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- 0:23
a little bit about how one lets go of sakayaditi. Yeah, sakayaditi is a Pāli word for, it's translated as personality view, or, you know, we refer to it as the ego, a sense of a separate self. So this is, in the Pāli formulas, this is the first fetter.
- 4:57
So like the awakening, To the Dhamma, awakening to reality, then we can begin to see the self, even the positive, good, saintly self, in terms of what it really is in the present, as well as the miserable, demonic self. This is like being human, the human birth, the advantage of being human.
- 8:58
We start like this, the Buddha's teaching, the Buddha mind is a, it can look at itself, you can look at yourself. You can observe feelings of feeling happy or feeling sad or you can observe anger or rage or jealousy or fear or confusion or greed. Any of these emotions, you can observe them. As mental objects in the present, well, like the animal kingdom, we're not, you know, physically we're animals, we're not that much, the DNA I think with human beings and chimpanzees is not that,
- 21:29
For us as human individuals to recognize this in ourselves, because it's a very skillful teaching. You know, if we use it in the right way, it does, you do break through the ego, the limitation that we oppress ourselves with, the sakya-ditti. Sīla Bhattabharamasa is the second one.
- 48:31
Sound, actually. You can actually listen to music with the sound of silence in the background. But it also has this continuity that once you begin to recognize it, then you also, it helps to stop this proliferating tendency to think and go from one thing to the next. And then it gives you, gives one a perspective on the On the emotional states and physical conditions that I experience in the present.
Transcript
0:00 So, at this time, if there's any questions, or anything you want me to discuss, or talk about, or tell you. Talk Report an error in the passage at 0:00
0:23 a little bit about how one lets go of sakayaditi. Yeah, sakayaditi is a Pāli word for, it's translated as personality view, or, Report an error in the passage at 0:23
0:39 you know, we refer to it as the ego, a sense of a separate self. So this is, in the Pāli formulas, this is the first fetter. Now there are ten fetters, and the first one is sakayaditti. And that's a, it's this illusion of a separate, I'm a separate person, identity with the body, with my feelings. The conditioning, you know, my age or my appearance, my position, all that is Sakyaditi. Report an error in the passage at 0:39
1:27 But that's condition. You're not, like, contemplate, like a baby, when it's born, doesn't have Sakyaditi. You're not born with it. You're born as a conscious form, like a newborn baby is a fully conscious. conscious form, it doesn't have a sense of itself yet as a separate person, or being English. Report an error in the passage at 1:27
1:58 or anything like that. It doesn't identify with a boy or girl or working class or middle class. Report an error in the passage at 1:58
2:09 It is, but it's conscious, intelligent. Report an error in the passage at 2:09
2:16 A baby has natural kind of instinctive intelligence, you know, to survive. And this is a reflection on... Then through, as it grows up, it gains its identity as you belong to this family, you're a boy, you're a girl, you're good or bad, you're this religion. religion, and so forth. Sakyaditti is a condition formed after you're born. And the first three fetters are all that way. Report an error in the passage at 2:16
2:55 They're artifices. They're artificial conditions that human beings create. So like the ego or Sakyaditti is an artificial self. And you acquire it. Through learning how to survive and get on with your parents and survive in the society you're born into. And so we all have different personalities. Then we have different karmic tendencies, like from our parents, from past lives or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 2:55
3:33 So then we tend to create these kind of things into some kind of personal. Like people that are interested in past lives, looking for what was I in a previous life? of course, you know, it's a kind of fascinating thing to think that what was what was I before I was born into this one? know, but it's not but it's still you know, it's it's Sakyamuni Satsang And the... Report an error in the passage at 3:33
4:08 Sakyaditti can be, we can have good selves and bad selves, demonic selves, you know, and they change according to circumstances. So when everything's going well and we have kind parents and in a nice comfortable family, in a benevolent society, we might develop a positive sense of, you know, more positive way of looking at life. Report an error in the passage at 4:08
4:45 how good or, you know, how benevolent or fine it might be or it is conditioned and it's an artificial one. So like the awakening, Report an error in the passage at 4:45
5:02 To the Dhamma, awakening to reality, then we can begin to see the self, even the positive, good, saintly self, in terms of what it really is in the present, as well as the miserable, demonic self. Report an error in the passage at 5:02
5:22 This is like being human, the human birth, the advantage of being human. I used to think before I meditated that it was a bad joke being human because I couldn't see the point of life. I was quite cynical. But then in Thailand where the culture is Buddhist, their whole cultural base is founded on it. Thai culture is mixed very much with Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 5:22
