1201-Convention-is-Not-The-Real-Thing

0:00 Vakavato arahato samvāsambhutāsā aparutā de saṅgamatāsatavarā ye sotavantā vamunjan tu saddhā This Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:19 is the first day of December, one month left of the year 2003, and contemplating, you know, the convention time. This is a timeless moment, and yet we say it's December the 1st. Just pointing out, is December the 1st reality? Report an error in the passage at 0:19 Highlight the passage at 0:19

0:51 Is that the dhamma? Is the real truth of this, this day is actually December the 1st? Or is this an agreed convention that we use? So at this particular time, we use this particular calendar. And then we say this is the first of December. I'm just reflecting, pointing out that conventional reality, you know, it's not ultimate. Report an error in the passage at 0:51 Highlight the passage at 0:51

1:21 It's convention only. The convention is values we agree. You know, we don't have to argue about what is today because we all agree to this particular calendar. There can be other calendars. There have been other calendars. We can call this something else, and then we can argue about whose convention is the right one, which would be a kind of pointless, useless way to have to live this moment, arguing about how we're going to label this moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:21 Highlight the passage at 1:21

1:57 So notice that conventional reality, it's functional, it makes, we don't have to think about it that much, we don't have to Make a problem about it because we all agree this is December the 1st, 2003. Report an error in the passage at 1:57 Highlight the passage at 1:57

2:20 And yet an ultimate reality, paramatthasaccha, is when you're aware, mindful, and it has no name. It's nameless. The present, pure presence, awareness. And so we name this, don't we? This is what we've agreed to call this day. Monday, call it Monday, and then 1st of December 2003. I'm just pointing out, you know, in the practice of dharma, we're noticing how things are. Report an error in the passage at 2:20 Highlight the passage at 2:20

3:06 The reality of this moment, ultimate reality of this moment, is that just an abstract idea? Is ultimate reality to you something, you know, some kind of vague, abstract ideal that you think is... It's, you know, you don't, you can't recognize it because you've got this idea that you are this person that is very much, your real world is the conventional world. Report an error in the passage at 3:06 Highlight the passage at 3:06

3:36 So if we are determined to be, to just grasp the conventional world, then of course the ultimate reality remains an abstraction. Report an error in the passage at 3:36 Highlight the passage at 3:36

3:50 Some vague thing, you know, beyond that you can't quite, you can't point to it. You know, you can't say it's this or that. Is it red or green or whatever? Report an error in the passage at 3:50 Highlight the passage at 3:50

4:07 So that's where the mindfulness is the path to the deathless. Deathless is ultimate reality. These words, the deathless, nibbāna, ultimate reality, the absolute, whatever terms you want to use, that's not it either. The terms are nothing more than just Report an error in the passage at 4:07 Highlight the passage at 4:07

4:33 So that with awareness, you know, if you trust in awareness, in being fully attentive to this moment, you know, before you start saying it's the 1st of December, then Report an error in the passage at 4:33 Highlight the passage at 4:33

4:55 you know there's consciousness, there's consciousness, we're a conscious entity, and the sense world, there's a body here, the breath. Report an error in the passage at 4:55 Highlight the passage at 4:55

5:13 The senses are operating, so there's feeling and consciousness. And so the awareness is our ability to tune in, to recognize the reality of this moment, ultimate reality of this moment. It's not an abstract, it's a fact. It's real. It's not conventional. When we put a name to it, then it becomes a convention. Report an error in the passage at 5:13 Highlight the passage at 5:13

5:48 So this is... Recognize, like the Third Noble Truth is the insight into cessation of conditioned phenomena, is to realize it. Report an error in the passage at 5:48 Highlight the passage at 5:48

6:00 In the paradigm of the Four Noble Truths, the Third Noble Truth is reality, recognition. You can use recognize or realize. What is the English word realization? It's reality, the reality of this moment. Report an error in the passage at 6:00 Highlight the passage at 6:00

