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- 1:12
It wasn't about nibbāna or some blissful state of conscious attainment, but pointing to the most banal, most ordinary human experience of suffering, of dukkha, and asked myself, why did he choose to do that? You know, most religions talk about inspiring subjects like universal love. And compassion and words and symbols and things that inspire the mind, uplift the mind, but suffering doesn't do that.
- 7:37
They take their hand and point here. in This direction, we're not sending our interest outward, seeking distraction or blaming others, but understanding, accepting this feeling of worry, anxiety, resentment, anger, greed, ambition, all forms of suffering.
- 8:05
Wanting something you don't have yet is dukkha. Not wanting things to be the way they are is dukkha. The physical body is a form of dukkha. It's a sensitive form. So there's no way can we seek stability and permanent happiness through the physicality of our own body.
- 21:13
Now we have to accept the limitations that we feel we're under within the forms that we exist in. So we, you know, like this is what I found very helpful living with Luang Por Chah in Ubon, was somehow... I felt Ajahn Chah had accepted the reality of existence within the limited form of his own body. He wasn't trying to get out of it or seek a way out of the physical form.
- 35:02
It's kind of an empty pause before the pronoun I arises. So you're aware of that. And you begin to...
Transcript
0:02 So today is the beginning of this retreat and the point Report an error in the passage at 0:02
0:18 of it is to increase faith and determination in practicing the Dhamma both Report an error in the passage at 0:18
0:31 in the monastic forms and lay forms. The Buddha's teachings are teachings that are Report an error in the passage at 0:31
0:41 Practical, to be used, not just revered as objects of worship, but also to be put into practice. It always fascinated me, Buddha's approach after his enlightenment, according to the scriptures, that his first sermon was about the Four Noble Truths. It wasn't about nibbāna or some blissful state of conscious attainment, but pointing to the most banal, most ordinary human experience of suffering, of dukkha, and asked myself, why did he choose to do that? Report an error in the passage at 0:41
1:34 You know, most religions talk about inspiring subjects like universal love. And compassion and words and symbols and things that inspire the mind, uplift the mind, but suffering doesn't do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:34
1:56 And why did he call it a noble truth? What is there about suffering or dukkha that's noble and truthful? Report an error in the passage at 1:56
2:10 And I think this is the reason that many of us have become interested in teaching of the Buddha. practice of meditation because in our lives we do experience suffering dukkha even from very privileged backgrounds not to mention underprivileged backgrounds suffering seems to be a common bond we all share with all sentient beings and the attitude of suffering is usually We react to it. We don't want it. We don't like it. We want to find permanent happiness and security, stability, universal love and acceptance on the grand scale. Report an error in the passage at 2:10
3:04 But what is this life about? What is the actual reality of our existence as human individuals living on planet Earth in this vast universe? What is it all about anyway? Because when you examine it, when you start paying attention to it, it's the experience of change. It's not the experience of stability. Report an error in the passage at 3:04
3:35 It's not about universal love and bliss forevermore. But it is the way it is. And so the First Noble Truth, His out of Buddhist compassion stating something that is easy to observe in one's own mind and body. You know, so it's not esoteric or remote or high up or subtle. Report an error in the passage at 3:35
4:13 It's ordinary. And Lungpo Chah was always talking about the ordinary dharma rather than states of high conscious attainment. subtle. Report an error in the passage at 4:13
4:25 And heavenly attainments in the heavenly realms. I never heard him talk very much about that level. But it was about the first noble truth. Report an error in the passage at 4:25
4:43 And so the statement, it's not a metaphysical truth. It's a noble truth. It's not ultimate truth. It's a noble truth. So what do we mean by noble? We talk about what's so noble about suffering. And it is a truth. It is something that we can relate to in ordinary life. Report an error in the passage at 4:43
5:09 And noble in an English sense is an ability that we have as individuals to look at suffering in a different way rather than trying to escape it or blame it on external causes, on somebody else, on the weather, on... of privilege and opportunities in one's life, we can find all kinds of external objects to blame for our suffering. Report an error in the passage at 5:09
5:39 The Buddha said to understand suffering, Report an error in the passage at 5:39
5:53 translated to understand, to understand something you have to accept it. If you just react to suffering, You can't really understand it. You're merely trying to seek a way out of it, a distraction from it, blame somebody else. It's usually what we tend to do. Report an error in the passage at 5:53
