BP: Mind and Cognition (8 December 2014)

0:16 Maybe we'll turn one of them off. What do you think? Report an error in the passage at 0:16 Highlight the passage at 0:16

0:30 How is everybody? Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

0:40 Yeah, I said it's a hardcore survivors. Report an error in the passage at 0:40 Highlight the passage at 0:40

0:57 It's okay. Oh, drag them in off the streets. Oh, Report an error in the passage at 0:57 Highlight the passage at 0:57

1:30 thanks for sharing that. Report an error in the passage at 1:30 Highlight the passage at 1:30

1:37 Anybody have... Is this too loud? Report an error in the passage at 1:37 Highlight the passage at 1:37

1:44 Is that what it is? Report an error in the passage at 1:44 Highlight the passage at 1:44

1:56 Does anyone have anything like to share? Anything that came out since we last saw each other? Report an error in the passage at 1:56 Highlight the passage at 1:56

2:27 So it might work out for him. Yeah? Oh, that's good. Report an error in the passage at 2:27 Highlight the passage at 2:27

2:44 So the Prison Liberation Project has some connection with some of your clients? Report an error in the passage at 2:44 Highlight the passage at 2:44

2:57 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:57 Highlight the passage at 2:57

3:27 Yeah, that's good. Great. For wedding? Report an error in the passage at 3:27 Highlight the passage at 3:27

3:36 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 3:36 Highlight the passage at 3:36

3:45 Can you find a seat? Wow, it's getting crowded here. I think we're going to have to call a limit, I think. Put up a sign. Report an error in the passage at 3:45 Highlight the passage at 3:45

3:57 We have fire laws here. Report an error in the passage at 3:57 Highlight the passage at 3:57

4:03 Anybody else? Something you'd like to share? Report an error in the passage at 4:03 Highlight the passage at 4:03

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4:50 Maybe when we come to it, how's that? Report an error in the passage at 4:50 Highlight the passage at 4:50

4:56 I'm kind of curious actually, but maybe we'll hold off. Distract me later. Put it in context. right Report an error in the passage at 4:56 Highlight the passage at 4:56

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5:11 so you. I had a near miss with laziness. Wow. Report an error in the passage at 5:11 Highlight the passage at 5:11

5:19 Really? Whoa, that was close. Report an error in the passage at 5:19 Highlight the passage at 5:19

5:28 Anybody else? Report an error in the passage at 5:28 Highlight the passage at 5:28

5:37 You must be really... Yeah? What was the... Can you share a takeaway? Report an error in the passage at 5:37 Highlight the passage at 5:37

· · · silence, 1 minute

6:15 So it became more evident what your triggers are. Yeah? Yeah? That would be quite useful, wouldn't it? Making more aware. looking at what my triggers are. And so I learned a lot about myself. Report an error in the passage at 6:15 Highlight the passage at 6:15

6:34 powerful. Report an error in the passage at 6:34 Highlight the passage at 6:34

6:44 really liked it. I think it was great. There was a lot of different meditations. You know, like, ways. Not techniques, but different Report an error in the passage at 6:44 Highlight the passage at 6:44

7:20 wow, absolutely. And I come across notebooks from six months ago and of course I've been to them. And they go, wow, how did I forget that? Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 7:20 Highlight the passage at 7:20

7:33 The Report an error in the passage at 7:33 Highlight the passage at 7:33

7:45 tea. When you get tired, you get irritable and cranky. Report an error in the passage at 7:45 Highlight the passage at 7:45

7:56 I'll know to stay away from you. Report an error in the passage at 7:56 Highlight the passage at 7:56

8:05 it's great. Report an error in the passage at 8:05 Highlight the passage at 8:05

8:24 should put that. Report an error in the passage at 8:24 Highlight the passage at 8:24

8:39 to bed hours ago. do it as adults, too. just feel overwhelmed and lose it. You often said I'm like a two-year-old. Report an error in the passage at 8:39 Highlight the passage at 8:39

8:54 the certificate at work so if anyone says anything up there, look. I put our certificate. Report an error in the passage at 8:54 Highlight the passage at 8:54

9:08 Is it? Report an error in the passage at 9:08 Highlight the passage at 9:08

9:21 Great. That would be quite useful in five weeks. Not continuously. Five-week residential. Report an error in the passage at 9:21 Highlight the passage at 9:21