6:22 Is it, the reality is the 1st of December at Amaravati, Monday in the UK, and all this is, this is the reality, this is the real world, isn't it? According to most people, we're living in England, we're at Amaravati, which is in Hertfordshire, this is Amaravati Temple, this is Van Praat, and this is December 1st. Report an error in the passage at 6:22 Highlight the passage at 6:22

6:50 And tomorrow is December the 2nd. Yesterday was the 30th of November. Is this the real world? And of course most people will say that's the real world because the conventional world is their reality. So I am Ajahn Sumedho and that's my real world then. If I'm very attached to my name and my body and my... Report an error in the passage at 6:50 Highlight the passage at 6:50

7:20 I experience Report an error in the passage at 7:20 Highlight the passage at 7:20

7:39 suffering from that because these are very unsatisfactory conditions. know, you can't, how much control do you have over body and the around you, the society you're in, the people you're living with, the system, the economic system, the relationships we have with each other. Report an error in the passage at 7:39 Highlight the passage at 7:39

8:11 it's a fraught isn't it? It's dangerous, it's uncertain. Report an error in the passage at 8:11 Highlight the passage at 8:11

8:23 reality, when seen through ignorance, then we experience fear, there's plenty to be frightened of. Report an error in the passage at 8:23 Highlight the passage at 8:23

8:34 we want the conventional world to be ultimately real, going to create. So you Report an error in the passage at 8:34 Highlight the passage at 8:34

8:48 begin to see why the world is such a mess, the conventional world, why there are so many wars and, you know, Problems, social problems, and economic problems, political problems, race and race problems, and on and on like this, endless variations on the theme of problems. And problems are supposed to have solutions. Report an error in the passage at 8:48 Highlight the passage at 8:48

9:21 But is the conventional world, is there any solution to it? The conventional world, I'm reflecting now, is the problem. It's not a problem in itself, it's ignorance around it, identifying, clinging to it. Wanting it to be peaceful and harmonious, not wanting war. Report an error in the passage at 9:21 Highlight the passage at 9:21

9:46 Wanting it to be certain and make me feel safe all the time. I live in the community here. Please make me feel safe and loved here so that I have the illusion of safety anyway. Report an error in the passage at 9:46 Highlight the passage at 9:46

10:00 Please don't upset. Don't rock the boat. Don't be disruptive. Don't cause any problems to me because it upsets me. A conventional reality of Ajahn Sumedho is very shaky. When I take refuge in conventional Ajahn Sumedho, I'm a basket case. Report an error in the passage at 10:00 Highlight the passage at 10:00

10:34 That's a scary thing to be. A vulnerable person, an aging, an old man. In a world that, you know, death is not that far away, you know, getting on and not going to live much longer. And then, you know, I can think of all kinds of things to worry about and to be critical of. You know, I've got good critical faculties. I can criticize all kinds of things and get, you know, I can think of all the... Report an error in the passage at 10:34 Highlight the passage at 10:34

11:17 gone well in my life and feel anger and resentment. Report an error in the passage at 11:17 Highlight the passage at 11:17

11:24 I can create a hell realm for myself right now if I want to out of the conventional world that could attach to. Report an error in the passage at 11:24 Highlight the passage at 11:24

11:39 present moment, then it is what it is. You know, it's a recognition of timelessness. It's timeless the moment now. Report an error in the passage at 11:39 Highlight the passage at 11:39

11:56 So tomorrow I'm going to Thailand, conventional reality, flying off to Thailand. But what is that right now at this moment? The conception, you know, that I've just created. I, Ajahn Sumedho, am going to Thailand tomorrow. And it's only that, isn't it? At this moment there's no Ajahn Sumedho really, or tomorrow. Report an error in the passage at 11:56 Highlight the passage at 11:56

12:31 And yet I can be fully committed to the perception. I am Ajahn Sumedho and I'm going to Thailand tomorrow. Where's Thailand right now? You know, in terms of ultimate reality. Report an error in the passage at 12:31 Highlight the passage at 12:31

