The Way it Is

0:00 [chanting]

0:34 Well, this afternoon I've been invited to give the Sunday talk and already Ajahn Amaro has said all that needs to be said, the way it is. Report an error in the passage at 0:34 Highlight the passage at 0:34

0:57 But it's interesting to understand the use of language because, you know, our own native tongues, the language that we learn from... ...from our parents, from our original society, we pick it up when we think we understand how to use it and we think we know it. But as we get older, we find we just take for granted our use, the way we think or speak the English language. Report an error in the passage at 0:57 Highlight the passage at 0:57

1:41 The way it is isn't, you know, notice that it's merely a statement or a pointing, it's not a description of anything, it's not about how anything should be or ought to be or shouldn't be, but it's not a kind of passive resignation either, but it's a noticing the present moment as is like this. And this way of using This simple statement is for those who are interested in dharma and developing insight, it's how we allow things to be what they are without our continuous interference with our thinking process, with our ideas of how things should be or shouldn't be or whether we like them or don't like them or agree or disagree. Most of us are educated to Report an error in the passage at 1:41 Highlight the passage at 1:41

2:44 We all know, most of us, I assume everybody here knows how things should be, or how we would like them to be, or want them to be. And we also are very much aware of how we don't want them to be, how they shouldn't be. But the way it is, is pointing at this moment, right now, We're all sitting here in the temple. It's like this. It's not saying that it should be anyway, but it's like this. And that brings us back to the present. Report an error in the passage at 2:44 Highlight the passage at 2:44

3:21 We're suddenly observing. You're sitting, your body is sitting like this, breathing, your mind, your mental state, your emotional condition of this moment is like this. And notice it's not... It's just pointing, it's not a description or making a statement about anything, but it's a useful term to observe. Report an error in the passage at 3:21 Highlight the passage at 3:21

3:50 And, you know, when you realize, the Buddha never, ever asked why things are the way they are. Why am I like this? Why do I get angry? Why do I feel fear? Why am I afraid of ghosts? Why does the world have to be like this? He never asks why, he's just pointing to the way things are, to phenomena. Phenomena is like this, it's changing. It's a nicca dukkha natta. It's impermanent, changing, unsatisfied in itself because it has no sustainability. Report an error in the passage at 3:50 Highlight the passage at 3:50

4:36 Even the best conditions can't... Sustained themselves on that level of being the best, and then it's non-self. It's not something that we think it is. When we think our body is myself, this is my own body, then that's a condition I create. I didn't create my ego, the sense of me. Report an error in the passage at 4:36 Highlight the passage at 4:36

5:01 Robert Jackman was what my mother named me. Tomato Biku is what my Upachaya named me. And so these names came after I was born. And then this pointing to the way things are is all we need to know, that all conditions are impermanent. Now that sounds quite too simple to be true. Because when you look at the scriptures, you know, the Trividika is huge. Report an error in the passage at 5:01 Highlight the passage at 5:01

5:35 It's like this. Report an error in the passage at 5:35 Highlight the passage at 5:35

5:40 I think there's so much to learn about Buddhism, you know, and it's so complicated. You've got the suttas and the vinaya and then you've got the commentaries and the abhidharma and it goes on and on into, you know, an endless proliferating condition and words and concepts and so forth that when we look at it from that level it looks very complicated. Report an error in the passage at 5:40 Highlight the passage at 5:40

6:08 But when you're Practicing meditation, when you're doing the bhati-bhata, or the practice of the Four Noble Truths, it's about ultimate simplicity. Because ultimately the Buddha isn't making any statement about the quality or how things should or shouldn't be, but pointing to the way they are. And so we can use this wherever we are, whatever. Report an error in the passage at 6:08 Highlight the passage at 6:08

6:37 The state of mind we're in, whether we're healthy or sickly, young or old, male or female, I mean, it's not a matter of shoulds or ought to or shouldn't, but it's the way it is. Report an error in the passage at 6:37 Highlight the passage at 6:37

6:53 So notice our culture, we're interested in ourselves, of why do I have these problems? Why does the world have to be like this? Why can't everybody just get along? Why can't people just love each other instead of killing each other? And why, why, why? You know, it's like a child, you know, a little boy or girl, when they grow up, they're always asking, why? And then the Buddha isn't interested in why. Report an error in the passage at 6:53 Highlight the passage at 6:53

7:28 So our way of practice then is just observing, noting the changingness of the conditions that one is experiencing at this moment. It's not like grasping the idea of change and then aligning, you know, thinking you understand impermanence because you understand the word. That's not it. It's the invitation to observe change. And that's what sati sampatanya allows us to do, mindfulness, clear comprehension. Report an error in the passage at 7:28 Highlight the passage at 7:28

