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Key passages
The teacher's own words, quoted from the transcript below and chosen automatically as representative.
- 1:14
So that more and more you develop a sense of confidence in that you have the ability to realize truth for yourself. You're not dependent upon me or somebody else or some authority that you might have respect for.
- 5:23
the word Buddha is interesting word. It's an interesting word in itself. It implies the nobility to know, wisdom faculty, or the understanding of things as they are.
- 14:25
The ability to observe our own fears or Tendencies to form opinions, be attached to views, our own anxieties or worries, or our own greed, our own lustfulness, or jealousies, fears, emotional states that we happen to be feeling. Whether somebody is agreeing with us or disagreeing with us, we can still observe what we're feeling. We can see what it's like.
- 30:45
Not as some kind of thing inside oneself, but the ability to reflect and observe and learn, to use intelligence and wisdom with the feelings of your mind, the thoughts, the mental formations, the physical body we have. It's something we can all, we notice it, we pay attention, we listen. We observe, we examine what we think is our self. So the personality view is then seen as something we create in our mind rather than actually holding that our personality is what we really are.
- 37:25
Now in terms of the Buddha, Then success and failure are of equal value. Happiness and suffering of equal value. Praise and blame of equal value. Because we're looking at them in terms of their characteristic of impermanence. They come and go.
Transcript
0:01 ...series on Buddha and Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 0:01
0:14 Again, I want to remind you that what I say, what you're hearing is for reflection and contemplation. In Buddhadhamma, we're not trying to tell you or impose our views upon you, but to try to stimulate your mind, trying to... I encourage you to contemplate for yourself because the way of the Buddha is a way of looking into and investigating, examining your own mind rather than just trying to figure out whether you agree with the concepts or words that I might be using. Report an error in the passage at 0:14
1:04 The important thing is to recognize how it affects you. Report an error in the passage at 1:04
1:14 So that more and more you develop a sense of confidence in that you have the ability to realize truth for yourself. You're not dependent upon me or somebody else or some authority that you might have respect for. You're not dependent on them in a way that they know and you don't. Because so much disillusionment... Report an error in the passage at 1:14
1:43 Disappointment occurs in people's religious life and spiritual development because we oftentimes invest other people with our hopes and expectations and sometimes they disappoint us and then we're left thinking, feeling bereft by the loss rather than having developed the practice within ourselves to where the ups and downs changes The good and bad experiences of life are seen in a way that you're not depending on the highs, the peak moments for your own support. Report an error in the passage at 1:43
2:32 The aim to be able to find a perfect balance, a place of peace within yourself where the vicissitudes of life can be witnessed. And we can learn from them, both the good and the bad, the successes and failures, because we have a lot to learn from both. Report an error in the passage at 2:32
2:57 The Buddhist teachings, you can learn as much from failure as from success, sometimes even more, because failure is, in terms of modern values, is considered bad, and we should not fail. And things should not go wrong. That our life should be based on a continuous happiness and feeling of security and success. Report an error in the passage at 2:57
3:32 But on further examination we realize life isn't that way. There's no place in this existence, this realm that we're living in, where you can depend on anything, either physical or emotional, mental. Report an error in the passage at 3:32
3:52 To sustain you and hold you in a kind of happy state and secure existence for a long period of time. I think it's so apparent now in the kind of rapid fire changes that have taken place over the past five years. Some of the kind of monolithic rocks, the kind of stable things that most of us... I have kind of looked to all our lives have suddenly crashed or fallen apart and with a sense of how what seemed like a fairly stable situation can suddenly just break up and disappear, vanish. Report an error in the passage at 3:52
4:44 But then we didn't make any problem about this. This is part of, this is the way this realm is. And if we understand it, we find the strength from within. And that inner strength then isn't something that can be taken away from you, no matter what happens. Report an error in the passage at 4:44
5:04 And that is where you find your peace and your sense of security, not in anything external, but through the right understanding. Report an error in the passage at 5:04
5:23 the word Buddha is Report an error in the passage at 5:23
5:28 interesting word. It's an interesting word in itself. It implies the nobility to know, wisdom faculty, or the understanding of things as they are. Report an error in the passage at 5:28
5:46 The Buddha is, buddhi is, when you use the I ending, it implies intelligence. It's more of an abstraction, where Buddha can be a person. You can have a... You can have a Buddha rūpa, a Buddha image. You can personify Buddha as a human being. And so this realm of this human state we're in, these human bodies, male and female bodies, then have this Buddha-like ability, this ability to realize the truth. Report an error in the passage at 5:46
6:33 The truth of the way it is. An ultimate reality. And so the word Buddha means that. It's a perception, it's a concept, yes, just like any other word. But it's pointing to a reality that we begin to use. When we're developing the Buddha's path, we're actually learning to use Buddhahood or Buddha wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 6:33
7:05 We're developing it, we're using it as our way of life, as how we relate to and learn from the things that happen to us. Report an error in the passage at 7:05
7:17 Now this, see that sometimes we talk about, when we try to compare Buddhism as a religion to, say, another religion such as Christianity, we tend to, because many of us... The majority of us here were probably brought up as Christians or in a country that was mainly influenced by Christianity. I think very few people here were actually brought up and born into and brought up in Buddhist cultures. There's a few. Report an error in the passage at 7:17