12:50 Conventional. Now, Thailand is a convention, isn't it? Conventional reality. So, it's a perception comes up in consciousness. Thailand, isn't it? And we all agree to call Thailand, Thailand. Report an error in the passage at 12:50 Highlight the passage at 12:50

13:11 we can say in Thai, but then most of you wouldn't quite get it, you know, doesn't mean something. If you don't speak Thai, then Thailand is the word we agree to use. Then the old name for Thailand is Siam. Report an error in the passage at 13:11 Highlight the passage at 13:11

13:29 And there are various voices in Thailand that think that that's the real name for Thailand. Should go back and start using the old name, Siam, because that's the real name, or is Thailand the real name? Report an error in the passage at 13:29 Highlight the passage at 13:29

13:43 Now we can get into taking sides, those who want Siam, those who want Thailand. Spend the evening arguing about that. On the conventional, all we want is to agree what we're going to call that country. So we agree Thailand's good enough, fair enough, we know what it is. But in this moment, and we're reflecting right now, is where the consciousness is now. Report an error in the passage at 13:43 Highlight the passage at 13:43

14:15 This is all there is, is now. So Thailand in this moment is perception, convention, a word that comes up through consciousness, through thinking. Report an error in the passage at 14:15 Highlight the passage at 14:15

14:39 So what I'm doing is reflecting and noticing the way it is. It's not critical. I'm not criticizing the way it is. I'm not saying how it should be or how it shouldn't be right now, but it's like this. Report an error in the passage at 14:39 Highlight the passage at 14:39

15:01 This is a very ordinary function that we are quite capable of. This is not an attained state. After years of celibacy and dedication to Dhamma Vinaya, suddenly I've reached a high level of attainment in which I can see ultimate reality. Report an error in the passage at 15:01 Highlight the passage at 15:01

15:23 That's the conventional way of thinking. Then I'm somebody who spent so many years as a monk practicing meditation and that now I've reached an attainment of recognizing ultimate reality. Report an error in the passage at 15:23 Highlight the passage at 15:23

15:47 What is that? That's just another perception in the present, isn't it? I am somebody, I am Ajahn Sumedho who's been a monk a long time. Report an error in the passage at 15:47 Highlight the passage at 15:47

16:00 So this is a convention when you ask how many years have you been ordained and I tell it, you know. But in terms of ultimate reality, it's only a perception. It's nothing to hold to or believe in or to operate from. On a conventional level, it's useful, it has its function. When the Saṅgha meetings and various other situations on the conventional level, it's an agreed way of perceiving things. Report an error in the passage at 16:00 Highlight the passage at 16:00

16:36 In the Buddhist world. But in terms of ultimate reality, it's quite empty, meaningless. And as an attachment, you know, if I attach to those perceptions, then what happens? I become a person. I have become Ajahn Sumedho as some kind of person. Now what is Ajahn Sumedho as a person? Report an error in the passage at 16:36 Highlight the passage at 16:36

17:07 Oh, I'm, you know, American, and I'm, you know, those little curricular I recited a few interesting facts or historical perceptions about me as a person that was born and grew up and did this and that. Report an error in the passage at 17:07 Highlight the passage at 17:07

17:36 But is that what I am? Is that really me at this moment? When I see whatever I remember, whatever memories I have, or even the perception I'm an American, that only comes and goes, isn't it? That's not ultimately real. Report an error in the passage at 17:36 Highlight the passage at 17:36

18:01 That's just a convention that one uses in a society. But the ultimate reality is the awareness. Awareness is the ability to recognize or realize ultimate reality. Report an error in the passage at 18:01 Highlight the passage at 18:01

18:21 Baramatta Satcha. And then our conventional reality is Samuti Satcha. Report an error in the passage at 18:21 Highlight the passage at 18:21

18:35 Noticing this, we have a choice. Do I want to live my life as a person? Do I want to endlessly, you know, as you get older too, you get really bored with your personality. At least my personality, I've lived with it for so long, I'm not interested in my personality anymore. It says the same things over and over. Report an error in the passage at 18:35 Highlight the passage at 18:35

