Importance of Buddhist Community

0:00 So, now I'm supposed to give a talk for one hour. I think it's a bit of a stretch. So let's see what's going to happen. It always depends on your mind. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:09 In our tradition, we don't really prepare for these talks. So it always depends if the mind is willing to give for one hour. And I have to be kind to you as well. I don't want to keep you here if there's nothing nice that's coming out. It's a bit of a drab if somebody gives a long talk, a spiel, and it's not interesting. So yeah, like I said, this is my first talk here in Nullamara. Report an error in the passage at 0:09 Highlight the passage at 0:09

0:40 I've been coming here for 15 years. I've been now living here in support of you all for the last 15 years. First I came here as Ajahn Brahm's driver. I used to drive him 15 years ago, 2010. Report an error in the passage at 0:40 Highlight the passage at 0:40

0:58 Then I became a novice monk 2011 and then I became a monk 2012 here and then I was his assistant for the first five years coming here to be his assistant here and then after that the other junior monks have to become the assistant or they get to be his assistant and for five years you sort of disappear and then you become a teacher and you're supposed to have something to say. Report an error in the passage at 0:58 Highlight the passage at 0:58

1:27 I don't know if I have a lot to say but it's interesting to be a teacher. I remember 21 years ago now, I actually got to know Buddhist Society of West Australia. You don't, a lot of you, maybe your logos don't know, but there's a huge impact what this Buddhist Society has. Report an error in the passage at 1:27 Highlight the passage at 1:27

1:46 21 years ago, we have the camera there on the same spot we have tonight. I was living in New York and I was watching these talks. That was time before the YouTube even. YouTube had started, but Buddhist Society didn't have a YouTube site. A lot of There wasn't a lot of Buddhist teachings online actually 21 years ago. But the Buddhist society had a good idea. Report an error in the passage at 1:46 Highlight the passage at 1:46

2:13 Our president I think at that time was Saul Hanna. So I have a lot of gratitude for Saul. He started the Buddha Ajahn Brahm talks online. And at that time you had to come. To our website, Buddhist Society of Western Australia website, and download the talk. You go there, download the talk, and that's how it was done in those days. You couldn't just go into YouTube. Report an error in the passage at 2:13 Highlight the passage at 2:13

2:34 We didn't have the streaming services we have here. We all forget how quickly things have come with the mobile phones and all that. But 20 years ago, it wasn't there. Report an error in the passage at 2:34 Highlight the passage at 2:34

2:44 So I was living in New York, and I was going to all these different Buddhist classes. And I started to listen to all these teachers. But when I found this Buddhist Society of Western Australia's website and I found Ajahn Brahm, I said, oh, I'm sold. This sounds right. It's interesting with the Buddhist teachings. It's the same for me. People always ask the same question. Report an error in the passage at 2:44 Highlight the passage at 2:44

3:10 Why did you become a monk? And it's a bit of a difficult question we give these stories. And I've given a talk like that, so I'm not going to go there now. Report an error in the passage at 3:10 Highlight the passage at 3:10

3:20 I'm not going to give that same talk again, but it's interesting that there's something about these teachings that when you come across these, whether you're Buddhist or not, it doesn't really matter, but when you come across these teachings, something rings right. Something feels like this sounds right. It's almost like, sometimes I describe even during the rains retreat in Bodhinyana Monastery, when Ajahn Brahm gives us talks and there's Report an error in the passage at 3:20 Highlight the passage at 3:20

3:49 It used to be just the monks there in the hall and Ajahn Brahm gives these talks and everybody's meditating for three months just very, very quietly. It almost smells right. There's this kind of feeling of something very powerful. And no matter where you go, people find the massive benefit for this. I just came from Poland. There's been a project starting in Poland with Ajahn Brahmali. I was there and we went to look at a potential monastery site. Report an error in the passage at 3:49 Highlight the passage at 3:49

4:20 And Poland is a very conservative Catholic country. And so we were in this small, small town. And there was this mayor was going to come and meet us. There was this people who are looking for the place and then us, Ajahn Brahmali and I. And the mayor comes and he says, oh, my wife, he listens to Ajahn Brahm all the time. Report an error in the passage at 4:20 Highlight the passage at 4:20

4:45 And we were like, wow, this is amazing. You're like, you go to... Poland, in a small village, and the mayor's wife listens Ajahn Brahm. And you don't think it's like something special, but it is. It's a small town in Poland, in a very Catholic country, and the mayor was just so excited. Oh, I want to support you. Report an error in the passage at 4:45 Highlight the passage at 4:45

5:06 I want to have your place here. It's so important that you come. Please come. So it's very inspiring. I remember I was just having a lunch there. Before that, I was in Finland because I'm Finnish. I was in Finland visiting my mom and dad. And then one day we were with my Buddhist friends. I was teaching there. We were going to this retreat place and having a lunch just on the petrol station. And then this lady comes and we were eating there. Report an error in the passage at 5:06 Highlight the passage at 5:06

5:38 And she comes to us like, oh, you're a Buddhist monk. Yeah, yeah, I'm a Buddhist monk. She said, where are you from? I said, I live in Australia. She said, how do you know Ajahn Brahm? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm one of his senior monks. I said, oh, amazing. He saved my life. Ajahn Brahm saved my life. And these people, they mean it. Report an error in the passage at 5:38 Highlight the passage at 5:38

5:57 They really mean that sometimes to us monks, not just Ajahn Brahm, but even for us, maybe not so well known yet, but we are important. Sometimes we forget even us. As other monks, because we don't really interact with you that much. Most of the time we're in the monastery. But we have to remind ourselves that we are important as well. Report an error in the passage at 5:57 Highlight the passage at 5:57

6:23 In the sense that what we do is important. The same way, let's say you were a care at home or home for somebody. You take care of your mom or you take care of your partner. My mom is now a... A primary care for my dad, he's got Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. It's a lot of work, but it's important work. Carers, they don't get enough recognition. Report an error in the passage at 6:23 Highlight the passage at 6:23

6:51 It's one of these jobs which is unseen work, right? A lot of people we know, being a carer, there's so many people who do that kind of work. It's constant, you cannot take a break from there. But it's very important work. And it's the same for us monks. It takes a long time to become a monk. Like I said, I've been coming here for 15 years. Report an error in the passage at 6:51 Highlight the passage at 6:51

7:18 And this is the first time I'm giving a talk. This is how long you had to feed me and clothe me and give me a place. Isn't it terrible? Report an error in the passage at 7:18 Highlight the passage at 7:18

7:29 How expensive it is to get a talk. And it's like all these years you had to feed me and clothe me and give me a place. Pay my medical bills. Oh, wow. It's a lot. So now it's my time to start giving back. But it does take a long, long time to train as a monk. And I'm just starting, so forgive me for this speech. Report an error in the passage at 7:29 Highlight the passage at 7:29

7:53 It's not maybe the best, but hey, give me another 15 years and who knows? It might get better. Probably not, but you know, it's always good to live in hope. Report an error in the passage at 7:53 Highlight the passage at 7:53

8:05 But I know a lot of you. Look, like I said, I've been coming here for 15 years. I've been a part of the society. I've known a lot of you people. Some of you are here first times, but you're all important. And I do encourage you, really be part of the Buddhist society. If you really want to get the full benefit of this, what you have here, it's not enough just to come and meditate and listen to talks. Report an error in the passage at 8:05 Highlight the passage at 8:05

