association and the organization that we've created, that we have all the volunteers working hard at, and we have people coming to stay and help out and contribute to the creation of this place.
I think it can't be understated.
And the other thing, of course, is that
It's worth noting that in our case it's quite limited.
We only have a few rooms for people to stay in, so it's something for us to consider, I think, that given this importance of creating this, creating community, that we should all consider, perhaps as an organization, how we can move forward to expand.
I say this because on the one hand, I'm not very interested in expansion and the sort of the ungainliness involved with seeking out bigger and bigger and being ambitious and so on.
But on the other hand, when you reflect on teachings like this, you think, well, we can talk about community and the importance of allowing people and providing the opportunity for people.
to come together in this way, or the importance for all of us to engage in this way.
But it's very difficult when we have to turn people away and don't really have the capacity to take on long-term meditators or monks.
You know, there are people who want to come and stay and ordain as monastics, male or female, but we have no room for anyone.
So, something to consider.
I think that's the first part of the lesson that we get from this verse is the importance of, I mean it's the obvious lesson that the Buddha is trying to teach, the importance of associating with good people or having a positive association with each other, not leading each other in foolish directions.
Because, of course, association with fools is painful.
It's painful because they lead us in the wrong direction.
They encourage us in their bad ways.
They encourage us in our bad ways.
They're manipulative.
They're unreliable, etc., etc.
Just all around.
I mean, that's that's the reason why we call them that the point is be able to discern which people do that which people lead you in a bad direction and Waste your time and waste their time and cultivate immorality together and more importantly Finding ways to Create an environment
that is conducive towards all of us giving up our foolishness.
So you might have friends who are foolish, but you and they both want to be less foolish.
So you and they create a new sort of situation whereby you both can become less foolish together.
Of course, relying very much often on a teacher or the Buddhist teaching.
The other part of the lesson is the qualities that the Buddha mentions here.
I would be negligent if I didn't include a little bit of discussion about the actual qualities of what makes a good person.
The Buddha lays them out precisely.
And it's just one list that talks about the qualities of an enlightened being, but it's important in regards to their status or their capacity as a good friend or as someone you'd want to associate with.
So the first one is that they're steadfast.
Dīra can mean wise, but here we have paññava, which also means wise.
So dīra here might better mean steadfast.
It has two different meanings.
Steadfast can refer to wisdom, but it also has the element of confidence.
It's the...
certainty that one gets from wisdom.
Some people are very confident but unwise.
And so there's not a great stability there.
They'll be confident in one thing one day and then confident in another thing another day.
They're confident whatever they decide.
I believe this, go this way.
No, no, no, I believe this.
Absolutely, this is right.
Oh wait, it's wrong.
Without wisdom, confidence is very unstable.
So someone who is steadfast means they have a confidence that is unshakable and it never changes.
They're reliable.
A person who has wisdom, who has knowledge of the truth, because of course the truth doesn't change.
Their knowledge, as a result, their beliefs, their philosophy never changes.
And so they're reliable.
They're someone you can go to for answers, and you'll always get the same answers.
You maybe don't like them, but they won't be unreliable.
And moreover, it's much more reliable because of the wisdom.
So the second quality is wisdom.
And a person who you should take as a friend is someone who is wise, someone who has seen the truth for themselves, because of course then they are the most reliable.
The third quality is bahusutta.
Now, bahusutta means they've heard a lot, literally.
It means that they've learned a lot of the Buddha's teaching.
And of course, in the Buddha's time, it would have been all through listening.
You heard the Buddha say a lot.
You heard his followers, his chief disciples, teach a lot.
Nowadays it means you've read a lot probably, but also of course you've heard talks on the Dhamma.
There are many scholar monks even today who give very deep and detailed teaching on Buddhist theory.
And so you heard a lot of that.
And this is important separate from wisdom.
Because sometimes you might associate with a wise person, but they don't give you much instruction.
It is truly possible for someone to be an arahant, not a Buddha, but an arahant, and never teach anyone.
Maybe never even help anyone.
Because an arahant just means they've given up any defilements.
It doesn't mean that they are automatically a teacher or inclined to teaching.
Moreover, they might not be able to help other people with their problems.
They'll be completely clear in their own minds, but their capacity to share that knowledge with others might be limited, is often limited by their learning.
And so a teacher who has learned a lot is quite valuable.
Of course, a teacher who has learned a lot who doesn't have wisdom may be less valuable.
And the Visuddhimagga goes into detail of this.
Best is the Buddha.
He should be your best teacher.
Then one of his chief disciples, and then an Arahant, and so on and so on.
But if you don't have a Sotapanna, even a Sotapanna who can help you, you should find someone who has learned a lot, I think.
He talks about the differences, because a Sotapanna, or even an Arahant who hasn't learned a lot,
They know a path.
Absolutely they know a path, but it's their path.
A person who has learned a lot knows a wider path.
They have a wider path that they can help people follow.
Maybe your path is not the same as my path, so I can't help you as much.
But if you've learned a lot, you can help a lot better.
So it's an important quality in friends specifically, not necessarily as meditators.
But for someone who's going to teach, it's invaluable.
And the fourth quality is they're ethical.
So in the context of monks, of course, this means they keep all the monastic precepts.
But more deeply, it means they are their body and their speech.
