1 00:00:01,533 --> 00:00:05,116 Hello and welcome back to our study of the Dhammapada. 2 00:00:05,136 --> 00:00:12,684 Today we continue on with verses 119 and 120, which read as follows. 3 00:00:15,186 --> 00:00:28,519 pāpo-pipasatiṁ bhadraṁ yāva-pāpaṁ na pacchatiṁ yadāca-pacchati-pāpaṁ atta-pāpo-pāpāni-pasatiṁ 4 00:00:29,849 --> 00:00:58,658 bhadropi pasati pāpaṁ yāva bhadraṁ na pacati yadāca pacati bhadraṁ ata bhadro bhadrāṇi pasati which is a little bit of a tongue twister because of the alliteration which is purposeful it's a play on the Pali so if you read it you can see the words that are very similar 5 00:01:00,494 --> 00:01:08,604 But it means, even an evildoer will see benefit or good things. 6 00:01:14,111 --> 00:01:21,581 For as long as the evil doesn't ripen. 7 00:01:25,966 --> 00:01:29,691 But 8 00:01:31,038 --> 00:01:40,348 When the evil ripens, then the evil doer will see evil. 9 00:01:43,871 --> 00:01:44,812 That's verse 19. 10 00:01:44,852 --> 00:01:46,434 Verse 20 is the opposite. 11 00:01:46,574 --> 00:01:55,003 Even a good doer sees evil for as long as, may see evil, for as long as 12 00:01:56,654 --> 00:02:01,139 the good doesn't bear fruit or doesn't come to fruition, doesn't ripen. 13 00:02:03,822 --> 00:02:11,010 But when the goodness ripens, then the good doer sees goodness. 14 00:02:13,934 --> 00:02:26,408 This verse was taught in regards to the story, a story of Anathapindika, one of the Buddha's chief lay disciples, lay supporters. 15 00:02:27,974 --> 00:02:39,447 So here was a man who, the word anatta pindika, anatta, anatta means a refuge, anatta means one who has no refuge. 16 00:02:40,048 --> 00:02:47,417 It's a word that was used to refer to poor people, the helpless. 17 00:02:49,079 --> 00:02:54,505 And pindika, pinda means a ball of rice or it means rice. 18 00:02:55,902 --> 00:03:00,830 And Binda and Ika or Nika means one who has. 19 00:03:02,012 --> 00:03:10,145 So this means one who has alms or a bowl of rice for the helpless. 20 00:03:10,826 --> 00:03:12,168 So he's the giver of alms. 21 00:03:12,268 --> 00:03:13,029 That's his name. 22 00:03:13,230 --> 00:03:14,772 That's the name he was given. 23 00:03:19,628 --> 00:03:33,925 And with good reason because not only did he support the Buddhist monks but he was kind and generous and he would give alms to poor people I guess as well. 24 00:03:35,238 --> 00:03:36,760 And he was also quite generous. 25 00:03:37,321 --> 00:03:59,114 So it seems that not only did he give great gifts by actually buying this forest of Prince Jeta and giving it to the Buddha as a monastery, but he also was generous with his friends and associates, it seemed. 26 00:04:00,616 --> 00:04:03,861 So over time, even though he was quite rich, 27 00:04:05,275 --> 00:04:14,176 Over time he lent out a lot of his money, huge amounts of it really, and people wouldn't pay him back. 28 00:04:16,681 --> 00:04:16,922 And 29 00:04:18,472 --> 00:04:26,964 At the same time he had, in those days they didn't have banks so they would hide their, they would bury their valuable. 30 00:04:27,765 --> 00:04:31,510 And they had buried it in the ground near a river. 31 00:04:31,551 --> 00:04:43,888 And the river had overflown and the bank had eroded and all of, a great deal of his family's wealth was swept out to sea. 32 00:04:46,940 --> 00:04:53,355 And so Anattapindika, whenever he went to the monastery to see the Buddha, he would never go empty handed. 33 00:04:53,756 --> 00:04:55,721 He would always, in the morning, he would bring food. 34 00:04:55,781 --> 00:05:00,392 In the afternoon, he would bring juice. 35 00:05:01,655 --> 00:05:20,254 And he would always bring with him gifts, sort of religious gifts of incense and candles and maybe not candles, incense and flowers, garlands of flowers, that kind of thing. 36 00:05:25,533 --> 00:05:37,648 But even though he was starting to become actually quite impoverished, so he had lost really the bulk of his wealth, he never stopped giving. 37 00:05:39,130 --> 00:05:44,377 Even if it was just a little, he never gave it up. 38 00:05:44,477 --> 00:05:49,443 And so the Buddha asked him one day, are you still giving alms at your house? 