Starting Point of The Path

0:00 Okay, nice to see you all here again. And so are you all here to learn about Sati Sampajanya? That was the promise given last time, right? And thank you, Michael, for posting the Sutta Central version of it onto the WhatsApp group. So have you done your homework? Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:22 That's the next question. Anyway, never mind. Never mind. And let's see what we can do. It's a very big topic actually, Sati and Sampajanian has many, many developmental stages. Report an error in the passage at 0:22 Highlight the passage at 0:22

0:40 And it would be good to understand all of those, but I'm not sure whether I myself am capable of explaining all of those. But let's see how far we can go today. But this particular sutta that I have picked. That is in Numerical Discourses, Chapter 8, that is the Book 8, Sutta 81. In Pāli, the name of the Sutta is called Sati Sampajanya Sutta or Sutta on Mindfulness and Clear Comprehension. Report an error in the passage at 0:40 Highlight the passage at 0:40

1:13 Depending on whose translation you are reading, it's also called into situational awareness or something like this so many words so my problem is i'm not a native english speaker so i don't have a lot of feelings and subtle differences and nuances to words words to me whichever word i learned and that's the word i know So it's going to be difficult but I'll try my best by using many sentences and phrases to try to explain how I understand a particular word and then you can decide which word you want to use for translation of the Pāli term. Report an error in the passage at 1:13 Highlight the passage at 1:13

1:58 This is an important thing to consider though, you know. The Buddha taught in actually a language called Magadi. Now it is available to us in Pāli and translated now into many different languages. But some of the meanings actually get a bit lost or distorted or changed with translation because it depends on the language. Report an error in the passage at 1:58 Highlight the passage at 1:58

2:23 Some languages do not have an exact word resembling another culture's word. So this already makes it very hard for us to understand the dharma. We have to make note of it because sometimes we hold on to it. A meaning of a word in English language if you are studying in English and depending on who translated it and the word that you have understood it or learned it with. Report an error in the passage at 2:23 Highlight the passage at 2:23

2:53 Sometimes it's also interesting to compare the different translations. So we are very fortunate at least we have Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation available in his books and also Sutta Central Version and Sutta Central Version has some of the other translations available as well. So it's nice sometimes to see the different words used and it might give deep understanding. Report an error in the passage at 2:53 Highlight the passage at 2:53

3:17 And then it has to be one's own practice. Finally, you get to understand what the word really means. I remember when I was a lay person or as a young monastic, always hassling Ajahn Brahmali with words. He was the Pāli expert around where I was growing up. So I would ask, what is Sati Sampajanya? What is Itipati Sanchikkati? Report an error in the passage at 3:17 Highlight the passage at 3:17

3:43 What is Pachavekkana? All of these things. But I realized after a while, no matter how much words, explanations you hear, at the end of the day, you need to try your very best and apply it. Report an error in the passage at 3:43 Highlight the passage at 3:43

4:02 And you just do what you can. And then you observe and you learn. And then finally you come one day, you understand, ah, I got it. I remember the day that I understood what pachavekkana was very clearly. For years, I was trying to understand what is this reflecting back or retrospection really meant. Report an error in the passage at 4:02 Highlight the passage at 4:02

4:24 I mean, you understand it when you use that word for pachavekkana. But one day when it happened in my meditation, I realized, ah, that is what it is. But it's so hard to sort of convey and explain using words. Yeah, some things are experiential. Why I'm bringing this up is because some of these words that you're going to hear today in this sutta are going to be like that too. Report an error in the passage at 4:24 Highlight the passage at 4:24

4:49 So it will be limited. This discussion will be quite limited. Yeah. So you have to be able to learn to go beyond those word limitations to understand the meaning more deeply. So a lot of homework to do by yourself, yeah? So I'm just giving you some pre-warning about it and we can also engage in discussion and that would be a good way of also deepening our understanding when people speak and give different perspective as how they understand it and the words that they use. Report an error in the passage at 4:49 Highlight the passage at 4:49

5:25 This could be also helpful for many others as well and even for myself. myself. So, um, So let's see. So this also the reason why I brought this up because last dharma talk was about practicing real life or practicing daily life. And I mentioned about the Noble Eightfold Path. As a whole, not just one thing, not just Satipaṭṭhāna or anything like that, but the whole Noble Eightfold Path, especially the first six factors of the Eightfold Path is what we can do outside of formal meditation. Report an error in the passage at 5:25 Highlight the passage at 5:25

6:06 And I also used a story about a snake encounter to explain that. And I also remember mentioning that if the Buddha said there is only... One path that leads to ending of suffering and the only path is the Noble Eightfold Path. That is the only one. Now it will be interesting to see when we read this sutta what kind of conclusion we can come to. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to read out the sutta. Report an error in the passage at 6:06 Highlight the passage at 6:06

