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- 0:35
Since I've become a Buddhist monk in a very strong traditional form, like Theravāda Buddhism is a very old ancient tradition. I lived in Thailand for the first decade as a Buddhist monk, training in the kind of strict style of northeast Thai forest. Monasteries with Ajahn Chah. Very traditional, very prescribed rules and precepts in a way of a lifestyle that has all kinds of boundaries and opportunities
- 3:18
Of course it is Buddhist monasticism, the Theravāda Bhikkhu is about restraint, it's about relinquishing, so it's, you know, you give up your rights. To have money, your own private sense of wealth, properties, give up your right for sexual activities, celibate life. You're giving up all your rights to do what you want whenever you feel like it and be free.
- 31:24
Now, mindfulness is the... It's the only way that we have as human individuals to see outside the cultural conditioning that we've acquired. Now contemplate this. If we operate from any cultural attitude, any position, the sense of oneself is a kind of myself, me and mine.
- 47:49
When you contemplate, that's all there ever is. There's only here and now. You know, it's just, there's nothing magical or esoteric about it. It's just the way it is. Just contemplate. Wherever you are, you're here. And whatever time it is, is now. And so here and now is like a reminder to be attentive. Then, of course, the attitude of I should be attentive.
- 48:29
The first one is Sakyaditi, which is the personality, the identity that we have as our unique personality, our soul, our sense of individuality, our appearance, what we look like, our age, gender, whether you're male or female. Whether you're fat or thin or tall or short or you're Asian or European or whatever, you know, these all form the sense of sakayaditti or a sense of my unique self. And then this unique self is I am a confused person that needs to practice meditation in order to get rid of this confusion.
Transcript
0:00 This is the whole point of these talks. Not to instruct you, but to reflect. And they're meant as encouragements rather than as teachings, dogmas or beliefs that you can either believe or dismiss. Report an error in the passage at 0:00
0:24 And the subject, of course, is tradition and mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 0:24
0:35 Since I've become a Buddhist monk in a very strong traditional form, like Theravāda Buddhism is a very old ancient tradition. I lived in Thailand for the first decade as a Buddhist monk, training in the kind of strict style of northeast Thai forest. Monasteries with Ajahn Chah. Very traditional, very prescribed rules and precepts in a way of a lifestyle that has all kinds of boundaries and opportunities to reflect on one's own say cultural habits, emotional tendencies. Report an error in the passage at 0:35
1:37 All kinds of opportunities to observe the reactions that I had to living within the restraint form of a tradition that was indeed very strange to me. I mean, from a different society in the United States where it's much more kind of based on ideals, idealistic attitudes. Report an error in the passage at 1:37
2:05 And this idea of creativity and self-promotion, human rights, rights and freedom, self-assertion, to living within a very orthodox traditional form where rights, self-assertion, the sense of I can do what I want, say what I want, is not allowed. Report an error in the passage at 2:05
2:35 The whole point of training in the forest monastery was to be mindful. And it wasn't meant to be just kind of institutionalizing somebody into a Buddhist monk according to some ideal of what Buddhist monasticism should be. It was much more practical and useful than just trying to conform And bend myself to fit into how I actually, as a personality, how I actually experience living within a traditional form. Report an error in the passage at 2:35
3:18 Of course it is Buddhist monasticism, the Theravāda Bhikkhu is about restraint, it's about relinquishing, so it's, you know, you give up your rights. To have money, your own private sense of wealth, properties, give up your right for sexual activities, celibate life. You're giving up all your rights to do what you want whenever you feel like it and be free. Report an error in the passage at 3:18
3:59 And of course, because it is a tradition, and it's a tradition that developed in Asia, Report an error in the passage at 3:59
4:34 attitudes that are part of our Our own cultural heritage. So, for example, using myself as an example, being brought up as a Christian in America from a kind of what they call a WASP background, a kind of white Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Report an error in the passage at 4:34
4:58 And in American terms, this means the privileged ones, at least for my generation. If you were white... From Anglo-Saxon, usually English-Scottish background, ancestry, white Anglo-Saxon and Protestant. Because Protestant also was more the dominant form of Christianity in those days. So coming from a kind of a privileged position in the United States on that level, And the assumptions that go along with those privileges, like having, you know, you never question your, you know, the racial issues are not, one never feels, I've never felt inferior because of race. Report an error in the passage at 4:58
5:51 I mean, I felt inferior on a personal level comparing with other people, but racially, you know, this was always the kind of initial. Report an error in the passage at 5:51
6:02 about the white race. Somehow, even though my parents never said this, it was assumed that it was than the rest. Report an error in the passage at 6:02
