9651-Awareness-Transcends-Views-And-Opinions

0:00 I'd like to take this opportunity to formally pay our respects as a community to Lumpur Sumedho since he's arrived back at Amaravati now. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

· · · silence, 1 minute

0:58 APARU TADE SANGAMATA SATAWARAYE SOROWANTA BAMUNJANTU SATAM Report an error in the passage at 0:58 Highlight the passage at 0:58

1:08 So Report an error in the passage at 1:08 Highlight the passage at 1:08

1:30 this morning is an opportunity to reflect on the dharma, and Report an error in the passage at 1:30 Highlight the passage at 1:30

1:46 I've been invited to give these reflections. They're not teachings, they're not... I'm not trying to instruct you and convince you of anything, but hopefully to open your minds towards the present moment, towards looking at observing in a different way than, say, the worldly conditioned mental attitudes we generally perceive, conceive, and operate from our own particular... Report an error in the passage at 1:46 Highlight the passage at 1:46

2:24 Delusions. And this Report an error in the passage at 2:24 Highlight the passage at 2:24

2:31 is, I mean, we're going against everything that the world values and considers reality. Like when we talk about the real world, most people conceive it as the world that one creates in one's mind, what one thinks, what one perceives, what one remembers is the real world. Report an error in the passage at 2:31 Highlight the passage at 2:31

2:56 And therefore... We're not operating from memory, from perception, from any condition whatsoever, but from awareness. And so the attitude for reflection is awareness, open attention, listening, receptivity, and observing, so that we're not here to Make decisions, criticize, or take sides with any issue, but observe the knowing. Consciousness itself is our ability to know the present moment, because the present moment isn't created. Report an error in the passage at 2:56 Highlight the passage at 2:56

3:47 I mean, consciousness is not created by us. It's not created out of ignorance, and we operate from our own particular biases. That we might call our consciousness. See, consciousness, this is more or less a way of changing the perception of consciousness from what we generally perceive or consider consciousness to be according to our own cultural conditioning towards observing that consciousness is here and now. Report an error in the passage at 3:47 Highlight the passage at 3:47

4:25 It's not about... It contains everything. If there's no consciousness, we wouldn't be here. We wouldn't be able to know anything. Consciousness is not personal either. It's not about mine and yours and anything like that. It's universal. It's boundless. It's real. It's here and now. And we can't define it, but we can recognize it. Report an error in the passage at 4:25 Highlight the passage at 4:25

5:00 So it's like consciousness knowing itself to be this way. Report an error in the passage at 5:00 Highlight the passage at 5:00

5:13 This is a time where there's a lot of interest in that particular word, in consciousness, especially in the Western world, psychiatry, psychology, science, because the Western civilization tends to regard reality as defined, what we define, what we can name. Report an error in the passage at 5:13 Highlight the passage at 5:13

5:39 And so we don't consider anything real unless we have a name for it. And we can define it and describe it. But recognize that most of what we experience in life is indefinable. You know, you can't really give a name or a word or definition to every moment, every experience that we might be having. Report an error in the passage at 5:39 Highlight the passage at 5:39

6:11 We have certain ways that we tend to think reality is what we perceive and define. But I like to use the English word reality for dhamma. When you say awaken to the dhamma, awaken to reality, wake up, these are the words that mean a lot to me because it's not a demand, it's a... Suggestion is to wake up and observe rather than tell you what you should be observing or define reality for you in any particular way. Report an error in the passage at 6:11 Highlight the passage at 6:11

7:04 Some of you have been in the Thanga for a long time and have heard me talk many times. I was given a set of my collected teachings yesterday. Report an error in the passage at 7:04 Highlight the passage at 7:04

7:20 Five volumes of me. Report an error in the passage at 7:20 Highlight the passage at 7:20

7:25 Beautifully done. I was talking to Venerable Ajahn Sumedho this morning and he was saying how from the beginning to the end I'm really saying the same thing. It's not like I'm saying anything new. But recognize that Even though I say the same thing, because when I'm sitting here, I'm actually coming from the empty consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 7:25 Highlight the passage at 7:25

8:00 So it's not like a prepared lecture that I've memorized and I give out on occasions when I'm asked to give talks. That would be incredibly boring to do. You can give an interesting talk, prepare one, and then give it, and then you don't really want to do it again. But if you're coming from pure awareness, consciousness itself, then it's always new. Report an error in the passage at 8:00 Highlight the passage at 8:00

8:30 It's new for me. It's fresh because it's coming from the here and now rather than from a fixed view, a particular subject that I want to... Report an error in the passage at 8:30 Highlight the passage at 8:30