6:40 I'm going to use the book and I'm going to use Bhikkhu Bodhi's version. And then I will try and explain it. Okay, this is how it goes. Because when there is no mindfulness and clear comprehension, for one deficient in mindfulness and clear comprehension, the sense of moral shame and moral dread lack their proximate cause. Report an error in the passage at 6:40 Highlight the passage at 6:40

7:12 So clear comprehension, the Pāli word is sati sampajanya. And moral shame and moral dread. Again, there are many different words for translation, but the Pāli word is hiri and ottappa. When there is no sense of moral shame and moral dread for one deficient in a sense of moral shame and moral dread, restraint of the sense faculties lack its proximate cause. Report an error in the passage at 7:12 Highlight the passage at 7:12

7:45 When there is no restraint of the sense faculties, for one deficient in restraint of the sense faculties, virtuous behavior lacks its proximate course. When there is no virtuous behavior for one deficient in virtuous behavior, right concentration lacks its proximate course. Report an error in the passage at 7:45 Highlight the passage at 7:45

8:10 When there is no right concentration for one deficient in right concentration, the knowledge and vision of things as they really are lacks its proximate course. When there is no knowledge and vision of things as they really are, one deficient in knowledge and vision of things as they really are, this enchantment and this passion Lack the approximate cause when there is no disenchantment and dispassion. For one deficient in disenchantment and dispassion, the knowledge and vision of liberation lacks its approximate cause. Report an error in the passage at 8:10 Highlight the passage at 8:10

8:56 Suppose there is a tree deficient in branches and foliage, then its shoots do not grow to fullness. Also its bark, soft food and hard food do not grow to fullness. So too, when there is no mindfulness and clear comprehension, for one deficient in mindfulness and clear comprehension, the sense of moral shame and moral dread lack its proximate course. Report an error in the passage at 8:56 Highlight the passage at 8:56

9:25 So it goes on like that. I won't read the entire sutta. You have it with you. So you can read the full version. And I'm going to stop there. But it is very interesting, right? The whole sequence has eight factors because it's in the book of eight and it ends with knowledge and vision of liberation. That means it ends with full enlightenment. And this too is a path, isn't it? So if Noble Eightfold Path is the only path, then somehow... Report an error in the passage at 9:25 Highlight the passage at 9:25

10:02 Even though this is given with the different concepts or different words or different other subject matter or names, whatever you call it, it should be parallel or it should tally up with the Noble Eightfold Path. That's interesting. Let's see whether we can do the comparison during this session. And if not, that's definitely homework because this is really, really... Report an error in the passage at 10:02 Highlight the passage at 10:02

10:31 will broaden our understanding these things are related because the Buddha was an expert in teaching people and he used what is called different pariyayas that is different angles yeah because sometimes when you use certain set of words to explain something it makes sense to sense to a group of people and to another group of people or to another person using slightly different method or system or group of terms pretty much indicating similar kind of things but different aspects pointing in the same direction might make more sense yeah but they should be technically parallel or almost the same thing because it arrives at the same spot so it's kind of interesting to keep at the back of your mind Okay, so this must be quite close or almost the same as the Noble Eightfold Path even though we don't really see many aspects of or many terms that are there. Report an error in the passage at 10:31 Highlight the passage at 10:31

11:40 In the Noble Eightfold Path, because Noble Eightfold Path starts with Samaditti, right view, Samasankappu, right intention, Samavacha, right speech, Samakamant, right action, Samajiva, right livelihood, Samavayam, right effort. Samma samādhi, right concentration or right stillness, and samma samādhi. Sorry, right mindfulness, I forgot. Report an error in the passage at 11:40 Highlight the passage at 11:40

12:08 That is samma sati and samma samādhi, right stillness. So in here, I think there is only right concentration or samma samādhi mentioned here, right? Everything else isn't here, but let's see. This is the challenge. This is the interesting part. Report an error in the passage at 12:08 Highlight the passage at 12:08

12:30 It is interesting because it starts, the sequence starts with sati and sampajanya. So what is mindfulness and clear comprehension? Now it's really important to understand what this means. We have heard the word sati. We have also heard the word sammasati. We hear satima and sampajana, all of these things. Report an error in the passage at 12:30 Highlight the passage at 12:30

13:01 So what are they? It's important to understand. So sati is not just awareness. Awareness or knowing is vijanati. That is your consciousness. When you are conscious, when you are alive, not dead, or when you are awake, then you know. You can see, you can hear, you can know. So that is awareness. But sati, is more than that otherwise it's superfluous right you can't call vijnana sati it's not it's clearly not because in other suttas they are two different things in fact so Report an error in the passage at 13:01 Highlight the passage at 13:01

13:48 you need to be aware but awareness is clearly there with sati but you can have awareness without sati but you can't have sati without awareness do you think that's correct think about it Yeah, then you might understand what sati is. So sati or the Sanskrit word called smriti also has the meaning of remembering what has been said and done long ago, which means it has a relationship to memory. Report an error in the passage at 13:48 Highlight the passage at 13:48