6:14 Anglo-Saxon is even better than, being Italian. Report an error in the passage at 6:14
6:26 Protestant is being better than Catholic. So this means that there's a kind of... Assumptions, the kind of cultural conditioning that one receives just naturally from your parents, from the assumptions and social attitudes that you're born into and grow up with. Of course, as you get older, you question these and you get to the point of being very critical. It's apparent that the white... Report an error in the passage at 6:26
7:01 becomes apparent that being Anglo-Saxon is not, there's no superiority in that one, or in being Protestant. of course, my parents didn't like to be considered Protestant. They belonged to what they call in England the Anglo-Catholics. So they identified with Catholicism, but a kind of Protestant style of Catholicism. I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 7:01
7:29 Which is even better than Report an error in the passage at 7:29
7:35 any other Protestant group. Report an error in the passage at 7:35
7:41 Now this is all, you know, I'm just reflecting on cultural conditioning, not judging it. But this sense of worth, superiority, privilege. We acquire these perceptions of ourselves through, you know, the early years of our lives when our characters are being formed. Some of it's very good, some of it is not. Report an error in the passage at 7:41
8:08 Then when many of, like myself, becoming interested in Buddhism, I was about 20 years old, and then pursuing that. At first it was, you know, a kind of intuitive sense. I felt a connection to Buddhist ways of thinking. And I liked the idea of being a Buddhist. Buddhism always seemed like less... Report an error in the passage at 8:08
8:39 than the other religions I me. Of course, I didn't live in a Buddhist country, so I didn't know, but the ideal, the ideals that generate from that perception. these are perceptions, you know, and we're conditioned after we're born to perceive life through cultural attitudes, through values of religious background, ethnic attitudes, to racial, gender, Modern attitudes about new age or new way. In my generation we called it modern. Report an error in the passage at 8:39
9:18 The word modern was the big word. When I was growing up there wasn't new age. It came many years later. But modern. It's modern meaning that it's somehow better than old fashioned. And I remember, you know, in high school when I was a teenager, that was the word we liked to use. It's very modern, modern music, modern architecture, modern fashion, modern art. Report an error in the passage at 9:18
9:48 And so these are, you know, the words of perceptions one acquires through being, you know, living within the societies. societies that condition us, the way we see, perceive ourselves and the world around us. So then, from the American background, which is not traditional really. It isn't like it's traditional anywhere near like, say, England, which has a lot of tradition. It's based on modern ideas. Report an error in the passage at 9:48
10:27 We always consider the United States modern. And European old-fashioned, and especially Britain old-fashioned. So we had modern values, modern attitudes, which were somehow an improvement on the old-fashioned ones. Report an error in the passage at 10:27
10:50 The Anglican Church in America, it's called the Episcopal Church, the Anglo-Catholic element in that church is very traditional. So they do refer a lot to tradition, to Catholic tradition and mysticism. So I was brought up with an appreciation of tradition as I experienced it through my parents and the church background that I'm from. Report an error in the passage at 10:50
11:25 But generally tradition was not a word that was... Report an error in the passage at 11:25
11:57 form. You're not bound by old things, by ancient customs, by old-fashioned ideas. Everything's up for questioning. Report an error in the passage at 11:57
12:13 this is one of the mental attitudes that really drew me to Buddhism, believe it or not. Because in the Anglo-Catholic style of thinking, as I experienced it in the States, states. Well, it tended to lead toward a rigidity, you know, almost a ceremonial rigidity that if you didn't conform to it, then you were somehow looked down on and despised as being somehow not as good or not quite up to, as good as somebody who kept all the rules and performed all the ceremonies. Report an error in the passage at 12:13
12:52 That was, and when I became, when I, It was about 15, 16 years old. I rebelled against it, rebelled against what I saw as the hypocrisy of the tradition. And of course, rebelling against religious tradition was quite a modern attitude for my generation. And just reviewing the influences that form one's way of seeing oneself and the world around. Report an error in the passage at 12:52
13:26 So then in... Joining this very orthodox, more strict than the Anglo-Catholic, the Thai forest tradition. Report an error in the passage at 13:26
13:40 And at that time, northeast Thailand was undeveloped. It was very third world, kind of the backwoods of Thailand. The Thais would often think of it as the Siberia of Thailand. If you were in Bangkok and you were assigned to some civil service job in the northeast, it was like for a Soviet communist being assigned to Siberia. Report an error in the passage at 13:40
14:13 It was a kind of punishment. But northeast Thailand was undeveloped. It was rice-growing farmers, mainly, agrarian villages, and there weren't any paved roads, really, hardly any. At the time that I went to live there. And then over the decade, the 10 years that I lived in northeast Thailand, it became quite modern. Report an error in the passage at 14:13