9:57 So it's great to hear that when things actually change in fact, in practice, and you can appreciate that. It kind of validates, I think, on his, what we call the deathbed. When the Buddha was passing away, he called together the monks and the nuns and the lay people about him and he said, don't accept my doctrine out of respect for me, but test it as you would gold. Report an error in the passage at 9:57 Highlight the passage at 9:57

10:32 Essay it by rubbing, cutting and so forth. And it all comes down to one's actual experience. That's how it's validated. So it's good to hear. It gives you a greater degree of trust and confidence, especially in areas that maybe aren't as accessible to our immediate practical experience, which might be intellectually satisfying, but sometimes it's hard to make that kind of connection in terms of practice and how it applies in our everyday life. Report an error in the passage at 10:32 Highlight the passage at 10:32

11:13 When we can make those kind of connections in terms of practice, then we can... Have some kind of confidence. Well, I haven't validated him as of yet, but if this works, there's a good chance this will work as well. So I'm going to stay with it. Report an error in the passage at 11:13 Highlight the passage at 11:13

11:43 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 11:43 Highlight the passage at 11:43

12:04 That's a good point. to step back and have a look at what they're doing because it's really important to take time out to work on how to learn and improve it. Report an error in the passage at 12:04 Highlight the passage at 12:04

11:59 actually to learn reflect. Report an error in the passage at 11:59 Highlight the passage at 11:59

12:06 I guess a lot of it has to do with priorities. What's Report an error in the passage at 12:06 Highlight the passage at 12:06

· · · silence, 2 minutes

13:52 the third one? Report an error in the passage at 13:52 Highlight the passage at 13:52

14:02 Reliances. Report an error in the passage at 14:02 Highlight the passage at 14:02

14:11 Anyway, it's good advice. So Report an error in the passage at 14:11 Highlight the passage at 14:11

14:29 we all have our refuges, don't we? And some people, depending upon how we see the nature of our problems, that's Report an error in the passage at 14:29 Highlight the passage at 14:29

14:43 where we'll seek the solutions. So if you see your problem outside yourself in materialism or... If I only had more money or if I had a better job, it's not to say that money isn't useful. That's for sure it is. A worthwhile employment is great. If I only had the right partner or whatever, then that's where you're going to look for your solution. Report an error in the passage at 14:43 Highlight the passage at 14:43

15:17 So the orientation, I think, of Buddhism. In Tibetan, the word that's generally used for Buddhism or a Buddhist is Nongba. Which means an inner being. The orientation is internal as opposed to the external in seeking what it is they're ultimately looking for. The orientation is to find it with inside of ourselves. There's a saying, contentment doesn't come from getting what you want but wanting what you have. Report an error in the passage at 15:17 Highlight the passage at 15:17

15:55 So it's a matter of... Really, contentment and peace is a matter of one's own inner attitudes, one's perspective, most basically. Report an error in the passage at 15:55 Highlight the passage at 15:55

16:08 I think, you know, it's quite, not to say that having a nice Report an error in the passage at 16:08 Highlight the passage at 16:08

16:23 clothes, a job that you enjoy, a level of spiritual, material prosperity, and a loving partner, these all make up for a good life. We could have all of those and be miserable if we don't have the right attitude in how we relate with them. So I don't think we can get around the fact. I think it was Krishnamurti who said that for the intelligent person there are very few choices in life that we have to do this inner work if we're ever going to find, you know, satisfy this. Report an error in the passage at 16:23 Highlight the passage at 16:23

17:09 This deep need inside of ourselves. Whatever it is we're looking for. Some kind of peace, some fulfillment, meaning, purpose, authenticity. And however we frame it, I think it all involves an inner transformation. So that's the orientation. That's where we go for refuge. Report an error in the passage at 17:09 Highlight the passage at 17:09

17:31 The Buddha within inside of ourselves. But we need some methods. We don't have to reinvent the wheel. We're quite fortunate in that regard. But we do have to integrate the wheel and find ways to access. The Buddha had a burning question. Report an error in the passage at 17:31 Highlight the passage at 17:31