8:32 Be part of it. And you really, when you're part of the Buddhist society, you start to get to know how things work. Then you get to know the monastics, Ajahn Brahm. Then you can invite us for your home, because we know you. Then we feel obligated. It's a hint. That's how it works. You need to get involved. Report an error in the passage at 8:32 Highlight the passage at 8:32

8:52 And when you're involved, then you can use us. But if you just... come here meditate and so they all can you come come to my home we're like well I don't know Report an error in the passage at 8:52 Highlight the passage at 8:52

9:04 But if you've been coming for years and feeding us, giving cups of tea and coffee for me and So it's very important for you, not just that you... Report an error in the passage at 9:04 Highlight the passage at 9:04

9:26 You get to know us, but there's something to that, that you become part of this kind of Buddhist society and it's very, very important. You sort of get merged into the way of thinking. And that's what, it's not just for us monks that we take a long time to train, although maybe I'm a pretty bad case because it took me so long, but it's same for you. Report an error in the passage at 9:26 Highlight the passage at 9:26

9:48 For you to really get the... Get really immersed into this dhamma, the Buddha's teaching. It takes a long time. Sure, you can get these kind of ideas that you understand. It's like, oh, this is what the Buddha was teaching. Buddha was teaching anicca dukkha anattā. You can just, you know, it's like, oh, I know Pāli. I didn't even know these fancy words. Report an error in the passage at 9:48 Highlight the passage at 9:48

10:12 Some of you do. And if you think that's enough, it's not. Sometimes it's interesting. For us to teach many people, we teach different cultures, and different cultures we have to adapt. We teach Sri Lankan some way, and we teach the Thai some other way, and Aussie is one sort of a little bit different way, and when you go to really to Poland or Finland where there's not an understanding of Buddhism, we cannot use these fancy Pāli words, and we have to really explain everything that was done. Report an error in the passage at 10:12 Highlight the passage at 10:12

10:43 So it's very easy here that Ajahn Brahm and the Buddhist society lay as the grindwork, but Report an error in the passage at 10:43 Highlight the passage at 10:43

10:54 When you start learning Buddhism, your inspiration starts growing further and further. You really get more and more into it. And it really shapes you into the core. Your outlook of the world becomes the way aligned with the dhamma. Report an error in the passage at 10:54 Highlight the passage at 10:54

11:16 And even with... Let's say Sri Lankans, you know your dhamma pretty well. You maybe went to the Sunday school. You recited the Pāli declensions. You know a lot of Pāli words and all that. But sometimes even those kind of people who grew up with that, they're like a spoon in a soup. It's actually a dhammapada verse. The spoon doesn't know the taste of the soup. Report an error in the passage at 11:16 Highlight the passage at 11:16

11:49 What it means from that verse is you have to eat the soup, you have to eat the teachings, you have to sort of internalize it. It becomes you. And then Ajahn Brahm's teacher Ajahn Chah said that you see everything is teaching us. When you start getting really into it, you start seeing how... Everything is teaching you. Every sort of hardships in life and every good moments in life. You see how changing the life is all the time. Report an error in the passage at 11:49 Highlight the passage at 11:49

12:27 You see how the anicca, impermanence or unreliability works everywhere in life. We cannot just sort of grasp on anything. Report an error in the passage at 12:27 Highlight the passage at 12:27

12:37 And then you start to become more and more kind towards people when you see that everybody is suffering. You can see that the anattā works, the non-self works, because you see that we're not, none of us are in charge here. Nobody really knows what they're doing. They're just going according to the cause and conditions. They're just, everybody, we're all conditioned human beings. There's nobody there. Report an error in the passage at 12:37 Highlight the passage at 12:37

13:04 There's no self there per se. You cannot find a self anywhere here. It's all conditioned and it's all impermanent. No matter where you look. And then that's how you see your perception changes. Oh my God, it's only 15 minutes. I still have to talk for 45 minutes. Report an error in the passage at 13:04 Highlight the passage at 13:04

13:29 Your perception changes and you see your world differently. It is really nice to start seeing the world in that sense, in those terms. But it takes a long time. Report an error in the passage at 13:29 Highlight the passage at 13:29

13:46 For us monks, sure, we have to study many things. You go to the monastery. I need to go into this kind of long spiels now so I can, you know, spend the time. So you become a young monk. First of all, like I said, you're serving the monastery. You serve one year. You become Anikarika. And you drive Ajahn Brahm. And it was really exciting. I remember going here. Like, I used to drive him here. Report an error in the passage at 13:46 Highlight the passage at 13:46

14:10 And Ajahn Brahm always comes here around 2.30, 3 o 'clock. I used to just wait here in the hall instead of going back to the monastery. And it was just, for me, it was so exciting just to listen to his talks. To be actually here with him, like I said, I started to look at his talks online about 21 years ago. But then I remember coming here to the hall, like, wow, this is the headquarters. Report an error in the passage at 14:10 Highlight the passage at 14:10

14:36 I'm in the midst of it. So I used to wait here until he gave the talk, and then only I drove back to the Bodhinyana, to our monastery. I spent time here. Report an error in the passage at 14:36 Highlight the passage at 14:36

14:47 And then you become a novice monk and then you have to start really studying the rules of the monastics. So we have a lot of, we have to go through this. It's about three to five years and it's more or less five years you go through all the rules. Many, many times we have a lot of rules. We have to learn how to be a monk, how to behave, how to apply them. Report an error in the passage at 14:47 Highlight the passage at 14:47

15:08 And also a lot of the leeways in the rules. This is what the rule says, but we can sort of go around with it this way. That's a joke. I don't know if it landed too well, but monastics, we're really good in finding loopholes in our rules. That's one of the, you become expert in finding loopholes in the rules. Report an error in the passage at 15:08 Highlight the passage at 15:08

15:29 Because every rule, like, that's why we have lawyers in the world. Lawyers, like, there's a rule and there's pages and pages how to apply it, but then always somebody will be like, but in this case, you can look at it this way. And so we have two and a half thousand years of people, monastics, looking at rules. So we have Report an error in the passage at 15:29 Highlight the passage at 15:29

15:47 Hundreds of pages of loopholes, how to find your way around it. But that's partly joke, but it's partly true. In our tradition, Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Pramali, really in the forest tradition, it's not that we try to find the loopholes per se, but we need to understand how to apply the rules in the 21st century. Report an error in the passage at 15:47 Highlight the passage at 15:47

16:12 And we, in our tradition, we... Especially really with Ajahn Brahm and now with Ajahn Brahmali. Ajahn Brahmali is actually my teacher in the rules. We really need to understand how to apply the rule here and now. We don't become to reach it. A lot of times you can really read the rules as they are written. For us, we try to understand what it means. Report an error in the passage at 16:12 Highlight the passage at 16:12

16:38 So again, it takes a long time to really to learn the rules. I know Padimokka. I can recite it. It takes about 45 minutes for me to recite it. I actually have to get back to it. I have to start practicing because I didn't do it for three years. Side note. But it takes about 45 minutes just to recite the rules in Pāli. But then it's not enough to know the rules. Report an error in the passage at 16:38 Highlight the passage at 16:38

17:04 You have to know how to apply them. You have to know how to... Use them in the real world. And in the monastery it's easy for us. We live amongst the monks and everybody's giving to us and you're in this beautiful container in the monastery. It's a very, very nice place to live. And it's very easy for us to apply the rules because you're in the monastery. But then you go outside and you're with mom and dad. And then it's like, oh, how do I have to stretch this rule now? Report an error in the passage at 17:04 Highlight the passage at 17:04