14:24 Yeah, so memory, remembering is an aspect of sati. So it is not only just awareness, but also memory. And it probably also includes some of the basic perceptions as well, right? So sati is what tells you what's going on right now, right? Report an error in the passage at 14:24 Highlight the passage at 14:24

14:52 What's going on right now. So think about a newborn baby. A newborn baby is alive, has working eyes. Yes, and all its senses are fully functional, right? So it'll see things, it'll hear things, but Report an error in the passage at 14:52 Highlight the passage at 14:52

15:23 it doesn't know yet what they are, right? In the first day, two, three, I don't know how many weeks or months it takes for it to even sort of become familiar and understand a little bit about it. Report an error in the passage at 15:23 Highlight the passage at 15:23

15:41 Yeah. So for us, this becomes so second nature by the time we are adults. So past six months or something of our life, we already don't know that very initial awareness. So they probably only have that basic awareness alive. And they have what is called patigasampas. That means, what is the English word? Resistant contact. Report an error in the passage at 15:41 Highlight the passage at 15:41

16:09 That means that a light touching the eye, like when you direct your attention towards the form, the eyes awake. With that attention, eye consciousness come about. There is eye contact happening. And it's only that touch, that's all they have. But for the rest of us, as we grow up, past six months of our lives, then there is also a second contact that happens called Adivachana Sampas. Report an error in the passage at 16:09 Highlight the passage at 16:09

16:38 And that is designation contact. And that is when we recognize we have names and words to things. Our perception starts to develop and shape and we start to make sense of what is there. Report an error in the passage at 16:38 Highlight the passage at 16:38

16:54 And you hear maybe your mom telling it's a ball and you hear the word ball repeatedly. And as a baby, you probably touch it. Babies probably will know what a ball tastes like, which we don't because we never go and taste a ball. But a baby doesn't know. The first thing they do is actually they try to smell it and taste it and bite it and roll it and kick it, do all those things to try to understand what is this thing. Report an error in the passage at 16:54 Highlight the passage at 16:54

17:20 It's shapes, it's abilities of movement and everything. How is it different to a prism, for example? So comparison, and then it'll also hear the terms. Yeah, mom would tell, this is a ball, this is a prism, this is a box, whatever. So slowly, slowly, you start to understand and you have a name for it. Report an error in the passage at 17:20 Highlight the passage at 17:20

17:40 But see, the problem we have as adults, now when we see something we can't ever see. We always see things with those labels. We can never see something beyond its given label. Interesting, isn't it? This is how we actually get trapped in saṃsāra. We buy into those word designations, linguistic usage. And whatever experience we have, then it always... Report an error in the passage at 17:40 Highlight the passage at 17:40

18:15 is with that i mean we can't help it that's how we are this is life so we have to use other ways of using the similar kind of things to I deconstruct some of these useless things, still using good perceptions, good linguistic usages and all those things to turn things around. That's another matter. It's a deeper subject. I don't know how I ended up going this deep into this and I'm supposed to talk about a simple practical sutta. Report an error in the passage at 18:15 Highlight the passage at 18:15

18:45 But anyway, regardless, it just came out. But it triggers some contemplation in you to try and understand the difference between just awareness. And what is mentioned as sati. So when it is just sati, sati knows what's going on. Sati knows I'm angry now, or I'm hungry now, or I'm sad now, or I have some whatever, I'm happy now, I'm peaceful now. Report an error in the passage at 18:45 Highlight the passage at 18:45

19:14 So the mind, sort of the sati, would know this is called this and this is what it is. Report an error in the passage at 19:14 Highlight the passage at 19:14

19:24 And sati can also bring... bring up a little bit of information of what's what what needs a little bit more about the instruction but it is really the sampajanya that tells you what to do with it so you comprehend a little bit more okay what's going on you understand this is this but why is it like that What is going on? How is it like that? Or what are you supposed to do? The sati would tell it's dangerous or not, right? Report an error in the passage at 19:24 Highlight the passage at 19:24

19:59 But it is the comprehension or the sampajanya aspect that will tell you what you need to do in order to... stay safe if you want to be safe or if you are the kind you want to go run into the danger well then it'll also tell you what to do but usually it is protecting yourself so it is that part comes from the sampajanya aspect so it is important to try and understand the difference between sati and sampajanya because sometimes people can have very heightened sati but not developed sampajanya Report an error in the passage at 19:59 Highlight the passage at 19:59

20:41 They'll be aware, I'm walking, I'm walking, I'm walking. But they wouldn't know that they're completely and utterly lost. And wouldn't know how to get back to their retreat center. These things sometimes happen. They have like really paying attention and being aware. They know they're walking. So that is sati. Report an error in the passage at 20:41 Highlight the passage at 20:41

21:02 They know they're walking. But they don't know why they're walking, where they're walking, and, you know, what to do. Is this the right place? Am I walking to get something? What's the purpose of your walking? Are you walking towards danger? Are you walking towards safety? You know, all of those things related to that action. Report an error in the passage at 21:02 Highlight the passage at 21:02