14:46 So there's this kind of rapid social change and technological change in material development in Thailand from 1967, 1977. Report an error in the passage at 14:46
14:59 Well, this has affected Buddhism in Thailand also. So it's just the inevitability of change, conditions changing. And how do traditions, how can they operate within rapidly changing social values, material development, technology? This is the interesting thing to contemplate. How can a tradition survive? Report an error in the passage at 14:59
15:28 Should we change the tradition to be modern? Or to keep within the orthodox conservative style, we can see good arguments for both. You know, one can make a good case for both changing the tradition, modernizing it, kind of adapting it to modern values, or to keeping it in its very traditional style. Well, in Buddhist monotheism, the Theravāda Bhikkhu, this is a very, we have this tradition that we believe dates back to Gautama the Buddha, the original founder. Report an error in the passage at 15:28
16:12 So it's like 2,552 years old tradition that somehow survived so many changes. Upheavals and empires arising and ceasing, kingdoms and all kinds of other crises, periods of great burgeoning and spreading all over the world, and then it becoming persecuted and in many places completely forgotten, such as Afghanistan, used to be a Buddhist country one time. Report an error in the passage at 16:12
16:51 You would never think so at this. See, the Buddhist influence is totally forgotten now. India was one time predominantly Buddhist. But then, you know, Buddhism is being revived there, but also it almost completely died out in the memory of the Indian population. Report an error in the passage at 16:51
17:16 There's vague memories of it in Report an error in the passage at 17:16
17:45 Tibet, Bhutan, all those mountain kingdoms, Himalayan kingdoms were mainly considered themselves Buddhist. The Buddhist teaching is not based on a belief system. So this is also interesting to reflect. Like other religions are mainly based on beliefs. So you have metaphysical doctrines, dogmas, things like For example, I believe in God is a basic sine qua non doctrine of Christianity. So you have to believe in God as a kind of prerequisite. Report an error in the passage at 17:45
18:33 Where with Buddhism, you aren't asked to believe in anything. And so in the interfaith movement in London, many people, and even Buddhists themselves, Asian Buddhists, tend to see Buddhism as not even a religion, as more like a philosophy. And I heard this recently on Radio 4. Buddhists were saying that we're not a religion, we're a philosophy. Report an error in the passage at 18:33
19:02 And so, you know, this is, so I mean, it's not only other religions see us in that way, but many Buddhists feel this way. And so we reflect on, you know, what is a religion, what is a philosophy? Report an error in the passage at 19:02
19:19 And what is like believing out of grasping doctrines or dogmas that are presented to you already. They're not something that's evolved in your mind, but something that is a prerequisite to being a member of this group. You have to believe in this or that. Some kind of metaphysical teaching, monotheistic teaching. Report an error in the passage at 19:19
19:48 with the thing that attracted What made to Buddhism was that there was this something that was an existential truth that the Buddha promoted in his first sermon. There is suffering and there is the end of suffering. So suffering is something that's easy to see. There's nothing mystical, esoteric. We all can recognize that in ourselves. We all suffer. Report an error in the passage at 19:48
20:20 beings throughout the ages, their experience of life is Report an error in the passage at 20:20
20:50 This is not a metaphysical doctrine. You don't believe. We don't have to believe in suffering because we suffer. And so it's about opening, recognizing there is this suffering, this dukkha. Report an error in the passage at 20:50
21:22 And this opens us up to a new way of looking at experience where when we see suffering as something that from the idealistic level we shouldn't suffer. Everything should be right. People should be kind. Governments should be just and fair and democratic. We should love each other. We should be free and not kind of bully or Exploit other groups or we should be tolerant, accepting, kind, full of joy and no corruption. Report an error in the passage at 21:22
22:02 There shouldn't be any corruption, cheating, criminality. This English way of speaking, it should and shouldn't. So this is very much like the culture that I was conditioned with about how things should be. Report an error in the passage at 22:02
22:21 And, of course, this is very idealistic because ideals are perfect. You know, you can create a perfect ideal of how things should be. I just did the things I said, but this is how it should be. Total freedom, no kind of everybody equal, everybody free. We're all supporting each other, helping, being kind. Report an error in the passage at 22:21
22:48 kind, considerate, sensitive, compassionate, all that. The Buddha was saying, no, but that's fine, that's an ideal, but life is like this. This suffering is like this. And it is, you know, the aging process, not getting what we want, having to live in situations we don't want. Having to be patient with ourselves, with our bodies, with our conditioning, learning to live with other people in a society, with mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters and neighbors that oftentimes can create a lot of strife and irritation, frustration for us. Report an error in the passage at 22:48