6:03 They value the human birth as something very good and fortunate. And so this would bring out my cynical side. What's so good about it? You know, we have retentive memory. We have to remember things, unpleasant things from the past and carry them into the present. We have this, you know, we suffer all kinds about how we look and what we wear and all that. Report an error in the passage at 6:03
6:28 We make so much misery out of life being human. I thought it would be better to be a dog or something, sheep, jellyfish, or not exist at all. Then in terms of this appreciation for humanity, even though I assumed I was human, it was in Thailand with Lungpho Cha that he really, I began to understand what they mean in the Report an error in the passage at 6:28
7:05 Pāli, manusia, is the word for human being, translated as human being. And I can see, and even though we have human forms, we consider that we're human beings because we have a body like this. Are we always human? Because we can be demonic too. You read in the scandals in the newspapers and serial killers. Report an error in the passage at 7:05
7:43 behavior. Well, it is. They're demons because the mental state is demonic. Now, so then, how do you have a human, a pure human mental state? Report an error in the passage at 7:43
7:56 is an interesting one to consider. know, it's, and then, of course, This is based on the simple ability we all have to take responsibility for how we live. So the human being is one who has some kind of moral sense. Even if we might feel violent towards somebody, we don't act on it. So we have, say, We can choose, you know, we still have demonic emotions, but we've chosen, say, morality as a reference to guide action and speech. Report an error in the passage at 7:56
8:44 So we're not just helpless victims of our emotions in the present. And then we have a reflective mind. We start like this, the Buddha's teaching, the Buddha mind is a, it can look at itself, you can look at yourself. You can observe feelings of feeling happy or feeling sad or you can observe anger or rage or jealousy or fear or confusion or greed. Report an error in the passage at 8:44
9:21 Any of these emotions, you can observe them. As mental objects in the present, well, like the animal kingdom, we're not, you know, physically we're animals, we're not that much, the DNA I think with human beings and chimpanzees is not that, and I'm not sure about chimpanzees, whether they can reflect, but most, you know, like not having ever had to live with them. Report an error in the passage at 9:21
9:57 And not many human beings reflect either, actually. You know, like every monastery has cats. Cats always find their way into Buddhist monasteries. And, you know, we get very attached to cats. And then, you know, they like to kill birds. And we're nonviolent in trying to teach a cat to take responsibility for nonviolence. Can't do it. Report an error in the passage at 9:57
10:28 Because cats are made to kill. You know, they don't reflect on the fact that killing a bird might be unnecessary. There's plenty of food, you know, whiskers and that kind of thing. And some cats even have special funds people donate to. So, you know, you've got plenty. You don't need to kill birds, but they don't get it. Report an error in the passage at 10:28
10:55 it. They can't reflect. This is, you know, I'm being facetious, but this ability to reflect on yourself, it's not a critical function. I'm not saying we've got to look at all our faults and analyze our weaknesses and get involved in trying to rectify all our faults and make ourselves better and better. Report an error in the passage at 10:55
11:28 But to observe the self in both its good aspects and not good aspects, but not through preference, but through the ability just to observe that self is like this, it's impermanent, arises and ceases according to conditions. So sakya-ditti, you know, the sense of me, will arise when the conditions are there. Report an error in the passage at 11:28
11:59 People assume that I'm Ajahn Sumedho all the time. So they say, if I'm over resting in my kuti, they say, where's Ajahn Sumedho? And monks will say, oh, he's resting in his kuti. And that's a convention. But in terms of my direct experience when resting in my kuti, I'm not thinking about myself as Ajahn Sumedho. Report an error in the passage at 11:59
12:30 There's a different... know, I might be or I might be thinking of something else or there's a different self. Ajahn Sumedho. Ajahn Sumedho. Report an error in the passage at 12:30
12:54 Ajahn Sumedho. You know, it's merely, you know, Report an error in the passage at 12:54
12:57 According to the conditions of the moment. You know, so when you're, say, with your friends, close friends, you're different than when you're with people, strange people you don't know. Report an error in the passage at 12:57
13:12 Your personality will adapt to whatever, you know. So where I used to remember when I was a university student, I used to think I have to be faithful to myself. And that was a good idea, but I didn't really know who I was. Report an error in the passage at 13:12
13:33 So I thought it was being hypocritical, you know, to change your personality. But inevitably, it just changes according to the conditions. And whether it's cloudy or sunny, you have a different mood, don't you? Whether it's hot or cold, or people are... Are praising you or criticizing you. You know, your feelings will change. The sense of your self-worth will change accordingly. Report an error in the passage at 13:33
14:03 Now, awareness of that, that's sakya-ditti, but awareness is not. Awareness transcends the self or sakya-ditti. And that's what mindfulness allows us to, is that space. That emptiness of unconsciousness where we can observe the conditioned self, or sakya-ditti. And it's the most, you know, I find it's so strong, Report an error in the passage at 14:03
