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- 1:33
So the subject, the interconnectedness from a Buddhist perspective, and of course these are, interconnectedness is a word that you hear a lot of these days. And it seems like different times produce different kind of emphasis. And then words do have an effect on consciousness. And so this word, what do we mean by it?
- 3:08
When we're caught in the delusions that we tend to hold to and identify with. So like interconnectedness in terms of Buddhism then is like it's consciousness. Consciousness is where we're one. And then in the various forms, physical forms and emotional habits and memories and thoughts and so forth. All separate individuals living our lives seemingly disconnected from each other.
- 5:22
and this is where in meditation we're actually beginning to observe the feeling of separateness this is the Buddha of course emphasizing Emphasized in his original teaching, the Four Noble Truths, the dukkha or the sense of suffering or separateness, loneliness. These are ways of describing dukkha, the First Noble Truth, because this is how it seems, the seemingness, how life does seem as experienced from the position of this one.
- 24:50
So, the Buddha emphasized Awaken attention to change because essential realities of this moment is what we can all experience together is change. In whatever way it's changing, you know, how the condition, how you're feeling at this moment and what I'm feeling at this moment can be qualitatively different.
- 56:55
National entity, race or religion. Now here we begin to have a sense of interconnectedness on the human level. But it is still thought, it's still a sense of I'm human and then if we want to wage a war then we have to make the enemy inhuman. I remember in the Second World War, I was a child during the Second World War,
Transcript
0:00 So this afternoon, the Report an error in the passage at 0:00
0:05 weather is a little more pleasant today. This Report an error in the passage at 0:05
0:15 past week has been one continuous birthday celebration. I get presented with these enormously beautiful, totally irresistible birthday cakes. Report an error in the passage at 0:15
0:30 It's Report an error in the passage at 0:30
0:36 very moving really to, as you get older, your value increases. increases. Report an error in the passage at 0:36
0:49 We Report an error in the passage at 0:49
0:55 had on my birthday, one of the monks made this slideshow of pictures of me from when I was a baby up to the present. And that's always very amusing. And now they can play tricks with rearranging photographs. So one photograph is me standing looking at myself as a baby. Report an error in the passage at 0:55
1:33 So the subject, the interconnectedness from a Buddhist perspective, and of course these are, interconnectedness is a word that you hear a lot of these days. And it seems like different times produce different kind of emphasis. And then words do have an effect on consciousness. And so this word, what do we mean by it? Report an error in the passage at 1:33
2:07 A Buddhist perspective. Buddhism itself is not quite the right grammatical structure because the Buddha actually didn't teach Buddhism and he wasn't a Buddhist. Report an error in the passage at 2:07
2:29 What he taught was the Dhamma which is another exotic word which means The truth, but the truth in English sounds more like a philosophy, but he was the pointer to awakening the human individual to wake up and to observe the way it is to know the laws of nature or the truth that we can be totally unaware of When we're caught in the delusions that we tend to hold to and identify with. So like interconnectedness in terms of Buddhism then is like it's consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 2:29
3:26 Consciousness is where we're one. And then in the various forms, physical forms and emotional habits and memories and thoughts and so forth. All separate individuals living our lives seemingly disconnected from each other. I think one of the problems of modern life is loneliness. Feeling alone or left out or discarded, abandoned. Report an error in the passage at 3:26
4:01 Feeling that nobody understands you. All that... You know, if you have a religious philosophy, then there's a kind of connection through such concepts as God or Allah or the sense of oneness. And oneness is another word that is worth considering because even though we can think of one as one thing, One-ness implies everything. We can see one as some object like this one finger pointing, or we can use one as the word for everything. Report an error in the passage at 4:01
4:58 All-inclusive. And two is... This is where the division takes place, isn't it? When we start having two, then we have good, bad, right, wrong, male, female, in and out, and so forth. So the two is always this sense of division and separateness. and this is where in meditation we're actually beginning to observe the feeling of separateness this is the Buddha of course emphasizing Emphasized in his original teaching, the Four Noble Truths, the dukkha or the sense of suffering or separateness, loneliness. Report an error in the passage at 4:58
5:50 These are ways of describing dukkha, the First Noble Truth, because this is how it seems, the seemingness, how life does seem as experienced from the position of this one. body, this personality is speaking right now, feeling right now. When I start thinking about myself as a person, then I'm thinking in terms of I'm separate from you, I'm this person, I'm this way, which means that that excludes you because you're not this person, you're not this way. Report an error in the passage at 5:50
6:32 And this is the thinking process, of course, when we think, thinking itself is a division in consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 6:32