17:31 Especially with the mom. Moms tend to know better than I do. Mom tells you, yes, okay, you have the rule, but you have to do this for me. Hmm, no. This is where I stand my ground. But okay, this way I can be kind and I can just sort of understand the world this way. Report an error in the passage at 17:31 Highlight the passage at 17:31

17:53 Let's say, just give an example. You might be wondering what I mean by that. Okay, we have a rule that this is, this dharma talk turned into weird ways, but again, like I said, I'm sorry. This is my first talk, so you have to forgive me. We have a rule about staying in the same How do you apply the Pāli rule? Report an error in the passage at 17:53 Highlight the passage at 17:53

18:24 How do you apply that rule? Well, in our tradition, we take it as that you can sleep in the same place, in the same house, even though it's under the same roof, as long as you have a lockable door, for example. So I can sort of like, okay, I can go with that. So I can stay with mom and dad in the same house because the way we applied is I have my own room. Report an error in the passage at 18:24 Highlight the passage at 18:24

18:48 So I'm not breaking the rule. Because if you read the rule like that, you cannot sleep under the same roof. Even if I would stay in a hotel, I would be breaking the rule because you're sleeping under the same roof. So that I can do. But if mom, in the beginning, she was really pushing it. With the food, you know, we cannot eat after midday. And mom was always like, no, you have to eat. I'm not going to cook for you. And I remember dad in the beginning was like, I went home the first few times, like, well, he will eat when he gets really hungry. Report an error in the passage at 18:48 Highlight the passage at 18:48

19:25 So I said, okay, I'm not eating. So I put my food down. No, I'm not eating after midday. So I just, you know, whether you cook for me or I have to starve for a week when I'm here. Report an error in the passage at 19:25 Highlight the passage at 19:25

19:38 So mom got really desperate. I was like, well, okay. It looks like he's meaning it. So I was like, because I stand my ground, mom was starting to cook. And now mom is really like, even if I go on my auntie's place, mom is always, make sure you cook for him before midday. He has to eat. He's not going to eat. So he's now really following up. He's really taking care of me. So it took a little while, but some things you just have to stand your ground. Report an error in the passage at 19:38 Highlight the passage at 19:38

20:06 And so it's been interesting to, Like I said, again, to train in these things, and there's so many aspects about this, and how you apply to be a monk, like how you work in the world, and then you start becoming a bit more senior. Like, okay, you spend four or five years in the monastery, and then you have to start doing little things, like you start doing funerals. Funerals you don't maybe realize, but as monks we actually do quite a few funerals. Report an error in the passage at 20:06 Highlight the passage at 20:06

20:34 Like Buddhist society here, we don't have a lot of other other temples here in Perth, so to speak, but our Buddhist society is quite large, so there is quite a few funerals we get to do. What was the first thing that came to your mind when you were a monk? So you become a five monks, five years as a monk, and then you start doing this kind of service. Report an error in the passage at 20:34 Highlight the passage at 20:34

20:59 And boy, jeez man, you give the first funeral and it's a... Wow, that was a mess. Report an error in the passage at 20:59 Highlight the passage at 20:59

21:10 Like I'm really good at some some things and I'm like like if I have a superpower I have a superpower I'm like I'm really annoying I'm super annoying so that's like I have a superpower I didn't I didn't gain it through meditation I sort of innately have it. Report an error in the passage at 21:10 Highlight the passage at 21:10

21:27 So I did this first funeral I just remember it's not even that far from here and there were I think five people and the body there obviously the body was there for the funeral sort of Sad funeral. And the first time I was doing, I'm really, okay, you go as a junior monk, like I said, you follow Ajahn Brahm everywhere. Report an error in the passage at 21:27 Highlight the passage at 21:27

21:50 You're his assistant. We call it upata. So I went to the few funerals, obviously, with Ajahn Brahm and with the other senior monks like Ajahn Appi and Ajahn Brahmali. I go to the funeral and then it's your first time doing it yourself. So you're fumbling with the book and it's like, what chanting are we doing? And I don't remember. Report an error in the passage at 21:50 Highlight the passage at 21:50

22:09 It's like page 36. Oh yeah, do that. Okay, like do that, and you're just like going through the chanting, trying to get it right. And I was like, I was trying to give this talk, like, you know, like, you know, you have to give this talk, and you're like, compassion, and it's like, it's a sad occasion, and that was especially sad occasion, that was a person had committed suicide. Report an error in the passage at 22:09 Highlight the passage at 22:09

22:35 So I do this thing, and I just sort of like see that, you know, people started to leave. Maybe there were six. Six others, like one person leaves, just like shaking his head. It's like, oh yeah, this is not going well. And then another person leaves. Okay, well, we have four people. It's not too bad. I keep talking about something about kindness and compassion. Maybe it wasn't genuine, but I'm going through, I'm doing the best I can. Report an error in the passage at 22:35 Highlight the passage at 22:35

23:04 I look at the end of the funeral. There was that person who was still there. The partner was there and the partner's mother didn't go. So it was the wife and the mother and the dead person. Everybody else left. I don't really know why they left, why they walked out of my funeral, but it was sort of embarrassing. Report an error in the passage at 23:04 Highlight the passage at 23:04

23:35 Can you imagine going to the second funeral and that's your track record? It wasn't good. So I felt a bit nervous for the next funerals, but interestingly enough, the next funeral went really well. Well, I might as well tell that one. So that was a nice story. So, you know, again, it was a sad story. Funerals, you know, sometimes they are like that. Sometimes there's really nice funerals, but this was, you know, there was a young sort of lad now dying. Report an error in the passage at 23:35 Highlight the passage at 23:35

24:04 He just dropped, he just, his heart stopped, and he passed away in his room, and the mother found him there. He was 35ish. So I go there and I see him, they dressed him with the clothes he used to wear, like they wanted to put his t-shirt, his favorite t-shirt and all that, and they had comics. So I was like, oh great, comics. I was looking at the comics on the t-shirt, on the body there. I was like, oh yeah, cool. Report an error in the passage at 24:04 Highlight the passage at 24:04

24:36 And then, So I gave this speech about it, like, oh, he must have been a funny guy. And oh, I remember they put, interesting enough, it was a CD Walkman, you know, like one of these things you can still take your CD with them. I didn't even know people used them anymore, but they had them there. So he must have been a music lover. So I gave this talk about, it's like, oh, I've learned this from Martin Brown. Report an error in the passage at 24:36 Highlight the passage at 24:36

25:00 It's like, oh, it's like a concert. You go into a concert and then it's like. It's like, wow, it's like you're in a concert, and it's so nice, you listen to music, and yeah, it's so nice to be in a concert, but even when you leave in the concert, like, there's still, you just remember the good feeling from the concert, and you appreciate the concert, how nice it was, and the same way, we appreciate this, like, to live, okay, he died relatively young, he died 35, but we appreciate him having to be with him, and it's like a concert, and all that, so I give you a few of these similes. Report an error in the passage at 25:00 Highlight the passage at 25:00

25:34 A few chokes, I don't remember the chokes now, but I grabbed some chokes and I just see the mother sitting there and it's like she's in the front row. I was like, oh jeez, I hope this is going well. Report an error in the passage at 25:34 Highlight the passage at 25:34