18:59 You know, same limitations, and some parts of it are fine, some parts of it are a bit silly, you know, and foolish. So, I mean, it's, is this, you know, this idea that I am a person, I'm a real person, with a history, a biography, an autobiography. I am this body. This body is really what I am. I'm this Ajahn. Report an error in the passage at 18:59 Highlight the passage at 18:59

19:30 And what does that do? In terms of when I grasp those perceptions, it doesn't bring me any peace. I don't feel peaceful, happy, contented with my personality. My personality isn't based on happiness and contentment. It's based on striving and proving and justifying and defending and protecting and blaming. Report an error in the passage at 19:30 Highlight the passage at 19:30

19:58 Wanting things and not wanting things, and liking and disliking. So when I become a person, then I become very critical, or I get very enthusiastic, or get very negative, get very, if things are going well, I'm very happy. If things don't go well, I get feeling worried, depressed, and so forth. So my personality is very dependent, you know, always changing according to the conditions, according to the weather. Report an error in the passage at 19:58 Highlight the passage at 19:58

20:32 The sun's out. Whoopee, it's raining in grey. No, I mean come, you know, whoopee type Ajahn Sumedho when the sun's out and the clouds come over, dark clouds, starts raining, gets cold, I'm an old grump. It's like that. You know, I personally can just change according to what the weather's like. Is that a refuge I want to, is that a place I want to take refuge in? Report an error in the passage at 20:32 Highlight the passage at 20:32

21:03 Because one is always going up and down, all over the place, because the conditions are changing. Report an error in the passage at 21:03 Highlight the passage at 21:03

21:15 So the refuge in awareness, Report an error in the passage at 21:15 Highlight the passage at 21:15

21:23 which is receptive, it's non-critical, doesn't make judgments about my personality. The conventional tomato can make judgments about what kind of person I am. Report an error in the passage at 21:23 Highlight the passage at 21:23

21:42 I a good person? Sometimes I feel I'm a good person, sometimes I feel like I'm not a very good person. the conventional forms then make judgments and they like and they dislike. Report an error in the passage at 21:42 Highlight the passage at 21:42

21:59 want and they don't want. Report an error in the passage at 21:59 Highlight the passage at 21:59

22:04 while this is happening, while all this conventional reality, these conditions are Report an error in the passage at 22:04 Highlight the passage at 22:04

22:12 them, isn't it? Awareness. if I know I'm feeling... Grumpy because it's wet and cold? I'm aware of that. There's an awareness of it. And I'm really, you know, I can be aware and say, how do you feel? Well, I'm feeling, you know, it's raining and cold and I grumble, grumble. Report an error in the passage at 22:12 Highlight the passage at 22:12

22:34 If I'm not aware, then I actually believe. You know, I actually become a grumbling personality. And then an ecstatic one when the sun comes out. Report an error in the passage at 22:34 Highlight the passage at 22:34

22:50 So in the word becoming, you know, there's power. power is always this, uh... It's what happens due to grasping out of ignorance. We're always becoming something. So as a person, where can we find a safe place for my personality to exist? Report an error in the passage at 22:50 Highlight the passage at 22:50

23:16 If I'm merely looking for safety in the conventional realm, I want the illusion of safety maybe. I like the illusion, like, tell me everything's okay. Everything's okay. Tell me you love me. I love you. Tell me I'm a nice person. You're a very nice person. Oh, I feel so safe here and loved. Report an error in the passage at 23:16 Highlight the passage at 23:16

23:50 Then something happens and you say, oh, there he goes again, that old guy. Report an error in the passage at 23:50 Highlight the passage at 23:50

24:03 trouble, disrupting the peace. I don't feel safe anymore. Report an error in the passage at 24:03 Highlight the passage at 24:03

