Developing Wholesome Mind State

0:00 My name is Ajahn Santutthi and I live in Rollystone in Kusala Hermitage. So if you live near there, if you want to check out a Buddhist monastery, so to speak, we're only a small place, there's only about three monks, but it's one of Ajahn Brahm's branch monasteries. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:29 I've been there with Ajahn Jayar for the past five years, along with Ajahn Bodhi, and we've been working quite hard looking after the property. So we're quite hands-on, just taking care of things, working on our own practice, and just living a life as a monk, or as somebody who has Giving up the world, and that was like one of the main things that I guess monastics think about when they decide to ordain as a monk, is to give up this world. Report an error in the passage at 0:29 Highlight the passage at 0:29

1:15 I was really sad I gave up my PlayStation. Report an error in the passage at 1:15 Highlight the passage at 1:15

1:21 And the monk beside me, he had to give up his life as well. His career, his material possessions, like anybody who sits behind his microphone who is in brown robes, we had to give up a lot to become a monk. And we do it for a reason. And the reason is to just looking for like some... Unanswered questions within our own minds, which is usually very simple. I think everybody has the same kind of idea. And the idea is just search for some happiness and some contentment. Report an error in the passage at 1:21 Highlight the passage at 1:21

2:04 And for some reason or another, life kind of happens and one exposes oneself to Buddhism and a way of life. Because of one's karma, one decides to take on that path. And to me, the reason why we live as Buddhists is to develop something. And that's why when we come across the Buddhist teachings, it's all about developing the mind. When you think about it, you talk about the Eightfold Path, the meditation, the insights, understanding things clearly. Report an error in the passage at 2:04 Highlight the passage at 2:04

2:49 To alleviate what we want to alleviate when we come to a place like this, or why we put on the robes, is to work towards something that is better for us as human beings. Report an error in the passage at 2:49 Highlight the passage at 2:49

3:07 And we can always judge, I think we can always judge how we are going as people who are trying to improve ourselves. is how we feel in this present moment or how we feel in this present moment or you know what kind of feelings we can generate in this present moment and i think like you know when we come across the teachings like developing mettā is this loving kindness towards ourselves and towards other people i mean it's a very simple concept and if we practice it enough times Then when we think about it and when we want to share it, it should be able to come up easily. And sharing something like that is a beautiful, I think, experience that you can share amongst people. Report an error in the passage at 3:07 Highlight the passage at 3:07

4:04 And you can see that with how parents love their kids. There's like an exchange of mettā there, or how some of our devotees, He expressed that mettā towards Ajahn Brahm. People, they love Ajahn Brahm. And that's like coming from a place of mettā. And when you feel these things, these things, they feel good. There's a positivity there. Report an error in the passage at 4:04 Highlight the passage at 4:04

4:44 There's a wholesome mind state there. So part of the Buddhist teachings is also to develop these wholesome mind states. And those, and mettā is one of them. Report an error in the passage at 4:44 Highlight the passage at 4:44

4:59 And yeah, so then we just go along our daily lives and what I've been thinking about recently is just thinking about the Report an error in the passage at 4:59 Highlight the passage at 4:59

5:18 Just the power that our minds have in terms of our minds just can create many things. And the Buddha himself said the mind is the creator of all things. So in a sense, you can create happiness for yourself or you can create suffering for yourself. Report an error in the passage at 5:18 Highlight the passage at 5:18

5:46 Just think about it. This mind, This mind has the potential to go into whatever direction you send it to. Take for example, what kind of mind state do you have now? Report an error in the passage at 5:46 Highlight the passage at 5:46

6:06 Have you ever felt happy before? Have you ever had a clear mind before? Have you seen other people who have liberated themselves? From the suffering that they're going through in their lives. And having these experiences and witnessing the potential of what the mind can do gives us an understanding that this mind is actually quite powerful. Report an error in the passage at 6:06 Highlight the passage at 6:06

6:39 In terms of like, I'm not talking about power as in terms of, you know, getting what you want, like you want to, or becoming famous. Report an error in the passage at 6:39 Highlight the passage at 6:39