17:53 Is life just a bitch and then you die? And he found an answer which satisfied what he was looking for at a very deep level of his being. And I think we all have to ask that question and find what... It's going to satisfy an answer for ourselves, however we frame that. You know, I think we're all on a journey, whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we're conscious of it or not. Report an error in the passage at 17:53 Highlight the passage at 17:53

18:25 And I don't think we can go back to sleep completely, even though sometimes it sneaks up on a walk. No, you'll come back around eventually to finish off the unfinished business. Report an error in the passage at 18:25 Highlight the passage at 18:25

18:47 Of what we're all looking for. And it's very great. I really appreciate all of you and your efforts in coming here. You know, we were joking before some of you came in that this is the hardcore. In Report an error in the passage at 18:47 Highlight the passage at 18:47

19:14 spite of my ramblings and misguidance and confusion, the perseverance and the understanding and patience. Saṅgha, supporting ourselves together, fellow practitioners, whatever we can. It all amounts to really a significant refuge in our life. Report an error in the passage at 19:14 Highlight the passage at 19:14

19:50 I 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, through the collections of merit and wisdom created out of generosity and the other perfections, may I become a Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 19:50 Highlight the passage at 19:50

20:18 I 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. May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 20:18 Highlight the passage at 20:18

20:41 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 for others. Report an error in the passage at 20:41 Highlight the passage at 20:41

21:02 So if you'd like to stand and stretch and then we'll sit together. Report an error in the passage at 21:02 Highlight the passage at 21:02

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21:53 So begin by getting in touch. With our bodies, relaxing our bodies, bringing Report an error in the passage at 21:53 Highlight the passage at 21:53

22:04 our awareness to the crown of our head and start by imagining or actually feeling the wrinkles between your brows and your forehead, smoothing out the Report an error in the passage at 22:04 Highlight the passage at 22:04

22:25 pressure in and around your eyes, diminishing the Report an error in the passage at 22:25 Highlight the passage at 22:25

22:40 muscles of the face, softening, relaxing. Report an error in the passage at 22:40 Highlight the passage at 22:40

22:55 Your tongue is soft and jaw relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 22:55 Highlight the passage at 22:55

23:03 And bringing your awareness to the back of your neck and... Turning your head to each side a few times, very gently loosening, stretching the muscles of the back of the neck and Report an error in the passage at 23:03 Highlight the passage at 23:03

23:22 bringing your awareness to your upper back and shoulders. Report an error in the passage at 23:22 Highlight the passage at 23:22

23:27 Perhaps drawing your shoulders up toward your ears and circling them to the back and down, Report an error in the passage at 23:27 Highlight the passage at 23:27

23:42 just rotating your shoulders a few times and Report an error in the passage at 23:42 Highlight the passage at 23:42

23:53 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 on your back over the course of the day, moving down and through your body to the ground, a feeling of relief. Report an error in the passage at 23:53 Highlight the passage at 23:53

24:18 A burden's just been lifted from your shoulder. Report an error in the passage at 24:18 Highlight the passage at 24:18

24:32 Awareness all the way down to your hands. Your hands are soft and loose. Report an error in the passage at 24:32 Highlight the passage at 24:32

24:43 Relaxing your lower arms and Report an error in the passage at 24:43 Highlight the passage at 24:43

24:54 your upper arms. Report an error in the passage at 24:54 Highlight the passage at 24:54

25:08 He is at ease. Report an error in the passage at 25:08 Highlight the passage at 25:08

25:17 Relaxing throughout the heart area, the central space of the chest, the Report an error in the passage at 25:17 Highlight the passage at 25:17

25:28 middle portion of the back. Report an error in the passage at 25:28 Highlight the passage at 25:28

25:45 Releasing the tension that we often hold in our stomach muscles, just allowing the belly to go soft and Report an error in the passage at 25:45 Highlight the passage at 25:45

26:10 throughout the abdominal cavity. Report an error in the passage at 26:10 Highlight the passage at 26:10

26:18 And keeping your trunk erect, relax your lower back muscles. Report an error in the passage at 26:18 Highlight the passage at 26:18

26:51 And throughout the pelvic region, Report an error in the passage at 26:51 Highlight the passage at 26:51

27:05 the bellocks Report an error in the passage at 27:05 Highlight the passage at 27:05

27:16 and thighs, Report an error in the passage at 27:16 Highlight the passage at 27:16