6:47 And I've explored this for many years now, just my own thinking process, not trying to think about thinking or form a kind of analyzing thought or trying to create any theories about thought, but observing directly. My own thinking process, the thoughts that arise and cease, good thoughts, bad thoughts, kind, mean, whatever. Report an error in the passage at 6:47
7:17 High-minded thoughts or just very selfish, mean-hearted ones. But thought itself is something that we learn after we're born. Its function is to... Emphasize, you know, to label, to signify the difference. My name is Ajahn Sumedho, and that separates me from you. Signifying the difference. I'm a Buddhist monk, and you're not, and so forth. Pointing to what is different, what is unique. Report an error in the passage at 7:17
7:58 My photographic biography. Ajahn Sumedho is supporting this illusion that I was actually born 72 years ago and that I was an adolescent and a sailor and so forth. And of course these are snapshots or photos taken from various times assembled together on one one CD disc. Report an error in the passage at 7:58
8:44 is. You know, it's an entertainment. people are curious and fascinated by the lives of other people. sometimes we want to compare our own lives with other lives. Report an error in the passage at 8:44
9:03 Because there is a sense of being isolated. I remember growing up and feeling I was the only one that suffered. I thought when I was a teenager, I thought, you know, I was the only miserable teenager and all the rest were normal. Report an error in the passage at 9:03
9:21 Because in my generation, we never talked about how we really felt about anything. At least I didn't or my associates at that time. We played roles, you know, so you were frightened, shy. Report an error in the passage at 9:21
9:39 Emotionally distressed teenager but you pretended there's nothing wrong with you and that was the mask you presented to your friends at school and so forth so that you had this sense of I'm all right even though inside I didn't feel like that. And of course I assume all the others were doing the same thing so we kind of played the games without actually getting to to understand each other and of course this leads to an increasing sense of isolation because one thing that we do appreciate is being able to understand to understand what being human is and and the problems that that arise in different various stages of our lives that loneliness isolation or fear and and Shyness, timidity and so forth are quite normal emotional experiences for most people. Self-consciousness, in adolescence one is extremely self-conscious because Report an error in the passage at 9:39
10:51 you are forming a sense of your self-worth and oftentimes in a competitive society it's very much based on comparing yourself with ideals or with... With those above you, those who you think are better, better off, more gifted and so forth than you are. Or you can create the sense of your self-worth by observing how much better you are than somebody else. Report an error in the passage at 10:51
11:21 We all have those we look down on and feel superior to and those that we look up to and feel inferior to. And this is all done with thought. The idea that I am a permanent body, this body is really me, and this personality is me, and that I'm absolutely, totally separate from you. Report an error in the passage at 11:21
11:49 Because that's the way it seems, and that's the way we play the game. My life, my opinions, my rights, this is like West Coast United States back in the... 40s and 50s. We're very assertive then, you know, my rights and what I think. And even though I didn't think anything terribly profound at the age of 15 or 16, I still had the right to proclaim my views and opinions. Report an error in the passage at 11:49
12:24 And of course, this is very much part of a cultural pattern also, the American style of... Report an error in the passage at 12:24
12:34 Stressing, emphasizing the importance of individuality, individual rights. The sense of community was not high on the priority list. They didn't have strong identities with, say, with even one's own family or with a group. The emphasis was on me and mine and my views, my opinions. When you're young, this has a certain value in the fact that you can easily kind of break away from things. Report an error in the passage at 12:34
13:19 You don't feel that loyal or that committed to anything larger than yourself. So one can be, you know, very selfish, self-centered, motivated in that way. But also, it's incredibly lonely to be an individual. individual, separate, someone Report an error in the passage at 13:19
13:46 then of course one tended to find try to look for groups of people or or causes if you could all agree on a certain like political cause or social causes and this gave a sense of solidarity if we had If If we shared the same political views. Report an error in the passage at 13:46
14:09 And of course this created a sense of connectedness on the level of ideas or ideals or opinions or causes. And so a kind of bonding takes place there. But also that tends to easily fall apart because it is based on ideas alone. It's not based on Dhamma or any real understanding of humanity is based on that you and I might share the same view, the same political view, fight for the same cause at this time. Report an error in the passage at 14:09
14:44 But then, as we all know, idealistic people tend to not be able to agree on anything very much. They might agree on the ideals, but the But the means, oftentimes, is where the divisions take place. And so we have these quarrels. I remember in the peace movements of the early 60s in Berkeley, I decided I would have to dedicate my life to more worthwhile things than just my own pleasure. Report an error in the passage at 14:44
