What is Our Temperament

0:07 This is what should be done by one who is good in goodness and who knows the path of peace. Let them be able and upright, straightforward and gentle in speech, humble and not conceited, contented and easily satisfied. Report an error in the passage at 0:07

0:35 Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways, peaceful and calm, wise and skillful, not proud and demanding in nature, let them not do the slightest thing that the wise would later reprove, wishing in gladness and in safety. May all beings be happy, whatever living beings there may be, whether they are weak or strong, omitting none, the great or the mighty, medium, short or small, the seen and the unseen, those living near and far away. Report an error in the passage at 0:35

1:30 Those born and to be born, may all beings be happy. Let none deceive another or despise any being in any state. Let none through anger or ill will wish harm upon even as a mother protects with her life. A child, her only child, so with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings, radiating kindness over the entire world, spreading upwards to the skies and downwards to the depths, outward and unbounded. Report an error in the passage at 1:30

2:26 Free from hatred and ill will, whether standing or walking, seated or lying down, free from drowsiness, one should sustain this recollection. This is said to be the sublime abiding by not holding to false views the pure-hearted one. Having clarity of vision, being freed from all sense desires, is not born again into this world. Report an error in the passage at 2:26

3:07 Bringing Report an error in the passage at 3:07

3:24 up the qualities of the Shibu Gem in the heart. Buddha Minatta, Dhamma Minatta, Saṅgha Minatta, Buddha, Buddha, Dhamma, Dhamma, Saṅgha, Saṅgha. Report an error in the passage at 3:24

4:04 We bring up our precepts, our commitment to having Pure actions, body, speech and mind. Purity as a foundation. And Report an error in the passage at 4:04

4:28 for meditation we can start by relaxing the physical body. Relax the toes and feet, the ankles, the lower legs, the calves, the shins, up to the knees. Report an error in the passage at 4:28

4:44 Relax the knees, the cartilage and the oil of the joint in the knees, the thighs, the big muscles all the way up. Relax the lower back Report an error in the passage at 4:44

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5:51 and sides, the middle back and sides, the upper back, the shoulder blades. Relax the solar plexus region. Relax the upper chest. Report an error in the passage at 5:51

6:05 The heart, soft smile in the heart, and the lungs. Become aware of the lungs as they fill up and empty. Filling up with an inwind, emptying with an outwind. Relax Report an error in the passage at 6:05

6:48 the shoulders, maybe they drip a little. Relax the upper arms, the elbows, the lower arms, the wrists, the hands, the fingertips. Report an error in the passage at 6:48

6:58 Relax the neck and throat, the chin, the jaw, the lips, the tongue, the teeth, the gums. Cheeks and cheekbones, around the eyes, sorry, around the nose, the ridge of the nose, the nostrils, around the eyes, the temples, the forehead, the skull, the ears, the inner ears, the back of the head, inside the head, inside out, inside the body, inside out. Report an error in the passage at 6:58

7:37 And the eyes themselves. Maybe you imagine the eyes closing. So they're not too tight or tense. Just softly closed. And let the eyes be relaxed. The tranquility through the physical body and the eyes free from any tension. Become Report an error in the passage at 7:37

8:08 aware of the body in the present moment. Various sensations. Report an error in the passage at 8:08

8:21 Attaching to or reverse to. Report an error in the passage at 8:21

8:30 Ultimately the body is just earth, water, fire, wind coming together in space. It's not our body. As we breathe in, the body changes. We eat, the body changes. Drink, the body changes. It's not us. It's just elements. We just let the elements be the elements. Don't fight them. Report an error in the passage at 8:30

8:58 Not averse to them. We don't want them to be a particular way. It's just nature. It's like we don't get upset at the rain or at the sun. So we don't have to be upset by the body. Maybe Report an error in the passage at 8:58

9:22 start by taking a few deep breaths. Report an error in the passage at 9:22

9:29 Any time in the meditation we get lost, we just take a few deep breaths and start again. No, we don't have to give too much importance. Report an error in the passage at 9:29

9:45 We're just putting in the right causes. That's what's important. Report an error in the passage at 9:45

9:54 Start becoming aware of the breathing sensations, maybe at the nostrils or at the upper lip or at the abdomen. We just become aware of the breath, where we can put the mind where it's comfortable, the Report an error in the passage at 9:54

