BP: Mind and Cognition (10 November 2014)

0:09 Thank you. How is everybody? Yeah, good, good, good, good. Report an error in the passage at 0:09 Highlight the passage at 0:09

0:29 Yeah, that's true. I thought if you'd like we could just grab a card and maybe we could pass it around. Some of you might know that Margaret's having an operation or maybe you don't know. So I thought I'd pass around a card if you'd like to make a, Report an error in the passage at 0:29 Highlight the passage at 0:29

1:10 during the course of, yeah. It is tomorrow. She's at North Shore. Report an error in the passage at 1:10 Highlight the passage at 1:10

1:22 Her last name is McIntyre. M-C-I-N-T-Y-R-E. So it's Margaret McIntyre. And she's at Royal North Shore. And the operation is tomorrow. Report an error in the passage at 1:22 Highlight the passage at 1:22

1:52 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:52 Highlight the passage at 1:52

1:59 0421106. 2, 1, 0. -0-3 Report an error in the passage at 1:59 Highlight the passage at 1:59

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2:48 to join in and take going for refuge. Report an error in the passage at 2:48 Highlight the passage at 2:48

2:53 I Report an error in the passage at 2:53 Highlight the passage at 2:53

3:12 go for refuge until I am awakened to the Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha through the collections of merit and wisdom created out of generosity and the other practices. May I become a Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am awakened to the Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. the collections of merit and wisdom created out of generosity and the other practices. Report an error in the passage at 3:12 Highlight the passage at 3:12

3:36 May I become a Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings. May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all sentient beings be inseparable from the joy that is without sorrow. May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment for some and aversion toward others. Report an error in the passage at 3:36 Highlight the passage at 3:36

4:27 know, a couple, I think weeks ago, I began to talk about the practice of taking and giving. And I introduced it and then met. Meditated on it. I'd like to go a bit further in talking about the practice. Report an error in the passage at 4:27 Highlight the passage at 4:27

4:47 And I'm trying to remember where I got to. I talked about, if you remember, the fact that the Buddha, there's a parable in the Pāli Canon, the Pāli Suttas, where the Buddha talked about a person being struck by an arrow and then struck by a second arrow. And the second arrow was our... The first arrow is the inevitability of difficulties in our life in all its various forms, which are part of the ordinary human condition. Report an error in the passage at 4:47 Highlight the passage at 4:47

5:29 We have very little control over that. But the second arrow was the arrow of denial or condemnation or judging or denying, resisting, criticizing. Report an error in the passage at 5:29 Highlight the passage at 5:29

5:48 Hating the first arrow. Things should not be like this. And this second arrow of our habitual reactivity to the first arrow is optional. We do have some control over that. The first arrow is perhaps, to a large extent, beyond our control. The second arrow, we can begin to work with that arrow and not keep shooting ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 5:48 Highlight the passage at 5:48

6:22 Just as it were, compounding our problems and in fact our suffering and creating future sufferings for ourselves. So it's working with that. The idea that we talked about to a great extent and kind of the central theme of mind training was how do we transform adversity into a path? How do we turn shit into fertilizer? Report an error in the passage at 6:22 Highlight the passage at 6:22

6:54 Something like that. Bad things happen. Here we're not questioning why they happen. But how can we make use of them somehow in coming out a better person for having gone through, even though we perhaps prefer not to? But when it's not an option, well, then how can we make the best of a difficult situation? So this is what the practice of... Report an error in the passage at 6:54 Highlight the passage at 6:54

7:26 Taking and giving is meant to service in that way. And I don't know if I talked about the, you know, in the actual practice, you know, I've talked about the fact that there are two meditative traditions for awakening our hearts. One is called equalizing, exchanging self for the other, and the other is a summoning cause and effect instruction. And generally the genre, the category of teaching is called mind training. Report an error in the passage at 7:26 Highlight the passage at 7:26

7:57 It is centered around the practice of taking and giving, not taking and giving, equalizing and exchanging self for others, which has five parts. Beginning with the first part, which is gaining a sense that all beings are equal from the point of view that no matter what the superficial differences amongst us might be, we all want to be happy, none of us want to suffer. Report an error in the passage at 7:57 Highlight the passage at 7:57

8:20 Whether you're living in a high rise, Luxury apartment or whether you're starving in Somalia. At the basic level of our humanity, we all want to be happy. None of us want to suffer. And then going on to look at the second and third parts, which are looking at the disadvantages of self-centeredness and the advantages of other-centeredness. Report an error in the passage at 8:20 Highlight the passage at 8:20

8:56 And that is the secret of life. Oh, you missed it. Report an error in the passage at 8:56 Highlight the passage at 8:56

9:06 I think it wasn't recorded. Ask him not to record it. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 9:06 Highlight the passage at 9:06

9:15 The advantages, disadvantages of other-centralists. Report an error in the passage at 9:15 Highlight the passage at 9:15

9:22 The disadvantages of self-centralists and the advantages of other-centralists. Report an error in the passage at 9:22 Highlight the passage at 9:22

9:29 Looking based within our own actual experience, which is sometimes hard to, I admit, to get in tune with, to get in touch with. But does this, I'm number one, center of the universe, approach to the living of our life actually help us? Is there a payoff? Or is in fact, does it give us the happiness that we suppose that kind of strategy and way of approaching our lives is going to bring us? Report an error in the passage at 9:29 Highlight the passage at 9:29

9:57 Or is in fact, if we begin to look at a lot of our difficulties in life, our frustrations and dissatisfactions, Our conflicts with others and so forth, a lot of sources of our difficulties, we might be able to trace that back to a sense of exaggerated self-concern at the expense of often the exclusion of others in one way or another. Report an error in the passage at 9:57 Highlight the passage at 9:57

10:20 So looking at that within our own experience, and through that perhaps we begin to, the center of gravity, the psychological center of gravity begins to shift perhaps to some degree between. A more balanced approach. You know, it's interesting. If you look, I don't know why sometimes I do it, but I look at the people about me, especially when I'm on the train and I have some time, or the bus. Report an error in the passage at 10:20 Highlight the passage at 10:20

10:49 And all these people, you know, they all have various appearances, male and female and so forth, and some are well-dressed and some perhaps aren't as well-dressed, and then difference in age and beauty perhaps and so forth. But they're all... In there, there's somebody in there who's, no matter what their individual circumstances, their unique karma, if you like, they're all struggling to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 10:49 Highlight the passage at 10:49

11:23 We're all doing that, aren't we? You over there and you over here. It's quite interesting. I don't know why. It seems somehow very profound when you begin to sense that about ourselves and everybody else. But everyone's the same in that regard. And then maybe they're beginning to find some sort of balance in how we expend our time and concern and our energies and resources and so forth in terms of both self and others. Report an error in the passage at 11:23 Highlight the passage at 11:23

11:59 We have to deal with our own problems. Report an error in the passage at 11:59 Highlight the passage at 11:59

12:09 Okay, yeah, yeah, you're good. Report an error in the passage at 12:09 Highlight the passage at 12:09

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12:49 Could you, if it's not too invasive, in what way have you found it? What way have you experienced that? Report an error in the passage at 12:49 Highlight the passage at 12:49

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17:31 It helps, Report an error in the passage at 17:31 Highlight the passage at 17:31

17:40 doesn't it? It helps kind of shift the dynamic. Report an error in the passage at 17:40 Highlight the passage at 17:40