25:45 And the sister was there and the sister was just sort of like shaking her head a little bit. I was like, I wonder if that's a good sign. This was my second funeral. So afterwards, I still have a lot of doubts because the first one was a failure. So it's like I'm leaning into it. Report an error in the passage at 25:45 Highlight the passage at 25:45

26:07 So I'm leaving there, and then the brother comes to me. The brother was like, oh, so good. It was so good. You just talked exactly what he was. He loved music, and he was a funny guy. He was like the perfect. I'm like, jeez, oh, that was good. All right, so that went well. So two out of one, out of two, one out of two, so okay. Report an error in the passage at 26:07 Highlight the passage at 26:07

26:27 So from then onwards, it's been a bit of up and down. But mostly my funeral's okay. So if you have a funeral coming, it's like, yeah. I do okay funeral these days. Oh, I'll tell you a funny story. This is a good story. I did a funeral in Melbourne. Oh, that was funny. I don't know why I'm going to this. But look, I'm coming back to the dharma. It's not just old jokes and giggles. Jeez, man. Report an error in the passage at 26:27 Highlight the passage at 26:27

26:54 I did this funeral in Melbourne a few years ago. This lady, she was just an old lady, just died out of old age. Nothing dramatic. And she was... By herself and her niece gave the talk on behalf of her. She didn't have children. And the niece gave really uplifting talk. You know, sometimes in the funerals they give you really uplifting talk. Report an error in the passage at 26:54 Highlight the passage at 26:54

27:17 And he was really good at it. She was really good at it. She gave, like, really... I don't know if she was almost like a professional speaker. It was, like, really nice. And I started to cry. Like, I'm in the front row. You know, they put the mugs in. I was like, oh, so inspired. I was like, that's so nice. Report an error in the passage at 27:17 Highlight the passage at 27:17

27:38 So then I was like, oh, and now, like, Ajahn Mudito is going to give the Buddhist chant. He was like, okay. So I go there in the front. I was like, that's so nice. And the niece, the niece that looks at me is like, what is he doing? It's like she's all confused. Like everybody else is like just okay with it. Report an error in the passage at 27:38 Highlight the passage at 27:38

27:58 I'm crying. I'm the monk. I'm the only one crying in this funeral. So I was like, huh. So I start doing my chanting. I was like, best of my chant is like all that. And boy, would have, like we do this mettā chant, loving kindness chant in the funerals. That was the best loving kindness chant I ever done. I was just like full of mettā. I was giving this, and it was a nice, so there was like this nice, beautiful, the voice came out. Report an error in the passage at 27:58 Highlight the passage at 27:58

28:26 I was like, I was like, no, okay, it's not coming, but. It was like I really I was so like inspired about it and it was so funny. It was like nobody else is crying. I'm crying in the funeral. So I get out of there and then they end the thing and I go and sit on the side. I'm still crying there a little bit. This lady comes from the catering lady comes. She comes with a cup of coffee and a cake and is like, here, I think you need this. Report an error in the passage at 28:26 Highlight the passage at 28:26

28:56 I was like, thanks. Report an error in the passage at 28:56 Highlight the passage at 28:56

29:00 So yeah, I'm really good at funerals. I cry a lot, but hey, you know, usually funerals it's all right. But it's weird if you don't even know the person. Report an error in the passage at 29:00 Highlight the passage at 29:00

29:13 Okay, so that's what you do. So you do, you know, you start getting into these funerals. And then you do a little, sometimes we do house blessings. We do all kind of, like Ajahn Brahm sometimes says, yeah, yeah, we bless anything. So we bless cars, we bless Buddha statues, and we come to people's houses. Report an error in the passage at 29:13 Highlight the passage at 29:13

29:30 We do all kind of things, so that's part of what we do as a monk. So we have an important place in the society, very important. We're cheap as well, yeah. I mean, okay, yeah, it takes a long time to train us, but still, I mean, I think you get the value. So it's the same way, like I was thinking about that thing with the care, now that my mom is the primary care for my dad, and he's really, really weak. Report an error in the passage at 29:30 Highlight the passage at 29:30

30:00 Almost probably not going to last much longer, but it's almost like the monks we serve, monastics, monks and nuns these days, obviously, we serve this kind of, there's a place in the society which we are really needed, right? You come to the Buddhist society because you know it's an important place for you. There's something about you being looking for life and you don't even know maybe what are you looking for. Report an error in the passage at 30:00 Highlight the passage at 30:00

30:28 Perhaps if you're Buddhist, and you grew up even Buddhist, you knew, like, okay, I go to Theravāda Buddhism, and it's important, and I know the Buddhist teachings. But even if you're not, something sounds right. You start listening to the Buddhist teachings, and it's like, I can recognize that. It gives you answers which you don't maybe get anywhere else. Report an error in the passage at 30:28 Highlight the passage at 30:28

30:53 And we can... Talk about things like what's the meaning in life, how do you find meaning, how do you find peace in your day-to-day life. We can talk about what the mind consists of, we can talk about all kind of weird and interesting things. But more than that, it's sort of this kind of, it gives a little bit of like a peace of mind, it gives us a place or like you feel home. Report an error in the passage at 30:53 Highlight the passage at 30:53

31:23 You see Ajahn Brahm, just to see him is very, very inspiring. You hear the dhamma when we have the sutta classes here, and it's like, yeah, it's important, I needed that. And you might not even think that anything stays in there, but something always stays. It's interesting, even for me, sometimes I come... Report an error in the passage at 31:23 Highlight the passage at 31:23

31:50 It's not like this is my first talk. This would be a bit of a fluke if I would be talking like this. I haven't talked anywhere. I've given quite a few talks actually, but this is the first time I'm doing here in our headquarters in BSWA. And I grew up here, so I really appreciate this place. Like really, really. And I actually ordained here. But there's something about the teachings which gives you something like it gives me a meaning in life. Report an error in the passage at 31:50 Highlight the passage at 31:50

32:22 And it's hard to find meaning in life. It really is hard. There's always this kind of nagging thought sometimes. I used to have it at least. So I think everybody has it. Where you're sort of like, what's the purpose of all of this? It's sort of like a nagging thought there in the back of your mind. Like, I'm going through this. Report an error in the passage at 32:22 Highlight the passage at 32:22

32:44 cycles I'm like I studied and you grew up with your with your family and then you don't think about it too much and then you start studying and you're busy and then you like you thinking is like you go to the work life and then you in the work life and there's like oh I can see there where it's going and I can see all everybody else went through this but it doesn't seem to be it gives you certain things it gives you support it gives you the money it gives you that so you can pay your housing and all those But there's more to life than that. There has to be more to life than that. If I just go through life and I just keep pushing that away, that nagging thought, like what's this all about? Report an error in the passage at 32:44 Highlight the passage at 32:44

33:25 Why are we here? It's really, it's almost stressful. It's almost like you have to address that idea. Why are we here? What's the purpose of living? And then you come to the Buddhist society and then we say like, look. You've done it over and over again. This is just a cycle you're going again. And the meaning really becomes the path. Report an error in the passage at 33:25 Highlight the passage at 33:25

33:55 The path becomes the meaning. Your life is the meaning. You're learning certain things and when you become part of the Buddhist society, you learn the Buddhist teachings, you start sort of unraveling the cycle. That's what happens with the Buddhist teachings. And whether you believe in rebirth or not, Report an error in the passage at 33:55 Highlight the passage at 33:55