23:39 And so the idealistic mind tends to blame the externals for the suffering. So if we get the perfect political system here in Britain, the perfect prime minister and the perfect political party, and they would set the economy to be perfect, it's like what they're doing to President Obama. They expect him to make everything perfect. This is really unfair, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 23:39
24:19 So. So, you know, we'd like a president, in America we'd like a president that would create this perfect system, social system, society, medical care, dealing with the social problems that we find ourselves with, the economic ones. Report an error in the passage at 24:19
24:41 Now, in the Thai forest tradition, you know, living in Lungpho Charles Monastery in northeast Thailand, It was very, in those days, primitive. There was no modern technology, no electricity. Everything was kind of like a very primitive way of living. Report an error in the passage at 24:41
25:06 And Lungpho Chah was not keen on modernizing in those days. People would want to put pumps on the wells and he'd say no. If we put pumps on the wells, the monks will get lazy. Report an error in the passage at 25:06
25:25 And electricity, I remember even when I first went, I was a newly ordained monk, and it was a very poor monastery. I wasn't wealthy, so you'd get, you know, for your light in your little hat, a candle. And candles were not easy to get either, and matches. And then when I had a few more years in the monastery, they gave me a little paraffin lamp. That was like, Real status symbol. Here at Amaravati, if you gave me a paraffin lamp, we would just put it in the stores. But in those days, that was like really, you know, a kind of sign that you were getting up in seniority to have a paraffin lamp, not a big one either, a little one, instead of a candle. Report an error in the passage at 25:25
26:21 Well, this is an example of how, you know, the material world affects the mind. And then my own social conditioning, And memories of the expectations I had, the assumptions I made from being brought up as a white middle-class American, living and then having that as a kind of cultural mindset and attitude, moving to northeast Thailand and into a forest monastery that had no modern conveniences, no luxuries, no conveniences whatsoever. Report an error in the passage at 26:21
26:59 Now this would be, you know, this of course brings up many karmic reactions. At first I kind of idealized it into this is, you know, the primitive life, the noble life, the monastic life as, you know, something that I saw it as a challenge and a kind of adventure. But also, during those ten years that I lived there, You know, it would bring up frustration and all kinds of conceits that would come up in my mind about, you know, how it should be, how they should improve this or make things better, because this is very much a Western way of thinking, of things always on the level of trying to improve what we have now, make it better, more modern, more convenient, more beautiful. Report an error in the passage at 26:59
27:57 More fair, more this way, more that way, and less traditional, less old-fashioned. It's time now, when I was in Wat Pa Pong in this monastery, when the American astronauts landed on the moon in 69. Report an error in the passage at 27:57
28:15 And I remember hearing it from Thai villagers, and they didn't believe it. They thought the Americans were telling lies. Report an error in the passage at 28:15
28:27 According to their way of looking at that, it would be impossible. And, of course, in those days, the Vietnam War was in full flow, and there was a huge American Air Force base in Ubon where I lived. And so Americans were considered very modern people, very advanced, and they had these airplanes, but they also... Report an error in the passage at 28:27
28:55 I felt that Americans usually weren't terribly honest because nobody landing on the moon is probably just American propaganda. Report an error in the passage at 28:55
29:08 Well, I didn't, you know, I never thought that. But, you know, when you're living in this way, in the Forest Monastery, this news about the Americans landing astronauts on the moon, then that is like a contrast, isn't it? of a very basic life in a country, in an area that has not developed modern technology, coming from a society that is kind of at the forefront of that endeavor. Report an error in the passage at 29:08
29:43 modern science is also highly regarded and we can easily think that we're somehow more advanced Because of modern science. That modern science will solve all our problems. This was the ethos of my generation. By this time, I thought, back in the 1950s, I remember thinking, by this time, by 2009, they'll have found a cure for cancer. Report an error in the passage at 29:43
30:16 Because they were looking for cures for cancer in 1950. And we had such faith in science that I was You know, without any doubt that by this time, by the year 2000, 50 years, the scientists and the doctors, medical profession would have permanent cures in way of vaccination or injections. You could just, you know, like TB or smallpox or measles. You could, you know, almost eradicate cancer from the planet and all other diseases. Report an error in the passage at 30:16
30:57 And so now, of course, we see that that is not the way it is. Still, you know, they've improved maybe ways of treating cancer, but in those days there was no HIV, AIDS. There are a lot of modern things that we have to deal with now. So living in northeast Thailand and practicing mindfulness, developing mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 30:57