18:05 Yes, Report an error in the passage at 18:05 Highlight the passage at 18:05

18:21 it's Report an error in the passage at 18:21 Highlight the passage at 18:21

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19:23 hard to have the presence of mind in the heat of the situation quite often. That's why we meditate, kind of go into our laboratory where we don't have as much pressure to have to react. Report an error in the passage at 19:23 Highlight the passage at 19:23

19:38 And we can perhaps form more skillful ways of... Relating habits, ways of relating. Disadvantages of self-centeredness, advantages of other-centeredness, and then looking at, I guess, what's just mentioned in terms of actual equalization, actual exchanging self for others. And this is more or less, I think, what we call empathy. Report an error in the passage at 19:38 Highlight the passage at 19:38

20:10 the... Report an error in the passage at 20:10 Highlight the passage at 20:10

20:15 So being able to, as was just mentioned about this woman coming into a new group, and how would you feel being able to put yourself in another person's place, which is a real skill. Report an error in the passage at 20:15 Highlight the passage at 20:15

20:36 I think it really helps in relationships if you can step out of your pattern. We often become rather defensive or so forth. Report an error in the passage at 20:36 Highlight the passage at 20:36

20:49 But how looking at the situation, how the other person's eyes, how would they be feeling? And so this is the fourth of these five parts to the equalizing exchange itself for others, actual exchange of itself for others. And being able to, you Report an error in the passage at 20:49 Highlight the passage at 20:49

21:18 know, within your own, you know, I can't imagine what it would be like to have breast surgery. Okay. I don't know. But maybe I can come up with something fairly close within my experience. I can say, well, I don't know how you feel, but I can approximate it in my own mind. I can imagine how you might be feeling. Report an error in the passage at 21:18 Highlight the passage at 21:18

21:45 And in that way begin to empathize, put yourself in their place, and look at the world out of their eyes. And this is a very important step, I think, in this process of equalizing and taking and giving. Report an error in the passage at 21:45 Highlight the passage at 21:45

22:05 I hope I didn't read this before. Report an error in the passage at 22:05 Highlight the passage at 22:05

22:10 Here's an example. This is from a book by Pema Chodron, an American Tibetan Buddhist nun. Many of you are probably familiar with some of her books. it. Report an error in the passage at 22:10 Highlight the passage at 22:10

22:25 Start where you're at or things like that. She's a very good author. I highly recommend her books, Pema Chodron. Someone, a young man who had been working with this practice of taking and giving and using his experiences in everyday life. And this is from her book. It's just to give you a sense of what... Report an error in the passage at 22:25 Highlight the passage at 22:25

22:50 know, the... Report an error in the passage at 22:50 Highlight the passage at 22:50

22:54 The willingness to, you know, the very first teaching that the Buddha gave, as I've often mentioned, was on the Four Noble Truths and amongst the Four Noble Truths was the truth of dukkha, the truth of suffering and the willingness to embrace our suffering if we're going to learn from it rather than, you know, our usual reactions of, you know, perhaps denying or distracting or numbing out. Report an error in the passage at 22:54 Highlight the passage at 22:54

23:24 Some ways, various ways that we use to discharge the difficult feelings. So this is just a case history, just to give you a sense. This young man had gone into a bar in Los Angeles to play pool. Before starting to play, he put his brand new leather jacket down on a chair. When he finished playing, it wasn't there. The other four people in the bar... Report an error in the passage at 23:24 Highlight the passage at 23:24

23:52 They were just sitting there looking at him with big smug smiles on their faces. They were really big guys. He felt extremely small and powerless. Report an error in the passage at 23:52 Highlight the passage at 23:52

24:03 He knew that they had taken his jacket and that it wouldn't be wise to confront them because he was small and outnumbered. He felt humiliated and helpless. Report an error in the passage at 24:03 Highlight the passage at 24:03

24:15 Then as a result of having worked with this practice, it occurred to him that he could feel empathy for people in the world who had been laughed at. Scorned and spat upon because of their religion or the color of their skin or their gender or their sexual orientation or their nationality or for whatever reason. Report an error in the passage at 24:15 Highlight the passage at 24:15

24:35 He found himself empathizing with all the people throughout time who had found themselves in humiliating situations. It was a profound experience for him. It didn't get his jacket back. It didn't solve anything. But it did open his heart to a lot of people with whom he had not before had any sense of shared experience. So I don't know, maybe this resonates with me because I know for myself the experiences of humiliation and sense of helplessness are extremely painful. Report an error in the passage at 24:35 Highlight the passage at 24:35

25:12 And I think we probably all have felt them in one way or another before. But this man was willing to be with that. Report an error in the passage at 25:12 Highlight the passage at 25:12

25:23 He's willing to embrace those feelings. He was, you know, not to distract themselves or to discharge them by becoming lost in the drama. You know, maybe he could, you know, he could go over some kind of scenario in his mind about how he's going to take revenge. You know, he's going to hire a couple guys to take care of these kids. Report an error in the passage at 25:23 Highlight the passage at 25:23

25:41 Or he could go into a story of self-pity and victimhood. Or he could go out and have a good drink or something, numb himself out. All the various strategies, these reactive patterns that we have are ways of Report an error in the passage at 25:41 Highlight the passage at 25:41

26:02 avoiding shooting ourselves with the second arrow. That's what it comes down to. So in this practice of taking and giving, we're willing to drop beneath the habitual reactions at such events. For example, here in the sky, having his jacket stolen, the humiliation, the sense of powerlessness. Report an error in the passage at 26:02 Highlight the passage at 26:02

26:29 Helplessness and so forth that the events normally evoke in us and that we become lost in. If we see it as a route, I'm not saying, and I think I mentioned this last time, we're not rubbing our faces in it or picking the old scabs off the wounds that we all have. If we see it as a route, as a means to a better end for ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 26:29 Highlight the passage at 26:29

27:00 In a means of healing. There's no sense of suffering for suffering's sake, but as a means to go beyond, to use our suffering as becoming a better person. So we're willing to feel the hurt, the sadness, the isolation, the humiliation, the sense of unfairness of it all. How does that feel? And we're willing to embrace it. Report an error in the passage at 27:00 Highlight the passage at 27:00

27:30 And perhaps that's what the Buddha was talking about in talking about the first noble truth, the truth of suffering. And we breathe it in. We're really willing to feel what it feels like to be an ordinary human being, just like everybody else. Report an error in the passage at 27:30 Highlight the passage at 27:30

27:48 If we would rather not, but that's not the reality of our situation. The important thing here is to feel the arrow and think not about who shot it or why it was shot or why I got hit by it, but... But we're willing to feel the arrow in our heart. That's all. It's pretty clean, clear in that way. So, you know, we breathe it in. And the breathing in is simply, it's not a mindfulness of breath practice. Report an error in the passage at 27:48 Highlight the passage at 27:48

28:20 You know, don't get hung up in the breathing in. That is simply a way of reinforcing the sense that I'm going to take this in. I'm going to fully experience. How that felt. And then we don't leave it there. We then notice, and I'm going over some of the material that I mentioned before. Sometimes all we experience is suffering, and we don't want to suffer, and we struggle with our suffering. And we fail to notice sometimes that there's somebody who's suffering. Report an error in the passage at 28:20 Highlight the passage at 28:20

28:58 And just like everybody else, I don't want to suffer. know, I... Report an error in the passage at 28:58 Highlight the passage at 28:58