7:54 But the majority of us were conditioned through the Western attitudes of Modern science, empirical science and Christianity or Judaism. So these kind of religion like Christianity has a very strong metaphysical statement. It starts from a metaphysical truth. So that it is like we must accept that. We have to believe in it. Report an error in the passage at 7:54
8:34 Even though we may not understand it, we may not be able to appreciate it fully. And so, say, the position of God in our minds, we notice, those of us who've been brought up in Christian families, how the word God has a very strong effect on our mind. Just a three-letter word. Dog spelled backward. Report an error in the passage at 8:34
9:08 But it's used for all kinds of things. There's a blessing, there's a curse, isn't it? It's a very powerful word in the English vocabulary. It has a great impact on the mind. Report an error in the passage at 9:08
9:25 And so it implies a metaphysical reality. But the thing is that the word itself oftentimes we never develop it to a realization. We tend to get stuck with various images. Report an error in the passage at 9:25
9:46 And ideas about God. So we notice, like if you ask people, this is not an uncommon experience, ask people what they think of when they hear the word God, what that brings to mind. And so many of them will say, an old man with a white beard up in the sky. Kind of like the Michelangelo version. Or they... Report an error in the passage at 9:46
10:15 Kind of Santa Claus or a kind of a holy father that loves us or who created everything. And so we have this now saying that this past couple of decades with the feminist movement, women are beginning to object to God being a man. They say, why does God have to be a man? Why can't God be a woman? Fair enough. Question, isn't it? It's a good question. Because before we were thinking, we just assumed. We never even thought of questioning that. Report an error in the passage at 10:15
10:56 At least I didn't 30 years ago. The idea of God being a woman had never entered my mind. And so we just assumed God was a man and that was it. God was a father. A male presence. Report an error in the passage at 10:56
11:17 You know, that means that we're just more or less making the assumption about God, isn't it? We've never, say, unless one develops a spiritual life that does something within their mind, then we more or less have to accept the versions given to us by the people around, the priests, the rabbis, and so forth, that we tend to put our trust in. They will tell us who God is. Report an error in the passage at 11:17
11:46 What he is or if God can be a woman or not. And then we can either agree or disagree with that. I heard in an Anglican Episcopal Cathedral in New York City, somebody gave a crucifix of Jesus Christ. Well, instead of a man's figure, a naked man figure, it was a naked female nailed to the cross. Report an error in the passage at 11:46
12:15 Very upsetting indeed. Report an error in the passage at 12:15
12:21 Very shocking. We're not used to that, seeing a naked woman, quite nicely proportioned too, nailed to a cross. Report an error in the passage at 12:21
12:37 We're quite used to the other, aren't we? A naked man nailed to a cross is something that we've all witnessed and seen from early childhood. So these are ways of reflecting on how images affect our consciousness. And how threatening these things can be if we've invested a lot of our belief, religious belief, and our faith in a convention that has been given to us by somebody else. Report an error in the passage at 12:37
13:09 Then when that convention is threatened or questioned or doubted, we can only feel very angry or upset. We can see here in Britain the kind of anger and... Rage of some Anglicans around the ordination of women as priests. Why? Because it's a real threat to the stability and the security of what one regards as this is the way it has to be. Report an error in the passage at 13:09
13:42 This is right. And any variations or any permutations are just heretical or wrong. Evil influences. So we can find some very unchristian-like behavior around the ordination of women. The idea of making women into priests. Report an error in the passage at 13:42
14:08 I mean, it depends on what we regard as christian-like behavior. Report an error in the passage at 14:08
14:15 But in terms of the Buddha, you see, the Buddha is the ability to reflect on all this. The ability to observe our own fears or Tendencies to form opinions, be attached to views, our own anxieties or worries, or our own greed, our own lustfulness, or jealousies, fears, emotional states that we happen to be feeling. Report an error in the passage at 14:15
14:49 Whether somebody is agreeing with us or disagreeing with us, we can still observe what we're feeling. We can see what it's like. Report an error in the passage at 14:49
15:01 If somebody desecrates or makes fun of or condemns Buddhism, we can feel what it's like when we hear, we can be aware of our own reactions when people say what a wonderful religion it is and that everybody should become a Buddhist and we can feel what does that feel like or when somebody says it's the cult of Satan taking over. Report an error in the passage at 15:01
15:32 Europe, we've got to destroy it. You can be aware of the sense of they're after me. I'm an obvious Buddhist. You can all hide in your houses. Report an error in the passage at 15:32
15:50 I'm a sitting duck for religious persecution. The Report an error in the passage at 15:50
16:05 word Buddha, the ending of the word, the DH part, this is an interesting I find this very interesting that this in Sanskrit and Pāli languages, this ending implies awakened intelligence. Report an error in the passage at 16:05
16:27 So that it's like it's universal. It's not personal. It's not conditioned knowledge. It's not like having a PhD from Oxford or Cambridge. It's not having a high IQ or anything like that. It is the... It implies universal intelligence, wisdom. And so these forms, just to reflect that these individual forms that we're in, each one of us is now living a lifespan within, incarcerated in this form. Report an error in the passage at 16:27
17:03 I mean, we're born, we have to live our lives till this form decides to die, but we have to live within its limitations. Report an error in the passage at 17:03
17:17 Within its particular karmic tendencies, with its inheritances, with its heredity, with the gender of the body, with its masculinity or femininity, with its aging, its continuous aging, with its vulnerability, the fact that it is a easily harmed, easily hurt, easily diseased form. Report an error in the passage at 17:17