39 00:05:50,645 --> 00:05:55,371 And he said, yes, Venerable Sir, I'm still giving alms, but... 40 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:11,997 But it's not as refined as it once was, or not as high quality as it once was. 41 00:06:12,638 --> 00:06:25,795 And the Buddha gives a quote which is actually quite... I think it's... Yeah, here we are. 42 00:06:25,815 --> 00:06:28,699 ... 43 00:06:30,198 --> 00:06:31,280 It's a different quote, sorry. 44 00:06:31,881 --> 00:06:49,628 It's a paraphrase of a different quote, which I actually think, I can't remember whether it was the Buddha who actually said it, but it's a very common quote. 45 00:06:50,550 --> 00:06:57,741 There's no such thing as a gift, as a small gift. 46 00:06:58,885 --> 00:07:02,649 when it's given in faith and given to one who deserves it. 47 00:07:04,051 --> 00:07:07,234 So here he says, almost the same with lukkang namanat hi. 48 00:07:08,516 --> 00:07:10,237 There's no such thing as a coarse gift. 49 00:07:11,579 --> 00:07:23,492 When the gift is given with a pure heart, with a bright heart, and given to a suitable recipient. 50 00:07:27,742 --> 00:07:44,378 And he went on and reassured Anathapindaka and said, you know, and he told a story of his past life, I think, about how he once tried to, he was very kind to people and still wasn't able to move them, but he never wavered in it. 51 00:07:45,078 --> 00:07:55,268 So anyway, he reassured or gave reassurance or encouragement to Anathapindaka and appreciated the fact that 52 00:07:55,248 --> 00:08:04,444 He gave, it's actually a thing in Buddhism that giving be a part of our life. 53 00:08:04,824 --> 00:08:06,908 I've been talking quite a bit about giving. 54 00:08:08,210 --> 00:08:17,526 You can see how many of these are giving, but it does bear mentioning that even though our focus is meditation practice, that giving is, the Buddha said, 55 00:08:19,717 --> 00:08:39,816 If beings knew the true benefit of giving, no one would eat a meal without giving a portion of it or some gift or some part of it to another person who was worthy of it. 56 00:08:40,337 --> 00:08:45,842 If there was someone there worthy of it, they wouldn't eat without sharing. 57 00:08:47,088 --> 00:08:50,940 No one would eat a single meal if they really knew, he said, the way I know. 58 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:57,098 He said, but it's because people don't know that they don't share and they don't think to give. 59 00:08:59,390 --> 00:09:14,408 There's much made in the suttas about the difference between the benefit that you get in eating food or partaking of your possessions and the benefit that comes from giving and sharing your possessions with others. 60 00:09:15,108 --> 00:09:17,431 It's quite a different benefit and on a different scale. 61 00:09:23,618 --> 00:09:25,941 So this was really powerful. 62 00:09:25,981 --> 00:09:29,245 Of course, Anantapindika was doing something that... 63 00:09:30,592 --> 00:09:41,231 Though hard to do is a very typical Buddhist thing, you give according to your means, but giving is a part of one's spiritual life, especially as a lay person. 64 00:09:42,613 --> 00:09:54,574 But even as monks, for monks, as I've talked about how we share and give and actually have an easier time with it because we don't need as much. 65 00:09:54,554 --> 00:10:13,803 We don't have as many uncertainties in our lives in the sense that we don't have to worry about our car breaking down or someone breaking into our house or we don't have to worry about what clothes we're going to wear to work and so on. 66 00:10:13,823 --> 00:10:16,107 We don't have as many requirements placed on us. 67 00:10:17,008 --> 00:10:19,532 So giving for monks is actually in many ways easier. 68 00:10:21,487 --> 00:10:24,112 And anyway, very much a part of our spiritual practice. 69 00:10:24,132 --> 00:10:26,276 So this is the setting but the story. 70 00:10:26,316 --> 00:10:36,255 There was a goddess or not goddess, you would say more like a female angel. 71 00:10:37,889 --> 00:10:42,417 living in Anathapindika's house, I guess, in his mansion. 72 00:10:42,457 --> 00:10:46,644 He had, I guess, a fairly large residence. 73 00:10:46,664 --> 00:10:53,395 And I guess at each of the four doors, the four gates to his residence, there was an angel. 