29:02 I'm a human being who has feelings. I want, I desire pleasant feelings. You know, we're going to look at feelings eventually. Report an error in the passage at 29:02 Highlight the passage at 29:02

29:12 Pleasant feelings are those feelings we wish to repeat, we want to hold on to. And that's what I want. I want more of those. I don't want this kind of, this experience, these types of feelings. Report an error in the passage at 29:12 Highlight the passage at 29:12

29:24 And that's, I have to, you know, coming in to having, developing a sense of compassion for yourself. I don't want these feelings. I'm suffering. I don't know. Does that resonate? It seems as if we overlook the fact that we are human beings, that we don't want to suffer and want to be happy just like everybody else. Report an error in the passage at 29:24 Highlight the passage at 29:24

29:51 Quite often the attention, especially in the Mahāyāna and the development of compassion and so forth, is externalized. 2008? Report an error in the passage at 29:51 Highlight the passage at 29:51

30:01 Well, you know, it's... Shantideva, in his engaging the bodhisattva practices, way of life and so forth, he said, if one has never dreamed of such an attitude toward oneself, how could you genuinely develop it for others without developing a real sincere compassion for oneself and knowing our own experience directly, immediately? Report an error in the passage at 30:01 Highlight the passage at 30:01

30:27 How can we develop it in a genuine and mature and consistent fashion for others? Knowing their experience only second-handedly at best, only vicariously. Report an error in the passage at 30:27 Highlight the passage at 30:27

30:59 Yeah, but you might. Okay, I'm sorry. Report an error in the passage at 30:59 Highlight the passage at 30:59

31:23 Get over it. Report an error in the passage at 31:23 Highlight the passage at 31:23

31:27 I wouldn't want to put emotions in your mind or words in your mouth or whatever. But I think you may be being pretty hard on yourself. Report an error in the passage at 31:27 Highlight the passage at 31:27

31:43 Maybe insensitive to what you're actually experiencing as a way of avoiding going into that. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. But you may not. I mean, you may not. I wouldn't want to, as I said, I want to put emotions in your mind. But maybe if you're willing to be with it, wow, that hurts. And you may recall other times when you've experienced the same thing. Report an error in the passage at 31:43 Highlight the passage at 31:43

32:05 It hurts. And you don't want to be hurt. Sure, you can say, oh, okay. get your support, you know. Report an error in the passage at 32:05 Highlight the passage at 32:05

32:17 Okay? Yeah, good. Because the benefit is then if we can learn to tolerate our own pain, we can thereby be with others in their pain. If you can't tolerate your own pain, how can you be there with others? You're going to find some way to shut down. I mean, not some way to shut down. You will probably shut down or you're going to find some way to distance yourself. Report an error in the passage at 32:17 Highlight the passage at 32:17

32:41 You know, you can't go... Yeah. I think we have to... A great gift is the ability to be able to tolerate difficult mind states, to be able to tolerate slowly, expand your sense of being willing to be with suffering. And then we can begin to exclude other suffering within that as well. Report an error in the passage at 32:41 Highlight the passage at 32:41

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34:05 I mean, the traditional answer to that would be if they're telling you, if they're saying that you have horns on your head, they're wrong. I don't have horns. If they are, correct, they say thank you. We should point that out. Report an error in the passage at 34:05 Highlight the passage at 34:05

34:26 Okay, someone says, so that hurts. Does it hurt? Report an error in the passage at 34:26 Highlight the passage at 34:26

34:36 Okay, then we're going, yeah, so we're going. First, how do you deal with this in terms of your spiritual practice? And I'm not saying that your spiritual practice should be divorced from your everyday life, for sure. But you might have to also, once you work with that, go on to say, this is not a proper work environment. Report an error in the passage at 34:36 Highlight the passage at 34:36

35:04 It's a managerial problem that needs to be dealt with. I don't think you could, as I said, I don't think you should make yourself into a doormat. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 35:04 Highlight the passage at 35:04

35:37 yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 35:37 Highlight the passage at 35:37

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36:55 So I think, yeah, as has been mentioned, maybe we, you know, there's a couple levels of how to deal with the kind of situation. The first level, I think, that we're interested in is our own reactions and how we're going to make use of our own, how... Report an error in the passage at 36:55 Highlight the passage at 36:55

37:16 Being willing to be with that and to use it as a means to become a better person. Okay, having said that, you don't have to make yourself into a doormat. To develop compassion doesn't mean that. Report an error in the passage at 37:16 Highlight the passage at 37:16

37:40 Yeah, go ahead. Report an error in the passage at 37:40 Highlight the passage at 37:40

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38:21 So Report an error in the passage at 38:21 Highlight the passage at 38:21

38:42 use Report an error in the passage at 38:42 Highlight the passage at 38:42

38:53 it. Use that difficulty to be able to develop compassion for yourself. And then what do you need? So you get in touch with the actual feeling, not the stories that we might build around it, but there's this feeling of being hurt or whatever it might be. And to what do I need? And you give yourself that. Report an error in the passage at 38:53 Highlight the passage at 38:53

39:22 You compassionately take upon the suffering that is saying you embrace that suffering. And then we don't leave it there. We lovingly give ourselves what we need. What do I need? Emotionally, materially, practically. We talked about the fact that conceptual consciousness cannot tell the difference between the actual... Report an error in the passage at 39:22 Highlight the passage at 39:22

39:52 Lemon and imagined lemon. And here we can actually, it's as if we can give ourselves whatever it is that we need as far as imaginatively. We lovingly give ourselves whatever would heal the difficulty. Report an error in the passage at 39:52 Highlight the passage at 39:52

40:15 Yeah, and we want the reactive, our habitual reactions. Okay, then we don't leave it there. We then go on to use that, our experience of what it felt like to somebody who says, you're stupid. And what about all those other people who are called names every day or are abused every day of their life? How are they feeling? And we extend and we don't have to speculate. We don't have to assume. We know within our experience how that... Report an error in the passage at 40:15 Highlight the passage at 40:15

40:56 There's almost a living feeling at that moment. We almost know, we can almost step into their shoes how they must be feeling. And the same type of compassion that we can develop for ourselves becomes readily available to be able to develop for these people, these people who we don't even know. There must be hundreds of thousands of people who are being called names almost every day of their life. Report an error in the passage at 40:56 Highlight the passage at 40:56

41:21 And in one way, stupid. Ways people are put down. And we know how that feels. And we can compassionately take upon their suffering. And it's just a matter of we're getting involved in people's suffering. We're not going to shield our hearts. We're going to open our hearts. And we're going to develop the ability to leave our hearts open in whatever life brings us. Report an error in the passage at 41:21 Highlight the passage at 41:21

41:50 To be able to be fully there to ourselves and the people about us. The world, the suffering of the world, without having to shield ourselves or to shut down, to feel we have to protect ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 41:50 Highlight the passage at 41:50

42:10 You know, we have to do this in a very gentle fashion. I think it's not a revolution, it's an evolution, a gradual unfolding process. Report an error in the passage at 42:10 Highlight the passage at 42:10

42:20 Okay, and then we take on, and then we give them. They probably need very much exactly what we need. You know, somebody, maybe they just need somebody to say, I'm sorry they called you stupid. That was very unkind. You know, don't take that on. They don't know it. Whatever, you know. You give them that lovingly. You know, just imagine that somebody's there for them. Report an error in the passage at 42:20 Highlight the passage at 42:20