8:45 or convince or convert or teach you. So what I'm trying to do is more or less open, encourage you to open yourself up to present reality rather than just decide whether I'm right or wrong or if you agree or don't agree or if you're confused by what I say, if you don't know what I'm talking about. Report an error in the passage at 8:45 Highlight the passage at 8:45

9:13 If you totally agree with me and think what I say is the absolute truth, whatever your reactions are to what you're hearing, you can be aware they are the way they are. Report an error in the passage at 9:13 Highlight the passage at 9:13

9:25 I can't tell you how you should receive what I'm saying. That's impossible. But you can know what, you know, when I talk like this, when I'm reflecting this way, how it affects you. That's mindfulness, awareness. Report an error in the passage at 9:25 Highlight the passage at 9:25

9:51 Whether you believe or don't believe or convinced or unconvinced, confused, you know. You know what the kind of emotional mental state you're experiencing at this moment. There's a knowing. And that knowing then is what we mean by awareness. It's awareness with consciousness of the way it is in the present. Report an error in the passage at 9:51 Highlight the passage at 9:51

10:20 And then this will become a memory. When I finish this reflection, then you'll remember some of it, forget it, or whatever. But the point is not about accumulating knowledge or memories, but in learning to trust yourself in being aware. Report an error in the passage at 10:20 Highlight the passage at 10:20

10:43 Because we have particular ideals, high standards, principles that we operate from. In the Saṅgha, you know, we have a Vinaya, we have a tradition, and so these are the conventions we're using in form, the form that we voluntarily take on. Report an error in the passage at 10:43 Highlight the passage at 10:43

11:10 But then what you're actually feeling or experiencing at this time is Report an error in the passage at 11:10 Highlight the passage at 11:10

11:20 the way it is. It can't be any other way. You know, when we try to... convert or convince or justify everything, then, of course, we're in a different position. I'm trying to tell you, convince you, convert you, get you to believe me, go along with me, what I say. And that would be more like a cult, you know, where we all have to agree and say the same creed. Report an error in the passage at 11:20 Highlight the passage at 11:20

11:52 and Report an error in the passage at 11:52 Highlight the passage at 11:52

11:56 And disagreement, doubt is forbidden. That was what I would define as a cult mentality. We have to all reaffirm, affirm our positions according to what I might be telling you what you should believe in. But it's not about what you should believe in, but it's being aware of belief is like this, disbelief is like this. Report an error in the passage at 11:56 Highlight the passage at 11:56

12:26 The way it is. Report an error in the passage at 12:26 Highlight the passage at 12:26

12:40 Now in this moment we have a physical form, our own, what we call our bodies, sitting. There's the four postures, sitting, standing, walking, lying down. And these are the four ordinary postures that we use during the day and night. We're either sitting, standing, walking, or lying down. Report an error in the passage at 12:40 Highlight the passage at 12:40

13:06 So the body is... It's like this. Sitting is like this. And when we reflect on the posture, the four postures, then it's not about how well you sit. Some people have to sit on chairs. Some people can sit in lotus posture. Some people can't. You might have preferences about sitting. You might even have views. Report an error in the passage at 13:06 Highlight the passage at 13:06

13:39 about how you should sit. But we're not interested in perfect posture and some ideal sitting posture, but just reflecting on sitting is like this. Report an error in the passage at 13:39 Highlight the passage at 13:39

13:52 It's observing, it's not judging or criticizing one's posture or somebody else's. That applies to standing, walking, and lying down. Report an error in the passage at 13:52 Highlight the passage at 13:52

14:07 Now generally we don't do this kind of thing. We used to have the idea you had to really get lotus posture, full lotus posture to really get samādhi. And, of course, that's an ideal. An ideal is you can create a perfect ideal posture in your mind. You can conceive of some ideal of a perfect sitting posture. Report an error in the passage at 14:07 Highlight the passage at 14:07

14:42 But the posture that you're in right now is like this. And so when I'm saying the way it is, it's learning to observe. Just sitting is like this. It's not about judging or having views about how well or how not well you might be sitting at this moment. Or people sitting in chairs might feel that they can't really... Report an error in the passage at 14:42 Highlight the passage at 14:42

15:12 Copyright © 2020 Mooji Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No, the posture that I'm experiencing at this time is like this. Report an error in the passage at 15:12 Highlight the passage at 15:12

15:51 Be aware of any kind of stress or tension in the body, any pain, pressures that you might be feeling in the sitting position is like this. Whether it's pleasant or unpleasant, wanted or unwanted, it is the way it is. Report an error in the passage at 15:51 Highlight the passage at 15:51

16:17 Hopefully this is... Trying to present a way of looking rather than trying to tell you how you should sit. But this is the way out of suffering. It's not about perfect posture is the way out of suffering. It's about sitting, it's like this, standing, walking, lying down, breathing. We're all breathing now. Breathing is like this. Report an error in the passage at 16:17 Highlight the passage at 16:17