24:24 Now in realizing ultimate reality, it's not an attainment. Like the word attainment tends to make it sound something that you don't have yet, that you've got to get. So if your meditation practice is based on attaining things, that's coming from the conventional reality. I am this person that That it's ignorant and I need to practice in order to become enlightened. So that's a conventional way of thinking. Report an error in the passage at 24:24 Highlight the passage at 24:24

24:58 That's how the thought process is. And the identity with one's personality. I am ignorant person. I'm not enlightened. I'm ignorant. I've got a lot of problems. I'm a damaged person. And I need to really work. work myself in order to become a normal person, maybe. What's a normal? Is there a normal personality? Report an error in the passage at 24:58 Highlight the passage at 24:58

25:29 There's a kind of abstract idea that there is such a thing as a normal person. And so we don't quite know what it is, but it's in the mind, isn't it, that somehow there is normality as a person in a society. We want you to become a normal person. Parents want their children to be normal. What do they mean by that? Report an error in the passage at 25:29 Highlight the passage at 25:29

25:55 They want you to become what they want you to become. You know, not too far out, not embarrass them, not cause them any grief, and so forth. So this idea of being normal is strong. I remember being brought up with these attitudes, trying to be normal. Report an error in the passage at 25:55 Highlight the passage at 25:55

26:23 And then feeling frustrated because I didn't quite know what it was and I never felt I was normal. Report an error in the passage at 26:23 Highlight the passage at 26:23

26:31 So what do you do? You know, you think, well, maybe I'm an abnormal person. There's something wrong with me. So I took a course in university called abnormal psychology. Report an error in the passage at 26:31 Highlight the passage at 26:31

26:49 And they took us to the state mental hospital. Report an error in the passage at 26:49 Highlight the passage at 26:49

26:55 And there was pretty abnormal people. Didn't make me feel normal for a while after spending a day there. But then in the nitty gritty of life, what is a normal man? It's supposed to be normal woman. And of course, the personality, it doesn't, you know, it has no, it doesn't know. You've got ideas about normality. Even, it's kind of abstract, isn't it? It's kind of, there's this kind of normality, but you don't really know what it is, and you think maybe everyone else is normal, except yourself, because you're actually, you know, witnessing. Report an error in the passage at 26:55 Highlight the passage at 26:55

27:42 You're with this changing. Personality that is so dependent on condition. You know, it changes according to whether you're being praised or blamed or succeeding or failing or whether the sun is out or it's wet and cold. Report an error in the passage at 27:42 Highlight the passage at 27:42

28:08 So there's a fear. Where does fear come from? You know, when you try to, this is a frightening realm, isn't it? As a personality, in a sense, realm, this is really frightening. Report an error in the passage at 28:08 Highlight the passage at 28:08

28:25 Because everything's so unstable, uncertain, and how much control do you have over it? How can you make it what you want to fit you, to suit you, to make you feel all right about yourself as a person, and that the world is a safe place to be? Report an error in the passage at 28:25 Highlight the passage at 28:25

28:47 So we hear the most pathetic stories these days, like earthquakes, natural catastrophes. Suddenly, you know, nice, peaceful family life is totally destroyed by a terrible earthquake. Or the war, you know, you just recognize in Iraq, all the Iraqis, their whole life, their families, they're being, you know, threatened, they've been killed or, you know, slaughtered and so forth in various ways that you can't control. Report an error in the passage at 28:47 Highlight the passage at 28:47

29:23 Then, of course, the United States is hell-bent on wiping out evil. Which is terrifying, actually, when you think of it. That's very frightening, that you think that you can wipe out evil. Report an error in the passage at 29:23 Highlight the passage at 29:23

29:39 Because evil, what is evil right now? Report an error in the passage at 29:39 Highlight the passage at 29:39

29:46 Saddam Hussein, that's the conventional, that's the American version of evil. Report an error in the passage at 29:46 Highlight the passage at 29:46

29:58 Good and evil, isn't it? What is it right now? And so these are values, isn't it, that we have. What we like is good. What we don't like is evil. We've got opinions, views that we can cling to. The United States is good. Islamic terrorists are evil. Report an error in the passage at 29:58 Highlight the passage at 29:58