17:47 That is a sensitive form. We have to live a life in this extreme sensitive state for a lifetime. Think of it like that. Contemplate what that really means. If you're taking it personally, don't. This is just the way it is. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just, this is an opportunity. opportunity, see, as I... Report an error in the passage at 17:47
18:14 This is how I regard it anyway, as an opportunity to learn from this existence. Report an error in the passage at 18:14
18:26 Now, the reason why we find we have so much fear and anxiety and worry in our lives, so much negativity as human beings, because it's everywhere, isn't it? It's not just a kind of English problem or Western problem, but we find all over the world people, you know, With a natural kind of fear of their own vulnerability, their sensitivity, because it is a very frightening experience to find yourself in a state where you can be so easily hurt, just physically damaged. Report an error in the passage at 18:26
19:08 We need to create civilizations and societies, and we have to form kind of ethical agreements so that we at least live with each other. In a way that we can live our lives without continually kind of trying to protect ourselves from being harmed by the neighbors or somebody else or something else. We've managed to conquer the wild animal kingdom, put it in zoos, and now trying to stand up for the rights of wild animals to exist. Report an error in the passage at 19:08
19:43 Consider that for many, you know, Early, for most of the time that human beings have existed on this planet, one of the main problems is to protect yourselves from the wild animals. Report an error in the passage at 19:43
20:02 Trying to avoid, trying to develop weapons in ways of fending, of protecting your very, your vulnerable form from being eaten alive, being destroyed or harmed by the animal kingdom. Report an error in the passage at 20:02
20:21 Now it's not a particular problem. The dangers are now with other human beings, not with bears. Here in Britain, isn't it? Bears are no problem. Report an error in the passage at 20:21
20:35 But human beings very much are. Report an error in the passage at 20:35
20:46 So the life is one of this extreme vulnerability and sensitivity. And Buddha is a way of reflecting on it, of bringing into our consciousness the way it is. Report an error in the passage at 20:46
21:02 Because we can get it all wrong. I say the personal, taking it all personally is one way of interpreting life. Everything that happens to me, it shouldn't be like this. Life should be a safe place where everything is fair and I'm protected and given a chance to fulfill my talents, to live my life in safety and to enjoy. Report an error in the passage at 21:02
21:33 This is the very self-centered view of this universe that I'm living in, that it should be a kind of place that just helps me and supports me and protects me and gives me what I want. And so this way of thinking, of course, makes us very... Report an error in the passage at 21:33
22:16 find that we've been trying to do this, we're ending up it, our tendency to manipulate it, to use the... resources of the planet we're living in just to to give us this sense of safety and protection and comfort security Report an error in the passage at 22:16
22:37 then now we're at this stage and we when we read the the news we hear the rumors the stories the facts of of pollution and and destruction of environment this has been done with this with this idea of i want I want this universe, this planet, this world around me, I want to convert it into a place where I can be safe and secure, happy and fulfilled. Report an error in the passage at 22:37
23:09 It's interesting to just contemplate the institution of marriage as it's developed, where, say, at this time in the development of humanity, marriage has become something just for personal pleasure. It's not an agreement to live with each other, to support a family, and to say just an economic necessity and a form of social stability. Report an error in the passage at 23:09
23:46 Marriage now is, I want to find someone who will make me happy and have some kind of romantic relationship with. And will make me happy and understand me. And then, of course, we have the right now to do that. We can look around. Our parents don't dare try to find a partner for us. Not in a country like this. And we now even don't feel we have to get married. Report an error in the passage at 23:46
24:24 We can just live our lives completely without that commitment. Because the society doesn't expect it or even demand it anymore. So that we tend to see our relationships with someone else even as, you know, to try to just squeeze as much happiness and pleasure from somebody else for our own sense of our own kind of happiness or excitement or interest. Report an error in the passage at 24:24
24:55 And then when it kind of becomes boring and uninteresting to go on to the next. Or to blame them, thinking this person has great disappointment to me. She's not making me happy anymore. Report an error in the passage at 24:55
25:17 Totally disillusioned with women now. Or we can say something's wrong with me, that I'm just such a kind of dreary person or so kind of unlovable. Report an error in the passage at 25:17
25:39 want to to stay with me for any length of time we can we can take that we can blame somebody external or we can blame ourselves these are these are both very self-centered of interpreting life Report an error in the passage at 25:39
25:56 in it in terms of the Buddha, the Buddha wisdom, we can recognize that the... These tendencies, emotional, maybe immature emotions we do have that we take with us into relationships, into whatever we're doing, and sometimes never grow up beyond those kind of emotional reactions. We can spend a lifetime just trying to find somebody who will make me happy and never really learn anything because we're still thinking that we've got to find something external to ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 25:56
26:36 That there's somebody out there who will eventually come along and be able to do it. Report an error in the passage at 26:36
26:43 But in terms of the Buddha, we can be aware of that. We can listen. Listen to ourselves. Listen to our desires. Listen to our fears as they kind of go on and rant away inside us. Or as we feel those things affecting our consciousness, we begin to observe, accept, and pay attention to them so we learn from them. Now, I'm just noticing how in, say, monastic life, one goes into monastic life oftentimes with those kind of expectations. Report an error in the passage at 26:43
27:28 You know, when I became a monk in Thailand, and there was still that kind of emotional immaturity affecting the way I related to the... teacher to the other monks to the people around me to the to the monastery so there was this sense of at first of of uh you know having a kind of inspiring feeling of being in love with buddhism feeling tremendous trust i think this is a teacher Ajahn Chah is my teacher he is a wise man Report an error in the passage at 27:28