10:19 solar plexus. And where we choose the way of being with the breath that's comfortable. If we want to use a mantra like the word Buddha, Or dhammo, or sangho, or keza, or manakadantapacho. You just pick a word we have faith in and use that with the breath. Report an error in the passage at 10:19

10:43 Otherwise we're aware just of the sensations. I'm Report an error in the passage at 10:43

10:52 aware of an inwind coming in. I'm aware of an outwind as it goes out. Our Report an error in the passage at 10:52

11:08 whole attention is knowing the inwind point of contact. Knowing the outwind at the point of contact. To Report an error in the passage at 11:08

11:33 begin with, we might find us the long in-wind and the long out-wind. Maybe Report an error in the passage at 11:33

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12:33 the breath calms down a little, becomes softer, shorter. Report an error in the passage at 12:33

12:45 There's the short in-wind and the short out-wind. If Report an error in the passage at 12:45

12:56 the mind never goes off, we just know it's gone off. It's just like a chicken in the chicken coop. We know where the chicken is, so we try to know where our mind is. Report an error in the passage at 12:56

13:32 See if we can be aware of the whole of the in-wind, the whole of the out-wind, the Report an error in the passage at 13:32

13:42 beginning, the middle, the end of an in-wind, the beginning, the middle, the end of an out-wind. And Report an error in the passage at 13:42

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14:35 see if we can tranquilize an in-wind, tranquilize an out-wind of the kaya sankara, the bodily sankaras, the bodily formations, the form of the in-wind we tranquilize. We have this tranquil feeling as we're breathing in, tranquil feeling as we're breathing out, letting everything else become still. We Report an error in the passage at 14:35

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16:49 just know this tranquility, quality with the in-real, quality with the out-real. We Report an error in the passage at 16:49

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18:07 can just stay with the tranquility with the breath, or we can develop some delight, some peace with the breath. Report an error in the passage at 18:07

18:21 And whatever sense contact there may be, such as thought, mood, or sound, just let it be. You don't have to be disturbed. Just keep coming back to the in-wind and the out-wind. I'll be silent for the second half of the meditation. The Report an error in the passage at 18:21

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33:07 mind is, after half an hour of meditation, see Report an error in the passage at 33:07

33:16 what qualities we've developed. And what the causes were. You can Report an error in the passage at 33:16

33:25 become skilled in the causes. It would be much easier for us to practice. Report an error in the passage at 33:25

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35:58 Part Report an error in the passage at 35:58

36:26 of the dharma, we have precepts, our virtue. Sambuddhisa Namoh Tassa Bhagavad-Gita Arhatus Sama Sambuddhisa Namoh Tassa Bhagavad-Gita Arhatus Sama Sambuddhisa Putang Tamang Sangkang Namasami Report an error in the passage at 36:26

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36:35 Investigating our actions of body, speech and mind, Report an error in the passage at 36:35

36:41 perfecting the Eightfold Path, and a part of the practice is finding out what our temperament is, and what our bad habits are, what our good habits are, how we practice, our strengths and our weaknesses, and then applying ourselves, understanding those things. Obviously, it's going to be different for lay people. Report an error in the passage at 36:41

37:07 That it is for months and months. But the practice itself is still training this mind. Training our body, speech and mind to be in line with dharma. Dharma leads one way and the world leads another. So, you know, there's always going to be kings and ministers and robbers and land and sea and all of these things in the world. Report an error in the passage at 37:07

37:35 But the dharma... There's something else. The dharma is those teachings of a Buddha that lead beyond suffering. So, you know, whether little or a lot, what we do is we focus on that goodness that we can develop. You know, if we can develop some meditation, some mental cultivation, contemplation, then that's going to help us. Report an error in the passage at 37:35

38:01 You know, the Silayika Sutta has the 44 points. points that we can contemplate that lead us towards nirvāṇa. Now it could be, for example, Right view is the high path. Wrong view is the low path. Right view is the high forge. Wrong view is the low forge. Like when you're crossing a river. You have the high bit of land that is safe and you have the low bit of land which is dangerous. Report an error in the passage at 38:01

38:36 So for all the various things of the dharma, we have to see which is the safe path, which is the short path, which is the true path, and which is the dangerous path, the difficult path, the path to be avoided. So a part of our practice is not just blindly practicing, just blindly practicing, but actually knowing what is. Report an error in the passage at 38:36