16:50 Inhaling like this, exhaling is like this. Report an error in the passage at 16:50 Highlight the passage at 16:50

16:57 I hope this is getting across the point of being the observer, the knower of the present moment, just as you're experiencing it through your own body, sitting and breathing. Report an error in the passage at 16:57 Highlight the passage at 16:57

17:13 And then any opinions, views, ideas, or that that you might have about it might come up. And you're aware of them. They are what they are, you know. It's not right or wrong. It's just noticing, paying attention, observing, discerning. Report an error in the passage at 17:13 Highlight the passage at 17:13

17:38 Now, the critical mind is through thinking. It's not through discerning. When you criticize, you have to start thinking. Report an error in the passage at 17:38 Highlight the passage at 17:38

17:51 And, you know, that's... Where our society has so much suffering, modern affluent societies, people think a lot, we know a lot, we read, we have computers, we have high tech, we have all kinds of information that we've acquired, we have ideas, we have ideals, principles, standards, views and opinions. Report an error in the passage at 17:51 Highlight the passage at 17:51

18:23 These are all created through thinking. They're not natural phenomena. You're not born thinking. Thinking is something we develop. We develop language. We have memory. We have retentive memory, so we can remember things of the past. That's why we can learn, why we can learn words, learn grammar, learn all kinds of things. Report an error in the passage at 18:23 Highlight the passage at 18:23

18:53 Our ability to retain, to condition ourselves through repetition, through influence. Report an error in the passage at 18:53 Highlight the passage at 18:53

19:06 So thinking is, you know, I'm not against thinking. It's learning how to think, how to use thinking with wisdom rather than just getting caught up in the thinking habit. So many of us have suffered from obsessive thinking, uncontrollable thinking. Report an error in the passage at 19:06 Highlight the passage at 19:06

19:29 Habitual thinking. And when people start meditating, they always complain that they want peace and they want samādhi, want concentration, but their minds just go on thinking, thinking, thinking. How do you stop thinking? How can I control thinking? And to think about controlling thinking is still thinking, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 19:29 Highlight the passage at 19:29

19:54 So thinking is like this. It's something we create. We can observe thinking. Report an error in the passage at 19:54 Highlight the passage at 19:54

20:08 What is it that knows that you're thinking? Report an error in the passage at 20:08 Highlight the passage at 20:08

20:20 But thinking also, if used out of ignorance and attachment, then we create a lot of suffering because thinking is discriminatory. We discriminate. This is good. This is bad. This is right, wrong. This is the way it should be. It shouldn't be like this. This is big, small. And so we have, you know, that has its purpose. Report an error in the passage at 20:20 Highlight the passage at 20:20

20:51 There's nothing wrong with it. But a misuse of it is how we create suffering in our minds. We identify, we see ourselves as our physical form. I am this body. And so we develop a sense of self about... About our gender, about our appearance, about the color of our skin, about our age, nationality, ethnic identities. Report an error in the passage at 20:51 Highlight the passage at 20:51

21:22 These are creations of the mind. And then they're created through thinking. So I tell people, you know, for me to become Ajahn Sumedho, I have to think. Actually, I have to think I am Ajahn Sumedho. Report an error in the passage at 21:22 Highlight the passage at 21:22

21:48 Now, I wasn't born with that name. The first words I ever said were not Ajahn Sumedho, it was Mama or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 21:48 Highlight the passage at 21:48

22:02 And acquired the name Ajahn Sumedho later on. Or my mother told me my name was Robert. Report an error in the passage at 22:02 Highlight the passage at 22:02

22:16 So for me, you know, I've been Ajahn Sumedho for so long, I forget about ever being Robert, because I haven't used that name very much in the past 48 years. Report an error in the passage at 22:16 Highlight the passage at 22:16

22:31 And Sumedho is a more common identity. But it is an identity, it is a condition, it's a word, it's a thought. When there's no thought, then ask yourself, if there's no thought, if there's no thinking, I am Ajahn Sumedho, is there Ajahn Sumedho? Report an error in the passage at 22:31 Highlight the passage at 22:31

22:54 And then you're observing, you're listening in that pure awareness. I'm just speaking now from direct experience. Report an error in the passage at 22:54 Highlight the passage at 22:54

23:09 In the silence of consciousness, there's no Ajahn Sumedho. And yet, on a conventional level, You know, you're all thinking, he's Ajahn Sumedho. That's conventional reality. You know, that's one thing. But we're talking about direct knowing, direct experience at this moment. And then I can think, I am Ajahn Sumedho, but I don't spend my life going around thinking I'm Ajahn Sumedho. Report an error in the passage at 23:09 Highlight the passage at 23:09