74 00:10:53,456 --> 00:11:00,167 Anyway, at one of the gates, or maybe the gate, 75 00:11:01,801 --> 00:11:30,846 She was sort of like the spiritual guard over the gate Had for a long time been concerned about Anattapindika's generosity because as many earth angels would be she was very enamored of the jewels and the valuables in his house 76 00:11:32,581 --> 00:11:45,538 And so for a long time, she'd wanted to kind of push him towards conserving his wealth and not giving it away because every time valuables left the house, that would be it. 77 00:11:45,618 --> 00:11:46,659 She'd never see them again. 78 00:11:46,719 --> 00:11:51,185 And it was it felt all she ever saw was this diminishing pile of wealth. 79 00:11:51,265 --> 00:11:55,390 And in late times, later times, it diminished quite a bit. 80 00:11:56,251 --> 00:11:57,573 And so now it was mostly gone. 81 00:11:57,613 --> 00:12:00,597 And at this point, she couldn't bear it anymore. 82 00:12:01,707 --> 00:12:07,086 And so she decided to herself that she would have to do something about this. 83 00:12:08,792 --> 00:12:11,481 And so in the middle of the night, she went to him 84 00:12:13,267 --> 00:12:24,442 She had never felt confident or she had never dared to go to him before that because he was rich and powerful and so on. 85 00:12:24,462 --> 00:12:29,048 But now he was a poor man and so she felt comfortable going to him. 86 00:12:29,068 --> 00:12:37,519 She went in the middle of the night and stood by his bed or stood and floated in the air above his bed and 87 00:12:38,765 --> 00:12:40,267 and maybe glowing or so on. 88 00:12:40,687 --> 00:12:43,531 And Anathapindika opened his eyes and said, who is that? 89 00:12:44,793 --> 00:12:56,107 And she said, it is I, great sati, which means not treasure, but just a rich person. 90 00:13:00,192 --> 00:13:03,877 The goddess, I am the goddess that resides over your fourth gate. 91 00:13:04,738 --> 00:13:07,962 I come to give you an admonition. 92 00:13:08,262 --> 00:13:14,291 I've come to give you a teaching, to admonish you. 93 00:13:14,311 --> 00:13:18,917 He said, well then, tell me, what do you have to say? 94 00:13:22,342 --> 00:13:23,784 And here's her admonition. 95 00:13:24,064 --> 00:13:32,937 Great treasurer, great wealthy man, without considering the future, you have dissipated your great wealth in the religion of the monk Gautama. 96 00:13:33,777 --> 00:13:39,783 Now, although you have reduced yourself to poverty, you still continue to give of your wealth. 97 00:13:39,803 --> 00:13:46,009 If you continue this course, in a few days you will not have enough left to provide you with clothing and food. 98 00:13:47,631 --> 00:13:51,995 Of what use to you is the monk Gotama? 99 00:13:52,176 --> 00:13:58,962 Abandon your lavish giving, devote your attention to business and make a fortune." 100 00:13:58,983 --> 00:14:00,564 Sounds like solid advice, right? 101 00:14:00,624 --> 00:14:03,447 For those of us living in the world, 102 00:14:04,321 --> 00:14:10,390 Why would you waste your money on this bald-headed, shaved, this shaved recluse? 103 00:14:11,832 --> 00:14:15,257 In fact, we often criticize people who give to religious causes. 104 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:26,093 And we criticize religious institutions as being money hungry because they usually just want money and they're collecting money all the time. 105 00:14:27,727 --> 00:14:56,383 I mean I think Buddhism is very guilty of that and we are even our organization even does that sort of thing there's a lot of talk about money which is I guess in a way unfortunate but in another way it's important to recognize that it's a part of a part of spirituality to give of your resources to share and to let go to not cling certainly not to worry about such things but to use 106 00:14:58,540 --> 00:15:06,214 and to put to use your resources for the best of causes, the best benefit. 107 00:15:09,299 --> 00:15:13,927 And so Natapindika says, is that the advice you came to give me? 108 00:15:13,967 --> 00:15:15,450 Yes, sir. 109 00:15:16,912 --> 00:15:18,355 He says, then be gone. 110 00:15:19,837 --> 00:15:24,706 Though a hundred thousand like you should try, you would not be able to move me from my course. 