8:06 Sati is our ability to center ourselves in the present, here and now. It's like this. Sambhatanya is the kind of ability to apperceive, to know perception that is present in consciousness at this time. It's like this, whatever it might be. It can be an emotion, you know, like a strong emotion, or just a confusion, doubt, worry. Report an error in the passage at 8:06 Highlight the passage at 8:06

8:41 So much of modern life is about worry, anxiety, doubt, insecurity, not knowing what to do, what's wrong. And then we have the more strong passions like anger, aversion, hatred, and strong emotions of greed, wanting the best, the highest quality, sexual desire, wanting to To always get caught up into sexual fantasies and longings. Desire for pleasure, desire for excitement, desire for adventure, romance. Report an error in the passage at 8:41 Highlight the passage at 8:41

9:30 Now, our way of relating to all this is not that we don't have these desires, but we are observing them. So this is a statement that we're not desire. No matter how many desires you have, Report an error in the passage at 9:30 Highlight the passage at 9:30

9:46 They're really not. They're just desires. They come and go. And if you don't reflect on the way they are, then you're constantly juggling your mind, you know, thinking, I shouldn't have these longings, these desires. I shouldn't feel anger. I shouldn't hate people. I shouldn't feel jealous. I shouldn't be frightened, you know. Like, for men, we like to appear brave. Report an error in the passage at 9:46 Highlight the passage at 9:46

10:11 At least my generation. I'm from the old... Luddite period of Neanderthal and the kind of macho generation, you know, where men, boys don't cry. And you have to appear, you know, like you're not weak and wishy-washy. And you play, you learn how to sustain or think you're doing, the ability to create the illusion of not being frightened. Report an error in the passage at 10:11 Highlight the passage at 10:11

10:46 Frightened. But fear is a primal emotion. I mean, if we didn't have fear, we wouldn't last very long. It's a necessary emotion. There's a lot to be afraid of. I mean, considering what life is like on this planet, just how delicate your human body is. is know it's a It doesn't have a tough hide like a rhinoceros or anything. You're easily damaged, bruised. You know, we're very vulnerable. Report an error in the passage at 10:46 Highlight the passage at 10:46

11:25 We don't have great ability to run that fast. Even Usain Bolt gets injured now. And I don't know if he could outrun a gazelle or anything like that. So, I mean, we've got our limitation within the human form. Monkeys can swing from trees and climb up and run away from things, but I've never been able to really do that very well, even when I was young. Report an error in the passage at 11:25 Highlight the passage at 11:25

11:57 So recognize that we are. There's a lot that could happen, just natural catastrophes. It's not like you're neurotic or there's something wrong with you for being frightened. It's just to recognize that when the conditions arise, You're not frightened all the time. It's not a permanent state of mind, but when the conditions for it are here, then this is what you're feeling. Report an error in the passage at 11:57 Highlight the passage at 11:57

12:25 When the conditions for anger or aversion arise, this is the result of what we call anger. And for greed, when the conditions for greed, there's this desire for something you don't have. Report an error in the passage at 12:25 Highlight the passage at 12:25

12:43 And then the desire to get rid of things. Oftentimes we have thoughts, emotions that we don't want, and we want to get rid of them. Report an error in the passage at 12:43 Highlight the passage at 12:43

12:55 So I found it very helpful to really investigate, observe, not from the position of personal identity with desire, but to observe desire as an object in consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 12:55 Highlight the passage at 12:55

13:15 Dhanah is the Pāli word for what we translate into English as desire. And Dhanah is like desire in English always has kind of pejorative connotation. You know, you say someone has a lot of desires, you're not exactly flattering them. You know, it's not a virtue to be a person with a lot of desires. Report an error in the passage at 13:15 Highlight the passage at 13:15

13:41 But desire can be even virtuous, you know, desire to be really good, desire to help all sentient beings, desire to, you know, it can be very altruistic, as well as, you know, just desires for power and control and that kind of thing. So these desires are to be observed, you know. The way they are. They are the way they are. Desire is like this. Report an error in the passage at 13:41 Highlight the passage at 13:41

14:16 And so the way it is is not a statement about desire, the quality or the quantity, but the recognition that at this moment desire for sensory pleasures like this, desire for becoming something, like so many meditators, people that practice meditation, want to become. Stream enters or have good concentration, want to get somewhere, want to have a high level of samādhi and so forth, desire for very good things. Report an error in the passage at 14:16 Highlight the passage at 14:16