42:48 Having said that, okay, so that's the practice, okay? But maybe, you know, in the real world. I mean, I think it'll change your mindset. Report an error in the passage at 42:48 Highlight the passage at 42:48

43:02 Much for the better. Having said that, something maybe practically needs to be done. Report an error in the passage at 43:02 Highlight the passage at 43:02

43:37 We're always going to be protecting ourselves against the possibility of people criticizing us because we don't feel so good about ourselves. would, yeah, no, I think, but that's, you see, I think. Report an error in the passage at 43:37 Highlight the passage at 43:37

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44:13 You're vulnerable, right? You're vulnerable. So if you're vulnerable, you always have to be protected, don't you? It seems like it comes with the territory. Report an error in the passage at 44:13 Highlight the passage at 44:13

44:33 Yeah, but you can say that. Report an error in the passage at 44:33 Highlight the passage at 44:33

44:39 It's like if you have this wound and you're walking down the street, you're going to have to be guarded. but, but, but, you know. Report an error in the passage at 44:39 Highlight the passage at 44:39

44:46 Be careful that nobody brushes up against you. Report an error in the passage at 44:46 Highlight the passage at 44:46

44:55 Very good to us. Report an error in the passage at 44:55 Highlight the passage at 44:55

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46:29 Enemies are your best teachers. So there's many different levels that we can work with. Report an error in the passage at 46:29 Highlight the passage at 46:29

46:43 So how Report an error in the passage at 46:43 Highlight the passage at 46:43

46:56 do you get strong? Report an error in the passage at 46:56 Highlight the passage at 46:56

47:03 You exercise your muscle. Report an error in the passage at 47:03 Highlight the passage at 47:03

47:09 Exercise your compassionate muscle. You love muscle. it, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 47:09 Highlight the passage at 47:09

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47:20 mean, you know, yeah, I think. Report an error in the passage at 47:20 Highlight the passage at 47:20

47:42 For me, there's a saying, it's never too late to have the parent you didn't have. So here, Report an error in the passage at 47:42 Highlight the passage at 47:42

48:09 I know for myself in my own practice, Going back to that little child who didn't have that person at that time when they needed him, I can, at least in my imagination, be there for them. I can have compassion for that little person that I once was. And I can be there for them, at least in my imagination, in my willingness to share in their suffering and to be with them in whatever way I can. Report an error in the passage at 48:09 Highlight the passage at 48:09

48:44 We tried to give them what they needed that they didn't get. There's a hole in it. Report an error in the passage at 48:44 Highlight the passage at 48:44

48:55 So this is part of this practice. And we were talking about going back to the past, or it could be the present. What do I need? And giving yourself that out of your own compassion. You're an adult now, and you can do that. Report an error in the passage at 48:55 Highlight the passage at 48:55

49:21 How's that? Report an error in the passage at 49:21 Highlight the passage at 49:21

49:26 Yeah, but those are... Report an error in the passage at 49:26 Highlight the passage at 49:26

49:32 If you're not attached to that, then you don't need to practice anymore. Report an error in the passage at 49:32 Highlight the passage at 49:32

49:41 Well, Report an error in the passage at 49:41 Highlight the passage at 49:41

49:45 yeah, I mean generosity and ethics, but so this is a practice. Yeah, ethics and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 49:45 Highlight the passage at 49:45

49:55 Yeah, that's a subsumed practice of ethics. If you can help, help. If you can't help, don't harm. So whenever we can help both ourselves and others. Report an error in the passage at 49:55 Highlight the passage at 49:55

50:20 Yeah? Report an error in the passage at 50:20 Highlight the passage at 50:20

50:28 How do you mean that you shouldn't congratulate yourself for doing a good job because it might develop pride and things like that? If you do something well, you shouldn't say that was a pat yourself on the back? Report an error in the passage at 50:28 Highlight the passage at 50:28

50:47 Yeah, yeah. So it's just about, you know, what does that cost us in what we do and don't do in our lives? Yeah, we avoid if it runs our life. Report an error in the passage at 50:47 Highlight the passage at 50:47

51:04 Yeah, so we're not free, are we? Report an error in the passage at 51:04 Highlight the passage at 51:04

51:09 There's no getting around it. We have to deal with it at some time. Report an error in the passage at 51:09 Highlight the passage at 51:09

51:15 No, you can, but it's not much of a life. What Report an error in the passage at 51:15 Highlight the passage at 51:15

51:31 a conversation, didn't it? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 51:31 Highlight the passage at 51:31

51:39 Yeah, it's very compassionate. Right, I agree. I think, you know, I think, you know, I was trying to, sometimes I'm asked, you know, what's the essence of the Dharma or something like that? Like the meaning of life or whatever. And so I think, and I've thought about that, and I'm trying to come up with some clever remark. Report an error in the passage at 51:39 Highlight the passage at 51:39

52:08 I think it's effective compassion. Not just compassion, but effective compassion. So it's a combination of wisdom, but also compassion. It's compassion which is couched in understanding and skill. Report an error in the passage at 52:08 Highlight the passage at 52:08

52:27 So that's what we're trying to develop, I think. Report an error in the passage at 52:27 Highlight the passage at 52:27

52:35 Okay, gosh, I don't know what to do now. Report an error in the passage at 52:35 Highlight the passage at 52:35

52:40 What was that? Report an error in the passage at 52:40 Highlight the passage at 52:40

52:45 Okay, Report an error in the passage at 52:45 Highlight the passage at 52:45

52:55 so we'd like to stand. We'll do a short meditation together. Report an error in the passage at 52:55 Highlight the passage at 52:55

· · · silence, 1 minute

53:53 We'd like to stand up and stretch and then we'll sit. Report an error in the passage at 53:53 Highlight the passage at 53:53

· · · silence, 1 minute

54:26 You have an app for you. It goes ding? Yeah, yeah. That's a very nice tone. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 54:26 Highlight the passage at 54:26

54:44 yeah, yeah. It's calm. Report an error in the passage at 54:44 Highlight the passage at 54:44

55:15 Is that comfortable? Report an error in the passage at 55:15 Highlight the passage at 55:15

55:28 Are you comfortable? We'll Report an error in the passage at 55:28 Highlight the passage at 55:28

55:37 begin. Let's Report an error in the passage at 55:37 Highlight the passage at 55:37

55:43 go through the process of relaxation, getting in touch with our bodies, and then we'll meditate for a short time on the mindfulness practice, and then we'll meditate on practice of taking and giving, just a kind of abbreviated fashion. Report an error in the passage at 55:43 Highlight the passage at 55:43

56:03 So I invite you to bring your awareness to the crown of your head, your scalp, and begin by... Imagining or actually feeling the wrinkles between your brow and your forehead smoothing out. Report an error in the passage at 56:03 Highlight the passage at 56:03

56:21 The pressure in and around your eyes diminishing. Report an error in the passage at 56:21 Highlight the passage at 56:21

56:33 The muscles of the face softening, relaxing. Report an error in the passage at 56:33 Highlight the passage at 56:33

56:45 Your tongue is soft and jaw relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 56:45 Highlight the passage at 56:45

56:56 And bringing your awareness to the back of your neck and perhaps gently turning your head to each side a few times. Loosening, stretching. Report an error in the passage at 56:56 Highlight the passage at 56:56

57:07 The muscles of the back of the neck, Report an error in the passage at 57:07 Highlight the passage at 57:07