14:39 sakya-ditti, especially like in my own experience where you're brought up with sakya-ditti as your ultimate identity. Because even in the Christianity I grew up in, Report an error in the passage at 14:39
14:56 It was like, you say, when you die, your soul will go to some place. Now, if you've been a good boy, it goes to heaven. If you've been bad, you go to hell. So, the soul is, what do you mean by that? It's something that outlasts your body, but it's definitely my soul, it's not yours. Report an error in the passage at 14:56
15:24 And so, you know, then you start, You have a unique soul separate from somebody else's. This is how the Sakya Ditti would apply to that. But then in terms of consciousness, like when we're mindful, then that mindfulness is recognizing consciousness which is not, Report an error in the passage at 15:24
16:04 you can know that even within the limitation of your karma or physical and emotional habits. Report an error in the passage at 16:04
16:20 This is my view anyway of modern Report an error in the passage at 16:20
16:59 There's no better, somebody superior or inferior. These are ideals that we have. But in terms of the reality of our life, it isn't like that. It's all about differences, isn't it? We're all different from each other. And then, you know, different ages, different heights, different sizes, nationalities. Report an error in the passage at 16:59
17:24 It's all about conditioned phenomena. It's all differences and none of it's equal. What's equal in conditioned phenomena is that it is impermanent, in that that's a characteristic that all conditions have, whether it's a rock of Gibraltar or a mosquito or a mental state, you know, a happy feeling or an unhappy one, that what arises ceases. Report an error in the passage at 17:24
17:54 So this is like in Vipassanā, then you're actually beginning to look at, you know, Somebody asked me about the five khandhas. These are teachings, you know, these five groups because kundalini phenomena is ad infinitum. It just goes on and on and on in its differences and qualities and quantities and permutations and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 17:54
18:20 But in terms of, you know, we begin to see Condition phenomena in terms of like from the coarser rūpa, khandha, the body or physical realm, vedanā, the feeling realm, sanya, the perceptive memory realm, the saṅkhāra, the emotional thinking realm, and then the vijnana, consciousness as limited as identified with the body. Report an error in the passage at 18:20
18:59 So then we tend to claim consciousness as some kind of personal quality. Then as we're mindful, like the Four Noble Truths is all about cultivating mindfulness as the path, then that is the way we begin to, then we're using consciousness, we're using the Rūpa, Vedanā, Sannyasa, Sankhya, Vijnana, the five khandhas, no longer Operating from ignorance and identity with these groups, because it's taking everything that we experience, putting them into five heaps or five categories. Report an error in the passage at 18:59
19:43 It simplifies everything. And then we begin to get perspective. Like, you can see five quite easily, but when we get into all the variations, permutations of conditioned phenomena, you know, it drives you mad. Like counting all the leaves in the forest or all the sand grains in the Ganges River. You know, impossible for us. Report an error in the passage at 19:43
20:07 But five, you know, I hold out my hand, five fingers, that's, everybody gets that. Five heaps, five khandhas. And that awareness of the five khandhas. Then consciousness is, since we don't create that out of ignorance, Report an error in the passage at 20:07
20:29 Then we're experiencing pure consciousness, pure knowing. So, you know, we're actually in living in, you know, the universe is intelligent. Report an error in the passage at 20:29
20:42 It's not just a kind of accident that, you know, like it might seem. Or who created the universe? You know, was it, you know, God 6,000 years ago? Or what? Is it the Big Bang? What is it all about? Well, you can't know that. You can't know the beginning or try to figure it out on that level. But you can recognize unconditioned reality. And that's through this awareness with consciousness and wisdom, panya. Report an error in the passage at 20:42
21:23 And this is all of what Buddha's teaching is aiming at. For us as human individuals to recognize this in ourselves, because it's a very skillful teaching. You know, if we use it in the right way, it does, you do break through the ego, the limitation that we oppress ourselves with, the sakya-ditti. Sīla Bhattabharamasa is the second one. Report an error in the passage at 21:23
21:57 that's... Report an error in the passage at 21:57
22:01 It's like clinging to rites and rituals, but I don't think that's a very good translation, because it's more like clinging to conventions. Because, you know, like teaching Buddhist meditation in the West, people aren't terribly bound to religious rituals. In fact, the problem with many Western Buddhists is that they don't like rituals. They think it's all hocus-pocus. Report an error in the passage at 22:01
22:29 And they condemn it. So, you know, they say some people don't like our chanting. They say the Buddha didn't teach chanting. And it's just superstition. Now this is a convention also, isn't it? Clinging to atheist views or rational thought, modern science, all this. You know, clinging to these without realizing what you're doing is still... Report an error in the passage at 22:29
22:59 It can be silabhata-baramasa or clinging to conventions, religious, scientific, rational conventions, cultural conventions. And then the third fetter is vichikicca, which is translated as doubt. And that's always the result of clinging to the thinking process, blind attachment to thinking. So notice that these three fetters, Report an error in the passage at 22:59