14:56 And then there's a desire to get rid of your crazy mind, your monkey mind, the mind that rattles on and disrupts your practice. Report an error in the passage at 14:56 Highlight the passage at 14:56

15:07 The bad memories that arise, or whatever, and desire to get rid of them. But what is desire then? It's an energy. It comes, it arises, and it sees. And then I always ask myself, can desire know desire? Is it a desire that I'm saying, the way it is, is the desire to know desire? Or we don't have to... Report an error in the passage at 15:07 Highlight the passage at 15:07

15:37 You know, we don't have to desire desire. Desire comes and goes. It's the way it is. And our relationship to desire, to dana, is knowing it is like this, the way it is. Report an error in the passage at 15:37 Highlight the passage at 15:37

16:03 Like today is a beautiful day, and, you know, it's very privileged for this many people to come and celebrate an old man of 80 or so. Report an error in the passage at 16:03 Highlight the passage at 16:03

16:21 And, you know, it's an opportunity to offer dharma, you know, you've been incredibly generous in so many ways. The lay communities, you know, come here to make offerings to the saṅgha. And that's, say, if it's based just on desire, you know, to get something out of it, do you... Do you come to make merit so that the next life you'll be born in a higher place? Well, that's giving dharma or offerings with a desire to be rewarded in the future. Report an error in the passage at 16:21 Highlight the passage at 16:21

17:06 We can observe that. That's desire, wanting to do something now and then maybe in the next life I'll be reborn in one of the higher realms, you know, like I wouldn't. My being born in a Brahma realm or even in a Dusit realm wouldn't be so bad, be better than this realm, I think. Report an error in the passage at 17:06 Highlight the passage at 17:06

17:36 Because this realm, you've got to deal with a human body, which is, you know, a Dusit and Deva, you know, has an ethereal body. Report an error in the passage at 17:36 Highlight the passage at 17:36

17:46 They never have to urinate or defecate or have to deal with the unpleasant side of the physical world. You have ethereal bodies, and I don't really know enough about them to have strong views about whether they have such problems, or indigestion, or... Report an error in the passage at 17:46 Highlight the passage at 17:46

18:12 But it does, you know, in ways that we think, you know, if you're stuck with a human body like this, then it does seem like... Report an error in the passage at 18:12 Highlight the passage at 18:12

18:27 Andhusita devas don't cough, even, you know. Report an error in the passage at 18:27 Highlight the passage at 18:27

18:49 But in terms of dharma practice, enlightenment, seeing things as they are, breaking through the delusions of conditioned phenomena, it's considered this human birth is the most auspicious one, because it's not good enough. We have a lot of deva qualities. You know, we like refinements and ethereal experiences, and, you know, we have a sense for... Report an error in the passage at 18:49 Highlight the passage at 18:49

19:19 For, you know, beauty, love of beauty and things like this, so that we have that longing, maybe, to live in a realm of refinement and beauty, which we, you know, we maybe try to recreate as a human being, why we want to get so much money and have a beautiful... beautiful home and so forth to make our life as refined and as pleasant as possible for these human forms. Report an error in the passage at 19:19 Highlight the passage at 19:19

19:53 But inevitably, you know, being human, having a human body is like this. It's not a deva's body, more like an animal, an animal's body. Report an error in the passage at 19:53 Highlight the passage at 19:53

20:06 our ability to reflect on it, observe, to be the knower of it rather than the owner of it. Report an error in the passage at 20:06 Highlight the passage at 20:06

20:19 Unenlightened, unaware human being, fully committed to the idea that the body is me, you know, that goes unquestioned. We have passports. And last year, you know, I was in Thailand at Wat Nanachat and I went to have my meal in the salon. During that time, somebody came into my kuti and stole, took my... Report an error in the passage at 20:19 Highlight the passage at 20:19

20:48 Both my passports, I have British and American passports. They took my monks' passport, and they took my iPad and Report an error in the passage at 20:48 Highlight the passage at 20:48

21:06 my iPod. Report an error in the passage at 21:06 Highlight the passage at 21:06

21:13 So when I got back, I was only gone for about an hour and a half, and I came back, and somebody left, one of the doors was unlocked, and so the thief got in and managed to take all his stuff away. Report an error in the passage at 21:13 Highlight the passage at 21:13

21:32 And, but it didn't have to break in. There was no sign, visible sign. You know, when I went back to Kuti, then I suddenly noticed, where's my iPad? Report an error in the passage at 21:32 Highlight the passage at 21:32