57:20 bringing your awareness to your upper back and shoulders and drawing your shoulders up toward your ears and circling them to the back and down to the front and rotating your shoulders a few times and Report an error in the passage at 57:20 Highlight the passage at 57:20

57:49 eventually returning your shoulders back up toward your ears and just allowing them to drop comfortably to the sides and with that the feeling of Some kind of burden or weight that you may have unknowingly been carrying around over the course of the day, moving down through your body into the ground, feeling of relief. Report an error in the passage at 57:49 Highlight the passage at 57:49

58:21 And relaxing, bringing your awareness all the way down to your hands and relaxing your hands, soft and loose. Report an error in the passage at 58:21 Highlight the passage at 58:21

58:54 Your chest is at ease, Report an error in the passage at 58:54 Highlight the passage at 58:54

59:04 relaxing throughout the heart area, the central space of the chest, Report an error in the passage at 59:04 Highlight the passage at 59:04

59:18 the middle portion of the back, Report an error in the passage at 59:18 Highlight the passage at 59:18

59:34 and releasing the tension that we have. Oftentimes holding our stomach muscles, just allowing the belly to go soft. Report an error in the passage at 59:34 Highlight the passage at 59:34

1:00:10 Keeping your trunk erect, relax your lower back muscles throughout Report an error in the passage at 1:00:10 Highlight the passage at 1:00:10

1:00:28 the pelvic region, Report an error in the passage at 1:00:28 Highlight the passage at 1:00:28

1:00:44 the upper legs, Report an error in the passage at 1:00:44 Highlight the passage at 1:00:44

1:01:04 finally your feet, soft and loose. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:04 Highlight the passage at 1:01:04

1:01:22 And then through the body once again from the crown downward, paying particular attention to any tightness and tensions in the body into Report an error in the passage at 1:01:22 Highlight the passage at 1:01:22

1:01:38 those areas. Breathing out from those same areas. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:38 Highlight the passage at 1:01:38

1:01:46 And with each out-breath, releasing. I Report an error in the passage at 1:01:46 Highlight the passage at 1:01:46

· · · silence, 2 minutes

1:03:41 invite you to become aware of the fact that you're breathing and to lightly place your attention on the sensation of the body that Report an error in the passage at 1:03:41 Highlight the passage at 1:03:41

1:03:59 you're breathing out. Wherever it's most clear and obvious. With Report an error in the passage at 1:03:59 Highlight the passage at 1:03:59

· · · silence, 5 minutes

1:09:00 the breath. Now Report an error in the passage at 1:09:00 Highlight the passage at 1:09:00

· · · silence, 3 minutes

1:11:43 we're going to practice taking and giving. And we're going to begin with ourselves. And we're going to begin with taking. So this involves... Getting in touch with some difficulty, some problem, some sort of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:43 Highlight the passage at 1:11:43

1:12:01 It might be in the present, some difficulty that you're undergoing now, but it might be something from the past, even all the way back to when you were a child, getting in touch with that, or it might be some anticipated difficulty that's going to confront you in the future. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:01 Highlight the passage at 1:12:01

1:12:24 So the first point is to begin to embrace. To be willing to get in touch with the first arrow, the actual feeling quality of the experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:24 Highlight the passage at 1:12:24

1:12:40 Questioning why or what am I going to do about it or simply embracing the felt quality of the experience. How does it feel? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:40 Highlight the passage at 1:12:40

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:14:05 So at some point notice that there's a person who's undergoing the pain, the suffering. It's just not pain, there's someone who's actually experiencing it. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:05 Highlight the passage at 1:14:05

1:14:22 May be yourself as a child, may be the person you are now. Do Report an error in the passage at 1:14:22 Highlight the passage at 1:14:22

1:14:32 connect with that person, to be with them in their suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:32 Highlight the passage at 1:14:32

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:15:13 To wish that they not suffer. Nobody wants to suffer. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:13 Highlight the passage at 1:15:13

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:15:50 To the extent that you're willing to take that suffering on yourself. So just breathing in as a way of expressing your willingness to share in their suffering. To take on that suffering. To be with them in their suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:50 Highlight the passage at 1:15:50

1:16:09 With each breath, in breath, taking on their suffering. It's just a way of connecting. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:09 Highlight the passage at 1:16:09

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:16:54 We're going to extend that, understanding that there must be tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, literally, who are undergoing that same experience of suffering as this person is right now, who Report an error in the passage at 1:16:54 Highlight the passage at 1:16:54

1:17:23 feel the same hurt, pain, loneliness, isolation, fear, whatever it might be. Thousands and thousands of people out there experiencing that same exact feeling as this person. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:23 Highlight the passage at 1:17:23

1:17:49 So Report an error in the passage at 1:17:49 Highlight the passage at 1:17:49

1:18:05 it's almost a heroic gesture, a matter of courage, being willing to touch all that pain and take it on yourself, Report an error in the passage at 1:18:05 Highlight the passage at 1:18:05

1:18:20 if only in your imaginations, breathing in the suffering in them as well, connecting with their pain. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:20 Highlight the passage at 1:18:20

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:19:18 Ask yourself, what is it that I need? Whether it's your past self, perhaps even as a child, or your present self, Report an error in the passage at 1:19:18 Highlight the passage at 1:19:18

1:19:34 what would bring me relief? Healing, whether it's some material or something emotional or maybe you just need somebody to listen to you or somebody to be there for you in some way. Whatever is needed, material or emotional, Report an error in the passage at 1:19:34 Highlight the passage at 1:19:34

1:19:59 give that to this suffering self, this person who's undergoing this difficulty. Just send it out to them lovingly. Whatever it takes, that's what you want to give them. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:59 Highlight the passage at 1:19:59

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:20:46 Just again and again breathing out Report an error in the passage at 1:20:46 Highlight the passage at 1:20:46

1:20:51 whatever brings. Relief, healing, Report an error in the passage at 1:20:51 Highlight the passage at 1:20:51

1:20:58 resolution of their difficulty, their problem. And Report an error in the passage at 1:20:58 Highlight the passage at 1:20:58

1:21:26 we're going to extend that to all these others who are undergoing a similar difficulty, undergoing similar suffering, pain. They probably need the same exact thing as you do. They're probably no different. And sending that to all these others as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:26 Highlight the passage at 1:21:26

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:22:39 Now get in touch with a sense of just simple delight, a feeling of well-being, of aliveness, optimism. Some pleasure, feeling of joy that really doesn't depend upon any particular situation. Just the fact of being alive, exuberant about the possibilities of what life is all about. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:39 Highlight the passage at 1:22:39

1:23:09 And send that out to yourself. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:09 Highlight the passage at 1:23:09

1:23:15 Joy of life. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:15 Highlight the passage at 1:23:15

1:23:33 Giving that out, giving to yourself. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:33 Highlight the passage at 1:23:33

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:24:05 And extending that same giving to others. Giving them the same joy. Just sharing whatever joy you have. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:05 Highlight the passage at 1:24:05

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:25:01 And then finally just rest, just relax into abiding open-heartedly in this community of well-being. Nothing more needs to be done. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:01 Highlight the passage at 1:25:01

· · · silence, 3 minutes

1:28:14 So we're going to stand up. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:14 Highlight the passage at 1:28:14

1:28:25 We're going to begin the minds and mental factors. So in the various ways of dividing the mind up, we've looked into a division of seven, a division into three, and a division into two. And we're going to begin the division into two. And this in terms of minds and mental factors. And we're going to do this in conjunction with the text, but also we'll begin by looking at quiz answer number seven. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:25 Highlight the passage at 1:28:25