23:30 You know, bind us to conditioned phenomena. So we're caught in this kind of vortex of movement and change of the conditions. And that's why we suffer. With the First Noble Truth, we suffer a lot. Even when things are going well for us, you know, we still worry. And then we carry a lot of resentment about... Report an error in the passage at 23:30
23:57 about life as we grow older. Satsang with Mooji Satsang with Mooji treated unfairly, or not being appreciated enough, or whatever. We can, you know, how fortunate we are, we can still feel hurt or offended by all kinds of things. So we're kind of wired for actually, as human beings, we're kind of... Report an error in the passage at 23:57
24:24 ourselves very sensitive and ...overly sensitive and interpreting everything in this very complicated way. Once we see, have this insight, then, you know, we can deal with the habit tendencies we have with our vipaka kamma, the resultant of our life, you know, whatever, you know, with physical disability or injustice or unfairness or... Report an error in the passage at 24:24
24:58 are not obstructions to enlightenment. the obstructions to enlightenment, the first three fetters, are the ones that human beings create. After that, they're more, you know, then they're more about natural conditions, like sexual desire and anger. these emotions are Report an error in the passage at 24:58
25:23 I have natural primal emotions that we have. So we're born, you know, we have sexual energy. The bodies we have are sexual forms. So, and then Sakyaditya identifies with sexuality. You know, it's mine. And then we judge it according to good, bad, right and wrong, pure and dirty and what not, proper and improper. Report an error in the passage at 25:23
25:49 And then we, and with anger. We identify with that. The idea is we shouldn't get angry or that it's my anger. Where anger is a kind of primal emotion. Fear, anger, sexual desire, these are primal. You know, the animal realm has them. Report an error in the passage at 25:49
26:13 And there's survival and procreation. And so forth. So these are then seen in terms of anicca dukkhanatha rather than from cultural attitudes about them. You know, about religious or cultural prejudices or doctrines about these emotions, fear and anger, lust. Report an error in the passage at 26:13
26:45 So then the fetters that fall after the first three are moving more, you know, developing wisdom to the arahant, which is the fulfillment where there is a pure awareness and understanding, which is impersonal. It's not a personal identity anymore. Report an error in the passage at 26:45
27:16 Any more questions? Report an error in the passage at 27:16
27:21 I'm a spare and in my job there's a certain conditioning that's required to perform the best you can for your clients and so on. And in trying to condition myself to withdraw from the conditioning of your job and of your culture and so on, I'm finding myself not as sharp and focused and therefore upsetting Clients, if you're not performing as well as, you know, having the focus on the conditioning required for your job. Report an error in the passage at 27:21
27:59 So I seem to be almost yo-yoing back and forth between the Western kind of, well, not Western, but the conditioning I require for my job to progress and progressing with drawing from the conditioning. So it seems to be... Almost to say, the teachings are not compatible with the life I have in my job. And I'm just wondering if you have any comment on, aside from kind of giving up my career, is there any way forward? Report an error in the passage at 27:59
28:40 You've become a monk, right? One way or another. But if you're not ready for that one, but recognize that because you're probably getting confused. Report an error in the passage at 28:40
29:02 So this is where you have to trust your own, what you need for your work in order to accomplish what you have to do as a profession and what that takes. And if it's you know, if it's based on morality and so forth and you have to assert yourself as a I mean, but you know what you're doing you know, you're you're applying yourself to a particular situation and recognizing that this is necessary in order to fulfill the requirement but where the other, you know then and Report an error in the passage at 29:02
29:49 You know, of noticing, even learning from your own reactions to, you know, to the work that you do. Whether, you know, how you feel, how it affects you. And then you just have to trust your own intuition, what to do. Report an error in the passage at 29:49
30:09 You know, how to do your work in a way that is not kind of blinding you. And it's fulfilling the necessity of that particular job. So it's this ability to discern when it's appropriate to say something, when it isn't. It's more spontaneous, more awareness in the present, so that you're not coming from a fixed position so much as more... Report an error in the passage at 30:09
30:47 ...recognition of the conditions of this moment are like this and responding accordingly. But sometimes with meditators we can be too idealistic and think we shouldn't have any self whatsoever in a profession where we have to be a self. Report an error in the passage at 30:47
31:06 So, you know, like, I've contemplated this a lot, being Ajahn Sumedho. Because I'm, you know, I'm a... Meditation teacher, preceptor, I've got titles, you know, from Thailand, the royal titles they give me, and I could, you know, be a real egotistical so-and-so. You know, the ego wants to make something out of that. Or, you know, what I... Report an error in the passage at 31:06