39:05 And it is not the right path for us to follow. So we need both wisdom and determination and truthfulness. And then we have to apply ourselves to the Noble Eightfold Path, to the Buddha's teachings. And some of us are faith followers. Others are dharma followers. So we have to find out, you know, what is our temperament? What inspires us? And some people, Focusing on suffering gets them to practice. Other people, focusing on the happiness of the dharma gets them to practice. Report an error in the passage at 39:05

39:43 So we have to find what is the things that motivate us, what is the things that inspire us to keep going and finding a way that is suitable for us. So some people get a lot of joy out of the chanting, some out of the... Contemplation of the qualities of the Buddha, the Dharma or the Saṅgha. Some from awareness of the body postures or contemplation of the elements. Report an error in the passage at 39:43

40:16 So we find the tools of practice that inspire us. And then, that was maybe more difficult as a householder, but still you have the moments where you're washing the dishes or you're going for a walk or you're walking to the toilet. Or, you know, you have a moment spare where you're not using the mind. And those are the moments where we can direct the mind towards dharma, where we can direct the mind towards peace. Report an error in the passage at 40:16

40:48 Because how are we ready for disaster? How are we ready for difficulties, for sickness, for death, for loss of relative, loss of limb? loss of house or car or whatever it may be. It's by training our mind when things are calm. So we have to use every day, every week, every month as an opportunity to train ourselves further. Report an error in the passage at 40:48

41:30 And a part of this is finding our own way into the dharma. It says there's 84,000 doors to the deathless, meaning there's 84,000 doors to the Buddha's teachings. And so, yes, we have our meditation, we have our mindfulness, but what interests us in the practice is finding those teachings that suit us, finding those teachings. Report an error in the passage at 41:30

41:59 That inspire us. And so for lay people, the Buddha starts the path with dana sīla bhavana. So dana is giving, learning to be generous. And this is giving up of our physical wealth here in the present and making a heavenly happiness for ourselves. And then the sīla is the happiness of the mind. When we give up our bad defilements to develop Our purity and precepts, then what we're getting for that is association with right views and association with other beings who have similar sīla, similar good conduct. Report an error in the passage at 41:59

42:42 And so we get rewards for all that good effort. And by having higher association with such people, that will lead us further along the path. And then mental cultivation. Like contemplating old age, sickness, death. Not just thinking the way that the world does. It's bad when somebody dies and it's terrible when somebody gets sick. Report an error in the passage at 42:42

43:09 We have to contemplate and see that this is nature. Old age, sickness and death. Pain, lamentation and despair. That this is a problem of existence. This is why the Buddha went forth. and why the Bodhisattva Bodhisattva, the Buddha-to-be, practiced for countless lifetimes. He did so so that he could become a Buddha and that he could help countless beings. Report an error in the passage at 43:09

43:39 So the heavenly beings and the human beings that have all come to the dharma, made higher determination or become Sotāpanna, Sakaragami, Anagami, Arahant, now have all done so because of the great Bharami. The great pāramī of the Buddha. But each of those beings, the only way they realize the dharma, the only way that they keep attaining higher path and fruit is by actually putting in the work. Report an error in the passage at 43:39

44:13 So first of all, I have to think that it can be done, that it's not beyond our reach. And then to figure out the path of practice. So that every day, every week, every month, that we're growing in the dharma, that we're collecting those drips of goodness, of peace, of the Buddha's teachings, and we're gathering towards that. Report an error in the passage at 44:13

44:40 Our sīla is like the... There is no holes in the jug. And then our goodness is the gathering of those drips into the jug. And so this is why these... Virtue, the precepts, is so important. And this is why when we come to practice, we have to make sure that we know what goodness is. As the Buddha said, we can be a hundred years, like a hundred years, the spoon can be in the soup, yet the spoon doesn't know the taste of soup. Report an error in the passage at 44:40

45:25 It's the tongue that knows the taste of soup. This means that we can be around other good people. We can even be around Sotāpanna, Sakaragami, Anagami, Arahats. But if we ourselves don't practice, then we can live a hundred years and never know that wisdom, never know that peace. And so we need to be like the tongue that is quick to taste the taste of the soup. Report an error in the passage at 45:25