15:22 So I used to investigate the various peace movements, and there were quite a few in Berkeley at that time. Report an error in the passage at 15:22
15:39 so joining peace movements, know, I could agree on the ideals they had, but the internal dissensions were amazing. internal quarrels and jealousies and fights and, you know, on one level one could agree. In, you know, against peace, against war. But then internally, you know, the actual inside, when you got inside the organization, it was war. Report an error in the passage at 15:39
16:15 And so I became quite disillusioned with the peace movement and used to blame it on the people that were involved in these organizations. But then I began to recognize that actually the war started in me. You know, here I was complaining about them, you know, finding fault with them, expecting the peace movements to be really peaceful, when peace as an ideal is certainly what we all agree to. Report an error in the passage at 16:15
16:48 I mean, we don't want peace, we want war. I think very few people would publicly say they would prefer war. They actually might, but I mean, it's rather dangerous. Socially, to become a warmonger in an overt way like that. No, we're all for peace. George Bush is for peace and Tony Blair, everybody. The Israelis and Hezbollah and everything. Report an error in the passage at 16:48
17:21 Peace is certainly an idea we can all long for and admire. But what is peace? What do we really mean by it? And are we really equipped to be peaceful as human beings? Report an error in the passage at 17:21
17:41 And so this is what reflection is about, beginning to notice, observe, not just grasp ideas and ideals and then try to demand peace and justice from... The people around us, or even expect ourselves to be peaceful because we like the idea of it, but to begin to recognize how conflict arises, what suffering is, what is it like really, the experience here and now of having a physical body. Report an error in the passage at 17:41
18:22 Is that peaceful? Is one's own body a peaceful formation? You know, and then you start, now these are inquiring into the reality of this moment. Now, of course, we all like the idea of having a peaceful body. Report an error in the passage at 18:22
18:41 That's very, you know, be tranquil, have a body that doesn't hurt, that has no pain, is flexible and that doesn't get stiff and miserable and old and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 18:41
18:56 That's an ideal, you know, we certainly would like that. But the human body is like this. And even though this seems like such an obvious fact, it takes the willingness to really observe the experience of one's own body, not in terms of vanity or comparison to ideals of how it should be, perfect. The body that one is experiencing right now is like this. And this is a way of reflecting on one of the causes of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 18:56
19:42 Being attached, being identified with a formation whose very nature is so subjected to so many different influences and changes In environment, in just what we eat, in the age, aging process, it's so much a victim of circumstances, of wars and accidents and epidemics and diseases. Report an error in the passage at 19:42
20:13 Physical body, you know, can be a very pleasurable experience, but much of our experience of life, Within this human form is the experience of discomfort, pain, hunger, thirst, the kind of basic feelings that we have, needs that this body has. It gets hot and cold. You can't stay still for very long without experiencing some form of stress or discomfort. Report an error in the passage at 20:13
20:50 And so the body is something to recognize. Ajahn Sumedho has a condition that is part of experience. But then beginning to really look, is this body really what it seems to be? Is this body really mine? Is it really me? Is that little baby in that snapshot really me? Is it the same, you know, is that me when I was three years old? Report an error in the passage at 20:50
21:24 And on a conventional level, you could say, that's me when I was three years old. But in the reality of here and now, that is, I don't even remember having that picture taken. Report an error in the passage at 21:24
21:40 But it's certainly, you know, it's certain, I suppose, I can't even see how it even relates to it as me when I look at it. But I know it's me because my mother told me, that's a photograph of you. Report an error in the passage at 21:40
21:59 My mother was quite an honest person. There's no reason to tell a lie about it. But here and now is all there ever is. When you contemplate, then you're not thinking in the conventional terms of the personality or the conventional world that we're conditioned by. but Report an error in the passage at 21:59
22:29 The way it really is is that all conditions are changing and the conditions that you're experiencing now are subject to other conditions. It's like sitting here in this sala is dependent on other conditions supporting it. And the way, you know, your physical physical experiences at this moment sitting listening the temperature this past week have been very hot so then one experiences this this sense of of heat and and lethargy and One doesn't particularly want to go out in the afternoon sun. One wants to hide in a cave and keep cool. Report an error in the passage at 22:29
23:23 cool so This is just noticing how one's mood changes according to the weather. The sense of being happy, sad, feeling good, feeling bad, is dependent on other conditions. Report an error in the passage at 23:23