21:25 That is the sampajanya aspect. So it's a wisdom aspect. It's also called sometimes sati nepaka. So nepaka is like that wisdom. Sometimes the quick wisdom as well, like sometimes things happen and quickly you make a decision and you know what to do. So that knowing what to do and why you are doing something and comprehend that full big picture of what's going on, that is the aspect of sampajani. Report an error in the passage at 21:25 Highlight the passage at 21:25

21:52 So I think this is still probably not good enough, but at least I've tried my very best. at the moment to try and give you a little bit of understanding or a handle to start contemplating these two things or three things awareness as well yeah vijnana and sati has vijnana as well as memory and sampajanya has more instructions on what to do what's the right thing to do how to do it why you should be doing it all of those things isn't that sati Sampajani aspect. So you can see whatever you are doing, even if it is like baking a cake or planting something in the garden or anything small even, simple even, you still have to have a degree of Sati and Sampajani, right? Report an error in the passage at 21:52 Highlight the passage at 21:52

22:48 What you are doing. Why you are doing, how you are doing, what's the best way to do it, what's the right way to do it, what's the outcome of it, you know, what type of thing to do, all of those things. Otherwise, you can't do that, right? Even a base level is necessary. So that's why Sati Sampajani just starts as that very mundane kind of level. Report an error in the passage at 22:48 Highlight the passage at 22:48

23:12 You need that. But it goes really, really deep and it grows in its strengths. into deep meditation as well so this is interesting yeah so it takes you it's kind of like you're guiding light and the guide both yeah light and the guide yeah light is like the satish it's probably the light like you know the superpower mindfulness is like this bright light But sampajanya is like your guide as well. Light isn't enough, right? Light can shed the map or show the road, but also you need a guide and some instructions on which path to take if there's a fork on the road or whatever, yeah? Report an error in the passage at 23:12 Highlight the passage at 23:12

23:55 And know where you want to go and why you want to go there. Do you really want to go there? You know, all of those things. So anyway, so this is how we start. So it's very important. To understand this, we have it, but build it up in the spiritual part. So your sampajanya will be more instructed by the dharma, by wisdom teachings from these helpful sources with hopefully lots of right view and lots of the teachings are what gives rise to your sampajanya. Report an error in the passage at 23:55 Highlight the passage at 23:55

24:29 Because even at work, you will have sampajanya in a way, whether you use that word or not. How to do your work, how to carry out an experiment or do whatever you do. But the instruction manuals and remembering all those things. But this is again also like the instruction manual of dhamma. Dhamma, remembering. So in this sutta, it starts, the part starts with sati and sampajanya. Report an error in the passage at 24:29 Highlight the passage at 24:29

25:00 Mindfulness and clear comprehension. And it says, If you didn't have mindfulness and clear comprehension, then you would not have what is called moral shame and moral dread or hiri and ottappa. So this is like nutriments, right? So what gives rise to this hiri and ottappa. So another two very important words, word concepts to understand. Report an error in the passage at 25:00 Highlight the passage at 25:00

25:29 Again, I am not sure which word is the right one. But I can try and explain what hiri means, what is called as moral shame. So hiri is when you're about to do something. Report an error in the passage at 25:29 Highlight the passage at 25:29

25:46 When you're about to do something, you realize, well, actually, this is not the right thing to do. This is not the right time to do. This is not the right way to do. Yeah, you sort of something tells you and that's your Sampajanya tells you. Sati tells you you're about to do this. This is what you're doing. And Sampajanya is telling this is how you're doing it. Report an error in the passage at 25:46 Highlight the passage at 25:46

26:09 But it will also tell that this is actually not smart. Yeah, it will tell you. And it will also feel you will feel that what if somebody sees me doing this? Yeah. And you feel like, oh, you know. If somebody sees, I'll be ashamed. You know, I know they would not approve this. Yeah. So that's that feeling. Hiri is that kind of feeling. Report an error in the passage at 26:09 Highlight the passage at 26:09

26:34 What happens if somebody sees you doing because you know, I think your conscience knows that this is not right somehow. Yeah. This is not a good thing, not acceptable thing, not worthy. for you to do if you are a spiritual seeker or a good wanting be a good citizen or whatever yeah it's not the right thing and otthapa is another step further a step further and that is remembering the danger the outcome if you did it yeah the vipaka the consequence of it So all actions, all intentional actions according to the Buddha has consequences, right? So kamma and vipaka, this is the law of kamma and vipaka, actions and consequences. Report an error in the passage at 26:34 Highlight the passage at 26:34

27:25 This is part of the right view, a very essential part of the Buddha's teachings. So this intentional action that I'm about to do, which is not skillful, the ottappa reminds you what would be your consequence because it knows from the suttas the Buddha describes yeah you kill and what will be happening if you intentionally kill someone if you lie something yeah breaking your precepts technically you know why what's the consequence you realize the danger in it yeah the harm that it does to yourself and others yeah you realize to that degree yeah the danger in it the outcome of it And when we remember and recollect the danger in it, that's ottappa. You also stop. So this hiri and ottappa is really important. Report an error in the passage at 27:25 Highlight the passage at 27:25