6:21 So in this sense of understanding is to awaken to suffering. So it's changing from an ordinary reactive human being conditioned to react when there's pain or suffering or discontentment or unhappiness we we run away from it or distract ourselves instead Report an error in the passage at 6:21
6:50 of doing that even if somebody is persecuting us the noble truth is is to is the noble the nobility of understanding suffering is by observing awakening to this feeling of Dis-satisfaction of anger, resentment, worry, anxiety, whatever intensity or degree you might be experiencing it. So the tendency is to, in the Thai forest tradition, they say, look here at the mind itself. So like the Kuba Ajahn's in all these times, always pointing to this part. Report an error in the passage at 6:50
7:37 They take their hand and point here. in This direction, we're not sending our interest outward, seeking distraction or blaming others, but understanding, accepting this feeling of worry, anxiety, resentment, anger, greed, ambition, all forms of suffering. Wanting something you don't have yet is dukkha. Report an error in the passage at 7:37
8:10 Not wanting things to be the way they are is dukkha. Report an error in the passage at 8:10
8:17 The physical body is a form of dukkha. It's a sensitive form. So there's no way can we seek stability and permanent happiness through the physicality of our own body. Report an error in the passage at 8:17
8:36 Buddha pointed to old age, sickness, death. Right now, my teacher... A parent is old age and Report an error in the passage at 8:36
8:49 sickness. And then the imminent death that awaits this form is seen in terms of dharma, of teaching, rather than as something to dismiss, avoid, try to prolong your life as long as possible. possible, uh, Report an error in the passage at 8:49
9:14 or ignore it, it's learning to accept old ages like this. So like this year I'll be 83 years old in July. That's really old, you know, there's no way I can convince myself that I'm not old. Or this body. And it's certainly, you know, when you reach 80, definitely the deterioration is more obvious. The suffering would be if I didn't want to be old. Report an error in the passage at 9:14
9:50 I didn't want sickness or this decrepit form to be the way it is. I wanted to be young and healthy and good-looking again and vigorous. That would be the suffering, the dukkha of the First Noble Truth. But the aging process is not dukkha. It is the natural process of that which was born. And it is dukkha in the sense of dhamma. It is a sankara. Report an error in the passage at 9:50
10:22 His very nature is change. So this is a way of reflecting, of observing. The Four Noble Truths are to be observed, to be seen as relating to your own body and your own personality, your own emotional habits, the life you live, the experiences you have. Report an error in the passage at 10:22
10:59 Now, it would be a dreary philosophy if it was that everything's dukkha. And so sometimes Buddhism is misunderstood and interpreted as a very pessimistic philosophy of life, a kind of humanism that just says it's all dukkha, so, you know, let go of it. Report an error in the passage at 10:59
11:23 But it's not meant to be that way in the terms of of logical reason it's to understand so how do we understand and that's where this sati sampacanya or mindfulness clear comprehension operate that Report an error in the passage at 11:23
11:45 is the way that each one of us has to deal with suffering with the with this realm with the physical bodies we have to live in for a lifetime with our emotional habits our Loves and hates, likes and dislikes are experienced through seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, through thinking, through memory. All these conditions, their very nature is impermanent. Report an error in the passage at 11:45
12:18 And that which isn't impermanent is our ability to be aware of them. Like one condition can't be aware of another condition. Report an error in the passage at 12:18
12:30 I can't, as a personality, be aware of dukkha. If I start operating my dukkha, my suffering, then I'm creating the person that's suffering. So the personality is impermanent because it's conditioned. It has no soul, no... No, no, Report an error in the passage at 12:30
13:00 The Buddha said, this is not reality, this is just the accumulation of the Buddha said, Report an error in the passage at 13:00
13:31 of identity through ignorance with the physical body because it seems to be me we're told you know my mother told me i'm this this this body and the society i grew up in treated me always as if i was this form this this body so this is a kind of conditioning that takes place Report an error in the passage at 13:31
14:02 Once you're born, once a baby is born, it's conditioned by the mother, father, the family, the society that it's born into. Report an error in the passage at 14:02
14:16 So just by taking this ordinary experience of dukkha or suffering, what do we do with it? We understand it. We begin to accept it, observe it. And when you start changing your attitude towards dukkha, instead of just reacting with aversion or blame, it takes a kind of patience to allow a condition that is unpleasant, unwanted, to exist, to be what it is in the present moment. Report an error in the passage at 14:16