23:43 If one has a stomach ache or a headache, or one doesn't, then the personality changes accordingly. And this is observed, say, in... What we call vipassanā meditation, insight meditation, actually learning how to witness to this changingness, the changing conditions, and how different things affect you. Report an error in the passage at 23:43
24:10 Now, an ideal of what you'd like to be as a person, the ideal man or woman or Buddhist monk or Buddhist nun, the perfect image is one thing, but it's not a living, breathing, breathing reality of this moment. Report an error in the passage at 24:10
24:29 might be beautiful and lovely and inspiring an ideal but as a reality it doesn't feel anything it doesn't change know you can have the same ideal at fifteen that you have when you're fifty 50. Report an error in the passage at 24:29
24:48 the ideal can remain pretty much the So, the Buddha emphasized Awaken attention to change because essential realities of this moment is what we can all experience together is change. In whatever way it's changing, you know, how the condition, how you're feeling at this moment and what I'm feeling at this moment can be qualitatively different. Report an error in the passage at 24:48
25:19 But the reality is it's changing. And so this... Attitude of mindfulness, awakened attention to the way it is, awakening to the changingness of the sense world. So this world includes everything that we are experiencing now, from what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, feel through the body, think with the mind, thoughts, moods. Report an error in the passage at 25:19
25:54 Memories arise and cease, sensations, pleasurable, painful, neutral, come and go and change. And that which is aware of the changingness. Report an error in the passage at 25:54
26:10 And so this is getting you down to the basic, down to basics, back to basics, back to the very ground zero, the center point, which is what happens in awareness. Awakened attention. Report an error in the passage at 26:10
26:34 Now in thoughts and feelings we can travel all over. We can think of going, like on Tuesday I'm going to Italy so I can imagine, right now I can sit here and imagine the monastery, going to meet these various people. And I can actually be in Italy, just mentally right now, just by thinking of Italy and memories. Report an error in the passage at 26:34
27:02 And yet I'm physically here and I'm about sitting in this chair. Now it takes a little more effort to get the body over to Italy, which on Tuesday I have to fly it over and go through all the immigration and the problems of travel. Report an error in the passage at 27:02
27:27 And of course nowadays we're criticized for traveling, you know, polluting. So I could be criticized. You probably think Ajahn Sumedho is contributing to the world pollution. Report an error in the passage at 27:27
27:47 But thinking is like that. It moves very quickly. Just thinking Italy, I can mentally be there, be in California or whatever. Even a place I've never been in, I can have images of it, kind of what I've read about it or heard about it. Report an error in the passage at 27:47
28:23 thinking is thinking, we actually can live in a totally false reality, a reality that isn't real. we just assume it is. We take it for granted. Report an error in the passage at 28:23
28:38 What we call the personality view or the ego. The sense of myself as a person at one time seemed real to me. My personality, my sense, my self-worth, my identities were very important, very real for me. And some of them were very good and others not so very good when you know they changed but there was a sense of being a permanent person Report an error in the passage at 28:38
29:13 a kind of soul, a unique soul the universe. Ajahn Sumedho. Ajahn Sumedho. Report an error in the passage at 29:13
29:26 then, you know, I wasn't always Arjun Sametho. I'd only been Arjun Sametho about 40 years, and before that I was somebody else. I had a nice Christian name. And so they ask you, you know, what your Christian name is. I have a Christian name and I have a Buddhist name. And of course these are what we regard as reality. This sense of myself, my memories, my life, and what I look like, my body, my physical formation that I maybe have never questioned, never really observed in any other way. Report an error in the passage at 29:26
30:07 So with meditation we're beginning to not deny that and try to just eradicate thought or memory, but begin to change the attitude from clinging and attachment and identity with the conditioned realm to looking at it in terms of what's really the way it is in the present. Report an error in the passage at 30:07
30:29 That the sense of separateness, of personal separateness, of... Identity with the body, identity with memory and so forth is an illusion that maybe one has never looked at in any other way. So meditation is a kind of looking at something in a different way. And I call this reflection, noticing, observing the way it is. Report an error in the passage at 30:29
31:02 Now if I start trying to analyze the way it is and I can come up with various theories about which is better and how things should be and what's wrong with the present and how because it's raw it doesn't seem right we've got to do something now in order to make it right in the future. And so this is generally the mindset of this age, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 31:02
31:31 Establishing democracy in the Middle East. It's not right the way the Middle East is at this time. And it would be much better off if all the Middle Eastern people lived under fairly elected, incorruptible, kind of perfect democracies like we do. Report an error in the passage at 31:31