21:43 And then I looked for my, I thought it must be stolen. And then I looked in the desk and my passport, they were both together in a case and they were taken. Report an error in the passage at 21:43 Highlight the passage at 21:43

21:56 So then, you know, passports are what, You know, verify that we are somebody, you know, and then I have a birth certificate. I found this, it came back here last May for the elders meeting, and I found my birth certificate. I've got proof, actually, I didn't, I think I sent it on to Thailand, but I have the proof that I was born. Report an error in the passage at 21:56 Highlight the passage at 21:56

22:30 80 years ago. It's a certified birth certificate with my footprint on it. You know, my feet have grown considerably. Report an error in the passage at 22:30 Highlight the passage at 22:30

22:48 And so, you know, I felt, you know, it's good to know that I'm actually legal, recognized human being in the society of proof that I was born. And then, but then for a few days in Thailand, I'm not having passports and so forth, as nobody didn't have a monk's identification booklet. Report an error in the passage at 22:48 Highlight the passage at 22:48

23:14 And, you know, I'm in a country I'm not a citizen of either. And who am I? But in some way it's kind of a relief, you know, not to have all this stuff. You know, I wouldn't think of being free from passports, identification cards. cards, iPads, and so All the stuff that tend to affirm that I am this body, I am this person, I am this age, I am this nationality, I am this gender, I am, I exist. Report an error in the passage at 23:14 Highlight the passage at 23:14

23:52 And of course all these have the... Something wrong I should have? that one. Report an error in the passage at 23:52 Highlight the passage at 23:52

24:16 His thermoflask exploded on him. Report an error in the passage at 24:16 Highlight the passage at 24:16

24:27 And how much, you know, we had a time now where there's this mass media advertisements and so forth. Everything makes you very self-conscious, you know, what you look like. There's so many worries about obesity and how to maintain a slim appearance and a beautiful complexion, and how to decrease the aging look, how to have cosmetic surgery so you don't look as old as your body is, because society doesn't really like old people that much. Report an error in the passage at 24:27 Highlight the passage at 24:27

25:10 And, you know, we're not glamorous anymore or all that attractive. So, you know, we worship beauty and youth and the more pleasant side of our existence. Report an error in the passage at 25:10 Highlight the passage at 25:10

25:25 But recognize that this is just a worldly belief in that we are this human body. This is me. Report an error in the passage at 25:25 Highlight the passage at 25:25

25:39 And how many of you are really just satisfied, totally content with what you look like? Or, you know, how many people can really be thoroughly content and appreciate their appearance when they look in the mirror? And I've known people, you know, who, very beautiful people who, you think, they're so beautiful, they have everything, you know, that... Report an error in the passage at 25:39 Highlight the passage at 25:39

26:09 everyone else would like, and yet you ask them, they're not The nose isn't exactly right. Michael Jackson was a good example, you know. Report an error in the passage at 26:09 Highlight the passage at 26:09

26:26 Continuous attempts to change one's appearance to what one would like. Report an error in the passage at 26:26 Highlight the passage at 26:26

26:36 Well, this is not a reflective mind, is it? It's a mind that we're lost into, wanting to become, get something, change something, stop the aging process, live forever, not die, have a beautiful complexion and all the rest, and be attractive and beautiful forever. Our wishes and desires that... are common to human society anywhere. But that's not the way it is. Life is not like that. Report an error in the passage at 26:36 Highlight the passage at 26:36

27:13 And it never will be, even with the most advanced abilities with cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery and modern medicine, because that's not the way it is. Report an error in the passage at 27:13 Highlight the passage at 27:13

27:29 Sankharas aren't permanent. They're not sustainable. Their nature is changed. And so the Buddha was pointing at change rather than to a perfect perception or a perfect ideal of how some condition should be. Report an error in the passage at 27:29 Highlight the passage at 27:29

27:51 Well this allows us in a society that's determined to make you discontented. Let's look at modern advertisements and advertising and wherever you go there's always... Something better than what you have on offer. And they're always producing new versions where last year's model isn't as good as the new improved one. Report an error in the passage at 27:51 Highlight the passage at 27:51

28:21 What does this do to the mind? What does it do to you when you observe these things, these beautiful advertisements that want you to buy the latest product? It creates a desire or discontentment with what you have. But we can observe, it's not like being a samana, like being samanas. Our aim is not to be caught in that momentum or to get perspective on it anyway. Report an error in the passage at 28:21 Highlight the passage at 28:21