6:51 Or, you know, getting material gains. We're not here for that. We're kind of here for the development of the inner happiness, the contentment, you know, the peace. And it is true, you know, it's like, you know, life just goes on day to day and it's kind of like a humdrum kind of... it's It's not really high, it's not really low, you know, we're just cruising through life. And I think everybody has that same experience, you know, which is normal, which is fine. Report an error in the passage at 6:51 Highlight the passage at 6:51

7:33 But I think with life, we have these opportunities to make it just a little bit better. And I think, you know, When we come here, one of the things we talk about is kindness. Kindness towards ourselves and kindness towards other people. And I've been lucky enough to live with a kind monk. And sometimes, you know, living with kind people, they kind of teach you how to be kind. Report an error in the passage at 7:33 Highlight the passage at 7:33

8:14 Even though you know what the word kindness means, but experiencing kindness from other people. He teaches you different ways of being kind. And so I've been living with this monk for a long time. We've been 10, 15 years or something like that. I've known him and we've just kind of stuck together throughout the years. Report an error in the passage at 8:14 Highlight the passage at 8:14

8:38 And throughout the years he's shown me a lot of kindness. And one of the ways that he showed me kindness is to think about Think about what I like, my needs, and just giving up his time to help me out. Report an error in the passage at 8:38 Highlight the passage at 8:38

8:58 And they're just the little things, but that is an act of kindness. And an act of kindness, if you receive it, it kind of makes you reflect and think about how kind these people are around you and how you can be kind as well. Report an error in the passage at 8:58 Highlight the passage at 8:58

9:21 And, yeah, so, you know, these kinds of actions that we develop in our lives, and I think one of the other points why we do this is to develop, like, a smooth life. Report an error in the passage at 9:21 Highlight the passage at 9:21

9:36 Don't we all want a smooth life? Yeah? Smooth. No bumps in the road. You know, contentment, peace, no stress. Isn't that lovely? Isn't that nice? Isn't that something we are all after? And yes, sometimes we are going to hit bumps in the road. That is going to happen. But life doesn't always have to be like that. I remember a long time ago, Ajahn Brahm, he actually said that in his seat giving dharma talks. Report an error in the passage at 9:36 Highlight the passage at 9:36

10:21 This was ages ago. He actually said, he said, you can be happy 90 % of the time and you can suffer 10 % of the time of your life. He said that, unless I'm making it up, but I don't think so. I remember him saying something like that and it kind of, yeah, so it kind of makes you reflect. Like, you know, we come here sometimes to reflect on our own potential. Report an error in the passage at 10:21 Highlight the passage at 10:21

10:54 I always liked that, our own potential, you know. One of the things that Ajahn Brahm would say when he gives talks to the monks or to the monastics, one of the main focuses in our lives is the meditation. That's probably why we do the meditation first. And if you kind of live a monastic life, you'll understand. Report an error in the passage at 10:54 Highlight the passage at 10:54

11:21 The lifestyle is to encourage the development of meditation. And sometimes it's actually quite difficult to settle the mind down, to watch the breath, to get to those places that you've been told about. And Ajahn Brahm, just being a great meditation teacher, and just Having kind of appreciating the potential of the mind, he would say that everybody in this room can get the deep meditations. Report an error in the passage at 11:21 Highlight the passage at 11:21

12:04 Yeah. Because he understands the potential of the mind and he understands that all minds, you know, we're pretty much the same. Yeah. I look at you. You look at me. I laugh. You just keep quiet. Report an error in the passage at 12:04 Highlight the passage at 12:04

12:24 We smile, we're sad. Some of us have harder times than others. That's just a part of life. We're here to encourage ourselves to just do the little things in life that makes it a little bit better. And just learning from the people around us. Just learning that, you know, just thinking about others, just doing small acts of kindness kind of gives yourself a boost and gives other people a boost as well. Report an error in the passage at 12:24 Highlight the passage at 12:24