31:24 Now, mindfulness is the... It's the only way that we have as human individuals to see outside the cultural conditioning that we've acquired. Now contemplate this. If we operate from any cultural attitude, any position, the sense of oneself is a kind of myself, me and mine. This sense of myself as a separate being, as a physical body, as a male, as a wasp, as a Buddhist monk, or anything, that kind of attachment to that condition, Report an error in the passage at 31:24
32:10 when I attach to that blindly, any of those sense of a separate self, which is usually the body we have, the emotions, memories, thoughts, Report an error in the passage at 32:10
32:24 Tendencies, inclinations, we identify with and we judge them accordingly as wholesome, unwholesome, skillful, unskillful, good, bad, right or wrong. Report an error in the passage at 32:24
32:37 And then, so we would say the conditioned personality is one that has never questioned the conditioning. So you operate from positions. We must be good. We must be right. We must be, you know, Report an error in the passage at 32:37
33:17 highest achievement of humanity and modern science. And even the assumptions of that are maybe, you know, sometimes there's a lot of assumptions we make too that are maybe not even all that conscious, but attitudes, assumptions that we unquestioningly hold to and interpret and evaluate ourselves in the life around us. Report an error in the passage at 33:17
33:41 Now the only way to get outside of that whole conditioning process is through mindfulness. So this word, mindfulness, is a word to contemplate. We think we understand it. Report an error in the passage at 33:41
34:01 Paying attention, we try to maybe describe awareness, paying attention, here and now. We can understand these concepts and we try to do them. But the basic illusion that we all suffer from this is... Report an error in the passage at 34:01
34:21 is the conditions that I should be mindful. You know, so, you know, think, well, you know, I'm had a lot of suffering in my life and, you know, I get very confused and worry about life and I'm not very mindful and I should be mindful. So this drew me into, you know, the increasing interest in Buddhist meditation because I felt there was something wrong missing in me I needed to do Report an error in the passage at 34:21
35:04 myself, to get rid of these bad thoughts, these negative emotions, learn to develop concentrated states, samadhis. And learn to, you know, become a better person and to become, hopefully, an enlightened person in the future. So this was the mindset that drew me into, say, practicing, starting out practicing meditation in Bangkok before I became a monk at a Buddhist temple in Bangkok. Report an error in the passage at 35:04
35:44 Then mindfulness, you know, it's right but not true, true but not right. I am unhappy person. I know I should do something in order to become a better adjusted, more normal, happy, confident person in the future. They put it in terms of modern psychology. Or, uh... Put it in a religious context of I am an unenlightened person and I need to practice mindfulness meditation in order to become enlightened in the future. Report an error in the passage at 35:44
36:24 And then, of course, you find others, you know, Buddhism just says be enlightened. Be enlightened. Try to be enlightened. I try to be enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 36:24
36:42 And for years, in Berkeley, when I was in graduate school there, I was fascinated by Krishnamurti's teachings. So I used to read his commentaries on living. I'd take them, carry them around with me. And he'd make these statements about meditation, all these things are just, you know, they're abstractions. Report an error in the passage at 36:42
37:07 Just be. You know, listen to the birds and the wind and the trees and be free. So I would try to do what Krishnamurti was saying, what I thought he was saying. Go out and listen to the wind, the birds. Report an error in the passage at 37:07
37:27 And nothing happened except I, you know, I was expecting something and nothing happened. So this is where the... You know, in Vipassanā meditation, as I learned it in Thailand, was this awareness, mindfulness was, you know, listening inwardly more. So it's like you're, rather than externally, or coming from a position, more or less this sense of there is this suffering, this dukkha, this first noble truth. Report an error in the passage at 37:27
38:05 Well, that was not difficult for me to observe. then I thought it was my suffering, then I could either blame somebody else for it, or blame myself. Report an error in the passage at 38:05
38:21 I've got all these faults I shouldn't have. I've got these neurotic tendencies I shouldn't have. I shouldn't be like this. It's self-criticism. Some people's tendencies are always my suffering is due to you, due to the society. Report an error in the passage at 38:21
39:03 can't understand it or comprehend it. But if you start thinking it's my weakness, my flaw, my fault, my stupidity, at least you're beginning to look inward, you know. Maybe you interpret it wrongly, but you're looking in the right direction. So then mindfulness is our ability to see things clearly transcending outside. Report an error in the passage at 39:03
39:36 The conditioning process. Now we can't do that through attaching to any condition. We can only do that. That's only possible when there's non-attachment. So like the Thai forest tradition, the bhikkhu forms, the vinaya, its purpose, this traditional form, is a very skillful tool to get to the causes of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 39:36