30:28 But right now, these are perceptions in the mind, aren't they? America, United States, Al-Qaeda, and so forth. These are merely just perceptions. We are conceiving them in the present. And then we have various emotional reactions. Report an error in the passage at 30:28 Highlight the passage at 30:28

30:50 You know, if you feel the axis of evil is in Iran and North Korea and Iraq, then those kind of thoughts and prejudices and conventions arise in consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 30:50 Highlight the passage at 30:50

31:11 So with ultimate, with awareness, which is the is the door to is the gate is the crack that we have that that entrance into of all to recognize ultimate reality it's not an attainment it's it's here and now to be realized not Report an error in the passage at 31:11 Highlight the passage at 31:11

31:36 tomorrow no you know don't put it off tomorrow notice pay attention when i was in chile You know, if I asked them what, because they had to translate everything into Spanish, I said, what is the, how do you translate mindfulness in Spanish? And they said, attention. Report an error in the passage at 31:36 Highlight the passage at 31:36

32:00 Similar to attention, isn't it? Attentiveness, isn't it? Awareness. Noticing. Recognizing. So when I recognize, when I notice, when I'm aware, then I can be aware of some object. You can say that. I can just be aware. Just this awareness, which isn't picking out any particular object. Report an error in the passage at 32:00 Highlight the passage at 32:00

32:31 I don't have to be aware through focusing on an object. Awareness can embrace everything right now. Report an error in the passage at 32:31 Highlight the passage at 32:31

32:43 It's just a state of being, isn't it, that's quite simple and ordinary in itself. Recognize that. Report an error in the passage at 32:43 Highlight the passage at 32:43

32:55 And then from there, I can focus on... -object. The monks and the nuns and the agarikas, lay people, pillars, roof, the shrine, out with everything. I could be aware of my breath or feelings in the body. Report an error in the passage at 32:55 Highlight the passage at 32:55

33:18 can choose to notice a particular thing or not notice a particular thing but be totally attentive aware. Report an error in the passage at 33:18 Highlight the passage at 33:18

33:31 of our conscious experience in this moment. When we're just looking at objects, then we don't tend to notice anything but the object. And then that brings up various reactions. You know, this person, we like this one, we don't like that one, and so forth. We like the oak pillars, and we're not completely satisfied with the shrine. Report an error in the passage at 33:31 Highlight the passage at 33:31

34:00 And so we get into our, you know, our preferences, likes and dislikes around the object that stimulate thought or emotion, reaction. Report an error in the passage at 34:00 Highlight the passage at 34:00

34:19 So in the, when we use expansive awareness, which isn't focused on an object, but includes it, what is that? You know, for me then, it's my ability, I use the sound of silence, this sense of just listening. It gives me the sense of being attentive to this moment. ...receiving this moment, which includes what I'm feeling, the thoughts or emotions or the physical state that I can receive at this moment, and the external, what I see, hear, smell, taste, touch. Report an error in the passage at 34:19 Highlight the passage at 34:19

34:59 So this is an inclusive reality. Ultimate reality includes good and evil, good and bad, beautiful and ugly. Liking, disliking, right and wrong are included. There's no preference. Report an error in the passage at 34:59 Highlight the passage at 34:59

35:22 Krishnamurti called choiceless awareness. Report an error in the passage at 35:22 Highlight the passage at 35:22

35:36 To encourage you to recognize and appreciate this ability. It's not attainment. It's not something you have to get through practice. Report an error in the passage at 35:36 Highlight the passage at 35:36

35:53 It's learning to recognize it, you know, and then to appreciate it. Now, like the attachment to the conditioned world or conventional reality means that we forget all that. We have no context for anything. We're merely operating out of like and dislike and habit. You know, the force of habit, preferences, opinions and views, you know, desires and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 35:53 Highlight the passage at 35:53