28:07 You know, projecting onto the other monks all kinds of things, you know, all the hopes, expectations, that these are living examples of wise attained human beings. So one can, one wants the world to be, you know, when you find something that you take an interest in, you can want it to be this kind of perfect model. Report an error in the passage at 28:07
28:34 And then project your own kind of ideals onto that situation. And it doesn't take long before it all starts falling apart. After you live in a monastery for a while, the kind of romantic period is over, then you start picking up on the things that aren't very nice, the little flaws, the weaknesses, the things you don't... Report an error in the passage at 28:34
29:01 This isn't fair. I don't particularly agree with that. I don't like that. And that monk, how many years has he been a monk now? And look at him. Report an error in the passage at 29:01
29:11 Look at him eat that food. Not at all mindfully. Report an error in the passage at 29:11
29:27 One of the great kind of gifts of Lungpho Chah was that he was very good at making us look at ourselves. This was his whole kind of... thrust in his teaching was we'd go and complain to him and then he'd make then he'd say he'd kind of have skillful ways of of turning our attention to what we were doing and oftentimes he'd use humor like i'd go and say oh you know some of these monks here you know they're really you know they're really you know i'm quite disappointed and he says oh Sumedho's suffering Report an error in the passage at 29:27
30:08 wanted him to agree with me and say, we must stop this right now. I'll have a word with these monks. Report an error in the passage at 30:08
30:22 the point was very clear I was suffering I didn't like this So that is Report an error in the passage at 30:22
30:41 the Buddha. Not as some kind of thing inside oneself, but the ability to reflect and observe and learn, to use intelligence and wisdom with the feelings of your mind, the thoughts, the mental formations, the physical body we have. It's something we can all, we notice it, we pay attention, we listen. We observe, we examine what we think is our self. So the personality view is then seen as something we create in our mind rather than actually holding that our personality is what we really are. Report an error in the passage at 30:41
31:34 We begin to see that the personality I have is merely a set of conditions that operate where before... There were all kinds of assumptions I was making about myself as being a certain type of person, certain personality like this and abilities and lack of abilities and talents or no talents or the whole view of one's personality that one tended to make that these were kind of permanent fixtures in one's life. Report an error in the passage at 31:34
32:13 I began to notice that they are merely conditions that arise and cease in the mind. And then one became aware of, one was realizing the ability to note this, to observe, to observe what the personality is or the body or the emotional reactions. It's not in terms of judging or making... Report an error in the passage at 32:13
32:44 Value judgments or comments about them are merely noticing that they arise and cease, that they are just temporary conditions that come up in your consciousness and cease. Report an error in the passage at 32:44
32:57 And in the cessation, we realize that the ending of a person is that the personality is merely an illusion of the mind. There are certain kind of emotions, conditions, tendencies that arise and cease. According to conditions. But the assumption that it is a real solid person falls away. And that is a big relief for most of us when we realize we aren't a person anymore. Report an error in the passage at 32:57
33:31 We're not a kind of permanent thing or permanent personality. That we're not kind of stuck with maybe emotions or habits. Report an error in the passage at 33:31
33:45 And that there's no way out, that we're just helpless victims or kind of got stuck with maybe some inferior things and have no way of getting outside it or transcending it. Report an error in the passage at 33:45
33:58 Because that's one of the feelings of despair, isn't it, in our life, is where we assume that our emotional reactions or our tendencies that we may not like at all, we might be very critical of. Where the despair is that these are kind of permanent, solid things in our lives that we can't help, we're just stuck with for the rest of our life. Report an error in the passage at 33:58
34:25 And then we tend to blame, maybe mother, father, or being abused as a child, or being unloved, or being brought up in an orphanage, or being a man or woman. or be Report an error in the passage at 34:25
34:45 Or just not getting everything we think we should. Report an error in the passage at 34:45
34:56 Contemplate that. I used to say things to myself like, Sumedho, you think that life around you should be in such a way that the people around you are continually kind of smiling at you and they're saying you're wonderful, you're great, you're all right, we like you. Report an error in the passage at 34:56
35:17 And that we can make sure that wherever you are, that it's going to be permanent, that there's no problems with anything, that there's no kind of worrisome things, dilemmas that you have to deal with, that you have a sense of being secure, safe, loved, protected. And in a society that's totally fair and just, where you know you're going to... Report an error in the passage at 35:17
35:47 To be treated properly. And this is how life should be. But we know life isn't always that way. Report an error in the passage at 35:47
36:00 And here in Britain, isn't it, we like the idea of fairness. Everything should be fair, but sometimes life isn't fair. It can be really unfair. Report an error in the passage at 36:00
36:14 But that's okay too, because that isn't an obstacle to wisdom or enlightenment. Unfairness is not going to destroy. The spiritual development. It might destroy the moments of our lives. We get very angry and outraged. When we contemplate it, we recognize that sometimes life will be fair and just. Sometimes it won't be. Report an error in the passage at 36:14
36:44 That sometimes people will love us and sometimes they won't. That sometimes we'll be praised and admired. And respect and sometimes we'll be condemned or despised or ignored. We can realize that some of our life will be very successful or we'll get what we want and a lot of our life maybe we won't get what we want at all or we'll get what we don't want or we'll be considered failures or we'll fail at what we attempt to do. Report an error in the passage at 36:44