1:28:54 If you have quiz answer seven. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:54 Highlight the passage at 1:28:54

1:29:13 So there are six primary consciousnesses or main minds and 51 mental factors. These are set out. Your text on page 5 in various categories. So each of these is given a definition and classification and so forth. So hopefully I think this will be quite useful in being able to identify these various states of mind and how they work. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:13 Highlight the passage at 1:29:13

1:29:46 We don't operate our minds very well because we don't know how they operate. So this is meant to help us in that regard. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:46 Highlight the passage at 1:29:46

1:29:57 We're going to look at first in terms of... the Report an error in the passage at 1:29:57 Highlight the passage at 1:29:57

1:30:00 What do we mean by main mind and a mental factor? And so there are some definitions given in our text. And if we look on page one of the homework quiz seven answers, there's a number of different explanations from different sources that I've listed. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:00 Highlight the passage at 1:30:00

1:30:24 So in terms of our own text, that by Yeshe Gielsen. That which knows the mere entity of an object is called a mind, and that which taking the observation of that very object as its basis engages the object by means of the isolates of other attributes such as function is called a mental factor. So they always complicate things, don't they? Isolates. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:24 Highlight the passage at 1:30:24

1:31:00 it's, it's, uh. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:00 Highlight the passage at 1:31:00

1:31:06 Isolates are features that we come to understand conceptually through a thought process. For example, the shape and the color of the flower. I can think of the color of the flower and I can think of the shape of the flower isolated one from another. I can think about the purple color. I can think about the jumbled up shape, if you like, of this flower separately from one another. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:06 Highlight the passage at 1:31:06

1:31:50 I can isolate those two features conceptually, but in fact they're one entity. If I directly perceive them with my eye consciousness, my eye consciousness doesn't distinguish between the shape and the color. They're one entity. But when I think about them, I can think about them separately. But in reality, they're one entity. They're inseparable. If I destroyed the shape, I'd destroy the color. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:50 Highlight the passage at 1:31:50

1:32:28 They're one entity. It's called one entity, different isolates. It's just a way that the conceptual mind operates. It's able to abstract features from objects and think about them separate from the object itself. I can think about the flower. I can think about the color of the flower, purple, aside from the flower. But in fact, they're one entity. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:28 Highlight the passage at 1:32:28

1:32:58 So it's just a feature. So the main mind apprehends the entity of the object. And then we begin to process the data of that object in 51 different ways, in different features of it, in different ways of... So look at some of these other definitions and then we can discuss it. The definition of a main mind is a main knower that is posited by apprehending the entity of the object. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:58 Highlight the passage at 1:32:58

1:33:30 The simple fact of my eye consciousness apprehends the flower. And the definition of a mental factor is a knower that apprehends any of the features of its object and accompanies whatever main mind has similarities with it. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:30 Highlight the passage at 1:33:30

1:33:49 So my mental factors, so my main mind, my eye consciousness apprehends just the entity of being a flower. And then my various mental factors come along to say, well, that's a beautiful flower, that's an attractive flower or not attractive flower. It holds the flower. I can remember the flower. I can begin to operate it. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:49 Highlight the passage at 1:33:49

1:34:17 Using different functions of my mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:17 Highlight the passage at 1:34:17

1:34:25 So Geshe Tashitserin, he is a teacher at the Jamyang Center in London Center. So the Tibetan for mental factors is Simla Jungwa, means phenomena arising from the mind, suggesting that the mental factors are not primary to the mind but arise within a larger framework. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:25 Highlight the passage at 1:34:25

1:34:57 A mental factor, again, is defined as the aspect of the mind that apprehends a particular quality of the object because it is characterized by the qualities of activity and non-neutrality. So it has the ability to color the mind in dependence upon the way it manifests. So in one sutta, the mind, the Buddha said that attachment is like throwing colored dye in water, that whatever reflection you see, You look for your face in that bowl of water, it's going to be colored. That reflection is going to be colored by that dye. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:57 Highlight the passage at 1:34:57

1:35:38 Likewise, the attachment in the mind is going to color whatever we see. The same with anger, the same with all these various mental factors. And then he uses a metaphor. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:38 Highlight the passage at 1:35:38

1:35:50 The main mind is like the screen in a cinema, and the mental factors are like the images projected on the screen. In this analogy, we typically do not notice the screen because we are so caught up in the images. The metaphor which is commonly used is this metaphor next. The main mind is like a king who sits passively on a throne and all the mentor factors are like busy ministers. They're carrying out all the various policies. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:50 Highlight the passage at 1:35:50

1:36:21 They're doing all the... Report an error in the passage at 1:36:21 Highlight the passage at 1:36:21

1:36:29 The orders of the king and so forth. So the main mind simply holds the entity of the object, like my consciousness, simply sees the flower. And then I have feelings about the flower, pleasure, displeasure. I have discriminations about the flower, good flower, bad flower. I have emotional reactions, attachment to that flower, repulsion to that flower. So all these other ways of processing that. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:29 Highlight the passage at 1:36:29

1:36:59 The simple entity of the flower begin to work, operate on the flower. Is that fairly clear? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:59 Highlight the passage at 1:36:59

1:37:18 That sounds good. So the main minds are rock stars. And the metal factors are the groupies and the agent, the roadies and the sound, the guys that set up the sound systems and all that. That's good. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:18 Highlight the passage at 1:37:18

1:37:40 It said in the text, it says that on page 11 of our text, but also in terms of answer 1, there are what's called five similarities between, so we have this main mind, the rock star, and all his roadies and so forth. There are five, and the different terms are used, but similarities is good enough. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:40 Highlight the passage at 1:37:40

1:38:13 Between concordances or agreements, similarities between the roadies and the rock star, the main mind and the mental factors. They're similar in five different ways. And looking at the quiz answer number, the first page, question number two, using the example of an ear consciousness, apprehending a sound. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:13 Highlight the passage at 1:38:13

1:38:44 Explain the five similarities between a main mind and the accompanying mental factors. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:44 Highlight the passage at 1:38:44

1:38:52 It's just a way of helping us to get a handle on this thing of mind. So there's all these functions of mind operating. Some of them simultaneously. Some of them arise from time to time. Sometimes we need somebody to work the sound. Sometimes we set up the stage. So there's some of these it. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:52 Highlight the passage at 1:38:52

1:39:14 But we've got this rock star, this king. So the first, in terms of the rock star, the king, the primary ear consciousness, apprehending sound. So it has five similarities with its mental factors which operate along with it. And the first of these is similarity of support. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:14 Highlight the passage at 1:39:14

1:39:38 So here, the primary ear consciousness and its accompanying mental factors all have the support of an ear sense power. You have an ear-sense power. You have an ear-consciousness apprehending sound. You know, here there's somebody in the hallway. I'm hearing the ear-sense consciousness apprehending the door closed. Okay? Okay, then there's always going to be, you know, I'm just not, I just don't hear the sound. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:38 Highlight the passage at 1:39:38

1:40:09 I begin to, all kinds of functions, processing that sound begin to arise. But they all... So it's very... Report an error in the passage at 1:40:09 Highlight the passage at 1:40:09

1:40:17 All of these mental factors which are beginning to arise or accompanying this, simply hearing that sound or that door closing, they all have the similarity of being supported by the ear sense power. So they all are dependent upon that ear sense power. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:17 Highlight the passage at 1:40:17