27:38 finding your feet. So Report an error in the passage at 27:38 Highlight the passage at 27:38

27:52 scanning through the body once again from the crown down through the central portion of the body, noticing any tightnesses, tensions, Report an error in the passage at 27:52 Highlight the passage at 27:52

28:09 breathing into those areas, Report an error in the passage at 28:09 Highlight the passage at 28:09

28:16 breathing out through from those same areas. And with that out-breath, imagining, feeling some kind of release, Report an error in the passage at 28:16 Highlight the passage at 28:16

28:29 the tension softens, diminishes, the tightness loosens again and again. Report an error in the passage at 28:29 Highlight the passage at 28:29

29:02 So with each out-breath, Report an error in the passage at 29:02 Highlight the passage at 29:02

29:06 The body sinking into a deeper and deeper state of relaxation, of comfort, of ease. It's a nice place to be in the body, Report an error in the passage at 29:06 Highlight the passage at 29:06

29:44 staying with your body for a while, relaxed, comfortable, at ease, Report an error in the passage at 29:44 Highlight the passage at 29:44

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30:51 becoming aware that you're breathing, Report an error in the passage at 30:51 Highlight the passage at 30:51

30:59 noticing where it is your mind went to, the physical sensation that indicated to you that you were breathing in and out. Report an error in the passage at 30:59 Highlight the passage at 30:59

31:13 And just lightly rest your attention. Just focus your awareness on that sensation of the body. And you can combine that with the counting of the breath, breathing in, breathing out, one, in, out, two, and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 31:13 Highlight the passage at 31:13

31:37 If your mind wanders, that's okay. Just gently bring it back. Report an error in the passage at 31:37 Highlight the passage at 31:37

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35:40 Bring your mind back to the breath. Report an error in the passage at 35:40 Highlight the passage at 35:40

· · · silence, 5 minutes

40:33 We do shift our attention to a sensation of the body other than that of the breath. Report an error in the passage at 40:33 Highlight the passage at 40:33

40:46 Pressure of your buttocks on the chair, hands in your lap, whatever is predominant. Let's focus your awareness on that sensation. Report an error in the passage at 40:46 Highlight the passage at 40:46

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42:03 And again, shifting our attention, this time to the sounds around us, far and near, listening to sound, Report an error in the passage at 42:03 Highlight the passage at 42:03

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43:19 listening to sound. Now Report an error in the passage at 43:19 Highlight the passage at 43:19

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43:55 we're going to turn our attention inward to the mind itself, the words, the thoughts passing through our mind, the pictures, images. But also the state of our mind. Maybe it's sleepy, maybe it's restless, experiencing pleasure, experiencing boredom and emotion, observing the mind itself, watching the mind and what passes through the mind. Report an error in the passage at 43:55 Highlight the passage at 43:55

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45:37 And finally, I'm just going to allow the mind to become involved in any object that it naturally tends toward, whether it be the breath or... A bodily sensation or a sound or a thought, whatever it might be, but in an easy and relaxed manner, just maintain a degree of awareness, a watchfulness, just observing the play of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 45:37 Highlight the passage at 45:37

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46:43 Stay awake, stay alert, just watchful. Report an error in the passage at 46:43 Highlight the passage at 46:43

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47:29 And then bring your mind back to the breath, easy, gentle, in and out flow, the natural breath. Report an error in the passage at 47:29 Highlight the passage at 47:29

· · · silence, 3 minutes

50:23 Please stand up if you like. Report an error in the passage at 50:23 Highlight the passage at 50:23

50:42 So we're going to look at the... Report an error in the passage at 50:42 Highlight the passage at 50:42

50:47 The six root afflictions amongst the 51 mental factors. But we'll begin with looking at page 48 of our text. And in terms of our quiz answers, if you'd like to look at quiz answer 11, we'll go through that together. Report an error in the passage at 50:47 Highlight the passage at 50:47

51:31 So toward the end of the 11 virtuous mental factors, there's Discussion of the various categories of virtuous mental factors. I guess other words for virtue. Virtue is kind of a loaded term, a fairly religious term. Sometimes I use the word skillful or wholesome. Report an error in the passage at 51:31 Highlight the passage at 51:31