28:20 So that is what then gives rise to restraining of the sense faculties. Because you see something and you realize suddenly if you start looking at it in a certain way, what's going to happen? Yeah, what kind of mind state is going to come up and how you are going to react to it and what would be the outcome if it is a dangerous outcome. Report an error in the passage at 28:20 Highlight the passage at 28:20

28:47 So you can see how if you don't have sati and sampajanya, you don't know, you just watch whatever you see and you wonder why I end up killing somebody or stealing something or lying or doing some stupid thing, right? And you wonder what happened. And clearly at that time you didn't have it. Enough mindfulness and wisdom. And because you didn't have that, you didn't have that to stop yourself, to know. Report an error in the passage at 28:47 Highlight the passage at 28:47

29:16 And couldn't restrain your sense faculties. So you just leave your eye unguarded. You leave your ears unguarded. Your nose, tongue, body and mind especially unguarded. So whatever comes, you take and run with it. Allow it to carry you. mindlessly yeah without considering the consequences yeah so make sense so this is really beautiful so you can see how these are a causal sequence one gives rise to the next without that you can't have so if you don't have satya and sampajanya That is mindfulness and clear comprehension. Then it is not possible to have hiri and ottappa. That's what the sutta is telling. Moral shame and moral dread or whichever term you would like to use there. Report an error in the passage at 29:16 Highlight the passage at 29:16

30:12 And if you don't have moral shame and moral dread, then it's not possible to have restraint of the sense faculties. So, guiding of the sense faculties. And then it goes into, if you are not able to guide your sense faculties, then your virtue or morality, behavior, good behavior, wholesome behavior by body, speech and mind, lacks its proximate cause. Report an error in the passage at 30:12 Highlight the passage at 30:12

30:41 So, it is the restraint of the sense faculties which gives rise to the right conduct. Yeah? Vasila. So interesting. And we know that sīla is the foundation in many places, especially like if you look at Samyutta Nikaya, that is the Connected Discourses, Chapter 46 on Satipaṭṭhāna. Samyutta, the Buddha says over and over again, the foundations or the cornerstones of right mindfulness is sīla. Report an error in the passage at 30:41 Highlight the passage at 30:41

31:21 So virtue and right view. Right view has that aspect of sampajani. Report an error in the passage at 31:21 Highlight the passage at 31:21

31:37 So sīla is so important. So in order to get to sīla, sīla is what gives rise to right mindfulness. And right mindfulness is what gives rise to samādhi. right concentration or right stillness or deep meditation stilling of the mind so Report an error in the passage at 31:37 Highlight the passage at 31:37

32:00 it is interesting right so then in this sutta from sīla it goes into samādhi straight away yeah so sometimes it's like in leaps certain little bits that we know are not there but doesn't mean it's not there it's there but it's not mentioned yeah from sīla it says the virtue Report an error in the passage at 32:00 Highlight the passage at 32:00

32:23 is what is the proximate cause for samādhi. Interesting, isn't it? In other places in the Noble Eightfold Path, sammasati or right mindfulness is the most closest step to sammasamadhi. In this sequence, the Buddha says virtue is the proximate cause for samādhi. It highlights the importance because it is so important for this day and time. Report an error in the passage at 32:23 Highlight the passage at 32:23

32:53 time especially because have you heard many people This is quite common. And many people, instead of practicing all of these things, even bothering about learning about virtue or anything like this, they just go straight into a technique and try to really achieve deep meditation and get enlightened. But this itself is really important if we... Report an error in the passage at 32:53 Highlight the passage at 32:53

33:23 Pay attention to what the Buddha is saying here. He's saying that sīla, virtue, is the proximate cause. And without that, samādhi would not be possible, is what he's telling. If it lacks its proximate cause, then it's not possible. So the Buddha right here is telling that samādhi or deep meditation is not possible without virtue. Report an error in the passage at 33:23 Highlight the passage at 33:23

33:50 Without sīla, very important point to remember. So also if we are wondering, I've been meditating for one or two decades now, I'm still not able to get into deep meditation. What's going on? You have a place to look into. We need to refine our virtue, our morality, our sīla a bit more. There's always places where we can improve. Report an error in the passage at 33:50 Highlight the passage at 33:50

34:20 And sīla is not just keeping the five precepts or eight precepts or even 10 precepts or for us as the nuns, 311 precepts. It's not just keeping the precepts. You can keep the precepts, but you may not be necessarily that virtuous. Virtue is more than that. Sīla is where it's coming from as well. Grounded in kindness, compassion and wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 34:20 Highlight the passage at 34:20