111 00:15:25,928 --> 00:15:28,573 You have said to me what you had no right to say. 112 00:15:28,633 --> 00:15:31,339 What business have you to dwell in my house? 113 00:15:31,439 --> 00:15:32,781 Leave my house instantly. 114 00:15:34,785 --> 00:15:41,237 He banished her from his house and because he was such a powerful person and also a Sotapanna, 115 00:15:42,449 --> 00:15:46,734 She was unable to, angels are somehow sensitive in this way. 116 00:15:47,254 --> 00:15:48,335 She was unable to stay there. 117 00:15:49,356 --> 00:15:52,940 She just couldn't stay in the house anymore. 118 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,184 I mean, however, the other angels probably wouldn't have let her stay anyway. 119 00:15:57,545 --> 00:15:58,106 So she left. 120 00:15:59,928 --> 00:16:02,490 But after leaving, she couldn't find lodging anywhere else. 121 00:16:02,611 --> 00:16:04,933 I guess even angels have difficulty. 122 00:16:06,234 --> 00:16:12,321 Probably she was at that point ostracized by the other angels, by the earth angels. 123 00:16:16,233 --> 00:16:24,072 And so she wandered trying to find a way and she went finally to the city angel. 124 00:16:24,574 --> 00:16:29,145 There's an angel who looks after the city of Savatthi. 125 00:16:33,277 --> 00:16:49,091 And she explained her problem and said, please help me to take me to the, if you can come with me to the treasurer and speak on my behalf and get him to forgive me for saying that. 126 00:16:50,632 --> 00:16:57,178 But the angel of the city shook his head and said, you said something that you had no business to say. 127 00:16:58,779 --> 00:17:00,441 It's not possible for me. 128 00:17:00,521 --> 00:17:01,161 I can't help you. 129 00:17:01,202 --> 00:17:01,782 I'm sorry. 130 00:17:05,187 --> 00:17:13,717 So at her wit's end, she decided to go the next step up, which is the four great kings that you hear about in Chinese mythology. 131 00:17:15,158 --> 00:17:16,059 It comes from Buddhism. 132 00:17:17,181 --> 00:17:22,046 Buddhism talks about four gods that apparently look after the four directions. 133 00:17:23,067 --> 00:17:31,377 I don't know, or four gods, four angels that look after the, I don't know, four quarters of the earth, maybe. 134 00:17:32,017 --> 00:17:34,300 Maybe the four different continents or something. 135 00:17:38,212 --> 00:17:41,538 And again, they said the same thing that they couldn't help her. 136 00:17:42,339 --> 00:17:52,436 And so finally, she went up to the Dawa Dingsa heaven, where she really wasn't, she was very low on the angel hierarchy. 137 00:17:52,456 --> 00:17:55,802 So it's like going to see the king, like a peasant going to see the king. 138 00:17:56,824 --> 00:18:03,375 But she managed to get an audience with Sakka, the king of the angels of the Dawa Dingsa heavens. 139 00:18:05,127 --> 00:18:08,071 And she told the story and said, I can't find I have nowhere to live. 140 00:18:08,232 --> 00:18:10,955 And I've done something really reprehensible. 141 00:18:11,056 --> 00:18:16,083 And now I wander about without perfect protection. 142 00:18:16,143 --> 00:18:19,328 It says, ironically, or strangely, children in hand. 143 00:18:19,348 --> 00:18:21,591 I mean, angels don't have children. 144 00:18:21,631 --> 00:18:22,452 So it's strange. 145 00:18:22,512 --> 00:18:29,402 It must mean the other angels that are in her retinue, because they don't give birth as far as I know. 146 00:18:30,223 --> 00:18:30,924 Of course, who knows? 147 00:18:31,185 --> 00:18:32,687 I don't really know much about angels. 148 00:18:34,827 --> 00:18:40,633 And so she said, please help me to regain my privilege as gatekeeper. 149 00:18:45,519 --> 00:18:49,163 And Saka replied, I can't, I'm sorry, I can't help you. 150 00:18:49,203 --> 00:18:54,309 It's not possible for me to speak to the treasurer on your behalf. 151 00:18:54,389 --> 00:18:56,631 However, I will tell you a way. 152 00:18:58,293 --> 00:18:59,575 She said, oh, please do. 153 00:19:00,936 --> 00:19:01,797 Tell me what it is. 154 00:19:03,818 --> 00:19:05,019 And here was Saka. 155 00:19:05,380 --> 00:19:07,943 Saka was quite a wise man and also a Sotapanna. 156 00:19:10,526 --> 00:19:15,171 He said, go assume the dress of the treasurer's steward or the rich man's steward. 