13:06 And so, yeah, we're just, you know, on this journey of trying to find more peace in our lives. And I think... One of the ways to find peace in our lives is to live a virtuous lifestyle and I think everybody pretty much knows what a virtuous lifestyle is. It's just to live a good life, to be kind, to speak in a nice way with one another. Report an error in the passage at 13:06 Highlight the passage at 13:06

13:50 And the way you know that you're living a good life is by the results that come from it. And I always think that if you're living a good life, the result that arises from it is one of a person starts to feel peaceful. Report an error in the passage at 13:50 Highlight the passage at 13:50

14:17 A person starts to feel contentment. Our life becomes smoother. Report an error in the passage at 14:17 Highlight the passage at 14:17

14:30 So we just have to learn how to do those kinds of things to get those kinds of results. And when we look at our behaviour, sometimes when we kind of cheat people, you cheat people, you're out here to get revenge, you get angry at one another. You have fights and arguments. How does that make you feel? What are the results of that? And usually the results of that is like an unpeaceful day or a terrible week. Report an error in the passage at 14:30 Highlight the passage at 14:30

15:14 And really, no one needs to live like that. No one wants to live like that. But instead, we want things to be the opposite. Report an error in the passage at 15:14 Highlight the passage at 15:14

15:28 You want to have a peaceful, content mind. So a part of just growing up as a Buddhist monk and learning Buddhism, a part of it is to develop certain mind states and also to refrain from certain kind of attitudes or moods of the mind. mind so so So the one thing that you notice if you go and live in the monastery is the monks are very restrained when it comes to anger. Report an error in the passage at 15:28 Highlight the passage at 15:28

16:10 The monks don't really get angry at each other because we're restrained. It's like we get taught to not get angry at one another. It's not a good thing to do. When you start a fight with somebody, blah, blah, blah, there's never a good outcome. Report an error in the passage at 16:10 Highlight the passage at 16:10

16:28 So sometimes we think, OK, how can we kind of change our habits? And one of the ways to change our habits is to restrain the mind, is to just say no, just say no. And one of the lovely things about this idea of saying no, I remember Ajahn Brahm saying something like this, is with these types of practices, They're very difficult to do at the beginning because it's hard to say no to the things that you like to do. Report an error in the passage at 16:28 Highlight the passage at 16:28

17:09 It's hard to say no to ice cream sometimes. Or it's hard to say no to control your anger. It's hard to say no to that, you know. What do you guys get up to? To the drink or whatever. It's hard, but then the thing about restraint, even though it's hard to do at the beginning, after a while you will start to see the results. Report an error in the passage at 17:09 Highlight the passage at 17:09

17:42 And it becomes natural and it becomes easy. And sometimes it's like, okay, when you see the monastics here, we keep a lot of rules. And also, after a while, just keeping the rules becomes... Like second nature. They don't bother us or cause us any trouble. Or we don't fuss over it. Because after a while the mind gets used to it. Report an error in the passage at 17:42 Highlight the passage at 17:42

18:10 And one can live with it. And in the same way, as people who come here to learn Buddhism, one of the things they start to take are the five precepts. So you take the five precepts. There's a big change in your life. You know, drinking, no killing. No lying, just the basic five precepts. But when you decide to do it and when you keep it, it becomes an easy thing to do. Report an error in the passage at 18:10 Highlight the passage at 18:10

18:43 And on top of that, you get the benefits of developing a virtuous lifestyle. And with a virtuous lifestyle comes contentment and peace that we are kind of looking for. Report an error in the passage at 18:43 Highlight the passage at 18:43

19:03 And, you know, it's like, you know, sometimes we sit here and we just talk about stuff and we try to figure out, you know, what this, the meaning of life is. And, yeah, concepts and words and trying to figure it out. But, yeah, that's a part of it, you know. But then I think the other side of life, That we can kind of develop as well is the emotional side. You know, the connection that we have just amongst humans. Report an error in the passage at 19:03 Highlight the passage at 19:03

19:41 We can develop beautiful connections with people. And those connections that we develop, that friendship, or whatever you may want to call it, that uplifts the heart and the mind. And I think, like, the happier... The people who are happier in life, they're the ones that can develop good friendships in life. I have to give credit to the monk sitting beside me, because he's probably one of the friendliest monks I've ever known. Report an error in the passage at 19:41 Highlight the passage at 19:41