14:58 So it's in this sense of here and now, pachubana dhamma. That we understand suffering by allowing it to exist and contemplating it and we begin to see the absence of suffering because suffering is impermanent. So this is the gate to the deathless, this sati sampacanya, mindfulness, which is a very popular word these days. Report an error in the passage at 14:58
15:39 You hear about mindfulness practices all the time. And it's, I mean, some people think it's, are critical of this, but I think it's rather a good sign because when I first came to England 40 years ago, you know, psychotherapists or people never talked about mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 15:39
16:04 They talked about transforming your personality through positive thinking or through analysis or whatever, but not through mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 16:04
16:17 Mindfulness, when I began this reflection, Report an error in the passage at 16:17
16:26 I used it, the gate to the deathless is, the door to the deathless is open. And I always liked this quote. For years, even when I was a Samanera, I remember reading it in a dharma book. Because it gave me great hope, even as a person. You know, the gate, the door to the deathless. What is that door to the deathless? What is the deathless? Report an error in the passage at 16:26
17:04 And from there, you know, this is like... Inquiry, investigation, dhamma vijaya, you start asking yourself questions. What does that mean? It's a nice thing to say, but what did the Buddha actually mean when he said, The door to the deathless is open. Report an error in the passage at 17:04
17:33 And then, Through bhavana, through meditation, it became apparent. That's what mindfulness is all about. That's the door. That's the entrance to the deathless. So what is the deathless then? When there's mindfulness, what Report an error in the passage at 17:33
17:55 happens? Now, it's not mindfulness of an object. We are mindful of objects. When we cross the street, usually when we're small children, our mothers tell us to be mindful crossing the street, look right, then look left, and wait for the green man to shine. And we're aware of things we're doing, of work that we're performing. So there's a mindfulness of an object. Report an error in the passage at 17:55
18:28 But Saptisambhutanya isn't... The object is not a thing. It's consciousness itself. Report an error in the passage at 18:28
18:40 And consciousness, you can't conceive of consciousness. You can't describe it. You can't measure it in any way. And you can't define what consciousness is because that's what we are is conscious. It's this. It's just this simple reality of here and now. Consciousness is this. And what is it when I say that? And then you start thinking, well, what exactly, what do you mean? Then you start thinking. Report an error in the passage at 18:40
19:17 But for a moment, there's an emptiness, a kind of gap between in the here and now that we begin to notice through mindfulness, through saptisampajjanya. Report an error in the passage at 19:17
19:36 Before we start trying to figure it out, thinking what is Ajahn Sumedho saying doesn't make any sense. So it's an ability to open, to be fully present at this moment the way it is. Report an error in the passage at 19:36
19:59 So it's like listening or, you know, not for anything, not like any object like music or somebody speaking, but just this attentiveness in the present, a kind of suspended, Attention. And Report an error in the passage at 19:59
20:20 that's when we start noticing sound of silence. People Report an error in the passage at 20:20
20:31 that are trying to find the sound of silence can't find it. But when there's just pure awareness, that kind of stopping and a relaxed attention. So Report an error in the passage at 20:31
20:53 it's not like forcing or compelling. It's not willpower or willfulness. Report an error in the passage at 20:53
21:05 The way to understand dukkha or suffering. Report an error in the passage at 21:05
21:13 Now we have to accept the limitations that we feel we're under within the forms that we exist in. So we, you know, like this is what I found very helpful living with Luang Por Chah in Ubon, was somehow... I felt Ajahn Chah had accepted the reality of existence within the limited form of his own body. He wasn't trying to get out of it or seek a way out of the physical form. Report an error in the passage at 21:13
21:58 He wasn't an intellectual just thinking and theorizing about Buddhism. He actually was someone who'd taken the Buddha's teaching and made it work for him. Report an error in the passage at 21:58
22:13 Something that he'd actually understood in a profound way rather than just through the thinking mind or through reading the scriptures. Report an error in the passage at 22:13
22:26 So, bhata-bhata is the Pāli word for practice. Put it into practice like the first noble truth. There is suffering. The practice, the second aspect is it should be understood. That's telling you what to do with it. It's not just saying there's suffering. It's telling you how to deal with suffering. Report an error in the passage at 22:26
22:57 And so in the early years, the first year living in Wapapong, I couldn't understand the language. It took me a while to get any kind of... Report an error in the passage at 22:57