157 00:19:15,712 --> 00:19:18,335 That's just like accountant. 158 00:19:18,355 --> 00:19:23,000 And take a piece of a leaf, you know, this is what they would write on. 159 00:19:23,020 --> 00:19:28,527 And list all the wealth he once possessed that he had lent out. 160 00:19:29,868 --> 00:19:33,032 And then go around to all the people who owe him money and 161 00:19:34,295 --> 00:19:45,115 convince them use your angelic influence to get them to return their to make good on their debts 162 00:19:46,529 --> 00:19:54,822 And then go and find the huge amount of wealth that has been swept out into the ocean that used to belong to Anattapindika. 163 00:19:55,643 --> 00:20:08,503 And on top of that, find an equal amount that's scattered throughout or that has no owner, wealth that is lost and has no owner, and bring that to him. 164 00:20:09,074 --> 00:20:15,744 take all that wealth, deposit it in his safe house, and then go to him and ask forgiveness. 165 00:20:15,804 --> 00:20:16,606 And so she did this. 166 00:20:20,652 --> 00:20:27,943 And she went to the, and then she came to an Atapindika and said, knocked on his door and he said, who is it? 167 00:20:29,510 --> 00:20:32,355 Or she stood in the air radiating light. 168 00:20:33,057 --> 00:20:33,578 Who is that? 169 00:20:33,898 --> 00:20:38,126 It is me, it is I, the blind stupid goddess that once dwelt over your gate. 170 00:20:39,249 --> 00:20:42,855 Pardon me the words I once spoke to you in my blind stupidity. 171 00:20:42,895 --> 00:20:48,987 In obedience to the command of Saka, king of the angels, I have recovered... 172 00:20:48,967 --> 00:20:52,350 Your wealth and filled your storeroom therewith. 173 00:20:52,871 --> 00:20:54,813 Thus have I atoned for my offense. 174 00:20:55,774 --> 00:21:00,418 I have no place wherein to lodge myself, and therefore am I greatly wearied. 175 00:21:04,162 --> 00:21:08,466 And Anattapindika didn't accept her apology. 176 00:21:08,767 --> 00:21:11,990 He looked at her and thought, I know what I've got to do. 177 00:21:13,932 --> 00:21:18,096 And so he took her with him and brought her to see the Buddha. 178 00:21:19,848 --> 00:21:48,420 because Anathapindika would have never been really likely upset with her and wouldn't have held a grudge but his only concern really was for goodness and for righteousness and so here his only thought was to provide some goodness for this angel to give this angel make sure this angel got on the right track it wasn't about apologizing to him it was about having her understand 179 00:21:48,873 --> 00:21:51,800 goodness and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness. 180 00:21:52,642 --> 00:21:57,132 And so bringing her to see the Buddha was all about teaching her right from wrong. 181 00:22:03,145 --> 00:22:04,789 And so they came to the Buddha. 182 00:22:06,659 --> 00:22:35,181 and Anattapindika related the story to the Buddha and then the Buddha taught them both and in order to admonish them both gave these two stanzas or two verses the first in regards to evil doers who still profit until their evil comes to fruition and then the same goes with goodness so you could say that the first one was is a bit easier to see 183 00:22:39,127 --> 00:22:54,148 We're more liable to see that one, I think, and understand that one, that you can do evil deeds and still be protected from them, but there's no sense that you're not going to eventually be forced to pay the consequences. 184 00:22:54,128 --> 00:22:57,013 But with goodness, I think we have a little bit more trouble. 185 00:22:59,236 --> 00:23:01,660 I think for many people, it's difficult to do good deeds. 186 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:08,711 And when you undertake them, I mean, for people who aren't accustomed to doing good deeds, it's difficult to do them. 187 00:23:09,011 --> 00:23:16,423 And then when you've done them and don't get a result and feel like it's been for naught, you can be quite discouraged. 188 00:23:17,602 --> 00:23:31,536 But this is another one of those verses that puts that to rest and reminds us that that really is the case, something that has a good result, even if good deeds do have a good result. 189 00:23:32,778 --> 00:23:34,479 For many people, this isn't a certainty. 