52:02 The definition is that which has a ripening effect of happiness. So it's very pragmatic. It's not a matter of morality. Those causes which bring happiness are virtuous. And here it's just breaking down the notion of virtue into five different types. Report an error in the passage at 52:02 Highlight the passage at 52:02

52:28 So in the answers to quiz 11 that's covered in the first question, it's the five types of virtue and non-virtue and giving an example for each of them. So there's virtue by way of what's called entity. entity, might say. By nature, just by the power of the thing itself. Report an error in the passage at 52:28 Highlight the passage at 52:28

52:57 So an example would be of a virtuous, something which is virtuous by way of its very nature is faith. Something which is non-virtuous by way of its very nature or entity is anger. Does that make sense? Report an error in the passage at 52:57 Highlight the passage at 52:57

53:18 Another example of virtue by way of entity, virtuous by way of entity. Report an error in the passage at 53:18 Highlight the passage at 53:18

53:27 Compassion, Report an error in the passage at 53:27 Highlight the passage at 53:27

53:32 non-virtuous by way of entity, Report an error in the passage at 53:32 Highlight the passage at 53:32

53:37 and just by its very nature, covetousness. Report an error in the passage at 53:37 Highlight the passage at 53:37

53:46 So these qualities, these states of mind are the causes of bringing, having a ripen effect of suffering. Therefore, they're termed non-virtuous in the case of greed and covetousness. Report an error in the passage at 53:46 Highlight the passage at 53:46

54:07 But then things aren't, there are other factors which are not necessarily mental factors. Phenomena or objects which are not necessarily by nature, but here, for example, by way of relation. So we talked about, you know, we have minds and then we have like a retinue around the mind. We're calling this mental factors which are concomitant or associated. So there's always, for example, the five omnipresent mental factors. Report an error in the passage at 54:07 Highlight the passage at 54:07

54:41 Every state of mind has a factor of consciousness. Contact, the factor of feeling, there's always a feeling state, there's always a discrimination, there's always intention, there's always attention. So these factors are always present. If amongst that retinue of mental factors, if there was, for example, faith, compassion and so forth, then all of those other mental factors associated with that in the main mind, they would also be virtuous. Report an error in the passage at 54:41 Highlight the passage at 54:41

55:14 Not by way of their nature, but by way of relationship or association with that particular mental factor in this example of faith. Or if there was a factor of anger, then these various concomitant mental factors, associated mental factors in the main mind itself would be non-virtuous, not by way of entity, but by way of relation. Report an error in the passage at 55:14 Highlight the passage at 55:14

55:40 For example, if there was a factor of anger, it would be non-virtuous. Report an error in the passage at 55:40 Highlight the passage at 55:40

55:47 By way of subsequent relations. So these are the imprints. So they aren't by way of entity, but subsequently they will give rise. We have imprints, habit patterns of anger. We have habit patterns of faith and so forth. Like we could say seed forms of these consciousnesses. They always aren't manifest. Report an error in the passage at 55:47 Highlight the passage at 55:47

56:05 anger, and that we don't... Report an error in the passage at 56:05 Highlight the passage at 56:05

56:18 Sometimes they're in a dormant state. We call those imprints. So when they give rise to the actual manifest consciousness of an anger or faith and so forth, so those imprints in and of themselves are not virtuous Report an error in the passage at 56:18 Highlight the passage at 56:18

56:45 or non-virtuous, but they give rise by way of the subsequent result. It's virtuous or non-virtuous. They give rise to faith and anger. Then a big one, by way of motivation. So we studied this last semester when we were talking about karma and any types of intention. Report an error in the passage at 56:45 Highlight the passage at 56:45

57:16 So our actions evolve. First we have a motivation. You know, there's a... Report an error in the passage at 57:16 Highlight the passage at 57:16

57:26 It could be a positive motivation, a negative motivation, or virtuous or non-virtuous. And then we would go on to have an intention arising from that anger, which is most essentially the wish to harm. And out of that wish to harm would be the intention to actually bring about harm, which would evoke some kind of activity, some type of action. Report an error in the passage at 57:26 Highlight the passage at 57:26

57:56 We'd actually involve ourselves in activity of harm. So all of that would be negative or non-virtuous in the case of it was motivated by anger or it'd be virtuous if it was motivated by compassion or faith and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 57:56 Highlight the passage at 57:56