28:56 It's not that we are so good that we don't have... Longings to look beautiful and so forth. It's not that these kind of desires never arise in our mind, but our relationship to these desires changes from the ignorant reaction to the wise understanding. Desire is like this. And you're observing change rather than the quality or the condition of the desire. Report an error in the passage at 28:56 Highlight the passage at 28:56

29:32 Now to observe change then isn't personal. We have to let the sense of a self, an ego, an identity with the body, with the conditions that we're experiencing, let go of that in order to have the perspective on them of whatever is present now is changing. Report an error in the passage at 29:32 Highlight the passage at 29:32

30:00 So this is the attitude, this is the way of... Insight meditation. It's a way of changing from becoming, trying to get something, some idea, some thought, some perception you have of what you'd like, to observing the desire for becoming. For becoming a stream enterer, becoming an aran, becoming an expert meditator, becoming and getting rid of your defilements and your... Report an error in the passage at 30:00 Highlight the passage at 30:00

30:37 Bad habits and so forth. When we talk about good and bad, then from the personal level, you know, about right and wrong, good and bad, high and low, then we're judging, isn't it? This is good, this is bad. And that's this good, bad, right, wrong. These are the conditions that we create with thinking, with language. Report an error in the passage at 30:37 Highlight the passage at 30:37

31:10 You know, it's about phenomena. It's about the quality of phenomena. So this is good. It's about phenomena. About a phenomena. This is a good thing. It's about something. Without really noticing or understanding that whatever it is, no matter how good it is, it's in the process of change. It's a nicha. Or bad. A bad condition. Report an error in the passage at 31:10 Highlight the passage at 31:10

31:39 Ugly condition, nasty condition. See, these words, bad, ugly, nasty, are judgments, aren't they, about the quality of the condition itself. Report an error in the passage at 31:39 Highlight the passage at 31:39

31:51 And this is fair enough in terms of this mortal realm that we're living in, this good, bad, right and wrong, in terms of quality. But in terms of dhamma, good, bad, right and wrong, are... Perceptions we create, judgments we make about phenomena, and it comes out of, you know, when we're just stuck on that level, then we tend to make judgments about ourselves, about others, about the society we live in, about the world. Report an error in the passage at 31:51 Highlight the passage at 31:51

32:31 So Report an error in the passage at 32:31 Highlight the passage at 32:31

32:39 that's about, you know, why does the world have to be like this? Report an error in the passage at 32:39 Highlight the passage at 32:39

32:50 And try to answer that question. Why does the United Kingdom have to be like this? Why does England have to be like this? Why can't the Scots be just content and not want independence? Report an error in the passage at 32:50 Highlight the passage at 32:50

33:13 Why not be just content? The Commonwealth countries, why can't they just be content with being Commonwealth and be content in the... United Nations, why can't Russia and the United States, why can't they get along and love each other? Report an error in the passage at 33:13 Highlight the passage at 33:13

33:38 Wouldn't it be nice if President Obama and President Putin would hold hands and hug each other and take a course in Vipassanā together? Report an error in the passage at 33:38 Highlight the passage at 33:38

33:54 I mean, you know, this would be very nice, you know. Report an error in the passage at 33:54 Highlight the passage at 33:54

34:17 this is, you know, why is it like this? And then you can make a good case for either side. You know, whose fault is it? And of course... It depends how you're culturally programmed to determine which side you're on. But in any case, it's the way it is. War, disagreement, competition, judgments, condemnations, revenge, all these are part of human history, aren't they? Report an error in the passage at 34:17 Highlight the passage at 34:17

34:52 They're what makes us... You know, we go to movies, why we like cinema, and see things about men fighting, you know, boxing, fighting, killing. Report an error in the passage at 34:52 Highlight the passage at 34:52

35:07 Sexual activities are all exciting to us. And it's not about, you know, it's about adultery and things like this that are even more exciting than having a nice story about a man and woman falling in love and living happily ever after. Without any problems. Imagine how boring that would be. Report an error in the passage at 35:07 Highlight the passage at 35:07

35:32 Maybe where the beautiful girl and the handsome boy fall in love, their parents are totally agreed, everybody's happy, they have no obstructions, no problems, they're both very healthy, and the society is supportive in every way, and they get married, and they're faithful to each other and live happily ever after. Report an error in the passage at 35:32 Highlight the passage at 35:32

35:56 That would be rather boring, wouldn't it? It wouldn't make much money anyway. I say, what about a bhikkhu? You know, imagine a movie being made about a good bhikkhu who keeps all the rules and practices hard and becomes enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 35:56 Highlight the passage at 35:56