37:25 Now in terms of the Buddha, Then success and failure are of equal value. Happiness and suffering of equal value. Praise and blame of equal value. Because we're looking at them in terms of their characteristic of impermanence. They come and go. They arise and cease. They depend on conditions. Report an error in the passage at 37:25
37:54 And since we break down the assumptions, the conditioned view of personality, of self-importance, that tends to fall away, then can, we develop a trust, a faith, a confidence in being with the flow of our lives, which the ups and downs, the things that we experience... Report an error in the passage at 37:54
38:28 not asking for special privileges from God or we needn't kind of Pray, please give me the best and protect me from all misery. We feel whatever it is that we get, we will learn from that. Report an error in the passage at 38:28
38:46 And to me that is a great realization because so much of my life was a worry because of the fear of losing, of things going wrong, of that which was unwanted and undesirable coming to me. Or being condemned or rejected or being considered a failure, of being looked down on, of being treated unfairly, of being taken advantage of. Report an error in the passage at 38:46
39:21 On the level of my personality, these were strong fears and anxieties in my life. When I realized what they really were, And realize the way of letting go of those causes and the result from that is the way of well-being, of trust, of faith, of fearlessness. Report an error in the passage at 39:21
39:55 And willing to go into life, really kind of embrace it and learn from it rather than just try to protect myself from the possibilities of it going off or being embarrassing or being difficult. Report an error in the passage at 39:55
40:19 Buddhism is an English word, taking Buddha and putting an ism on it, which in many ways kind of destroys the meaning of the value of the actual word. Because Buddhism can be anything. In the cult, you believe in Buddha, you're a Buddhist. Whether you believe Buddha is God or Buddha is... Buddha is a great sage or Buddha is anything. Believing in Buddha and in Buddhist teachings and following Buddhist customs and all that is Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 40:19
41:06 I mean, because it's a conventional form, isn't it? We have now so many different forms of Buddhism because of its origins in India 2,500 years ago. Then it spread. Report an error in the passage at 41:06
41:21 Tibet, Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand, and Cambodia and Laos, Burma, Sri Lanka. It spread through Indonesia and through all of India and into Central Asia. Report an error in the passage at 41:21
41:44 of course, wherever a convention goes, it tends to become adapted and influenced by the local convention. Values and existing ethnic qualities. So you get all different kinds of Buddhists. Now here in Britain we've got quite a wide variety of Buddhist groups. Now because one is a Buddhist doesn't mean one is actually using Buddha as your refuge. Report an error in the passage at 41:44
42:24 One can believe in a Buddha. Like one can create a Buddha just like you can create a God. Whether you use God or Buddha or whatever, we can form a view or have a kind of image or qualities, attributes that we call Buddha or we can do that with the word God or with any of these words that convey some kind of transcendental. Report an error in the passage at 42:24
42:55 Or metaphysical reality. The Report an error in the passage at 42:55
43:01 tendency in the West is to put Buddha into either just say, no, he wasn't a god, he was a human being, but a wise one. Because many Western people that turn to Buddhism are oftentimes rebelling against the metaphysical approach of religion like Christianity. The dogmatic Report an error in the passage at 43:01
43:28 Doctrine, doctrinal approach, compelling us to believe in dogma. Report an error in the passage at 43:28
43:40 So maybe we don't want Buddha to be a god, so we say he was just a wise human being, perfected human being. But getting beyond just the particular views of kind of humanistic Buddhism or theological Buddhism, metaphysical Buddhism, Or whatever form of Buddhism you might be inclined toward, the ability to reflect on that is Buddha, the Buddha mind. Report an error in the passage at 43:40
44:19 So that it's immediate, it's here and now Buddha, it's not becoming a Buddhist, it's not Tibetan Buddhism, it's not Theravāda Buddhism, it's not Zen Buddhism that we're taking our refuge in. Report an error in the passage at 44:19
44:34 We're not becoming a Zen Buddhist or a Theravadan Buddhist. No, conventionally speaking, we might still talk like that. That's not what's actually taking place. I find now that all these years, even though I've developed my path through the practice, through the Theravāda form, through the conventions of Thai Theravāda Buddhism, Report an error in the passage at 44:34
45:05 The result is a sense of non-sectarian feeling that somehow it doesn't seem to matter. One isn't particularly holding to a view that this way is any better than any other way or that Theravāda is somehow... a better or purer other form and those kind of views one might might come up in one's mind but you were aware of them as merely kind of views that we might not views that we hold on to Report an error in the passage at 45:05
45:50 also allows us to see how we relate to other religions like Christianity and Judaism or Islam or Report an error in the passage at 45:50
46:02 because there's in Britain now there's a strong presence of other religions, multi-faith. There's so many people from different cultures that have settled in Britain who have brought their own religions, religious traditions here. Report an error in the passage at 46:02
46:29 So we can't just live in a kind of cultural, a sense of cultural purity where we can just, say, protect our own Ethnic preference, because we're now in a society, in a world society, where we need to learn how to understand each other so that we're not caught in the old kind of arrogant assumptions, cultural conceits, religious prejudices, all these ethnic biases. Report an error in the passage at 46:29
47:08 These are the real... Report an error in the passage at 47:08
47:24 to kill and destroy, persecute, hate and look down on and despise who aren't in in that particular group. can see it in in Bosnia. Report an error in the passage at 47:24
47:51 in Soviet Union, we can even... ...experience it here in Britain, the kind of way people can be so threatened and so racist or narrow-minded bigots through their attachment to their own particular cult or religious preference. Report an error in the passage at 47:51