31:42 Or then there's also the other side of really not wanting to be burdened with the responsibilities and worldly conditions whatsoever. Just wanting to kind of run away from any kind of problems in this world, in the monastery and whatnot. So that there's an awareness, you know, of what is, you know, What is appropriate in the time and the place. And that's what I trust, not in a view I might be having in the present. Report an error in the passage at 31:42
32:22 Does that help? That's why the Buddha established the monastic award. Report an error in the passage at 32:22
32:41 But even we can be egotistical. The problem with monasticism is we can make ourselves into precious priests and you get respect and praise and things like this and we can make ourselves into special holier-than-thou type egos. And this is where it's so important to see the suffering of attachment to conditioned phenomena. Report an error in the passage at 32:41
33:13 That's the... The important thing, because whatever, you know, you can misuse monastic forms or any convention, you Report an error in the passage at 33:13
33:29 know, because they are what they are, and they're only conventions, so they're not, you know, they're not wise in themselves, but they're, you know, like for me, when I became a monk, I said, what is this? This is meant to help, not to intimidate. You know, it's a... Biku is a Buddhist monk. You have all this discipline and all these little rules about all kinds of things. Report an error in the passage at 33:29
33:59 And I'm from, you know, I lived the last few years of lay life in Berkeley, California, which is a kind of freedom, you know, hedonistic, do whatever you feel like kind of society. And so you're coming from a very hedonistic, pleasure-seeking, Report an error in the passage at 33:59
34:29 or wrong and so then of course this would at you know I kind of intuitively know I needed this kind of training because I didn't have any you I've become too kind of Report an error in the passage at 34:29
34:47 You know, there's just lost, confused from this total hedonism and do whatever you feel like. It just ended up being totally confused by it. And then going, leaving it, going into Thai First Monastery was, you know, I knew what I was getting into, so I wasn't being forced to do it. I could have left at any time, but I did recognize the value of it. That's what I had to do, is how to use it for awareness. Report an error in the passage at 34:47
35:30 and punished for disobeying the rules. That was the conditioning I had, the social conditioning, interpreting monasticism. Report an error in the passage at 35:30
35:41 Well, that just made me more intimidated when I started interpreting monastic training through reward and punishment, praise and blame. And so this is where the wisdom of Ajahn Chah was so helpful because I began to see how to use it for awareness rather than to just kind of make myself, try to make myself into the ideal monk. Report an error in the passage at 35:41
36:09 Out of just being obedient, because inwardly, you know, I didn't feel that way. Still get angry and have lust and fear and jealousy and all these emotions would come up. And then the monastic life was to observe, to be the awareness of them and not to act on them or either through indulging or suppressing them, but recognizing. Report an error in the passage at 36:09
36:46 No, it's very, you know, it's fascinating to see the relationship of discipline, or vinaya, to dhamma. It's like in the Pāli canon, they say the Buddha's last words were, I leave you the dhamma and vinaya. Well, the dhamma is all about letting go of everything, not attachment. And then this vinaya is all about attachment. You've got to do it like this, not like that. Report an error in the passage at 36:46
37:17 So one day Ajahn Chah, you know, We were walking together and he said, Sumedho, you must be confused. He says, dharma is all about letting go and vini is all about holding on. And I said, yeah, I find it very confusing. Report an error in the passage at 37:17
37:38 And then he smiled and said, when you figure that one out, you'll be all right. Like a koan, really. Report an error in the passage at 37:38
37:49 But some, you know, like... Some monks will have, I practice dharma, the vineyards are useless. One monk used to go around saying, the Buddha was good at teaching wisdom, but he was terrible at making up rules. Report an error in the passage at 37:49
38:11 So that monk didn't last long. But the, you know, we live in... You know, we're experiencing life in the conditioned realm now. So it's learning how to use conditioned phenomena for awareness. It's not trying to get, just let go of it. That would tend to be more like annihilation. Or, you know, just the idea of letting go of all conditions is an ideal. Report an error in the passage at 38:11
38:44 You can't do it that way just through saying, I'm not attached to anything. Because you can be attached. To the view of non-attachment. You know, that's the catch-22 problem on the condition level. Report an error in the passage at 38:44
39:04 And wanting to get rid of greed, hatred and delusion is another desire. Even though you might think it's a good one. You know, I want to get rid of anger. It's a good thing. So somebody says, you know, I get angry all the time. I want to get rid of it. Oh, that's very good. You know, we should all try to get rid of our anger. And so I think that's good. But in getting rid of anger without wisdom, you suppress it. Report an error in the passage at 39:04