58:13 And then finally ultimately or by way of ultimacy. So these are just called virtuous, non-virtuous. They aren't actual virtuous, non-virtuous by way of their nature, but they're called that. So the ultimate virtue is nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa means Is a Sanskrit word. In Tibetan it's nyangdeh, which literally means beyond sorrow, to pass beyond sorrow. Report an error in the passage at 58:13 Highlight the passage at 58:13

58:46 It's release. So that would be the ultimate virtuous state. And on the contrary, the adverse of that would be to be bound within cyclic existence, bound by karma and afflictive emotions. Report an error in the passage at 58:46 Highlight the passage at 58:46

59:06 And that is the ultimate non-virtue, if you like. But it's just called that. Okay? Report an error in the passage at 59:06 Highlight the passage at 59:06

59:31 We achieve, yeah, the ultimate virtue. I would think, I mean, they are, yeah, okay. Nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa is peace. So that's the ultimate result of virtue. Therefore it's called the ultimate virtue. Report an error in the passage at 59:31 Highlight the passage at 59:31

59:54 And cyclic existence is the ultimate result of non-virtue. Report an error in the passage at 59:54 Highlight the passage at 59:54

1:00:03 Okay, now we're going to describe it. You know, it's interesting. We're going to look at the six root afflictions, okay, beginning on page 52. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:03 Highlight the passage at 1:00:03

1:00:17 And, you know, sometimes we use the word, or I use the word quite often, negative emotions and so forth. But, in fact, there's no word in Tibetan for emotions. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:17 Highlight the passage at 1:00:17

1:00:30 But maybe that's not so. I mean, it sounds strange to call. Ignorance and emotion is not particularly emotion. But when we talk about anger and attachment, then it works pretty well. But sometimes it doesn't work all that well. So maybe also while we're looking at afflictions in general, if you have notes for, we can make use of those as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:30 Highlight the passage at 1:00:30

1:01:01 The Tibetan word for affliction or... Sometimes called negative emotions is Report an error in the passage at 1:01:01 Highlight the passage at 1:01:01

1:01:13 nyomong. It's mentioned here. And literally, it's a compound word. It's made out of... Tibetan language does this quite a lot. It takes two different words and makes a compound and derives a new meaning or emphasizes a particular meaning. Here the meaning nyomong means to afflict or disturb. mong means to obscure. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:13 Highlight the passage at 1:01:13

1:01:40 So most literally, the word that we're translating as affliction or afflictive emotion or negative emotion most literally is afflict, obscure. So those mental factors which afflict and obscure the mind is what we mean by an affliction. Yeah, please. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:40 Highlight the passage at 1:01:40

1:02:10 So I think we're Report an error in the passage at 1:02:10 Highlight the passage at 1:02:10

1:02:17 obscured. so... Report an error in the passage at 1:02:17 Highlight the passage at 1:02:17

1:02:18 From seeing the actual nature of the object, so whatever it might be. I mean, there's an example which is given here from, this is not an example, it's what we call a metaphor in the second paragraph here where the Buddha, in Sutta Sema Nikaya, he talked about, he went through these various, we'll call them afflictions, okay? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:18 Highlight the passage at 1:02:18

1:02:48 And he said that, Attachment was like a blue dye in water. And he likened anger to boiling water. And if you were to look into that water in order to see the reflection of your face, you would see a distortion. So what is being seen is a distorted object. So the mind is obscured from seeing the actual nature of the object, the way it actually is. It's based upon all of the afflictions. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:48 Highlight the passage at 1:02:48

1:03:36 Remember we talked about in the beginning of this term, wrong consciousnesses? Remember what a wrong consciousness is? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:36 Highlight the passage at 1:03:36

1:03:48 It's mistaken with regard to its object. It's the object of a wrong consciousness. It does not exist the way it appears. All afflictive emotions, all afflictions are wrong consciousnesses. They're all based upon misrepresentation. The object is always distorted in some fashion or another. So these afflictions are in Sanskrit, klesha or klesa in Pāli. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:48 Highlight the passage at 1:03:48

1:04:21 They're operating in two functions. One of them is... That they disturb. I think it's useful to think that the very nature of the mind is peace. That's called, you know, I mentioned the word nirvāṇa, beyond sorrow. Nirvāṇa is peace. There's various types of nirvāṇa. And one of them is called natural nirvāṇa. And that is the very peace of the mind by nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:21 Highlight the passage at 1:04:21