The things they do and the things they say are not manipulative or deceptive or harsh, painful or useless.
You need a friend who is going to be a good example for you.
Because all of us, when we come to practice, we have these tendencies.
If you came here and you saw me dancing and singing, well, it might encourage you to dance and sing and then you wouldn't get anywhere because you'd be caught up in sensuality.
So you need people who are a good example and who give us a good example to follow, right?
Like an alcoholic shouldn't surround themselves with alcoholics.
That one's pretty obvious.
And the, what are we on?
One, two, three, four.
The fifth one is, the fifth one is interesting.
And I think it relates to the story.
It's at the Pali is Watawanta, I think.
It means someone who is dutiful.
Or that's how they translate it.
But watai is a duty.
And it's an interesting word that we don't talk about perhaps enough.
And it's something I do talk about with people on a regular basis about worldly affairs.
So a little background.
We basically have two parts to morality in Buddhism in one sense.
And one is sila.
Sila is those things you shouldn't do on whatever level that is.
So there are things you should never do like killing and stealing.
There are things you shouldn't do if you want to progress in meditation like eating in the afternoon, using luxurious beds and seats, that sort of thing.
Then there are those things that you shouldn't do if you're a monk or involved in a community, like rules of the community, not using money, which is just a monastic rule, not lighting fires or cutting plants or that sort of thing.
Those are things you shouldn't do.
The other side of the morality is called vata, which means things you should do.
And of course meditation is included in one of the things you should do.
But these are duties related often to the community or just related to good behavior.
Saka caring for his teacher when his teacher was sick is one of his duties as a student.
It's a student's job.
It's a student who is living under a teacher.
It's their job to take care of their sick teacher.
It's a duty.
That's an example in Buddhism.
There are many duties.
This is for monks that monks have.
There are duties when you go on alms round.
There are duties when you come as a visitor to a monastery.
There are duties when you are living in a monastery and a visitor comes.
Many, many duties that you have.
There are duties when you eat food, when you go into the dining hall.
Many, many duties.
Duties of the teacher to the student, duties the student has to the teacher, and so on.
And this of course expands why I get this, why I answer this in regards to worldly things is because there are many duties that you could say
in the world, in the sense that it's important to separate certain activities out from what is really important.
Like some people would say, well, all of this teaching about letting go and giving up is great, but what do I do about my kids and my parents and my family and so on?
What do I do about the society that I live in?
All of those things are in the realm of duties.
So you might say, if a student doesn't take care of their teacher when they're sick, like Saka did, well, he's not necessarily an evil person.
But if he doesn't do it, the teacher stays sick and maybe dies or so on, and it's just not conducive to a proper, it's not conducive to a healthy and wholesome society, monastic society.
If you don't take care of your kids, if you don't take care of your parents, if you don't relate to your friends well, to your employer, to the king, the government, that sort of thing.
If you don't relate properly to them, it's very hard to progress in meditation practice.
And it's not very good for society or good for the community and so on.
So having a teacher or people, let's put aside teacher because it's not the only thing that this verse refers to.
If you're associated with a community that is following these duties, that has a sense of duty to each other and a sense of obligation to the community, cleaning, the cleaning that we ask meditators to do.
and just caring for the center and caring for each other so being considerate to each other not making loud noises necessarily not chatting with each other distracting each other from the practice
all of these things contribute to the harmony and are very important.
They're the kind of thing that the Buddha said leads to happiness.
This is the end of the Sukhavaga, the happiness chapter, so it's an important part of happiness.
Find people who are that way of
On the other hand, as I've seen, if you go to Buddhist monasteries, they're not always full of people who are harmonious.
Some of the things that you see are indicative of a lapse in this sort of teaching about duties to each other and a sense of commitment and obligation to the community.
And the final quality is arya, is nobility.
And this is, of course, you couldn't leave out this quality.
You should surround yourselves with people who are noble.
Now, nobility is of two kinds.
One is someone who has freed themselves from defilements.
And that, as I said, is a noble and enlightened being.
They've freed themselves from greed.
They've freed themselves from anger.
They've freed themselves from delusion.
But on the other side, it's a concession, and I think it's an important concession to say you can call people in some way noble because they're on the path and they're part of the process of becoming noble.
If they are inclined and engaged in the practice of becoming noble, if they're engaged in the practice of mindfulness, if they are working to overcome their greed.
I mean, even a sotapanna can still have greed and anger and some delusion.
But even putting that aside, people who are what we call kalyana putujana, a putujana is someone who still has defilements, but they're kalyana, they're beautiful, because they are inclined to work away from, to free themselves, and they're working to free themselves from those defilements.
You could say that person is also in that sense noble,
And these are the type of people we should associate with.
This is the sort of association we should want.
It's the sort of association that the Buddha said is the entirety of the holy life, the ascetic life, the brahmacharya.
the religious life.
What is the religious life?
Well, it's association with good people, the Buddha said.
You associate with enlightened people, good qualities will increase.
Associate with good people in a good way, good things will come.
So that's the reason why Saka decided to
and didn't hesitate at all to take care of the Buddha, because he was very happy to be close and have an opportunity to associate with the Buddha.
But it's a broader lesson for all of us, reminding us to associate with good people in a good way.
And that's the Dhammapada for tonight.
Thank you all for listening.