34:19 It actually, you see the suffering here now. You see how stressful it is dealing with problems, everyday problems, just going through work and home and all that, dealing with people's problems. And oh boy, one thing we don't get to escape as a monk is people's problems. They just keep coming. Report an error in the passage at 34:19 Highlight the passage at 34:19

34:47 You think you escape in the forest and you're like, yes, a few years as a junior monk, you have a lot of freedom. Oh, it's a wonderful time. Although it's a bit difficult, I must say, in the beginning because there's a very quick stopping when you go to the monastery and you don't have a lot of those kind of freedom to go here and there. Report an error in the passage at 34:47 Highlight the passage at 34:47

35:05 But there's a lot of freedom from interaction with people. We have Ajahn Brahm and now Ajahn Brahmali and now it's me. I mean, partly taking the pugs in the windshield, like there's like this Ajahn Brahm, it's like a lot of pugs in the windshield. And us going sort of like following in the wake and it's like, our life is good, no problem. Report an error in the passage at 35:05 Highlight the passage at 35:05

35:29 And then you become a senior monk. Hmm, they start coming to you. But I'm sure you have a lot of people's problems yourself. There's always something. Family has problems. Does anybody here who has like a perfect family? Report an error in the passage at 35:29 Highlight the passage at 35:29

35:47 No problems? No? Everybody's laughing? Yep, exactly right. There's always somebody has a crazy aunt or auntie. Somebody has divorced. Somebody is dying. Somebody has died. People are getting old and sick. You yourself are getting old and sick. Oh, I'll tell you an interesting story, just to keep you entertained. So I was just in Poland. Report an error in the passage at 35:47 Highlight the passage at 35:47

36:19 Like I said, there was a new monastery project starting. Then we went to give a series of talks with Ajahn Brahmali. Very nice places. And we were in this synagogue in, I think, Krakow. Old synagogue, beautiful place, really big hall. It was really nice to give their talk. And fair play to the Jewish community there to give us the place. So we gave a talk there with Ajahn Brahmali. Report an error in the passage at 36:19 Highlight the passage at 36:19

36:47 And while waiting for the talk, I was downstairs and they just had this exhibition. I can see that they had just, there must have been somewhere these items and they brought back to the basement. And we were waiting there with Ajahn Brahmali before the talk started. They gave us a nice place to rest for half an hour, drink some coffee. And before the talk, it's always nice to relax for a while, meditate and drink coffee. Report an error in the passage at 36:47 Highlight the passage at 36:47

37:11 So they had this, I could see that the things, and I was like, there was this... I was on this board where I had this text, and luckily it was also in English, it was in Polish, and I bet you it was Yiddish, the other language there, and the English, and it was like old Jewish story, and I thought it was quite interesting. Report an error in the passage at 37:11 Highlight the passage at 37:11

37:30 So the story was that everybody was complaining and complaining and complaining, so they go to the God and said, like, God, it's like, why do we have all these problems in the world? And everybody that weren't going to God asking was like, well, I have problems. I have these problems and that problems. And one day God was just sort of tired of it. Report an error in the passage at 37:30 Highlight the passage at 37:30

37:51 I was like, what can I do with all these people? They're always complaining. Everybody has problems. And he's the God after all. It's not easy to be a God. Report an error in the passage at 37:51 Highlight the passage at 37:51

38:03 Maybe it is, but I don't think so. So the God has this plan. Okay. So next Tuesday, what are we going to do? Everybody in your house. So what you do is like you take a bag. And by the way, it's like just so I tell it like this was an old Jewish story. So this must have been like historical, you know, thing where they kept telling one of these old stories. The God says, take a bag. Report an error in the passage at 38:03 Highlight the passage at 38:03

38:31 Everybody in our town. Let's say they were in Krakow. Everybody in the town, you take a bag in the morning and then you start writing down. You take pieces of paper and you start writing down your problems. Everybody in the village has to do that. And when you take all your problems, like sicknesses, deaths, alcohol problems, whatever you have, any kind of, I have a knee problem, just put it in, don't worry about it. Report an error in the passage at 38:31 Highlight the passage at 38:31

39:02 Fill the bag. And then at the end of the day, midday I think it was, midday, you go and you hang the bag. into the gates on on the gate you know like everybody has it's fenced all these places and everybody has a little gate and you go there and tie a knot you put the bag in there and then after midday everybody can go and then go into the back your every anybody's back and you can swap problems Report an error in the passage at 39:02 Highlight the passage at 39:02

39:37 So you can take from your bag, you take anything and you go to your neighbor's place or anywhere and you take, but you have to take one from there. So you can swap problems. Easy, right? Neighbor doesn't seem to have a lot of problems. I have like, well, it's easy. I could just, you know, give her some mine. Report an error in the passage at 39:37 Highlight the passage at 39:37

39:56 Handball it, as we say in Australia. And that's what has started to happen. So people go everywhere and they start looking other people's bags. They start looking at her. You go to the neighbor first and you start reading this. I was like, oh, I didn't know she has so many problems. Yeah, I think I just leave that neighbor. Report an error in the passage at 39:56 Highlight the passage at 39:56

40:16 She's got a lot of problems. You go and walk around and walk around. And then what happened? People started to do this. Everybody went home. They scurried their backs. They tied them up and they went inside and took their own back in there. They didn't want to have anybody else's problems. Mine were actually easy. Report an error in the passage at 40:16 Highlight the passage at 40:16

40:36 I can deal with this. I thought it was a really nice story. This is exactly what happens. You think you have the biggest problem in the world. But then you start listening to other people's problems and you're like, oh gosh, I'm so glad I don't have your problems. And it was a quite nice reminder of like, that's how the world works. Report an error in the passage at 40:36 Highlight the passage at 40:36

41:01 We all have all kind of difficulties in life. And hey, welcome to life. Life is dukkha. Buddhist society, Buddhism, everything is suffering. Yeah! Everything is suffering. Not that there is suffering. Sape sankara dukkha. Do you know what it means? Everything in the sankara is suffering. You cannot translate that as that there is suffering. See, I know some Pāli. Hey, I learned something in 15 years. Everything is suffering. Report an error in the passage at 41:01 Highlight the passage at 41:01

41:40 Not just, you cannot translate that. There is suffering. That's a wrong way of translating. Everything is suffering is the best translation or the better way of what the Buddha was teaching. Report an error in the passage at 41:40 Highlight the passage at 41:40

41:55 Suffering follows you no matter where you go. You're always going to have things which are always going wrong. Everything is always changing. Report an error in the passage at 41:55 Highlight the passage at 41:55

42:08 But the nice thing about being part of the Buddhist society, not just the Buddhist society, following what the Buddha was teaching, Report an error in the passage at 42:08 Highlight the passage at 42:08

42:16 We have this cool thing called dependent liberation. And the cool thing is, we have experts here to teach it. Like Ajahn Paramali. He wrote a book about it. Well, dependent origination, but hey, it's the same thing. Dependent liberation teaches that we are actually going towards more and more happiness when you start leaving things behind. Report an error in the passage at 42:16 Highlight the passage at 42:16

42:39 When you don't hold on so tightly in the world, you don't hold the world so tightly. You understand, like I said, your whole perception of life becomes aligned with the Buddha's teaching. And you understand, there's nothing there for me to hold on. Everything is always changing. Everything is unreliable. So you start seeing that there's nothing worth having so much sorrow for. Report an error in the passage at 42:39 Highlight the passage at 42:39