20:20 Sometimes, you know, maybe not. But he's actually very friendly. He's friends with everyone. And you can see just the simple kind of things that you do in life can give you happiness. Report an error in the passage at 20:20 Highlight the passage at 20:20

20:43 And people are happy to see him, happy to talk to him. He still keeps in contact with people who ordained with him many years ago. So he's a very friendly monk. And you can see that because of his friendliness, he's happy because of that. happiness. Report an error in the passage at 20:43 Highlight the passage at 20:43

20:59 And yeah, I mean, these are very simple kind of mundane things that I'm talking about, but how often do you do it? Report an error in the passage at 20:59 Highlight the passage at 20:59

21:10 How often are we kind during the day? How often do we just pause and just live in the present moment? How often do we do that? How often do we just go for peaceful walks around our neighbourhood or just spend... moments of quietness with our friends you Report an error in the passage at 21:10 Highlight the passage at 21:10

21:34 know we don't do that we're just on on our devices or we're just busy working we're busy just using our minds too much and i think like in life the mind just gets overworked you know overworked and overstressed and yes it's great in a sense you can see the benefits of The human beings, how far we have moved in this modern age with the technology and the building and the advancements. Report an error in the passage at 21:34 Highlight the passage at 21:34

22:09 And that's all done by just having this busyness. But what is the cost of being so busy? We're just stressed out. Stressed out and burnt out. Stressed out and burnt out. And the monks here, we come here to teach you how to be lazy. Report an error in the passage at 22:09 Highlight the passage at 22:09

22:34 Be lazy, we just sit down all day on our butts and just meditating and letting go and not trying to worry about the world. It's almost like not trying to worry about the world. So one of the monks, he had a conversation with Ajahn Brahm. And he said to Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Brahm, do you think a lot? And Ajahn Brahm says, no, I do not think a lot. Report an error in the passage at 22:34 Highlight the passage at 22:34

23:10 And he's probably one of the most productive monks out there. And even in the monastery, sometimes he says he feels guilty for being a lazy monk. I guess when he says that is when he's in his hut, just meditating all day. And just being peaceful. So sometimes in life, we just need to be able to kind of just take time away from our busy schedules. Report an error in the passage at 23:10 Highlight the passage at 23:10

23:45 It's not about just, you know, taking like half an hour to sit meditation, you know. You know, sometimes in life, it's like we have to do things as human beings. And one of the factors of the Eightfold Path is kind of like right livelihood, or basically, you know, what do you do with your life? And sometimes when we come here, we think it's just learning the Dhamma and we'll figure everything out. Sitting on the meditation cushion and everything will be alright. Report an error in the passage at 23:45 Highlight the passage at 23:45

24:27 Go and make some merit. Report an error in the passage at 24:27 Highlight the passage at 24:27

24:58 One of the stories that Ajahn Brahm would tell, I can't remember the story, but I kind of remember the meaning of the story. It was about this fisherman story. You know about that fisherman story? He would play his guitar in the evening. Report an error in the passage at 24:58 Highlight the passage at 24:58

25:25 So just a simple life. Simple life, he goes out, he has a family, has some kids, lives in a small village somewhere in Mexico. He goes out in the morning looking for quesadillas. Report an error in the passage at 25:25 Highlight the passage at 25:25

25:40 No, Nathan's in the back, I know Nathan. We've been talking about quesadillas for a while. I think he bought me some for tomorrow's lunch. But anyways, so it was this Mexican... Mexican fisherman and he would just go out, live a very simple life, ego fishing, catch a few fish, take it home and cook up the fish and feed his family and at the end of the night have a couple of shots of tequila. Report an error in the passage at 25:40 Highlight the passage at 25:40

26:08 He was just doing his daily thing. and just start playing the music and he lives a very peaceful, simple life, yeah. And then he was just doing his daily thing, you know. And one day some big shot somewhere thought that he could use this person's skill to catch a lot of fish to make money. And it was trying to convince him that if you catch a lot of fish and you sell it for this much and you're going to make heaps of money and then life will be okay. Report an error in the passage at 26:08 Highlight the passage at 26:08