48:28 Life becomes very simple this way because we realize that in just the human ability... To be good, to choose doing good over doing bad. Now that's not particularly Buddhist, is it? I mean, Christians would agree with that. The Jews would agree with that. That as a human being, human individual, I can choose. Report an error in the passage at 48:28
48:55 I mean, I get both impulses. I have a dark side. I have a side that comes up that can be pretty awful, nasty. And rather frightening. It's not that my mind, through my life, I've only had the purest thoughts, ethereal thoughts in my mind. I think one of the shocking things when you're a child growing up is, you know, your intention to try to be good, and yet how strong some of the bad impulses are. Report an error in the passage at 48:55
49:36 And you can't figure it out, at least I couldn't, how... You know, when your intention was to be a good boy and a good Christian, and yet there were these other strong impulses pulling you away from all that. And you couldn't, why is that, why does that happen? You say, why does God allow that to happen? Report an error in the passage at 49:36
50:02 God shouldn't allow it to happen. Or maybe that I'm bad. I mean, a good person wouldn't have these impulses. If I were a good person, I wouldn't have these impulses. I must be a bad person. And so this fear and this sense of self, fear of yourself and fear of the dark side of existence makes us neurotic, confuses our minds. Report an error in the passage at 50:02
50:32 But in terms of, say, just human ability, when we begin to put... That, in the right perspective, we can see that these are conditions that we experience, that the human mind is going to pick up whatever, good and bad. Just like your vision. I mean, can you just say, I'm only going to look at beauty. I'm never going to allow myself to see anything ugly. Report an error in the passage at 50:32
51:04 And you can make that vow, but life will not allow that. We have to look at... And ugliness too, as well as beauty. Or with sound, we have to, I'm only going to hear beautiful sound, lovely musical, melodious sound. Then anything ugly, cacophonous, strident, I will not hear. Can't do it. We hear whatever is coming into us. We have to feel with our bodies whatever is impinging on them, whether it's heat or cold. Report an error in the passage at 51:04
51:41 In Britain, don't we, we have to, we have a lot of, we have to experience the kind of, the change of the seasons, the damp, the rain, the heat, the wind. Report an error in the passage at 51:41
51:59 And in our minds, isn't it, we can, the emotions, we can feel loving and warm and affectionate and generous. Or we can feel outrage. We want to take revenge. We want to kill. We want to Curse or destroy. But we also have the ability to choose. We can act or not act on these impulses. Report an error in the passage at 51:59
52:27 And so this is something to see. In all religions, this is what is encouraged. That good actions are encouraged. That all religions are encouraging what is to do good and refrain from doing bad. Report an error in the passage at 52:27
52:47 So in that, just that very simple common ground, then we feel a love and respect for all other religions. No matter what they do, sometimes, you know, we can think we're doing something good by killing off the heretics. Report an error in the passage at 52:47
53:11 If they, you know, if they say kill the heretics, if the people in charge say kill the heretics, then... You'll certainly have a special place in heaven when you die. I heard that when I was in France last month, in the Pyrenees. We ended up at Montségur, where the Cathars were exterminated in 1244. The Cathars were considered heretics. Report an error in the passage at 53:11
53:42 And the Catholic Church, it was considered... of great merit to go and kill the Cathars. And they can get all kinds of special rewards from God for killing off these people, the Cathars. And that was proclaimed. I'm 1,244. It wasn't all that long ago that human beings could think of that killing heretics was a good thing. Report an error in the passage at 53:42
54:14 But now, we wouldn't do that. None of us. I mean, we might feel like killing heretics, but we don't do it. We wouldn't do it. I mean, there are a few kind of extreme cases that might. But generally speaking, that would not be... The Roman Catholic Church couldn't come out now and say, kill the heretics without being greatly criticized by the world. Report an error in the passage at 54:14
54:45 In 1244, they could. Report an error in the passage at 54:45
54:57 We can also realize, because of the modern conditioning, this highly developed sense of individuality that the West has encouraged, we also feel a confidence in thinking for ourselves. So we're not going to be so easily kind of pushed around by the conventions that we have. We feel a right, we can question. Report an error in the passage at 54:57
55:27 We can find fault with the Prime Minister of Britain, as most people do. Report an error in the passage at 55:27
55:37 Unwanted position in the world. I think the Prime Minister of Britain or President of the United States, you have to be crazy to want it. Report an error in the passage at 55:37
55:48 Awful. What they do to President Clinton in America, people out to get him every moment. That is the real jungle, isn't it? He asked for it. It didn't look like he was forced into the role. Report an error in the passage at 55:48
56:14 Also with Buddha is the realization, say the ultimate realization, which is a metaphysical realization, deathless reality. Report an error in the passage at 56:14
56:29 And so by the word Buddha, then that is the means, that way of looking into intuitive awareness. And using wisdom, listening, paying attention, watching, observing, investigating, takes us to the ultimate realization. And in Buddhist vocabulary, you use nibbāna, realization of nibbāna, which is a word that leaves your mind a bit blank. Report an error in the passage at 56:29
57:13 Not only, because when you try to, even the literal meaning, it still doesn't, you don't quite get it. It's not a word you need to define and say nirvāṇa means this or that. It implies a realization of the deathless reality, of the amata, dhamma, or the immortal truth, which is a realization. It's not, it's ineffable. Report an error in the passage at 57:13
57:45 It can only be realized by the individual. It can't be proclaimed and believed in, or the realization can't be given to you. It's something you realize within the limitations you're in. And that realization of nibbāna, and that's what all religions, whether they... Whether we use different forms of expression, you have this foundation, isn't it, of morality, where you agree to do good and refrain from doing bad. Report an error in the passage at 57:45