40:06 At least this is my experience. It's this tradition as established by the Buddha. It's not just Thai forest traditional take on it. It's, you know, but it is, it's a skillful way, it's a tool, it is a convention, and it's traditional, but that tradition preserves it. Because otherwise, if we modernize it and try to If we change it according to modern ideas, the power, the kind of accuracy, it becomes dull, it becomes deluded. Report an error in the passage at 40:06
40:43 It no longer can perform the precision that it has if we try to keep it within that traditional form. So in this way, tradition preserves something through time. In Buddhism, we talk about Bajjaka Buddhas. Report an error in the passage at 40:43
41:04 Or human beings who are enlightened, but they leave no teaching. When they die, they usually can't teach or they have no way of conveying their wisdom or what they've seen through language, through teachings or whatever. So, you know, the Vajayaka Buddha or the enlightened being, there's probably plenty of those. Report an error in the passage at 41:04
41:33 You know, human individuals who break through the delusions and see but have no way of maybe reaching others and maybe a few close associates or disciples. And in the way disciples tend to grasp, I remember Krishnamurti, he was, you know, when we moved to Chithurst, his center was near Winchester, Buckwood Park. Report an error in the passage at 41:33
42:03 And we used to go, when he was still alive, go and listen to Krishnamurti in the summer at Rockwood Park. And he'd be ranting on about, there are no Krishnamurtis, ites, you know, and getting quite angry, you know. It sounded like anger. And then he would make fun of us. You know, he'd see us come in the tent, the marquee. Report an error in the passage at 42:03
42:30 Look at those, you know, like we were baboons or something. And so Report an error in the passage at 42:30
42:40 in some way I kind of understand it now, this frustration of, you know, trying to convey some profound insight to others because, you know, it's one of these, like in Life of Brian, that Monty Python film. Report an error in the passage at 42:40
43:03 Anyone who says they're not the Messiah must be the Messiah. Report an error in the passage at 43:03
43:09 So you can't win. So the Krishnamurtiites who are not Krishnamurtiites. Report an error in the passage at 43:09
43:20 Now in this structure, in these teachings, then this form, same monastic form, because this is what I've used and I know. I know how to use this form. Report an error in the passage at 43:20
43:34 This tradition for awareness. So mindfulness is the whole purpose of this traditional form. It's not to make people into Buddhists or institutionalize them as Buddhist monks, nuns, as Theravadan. It is not about grasping any of these conventions. It's actually the Four Noble Truths about letting go of conventions. Report an error in the passage at 43:34
44:03 On a conceptual level, that seems contradictory, doesn't it? Like one years ago, Lungpho Chah gave me a conundrum. He said, Sumedho, you must be confused about certain things, like dharma is all about letting go and vinaya is about attachment and clinging. Report an error in the passage at 44:03
44:24 And I said, yes, I find that very confusing. Report an error in the passage at 44:24
44:32 And he laughs and he says, well, when you... When you resolve that one, you'll be okay. It's like a koan or a conundrum, you know, a challenge. How do you use a convention, a tradition, a morally inspired tradition? How do you use morality for awareness? How do you use traditional forms of Buddhism for awareness? Or anything, how do you use conventions or conditions of any sort with awareness? Report an error in the passage at 44:32
45:06 So this is the challenge we all have, how to use this society, British society, for awareness. How to use the family, the people you live with, for awareness. It's not using them in a cold-hearted way, but we have to live. Report an error in the passage at 45:06
45:40 ourselves in. You know, whether we like it or don't like it or have views and opinions is not the point. If we're going to live here in England, then these are the conditions that we find ourselves in. So I find myself... Within the British context, living in this country as a Theravadan Buddhist monk with a very orthodox traditional form, the Vinaya, and using that, you know, using these conventions for awakened attention. Report an error in the passage at 45:40
46:16 So how can we possibly do that? Other than, you know, should we change? We try to change England into becoming a Buddhist country? Report an error in the passage at 46:16
46:26 We intimidate you all so you feel you all have to become monks or nuns. We go around knocking on the doors of the neighbors, irritating all the nice people around here by telling them they're on the wrong track and they should practice meditation at Amavati. Report an error in the passage at 46:26
46:45 Or should we just ignore them? If they go to hell, let them, you know. It's their problem. So these are, you know, now these are reactions we might have or that we're somehow, you know, we're from this pure tradition so somehow the society we live in is impure so we can develop a kind of supercilious attitude or arrogance, a kind of patronizing view of British society. Report an error in the passage at 46:45
47:19 Now all these are Report an error in the passage at 47:19
47:35 mindfulness is the only possible way this sense of attention, here and now. it always comes back to the here and now Dhamma. Report an error in the passage at 47:35