1:04:51 And the very nature of the mind is peace. I mean, it's hard to believe sometimes. I grant it. It's interesting information in a way because in some types of achieving meditative states, for example, where you're trying to calm the mind, what we're doing is not trying to make the mind peaceful but to pacify the disturbing factors of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:51 Highlight the passage at 1:04:51

1:05:23 We don't have to make the mind peaceful. We're removing the disturbing factors. It's a different... orientation, yeah. It's not like we have, you know. So the approach has to be concordant with the result we're trying to achieve. If the method that you employ to pacify actually disturbs, then the effort is counterproductive. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:23 Highlight the passage at 1:05:23

1:05:52 So the very approach has to be in keeping with the kind of results. And we don't have to create that peace. We simply have to remove the disturbing factors of the mind, the clashes from the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:52 Highlight the passage at 1:05:52

1:06:10 One of the qualities of the clashes or the afflictions is that they disturb the peace of the mind. The mind is already at peace, but it's being disturbed. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:10 Highlight the passage at 1:06:10

1:06:21 I don't know. Okay. I just wanted to bring that out. So the mind is being obscured with seeing the object for what it is. In its actual nature. And each of them distorts the object. Each of these will distort the object in a particular fashion. We're going to go through those and how they, in what way they're distorting. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:21 Highlight the passage at 1:06:21

1:06:44 But they all disturb the mind. And they all distort in a variety of different ways. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:44 Highlight the passage at 1:06:44

1:07:08 You know, the, Report an error in the passage at 1:07:08 Highlight the passage at 1:07:08

1:07:28 so there are said to be six, Report an error in the passage at 1:07:28 Highlight the passage at 1:07:28

1:07:34 let's talk a little bit about, you know, what is the, What is the mind? The mind is moved. The mind is at peace. Okay? That's the natural state of our mind. But for some reason it's disturbed. It's moved. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:34 Highlight the passage at 1:07:34

1:08:00 An emotion is a matter of being moved to conceive of a strategy in the face of the way that we take things to be in order to compensate. Or to remedy, or to restore, or to maintain. The mind is at peace, but an emotion arises out of the triggering. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:00 Highlight the passage at 1:08:00

1:08:34 Remember your triggers. And the mind is moved to formulate some strategy. How am I going to rectify the situation? It's not, for example, in the case of anger, hatred. I'm going to talk very generally. The basic notion, and we'll go into it in more detail, but I'm talking about without getting technical, I want and I can't have. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:34 Highlight the passage at 1:08:34

1:08:59 So there's something, the mind has been, there's a movement of the mind toward, the peace of the mind has been disturbed at once. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:59 Highlight the passage at 1:08:59

1:09:11 There's desire. That desire is obstructed. The mind is trying to return to how to remedy that frustrated state. It's working out a strategy. In this case, I remove the obstruction. Thereby I can get my object of desire, I can be sated, I can return to a state of peace. The mind is always trying to return to that state. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:11 Highlight the passage at 1:09:11

1:09:50 But the problem is, with the afflictions, is that it arises independence upon a misrepresentation of its object. The mind is inexact in terms of the strategy it's working out in order to restore or remedy the situation in whatever way. Why? Because it's a distorted appearance. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:50 Highlight the passage at 1:09:50

1:10:19 It's operating on a hallucination, a fantasy of the actual object itself. So it's the means of achieving that restoration or that remedy or that compensation. It's always going to be inexact. It's always going to be unskillful. Sometimes we can use that word, unskillful. It's going to miss the mark. And we keep creating these messes, and we have to keep cleaning up the messes we made. And it's a feedback loop. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:19 Highlight the passage at 1:10:19

1:10:56 One is reactive patterns, which are miscalculated, which requires another reactive pattern, which is miscalculated. And it's a never-ending process. So within that system, there's no resolution of returning to the primal state of peace. Do you know Report an error in the passage at 1:10:56 Highlight the passage at 1:10:56

1:11:20 where all that came from? Report an error in the passage at 1:11:20 Highlight the passage at 1:11:20