58:31 And that is a common ground. And then the ultimate realization would be like the Christian... What is it anyway? I don't know. Christians have various ways of explaining it. But some Christians I know, their realization of God or their union with God or whatever terms they use sounds very much like the realization of Nibbāna. Report an error in the passage at 58:31
59:04 It's different ways of expression or different angles of looking at it, different perspectives. You can quibble about these words and meanings, but in actual practice, what is actually taking place? And this is why it's an interesting time now, like here in Britain, because there is an openness, especially with Roman Catholics, monks and nuns, a kind of... Report an error in the passage at 59:04
59:40 A real interest in investigating this and in discussing and in comparing and in trying to understand what we're actually doing rather than just kind of comparing the conventions, one, the Christian convention with the Buddhist convention. Report an error in the passage at 59:40
1:00:00 Because we realize, intuitively realize, we're really doing the same thing. Even though in Christianity there's a lot of resistance to admitting that, because they think, well, they still, because Christianity tends to be so exclusive an approach, you know, that it's only this way and no other. But that doesn't mean that all people that are practicing within that are actually, you know, that's the way they think, because We're getting outside. We're transcending our own convention, not discarding it, but we realize the convention we have is a tool to use. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:00
1:00:46 It's not a position to take. It's the raft that gets us across the stream. It's merely something to use in a practical way to get to the ultimate realization. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:46
1:01:08 The particular Buddhist approach is quite unique. I don't think any other religion has the same approach. They tend to start from the top, from the metaphysical doctrine, which is fine. I'm not criticizing that. I'm just pointing out the difference. But the ultimate realization is through Report an error in the passage at 1:01:08
1:01:40 of the conventions into a total act of trust, willingness to relax and be, to participate and open, sensitive, totally vulnerable to life's experiences whatever they happen to be. I'm sure that those on any religious path path would would would I don't me or not, but it'd be worth contemplating. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:40
1:02:16 it's now time to get beyond just the narrow-mindedness of our own our own assumptions and that we have affect our of life. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:16
1:02:43 Offer this for your contemplation for this afternoon, and I think we'll have a break for tea. I heard the rattle of cups. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:43
1:02:56 I saw somebody come out of the kitchen door. That implies there's tea being made. And then in about 15 minutes, those who are interested, we can continue this in a discussion form for the rest of the afternoon, evening. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:56
1:03:15 So Report an error in the passage at 1:03:15
1:03:32 now, if you have any questions, Report an error in the passage at 1:03:32
1:03:39 or any contributions, or arguments, right, Report an error in the passage at 1:03:39
1:04:11 this is, say, when we try to put religion as a, it depends on how you define religion, the word itself. Say the original meaning was, it means like a bond or a binding to something. Like it means, you know, what it implies is that you put yourself within a particular convention or vehicle. You bind yourself to it and it takes you through that. You realize the ultimate or the absolute. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:11
1:04:52 These words like ultimate, absolute, ultimate reality, the union with... These ways are human expressions of an ineffable realization. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:52
1:05:14 Because the immortal, we're talking about mortality, mortality is this realm we're living in. This is a mortal realm where we are born and we die. and all things, you know, the The sensual experience, the senses, and all that we experience through senses is impermanent and changing all the time. So this realm that we're experiencing very strongly through the form, through the human form, through the consciousness, is the experience of mortality, the continuous change, ending of things that begin. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:14
1:05:57 So they The realization is of immortality. And the attempt of a religion is to break down the illusions that one is a mortal thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:57
1:06:17 And so we have different approaches. I was interested in the Cathars in France where not much is really known about them because I think they were... destroyed. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:17
1:06:33 And I think most, there's still, you know, bits and pieces, but they were considered heretics because they believed that there were two gods, a good one and a bad one. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:33
1:06:49 And of course, Christianity says there's only one god, and so this makes them a heretic, which means that That they shouldn't exist. The logic goes from that, isn't it? If you can't believe in two gods, you can only believe in one god. But in terms of actual experience, you know, it seems like there's two gods. I mean, from an actual experience, if you're talking about there is good and there is bad, and these are powerful experiences for all of us. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:49
1:07:30 There's, you know, there's a... The tendencies of love and kindness and generosity, all these kind of beautiful qualities we have, but we also have the other side. We're wanting to kill and steal and lie and take revenge and where we get jealous and we can commit atrocious acts. And so in terms of human experience, Report an error in the passage at 1:07:30
1:08:33 London. It's a globe. get a flat Book. Because for practical reasons, all you need to know, the flat world theory is good enough to get to London. You don't need to believe that the world is round. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:33
1:08:50 That's practically speaking. Well, I could call you, if you said the world is flat, I'd say, you're a heretic, it's round, you know. Because in one way I'm right, in one way you're right. That's not really the issue, is it? It's not matter so much of... I can't make you respect my right, but I can respect your right to exist. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:50