47:49 When you contemplate, that's all there ever is. There's only here and now. You know, it's just, there's nothing magical or esoteric about it. It's just the way it is. Just contemplate. Wherever you are, you're here. And whatever time it is, is now. And so here and now is like a reminder to be attentive. Report an error in the passage at 47:49
48:16 Then, of course, the attitude of I should be attentive. So in the Pāli teachings, there's the fetters, the ten fetters that we explore. The first one is Sakyaditi, which is the personality, the identity that we have as our unique personality, our soul, our sense of individuality, our appearance, what we look like, our age, gender, whether you're male or female. Report an error in the passage at 48:16
48:50 Whether you're fat or thin or tall or short or you're Asian or European or whatever, you know, these all form the sense of sakayaditti or a sense of my unique self. And then this unique self is I am a confused person that needs to practice meditation in order to get rid of this confusion. Or I am an unenlightened person who is practicing to become enlightened in the future. Well, Sakya Ditti is the very first part. Report an error in the passage at 48:50
49:26 This is most important because this is the big delusion that we all suffer from. This is a very powerful delusion. The ego or the sense of separate self is our reality. Report an error in the passage at 49:26
49:40 And so with Vipassanā meditation, insight practices, this is... We're not saying there isn't any self as some kind of doctrinal position. Anattā teaching isn't a doctrine, you know, that you have to grasp the idea that there's no self at all. Report an error in the passage at 49:40
50:02 That's how some people interpret it, and we believe in anattā. There's no self and no God, absolutely none, no soul. But that is a position, isn't it? And when the Buddha said all conditions are not self, And the unconditioned is not self. Then we grasp the words. The Buddha said there's no self. So that's what I believe. There's absolutely no self. Report an error in the passage at 50:02
50:28 And there's no God and there's no soul. And so then that fixes us. Even when we practice Buddhist meditation, if we don't see this, this kind of fixed position of denial, of rejection, that we may be inclined to do. And believe in. Where mindfulness allows us to see that very attachment, if that's what our inclination is, you get in to investigate. Report an error in the passage at 50:28
51:00 This sense of there's no God is like this. So Christian, fundamentalist Christians come to Amaravati and say, you know, you have to believe in God or you'll go to hell. And then you say, there's no God. There's no, God doesn't exist. We don't believe in such rubbish. But you look at the mental state of that. Report an error in the passage at 51:00
51:21 Mindful of the feeling that there's denial of God is like this. And then you contemplate, is that a peaceful feeling? Does that lead to liberation? Or do I get upset when fundamentalist Christians come and tell me that I'm going to hell because I don't believe in God? Report an error in the passage at 51:21
51:39 You know, as a person, I find that irritating. Personality-wise, I don't like that. Fundamentalist Christians, I want to stay away from them. Because I know what they're going to say. Everyone! Report an error in the passage at 51:39
51:53 And, you know, that's personal, though. That's sakayaditti, my dislike and disagreement with them. Then the awareness of that, that is sattisampacchanya, mindfulness, awareness of my attachment to this view. I don't like fundamentalist Christians is like this. So liking, disliking. Approving, disapproving, wanting, not wanting. Now all this in the Second Noble Truth is clearly described ways of letting go of these attachments. Report an error in the passage at 51:53
52:35 It's not denying, rejecting, suppressing anything. It's recognizing attachment to a condition out of ignorance, out of not being aware, merely operating from the... Cultural conditioning, religious conditioning that we've acquired, or our own particular views, philosophical views, or idealistic attitudes. Report an error in the passage at 52:35
53:07 So in, say, monastic tradition, because it was really a challenge to live within the structure, boundaries, that are prescribed when you become a Buddhist samana. Buddhist monastic. You have prescriptions like the Vinaya discipline as you find in the scriptures. Report an error in the passage at 53:07
53:40 And it's basically moral. It's about moral agreements mainly. About not using our bodies and speech for harming or unskillful actions. It has that moral base. It's also about etiquette. having agreed ways of living with each other that are respectful and graceful and polite. So, I mean, this is a way of... Report an error in the passage at 53:40
54:11 We can become obsessed and bound into being strict monks. We can be very attached to strictness and discipline. And this way is right and that way is wrong. But that's not liberating. To be attached to Vinaya out of ignorance is not liberating. So if dharma is about letting go and Vinaya is about attachment, then the awakeness, the attachments are to the Vinaya, are not meant to bind us and increase this sense of self, but to mirror it. Report an error in the passage at 54:11
55:04 To show it, so that we can actually observe the results of attachment to conditions as we are habitually tending to do. Report an error in the passage at 55:04
55:17 And so if you follow this particular way, like the Pāli form of Buddhism, Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Paths, the Dependent Origins, all these are skillful means. To investigate and to break, to see the freedom and the liberation that comes through letting go of attachment. And letting go is not an annihilation. It's just releasing this blind grasping of conditions. Report an error in the passage at 55:17