36:23 So, you know, you always... The personality, which my personality is created out of ignorance. I didn't create myself out of wisdom and enlightenment. My personality definitely was created out of ignorance, out of attachment to this body, identifying with what I look like with this physical form, identifying with my emotions, identifying with the perceptions on the conventional level. Report an error in the passage at 36:23 Highlight the passage at 36:23

36:56 Identifying with the conventional world is the real world. So, you know, we all come from different, we're quite mixed, you know, culturally or nationally or ethnically. So we have different ways of, you know, different cultural conditioning, how we see ourselves and the world around us. Report an error in the passage at 36:56 Highlight the passage at 36:56

37:23 The aliens are coming. What is that, the fire alarm? I just use this moment to be aware. So it is what it is, isn't it? And then the suffering is not wanting it. So I'm creating, not wanting it. I don't want that sound. If I begin to see the difference, it is what it is, bearable. But if I don't want it, then I can't stand it. Report an error in the passage at 37:23 Highlight the passage at 37:23

37:45 Notice how peaceful it is now. Report an error in the passage at 37:45 Highlight the passage at 37:45

37:54 Now in the... What is the dukkha then, say, of the First Noble Truth? So in this moment, you know, there? Report an error in the passage at 37:54 Highlight the passage at 37:54

38:08 It is what it is. The suchness, the ta-ta-da, the as-is-ness of this means it is the way it is. Whether it's internal, whether I'm feeling my own feeling or physical state or the external impingement, it is what it is. Report an error in the passage at 38:08 Highlight the passage at 38:08

38:31 Now, then if I don't want it like this, I don't want that sound. I don't want that fire alarm. And then I'm creating suffering. Report an error in the passage at 38:31 Highlight the passage at 38:31

38:52 So there is, you know, in terms of sensory experience, that sound is irritating. It's an unpleasant sound in terms of my sensory experience of it. It's unpleasant sound. But it is what it is, you know. Then I don't want it is the suffering I create. Then begin to notice the difference about the way things are. Report an error in the passage at 38:52 Highlight the passage at 38:52

39:19 They're like physical pain, for example, in your own body. It is what it is, but then the suffering is not the physical pain itself or the sensation, but not wanting it. Then you begin to notice, now with awareness, you're really tuning in to the way things are. Report an error in the passage at 39:19 Highlight the passage at 39:19

39:40 Or when something's really pleasant, you know, really lovely, and then wanting it to stay like this. You're creating suffering when there's a happy moment, you know, a lovely moment. And then you want it. Keep it like this. You're creating suffering onto happiness, onto a happy moment. Now don't believe me. Report an error in the passage at 39:40 Highlight the passage at 39:40

40:02 This is to be, you know, to recognize this. What we do, what we create, why we create suffering. Now the sense world is like this. It is irritating. Having a human body, you know, personality. Report an error in the passage at 40:02 Highlight the passage at 40:02

40:20 These are all very ephemeral, very unsatisfactory conditions. So they are what they are. Sometimes it feels really good physically and healthy and energetic and then other times you feel the opposite, miserable, sick. So Report an error in the passage at 40:20 Highlight the passage at 40:20

40:45 the body itself depends on conditions where it's feeling vibrant and healthy or feeling sickly and weak. But awareness, you know, when we're sickly and weak and we're identified with the body as ourselves, then we don't want the illness. We don't want to feel sick and weak. We want to be happy and healthy. So we create suffering onto the actual conditions of illness. Report an error in the passage at 40:45 Highlight the passage at 40:45

41:18 So in this receptiveness and this awareness, you know, feeling sick, It is what it is. And then you become aware of this impulse to get rid of it. I don't want this. I don't like feeling like this. That's the dukkha of the First Noble Truth. Report an error in the passage at 41:18 Highlight the passage at 41:18

41:56 Not the body. In terms of, you know, or the emotions, but the attachment Report an error in the passage at 41:56 Highlight the passage at 41:56