36:14 It would be boring, wouldn't it? But a bhikkhu who breaks all the rules, that would be much more interesting. In the Thai newspapers, in Bangkok newspapers, it's not. The headlines are not about good bhikkhus practicing in the right way. If it's about bhikkhus, it's about the naughty ones that break the rules. Report an error in the passage at 36:14 Highlight the passage at 36:14

36:37 That's exciting, isn't it? Breaking rules and killing, fighting. These are all exciting human activities. Report an error in the passage at 36:37 Highlight the passage at 36:37

36:56 Excitement is to observe excitement. Wanting excitement, like monasticism, our way of life, celibacy, and then not carrying money and so forth, this can be very boring. You're not supposed to have romantic liaisons and so forth, and you're trying to live to this impeccable standard of the Vinaya. Report an error in the passage at 36:56 Highlight the passage at 36:56

37:29 And then we chant, Pāli chants. It's not like grand opera or rock. You're not even supposed to. You're supposed to do this monotone kind of chanting. And so it can sound boring too. Report an error in the passage at 37:29 Highlight the passage at 37:29

37:49 And then so much of boredom is a part of monastic life. Boredom is a condition that arises and ceases. You know, it's a condition that we don't want, usually. We like to have interesting things to do or feel that we're needed and our life has a purpose. We want to feel good. We want to feel we're getting somewhere. So boredom then comes and we don't want that. So we look for something interesting to do, something to distract ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 37:49 Highlight the passage at 37:49

38:40 But many of us have actually cultivated boredom. Speaking for myself, I remember the training years in Thailand where I was... It's some monastery, some branch monastery, where nothing much happens. You know, if you're with Luang Por Cha, it's much more interesting, because he was becoming so well-known, and you meet people, and they come and go, and there's more activities. Report an error in the passage at 38:40 Highlight the passage at 38:40

39:13 But some of the branch monasteries are really boring. And then, you know, because nothing much going on, and you're stuck there. Report an error in the passage at 39:13 Highlight the passage at 39:13

39:27 Same thing, you get up at the same time, get ready to go on alms round, same routine, eat at the same time, and on and on. So you're looking at nothing much of a change and it gets monotonous and boring. But yet that mental state is a state to observe because we create it. We create that emotion, that feeling, that reaction we call boring. Report an error in the passage at 39:27 Highlight the passage at 39:27

39:58 And anything we create, then we can observe it as a phenomenon, as a condition, rather than as some kind of personal quality which is good or bad, right or wrong. Report an error in the passage at 39:58 Highlight the passage at 39:58

40:17 The other thing that people are really interested in is consciousness, because right now all of us are experiencing consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 40:17 Highlight the passage at 40:17

40:33 You know, is anyone not conscious? Unconscious. Raise your hand. This is taken for granted. The consciousness is... And yet, in the Western culture, we're very much identified. The consciousness is in me. We think that the body is holding the consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 40:33 Highlight the passage at 40:33

41:04 That's the Western view. That's not the Buddhist one. And so when somebody's asleep, they're not conscious. Or if they're in a coma, they're not conscious. Report an error in the passage at 41:04 Highlight the passage at 41:04

41:18 We believe that consciousness is when we're actually awake and thinking and can react and respond in normal ways. And then unconscious means that you're not aware, you're not acting normally. You don't know what's going on. And then sleep consciousness, when you're in deep sleep, you don't even know. Report an error in the passage at 41:18 Highlight the passage at 41:18

41:51 And so we have these various views about what consciousness is. But in terms of the Buddhadharma, consciousness has no boundaries, not limited to the human form, to the brain, or to any place. Report an error in the passage at 41:51 Highlight the passage at 41:51

42:10 And it's worthwhile to contemplate like this, to kind of use the word itself, consciousness, or vijnana, or jitta. In Thailand they use the word jitta a lot. And that means knowing here and now. It's when we're aware, consciousness, we can recognize pure consciousness. It's not something we have to find. It's not something that we have to get. It's just something. Report an error in the passage at 42:10 Highlight the passage at 42:10

42:41 We don't remember, we don't know, we aren't aware of it. And yet consciousness, just because you aren't aware of consciousness doesn't mean that you're unconscious, does it? It means you don't know what it is, because your world, your sense of yourself is all built on the changing conditions, what you're feeling, what you look like, your physical body. Report an error in the passage at 42:41 Highlight the passage at 42:41

43:10 Your mood of the time, your position, your hopes and desires, this is the real world for most people. This is reality. Report an error in the passage at 43:10 Highlight the passage at 43:10