26:44 okay and and And then the guy will ask, okay, then life will be okay, then what will I do when life is okay, when I have enough money in my life? And then the big shot guy says, oh, once you have enough money in your life, you can retire, go live in a Mexican village, go out on your fishing boat, catch fish, take it home to your family and feed your family and live a very happy life. Report an error in the passage at 26:44 Highlight the passage at 26:44

27:18 But he says, but sir, I'm really doing that now. I don't need a selfish to make money. So, and the point of the story is, the point of the story is, sometimes, you know, we just get caught up in, we live a very busy life. Report an error in the passage at 27:18 Highlight the passage at 27:18

27:39 You know, this is a very modern life. It moves at 100 miles an hour, you know. And sometimes we just need to learn how to step back and just live a little bit more simply. A little bit more simply. We don't need to be rushing around. And we can just use our everyday life, everyday experience to develop more kind of peaceful feelings in our lives. Report an error in the passage at 27:39 Highlight the passage at 27:39

28:14 I mean, sometimes, you know, we don't need a... We don't need to, you know, jump in a car to go somewhere. We can just walk, you know, walk to the bus stop. And as you're walking, you know, don't look at your phone. Don't have any music playing. You just walk and just use those moments to just see what's going on in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 28:14 Highlight the passage at 28:14

28:43 It's like how often do we see and know what's happening in our minds? When we're doing stuff, we're distracted. We're distracted with whatever's in front of us. I like to work in the monastery. I'm on the tools. I look after the plants. I try to keep the place clean. And you can still see, even though you're doing something to help out the monastery, your mind is kind of still, Captivated by whatever's in front of you. And that kind of takes you away from what you're actually feeling or what you're actually knowing inside. Report an error in the passage at 28:43 Highlight the passage at 28:43

29:32 So sometimes we need to have those moments where we can just look inside and just to see what our mind states are like. Are we, you know, are we... Report an error in the passage at 29:32 Highlight the passage at 29:32

29:49 Are we unhappy or are we peaceful or are we feeling good? Sometimes we don't give ourselves that opportunity to reflect, to actually see what's happening inside. And I think maybe that's one of the reasons why we just get stuck in our old ways of thinking. You know, sometimes when you, you know, people just get stuck in life. Yeah, they just stay unhappy or they just seem troubled for a long time. Report an error in the passage at 29:49 Highlight the passage at 29:49

30:31 And maybe it's because they don't give themselves enough time to see what is going on. And I think, you know, one of the reasons why I decided to take on this path because I kind of saw what was happening inside of me and decided to do something about it. Report an error in the passage at 30:31 Highlight the passage at 30:31

30:58 So I just took on this path of just basically the meditation. To me, meditation and just being a virtuous person. We talk about kamma in Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 30:58 Highlight the passage at 30:58

31:17 Just living by that simple principle is we're making karma every day or karma every moment. And what type of karma are we putting into this moment? Are we making good karma or are we making bad karma? So those little shifts of how we see life can change it little by little. And that's where the journey starts. Report an error in the passage at 31:17 Highlight the passage at 31:17

31:46 That's where it starts. And the one thing I like about it is in the suttas it says, you know, Buddhism is like beautiful at the beginning and beautiful in the middle and beautiful at the end. And I think when you think about it, you can just see the beauty of this path. Just the beauty of just being, just trying to being a little bit more virtuous. Report an error in the passage at 31:46 Highlight the passage at 31:46

32:12 The beauty of doing more good karma in your life. You know, the beauty of just embarking on a practice of meditation. And it's something that doesn't really change throughout the course of your practice. It's because, you know, I've been doing the same thing since day one. You ask him, he probably do the same thing too. You know, and we just, because it's a development. Report an error in the passage at 32:12 Highlight the passage at 32:12

32:45 It's not a, it's a development of, Human qualities are growth in one's life. You understand the teachings and stuff, but then you also have to develop it. Report an error in the passage at 32:45 Highlight the passage at 32:45