34:50 How do you keep your sīla? Yeah, so virtue and much more who you are as a person. So it's not limited to those things. Those precepts are just the basic guidelines for people who are completely kind of, you know. Maybe silly and don't understand so you give don't do this don't do that or all of these things are written that's how we ended up having 311 because some people did some really silly things very obviously not good so the Buddha had to say please don't do don't go bathing naked in the public river for women for nuns right normally you wouldn't do that but because some of them did it you have a precept like that but normally you know right if you came from a With some wisdom, with some understanding what is appropriate, you know. So sīla in a nutshell is that knowing and doing something that doesn't harm or hurt yourself, harm or hurt other people. Report an error in the passage at 34:50 Highlight the passage at 34:50

35:52 And take them or you away from this spiritual journey. So sīla is important and there are many many many places that we can refine our sīla and I can't remember in which talk but previous last week or so I have mentioned repeatedly this few times but here again I'm going to mention it and that is when we have started our spiritual journey and been building up some of these qualities. Report an error in the passage at 35:52 Highlight the passage at 35:52

36:28 We still find ourselves, we still catch ourselves doing stupid things, silly things. And this time we have mindfulness. Now we have mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 36:28 Highlight the passage at 36:28

36:44 So that conscience tells us, well, hey, this is not good. This is going to be... Bad for you. Going to bring some bad results. It's going to affect your meditation. All of those things. It tells you. Even then you find yourself sometimes still going ahead. So that part comes, but that restraint of the sense faculties is weak. Report an error in the passage at 36:44 Highlight the passage at 36:44

37:18 You can't stop yourself. You can't restrain. At that point, Mindfulness is there, but sampajane is there, but you are unable to. These are the times when you have been unable and go ahead and done something silly. And this is where you can see right view, the importance of right view and wrong view. So at times, even though you knew right view, your right view hasn't become strong enough. Report an error in the passage at 37:18 Highlight the passage at 37:18

37:49 And at times, some strong wrong views override the right view. And this is a lot to do with the sensual world, the sensual pleasures, because we have seen many times the gratification in some of these sensual objects or things, experiences, that is in our mind, saying that sensual things have pleasure in it. Report an error in the passage at 37:49 Highlight the passage at 37:49

38:13 That is the gratification. And our greeds and desires sort of highlights the small gratification and temporarily makes you to forget. The long-term danger, the big part of it is danger. It brings much difficulty and suffering. We all know this as well. But that's the right view. But that gets kind of overridden. So this is where right view comes in. So because right view is the starting point in the Noble Eightfold Path. Report an error in the passage at 38:13 Highlight the passage at 38:13

38:48 So this shows right view is there even though it's not mentioned here. Without right view it is... It's impossible for us to also have that power to restrain ourselves. So in that hiri ottappa part where we know why it is bad, why it's going to give you bad results, the way you know it is with right view. Report an error in the passage at 38:48 Highlight the passage at 38:48

39:15 So sampajjanya part also has right view and hiri ottappa also has right view in there. So right view is there. So, um, So sīla gives rise to then samādhi and then from samādhi it says you have you see things for what they are. So when the hindrances of the mind are settled down then that is when you understand what's going on properly. Report an error in the passage at 39:15 Highlight the passage at 39:15

39:52 Until the hindrances of the mind and what are the hindrances that is the sensuality. Ill will, laziness and lethargy, restlessness and worry and doubt. When these things are present in our mind, even one of them is present. Most of the time all five are there at various stages. When they are there, the way we see things are distorted. Report an error in the passage at 39:52 Highlight the passage at 39:52

40:19 Distorted by these hindrances. That's why the Buddha says we have sanya vipallas. So our perceptions are distorted. And that's what we learn as well, because everybody else who teach us all of these things, unless our teachers are fully enlightened beings, which is not usually the case. Yeah. So it's impossible to be born to a fully enlightened being, I think. So therefore, we learn all of this world, the designations, the perceptions, the way we have taught about the world is already based with all this. Report an error in the passage at 40:19 Highlight the passage at 40:19

40:58 this the Defilements, right? Rāga, dosa, moha. These are the desires, will and delusion. So they are the ones that is giving rise to all of our understandings about the world. So it's distorted. That is where we get trapped. That is how our cravings and desires keep coming up. Right? And we chase after them. We are unable to restrain ourselves. Yeah? So this is the big problem there. And that is there when the mind doesn't have samādhi. Report an error in the passage at 40:58 Highlight the passage at 40:58

41:33 When the mind still has the hindrances, it's really hard to see things for what they are. You feel an agency inside of you, yeah? Sense of self. You feel. And when you have a sense of self, you want things, yeah? I am here and I want to experience. I want to do. I want to control. I want to enjoy. There is pleasure and you seek for pleasure. So this is all of those distortions that the Buddha says. Report an error in the passage at 41:33 Highlight the passage at 41:33

42:13 There is suffering. There is a cause for suffering. There is ending of suffering and there is a way leading to the ending of suffering. So it's a path of happiness because it's a path leading to the ending of suffering. But what's really there is things constantly changing, that idea of impermanence, because things are impermanent and they're out of your control. Report an error in the passage at 42:13 Highlight the passage at 42:13