43:13 You just let things go. You don't hold things so tightly. You understand that you are conditioned and everybody else is conditioned being. There is no self. You start seeing it. It becomes you more and more. You're not so angry at anybody. You are kinder towards yourself. It is just my conditioning. It's not my fault. Report an error in the passage at 43:13 Highlight the passage at 43:13

43:38 So you go more and more towards happier and happier states. But again, it takes a long time to start changing your perception. Report an error in the passage at 43:38 Highlight the passage at 43:38

43:50 It's not like we become a Buddhist and we have to suffer more and somehow that liberates us from the suffering. More suffering doesn't equal more happiness. It doesn't work that way. Happiness takes you more and more into the happy states. You start understanding I don't have to be guilty, for example. Report an error in the passage at 43:50 Highlight the passage at 43:50

44:13 And it's a very liberating thought. It is interesting. But this is how it works. Because we see the suffering there, we see that it's you being carrying it, and you don't have to carry it. You start leaving these heavy suitcases, what Ajahn Brahm calls them, you start leaving them aside, one thing at a time, slowly, slowly. Report an error in the passage at 44:13 Highlight the passage at 44:13

44:41 And the interesting thing, if you keep practicing, meditating, you keep practicing mindfulness, kindness. You keep integrating these teachings into your life, into your whole persona. It starts happening. Report an error in the passage at 44:41 Highlight the passage at 44:41

45:00 And it's almost like magic. You don't really know how things happen. You don't really know that I really thought about it. I had to be pondering and thinking about it. It is part of the path that we need to ponder and think about how things work. And that's the cool thing about Buddhism, actually. We need to ask questions. We need to consider how things work. Report an error in the passage at 45:00 Highlight the passage at 45:00

45:23 We're not just here for the faith. But once you start being able to more and more to allow this path to happen, it becomes you. And not more suffering follows from that, but happiness follows from that. So it's a happy path, actually. Report an error in the passage at 45:23 Highlight the passage at 45:23

45:46 So I must say, this talk started from one place and went for another, maybe. be. Report an error in the passage at 45:46 Highlight the passage at 45:46

45:57 You are part of a very important Buddhist society. Whether you're here first time or not, whether you've been here a long time, it's actually this place that makes a tremendous difference. People in the hall, you don't maybe realize, but once you start traveling, this place has a massive impact. Report an error in the passage at 45:57 Highlight the passage at 45:57

46:21 And so keep being part of the society, keep getting involved of the Buddhist society, keep seeing the monks. Keep meditating, keep practicing kindness. And it makes a humongous difference in the world. People ask us quite often, especially when you're in Europe, what are you going to do about the wars? Report an error in the passage at 46:21 Highlight the passage at 46:21

46:45 I won't be able to stop the wars, no way. The only thing you can stop is the war in your own mind. And that's where the peace starts. Report an error in the passage at 46:45 Highlight the passage at 46:45

47:02 And the same way, this Buddhist society, all of you here, and the people listening online. It makes a huge impact because people are listening these talks in Ukraine, in Russia. These talks are being translated, hopefully not my talk, into Ukraine, into Russian, into Polish, Finnish. And these things save lives. You know how it's impactful for you here and for the people online. Report an error in the passage at 47:02 Highlight the passage at 47:02

47:38 It's the same. Same thing for me. 21 years ago, When I look at the camera from there, Ajahn Brahm says, you know, you can become a monk. It's a good thing to become a monk. I was like, wow, I can't wait. It took me a while for, you know, I did wait for a while, but not many years. A few years I waited, but then I was like, nah, I have to become a monk. I don't have anything else in life which is as important as this. And now, having lived here for 15 years, that's made a huge impact on my life. Report an error in the passage at 47:38 Highlight the passage at 47:38

48:21 And I hope I can make an impact for others. Really, this kind of work is nice. Okay, the payment is not the great, but there's other benefits. Report an error in the passage at 48:21 Highlight the passage at 48:21

48:35 There's a lot of, you know, job happiness in this job. So keep practicing, keep meditating and practicing mindfulness, keep listening to the Buddha's teachings, keep coming back here, and even online, keep listening, and you become one of the people. Who are enlightened ones. You become the follower of the Buddha. You have all the possibilities. We all do. So I think that's enough for tonight. Report an error in the passage at 48:35 Highlight the passage at 48:35

49:09 Thank you so much. Oh, we got the clapping? Okay, thank you. Now what do we do here? The sadhus? Thanks, Eddie. How do we do the sadhus? Report an error in the passage at 49:09 Highlight the passage at 49:09

49:20 Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu. You know the weird thing is, even this, everybody knows. I go to so many places, and they're like, oh, we do the sadhus. Oh, it's so cool. I'll tell you another, one more funny story. I was meant to say this in my talk. You know what? I went to Melbourne a couple months ago. I was in the airport here in Perth. I was going to teach a Melbourne retreat. There was this Vietnamese lady in the airport, and she says, are you Ajahn Brahm? Report an error in the passage at 49:20 Highlight the passage at 49:20

49:54 I said, no, I'm not Ajahn Brahm. I said, what do you think? Oh, you look exactly like Ajahn Brahm. I looked like a 75-year-old Englishman. I'm 46, I'm from Finland. I said, I think you need new classes. Report an error in the passage at 49:54 Highlight the passage at 49:54

50:13 But she was like, oh yeah, yeah, it's so nice. I listen to Ajahn Brahm all the time, but obviously you don't. And then I told this Ajahn Brahm, when I went back to the monastery, I said, Ajahn Brahm, they think I look like you. And then I said, oh, I went to my kuti and I look in the mirror in my kuti and I look and it's like, hmm. Report an error in the passage at 50:13 Highlight the passage at 50:13

50:31 Ajahn Brahm still looks good. And Ajahn Brahm is like, oh yeah, you saved that one. Okay, so now we go into the question and answer. Thank you so much. Report an error in the passage at 50:31 Highlight the passage at 50:31

50:51 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 50:51 Highlight the passage at 50:51

50:58 Okay, here we go. Question from Germany. Dear Ajahn, is the kindness you give to your body during meditation the same kindness I have when I caress a puppy or baby? Like a loving attitude and a warm heart is exactly the same. It's like caressing a puppy or baby. It is exactly the same kind of thing. And not just for your body, but the breath as well. Report an error in the passage at 50:58 Highlight the passage at 50:58

51:23 The interesting thing about meditation, like a lot of times we don't give enough kindness and caressing to our breath. And the same in the beginning of meditation. Recently I've been using the word static for the body. Report an error in the passage at 51:23 Highlight the passage at 51:23

51:43 I learned this actually from, I heard Ajahn Tanchef, Ajahn Tanisar use it, and I stole it from him. A lot of people, you know, like you meditate, I was like, oh, it's painful, it's painful. I'm going to be looking pain again for a long time. It's the opposite of what you should be doing. The body should become static. So it's actually interesting when you have a lot of kindness, care for your body, the body becomes static. Report an error in the passage at 51:43 Highlight the passage at 51:43

52:11 You don't pay attention to it. That's what should happen to the body. It's not like you're going always back to the body, back to the body, and you're like, oh, it's painful, it's painful, you're pushing it down, and you're just like... If you need to move, for example, in meditation, move with kindness. Okay? I have pain in my knee. Report an error in the passage at 52:11 Highlight the passage at 52:11