32:02 And then we wouldn't have the problems. We would be all right. you know, we be able to... We can't create this utopian ideal of where we learn how to live with each other in harmony and our different religious attitudes and that we develop. It's a chance to be more tolerant and accepting and understanding of each other. Or if you're of an intolerant nature, you convert everyone to Theravāda Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 32:02
32:34 Hold a gun to their head and make them take the five precepts. I found it a great relief to awaken to the way it is. Because the way I thought it was, especially as you get older, you become increasingly more cynical. When you're young, you do have hopes and lack of experience with life. You kind of think, well, I'm going to change things. I'm going to use my life to make the society better and improve the world. Report an error in the passage at 32:34
33:13 When you're my age, you don't have that hope. Report an error in the passage at 33:13
33:22 And one could be very cynical at this age, because you've seen from the kind of idealism of youth, which was for me in the 1950s, to what now I perceive In the 2006, which is not what I'd long for in 1950, and yet in many ways it is. The thought of 1950, there was great hope that medical science would solve all problems so that we would find a cure for cancer and all other diseases. Report an error in the passage at 33:22
34:44 HIV AIDS and that was never Satsang with Mooji Satsang with Mooji 1950 never never a problem then so the the the increasing amount of different diseases now we know more about disease and and then we've also the world's population has increased and the the greed and and selfishness of this population has been encouraged so that we suffer from all kinds of of other problems, social problems, moral problems, environmental problems. Report an error in the passage at 34:44
35:22 And this is because of a lack of awakened attention to the interconnectedness or the oneness. Or maybe that thought has never occurred. We've never even explored that as an ideal even. But we're strongly identified with our separateness, with our... Report an error in the passage at 35:22
35:48 National identity, you know, so we think mainly for the welfare of our own nation above everyone else, our own class or ethnic group or religious group. We can feel a loyalty to a particular group of people or particular country, which means, of course, that Our sense of identity is more inclusive, but it also can be very exclusive. Those that are not in my group are not worth bothering with. Report an error in the passage at 35:48
36:27 I don't care about. They're peripheral. They're not important. Report an error in the passage at 36:27
36:35 And all that attitude is created through thinking. Those people close to me are the most important. Those that agree with me. Those that share the same values and so forth are important and those that don't are increasingly less and almost, you know, they can be inimical, they can be the enemy, they can be the ones that you have to push out, the aliens, the foreigners. Report an error in the passage at 36:35
37:08 Now notice that this whole way of thinking is through attachment to thoughts, To conventional conventions that we have, to identities, all these are required. You know, the sense of being a Buddhist monk. Now on the level of convention, you know, this is what the identity that I obviously have. I wouldn't be wearing this robe. Report an error in the passage at 37:08
37:43 And so this is a conventional identity. But then asking myself, am I a permanent Buddhist monk? And then, of course, it's not to think there's anything wrong with being a permanent Buddhist monk, but just noticing when that identity comes forth in consciousness and when it's not present. Report an error in the passage at 37:43
38:10 So since I'm not obsessed about being a Buddhist monk, this thought does arise and cease, but I'm not going around Totally obsessed with this idea. I have moments where the identity of I'm a Buddhist monk doesn't occur. Report an error in the passage at 38:10
38:30 When I'm sleeping, it doesn't occur, for one thing. And then it becomes stronger when you're with other people who see you as a Buddhist monk. Report an error in the passage at 38:30
38:41 And you know that right now, I am a Buddhist monk to you. Report an error in the passage at 38:41
38:49 Now, getting back to the more common identity, say, let's go from Buddhist monk, which is my identity, I can share that with Venerable Aloka. Report an error in the passage at 38:49
39:02 But you're not Buddhist monk. But what do we share in common? And that's, say, we can share, say, I am a man, I'm a male. But then that means that all the women are excluded. This identity, we can all identify as men, and that's another, maybe a great, you know, there's more, that identity allows for more people to be included in this practice. Report an error in the passage at 39:02
39:34 We'd all be men, except that excludes the women, because not very many women think of themselves as men. Report an error in the passage at 39:34
39:50 This is language, isn't it? These are conceptions we have that we're very identified with. Am I a man, a physical male, under all conditions? Is this an identity that is absolute and fixed, that it never changes, and that I am a male? Report an error in the passage at 39:50
40:19 And that means I can share that identity with other males. But then the females are excluded. So then what do we have? We have the human identity. So we're all human beings. Now now we're getting down to something more interesting. What is being a human being? Because this includes everybody here now. Whether you're Buddhist monk or not, male or female. Whether you're British or not. Report an error in the passage at 40:19