23:14 sense of understanding his formal days in us but Report an error in the passage at 23:14
23:23 much of the teaching, directness of Ajahn Chah was pointing, making you look at yourself. So during the early years, before I could understand the actual teaching he was giving in a formal way every day, Report an error in the passage at 23:23
23:40 There was this pointing, it would get me to look at what I'm actually feeling. He wasn't telling me what I should feel, or telling me what a bhikkhu should be, but encouraging me to observe what I'm actually experiencing in the present moment is like this. And of course when you find yourself in a situation, you know, coming from the Western world, Report an error in the passage at 23:40
24:12 And going to a very strict Vinaya monastery in a remote part of Thailand, you're kind of throwing yourself into something, you know, it's quite bewildering. You don't understand the culture, everything is new and different. The thing that I had faith in was in the teaching of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 24:12
24:36 That kept me there. Interest, the faith I had was really like an interest, a kind of, of unintellectualized faith. When I first encountered Buddhist teaching when I was 21 years old, something in me just related to that immediately, spontaneously, which I can't define or describe. It just happened that way. But Report an error in the passage at 24:36
25:13 what I could do during that first year, during the frustrations and annoyances and resistance, The first year was developing patience, patient endurance, which was absolutely necessary to survive. Report an error in the passage at 25:13
25:40 And Americans, we are not noted for our patient endurance. We like the instant results. The computers and the iPads that we have now, you know, you get frustrated if you have to wait too long to access the screen. Report an error in the passage at 25:40
26:01 But in life in Vapapong in those days was an exercise in patience because you had to wait. You had to, it was so organized, so disciplined that you couldn't just do everything your own way or follow your own. own impulses you had to wait and that waiting could be very painful if you didn't observe it Report an error in the passage at 26:01
26:30 So even in Report an error in the passage at 26:30
26:54 the first year, I... People said, you must. I look back now, that was like 50 years ago. It doesn't seem that long. 50 years ago. And I think of that first year. I can't remember. I don't have vivid memories of suffering. I just realized it was a transformative year. So I think of that first year as a kind of blessing. I don't actually remember. Report an error in the passage at 26:54
27:32 The frustration and suffering that I experienced that year, it doesn't come forth in a strong memory. I actually felt I was leading a good life and developing the practice that I longed to develop. Now Report an error in the passage at 27:32
28:03 consciousness itself is... A subject that people are really interested in, scientists, psychologists, psychiatrists, because it is, you know, it is a mystery in a way. From the personal level, the personal level, the cultural conditioned level of our life, you know, me as a personality, as an individual, trying to figure out consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 28:03
28:39 Can you figure it out? Can you define it? Report an error in the passage at 28:39
28:45 I remember one time going to the library, to the Pāli dictionary to find out what the Pāli dictionary, their definition of consciousness. I had been studying psychology, what Freud said about consciousness, what Jung said about consciousness, what Devadanta said about consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 28:45
29:09 And suddenly I had this insight, what am I doing? This is it, I'm conscious. Why do I need somebody else's definition of it? It's like an awakening moment, an insight. It wasn't, you know, from the personality of Ajahn Sumedho was wanting somebody else's definition of consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 29:09
29:41 What would Lungpho Cha say? What did he say consciousness is? Or the Saṅgha Raja of Thailand? Or, you know, I want somebody to tell me, Ajahn Mahapura, what did he say? Or Puttadasa Bhikkhu, what did they say about consciousness? And suddenly you realize that, you know, consciousness itself, and Report an error in the passage at 29:41
30:07 no matter what they say, that's not consciousness. It's words, definitions. So this is what I mean by intuitive awareness or mindfulness. It's no longer looking for definitions, scriptural approval or guidance from outside, but learning to awaken yourself to the reality of here and now. Report an error in the passage at 30:07
30:58 So consciousness, we Report an error in the passage at 30:58
31:03 experience consciousness through the senses. So we experience consciousness through seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, thinking, feeling. It's all consciousness operating through the senses. But the gate to the deathless, the door to the deathless, isn't about seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching or thinking or feeling. Report an error in the passage at 31:03