1:40:34 Without that ear sense power, they wouldn't arise. So they're similarly supported on that ear sense power. They're similarly in the terms of their objects of observation. They both have their objects of sound. So I might have feelings about that sound. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:34 Highlight the passage at 1:40:34

1:40:49 It's a pleasurable sound, a displeasurable sound, but the object is a sound. I might think that's a great sound. I say, well, I'd like to hear that sound again. I might get attached to that sound and so forth. But they all have the object of sound. They're similar in that way with the ear consciousness apprehending the sound. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:49 Highlight the passage at 1:40:49

1:41:12 They all have the same subjective aspect. So this is the aspect, you know, we said that... The mind arises in the aspect of its object. This is what we call the subjective aspect. There's the objective aspect out there, this flower, or in this case the sound out in the hall. And then there's an internal aspect of the mind itself, which is the aspect of a sound. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:12 Highlight the passage at 1:41:12

1:41:38 They all have that same internal aspect of sounds, or we call it a subjective aspect. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:38 Highlight the passage at 1:41:38

1:41:49 So in this way of thinking, things exist out there external to the mind. So there's an objective aspect, there's a flower. And it is said that the object casts its aspect or its image toward the mind. And the mind arises in that aspect of that image. That internal aspect is a subjective aspect. That's what it means to know. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:49 Highlight the passage at 1:41:49

1:42:28 So it takes on the subjective aspect of that object. And that taking on the subjective aspect, it's like maybe the nerves firing in the brain. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:28 Highlight the passage at 1:42:28

1:42:41 That's what it means to know that. That's the subjective aspect of that flower. So if something's cast from the side of the object, the mind arises in that. It has a subjective reaction. It arises in the image of that aspect, of that image that's been cast. Then similar of time. So all of these, this king and his mental factors, his retinue, I'm going to get this straight, his rock star and so forth, they all arise, they abide and they cease simultaneously. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:41 Highlight the passage at 1:42:41

1:43:18 So they all are similar in time. Along with the eye consciousness, with the ear consciousness arising, hearing that door, that sound of the door closing, a feeling with regard to it arises, a discrimination with regard to it arises, various emotions with regard to it arises, they all arise simultaneously, they abide and then they cease together. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:18 Highlight the passage at 1:43:18

1:43:48 So they have arising, abiding and ceasing together. And then they have a similarity of substance. So this is that if the ear Report an error in the passage at 1:43:48 Highlight the passage at 1:43:48

1:44:10 conscious is mistaken, then all these mental factors would be mistaken. If the primary consciousness is conceptual, then all these various mental factors will be conceptual. Another way of explaining that is you cannot have two... Mental factors of the same type but different substances. What I mean by this is you cannot have two feelings. Every state, as we're going to look at, the very first categorization of mental factors is called the omnipresent mental factors. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:10 Highlight the passage at 1:44:10

1:44:50 And amongst these is feeling. Every state of mind is always, there's always a feeling. But we cannot have two feelings, different feelings at the same time. We cannot feel pleasure and pain simultaneously. So those two feelings are the same. So painful feelings and pleasurable feelings are the same type, but they're different substances. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:50 Highlight the passage at 1:44:50

1:45:16 So we cannot have a pleasant feeling and an unpleasant feeling simultaneously. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:16 Highlight the passage at 1:45:16

1:45:25 So similar in substance. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:25 Highlight the passage at 1:45:25

1:45:32 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:32 Highlight the passage at 1:45:32

1:45:44 Okay. Okay. You like that one, eh? I wasn't going to talk about that one. Okay, so, yeah, yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:45:44 Highlight the passage at 1:45:44

1:46:06 yeah, yeah. So, I mean, for example, if you had, this is my way of example, if you had, you could develop, Report an error in the passage at 1:46:06 Highlight the passage at 1:46:06

1:46:21 the Buddhist cosmology has three realms of existence, yeah? We have what's called the desire realm, Sydney's in the desire realm, for example. Desire realm. And then there's what's called the form realm. And the formless realm. So these upper two realms, form and formless realm, are achieved through meditative concentrations. So you could be sitting here in this embodiment and you could develop a concentration of the form realm, which would be an extremely blissful experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:21 Highlight the passage at 1:46:21

1:47:01 they would, you're... Your mental consciousness, the main mind, mental consciousness, and that feeling would be of the same realm. They would both be of the first, they both would be of the form realm. So you couldn't have a Report an error in the passage at 1:47:01 Highlight the passage at 1:47:01

1:47:21 feeling mental factor of the form realm. Why Report an error in the passage at 1:47:21 Highlight the passage at 1:47:21

1:47:34 are they different? Yeah, that's it. Yeah, there's a slightly difference in listing. Yeah, you're right. Don't know. Yeah, they have their reasons for making the, what's that, a Saṅgha. So a Saṅgha, there are two, for example, in Tibetan Buddhism, the geishis in the monasteries would study two Abhidharmas. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:34 Highlight the passage at 1:47:34

1:47:48 Yeah, I know. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:48 Highlight the passage at 1:47:48

1:48:12 Abhidharma is the higher knowledge. They would study one by Vasubandhu, and that's considered the lower Abhidharma. So this is mainly following the tenet systems of, we said these four tenet systems of the Great Exposition School and Sūtra School. And then there's the Abhidharma of Asanga, which is the higher Abhidharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:12 Highlight the passage at 1:48:12

1:48:39 And that mainly follows the tenets of the mind-only school and the middle-way school. So there's slight differences in the explanations. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:39 Highlight the passage at 1:48:39

1:48:49 So the geishis would study both of those Abhidharmas. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:49 Highlight the passage at 1:48:49

1:49:01 Yeah, I mean, the Abhidharmas, the Buddha did not teach Abhidharma. So these are scholars and so forth. They systematized the Buddha's teaching. They went through all of his teachings and they systematized them, especially, you know. and they... They had different points of view in how they interpreted the Buddhist teachings, and so therefore they systematized them in different ways. So overall there's two, what we call lower Abhidharma and higher Abhidharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:01 Highlight the passage at 1:49:01

1:49:32 But why that different listing is, I don't know. There's probably a good explanation why. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:32 Highlight the passage at 1:49:32

1:49:43 Okay, I'm going a little bit quick here. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:43 Highlight the passage at 1:49:43

1:50:03 homework quiz answer is seven. I'll get you. I'll look for a copy. I'm sure there's some in the office. I'll get you a copy of that. I'm sorry. Let's see. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:03 Highlight the passage at 1:50:03

1:50:22 So just extremely briefly, that's how we distinguish between main minds and mental factors. So the bulk of our study... We'll be going through these 51 mental factors. So mental factors are the different functions of mind. We could easily say that. And as we go through them, you'll see how they function, how we process the information in different ways. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:22 Highlight the passage at 1:50:22

1:50:52 And there are six groupings of these 51 mental factors. And if you look... Homework Quiz 8 answer. It begins by asking what are the six groups in which the 51 mental factors are categorized. And so the first of these is called the Five Omnipresent Mental Factors. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:52 Highlight the passage at 1:50:52

1:51:34 and these are listed in... Answer number two, Report an error in the passage at 1:51:34 Highlight the passage at 1:51:34

1:51:42 list the five omnipresent mental factors. These are feeling, discrimination, intention, contact and attention. And why are they called omnipresent? And most essentially, every state of mind, whether it's a virtuous mind or a non-virtuous mind or a neutral mind or a loving mind or hateful mind or everything in between. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:42 Highlight the passage at 1:51:42