42:11 to them, we create dukkha. Now, the conditioned realm is unsatisfactory, you know, so in terms of translating dukkha into the English word unsatisfactory, it's not a put-down of the conditioned realm, but it's noticing that you can't find satisfaction in the conditioned realm. You can find momentary, maybe. You feel temporarily satisfied with it or gratified. Report an error in the passage at 42:11 Highlight the passage at 42:11

42:46 But it's not a sustainable satisfaction that comes through attachment to the world. It's very shaky, very dependent on things going well and that the conditions are what you like. Report an error in the passage at 42:46 Highlight the passage at 42:46

43:04 So when we're in that fragile state always of trying to control and protect ourselves, then... You know, it's a fear-ridden realm we're in because we see everything as a potential danger. You know, you don't want aliens coming in here or strange things happening or disruptive people or, you know, difficult neighbors or things like this. Report an error in the passage at 43:04 Highlight the passage at 43:04

43:35 We've got to protect ourselves, you know, and we become inverted into... And we all agree that we're going to spend our life together trying to protect ourselves from the dangers of the world. We've become really neurotic cults. Report an error in the passage at 43:35 Highlight the passage at 43:35

43:53 You know, like some of those cults that commit suicide and do stupid things. That's what they're doing, you know. Got to protect them. We've got to build an armory in here. Build big fortress walls around it and have guns and everything. So when the enemy comes, We can protect ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 43:53 Highlight the passage at 43:53

44:21 But in the process, we're creating a realm of fear. We're living terrified of something that maybe hasn't happened yet. But the possibility of it. The future. There's that inevitable, unknown thing that anything could go wrong. Anything might happen. And then our safe place would be destroyed. Report an error in the passage at 44:21 Highlight the passage at 44:21

44:50 So the Buddha is pointing to the safety of knowing, of awareness, not to a physical location or a group or a country. Report an error in the passage at 44:50 Highlight the passage at 44:50

45:07 Now I find when I trust in awareness, then fear is, I see fear as an object. I see the conditions that create the fear. I am aware of how I create fear in my mind. Report an error in the passage at 45:07 Highlight the passage at 45:07

45:28 So that which is aware of fear isn't frightened. Awareness, the more I trust and rest in awareness, then fear is no longer a problem. Report an error in the passage at 45:28 Highlight the passage at 45:28

45:39 Because it's seen, it's a natural emotion, kind of primal emotion of this realm. Animal realm is a fear realm. You look at animals, their lives are survival. The squirrels, You know, they don't like to stay on the ground because the dogs and cats and everything will get them. You notice when the squirrels come onto the ground, they're very frightened and they're very alert and then they always head for the trees as soon as they can because their safety is in the tree. Report an error in the passage at 45:39 Highlight the passage at 45:39

46:14 I'll be going on a conventional level. I'll be going to Thailand or be back around the 21st of January. Report an error in the passage at 46:14 Highlight the passage at 46:14

46:31 to the winter retreats, I really like the winter retreats. chance to, know, the conditions are usually pretty good towards So during this time, you know, really things. Report an error in the passage at 46:31 Highlight the passage at 46:31

46:54 let the conventional world take you over and, you know, you to it. Report an error in the passage at 46:54 Highlight the passage at 46:54

47:03 You know, rejection of it, but knowing it, you know, what attachment to conventional reality is. You know, you're witnessing, you're aware of the suffocation of it. And you feel suffocated by the conventional world. So limited and so dependent and so ephemeral. Report an error in the passage at 47:03 Highlight the passage at 47:03

47:30 So it does take a strong determination, my determination, to live this awareness. You know, as you recognize it, it's a matter of recognizing it and valuing it. You know, seeing it as, this is the path, the forces of Māra. Or shall we blame it on Osama bin Laden? Report an error in the passage at 47:30 Highlight the passage at 47:30

48:02 Islamic terrorists. Report an error in the passage at 48:02 Highlight the passage at 48:02

48:09 So after this, there's a reflection for this evening. Report an error in the passage at 48:09 Highlight the passage at 48:09