43:26 I like to think right now, this reflecting consciousness is the same for all of us. It's not like in me, I have a consciousness in me and a consciousness in Ajahn Yama. It's different. And Ajahn Jitendra's consciousness is Ajahn Jitendra consciousness. Ajahn Sundra consciousness, they're all different, you know. That's thinking, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 43:26 Highlight the passage at 43:26

43:52 That's creating thoughts with the idea of consciousness. But consciousness isn't about an individual. It's the way it is. It's here and now. Report an error in the passage at 43:52 Highlight the passage at 43:52

44:12 And you can't find it. It's not like you've got to look for it. It's just... Waking up to it, recognizing it. So it's like sati sampantanya, this wake up, observe, rather than trying to get into a state of pure consciousness through grasping the idea that this is what you should do. You're grasping the idea of it. So it's not about thinking you've got to get it, but learning how to let go, how to relinquish conditioned phenomena to just... Report an error in the passage at 44:12 Highlight the passage at 44:12

44:47 Be the knower of the way things are. All conditions are impermanent. Supayi sankarani ca. Report an error in the passage at 44:47 Highlight the passage at 44:47

45:00 And so, like, after all these years of developing meditation and this way of investigating condition phenomena and mindfully observing the way things are, you know, I find it's true. All conditions are impermanent. Simple as that. Report an error in the passage at 45:00 Highlight the passage at 45:00

45:24 And yet that can be a hackneyed phrase, you know, like, you know, so what? Because on the level of an interesting idea, it might be interesting at first, but if you just grasp the concepts of all conditions are impermanent, then, of course, you know, you get bored with your own repetitive thinking and you want something more interesting to hold on to. Report an error in the passage at 45:24 Highlight the passage at 45:24

45:52 But if you begin to break through the illusions, because you understand the concept, means that you understand anicca, you understand the concept of anicca, but say in a lifetime of mindfulness, you're aware of anicca, because that's what you're experiencing all the time. Report an error in the passage at 45:52 Highlight the passage at 45:52

46:23 This continuous inexorable changingness is going on all the time. And it's not something that you can stop, but you can recognize. And to be able to abide in contentment and knowing of change means letting go. It doesn't mean destroying or denying or repressing. It means releasing yourself from the delusions. Report an error in the passage at 46:23 Highlight the passage at 46:23

46:53 ...of the ego, of the sense of yourself as the human form or the personality or the emotions you have or the identities, your memories and thoughts and habits which can be good and bad, right and wrong. But our relationship now, say within Saṅgha life, is... It's no longer, we're in a form that's based on doing good and refraining from doing evil. So our relationship to ourselves and the society we live in is based on ethics and morality. Report an error in the passage at 46:53 Highlight the passage at 46:53

47:37 Vinaya is all about respecting life in general. We're not using our lives to delude ourselves. morality on, you know, so we... Report an error in the passage at 47:37 Highlight the passage at 47:37

47:48 Sometimes you think, well, mindfulness practices, well, you know, well, we could, you know, commit a murder mindfully. You could, if you want to get away with it, not get caught. You have a level of mindfulness necessary to be able to murder somebody and not get caught doing it and not being punished for it. Report an error in the passage at 47:48 Highlight the passage at 47:48

48:16 But in terms of, you know, like for monastics, if we have desire to murder somebody, because none of us would have such desire, but it means that, you know, we have, you know, our very form, the robe and so forth, our commitment to this form is one where... We observe that desire rather than follow it or repress it, identify with it or feel guilty about it. Report an error in the passage at 48:16 Highlight the passage at 48:16

48:54 Our relationship to saṅkhāra is knowing rather than approving, disapproving, liking or disliking. But our relationship to the society then, one is to do good and refrain from doing bad with body and speech. Report an error in the passage at 48:54 Highlight the passage at 48:54

49:22 So this is the way it is. And it's, you know, even though the way it is, is a simple phrase, and it can be said in a kind of negative way. You know, what's the way it is? You know, what can you do about it? So what? And that's not it. It's not about just resigning yourself to negativity or depression or disappointment. Report an error in the passage at 49:22 Highlight the passage at 49:22

49:52 Not about, that's not the way, that's not the attitude of the way it is. The way it is, is just, you know, it's an alert attention to change, where the resigned attitude, negative, cynical attitude about the way, that's the way it is, is not letting go. It's merely operating from, you know, a kind of Report an error in the passage at 49:52 Highlight the passage at 49:52

50:23 Disdain or cynicism. And it's still the ego, isn't it? It's still, you know, I've had enough. Life sucks. And it's the way it is, so what can you do about it? It's not the mind of a summoner. Report an error in the passage at 50:23 Highlight the passage at 50:23