23:44 It's not an obsession. It's kind of pointless to assume that I'm Ajahn Sumedho all the time. That's an assumption. That's an idea I have, that even when I'm fast asleep, I'm still Ajahn Sumedho. That's a thought, that's a perception that I create. But in the reality of this moment, Report an error in the passage at 23:44 Highlight the passage at 23:44

24:12 and now I become Ajahn Sumedho at that moment, but it doesn't last. So you see, in recognizing that these are mere conventional forms, they're not... positions we take. If I'm, if I feel, if I don't know this kind, if I don't develop this kind of wisdom, then I go around thinking I'm Ajahn Sumedho all the time. Report an error in the passage at 24:12 Highlight the passage at 24:12

24:40 I'm an Ajahn every moment, you know. I'm Sumedho Bhikkhu. I'm, you know, senior monk. I'm all the, I have titles and I can really convince myself I am Ajahn Sumedho, Tanjau Kun, Raja Sumedho, All the time, every moment of the day and night, and that is something, you know, somebody with these titles and that, senior monk, have a good reputation, that I'm really somebody. Report an error in the passage at 24:40 Highlight the passage at 24:40

25:14 And what is that? What is that, that somebody? It's a creation of the mind, isn't it? It would lead to arrogance, to me. Acting and living in an arrogant, conceited way. If I have to always be, you know, considered important and famous and high titled, and that's what I expect everybody to be doing, does that lead to peace and contentment? Report an error in the passage at 25:14 Highlight the passage at 25:14

25:51 No. Because that's asking the impossible, isn't it? It's impossible to... To expect that as one's reality. Report an error in the passage at 25:51 Highlight the passage at 25:51

26:08 And yet how many of you suffer through these identities that you carry with you all the time? Report an error in the passage at 26:08 Highlight the passage at 26:08

26:19 Your social position, your status, your achievements. Or a lot of people identify with very unpleasant things like being not good enough or not clever enough or being alcoholic or drug addicts or being... Gay or being whatever, you know, you're very much identified with these perceptions as a continuous belief in something that is merely a condition arising and ceasing. Report an error in the passage at 26:19 Highlight the passage at 26:19

26:54 Being rich or poor, powerful or helpless, good or bad. We found in teaching meditation so many people have a sense of of not being good enough, that they're too weak or they're too stupid or they've made too many mistakes or they're not, you know, the way we can criticize and become obsessed with faults, with weaknesses that we regard as ours, me and mine. Report an error in the passage at 26:54 Highlight the passage at 26:54

27:39 It's interesting, the subject of guilt. Because this is a particularly strong problem in the Western world. Report an error in the passage at 27:39 Highlight the passage at 27:39

27:52 It's not such a big problem in, say, Thailand or the Dalai Lama. It takes quite a bit to tell him exactly why we suffer from guilt complexes. Report an error in the passage at 27:52 Highlight the passage at 27:52

28:11 And when you look at it, this is from my own experience, you know how... Report an error in the passage at 28:11 Highlight the passage at 28:11

28:16 You know, on a condition level, culturally conditioned, through my cultural background, my social position, etc., is based on ideals of how, you know, ideal, what a man should be, what a bhikkhu should be, what a senior monk should be, what, you know, a teacher should be, what a really good man should be. Report an error in the passage at 28:16 Highlight the passage at 28:16

28:45 And then, you know, because you know all the very best of how things should be, but you can't really be that good, that perfect, because life is not an ideal, isn't it? It's not ideal, it is the way it is. We have to live with these changing conditions, these karmic formations, these human bodies. And they have their own agenda, you know, much as you want to control it and compel it to do what you want, the body still, you know, grows up, gets old, gets sick, dies, still feel pain and aches and so forth, that are just a part of the human condition, the human form. Report an error in the passage at 28:45 Highlight the passage at 28:45

29:43 And we can create an ideal body. Through, you know, imagining, through thinking the ideal male form, the ideal female form, and then we have an ideal, and then we compare ourselves with the ideal, and we're never that good. Report an error in the passage at 29:43 Highlight the passage at 29:43

30:04 You know, you can't be, or sustain it. At moments, maybe we are, have a perfect form, but it doesn't, it's not sustainable. Report an error in the passage at 30:04 Highlight the passage at 30:04

30:16 We can feel a lot of love, and... Great feelings of compassion, mettā and karuṇā at moments, but have a continuous sustained mettā and karuṇā in terms of idealizing it. It's not possible, is it? Because we have emotions, we feel we can be offended, we can be hurt, we can be insulted, we can feel anger or lust, greed, jealousy, fear. Report an error in the passage at 30:16 Highlight the passage at 30:16