33:02 So develop it and see where it brings you. And after a long time of practice, you can start to appreciate how these teachings have helped you in your life. Report an error in the passage at 33:02 Highlight the passage at 33:02

33:21 He developed the mind to the point where it's easier to be kind. It's easier to share goodness with one another. And yeah, I think that's just a lovely reflection. Beautiful at the beginning, when you start off. Beautiful at the middle is kind of like during the practice. practice, you know, becoming... Report an error in the passage at 33:21 Highlight the passage at 33:21

33:52 Becoming from a lay person to becoming an enlightened being and beautiful at the end. Can you imagine how beautiful Nibbāna can be? I think it's pretty awesome. So in a sense, life is kind of like what you add on to it. Report an error in the passage at 33:52 Highlight the passage at 33:52

34:20 I used to be a chef, so I always liked to kind of talk about food. Report an error in the passage at 34:20 Highlight the passage at 34:20

34:27 And no one likes to eat bland food right? Do you like to eat bland food? Report an error in the passage at 34:27 Highlight the passage at 34:27

34:37 Making stuff good. Report an error in the passage at 34:37 Highlight the passage at 34:37

34:50 And sometimes just simple ideas of just thinking about How we can live our life is just like adding a little bit of MSG to every moment. Report an error in the passage at 34:50 Highlight the passage at 34:50

35:11 Make stuff good. Adding a little bit of kindness to your interactions with other people. Make stuff good. Report an error in the passage at 35:11 Highlight the passage at 35:11

35:27 Adding a little bit of fun to the interaction. That you have with other people is making stuff good. And the funny thing is, is just a little bit of laughter, a little bit of happiness. It's something that is kind of like, I think when you talk about such a serious practice like Buddhism, oh, you cannot laugh. Report an error in the passage at 35:27 Highlight the passage at 35:27

35:55 Oh, you got to be serious. Report an error in the passage at 35:55 Highlight the passage at 35:55

36:03 You've got to be serious and you cannot have fun. It's forbidden. You can't have fun. But the unique thing about just meeting somebody like Ajahn Brahm is one of the things that he uses on a daily basis is humour. It's humour. Report an error in the passage at 36:03 Highlight the passage at 36:03

36:33 I come from, when I view my teacher, I see him from a place of a lot of respect and a person who really kind of understands the mind more deeply than the average person to a point where us, people who have been around him, don't understand. So when he says stuff and when he kind of says it, Over and over again, a simple thing like humour can be used to help the mind with its practice, with the path. Report an error in the passage at 36:33 Highlight the passage at 36:33

37:17 And we all know what it's like to laugh. We all know what it's like to have a good time. And you can just see how freeing it is for the mind. For that moment, you know, when you're laughing, you're not worried about anything. Well, that's not true. Because one time, Ajahn Brahm laughed so hard that he almost choked. That wasn't funny. So I remember we were just cracking jokes with one another. Report an error in the passage at 37:17 Highlight the passage at 37:17

37:59 And Ajahn Brahm was, he just came down to the office and we cracked a joke. I can't really tell jokes. We cracked a joke and Ajahn Brahm started laughing and he started to choke. Have you ever been around him when he starts to choke? He laughs and he starts to choke. And I was like, he's just laughing. He's having fun. And it's kind of like cute in a way when you see him laugh at his own jokes. Report an error in the passage at 37:59 Highlight the passage at 37:59

38:30 He's actually really laughing at his own jokes. Report an error in the passage at 38:30 Highlight the passage at 38:30

38:35 So that's like, it's like one of the, and then it's like, you know, why does he do that? Why does he do that? And it's kind of like a little teaching for us as well. It's kind of like, I think one of the reasons why he does that is to create an atmosphere of just being relaxed in an environment which can be quite serious. Report an error in the passage at 38:35 Highlight the passage at 38:35

39:05 So, laughter. Laughter, having a bit of fun, is a MSG, MSG that you can add into your life because it makes stuff good. Report an error in the passage at 39:05 Highlight the passage at 39:05