45:53 So it is, our minds need to be quick to taste the taste of dharma. And then, you know, once we have our means of practice, whether we get inspired by our chanting, you know, we do our daily sitting and walking meditation or standing meditation, whether we contemplate the Buddha's teachings, or we do the nissatis, we do the recollections. Report an error in the passage at 45:53

46:23 Whatever it is that makes up our practice is that we have a way of regularly doing that and that we know when we're losing our inspiration, that we know when we're losing our persistence because we have to keep putting the fuel on the fire of our practice because how many lives have we been born and died? Report an error in the passage at 46:23

46:50 How many families have we had? And yet, here we still are. And so if we really want to grow, now while we're in contact with the Buddha's teachings, while we have a human body, while we have the ayatana, the sense bases, everything is here for us. And how many minutes are in a day? How many hours are in a day? And so, however little, Or much, we can practice. We just start with that. I remember when I was a layman, sometimes I would have 10, 14 hours a day I had to work. Report an error in the passage at 46:50

47:36 But I found that if I just tried to be mindful for a few minutes every hour, even just two minutes every hour, then suddenly mindfulness would start to wake up. I chose like going upstairs because I had a job where there was many stairs. So every time I would go upstairs, I would try and remember to be mindful. Report an error in the passage at 47:36

47:59 And every hour I would try and do like two minutes of being with Budo. And so, you know, they were the things that helped me start to get some mindfulness, start to get some power to my mindfulness. So then... When we do sit down to meditation, it's not like we're starting again. Because every day, you know, there is a little bit of mindfulness growing throughout the day. Report an error in the passage at 47:59

48:27 So when we do our morning or our evening meditation, or if we work a lot, maybe we don't get to meditate as much. But when we do sit down to meditate, whether we're in the world, whether we're a monk, or whatever, What happens is all those moments of mindfulness, they're like the drips in the jug. They all start to come together, so the mind settles down quicker. Report an error in the passage at 48:27

48:56 The mind maybe has moments of tasting deep peace. And in other people, maybe peace is not so easy, but their mind can more easily be focused onto contemplation. They can contemplate the qualities of the Buddha. They can contemplate death or old age or the five khandhas or the sense spaces or the elements or whatever it is. Report an error in the passage at 48:56

49:27 And their mind is interested. Their mind is focused. Their mind can stay with the object. And all of these things, whether we're getting the peace of samādhi, whether we're getting the depth of samādhi, whether we're contemplating, or whether we're just developing some more mindfulness, more clarity in our actions, more clarity in our precepts. Report an error in the passage at 49:27

49:50 All of this is the result of... Report an error in the passage at 49:50

50:08 Worldly conversations and difficulties, struggles of life, but the well-directed mind the Buddha teaches us is a great blessing. So we just have to keep pointing our mind towards the dharma, pointing our actions towards the dharma. And this purification is like the rinsing of the mind. Then as the mind starts to get rinsed clean, And all those efforts start to come together. And this is where we start to taste that the consciousness is luminous, like the Buddha said, that these things are not far away or in the distant past, but they're achievable by each disciple of the Buddha, whether monk, nun, or layman or laywoman, whoever it is who genuinely practices, Who keeps going, you know, who starts to give their life for the dharma. And then that love for the dharma, all of those moments of goodness, all of those moments of peace start to brim and flow over from the heart. Report an error in the passage at 50:08

51:23 And then we start to be able to overcome our bad habits. We start to be able to overcome our unwholesome mental states. And what before? Sometimes maybe the mind, we felt difficult or we felt that we got stuck in areas of our practice or we got upset of things going on in the world or external to us. We start to be able to harness the inner energies of our own mind and just have this love for the dharma, give up our lives for the dharma, focus on the dharma. Report an error in the passage at 51:23

52:04 And then we can see that even from a rubbish heap, even from a dust pile, the lotus can grow. So we don't have to wait until the world is perfect. And learning how to be persistent. How to be diligent, how to be earnest, how never to give up and never to give in and not think that we can't do it, that it's not possible for us to do it. Report an error in the passage at 52:04

52:44 Because the only way we can ever become a Sotāpanna, a Sakaragami, an Anagami, an Arahant, a great disciple of an Arahant, or a Bodhisatta, a Buddha, a silent Buddha, or any disciple of a Buddha. The only way is through our own actions of body, speech and mind. It's not our mother, it's not our father, it's not our brother, it's not our sister, it's not our friends. Report an error in the passage at 52:44