39:35 And so suppressing anything means that you're giving it more strength. It will rebound in some terrible way later on. So I mean, it's learning to... To recognize that this realm, anger is a part of this realm. Jealousy is part of, you know, it's a primal emotion. Or sexual desire. The bodies are sexual forms. And yet we choose to be celibate. Report an error in the passage at 39:35
40:08 So I mean this is, and so it's not a kind of rejection or criticism of sexuality, but it's using awareness around this. sexual energies that we experience it's not like you don't have any sexual desire but your relationship to it is observing rather than Report an error in the passage at 40:08
40:29 following it. then fear is in a, this is a fear realm. know, you just look around you in nature, it's all survival. Even here at Amaravati, you see the, you know, the killing them. Report an error in the passage at 40:29
40:48 squirrels, once they're out of the tree, they're terribly nervous and frightened until they get back up in the tree, justifiably because a dog or a cat or some or something can kill them. So it's all about survival, fear. These are not neurotic emotional hang-ups of human individuals. are just primal energies that we experience in this world. Report an error in the passage at 40:48
41:15 This sense realm that's changing and beyond our control. But that ability to observe and learn from it is a special gift of being human. Report an error in the passage at 41:15
41:36 Yes? Is Buddhism about becoming a better person? Well, let's say, yeah. The foundations for practice are always on generosity and morality. So, like Donna Sela. And the thing I found, like the hedonistic life I lived for a couple of years in California, was, you know, it kind of gives you this liberated feeling that there are no moral boundaries or do whatever you want. Report an error in the passage at 41:36
42:16 But it led to confusion and also self-aversion. You know, I didn't like myself very much. And then the... You know, where, say, in the kind of Buddhist world, the basic foundation for just living a good life without meditating, you know, just for lay people who don't want to practice meditation is based on dana sīla, which is generosity and morality. Report an error in the passage at 42:16
42:49 So these are the kind of basis for developing self-respect. A sense of, you know, so you can respect yourself, live in a way that you feel you're being honest and honorable person is developing a kind of good sense of integrity, even on a Sakyaditi level is encouraged, you know, to be a good, honest citizen and pay your taxes. Report an error in the passage at 42:49
43:26 Be responsible for what you do. And be generous. Don't be a stingy, selfish person. I mean, like today, at the mealtime, every Sunday, almost every day, in fact, people come and offer food as dharma. And it's just incredible, the food that comes to this place. People... are incredibly generous. And they get a certain joy out of giving, happiness out of sharing, that they wouldn't have if they just sat around. Report an error in the passage at 43:26
44:08 This is my money, my food. I'm not going to give it to those monks, those nuns. It's not a very happy mental state. Report an error in the passage at 44:08
44:24 And yet, you know, we all have selfish tendencies. I mean, that's where the awareness is to be aware, not to kind of think, you know, feel guilty about selfishness, but to see what it is. And then to be a good citizen, like here living in the UK, to respect the society and its rules and its principles. Report an error in the passage at 44:24
44:52 So that we can live in this society without being a kind of divisive, critical force that tends to cause more problems to the society. Like, you know, the Buddhist attitude is much, we're not here to convert, you know, and we're not here to convert everybody to Buddhism and, you know, compete with Christianity or anything like that. Report an error in the passage at 44:52
45:21 that, that's, uh... I wouldn't come here if that was what was expected of me. I wouldn't have left Thailand. But the attitude of coming here, offering, because on invitation and people interested and so forth, it takes off from there. So you're giving occasion and opportunity rather than converting or competing with another religion. Report an error in the passage at 45:21
45:50 religion, this is This makes you, you know, it's something that also benefits the social environment that you're living in. We're trying to be beneficial in this country rather than just another difficult, demanding, religious religion that causes a lot more problems. Report an error in the passage at 45:50
46:21 So that's why, you know, I've lived in... I've lived in England now 33 years, more than I have lived in the United States. I've never lived here as a layperson, so I don't know what it's like as a layperson. But as a Buddhist monk, there's never been any great problems. It's a tolerant society, and I feel I'm respected and treated. Report an error in the passage at 46:21
46:54 You know, in a way that, you know, I wasn't even expecting. You know, coming, being dressed like this and being an American and a Buddhist monk in England was, I didn't know what to expect from all these incongruities. But it has been mainly a very pleasant experience. Report an error in the passage at 46:54
47:21 So that, you know, you feel a sense of gratitude also to the country you're living in, to the society that is tolerant and open and supportive. Report an error in the passage at 47:21
47:37 Yes? Would you say the sense of silence is synonymous with pure consciousness? You know, I use it for that, because to me that's the easy way, because that's easy accessible for me. Like, you know, like what I call sound of silence is not really a sound, but it's more like a vibration. You begin to recognize kind of background resonating, constant kind of vibration, or it seems like a sound in a way. Report an error in the passage at 47:37