30:52 Doubt, anxiety. Report an error in the passage at 30:52 Highlight the passage at 30:52

30:58 And then we can feel guilty because we're never as good as we think we should be. Because what do we do? We're comparing the reality of now with some superlative ideal. And that's what, like with awareness, when I talk about awareness, means that we can actually be aware. An ideal is that. It's perfect. You know, so you can... Report an error in the passage at 30:58 Highlight the passage at 30:58

31:27 You can create a perfect ideal with thinking, using superlative language, the best, the ultimate. Report an error in the passage at 31:27 Highlight the passage at 31:27

31:45 But the reality of now is not that, is it? The reality of now is the body's like this, breathing's like this, thinking is like this. Report an error in the passage at 31:45 Highlight the passage at 31:45

31:58 Even though you might want to feel loving kindness for all creatures, maybe at this moment you don't. You feel angry at somebody? Report an error in the passage at 31:58 Highlight the passage at 31:58

32:10 It's like this. But if you're cooperating from the ideal, you can only fail because you can't be that good. Because we're not ideals. Like this, Buddha Rūpa is ideal. It doesn't get upset about anything. Report an error in the passage at 32:10 Highlight the passage at 32:10

32:34 We should bow, we should respect him, but if you... It's not going to be in the least bit offended or upset. Maybe I might get upset or you might be really annoyed, but the Buddha Rūpa itself, because it is a form, an ideal form. But the reality that we're experiencing is not ideal. It's the human form. It's a sensitive form. It's changing. It's impermanent. Report an error in the passage at 32:34 Highlight the passage at 32:34

33:15 And then we can feel guilty, you know, about the fact that what we're thinking now, what we're feeling now, isn't what a good monk or good nun should be feeling at this moment. Report an error in the passage at 33:15 Highlight the passage at 33:15

33:32 Now this is a reflection, just to see how much, because we do, you know, so much, so many people suffer from guilt complexes. Report an error in the passage at 33:32 Highlight the passage at 33:32

33:45 And I was in, just came back from America. We were talking to a bhikkhu in California who is determined he isn't any good. Report an error in the passage at 33:45 Highlight the passage at 33:45

34:02 And, you know, I've known him for quite a long time, but he still has this determination. And even, you know, he doesn't know how to reflect on that opinion. Report an error in the passage at 34:02 Highlight the passage at 34:02

34:17 You know, as much as I try to encourage him, he doesn't seem to have a clue of how to observe the feeling I'm no good is a condition you create in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 34:17 Highlight the passage at 34:17

34:31 It's not reality, it's not dharma, it's just maybe a habit, an emotional mental habit you've acquired. Because basically he's very good, you know, he's a very good person, good monk, good everything. And I'm sure he has moments where he might have, who knows what's going on in his mind, but in terms of appearance and relationships, he's very good. Report an error in the passage at 34:31 Highlight the passage at 34:31

35:09 But the way to resolve these problems is to observe them, not through trying to make ourselves better, but always trying to improve ourselves and trying to make the conditions better. Report an error in the passage at 35:09 Highlight the passage at 35:09

35:26 But to observe the conditions we create, Report an error in the passage at 35:26 Highlight the passage at 35:26

35:34 and they are what they are, whether they're clever, stupid, right or wrong, good or bad, we're not interested in the quality, but in the characteristic, all conditions are impermanent. So in this way, the Buddha made it incredibly easy for us. When you look at what the Buddha taught, it's... Because there's so many different perceptions, conditions, changes. The conditioned realm is, you know, incessantly changing, unrelenting anicca, unrelenting change. Report an error in the passage at 35:34 Highlight the passage at 35:34

36:15 And things are, you know, there's too many things, too many leaves in the forest, too many people on the planet, too many fish in the sea, too many insects in the... In the woods, too many of everything, and to be able to know everything about everything, and to categorize, this is the best, this is the next best, this is not very good, this is the worst, is one thing, that's personal view and opinion about the quality of a condition. Report an error in the passage at 36:15 Highlight the passage at 36:15

36:52 But we're not interested anymore in the quality, but in the characteristic of change. All conditions are impermanent. And so this is the essential teaching of the Buddha. All conditions are impermanent. That includes everything. The sun and moon, the stars, your perceptions, your memories, your physical conditions, your Report an error in the passage at 36:52 Highlight the passage at 36:52

37:25 emotions, your ideas, everything is anicca. All conditions are impermanent. Supay Sankarani Chah. You see how simple that is? We don't have to figure out about trying to get the best and get rid of the bad, but observe. Everything's teaching us all the time, whether it's good or bad, right or wrong, high or low. The condition you're experiencing, the thought, the emotion, the feeling, through the senses, through the body, through the mind, they all have this common. Report an error in the passage at 37:25 Highlight the passage at 37:25