50:47 But the way it is, is a useful term to remind yourself when you... not. Report an error in the passage at 50:47 Highlight the passage at 50:47

50:52 Getting caught up in your emotional habits and worldly problems. And, you know, people get very heated over just political issues. I mean, in Thailand this past year, you know, the political issues between the red shirts and the yellow shirts. I mean, I've known very cool people who have been practicing meditation for years with very good teachers. Report an error in the passage at 50:52 Highlight the passage at 50:52

51:20 When they get into the subject of yellow and red, suddenly something takes off, you know, they've lost it. And they go into tirades of anger and resentment and blame because they've taken sides and they know if you're a yellow shirt, the red is all wrong and we don't want that. And the opposite, if you're a red shirt, then the yellow. Report an error in the passage at 51:20 Highlight the passage at 51:20

51:51 And they're not aware of what they're doing. You know, they're not aware of what they're grasping and their mind state because they're fully committed to a belief and a reaction, emotional reaction to that condition. For most of us, it wouldn't mean nothing. Like those who aren't Thai, you know, can sit here and say, what's the problem with red or yellow shirts? Report an error in the passage at 51:51 Highlight the passage at 51:51

52:16 Who cares? Some people like red, some people like yellow. Report an error in the passage at 52:16 Highlight the passage at 52:16

52:26 But for a Thai, you know, just the term red shirt can bring up a strong feeling. You know, being an American, you know, I was brought up in the McCarthy era. I was in university and it was dangerous to say anything positive about communism. I remember I was I was a first year student in university and I wrote a kind of, I was always kind of rebelling against this American patriotism and so I wrote a paper once about supporting communism and the professor told me, took me aside and she said, I actually liked your paper but I think you better be careful. Report an error in the passage at 52:26 Highlight the passage at 52:26

53:11 careful. Report an error in the passage at 53:11 Highlight the passage at 53:11

53:15 Because this was the time when they were arresting or condemning people who said anything at all positive about communism. So the way to ruin somebody's career in the 1950s, absolutely ruin their career, was to spread the rumor they were a communist. Report an error in the passage at 53:15 Highlight the passage at 53:15

53:36 And that happened quite a lot. If you had a revengeful mind, you could really destroy somebody. Claiming that that person was a communist and that would ruin them. Because the word communist, nobody really understood what it really meant. It just meant it was wrong and bad. Report an error in the passage at 53:36 Highlight the passage at 53:36

54:05 Same with, you know, religion. You're being brought up as a Christian. You're brought up to think Christianity is right and the rest are wrong. So, you know... You're thinking, somebody says, what about Buddhism? And you say, it's wrong. How do you know it's wrong? Because you don't know anything about it. Report an error in the passage at 54:05 Highlight the passage at 54:05

54:27 Well, it's not Christian. It's not a very intelligent way to think, but it's quite natural, isn't it, if you're conditioned to favor one thing and hold the prejudice against its opposite. Where in the way it is, it's observing that. The prejudices that one is experiencing in the present moment, the biases we have, the cultural assumptions, we all have assumptions we acquire from our cultural background, and they arise and cease their conditioned phenomena. Report an error in the passage at 54:27 Highlight the passage at 54:27

55:08 But pure consciousness and awareness is not about culture, it's not about... Which is the best culture or which is better or worse or right or wrong? It's noticing the simplicity that the Buddha emphasized over and over again. All conditions are impermanent. What arises ceases. All conditions are impermanent. Report an error in the passage at 55:08 Highlight the passage at 55:08

55:38 And this is what, in the Thai tradition, when somebody dies, If you notice that they would, in Thailand, they'd invite the monks to the place where the corpse is, and we chant, a very, Report an error in the passage at 55:38 Highlight the passage at 55:38

56:02 not a very long chant, but it's all about impermanence. What is born dies, what arises ceases, and in its ceasing is peace. TAMINO UBHA TITUVANI RUCCHANTI DE SANGU BASAMOSU Oh, very... Report an error in the passage at 56:02 Highlight the passage at 56:02

56:16 You know, when you allow things to cease, conditions to cease, then you'll begin to discern peace, what real peace is. Consciousness is real peace. It's not exciting. But if you're always looking for excitement and averse to boredom, then you'll never notice. You'll never understand. You'll never realize true peacefulness or true contentment. Report an error in the passage at 56:16 Highlight the passage at 56:16

56:48 So I offer this for your reflection. Report an error in the passage at 56:48 Highlight the passage at 56:48