55:54 And being able to free ourselves from even the subtle assumptions of a subtle self. Being free from attachment to Report an error in the passage at 55:54
56:17 that mindfulness has the reality of letting go, of complete relinquishment, total surrender, complete of all conditioned phenomena. Report an error in the passage at 56:17
56:33 doesn't mean we annihilate conditions. It's not about... You know, destroying the conditioned realm, but out of wisdom, seeing the suffering we create by blind attachment to them, even the good ones, even the good conditions, still are dukkha if we attach to them and out of ignorance of dhamma. So in this relationship of dhamma and vinaya, then the vinaya is attachment, But then that attachment isn't to be taken in terms of the end, but it's merely an expedient way to live one's life in order to cultivate this continuous awareness. Report an error in the passage at 56:33
57:26 So like living within the samana life, you live in a way that you're actually... If you're using it for mindfulness, for cultivating, then you actually begin to... It's like learning to live in a respectful way in the society, with the environment, with the planet, the society we're living in. It's not about revolution or blame anymore, but it's learning how to live within Report an error in the passage at 57:26
58:14 but being able to transcend it through this wisdom and awareness, discernment, we see, we know, a direct knowing, it's insight knowledge. It's a kind of gut knowledge. It's deep. It's not from the brain anymore, some wise thing you heard from somebody else. It's like knowing in a deep and profound way. The dharma is no longer theoretical or idealistic. Report an error in the passage at 58:14
58:52 At this time, tradition, you know, we find here in the UK, tradition is being challenged all the time. And there's so many good ideas, idealism, good causes. You know, these are not to be despised. But, you know, even with the good causes, if we're blind, we still even can use even the good causes to create more suffering. Report an error in the passage at 58:52
59:25 So, you know, we get angry, we're anti-abortion, then we want to off who perform abortion. Report an error in the passage at 59:25
59:39 Or if we're for animal rights, then we get angry with people who experiment with animals. And so we get angry, even though maybe these are very noble causes. You know, non-violent, respect for life. Report an error in the passage at 59:39
1:00:00 This is all very good. You know, it's good stuff. Respecting the planet, respecting the environment, respecting each other. These are ideals to be treasured. But attachment to those ideals is still the cause of suffering. And I encourage you not to believe what I'm saying, but to find out what is suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:00
1:00:30 When I get into my righteous mode of... Report an error in the passage at 1:00:30
1:00:49 we should not allow, is this a peaceful, does this lead to liberation? Then the other comes up, well, if I don't fight for what's good and right, then, you know, I'm just not doing anything. I'm just, I'm supposed to lay back and just let all these that are destroying the environment, destroying the economy, the society, just let them take over and do anything, then that's the other. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:49
1:01:14 That's not a peaceful mental state. It'll stay. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:14
1:01:19 so you know it's none of my business I shouldn't do anything shouldn't be attached to anything is an attachment or I've got to fight and make you know fight for this because it's worthy and we've got to get make people Report an error in the passage at 1:01:19
1:01:36 And how to live together in peace and harmony. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:36
1:01:47 Now, what is the alternative? There's no alternative except, let's say, maybe becoming addicted to internet or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:47
1:02:01 At least you can create a fantasy world or something. ha, ha. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:01
1:02:05 For a relief from these two, you know, I don't care, I care too much, to being able to, you know, respond to this conscious reality that we're experiencing in ways that are skillful, but come from wisdom rather than from anger, indignation, attachment to ideals, or just giving up. Resign yourself, nothing I can do. Just resign yourself to fate and let things happen because it doesn't matter anyway. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:05
1:02:44 I've got a fatalism. So Buddhism is not that, it's not fatalism. And it's not about making things perfect. It's about awakened attention that is available to each one of us, to all human beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:44
1:03:03 You know, it's not asking too much. It's not a program that is beyond anybody's ability. But to be aware of this and to cultivate this, this is, you know, it's not easy to do because of the pressures of the ignorance that surround us and the ignorance within our own. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:03
1:03:52 now the tea has appeared on the survey and I invite you all to have some tea at this time and in minutes or so. I invite you back, those who are interested, for discussion. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:52
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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