190 00:23:34,540 --> 00:23:42,488 They're not sure whether it's right to do good deeds or whether good deeds can have a bad result and so on. 191 00:23:42,508 --> 00:23:45,651 But even given that they do, 192 00:23:46,475 --> 00:23:48,117 It's not always evident right away. 193 00:23:48,177 --> 00:23:50,040 It's not always clear and apparent. 194 00:23:51,562 --> 00:23:52,844 This goes for charity. 195 00:23:52,884 --> 00:23:54,326 This goes for morality. 196 00:23:54,366 --> 00:23:57,210 This goes for meditation. 197 00:23:57,931 --> 00:24:00,114 Sometimes meditation can appear to be fruitless. 198 00:24:00,314 --> 00:24:03,879 You practice, practice, practice, and you still get angry. 199 00:24:03,900 --> 00:24:04,801 You still get greedy. 200 00:24:04,821 --> 00:24:07,825 You still have all these problems inside. 201 00:24:11,973 --> 00:24:16,199 It's in fact not even as clear as just taking time. 202 00:24:16,259 --> 00:24:19,523 It's also the mix of good and evil. 203 00:24:20,304 --> 00:24:32,580 If you've done many things that are unwholesome, then they're going to play a part and they're going to mitigate the benefit of the good deeds. 204 00:24:32,980 --> 00:24:34,943 And the same goes with evil. 205 00:24:35,024 --> 00:25:01,909 When a person does evil, if they've also done many good deeds, which most human beings have in order to be born as human beings, they're going to be protected from their evil, can be for quite some time, maybe even for their whole life, until they die and they're forced to feel the weight and the full force of the evil deeds, in which case it leads to unpleasantness in the future lives and so on. 206 00:25:05,500 --> 00:25:14,295 But a reminder for us, karma is not so simple as you do a good deed and then an angel shows up and gives you a reward. 207 00:25:16,452 --> 00:25:35,768 But these are the sorts of things that Anathapindika would have been aware of as a Sotapanna because having practiced Insight Meditation he was able to see cause and effect and understand what's really going on behind the scenes because we obviously can't know what the cause of our deeds is going to be. 208 00:25:35,788 --> 00:25:39,996 You will do good deeds, you can't know what the fruit is going to be. 209 00:25:40,111 --> 00:25:43,015 How can you know then that evil is going to lead to evil? 210 00:25:43,076 --> 00:25:47,242 Because through meditation you can see what's going on behind the scenes. 211 00:25:47,302 --> 00:25:57,097 You see the underlying framework and you can watch as your mind changes and as the universe changes based on your deeds. 212 00:25:57,297 --> 00:25:59,641 If you do good deeds, how it changes for the better. 213 00:25:59,661 --> 00:26:03,587 If you do evil deeds, how it changes you. 214 00:26:04,158 --> 00:26:09,867 changes your attitude and it has direct consequences on the world around you. 215 00:26:09,887 --> 00:26:12,058 You can see all of this moment to moment. 216 00:26:13,253 --> 00:26:21,603 And as you see this more and more and clearer and clearer, you have less and less doubt or concern about the results of your actions. 217 00:26:21,703 --> 00:26:22,524 What is it going to be? 218 00:26:22,564 --> 00:26:23,385 What's it going to bring? 219 00:26:23,425 --> 00:26:30,133 Because you know that you're planting seeds of happiness, seeds of greatness and goodness. 220 00:26:30,994 --> 00:26:34,598 You don't have to worry about what is the result because you know it's going to be positive. 221 00:26:35,579 --> 00:26:42,788 That's the great, really the greatness of the law of karma, is the certainty of it. 222 00:26:42,768 --> 00:26:45,611 You don't have to be certain what's going to happen. 223 00:26:46,412 --> 00:26:50,476 You just have to be certain the nature of that what's going to happen. 224 00:26:51,617 --> 00:26:54,340 And it's never sure what exactly is going to come of your deeds. 225 00:26:54,840 --> 00:27:02,568 But it is sure the nature of the effect of certain deeds. 226 00:27:02,588 --> 00:27:07,813 Awesome deeds have pleasant results, peaceful, happy and good results. 227 00:27:09,363 --> 00:27:16,555 Unawesome deeds have unpleasant, evil results. 