31:39 So you can't conceive it. You can't imagine it. Report an error in the passage at 31:39
31:47 Because thinking and imagination are sankars themselves. They can take you so far and then you have to stop thinking. Report an error in the passage at 31:47
31:58 Like thinking is, you know, is very, what we relate to so much. We're educated. We go to school and universities and we're thinking mammals. Report an error in the passage at 31:58
32:17 We have retentive memories. We have language to think. thinking mammals. Report an error in the passage at 32:17
32:26 So we tend to want to define ourselves with thoughts, with adjectives, with qualities. We identify with the physical form, you know, with its appearance, whether it's male or female, whether it's black or white, whether it's, you know, you get a sense of your self-worth, whether your mother adores you or doesn't like you. Report an error in the passage at 32:26
32:54 You pick up, you absorb all the illusions and deceits that are part of being born and growing up in a deluded society. Report an error in the passage at 32:54
33:12 So we have a sakya-ditti, it's called a fetter, this sense of unquestioned identity with the physical body that we have. Report an error in the passage at 33:12
33:28 Because it does seem to be me. You know, when you think about it, what am I then? I'm sitting here, I have a name, I have a form, I have a history, I Report an error in the passage at 33:28
33:46 have a whole set of habits and memories, perceptions that influence conscious experience. We develop the thinking. The ability, the logic and reason, we develop the discriminatory ability to discriminate one thing from another. And this is good, this is bad, this is right, this is wrong, this is big, small. Report an error in the passage at 33:46
34:17 This is dealing with all sankars, isn't it? Sankars have qualities. They can be good, they can be bad, they can be big, they can be small. And Report an error in the passage at 34:17
34:34 so our identity, the personality is based on Attachment to these views. I am this body. Report an error in the passage at 34:34
34:49 With Satya Sampatanya, that sense of I am, before you think it, there's still conscious awareness. It's kind of an empty pause before the pronoun I arises. So you're aware of that. And Report an error in the passage at 34:49
35:22 you begin to... investigate this the thinking process i am this body and you begin to to lose your confidence in just resolving trying to find answers or solutions through the thinking process through logic and reason because you realize in terms of worldly values it works adequately in terms of reality itself dhamma Report an error in the passage at 35:22
36:00 Words are just empty phenomena. I is just a, you know, in different languages it's expressed differently. Report an error in the passage at 36:00
36:15 And then I am this body. I am is a reasonable statement of presence, you know, it's fair enough when you observe it. I am is a kind of acknowledgement of present awareness. Report an error in the passage at 36:15
36:34 But when it becomes, I am this body, then it becomes more than that, isn't it? This body is me. It's mine. And then we develop a whole set of conditioning factors that increase that identity with your size, your shape, your gender, your abilities, lack of abilities, your appearance. Report an error in the passage at 36:34
37:14 But in mindfulness, satisambhutanya, we can be aware of the body as an object in consciousness. Now in the West, we tend to see consciousnesses in the brain. We tend to identify consciousnesses within the body. That's the attitude that seems to be prevalent at this time, which I think is changing. The Buddhists... Report an error in the passage at 37:14
37:49 approach isn't that the consciousness in the body the body's in consciousness now just to your you know use your to experiment with If the body is in consciousness, you can be aware of your body sitting, as a whole form sitting, standing, walking, lying down. There's awareness of it through consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 37:49
38:20 Observing the sensations from the top of the head down to the soles of the feet. Is that your brain observing that? Is that some kind of internal organ that can observe the soles of your feet? Or is that consciousness? Report an error in the passage at 38:20
38:43 And does consciousness belong to anybody? If the body is in consciousness, then we're all in consciousness at this moment. This whole, everything is in consciousness. Consciousness has no boundary. So in terms of consciousness, there's a unity, a oneness with everything. Report an error in the passage at 38:43
39:08 Where in terms of Sankhya, then we're all separate. You know, I'm here, you're there, and I have a name and history, and you have your own personality and identities. They're all different. Even though, like, As someone, as we try to dress the same, wear the same kind of robes, shave the head, we still experience that even on one appearance we diminish the sense of individuality or exaggerating personal traits, but still there's the natural differences that exist on the personal level. Report an error in the passage at 39:08