39:28 And I just think just laughter, well, you know, if you've been doing this for a long time, you can start to see the growth. In your own practice. And you can just sit back and just be happy with the places you can take your mind. That's a nice thing. The places where you can take your mind. You can take your mind to a place of peace. You can take your mind to a place of loving kindness. Report an error in the passage at 39:28 Highlight the passage at 39:28

39:59 Or if you want to be serious and wise, you can take your mind to the place of being serious and wise. Our minds, Our minds have the power or the flexibility to do so many things. We don't need to be stuck in a certain way. We just have to be bold enough to look at ourselves and to just see where we are. Like all of us, we know where we are in terms of our level of inner happiness. Report an error in the passage at 39:59 Highlight the passage at 39:59

40:38 And we're here so we can learn something and do something about it. So that is like the little message I would like to share with you tonight. It's a message that the mind is very flexible, very flexible. It can take you to many places, you know. Ajahn Brahm takes you to the ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-navana. Report an error in the passage at 40:38 Highlight the passage at 40:38

41:09 And some other moments take you to different places or, you know, life is a, you know, it's a wonder, it's a wonder. And you can actually start to feel, you know, the goodness and the, you know, the loving kindness that a mind can have, that a mind can share with others. So that's just a little message I would like to share with you guys. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 41:09 Highlight the passage at 41:09

41:52 Any complaints? Report an error in the passage at 41:52 Highlight the passage at 41:52

41:57 Huh? More jokes? Okay, more jokes. Yes, more jokes. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 41:57 Highlight the passage at 41:57

42:12 Any questions? Comments? Come on, don't be shy. Otherwise we have to give the microphone to Eddie. Report an error in the passage at 42:12 Highlight the passage at 42:12

42:23 Oh, Eddie, oh, oh. Oh, if it all else fails, we have Eddie. Thank you, Eddie, for asking lots of questions. Ajahn Santutthi. It's good for patience. Thanks for the really, really, really, really, really wonderful talk. Oh, really? Yeah. What you're saying today was only the last two, three days I was lying down in my bed, I was thinking, you know, and that's what you said tonight. Report an error in the passage at 42:23 Highlight the passage at 42:23

42:51 What was that? What I was thinking, yeah, yeah, yeah. What I'm just telling you is, Buddhism, okay, before Buddha died, you know, they asked him, Venerable Sir, what is your teaching really about? Then he told them, my teaching is about suffering and the ending of suffering. So the thing is, things like you mentioned about contentment, economic, all these are things, you know, that help us through, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 42:51 Highlight the passage at 42:51

43:25 And all this comes back to our mind. The mind is a forerunner of all states. This mind, mind and our feelings. So it comes out the whole thing, to summarize, what I just ask you, is whenever we have any disturbing feeling, there's a suffering, something happens, our mind hops on it, this thing, and we have this suffering. Report an error in the passage at 43:25 Highlight the passage at 43:25

43:53 Yeah. Knowing this, this thing, we work on the mind, this thing, put in positive thoughts to lower the suffering and gradually learn it and let it go out, isn't it? That's the basic of the teachings, don't you think? Yeah, I think... Like what you're saying tonight too, isn't it? It's just like, you know, I think when you're developing like peaceful mind states through the meditation or just living a virtuous lifestyle, Report an error in the passage at 43:53 Highlight the passage at 43:53

44:48 As people who come here and who want to learn about the Dhamma or just to meditate or whatever, we're just developing these good qualities within us that can just help us navigate through life a lot easier. And when something stressful or you might lose your cool or something like that, which is normal, you always have a baseline to go back to. Report an error in the passage at 44:48 Highlight the passage at 44:48

45:11 And as Buddhists or practitioners or whatever you want to call it, We're just developing a more kind of healthier baseline. You can call it Buddhism, you can call it psychology, or just like wise ways of living life, or anything like that. Just developing the mind. And also for the others, ultimately it's the peace inside, isn't it? Not how much money, external thing you have or what. Report an error in the passage at 45:11 Highlight the passage at 45:11