228 00:27:19,505 --> 00:27:25,451 So it does have quite a bit to do with our meditation practice in terms of really understanding this. 229 00:27:28,374 --> 00:27:33,780 And in terms of being patient with our practice, be patient with good deeds that you do for others. 230 00:27:35,122 --> 00:27:40,387 Don't concern yourself with what, you know, I don't see any benefit from this. 231 00:27:41,488 --> 00:27:47,875 Never think like that, because you're very hard to see, very hard to come back later and say, oh, that's because of that. 232 00:27:47,855 --> 00:27:50,562 There's so many different factors involved. 233 00:27:50,582 --> 00:28:00,987 Look more on the actual deed and the immediate results, what you're sending out into the universe, the energy that you're creating. 234 00:28:03,042 --> 00:28:06,248 So very important that when you do a good deed, you let it go. 235 00:28:06,328 --> 00:28:11,158 You do the good deed and when they say don't think about the results, it's almost true. 236 00:28:11,198 --> 00:28:16,328 It's just not quite true because you are very much focused on the immediate results. 237 00:28:16,368 --> 00:28:22,840 You're doing it because of the energy that it's putting out, positive energy. 238 00:28:24,575 --> 00:28:28,340 Don't concern yourself with actual results. 239 00:28:28,380 --> 00:28:31,605 And the same goes with meditation and things like morality and so on. 240 00:28:32,606 --> 00:28:35,851 Don't concern yourself, why don't I feel better? 241 00:28:35,891 --> 00:28:39,095 Why do I still feel bad at times? 242 00:28:39,176 --> 00:28:40,678 And so why do I still have suffering? 243 00:28:41,799 --> 00:28:43,662 There's so many different factors involved. 244 00:28:43,862 --> 00:28:45,645 Some of them are even out of your control. 245 00:28:45,665 --> 00:28:50,211 You'll still feel physical pain, for example, and that kind of thing. 246 00:28:50,191 --> 00:28:55,806 But what we should look at is how the meditation is changing us at the moment that we perform it. 247 00:28:55,846 --> 00:28:59,597 Let that go and do it and cultivate it and then let it go. 248 00:28:59,617 --> 00:29:04,470 And don't worry about how it's going to change your brain or your mind or your thoughts or the world around you. 249 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:08,081 You should never think like that. 250 00:29:08,141 --> 00:29:12,927 Never be concerned with the more abstract results. 251 00:29:13,988 --> 00:29:20,335 Except kind of in the back of your head or as a, oh gee, I'm a nicer person now, that kind of thing. 252 00:29:20,355 --> 00:29:21,676 But that should never be your focus. 253 00:29:22,437 --> 00:29:25,821 In meditation, the results should be the immediate results. 254 00:29:26,001 --> 00:29:29,465 What happens when you're mindful in that moment and be content with that? 255 00:29:30,366 --> 00:29:31,747 That's how you know you're doing good. 256 00:29:32,648 --> 00:29:33,529 It's very important. 257 00:29:33,931 --> 00:29:39,964 Because otherwise you're constantly judging and wondering and everything is about expecting. 258 00:29:40,024 --> 00:29:42,389 I do a good deed because I expect some result. 259 00:29:42,910 --> 00:29:46,317 And you see how troublesome that is, how problematic that is. 260 00:29:46,858 --> 00:29:53,813 Because it becomes no longer a good deed, it becomes more of a desire for good things to come to you, right? 261 00:29:53,793 --> 00:29:55,035 And meditation is the same. 262 00:29:55,095 --> 00:29:56,797 We don't meditate as a good deed anymore. 263 00:29:57,578 --> 00:30:04,246 Sometimes we meditate wanting good things to come to us, which can be an unwholesome thing. 264 00:30:04,927 --> 00:30:10,493 Instead, we should focus on the act and the moment, the benefit that comes from it. 265 00:30:10,513 --> 00:30:11,715 Because that will become real. 266 00:30:11,795 --> 00:30:12,476 That is real. 267 00:30:13,637 --> 00:30:14,759 That is here and that is now. 268 00:30:17,682 --> 00:30:19,164 That's the Dhammapada for tonight. 269 00:30:19,664 --> 00:30:20,866 Thank you all for tuning in. 270 00:30:21,006 --> 00:30:22,568 Wishing you all good practice. 271 00:30:23,223 --> 00:30:25,886 and peace, happiness and freedom from suffering. 272 00:30:26,491 --> 00:30:26,854 Thank you.