39:56 But unconsciousness, just think of... What is unity or oneness? And I'm just suggesting this. This is not an Ajahn Sumedho doctrine. It's just a suggestion for reflection. There's no boundary. Report an error in the passage at 39:56
40:20 All the same. And what is it? Consciousness can be aware of itself. It doesn't need to be described by a Sankara. And that's why when we talk about sattisambhutanya, mindfulness, it's it. We awaken. We suddenly observe the reality of now rather than defining it or judging it, criticizing it or questioning it. Report an error in the passage at 40:20
40:57 It's like this. Report an error in the passage at 40:57
41:03 So this is the gate to the deathless. Report an error in the passage at 41:03
41:09 And it is, you know, when you... I've had... This panca, this vasa, this year will be my 51st. 51 years, and I had a year as a samanera before that. Report an error in the passage at 41:09
41:29 So, you know, I've taken mainly the teaching of the Dhammajaka Pavadana Sutta as my guideline for these past 50 years. Report an error in the passage at 41:29
41:42 Test it out. Does it, you know, what... At first I was interested in it. I had kind of faith in the Buddha's teaching, the scriptural Buddha. And I wanted to find out how to meditate. That's why I went to Thailand to find some teacher because I couldn't teach myself. I tried when I was in Berkeley University. Report an error in the passage at 41:42
42:09 I tried teaching myself Zen meditation. I couldn't last five minutes. I didn't know what to do with my mind. So I realized I needed guidance, somebody who knew what to do. And that was why I went to Thailand, to find somebody who would train me. Report an error in the passage at 42:09
42:45 But it is, you know, this is an ancient teaching too. It's not modern psychology or new age ideas. You know, this is... That's why it's an ageless teaching. It's a kalika. It's not bound by time. Report an error in the passage at 42:45
43:08 Because suffering is very much the same, whether it was Gautama the Buddha in India 2,500 years ago or Ajahn Sumedho in the present moment. The suffering is very much the same reality. Report an error in the passage at 43:08
43:32 You know we think in materialistic terms if we have lots of money and everything we want we will be happy but we meet people who have everything they want they're not particularly happy. Why? Because dukkha is a noble truth to be understood and you can't just ignore it and get rid of it. Through accumulating the best of the sankharas, the conditions, it will pursue you in your dream home and best relationships. Report an error in the passage at 43:32
44:15 Suffering is like this. So this retreat is opportunity to reflect in this way. The Buddha's teaching is a reflective teaching. It's not telling you what to do or what to think. It's encouraging you just by pointing suffering as a noble truth. Report an error in the passage at 44:15
44:44 You change from... Once you begin to investigate that, rather than just try to think about whether you agree with it or not, you can be aware of this sense of loneliness or... Report an error in the passage at 44:44
45:04 Self-consciousness, it can be just on this level, timidity, shyness, feelings of resentment in life, in our experience of life, isn't it? Whether you're from a democratic system or a totalitarian political system, whether you've had opportunities or have had no opportunities, we still... Report an error in the passage at 45:04
45:38 Experience self-consciousness, worry, anxiety. And you can see it in a country like this here in the UK. Affluent, developed country, stable government, good economy. You know, you can still worry about the economy and the government if you want. But that's dukkha to observe. Report an error in the passage at 45:38
46:12 That stable economies and affluent is still not the answer to the first noble truth. Report an error in the passage at 46:12
46:46 So this relationship of consciousness, sati sampatanya, aware, gate to the deathless, and Report an error in the passage at 46:46
47:02 then you investigate. The physical body is like this, so you're not criticizing the physical body. Report an error in the passage at 47:02
47:17 You know, contemplating in terms of whether it's good or bad, right or wrong, it is like this. Sitting is like this. And when you say to yourself, sitting is like this, it stops the thinking mind for a while. Because you have to hesitate and observe. Just the experience, the reality of sitting, as you're sitting right now, is like this. Report an error in the passage at 47:17
47:51 And this is reflection, it's not discrimination, not about how well you sit, or if you're good at it or not, or whether you can sit on chairs, or some people get very fixed ideas about meditation that you have to sit in full lotus to really be enlightened. That's another saṅkhāra we create. But the simplicity of just observing. Report an error in the passage at 47:51
48:25 It's like this. What does that do when you do that? You notice just the reality of sitting or Report an error in the passage at 48:25
48:40 standing, walking, lying down, the four postures, or breathing. These Report an error in the passage at 48:40
48:52 are all happening here and now, in the present moment, pachubana dhamma. They're not, you know, it's not something remote, but it's your body's breathing. Report an error in the passage at 48:52