48:27 But sounds arise and cease in it. So it's a background of... Sound, actually. You can actually listen to music with the sound of silence in the background. But it also has this continuity that once you begin to recognize it, then you also, it helps to stop this proliferating tendency to think and go from one thing to the next. Report an error in the passage at 48:27
48:55 And then it gives you, gives one a perspective on the On the emotional states and physical conditions that I experience in the present. So I refer to it as the unconditioned or pure consciousness, whatever the words are. Report an error in the passage at 48:55
49:25 I'm not so concerned about defining it, but recognizing and experimenting with it. when I... I've cultivated it for years now, but I used to not teach it because it's not really generally taught in the Theravāda school. So I didn't know whether I was... I didn't want to start a new form of Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 49:25
49:58 But it does work. And also, you know, the... Report an error in the passage at 49:58
50:10 The fact is that it does give this sense of the unborn, uncreated, unconditioned is very strong because of that. And it allows me to be perfectly present. Like right now I can hear sound of silence behind even my own voice. So it's not like a condition that I have to listen to sound of silence by shutting you off. Report an error in the passage at 50:10
50:38 But it includes everything right now. So it fulfills the role of the unconditioned. Report an error in the passage at 50:38
50:53 I'm using these words, but it's more like a direct understanding, insight. And then the trouble with religious teachings is that we tend to try to experience... Reality through our definition of terminologies, and that can be frustrating. We're trying to fit everything into Pāli terms. Report an error in the passage at 50:53
51:19 So then we don't trust ourselves unless we have a Pāli word for it or something clearly defined in a Pāli dictionary. Or supported in Abhidhamma texts or whatever. But actually, you know, what we're doing is opening to this reality. And then we each have our own particular habit tendencies, which is, you know, the way we... Report an error in the passage at 51:19
51:55 our own emotional tendencies or... or personal habits that may be strong, one condition might be very strong in me but mean nothing to you. So sometimes you're baffled by problems people have because what they find difficult to me isn't difficult and vice versa. But this is where you're not trying to tell people. Report an error in the passage at 51:55
52:29 What they should be or do, but you're encouraging them to trust this awareness and cultivate from there. And then the Four Noble Truths is very, you know, as a reference I've always used through all of this. You know, because it, you know, inevitably one is going to experience suffering. Even after years of monastic life and meditation, things happen. Report an error in the passage at 52:29
53:00 You know, and you suddenly find yourself quite distressed by something. And then you have, and then I always observe that with this sound of silence. It allows me to get some perspective on maybe some strong emotional distress. But it's also... See, not to use it as a suppressant, but as a kind of screen, like a movie screen, where you can see the condition on a screen, and you're the screen rather than the condition. Report an error in the passage at 53:00
53:51 Yes? If the unconditioned is beyond space and time, all vibrations exist on the relative dimensions, so how can you associate the vibration with the unconditioned? Report an error in the passage at 53:51
54:08 Well, you know, you're getting into speculation. You have to trust yourself in the immediate present. You know, so, according to physics or science, you know, space ends and things like this. But what I'm doing is not coming from that position, but from... the here and now. So like, right now Consciousness Report an error in the passage at 54:08
54:43 with the sound of silence, fully present. Report an error in the passage at 54:43
54:48 sense of a separate self is not present. then there's no boundary to that consciousness, know, it's not like, just tuning in to it, it, letting it be. Report an error in the passage at 54:48
55:08 the Sakyadity that arises in it. It's like seeing something come and go rather than being just blindly reactive to what comes and goes. Report an error in the passage at 55:08
55:28 During the last part of the winter's retreat this year, I had the people here. Remember, there is the unborn, uncreated, unformed, unconditioned. Therefore, there is the escape from the born, the created, the formed, the conditioned. Now, that's a very brilliant teaching in the scripture. And so then, if there was not the unborn, uncreated, unformed, unconditioned, there would be no escape from the born, the created, the formed, the conditioned. Report an error in the passage at 55:28
56:02 Well, that inspired me years ago. I think there is an escape from this vortex of this, Self-consciousness and self-obsession that made my life quite unnecessarily miserable. And so I, you know, then as I first learned meditation, it was mainly just observing conditioned knowledge, and that was the kind of technique I learned in Thailand, at first before meeting Ajahn Chah, where you're more or less... Report an error in the passage at 56:02