38:05 Characteristic of impermanence, anicca and dukkha anattā, the three characteristics of existence. Report an error in the passage at 38:05 Highlight the passage at 38:05

38:21 Now what is aware of anicca? The fact that you can be aware of change. Can change be aware of change? Ask yourself. Can something changing be aware of something else changing? Report an error in the passage at 38:21 Highlight the passage at 38:21

38:49 And then consider that when the Buddha pointed, you know, to mindfulness, satisambhajanya, awareness, is the way that puts us into pure consciousness behind the changing conditions. Report an error in the passage at 38:49 Highlight the passage at 38:49

39:15 Or that not behind, but where the changing conditions operate. The changing conditions operate in consciousness. And as we let go of the changing conditions, then... consciousness allows us to reflect on change. Report an error in the passage at 39:15 Highlight the passage at 39:15

39:39 Sati Sampatanya, like being here and now, the present moment is like this, which embraces everything. It's not about how things should be, but it's like this. Report an error in the passage at 39:39 Highlight the passage at 39:39

39:57 Now this is, you know, this you can do wherever you are, whether you're here in the monastery or in London, whatever. It's not, you know, it's not dependent. It's not dependent on special situations. This is why, you know, with meditation retreats, sometimes people get addicted. I think they can only be mindful during a very strict, organized meditation retreat. And then when they go back home, they don't know what to do because they've got this perception that everything has to be quiet and organized. Report an error in the passage at 39:57 Highlight the passage at 39:57

40:40 And set up in a certain way, otherwise, you know, I just get carried away with my thoughts, my emotions and feelings and some family problems and problems at the office and on and on like that. We can see all these as the cause of our suffering. When we're on, say, a meditation retreat, noble silence, everything's organized for you. Report an error in the passage at 40:40 Highlight the passage at 40:40

41:08 You're told when to get up in the morning, when to eat your meal, when to go to bed. You don't have to think about this. You don't have to go shopping. You're asked now, I think, to relinquish your cell phones, your computers, iPads, iPods, radios, television. All you have to do is just sit, stand, walk, or lie down. That's an organization. Report an error in the passage at 41:08 Highlight the passage at 41:08

41:38 And it has its point. It's a special setup to develop awareness. It's useful, but you can't live like that. You can't operate in daily life in such controlled situations. And life is like this, whether you're living in London or any place. You can complain about... London, the noise, the traffic, the traffic jams, the pollution, this or that. And you say, when I was on the retreat at Amaravati, I was so peaceful back in London. Report an error in the passage at 41:38 Highlight the passage at 41:38

42:17 It's all chaos. And this is thinking again, isn't it? It's idealizing, perception that when everything's under control, you're okay. When it's not under your control or being controlled for you, then you're back in the... Sangsara Wata, whirling around, and then you see that I can't be mindful in London. Report an error in the passage at 42:17 Highlight the passage at 42:17

42:46 But mindfulness isn't about, you know, having special situations. It's being, learning to trust yourself, learning to recognize the power you have in just opening to the present moment, which is wherever you are in the present moment. Report an error in the passage at 42:46 Highlight the passage at 42:46

43:06 It's like this. Report an error in the passage at 43:06 Highlight the passage at 43:06

· · · silence, 1 minute

43:40 Like the four foundations of mindfulness, the satipaṭṭhāna, you know, you have the body, gayanupasana, vedanupasana, jitanupasana, tamanupasana. Report an error in the passage at 43:40 Highlight the passage at 43:40

43:59 The body, because wherever we are, we have this body with us. So it's either sitting, standing, walking, lying down, breathing, feeling hot or cold or whatever, you know, hungry or... Full or tired or energetic is like this. You know, you're observing. Feeling healthy, energetic is like this. Feeling sick and weak is like this. But we're interested in observing rather than, you know, saying we should all be healthy and happy because that's impossible. Report an error in the passage at 43:59 Highlight the passage at 43:59

44:40 That's an impossible demand. We have to experience fatigue, hunger. Heat and cold, because that's the way this realm is. It's about sensitivity, about feeling. You know, and we live in the sense realm. We're experiencing sensitivity now, where they say the Buddha-rūpa isn't sensitive, doesn't have to deal with sensitivity. Report an error in the passage at 44:40 Highlight the passage at 44:40

45:11 But we, wherever we are, you know, we're sensitive. We feel everything, the temperature of the room. The pressures of the body, the needs, the functions of our bodies, what Report an error in the passage at 45:11 Highlight the passage at 45:11