42:39 That is the idea of non-self. They are also suffering. So this is just in brief, a very long, deep teaching. But this is just to sort of... Put things together in perspective to make it complete. So this is the problem when the hindrances are there. We can't see the impermanence nature of things. We can't see the non-self aspect, the conditionality of things. We can't see the unsatisfactoriness of things. What is really suffering, what is truly suffering and unsatisfactory, we perceive as happiness. Report an error in the passage at 42:39 Highlight the passage at 42:39

43:17 What is truly... nothing so beautiful we perceive as beautiful what is really not mine and under my control we perceive as mine and i can control them and what is really impermanent changing and constantly moving away we take to be permanent and then when these things the impermanent things become become impermanent and non-self like things under not in your control is out of control when you experience the unsatisfactoryness and suffering we cry So that is why samādhi is important. So once you have, once the hindrances are down, Then you see things for what they are. So this is vipassanā proper. So you hear this again and again in meditation circle. Report an error in the passage at 43:17 Highlight the passage at 43:17

44:15 I am doing vipassanā, right? So then you need to ask your friend who's doing vipassanā. So have you got jhāna yet? So proper vipassanā happens after the jhānas, after the hindrances are down. Because as long as the hindrances are there, you can't see things for clear. What they are, you can't see things clearly. V means clear, pasana means seeing. So clear seeing is only possible when the hindrances are down. Report an error in the passage at 44:15 Highlight the passage at 44:15

44:43 So when the hindrances are down, when you see this reality that there is not really somebody called me, the non-self nature of oneself. And the impermanence. of everything the conditionality of everything how everything including all of our mindsets even the jhāna states all of these things are made up yeah all these are very deep subjects i'm only just touching uh the subject matter just to give like in a nutshell or a big picture of what what we are trying to say here and when we start to see this suddenly the mind turns away Yeah, disenchantment or viraga happens. So with understanding, when you see there's nothing there, this is seeing that true emptiness of things, empty of a self, empty of somebody who has control, empty of a permanent essence. Report an error in the passage at 44:43 Highlight the passage at 44:43

45:39 When you see that, yeah, for yourself and for all of those phenomena, your mind suddenly turns away. That is viraga and nibbida. Nibbida and Viraga comes again. Your mind turns away, that's Nibbida, disenchantment, and then all of those things start to fade away, Viraga. Report an error in the passage at 45:39 Highlight the passage at 45:39

46:03 And with that, the mind is liberated. Because once you see things for what they are, you can never hold on to it. And when you see the burning nature of all of these things, the empty nature of all of these things, the uselessness of all of those things, you would not want to Hold on to them or even touch them. So the craving then comes to an end. When the craving comes to an end, the mind is liberated from all the defilements. Report an error in the passage at 46:03 Highlight the passage at 46:03

46:36 So that is that Vimuthi Jnana Dasana. So it's quite a, it gets very deep. So, but just to put everything in together. together but uh the Parts that are very important to us is the early ones, where the sati sampajanya. So having that mindfulness and clear comprehension build up. So reading, understanding, reflecting the dharma. So what gives rise to sati and sampajanya? Important question, right? Report an error in the passage at 46:36 Highlight the passage at 46:36

47:08 Because the teaching says it starts with sati and sampajanya, but there is also approximate cause for... Sati and Sampajanya. It's not in this sutta, but if you're interested to know that sutta, then read Numerical Discourses, book number 10, sutta number 61 called Ignorance. It's a long tenfold sequence, quite interesting. We might do that another time. But in that sutta, you can see what gives rise to Sati and Sampajanya is wise attention. Report an error in the passage at 47:08 Highlight the passage at 47:08

47:48 What is yoniso manasikara? So manasikara is giving attention. Now if you are not entirely sure what giving attention is, what can you smell right now? Report an error in the passage at 47:48 Highlight the passage at 47:48

48:12 When I become quiet, what other sounds can you hear? How Report an error in the passage at 48:12 Highlight the passage at 48:12

48:22 is your right foot feeling right now? So when I prompt you like that, did you see your mind giving attention to the smells? And what is Yoni Somanasikara? Report an error in the passage at 48:22 Highlight the passage at 48:22

· · · silence, 1 minute

48:32 To the sounds, to the parts of the body, to your right foot. Directing your mind, giving attention. So that is one part of the manasikara. Report an error in the passage at 48:32 Highlight the passage at 48:32

48:44 Directing your mind. You're not doing everything at the same time. It feels like you can see and you can hear and you can feel all at the same time. Report an error in the passage at 48:44 Highlight the passage at 48:44

48:55 But it's only one at a time, but mind can jump between the two very rapidly. That is why you think you are watching, if you're watching the screen and you're hearing what I'm saying at the same time. But it's actually happening very rapidly. But at the same time, you should be able to smell. But you are not, right? Only when you stopped, when I stopped talking and you gave attention. Report an error in the passage at 48:55 Highlight the passage at 48:55