56:36 Emphasis is on impermanence. And then I started thinking, well, if everything is impermanent and not self, that leads to a sense that there's nothing at all. It leads to a sense of annihilation, which is one extreme that the Buddha warned against. So then this particular, there is the unborn, therefore the escape from the born. Report an error in the passage at 56:36
57:04 So then... Using this sound of silence, because then it, as a practical function, it stops conceptual proliferating. You know, you stop thinking. But you're not suppressing thought. You're aware of physical sensation or what's left of an emotional charge. The lingering mood of an emotion is still present, but you're not creating anything out of it. Report an error in the passage at 57:04
57:35 But you're recognizing it. And so then this sense of the unborn, uncreated, unformed, unconditioned. And then you realize that by letting go of the condition and by letting the condition cease according to their nature, you're actually not creating suffering. But you're still getting old and have arthritis and things like this. But whether I create suffering around it, it is something else, you know, getting old could be Report an error in the passage at 57:35
58:12 to suffer from if identified. Copyright © 2020 Mooji Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this recording may be reproduced without Mooji Media Ltd.'s express consent. Aversion towards it, or wishing it were otherwise, or blaming somebody else, or hating God for creating old people. Report an error in the passage at 58:12
58:51 It's not coming from the macrocosmic position. It's much more like, to prove it in your here and now, in the present, within the limitation of being a human being. Being a human individual. Because we are very limited. You know, you recognize how this little form is nothing in this universe. You know, I used to think if I dropped dead, you know, it's like nothing, no great earthquakes or problems in the universe. Report an error in the passage at 58:51
59:28 A few people might be upset and cry. And then, you know, you're living in a tropical country in Thailand and there's a call. All these termites have got, you know, it's a world's incubator for insects. So you've got all these little creatures that you, you know, you don't know whether one is called Horus or Elmer or anything. Report an error in the passage at 59:28
59:53 They're all just annoying little bugs. And that's what we must be like in the universe. Report an error in the passage at 59:53
1:00:02 Just another flea or another termite. And, you know, so the sense of self-importance, you know, we create that. You know, I'm such an important person. And, you know, human beings we can be so incredibly conceited and self-important. But it's not to diminish it either, because what is important is that I'm experiencing the universe from this position here. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:02
1:00:31 In other words, this is the center of the universe. Not that I'm the center as a person, but in terms of the experiential reality of this moment, this is the center, because you're out there. This is where I experience everything in this universe from this point. And does the universe have a boundary? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:31
1:00:55 Well, in terms of... Here and now reality centers the here. This is what I can be aware of. I can't be aware of some kind of abstract centers somewhere off in space. And so it's like learning to recognize not being just another termite whose life is of no consequence, but our lives are important to us. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:55
1:01:24 Not because we're conceited arrogant so-and-sos, but because this is... We are sensitive forms that have this ability to awaken to life. We can have an intuition of the unborn, uncreated, and of something more than just the conditioned habits that we have. We have an intuition about that. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:24
1:01:58 So therefore, this term Buddha becomes significant because to me that means awakened. That's a human being like Buddha of the Gautama Buddha was, you know, according to scripture, you know, was a real human being. He wasn't like created out of... You know, like Shiva or Vishnu. He was, you know, actually born, and they do kind of elaborate on his birth into kind of, you know, a special birth. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:58
1:02:33 But to me, I don't particularly like doing that because the value of Buddha is the fact that it's a human being and then that relates to me because this being here is a human being. And then the Buddha, if it's just historical sage, sage of ancient India that's fine but then what has that to do with me here and now you know I can admire maybe Plato or Buddha Copyright © 2020 Mooji Media Ltd. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:33
1:03:21 All Rights Reserved. and and then Using that ordinary experience of suffering so skillfully that we find a way not to create suffering and recognizing how to relate to this conditioned realm in skillful ways compassionately with respect for life and so that our presence as human individuals can be one of respect for life and compassion rather than just Greedy little creatures that are poisoning the planet. Like that's the message we get these days, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 1:03:21
1:04:02 Greedy, like a cancer that's taking over, destroying all the forests and polluting. What's your carbon footprint? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:02
1:04:16 I've got big feet. I think Report an error in the passage at 1:04:16
1:04:24 that's enough. footprint. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:24
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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