45:31 we see, you can't just have beautiful objects to look at. You can't control the world to just be beautiful for you. It's going to be beauties like this, uglinesses like this. Hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, they all work on this dualistic principle. Report an error in the passage at 45:31 Highlight the passage at 45:31

45:57 You know, beautiful, melodious sounds, and you have cacophonous ones. Report an error in the passage at 45:57 Highlight the passage at 45:57

46:05 And they're all in permanent conditions. You know, the awareness of them as condition phenomena changing is what you can observe, whether it's cacophony or harmony, whether it's bitter, tasting, or sweet, whether it's hot or cold. Whether it's fragrant or stinking or whatever the senses we might be experiencing at this time, conscious of odor, of taste, of touch, of sight and sound, it's like this. Report an error in the passage at 46:05 Highlight the passage at 46:05

46:47 It's changing. There's no permanent stench, no permanent fragrance, no permanent bitterness or sweetness. Report an error in the passage at 46:47 Highlight the passage at 46:47

46:58 But the observing of these, this is our refuge. This is the puto, and we talk about in this Thai forest tradition, you know, this is the kind of mantra we use. Report an error in the passage at 46:58 Highlight the passage at 46:58

47:15 Puto, puto, you know, so it's a two-syllable word, name of the Buddha, Report an error in the passage at 47:15 Highlight the passage at 47:15

47:25 but it also is a reflection on the fact that when we think puto, then we, you know, if we develop that sense. Simple enough word to remember. Then it's, for me, I've developed it into here and now, awareness here and now. This is a real bhutto. It's not just the grasping of some idea of Buddha or just a two-syllable word, but it's actually internalizing. Report an error in the passage at 47:25 Highlight the passage at 47:25

47:57 What is bhutto at this very moment? Awareness. Open attentiveness, receptivity to the changing conditions. That you can observe in your consciousness at this time. It's like this. Report an error in the passage at 47:57 Highlight the passage at 47:57

48:30 So, you know, and this will be my 48th Vasa. I haven't entered Vasa, entered Pansai yet. Because I'll enter second Pansai in the next month in Thailand. But the 48 Pansas, 48 Vasas, and 49 if you count the year I was Samanera. Report an error in the passage at 48:30 Highlight the passage at 48:30

48:57 In this tradition, you can't count your samanera vasas, but you count only the bhikkhu ones. But in terms of meditation, of bhavana, of that, then I can count 49 years of developing this practice. Report an error in the passage at 48:57 Highlight the passage at 48:57

49:18 And, you know, in one's life, you have to go through all kinds of different experiences. experiences. It can be pleasant, unpleasant. You can be praised, blamed, successful, failure. The eight worldly dhammas operate. Report an error in the passage at 49:18 Highlight the passage at 49:18

49:39 Life isn't a joy, pleasure trip. Some of it's pleasant, some of it's very unpleasant. But mindfulness then allows us to learn from everything. Report an error in the passage at 49:39 Highlight the passage at 49:39

49:56 Why did the Buddha choose dukkha as a noble truth? Suffering rather than happiness. Or love, something high, like love is inspiring. Universal love that inspires the mind. Suffering, what does that do? Buddha taught suffering. Report an error in the passage at 49:56 Highlight the passage at 49:56

50:22 That's depressing, you know. You think of suffering, nobody wants it. Report an error in the passage at 50:22 Highlight the passage at 50:22

50:30 I don't like to suffer. I want to be happy, successful. I want to be loved and appreciated. I want the best. Report an error in the passage at 50:30 Highlight the passage at 50:30

50:43 But it's this very dukkha that we learn from. Because happiness, we do have moments. Happiness comes and goes. And we like that. We want it. We'd like to have it all the time. It creates this greed. I want to be happy. All the time, forevermore, eternally happy in heavenly realm where I'll never suffer ever again is a kind of ideal of, you know, what we would like, what we want. Report an error in the passage at 50:43 Highlight the passage at 50:43

51:16 But this realm is like this. It's about change. And it doesn't change to get better and better, better and better, and happier and happier. Report an error in the passage at 51:16 Highlight the passage at 51:16

51:28 Happiness occurs when it reaches a peak. and then it But suffering is more, you know, it's what we don't want, so we have to change attitude of trying to get rid of it or deny it or blame it on somebody, but to recognize it. Report an error in the passage at 51:28 Highlight the passage at 51:28

51:49 That's what, like the first noble truth, understand. Dukkha, suffering is like this. Report an error in the passage at 51:49 Highlight the passage at 51:49

52:00 That which is aware of suffering isn't dukkha. Awareness is not dukkha. But the condition we can call suffering or dukkha, if that's the way you see it. Report an error in the passage at 52:00 Highlight the passage at 52:00

52:20 And it changes. It's not permanent. Report an error in the passage at 52:20 Highlight the passage at 52:20