49:19 That is when you smelt whatever, if you smelt your dinner or whatever, the cleaners in your house or whatever, the flowers next to you, that's when you smelt. And again, now that you're paying full attention to the dharma, hopefully, then you are again not smelly or not feeling other things, right? They don't grab you, but they're there. So attention is that giving attention, your direction of your mind, but also how you think about it as well. Report an error in the passage at 49:19 Highlight the passage at 49:19

49:49 It's an aspect as well. So yoni so manasikara is whenever you direct your attention into the source of things. Yoni is the Pāli word for womb. So womb is where the babies are grown and grown up and also come out, right? So that's the place where something begins, the starting point, the source of things. Report an error in the passage at 49:49 Highlight the passage at 49:49

50:14 So directing your mind, directing your attention. To causality, to the starting point. Where are they all coming from? To understand. So this is really important and this is what gives rise to sati and sampajanya. Very deep topic. Extremely deep contemplation. I am just only triggering the contemplation for those of you who are meditators as well to take that to your meditation. Report an error in the passage at 50:14 Highlight the passage at 50:14

50:47 To that deeper level to understand how this works at meditative states. So before we were talking just about Sati Sampajanya, also in day-to-day life when you're about to do something that is silly, how Hiryotthapa would stop you and how that helps your restraint of the senses and your virtue and how that helps you to get to meditation. Report an error in the passage at 50:47 Highlight the passage at 50:47

51:12 But Sati Sampajanya doesn't stop at the starting point. Sati Sampajanya is there with you all along and the light which was like a very weak light at the beginning just starts to become brighter and brighter and brighter and your God is also in the meantime learning and getting education and doing their PhD even and giving you better information as you go. Report an error in the passage at 51:12 Highlight the passage at 51:12

51:38 Progress further, right? So they're still there. Sati and Sampajan is all the way there. But they're getting more stronger, brighter, wiser. Report an error in the passage at 51:38 Highlight the passage at 51:38

51:48 But very interesting, what gives rise to it is Yoniso Manasikara, wise attention. And that's another very, very important and a very deep... Very useful topic, this vice attention, Yoniso Manasikara, what it is and how do you do it and what are its results. The main important result, that is what gives rise to Sati and Sampajanya. But you will also see in other sequences, Sati and Sampajanya also feeds Yoniso Manasikara. Report an error in the passage at 51:48 Highlight the passage at 51:48

52:21 They have also feeding each other effect as well. So it's also important to see that in your own mind. in the way you direct your mind and the way you cultivate your mind yeah how you build up your meditation and how your meditation goes deeper how you understand how to navigate your meditation because no teacher can be there inside of your mind right no teacher unless it's somebody who has an incredible power i don't think even Report an error in the passage at 52:21 Highlight the passage at 52:21

53:07 he became enlightened he was overcome by a lot of sleepiness and At that time, the Buddha actually intervened and guided him and directed him a little bit. But that is not common. And not many teachers, certainly not many who are around these days are going to be able to do that, right? Nobody can, not many people can jump inside your mind and guide you. Report an error in the passage at 53:07 Highlight the passage at 53:07

53:36 Okay, now you do this, this is what's happening. You know, you can't do that. So you need to do it yourself, right? So sometimes... It's learning from mistakes. So this is why at the end of every meditation, we take a few moments to reflect back. How did it all go? How did my mind progress? How did I conduct? How did I direct my mind? How did I build up my meditation? Report an error in the passage at 53:36 Highlight the passage at 53:36

54:04 What happened? What worked? What didn't work? And why? This is the only way to... instruct your Sampajan, yeah? or the meditative level so you will have your book knowledge and word concepts about these things but that's why i said one day when i learned what pachavekkana was It's not explainable by words, but it's a way how you direct your mind. Report an error in the passage at 54:04 Highlight the passage at 54:04

54:36 What it brings, the insights it brings and all of those things is not really explainable by words. So you can direct with a word what to do. But one day you realize that's how you direct your mind. This is how you guide. This is how you navigate through your meditation rather than getting stuck in place. Report an error in the passage at 54:36 Highlight the passage at 54:36

54:57 So it's very important to understand Sati Sampajanya and Yoni Soman Sikara. Yeah, these are very, very critical, technical, maybe ways even, or usages. So I don't know what the right term is that is necessary to drive, let's say, your meditation or your spiritual journey, so to speak. So I want to stop. Report an error in the passage at 54:57 Highlight the passage at 54:57

55:23 And leave you with some good homework. And if you are really keen, if you want to make the best use of these teachings, teachings of the Buddha, contemplation, mental inspection of these things is very important. Do it and try and understand it at the level of day-to-day life. Try and see it during your meditation. Report an error in the passage at 55:23 Highlight the passage at 55:23

55:46 Try and see it after your meditation. After a good meditation, a meditation that wasn't really that peaceful, all of those will instruct and inform you. And that is how your sati and sampajani is going to get stronger and help you in return to get enlightened. Okay, so I will definitely stop here. Report an error in the passage at 55:46 Highlight the passage at 55:46