40:51 Whatever, we have a common identity. This we can share with the Americans, with the Israelis, with the Palestinians, Hezbollah, Osama Bin Laden, George Bush, Tony Blair. We have a common bond of humanity. And so stressing this common bond of humanity. Now what does that do? That at least includes all the human beings on the planet, doesn't it? That's a broad identity that would include all humanity, but would exclude animals. Report an error in the passage at 40:51
41:33 They're not human. Even though Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are quite human. Report an error in the passage at 41:33
41:44 Let's observe the way that the identities tend to, their very function is to designate and divide. Now, say, in terms of common humanity, when we don't recognize that common bond, then we can start hating groups, racial prejudices and sexism and all the rest come from that. Not, you know, not recognizing the common bond of humanity, but emphasizing different qualities. Culture or ethnic identity or religious identity, color of skin, age, and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 41:44
42:31 All these create divisions that somehow we have various views and opinions. Strong emotions can arise. Report an error in the passage at 42:31
42:42 You know, so we have racial, Prejudices, class prejudices, or prejudices against the opposite sex, or strong views, or fixed opinions. You can have them about other forms of religion, about different kinds of Buddhism. Because that's what thinking does. It emphasizes the difference. Let's say in the Buddhist world, when we think of our refuge in dharma, there's no problem. Report an error in the passage at 42:42
43:14 When we think about Being Theravāda Buddhists or Mahāyāna Buddhists, then we have various views and opinions that arise. You're like this and I'm like that. But on the level of Dhamma, if we take refuge in the Buddha Dhamma Saṅgha, then Buddhists are, you know, that's emphasizing the oneness of this identity, of this convention, without emphasizing The different attitudes or different ways of teaching or different histories. When we recognize our common humanity, this means that war is more difficult to fight each other in violent ways. Report an error in the passage at 43:14
44:08 Like to kill an enemy. You have to see the enemy not as another human like yourself that has... that has suffering, has family, loves and hates. Report an error in the passage at 44:08
44:28 as happy moments as loved ones to cherish and ideas and ideals and or has been treated badly victimized by life when we think in in these ways then our common humanity we as a common and We begin to feel compassion and caring for the welfare of all humans, at least. But when we forget that, then to have an enemy that you can kill, you have to demonize them. Report an error in the passage at 44:28
45:02 You have to make them demonic, evil, totally wicked, not human. They're like aliens. They're dangerous. And therefore they're... When you demonize the enemy, then you have this feeling of getting rid of them. It's good to kill them. Get rid of these aliens, these wicked people, these terrorists, these communists. Report an error in the passage at 45:02
45:46 And one can feel very righteous. Now, listening to what's happening in the Middle East at this time, you hear the Israeli side, and they're absolutely right. You know, they feel their case is, they're based on righteousness. The truth is, and then they're very insistent, very strong, and you don't dare question it. Report an error in the passage at 45:46
46:11 And if you present, and then you listen to the other side, they're as equally convinced. They're as righteous as the Israelis. Who's right? Report an error in the passage at 46:11
46:22 And so noticing this, you know, like right, being right is one thing, isn't it? It doesn't necessarily make you very human, being right, because that is a holding, having to be right and coming from righteousness means that one is very attached to something and Report an error in the passage at 46:22
46:45 that my group is right and what I do is right and my way of, my religion is right and because I'm right, And you don't agree, then you're wrong. And then if you challenge me in any way or attack me, then I have the right to kill you because you're wrong. And if you're wrong, you have no right. Report an error in the passage at 46:45
47:17 So, I mean, go on like this. That's all about right and wrong. And notice how being right is a very strong mental state. It's created through thought. You know, with mindfulness, you feel compassion. With thinking, you can feel very righteous. And I can get very righteously indignant when I hear some of the things in the news and the bombing of Beirut and all this. Report an error in the passage at 47:17
47:48 I get quite indignant because, you know, against my sense of being right, this is wrong to bomb and destroy. You know, anything at all. But then they say, well, especially how many children are getting killed because that's the most, that arouses the most amount of righteous indignation. You say, oh, just a lot of, you know, Hezbollah demons were killed. Today we think, well, maybe that's a good thing. Report an error in the passage at 47:48
48:24 And you hear about, you know, Women and children. Now, women and children in terms of news usually imply more or less the collateral damage. You know, they're not the evil Hezbollah people that are trying to destroy Israel. They are the, you know, they're just kind of helpless victims of the situation. Report an error in the passage at 48:24