1:09:29 I mean, I can say you should respect my right to exist, but it's up to you, really. It's beyond my ability to force the issue. But the, so that this way we, you know, when we say that we're, we now say all of us very much affected by this mortal experience. The power of our consciousness, the physical form, the sense world that we live in. And some of it's very nice, some of it's exquisite. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:29
1:10:04 We look at the nature around us and we see, Miracles in form and color. And we also see ugly things. And whatever it is, it's changing and impermanent. And so immortality is what? How can we realize that? This is the religious question. And of course, some through believing in ideas of immortality or doctrines of immortality. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:04
1:10:40 So that we believe that maybe we have an immortal soul, that when we die, then this immortal soul will still survive. But then, immortal soul is another concept, that it could mean anything, or different things to different people. You know, like, it could mean my personality, that when I die, my personality is going to survive. You know, whatever, whatever soul you can... Report an error in the passage at 1:10:40
1:11:10 Whatever you invest the word soul with. But getting beyond just the kind of individual tendencies, like in Buddhist meditation, we're breaking down the assumptions that we make around such concepts and the assumptions that I am a kind of permanent person, personality. personality Report an error in the passage at 1:11:10
1:11:38 That into a realization of the deathless in the here and now. Because the mindfulness, the word mindfulness or sati in Pāli, sati and the ability to contemplate and reflect awareness and wisdom, collectedness of mind to observe and feel and let. the mindfulness Report an error in the passage at 1:11:38
1:12:07 When truth reveals itself to you, when your mind is open rather than fixed on something, then that is the door to the deathless, or that is the entrance or the realization of deathlessness, immortality or ultimate reality. So it's not like we're asking you to believe in that there's immortality. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:07
1:12:38 Because that might mean like I'm immortal or I have some kind of ethereal form that is immortal. We could make all kinds of assumptions from our personal preference or personal tendencies. But then the... The effect of religious practice is to humble us and to develop patience to where we begin to just trust and abide in a faith, in confidence through realizing immortality. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:38
1:13:32 And it's because it's something that That you can't conceive of, you can only give up your desire to conceive. And that is more of an act of trust and faith, letting go. So you have religious, kind of strong religious images or metaphors like jumping into the abyss or, you know, kind of throwing yourself into the unknown. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:32
1:14:04 These images are rather frightening. These are metaphors. That's what's most frightening, is the unknown. What's going to happen in the future? The dark, or the black hole, or the totally unknown is fraught with potential danger. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:04
1:14:28 And so, you know, we say the desire for security is to live, you know, we have electricity, we can... We can invest our life in this form with trying to hold on to and secure. The mortal conditions around us to kind of hang on to them as long as possible, but it's still that gnawing anxiety still there of the unknown, the uncertainty that we actually intuit. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:28
1:15:18 It's more of an intuitive thing that we realize that this is an uncertain, unstable place in itself because it's mortal. There's a mortal realm. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:18
1:15:34 To break down those attachments and those assumptions to the letting go and the trust in the unconditioned or the unborn or the immortal is a continuous kind of practice in life. And the more you keep developing or remembering that, The more you break through these strong attachments that one has or the assumptions that make us frightened and the self-consciousness that makes our life difficult, these things begin to, through understanding, we let go. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:34
1:16:23 These things begin to fade out and no longer have such strong impact on our lives. And this is, say, To me, when I read Christian mysticism, this is what I pick up, even though they talk in a much more kind of highly personal way, like personal relationship with God, and their terminology is very rich in kind of mythological symbols and highly personal sense of a person, of a unique person. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:23
1:17:03 And this is... Very much what Christianity tends to present itself. But when you read like Cloud of Unknowing or Christian Mystics, they've let go of all that too. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:03
1:17:21 They have to let go of God before they realize. And that is, I was talking to some Cistercian monks once up in Scotland. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:21
1:17:34 And they just, the idea of letting go of God was absolutely terrifying to them because they've invested so much in holding on to God that the idea of letting go seems like you're denying or you're rejecting rather than letting go of your false images of God, like idolatry. And it's interesting to see, you know, like... Report an error in the passage at 1:17:34
1:18:04 You know, those of us who come from Jewish and Christian backgrounds, we've got this, you shouldn't bow down to graven images and idols. And then you see us bowing down to this one behind me. Imagine, that can be very disturbing. These people are bowing down to a graven image. It's an idol. But that's not really a problem. It's not that we're bowing to an idol. The idol itself, the image, is a symbol for reflection. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:04
1:18:42 We're not adoring it as some kind of empowered object. But it's an artistic form, that aesthetic form that we use for mindfulness. That's the difference. Where one can be very attached, like say with Islam sometimes you feel they're so attached... Report an error in the passage at 1:18:42
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Talk by Ajahn Sumedho. Original at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/ajahn-sumedho-dhamma-talks. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.
Talks of Ajahn Sumedho, archived on Internet Archive. More from Amaravati