45:41 It's the peace inside that's the winner. Yeah, and then... And then it's like, you know, it's like, yeah, like material things and, you know, they're endless. You can always want the next best thing and if you have the funds or money, you'll get kind of chase those things and want better. And sometimes it's just nice to have little. Yeah, sometimes it's nice to be poor. So then you can't have much and you can just live with what you have and be content with it. Report an error in the passage at 45:41 Highlight the passage at 45:41

46:16 So peace is also a healer, isn't it? A healer, you heal yourself. If you're peaceful, you have a... I think, I just think like, if you develop peace throughout your life, your mind might get rattled. It get rattled, it become flustered, or you know, stressed out, those kinds of things. But it moves back into peace quickly. Like, you know, you've been around monks, meditators for a long time. Report an error in the passage at 46:16 Highlight the passage at 46:16

46:44 You're not perfect. But we kind of regulate ourselves quite quickly if we've been practicing well. Thank you for the wonderful talk. Yeah, no worries. So remember, if you can regulate yourself well, you're doing well. That's my tip. Report an error in the passage at 46:44 Highlight the passage at 46:44

47:06 Anymore? Okay. Ajahn, how do you react when in meditation you are full of fear, scared, feel lost, and lonely, no help in sight? What do I do to calm down and find peace? Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 47:06 Highlight the passage at 47:06

47:27 Just experience. Just keep doing it and you will start to understand what our minds have to offer in terms of the different types of emotions that may arise. Emotions like fear, loneliness, sadness. Report an error in the passage at 47:27 Highlight the passage at 47:27

47:52 That's just one part of the mind. The mind also has emotions like calm, peace, loving kindness. That also lives in one place. That all lives in the mind. And with the meditation or just with trying to develop a good life, we are more focusing on the good parts of the mind. Parts like contentment, being in the present moment, happiness, laughing, joking around without harming anybody or teasing people too much because sometimes if you tease too much you might actually cause harm. Report an error in the passage at 47:52 Highlight the passage at 47:52

48:44 But yeah, I think it's where you live in your own head is the main thing. Just trying to... Sometimes we have to move house in our own heads. Yeah. And just move. Move and see what happens. Okay. Hello Ajahn. What is the practice that we can do to let go of the past? Either it comes from in a form of regret or rumination or missing past time. Report an error in the passage at 48:44 Highlight the passage at 48:44

49:24 And can we do to appreciate present moment? Yes, like sometimes, I think sometimes when it comes to the past, if we learn how to live in the present moment and most of the time, the past is something that we don't value too much because we're living in the present moment. And yeah, I think... I think if you live in the present moment, you don't really hold on to things. I think the one thing that I find kind of weird is holding on to photos. Report an error in the passage at 49:24 Highlight the passage at 49:24

50:06 When you're holding on to a photo, it's like just holding on to something from the past. And I think for myself, I'm living more in the present moment, just living day to day. I'm not really concerned about like keeping photos because the photos are something like it's from the past. So I think in that sense when we live more in the present moment the thoughts about the past they don't really come up. Report an error in the passage at 50:06 Highlight the passage at 50:06

50:41 And it's kind of strange really because as humans we pretty much live in the present moment most of the time because I can ask you a question. Do you remember yourself 20 years ago? Not really. I don't remember myself 20 years ago or I don't remember myself before that. It's kind of like a very distant memory. And I think, yeah, I just think the more you live in the present moment, the past kind of disappears. Report an error in the passage at 50:41 Highlight the passage at 50:41

51:21 And sometimes you think about the future because we need a plan. I need to plan the next building project or, you know, think about who's going to come live at Kusala Hermitage. Report an error in the passage at 51:21 Highlight the passage at 51:21

51:33 But yeah, I don't think it's something that we need to worry about if we're living more in the present moment. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 51:33 Highlight the passage at 51:33

51:47 Any more questions or comments? Report an error in the passage at 51:47 Highlight the passage at 51:47

51:51 No? Okay. Very good. We can pay respects to Buddha Dhamma Saṅgha. Report an error in the passage at 51:51 Highlight the passage at 51:51