52:35 Just look at it a little bit with kindness, and then just move your leg. There's no need to hold. This posture for ages, ages. The point of meditation, this posture, is to sit comfortably enough that your body can become static. Ajahn Brahm uses the good enough, 70%. There's always going to be a little bit of itchiness, a little bit of somewhere, and a pain somewhere. Report an error in the passage at 52:35 Highlight the passage at 52:35

53:05 But as long as you have a kind attitude, it becomes more and more. nuisance more and more static and then like i said if something is static you cannot pay attention to it the same way again we still have the air con going in the room but you don't pay attention to it because it's not changing you you can only pay attention to a static object for like four or five seconds Report an error in the passage at 53:05 Highlight the passage at 53:05

53:33 And then it disappears, because it's not moving, it's not changing. That's how what should happen during the meditation to your body. So make the body as easy as possible. Lying down is a good enough posture. Or sitting in a chair is a good enough posture. But going back into the question, which I think I completely went off the rails. Is kindness you give to the body during meditation the same kindness as when I caress a puppy or baby? Report an error in the passage at 53:33 Highlight the passage at 53:33

54:05 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. Like loving attitude and warm heart. It's a really good simile, is that, you know, puppies or babies, and that is actually in the mettā sutta, it's like the mother taking care, having the mettā towards the son, the only son. It's that kind of attitude where you just want to take care of this baby in your lap. That is the right way to take care of your body. Report an error in the passage at 54:05 Highlight the passage at 54:05

54:37 Question number two, dear Ajahn, sometimes I feel a lot of anxiety about what others think about me, especially when I meditate after a long day. How do I overcome this? Report an error in the passage at 54:37 Highlight the passage at 54:37

54:48 Anxiety is a very common question, comes up quite often. And some people have it more, like it's dialed up to 11, and some people have it like hardly at all, that what are others thinking of me. Report an error in the passage at 54:48 Highlight the passage at 54:48

55:05 Culturally, it tends to be some places more than others. I can tell you a joke about Finland and joke about Finnish people goes like this so there's an elephant walks in the bar and there's a German person there and an American person and a Finnish person in the bar so the elephant is there and then the German person is looking at the elephant like huh I wonder if I can teach this elephant some rules and some manners it shouldn't be in a bar like this and i'm going to teach them the rules and then you know how to follow them and it becomes a very obedient elephant and it always follows these rules it's a good elephant in that way and the american looks at the uh the elephants like hmm i wonder how i learned i teach this elephant to make trick get to do tricks maybe i can get it to hold a beer on his on his um up in a trunk to like joggle with the joggle with the balls and stand I wonder what the elephant is thinking of me? Report an error in the passage at 55:05 Highlight the passage at 55:05

56:30 So as Finns, we tend to be very sensitive about what others think of us. You go to Finland, they always go there, like the first question, so do you like Finland? Report an error in the passage at 56:30 Highlight the passage at 56:30

56:47 So with this anxiety and what others think of me, try to overcome it. There's probably different ways, and you keep experimenting and ask other monastics the same question. You sort of start softening that. But the one thing is, I would say, you start softening the feeling about, Report an error in the passage at 56:47 Highlight the passage at 56:47

57:36 The worst thing in a meditation is stop meditating. So as long as you can meditate and look at it and try to be a little bit more at ease with it, it works. I don't really know how it works, but if you stop meditating, that anxiety actually becomes a lot bigger. So just keep meditating. Report an error in the passage at 57:36 Highlight the passage at 57:36

58:03 Even recognizing this is part of a mindfulness practice perhaps. Day to day, when you're at the workplace and you feel again, I have this anxiety, it's there, and I was like, others are thinking of me. As a mindfulness practice, just look at it. How does this feel, this anxiety? And then understand that others have the same thing. Report an error in the passage at 58:03 Highlight the passage at 58:03

58:26 They are thinking as well. Not everybody, like I said, it's a spectrum. Some people think a lot more and some people think less. But then there are sensitive people who have anxiety and who think that others are thinking of them all the time. But if you look at actually that feeling, you don't really think of what they're thinking of you. You are looking yourself. It's not the same way. Report an error in the passage at 58:26 Highlight the passage at 58:26

58:54 Maybe I can explain it better by saying that When you say that you love somebody, you don't actually love the person. You love the feeling inside of you. We don't love others. That's the bottom line of it. We love how they make us feel. And then we look at that feeling inside of us. That's actually love. Report an error in the passage at 58:54 Highlight the passage at 58:54

59:15 We love ourselves. But the same thing about the feeling of, oh, others are thinking of me. You are actually thinking of... ...yourself now. You are just sort of more and more making yourself a bigger thing. It's slightly difficult to explain it, but that's how it is. So just keep softening it, look at it, and recognize that's you, that's part of you, and you won't be able to sort of shed it straight away, but you can soften corners, so it becomes easier to live with. Report an error in the passage at 59:15 Highlight the passage at 59:15

59:58 Question from Bolivia. On the rules. What happens if a person before coming across Buddhism makes a promise to do bad, makes a promise to do bad, but then finds Buddhism and decides not to do bad? Is he lying, breaking his promise? See how much this spreads. Bolivia. Okay. I was going to speak in Spanish, but I'm going to refrain myself. Report an error in the passage at 59:58 Highlight the passage at 59:58

1:00:33 No, if it's really, I think, so there's like, we have these kind of like different spectrums of what good and bad. Buddhism is like, there's no really, you cannot really even say that there's good and bad. There's definitely, you could never say there's a bad person or good person. Wholesome actions and unwholesome actions. We call them dark and light. And everything is in between. So it's usually sometimes like grey. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:33 Highlight the passage at 1:00:33

1:01:03 Hopefully it goes towards the lighter parts of grey. Almost white actions you do. Kind actions. But in this case, you made a promise. But then you find the Buddha's teaching, the dhamma. And you cannot do that. Because that's bad. It's better to break the promise. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:03 Highlight the passage at 1:01:03

1:01:24 And even if you disappoint somebody, you just have to stand your ground. No, I cannot do that anymore. It's breaking my morality. Morality is actually, it's very important. One of the things what we teach here all the time, Ajahn Brahm and all of us other monastics teach, that your sīla, what we call morality, I like to translate it or use the word like kindness of your heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:24 Highlight the passage at 1:01:24

1:01:52 it's more important than Almost anything you find in the world. If you have kindness, morality, your sīla, you have a peace of mind. So if you do an unmoral act, you know, you promise to do this bad act. If you do that, that will follow you everywhere you go. You cannot escape it. It's your kamma. But if you refrain from it, Even if you break the rule, you break a promise. Sure, there's a bit of a tinge of like, I broke a promise, I promised them to do this. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:52 Highlight the passage at 1:01:52

1:02:42 But the kamma you do from that, it's a tiny, tiny bit comparing to that bad act. So refraining, leaning towards kindness and goodness is always the best. Question from Melbourne. Dear Ajahn, if everything is suffering and happiness equals letting go, how can we go about our worldly responsibilities, family, work, obligations that necessitate attachment? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:42 Highlight the passage at 1:02:42

1:03:17 Well, become a monk or nun. Let go your necessity of attachment. Okay, worldly responsibilities. Again, what comes all the time, there's like, oh, it's easy for you monks to say that, you know, you teach this, but us lay people, we cannot do that all the time. We somehow should tweak our teachings, like how to, you know, suit, it's like, oh, yes, you can keep, you know, breaking the rules, that's fine. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:17 Highlight the passage at 1:03:17