53:12 It's only us, it's only our own actions that can lead us there. Yes, good friends, wise people can lead us onto the right path, but we ourselves have to walk that path. The Buddhas only point the way. And so we have this map that the Buddha has given us. We know the path is well trodden as all those great disciples from the time of the Buddha down to the present have proven that lay people, monks and nuns can attain the dharma, can realize the dharma. Report an error in the passage at 53:12

53:52 And so we just have to see what is the thing that is blocking us. What is the things that are blinding us? Where are we getting stuck? And how can we hold on to the Buddha's teachings to help us further? So we have to see in the beginning, we have to attach to the Buddha, we have to attach to the Dharma, we have to attach to the Saṅgha, we have to attach to the training. Report an error in the passage at 53:52

54:20 We have to put our hearts into that and not think that we're not good enough, not think. We're not capable, but then diligently walk away at the causes. We take the great examples of the beings before us, but we have to see what we ourselves are capable of. What is the right amount for us, where we ourselves are neither being too lazy or exerting ourselves into a painful situation where we're actually going to the other extreme, like people who... Report an error in the passage at 54:20

54:56 who fast themselves to almost death or that kind of thing. So we need, you know, what's called the Majjhima Padi. And then what is a good next step for us? What is... A way that we can get some energy out, that we can get some effort out. And I'll never forget, many times in my practice in the past, and it's easy just to go one step in the wrong direction and all the energy can feel like it falls away from the practice. Report an error in the passage at 54:56

55:44 But we just realize that the mind is forerunner of all things. So if we direct our mind well, then we can get a bit of energy out. Then we can get a bit of effort out. Because once sickness rolls in, and old age rolls in, if we haven't made good use of our time, it can be very hard at the end of life, or very hard when we're faced with sickness. Report an error in the passage at 55:44

56:10 So we have to put up a fight now, while we have the time, while things are calm, and not worry about external things. We can help. Our mother and father, our sisters and brothers, our children, our friends, we can help them. But we also have to focus on helping ourselves and know how to let go when other people don't want our help. Report an error in the passage at 56:10

56:39 But we ourselves, we always have to be willing to overcome our own difficulties. For example, if we're prone to worry, Copyright © 2020 Mooji Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this recording may be reproduced And this is a thing called the asawa. The Buddha explains how the mind flows out into the world and flows out into sights and sounds and smells and tastes and touch. Report an error in the passage at 56:39

57:32 And we get elated or dejected, happy and sad. And it's this spasmodic process where the mind is always going from one thing to another. So we have to know how to restrain the mind. How to train the mind to develop peace to be like a Himalayan mountain that isn't easily shaken and this takes time but this is why our practice is important and just by every night before we go to bed asking ourselves what good have we done today and try and gather towards that and then as we develop more and more good and as we The Report an error in the passage at 57:32

58:45 That these things are not beyond us and that every day, every moment, every breath, every week, every month, these are all moments where we can train ourselves, where we can develop a better mind, a peaceful mind. And so we can rise out of this mud that we're stuck in. And how do we do that? We do that by tying ourselves to the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 58:45

59:15 And so in our journey going forward, may we just all learn what our strengths and weaknesses are and then to keep holding ourselves to that purity and peace and goodness in the dharma. Report an error in the passage at 59:15

59:41 Now Report an error in the passage at 59:41

1:00:05 let us chant the verses of sharing in aspiration. Through the goodness that arises from my practice. May my spiritual teachers and guides of great virtue, my mother, my father and my relatives, the sun and the moon and all virtuous leaders of the world, may the highest gods and evil forces, celestial beings, guardian spirits of the earth and the lord of death, May those who are friendly, indifferent or hostile, may all beings receive the blessings of my life. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:05

1:00:52 May they soon attain the threefold bliss and realize the deathless. Through the goodness that arises from my practice and through this act of sharing, may all desires and attachments quickly cease. and all harmful states of mind. May I have an upright mind with mindfulness and wisdom, austerity and vigor. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:52

1:01:29 May the forces of delusion not take hold nor weaken my resolve. The Buddha is my excellent refuge. refuge, unsurpassed is the protection of the Dhamma, the solitary Buddha is my noble Lord, the Saṅgha is my supreme support. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:29

1:01:53 May darkness and delusion be dispelled. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:53