52:25 The thing with dukkha is when you have it, it does seem permanent because we don't want it. Notice in one's life the things you want, happiness, success, and so forth, you would like to have permanently vanish very quickly. Report an error in the passage at 52:25 Highlight the passage at 52:25

52:44 And suffering, pain, misery seem to go on forever when you want to get rid of them. So the attitude is wanting to be happy, not wanting unhappiness. And this awareness of happiness and unhappiness isn't about being happy, isn't happy or unhappy. Report an error in the passage at 52:44 Highlight the passage at 52:44

53:12 It's discerning. It's peaceful. It's calm. It's our refuge, it's bhutto, it's dhammo, it's dhamma, it's reality. And then sankho is our Report an error in the passage at 53:12 Highlight the passage at 53:12

53:30 determination to develop this, to cultivate mindfulness, satisampajjanya in our lives. And this is why we're here. Why are you here? Why do you ordain? As monks or nuns, why do you bother to come to a Buddhist monastery? Report an error in the passage at 53:30 Highlight the passage at 53:30

54:01 And then speaking for myself, it's because it's the opportunity to understand reality, to know directly, not just be caught in views, opinions and perceptions that I've taken on from somebody else. The direct knowing, awareness, wisdom is available to us. We're open for that. That is our gift. That is a gift. That is a blessing of being born in this human form. Report an error in the passage at 54:01 Highlight the passage at 54:01

54:41 And so this is the point of a place like Amaravati, to keep encouraging this in a world where the opposite is always being presented to us. The opposite. Report an error in the passage at 54:41 Highlight the passage at 54:41

55:00 values of the modern age are about being successful, proving yourself, becoming somebody, making lots of money. Report an error in the passage at 55:00 Highlight the passage at 55:00

55:17 to get rid of all the nasty bits. Report an error in the passage at 55:17 Highlight the passage at 55:17

55:23 it's a time of great material development. know, we've got an abundance of things. of conveniences, of luxuries, of opportunities, especially in countries like this. And so we, you know, we have all these at our fingertips. You know, the world out there promises so much. Report an error in the passage at 55:23 Highlight the passage at 55:23

55:53 But it's ongoing. I mean, when does desire ever stop? You know, you think some of these multi-billionaires of the present time, you think, you know, a billion... Pounds would be enough, but you have a billion pounds, you want two billion. You want to be mentioned in some important business magazine as being the richest person in the whole world. Report an error in the passage at 55:53 Highlight the passage at 55:53

56:20 And you still have desire for more, because desire is that way. It's never content, it's never satisfied. Desire is the opposite of contentment. And so, like the sum in our life, That's what we've taken on in this form is contentment through, you know, we aren't demanding a lot or need a lot. The four requisites, we have the form, we have the teaching, and now it's up to you to cultivate that, to observe, to be the knower of conditioned phenomena. Report an error in the passage at 56:20 Highlight the passage at 56:20

57:03 So, you know, after all these years, What is the result of my practice is all conditions are impermanent. But Report an error in the passage at 57:03 Highlight the passage at 57:03

57:17 it's no longer knowing just the words or the idea of anicca. It's having developed it, observed through the vicissitudes of life, through the experiences that one personally has, through the praise and blame, success, failure. Report an error in the passage at 57:17 Highlight the passage at 57:17

57:44 Happiness, suffering, loss of loved ones, grief and sorrow, disappointment, despair, all these are conditioned phenomena. And so that's when we develop, when we cultivate, when there's real bhavana, mindfulness, developing the path, then everything is path knowledge. Everything takes you to that. Every condition, physical pain, disease, loss, grief, sorrow, disappointment, failure will take you there, not Report an error in the passage at 57:44 Highlight the passage at 57:44

58:28 getting what you want, as well as, you know, even if we're successful and have good health, we can get kind of easily self-satisfied when life is too easy. Sometimes we like to ride in the... In the wake of comfort and ease and successful life. Report an error in the passage at 58:28 Highlight the passage at 58:28

58:56 So the Buddha established the Saṅgha on poverty, on requisites, on alms-mendicancy, not on bank accounts and worldly success, but as mendicants dependent on the kindness, the generosity of others. Report an error in the passage at 58:56 Highlight the passage at 58:56

59:22 Because in this way we can observe our discontentment. So if you're discontented, you know, with life here at Amaravati or your position or whatever, see it as a condition of the mind. Use it as all conditions are impermanent. And then you'll see the suffering of discontentment. Then you'll understand contentment. Report an error in the passage at 59:22 Highlight the passage at 59:22

59:54 You'll abide in contentment. So I offer this as a reflection for this morning. Report an error in the passage at 59:54 Highlight the passage at 59:54