49:05 It's feeling the pressure of sitting is like this. The body is a sense organ, so it's going to feel comfort or discomfort. Report an error in the passage at 49:05
49:17 Neutral sensation is like this. This is reflecting on the way it is, just on the reality that you're awakened to at this very moment. Report an error in the passage at 49:17
49:54 So over the past 50 years, Every opportunity to put this to the test. I spent 43 Report an error in the passage at 49:54
50:11 pansas in, is Report an error in the passage at 50:11
50:20 it 43, or 33, in UK, from 1977. So coming from, you know, from 10 years in Thailand, training with Lungpho Chah, Report an error in the passage at 50:20
50:45 Where you're in a Buddhist country where everybody, you know, most, you know, 95 % of Thai people identify as Theravāda Buddhists. So it's part of a culture, part of a way of life. Report an error in the passage at 50:45
51:05 So Vinaya and all that is just, one can take a lot for granted living in Thailand as a monk. Report an error in the passage at 51:05
51:15 Coming to live in a non-Buddhist country like England. Report an error in the passage at 51:15
51:24 It was like, you know, the future is the unknown. In Thailand, there's a lot you just take for granted, that keeping the Vinaya is more or less the way you live, and people admire that and accept it. Report an error in the passage at 51:24
51:45 But how are you going to live in, we lived in London the first two years, how are you going to live in London on alms food? I don't know any Buddhists. Report an error in the passage at 51:45
51:57 You know, so these are questions, you know, going into the unknown is like this. So there are no guarantees, but this ability to awaken to what you're actually feeling. I didn't have to have guarantors in England. I wanted them on a personal level. I wanted to make sure that I had, you know, people who would Put alms food in my bowl every day. Personal, the personal side. And then the doubt would begin. Report an error in the passage at 51:57
52:35 What if, you know, what if nobody cares? You starve to death? Then you imagine the worst possible scenario to worry about or to awaken to that, to doubt, to anxiety, to want certitude when there's uncertainty. Report an error in the passage at 52:35
52:58 It's like this. And if you keep pursuing this, you know, you actually begin to trust this awareness more than your own thoughts or fears or worries that come from your conditioned personality and your cultural conditioning. Report an error in the passage at 52:58
53:34 So this evening, that's enough for now. Very nice to see so many. Monks coming from afar, see the Siladars again. Ajahn Emerald seems to be doing very well, and Report an error in the passage at 53:34
54:00 he's made a very nice kuti for me to live in. Report an error in the passage at 54:00
54:12 And this, you know, this is the result of the practice of the Bhattipattah, not of a plan. People oftentimes say that You know, you've done so much, and you've, you know, they give me credit for everything here. And, but personally, you know, or wisely, I reflect, my personality didn't do this. Report an error in the passage at 54:12
54:45 It was through the faith, through the surrender to Buddha Dhamma Saṅgha that allows things like this to happen. It's not a personal level. I, you know, I had, To develop the path while living in this country and Report an error in the passage at 54:45
55:11 from just 10 years in a Buddhist country to, it was actually 34 pansas actually, I remember now, and the developments in this country, just trusting in that satisamputanya, the awareness. Report an error in the passage at 55:11
55:38 And it didn't mean I didn't worry or get confused during these 34 years in England, but it was all crisp for the mill. It was all developing awareness around the state of mind, the emotion, the praise that I received or the criticism. Report an error in the passage at 55:38
56:05 Seeing that in terms of trusting in this awareness of it. Report an error in the passage at 56:05
56:13 And through that, through that kind of practice, then you have insight. The second noble truth is about letting go, letting go of sankharas. You have to know what attachment is before you can let go of what you're attached to. The idea of letting go is a good idea. We're all for it. But you have to really observe attachment and the results of being attached. Report an error in the passage at 56:13
56:42 So in monastic life, you can get really attached to your own views or monasteries or teachers or so forth. That's part of the human condition. But with Sati Sampacanya, you begin to investigate. Attachment is like this. Attachment through ignorance, through avicca, is like this. Dukkha, it's suffering to be attached to one's own views, to one's opinions, to one's ideals, to other people, to places or things. Report an error in the passage at 56:42
57:26 If you investigate and observe what attachment is, then the second noble truth is let go. it's letting go is the insight into the... Second noble truth through wisdom, through understanding dharma. So I'll close here for this evening. Report an error in the passage at 57:26
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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