1:03:53 No need to have, you know, like you have attachment, attachments are good. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:53 Highlight the passage at 1:03:53

1:04:00 It's good to be attached to certain things. First of all, the most important things is like your kindness, your sīla. Be attached to the kindness of your heart, your morality. Very important. Be attached to that. Number one, be attached to the Buddhist teaching, for example. It's like a raft. A raft is there to take you across the stream, so you need to be attached to that. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:00 Highlight the passage at 1:04:00

1:04:23 Obviously, start with the sīla. Okay. So with the letting go, It's such a multifaceted thing, but I would say everything in this path works. And for example, you realize work is part of the Eightfold Path. It's there. So read what the Buddha was teaching about right kind of work. What constitutes as good work? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:23 Highlight the passage at 1:04:23

1:04:52 It's something which you get meaning out, you know, which is not harming others or yourself. That's a good work. So that's how I noticed that. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:52 Highlight the passage at 1:04:52

1:05:07 That's your, you know, you have certain worldly responsibilities. With your family, for example, you realize, all my relatives in my family, we're all going to die. Why do we need to argue? We need to, we can now take care of each other. We have limited time. We are getting old. Who knows who's going to get next, going to get Alzheimer's and dementia. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:07 Highlight the passage at 1:05:07

1:05:30 It could be you. It could be my partner. Let's enjoy now that we have it. Enjoy the good times and let's try to put down those difficult times. Diminish them. Don't make so much out of it. These problems we have in human relationships. So good, meaningful relationship can give you a lot. But at the end, Even that is suffering, because in one point you will lose that. You have the most beautiful relationship, for the longest time you've been together, and then one dies always first. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:30 Highlight the passage at 1:05:30

1:06:18 It's a massive amount of suffering, because it's almost like you were so part of that relationship. So the amount of happiness you get something, equals to that of the clinging. clinging, so whatever Report an error in the passage at 1:06:18 Highlight the passage at 1:06:18

1:07:07 it's unreliable. Many things good here, so concentrate on the good things. Ajahn Brahm quote, water the flowers not the weeds. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:07 Highlight the passage at 1:07:07

1:07:21 So align yourself in a way in a world that you can really, it gives you meaning in life. You can be a bus driver and do the best job of driving the bus and it becomes a very meaningful life. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:21 Highlight the passage at 1:07:21

1:07:40 Ajahn Brahmali and I, we were just talking about this when I was in Poland with him. We had long conversations and he said, he read this article about these people who work in London in this, I forget the word now, but they, you know, in dealing with the stocks and money making and all that. And, you know, these people make a lot of money, but it's a very meaningless job. Very meaningless job. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:40 Highlight the passage at 1:07:40

1:08:10 You're up, you know, you're selling and buying and all that and it's, but these people are very, they don't feel satisfied in their work at all. Even though they, you know, monetary value is there, they get a lot of money out of that work, but their life is very empty. So realize that then, you know, like align your value, your work with your values, the best of your ability. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:10 Highlight the passage at 1:08:10

1:08:37 But there's no ultimately, there's no like perfect job and perfect family and all that so 70 %? 80 %? Somewhere there. Good enough. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:37 Highlight the passage at 1:08:37

1:08:48 Okay, those were the questions online, and then we have questions on the floor, from the floor. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:48 Highlight the passage at 1:08:48

1:09:01 I'm sure Eddie has a question. Eddie is probably as famous as I am, or maybe even more famous. No, I'm not. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:01 Highlight the passage at 1:09:01

1:09:10 Ajahn Mudito, thanks for the really wonderful talk tonight. Really wonderful. Earlier in the talk, you mentioned about the Buddha's three characteristics of existence. That is anattā, anicca, and dukkha. That is no self, impermanence, and suffering. And then many times in your talk too, you mentioned about people with problems going to see the monks, talking to the monks, there's their suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:10 Highlight the passage at 1:09:10

1:09:44 Don't you think, the question, It's our mind. The Buddha has told us, things are impermanent. It goes up and down, up and down. But when we have a problem, we think, oh, it's permanent. There's no self. It's a series of undone. We take it as a self. That's suffering. The three characteristics he's told us. But the mind keeps... Report an error in the passage at 1:09:44 Highlight the passage at 1:09:44

1:10:14 harping on that you know and then you also mentioned about the the 12 links you know in short these conditions that this ceases that ceases yeah these conditions a problem this ceases that ceases so it's the mind you know you know I can say something. I wonder what the question was. No, no, I know. Just joke. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:14 Highlight the passage at 1:10:14

1:10:44 Of course it is, you know, it's your, you need to, like I was trying to say, you need to incorporate this teaching slowly, slowly, that your whole worldview becomes like that, and you start letting go this attachment to the world, and you start breaking the links, like you said. Absolutely right. You're as good a teacher as I am. But it takes a long time. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:44 Highlight the passage at 1:10:44

1:11:09 But the nice thing is that even if you don't have the breakthrough in this life, so to speak, it can happen in multiple lives to come. You come across these teachings and you incorporate, you investigate, it becomes part of you, and then you will always find it. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:09 Highlight the passage at 1:11:09

1:11:33 Whether you get born in Finland or you got lucky being in Western Australia, so close to Buddhist society, you come across it. And you know that this is the right teaching. This is something which matches the world. This is important and I need to go towards that. You always naturally go towards that. So integrate these things and it helps you tremendously in this life. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:33 Highlight the passage at 1:11:33

1:12:02 Personally, you cannot change the world. You can change your own mind. But then... Whether the future lives exist or not, so that's the point, that you lessen the suffering here and now. You can see the suffering is lessening, you know, in this life. But of course it is your mind, yeah, sure. Yeah, so it's like, for me too, and I'm sure most people too, you know, pre-Buddh, before Buddhism, it was suffering, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:02 Highlight the passage at 1:12:02

1:12:33 Yeah, and then following Buddha's path, this thing, Jee, you know, he's taught me all the tools, you know, for my mind. Yeah, it gives you a lot of tools. Yeah, and then you lessen, lessen, you know, until you, it's a pathway, isn't it? Pathway? Yeah. Like, until you, finally you reach enlightenment, this thing, you know? Yeah. And then, you know, you ease your suffering, and no more. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:33 Highlight the passage at 1:12:33

1:12:56 That's it. Yeah. There is no self, and then you disappear. Yeah, just no more, because it's... The whole thing is suffering. You see, everything is suffering. Yeah. That's true. Thank you. Thank you for the wonderful talk. Sure. Very Report an error in the passage at 1:12:56 Highlight the passage at 1:12:56

1:13:14 good. Okay. So if there's nothing, we can pay respect to the Buddha Dhamma Saṅgha. This is actually one of the, you don't realize, but it's being part of the Buddhist society that we can do these things, like pay respect to the Buddha Dhamma Saṅgha. It's very important. Like many places we go and these are people. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:14 Highlight the passage at 1:13:14

1:13:34 Don't have these, they're secular Buddhists and they're shy from these things, but they're very nice practices. So let's pay respect to the Buddha Dhammasanka. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:34 Highlight the passage at 1:13:34

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:14:16 supati-bhanno bhagavato savaka-sankho-sangham namami Report an error in the passage at 1:14:16 Highlight the passage at 1:14:16