48:50 And that, of course, seems very wrong to kill, you know, old ladies or... Little children, young men, they're more dangerous. Report an error in the passage at 48:50
49:08 Old men, not so. Now Report an error in the passage at 49:08
49:21 in interrelatedness, we're talking about the humanity we all share. No matter how bad the behavior of any individual is, still they share the humanity. And this needs to be... Reflected on, to be brought into consciousness. Like in the, using, you know, from the English way of speaking, you know, where we oftentimes use I'm only human as a way of saying, well, you know, I'm not perfect. Report an error in the passage at 49:21
49:59 You know, so we have our weaknesses, little frailties, and so you say, well, why did you do that? Why did you say, well, I'm only human? And it's a kind of justification for being imperfect. Report an error in the passage at 49:59
50:12 I'm not God doing everything right, but I'm only human. And that means that, in another way, that does give us a sense, that's true, isn't it? That none of us are going to do everything right and be perfect. That we are only human. But also, do we know what we mean by that? And this is where exploring your own humanity, I think, is very important. Report an error in the passage at 50:12
50:42 What do we really mean by being human? And of course in the Pāli Buddhism, this is one of the indriya, or one of the factors that we investigate humanity, being human. And not from some kind of ideological position, but recognizing just the realities of having a body, human body. What differentiates human beings from, say, monkeys or apes or dogs and cats? Report an error in the passage at 50:42
51:26 And it's not to create an arrogant attitude that we're somehow superior to the animal kingdom, because that's just becoming arrogant again, to emphasize we're more advanced and better than the... I can remember Report an error in the passage at 51:26
52:05 things, injustices, things that happened to me that weren't right, that shouldn't have happened, that were not fair, that happened 50 years ago. Report an error in the passage at 52:05
52:17 And I can, you know, if I really want to, I can wind myself up with indignation. I can get myself into a right state just by remembering that what was done to me 50 years ago that I feel was unfair. Now, what is that about? That's a memory, isn't it? A memory of something that happened a long time ago. But the memory arises in the present. Report an error in the passage at 52:17
52:47 And that memory... It's never questioned, it still presents this, you know, unless I'm aware and investigating, looking into the way things are, I can still be very identified with that memory. And the same emotion will arise that arose 50 years ago. It's not fair and get angry and indignant over being treated unfairly. Report an error in the passage at 52:47
53:10 And yet, on another level, on the rational level, I can think, well, it doesn't matter, 50 years ago, forget it, you know, don't make a scene. Report an error in the passage at 53:10
53:21 Forgive, you know, you should be able to forgive people, you know, and I can be quite reasonable about it. I can be very reasonable about everything. But then emotionally, maybe, emotions aren't reasonable. If I stop being reasonable about what happened 50 years ago, I can still get into a state of agitation and wanting to seek revenge. Report an error in the passage at 53:21
53:51 Because that's emotional, isn't it? And I can reason. I can say that emotion is wrong. Good Buddhist monk, 40 years of bhikkhu and you still want to seek revenge. Then I get into judging. You're a bad monk. You haven't learned anything in 40 years. You should have compassion. Report an error in the passage at 53:51
54:19 Now with awareness, what awareness is like a floodlight. And suddenly you're turning on the light and you're just observing. You're aware of, you know, we have emotions, human beings. We, you know, when we're praised, when we're treated well, when we're loved and we're successful and so we feel, you know, we feel happy. Report an error in the passage at 54:19
54:48 If we're looked down on, despised, insulted or When we're healthy, have good health and good appearance, we feel more confident than when we feel old and ugly and sick. Report an error in the passage at 54:48
55:15 Nobody loves me anymore. And that kind of thing is because we can remember. you know, when we, when we, you you know how how we would like the world to be and the way it is is not doesn't fit up doesn't measure up to that ideal so the way it is then is aware of the changingness and the attachment that the common humanity we share we begin to say feel compassion loving kindness towards all other human beings And then that also can radiate out to all sentient beings, to animals, to even creatures that we detest, like insects or garden pests or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 55:15
56:09 Because we're all sentient beings, you know, we're all experiencing birth and death. We all experience suffering in some form or another. Report an error in the passage at 56:09
56:21 We all want to live. We all have this urge to live. and procreate our species and to find security and we all fear death and we get angry when our possessions, our world is threatened by some other creature. So this is common, this is recognizing a common humanity that we can all relate to no matter what political group you belong to or Report an error in the passage at 56:21
56:55 National entity, race or religion. Now here we begin to have a sense of interconnectedness on the human level. But it is still thought, it's still a sense of I'm human and then if we want to wage a war then we have to make the enemy inhuman. I remember in the Second World War, I was a child during the Second World War, The propaganda in the United States was the inhumanity of the Germans and Japanese. In order to create that sense of their evil, we had to demonize them. Report an error in the passage at 56:55