1:52:12 Every state of mind, these five mental factors are always present in every state of mind. Therefore, they're called omnipresent. Omni means always. Okay? Everything. They're always there in any state of mind. These five factors are going to be present. And then, for example, if, for example, there was no feeling, there'd be no experience of pleasure and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:12 Highlight the passage at 1:52:12

1:52:44 I mean, we would say, well... Somebody says, how do you feel? I don't feel anything. Well, you might be. There are two possibilities. Either you're out of touch with your feelings or you're feeling a neutral feeling. That's quite possible. A feeling which is neither pleasurable nor unpleasurable. Painful. So you might be experiencing a neutral feeling. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:44 Highlight the passage at 1:52:44

1:53:06 But there's always what we call a hedonic tone to our experience. There's always a pleasurable, displeasurable within the spectrum. There's always that quality of every state of mind is being experienced in terms of a spectrum of feeling, either to the extreme of bliss or extreme pain or somewhere between. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:06 Highlight the passage at 1:53:06

1:53:37 It might be neutral, but there's always some quality of our mind which is having that experience. It's functioning that way. We might not be aware of it or we might be experiencing something really in the middle there. There's always a matter of discrimination. So discrimination is just one of the possible translation terms. Some people use, so discrimination means this, it is this or that. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:37 Highlight the passage at 1:53:37

1:54:11 That aspect of the operation, the processing of the mind, which makes distinctions. Red, blue. Bad, threat, conducive. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:11 Highlight the passage at 1:54:11

1:54:31 Or other translations are recognition, recognizing, blue, recognizing, green. Sometimes they're called perception. Thich Nhat Hanh uses the word perception for this. So all of these different terms are just different translations of the same. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:31 Highlight the passage at 1:54:31

1:54:55 The mind is always identifying. That's part of the processing of the data. It's recognizing, distinguishing, discriminating. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:55 Highlight the passage at 1:54:55

1:55:06 So that's the second mental factor that's always present in every state of mind. There's always intention. And this is a very important mental factor. We're going to look at each of these individually, but just to roughly introduce these. We talked about this when we studied karma. Karma is... Intention. It is the movement of the mind which causes us to become engaged, to involve ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:06 Highlight the passage at 1:55:06

1:55:39 There's a movement of the mind. It's primary. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:39 Highlight the passage at 1:55:39

1:55:47 Why is our mind moved? Why does it just kind of sit there placidly, peacefully, like a still pond? Why does it get involved? Why does it rather not get involved? Report an error in the passage at 1:55:47 Highlight the passage at 1:55:47

1:56:02 So that quality, the arousal, the evoking, getting involved, engaging, moving the mind to an object, that's intention, intentionality of the mind. This is karma. So if we didn't have that, we just simply wouldn't become, we would be like a stone. Stones don't get involved very much. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:02 Highlight the passage at 1:56:02

1:56:33 Contact. Contact acts as the basis of feeling. So we talked about this as well when we talked about the three conditions coming together which give rise to consciousness, objective condition, the immediately preceding condition and the empowering condition. Let us say there's a flower, there's an eye-sense consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:33 Highlight the passage at 1:56:33

1:57:08 Not consciousness. I sense power. And then there's a previous moment of consciousness. When these three together, come together, that's contact. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:08 Highlight the passage at 1:57:08

1:57:23 So we actually, it's the interface between ourselves and the world, that consciousness which supports that process. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:23 Highlight the passage at 1:57:23

1:57:35 And if there were no attention, attention is quite important too. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:35 Highlight the passage at 1:57:35

1:57:45 It's what actually, you know. don't, um... Report an error in the passage at 1:57:45 Highlight the passage at 1:57:45

1:57:50 Intention kind of gets us involved, but it's attention as to what we actually focus upon. We could focus on a variety of possibilities. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:50 Highlight the passage at 1:57:50

1:58:04 So what is it about the object which holds us to that particular aspect of that object? Why do we pay attention to that and not to this? Report an error in the passage at 1:58:04 Highlight the passage at 1:58:04

1:58:17 Some people, like you have a glass of water, that's half. Some people pay attention to the part that's empty. Some people pay attention to the hat's full. So what we pay attention to is quite important. There's always that quality of being directed to a particular aspect, property or feature of the object. That's attention. Every state of mind. Okay, so these five factors are operating in every state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:17 Highlight the passage at 1:58:17

1:58:47 And we'll talk more about those. So I'm sorry I went rather quickly, but we've got a lot to cover. Not so much time to cover it. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:47 Highlight the passage at 1:58:47

1:59:01 So we'll revisit, we'll cover these next week. If you would, please, and this is covered in quiz number nine, in terms of this next set of, or grouping of mental factors called the five object ascertaining mental factors, and this is covered in your text on pages 25 to 32. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:01 Highlight the passage at 1:59:01

1:59:28 25 to 32. So we're going to have to be rather selective in what we look at. By all means, if you find something interesting, then we'll go into it. Some questions, whatever. But we won't be able to go into every detail as it's presented here, I'm afraid. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:28 Highlight the passage at 1:59:28

1:59:52 As I said, I'm a very poor time manager, I think. So look at pages 25 through 32, You might look at the homework quiz 9 and we'll continue on with omnipresent mental factors next week so Report an error in the passage at 1:59:52 Highlight the passage at 1:59:52

2:00:24 we can dedicate Report an error in the passage at 2:00:24 Highlight the passage at 2:00:24

2:00:31 the positive energy we've created together. I'm curious before, I know I'm holding you a bit late, did you find it useful, the meditation on taking and giving? Report an error in the passage at 2:00:31 Highlight the passage at 2:00:31

2:00:44 Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 2:00:44 Highlight the passage at 2:00:44

2:00:51 that's right. Did you find that? Report an error in the passage at 2:00:51 Highlight the passage at 2:00:51

2:00:57 I think it's a very, yeah, I think it's very powerful. It can be very useful. Some meditations seem to stand out for me. That's one of them. So I dedicate some of the positive energy. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:57 Highlight the passage at 2:00:57

2:01:18 May all beings everywhere, played by sufferings of body and mind, attain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of my merits. May no living creatures suffer, commit evil or fall ill. May no one be afraid or belittled with a mind weighed down by depression. May the blind see forms and deaf hear sounds. May those whose bodies are worn with toil be restored and finding repose. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:18 Highlight the passage at 2:01:18

2:01:43 May the naked find clothing, the hungry find food. May the thirsty find delicious drink. May the poor find wealth, those weak with sorrow find joy. May the forlorn find hope, constant happiness and prosperity. May there be timely rains and bountiful harvests. May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit. May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments, whatever diseases there are in the world. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:43 Highlight the passage at 2:01:43

2:02:15 May the frightened cease to be afraid and those bound be freed. May the powerless find power and may people think of benefiting each other. For as long as space remains, for as long as scenting beings remain, Until then, may I too remain to dispel the miseries of the world. Through these skillful actions, may I quickly become an awakened spiritual master and lead each and every living being to that awakened realm. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:15 Highlight the passage at 2:02:15

2:02:42 May the supreme jewels of the awakened heart and mind that have not arisen arise and grow. And may those that have arisen never diminish but increase more and more. In the land encircled by snow mountains, you are the source of all happiness and well-being. Please remain to the end of cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:42 Highlight the passage at 2:02:42