57:45 And we had to raise up our own group. Our boys are wonderful. And Americans, we're just for freedom and justice. when American troops invade any place, they give sweets to the little children, save the women from... Report an error in the passage at 57:45
58:14 try to make ourselves into saints, and then the others are, you know, they're evil psychopaths. anything. just enjoy torturing and humiliating and destroying everything. common humanity then Report an error in the passage at 58:14
58:32 Changes that from the common bond that is, and the interconnectedness as human beings. And then that interconnectedness, we can also share with animal kingdom. We can recognize the pain, and if you kick a dog, the pain that dog feels is not any different than the pain you would feel if I kicked you. Except you'd probably never forgive me, where the dog would. Report an error in the passage at 58:32
59:07 You know, 50 years from now, you say, you kicked me. Report an error in the passage at 59:07
59:14 And if a dog could live that long, it would probably not remember it at all. And maybe I wouldn't have remembered because there's only a dog. Report an error in the passage at 59:14
59:26 But this retentive memory is also something we have to recognize as how it has its value. But how holding on to memory can be a way of Report an error in the passage at 59:26
59:54 the past can arise, you know, 50 years ago I did this and now I feel terribly ashamed of myself in the present. Report an error in the passage at 59:54
1:00:06 have... You know, this sense of shame and guilt that holds us and oftentimes we become obsessed with the mistakes we've made in life or the things we did when we were young that we condemn now, now that we know better. We can still create a sense of guilt and worthlessness and fear about the future. As people ask me, Report an error in the passage at 1:00:06
1:00:37 The law of karma, you know, I did this in the past, my next life, what will it be? You've got to be punished for that somehow. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:37
1:00:48 You can't just do something wicked in the past and get away with it. It's not fair. And we have this reward-punishment obsession, you know, of having to pay off our debts, be punished for our wickedness. Now this is all divisive thinking again. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:48
1:01:10 So on the ultimate level is consciousness. This is a oneness that all creatures are experiencing. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:10
1:01:24 So recognizing that experience right now is consciousness. And then what you create, you know, you create through holding on to memory, then you bring the memories into consciousness. And that, you think, is the real world. That's me and mine, my problem, my identities, my life. But actually those are creations that you remember or identities that you hold to. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:24
1:01:55 Now in proper meditation, you're actually learning to let go, not annihilating memories, but no longer operating from attachment to memories. So you're experiencing pure conscious awareness. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:55
1:02:11 Without attachment to anything. And that's what mindfulness is all about, really. Recognizing a very natural state. It's real. It's conscious. It's not an unconscious state. It's pure consciousness, but it's not bound to any condition. And so that's when I talk about mindfulness or satisampatanya or satipanya. These are the Pāli words, but these words actually pointing to that. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:11
1:02:47 To attention, attentiveness, awakeness here and now is the way that we resolve the conflicts that we create in our own consciousness. Our separateness, our loneliness, our loves and hates, our resentments. of fears about the future worries anxieties and all the rest that are created into consciousness we begin to we don't have to do that anymore we see a way of not creating these delusions and recognize by recognizing reality and that reality has no boundary has no separateness is not undivided so that is the oneness Report an error in the passage at 1:02:47
1:03:37 And all things, all conditions then are included in that. There's no division. Nothing is excluded. Nothing is alienated. So that includes everything from the demons to the angels to the good and bad, the mosquitoes, the wasps, the slugs, the snails, the Al-Qaeda. The Hisbola, the Israelis, the Americans, everything. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:37
1:04:21 And this then is where, say, this is an enlightened non-state. It's not claimed as some kind of personal state anymore because once you do that, you're back in the basic delusion again. So recognize that what the Buddha is pointing to, The whole emphasis of the Buddha was pointing at this because once you name it and define it, it's not that. It takes this sense of awakened, alert attentiveness to the present. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:21
1:05:02 A willingness to observe and notice and no longer just struggle and try to find happiness and get rid of loneliness and pain, but to begin to recognize. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:02
1:05:18 The reality that is with us every moment is never separate, but can be forgotten easily and ignored. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:18
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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