1:11:24 So we're talking about the various afflictions. So the Buddha is trying to get the sense that the afflictions are disturbing the mind and we see the object in a distorted fashion. We're obscured from seeing it as it actually is. So it's a two-fold of Report an error in the passage at 1:11:24 Highlight the passage at 1:11:24

1:11:56 the afflictions. Okay, so let's look at the first. Any questions around that? Just look at it in general. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:56 Highlight the passage at 1:11:56

1:12:11 The first, in terms of, I mean, here it just says, describe the general characteristic, answer number two, describe the general characteristic of an affliction, a mental factor that upon arising disturbs the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:11 Highlight the passage at 1:12:11

1:12:28 But it has another connotation of obscuring. It's actually in the... Tibetan term itself. And then we are asked to list below a description of the six root afflictions. So if you notice, there are what are called, sometimes they're divided into ten. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:28 Highlight the passage at 1:12:28

1:12:51 There are five what are called non-view afflictions and five view afflictions. So five of them up to view are called non-view and then view is divided into five. So sometimes if you hear the term 10, you know it's just a matter of dividing view, afflicted view into five. It's five divisions, five non-views and five views. So the first of these is attachment and giving a very simple meaning to attachment, a mental factor that perceives a contaminated thing to be attractive by way of its own entity and thereupon seeks it. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:51 Highlight the passage at 1:12:51

1:13:40 All of the afflictions are a matter of superimposing, or they exaggerate, or they deprecate. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:40 Highlight the passage at 1:13:40

1:13:58 In the case of attachment, attachment is focusing upon an appealing aspect of the object. Now, there's two things basically are happening in the case of attachment. First, focusing upon that appealing aspect of the object, it will exaggerate the appealing nature of the object beyond its actual status. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:58 Highlight the passage at 1:13:58

1:14:26 It exaggerates it. But as well, why do we desire something? Question. Really, basically. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:26 Highlight the passage at 1:14:26

1:14:43 Good. There's something in it that's going to make us happy. So there's two things happening. One, we overestimate its ability to bring us happiness. And we see that happiness, that ability as being in the very nature of the object itself. That there's something intrinsically, it has an intrinsic ability to bring me pleasure. It's in the nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:43 Highlight the passage at 1:14:43

1:15:10 It doesn't have anything to do with my mind. It's in the nature of the object. If I can only get that object, if I can make it mine, I can... I can partake of that pleasure. Whenever I want to hit a pleasure, it's always there for me. That's the way the object is appearing to the mind of attachment. In talking about the afflictions in this way, we have to look at the world through the eyes of the affliction, especially when we come to things like anger. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:10 Highlight the passage at 1:15:10

1:15:49 Let's begin with attachment. you might say, but... Let's listen first. If we're looking out of the eyes of attachment, we superimpose the ability of that object. We overestimate, exaggerate its potential to bring us happiness. And moreover, we see that ability to bring happiness as in the very nature coming from the side of the object itself. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:49 Highlight the passage at 1:15:49

1:16:22 Let's look at the definition of attachment. It's on page 53 of our text. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:22 Highlight the passage at 1:16:22

1:16:36 It is a clinging of the three realms. It has a function to produce suffering. It doesn't tell us all that much, I'm afraid. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:36 Highlight the passage at 1:16:36

1:16:47 I think if you substitute the word discontentment, it might... For suffering, that might be more meaningful, but still it produces discontent. We're not content. A desirous mind is not content. That's the point. It's not at peace. There's a tension. The mind has to move. It has to work out some strategy. Let's see. Attachment observes an external or internal object that is beautiful and attractive. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:47 Highlight the passage at 1:16:47

1:17:29 It becomes attached to it. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:29 Highlight the passage at 1:17:29

1:17:38 Sometimes these definitions don't tell us all that much. Let's look at our note four where it says attachment. It focuses on an outer or inner object and sees it as attractive, wants to have it, pursues it and attaches to it. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:38 Highlight the passage at 1:17:38

1:18:03 So Report an error in the passage at 1:18:03 Highlight the passage at 1:18:03

1:18:18 there's lots of, you know, there's lots of, on the base, we're seeing the object. In a distorted fashion, we're exaggerating its appealing nature, its attractive nature. Moreover, we're holding that that ability to bring pleasure is in the very nature of the object itself. Moreover, that it's unchangingly so. It's always going to be there. It's reliable. It's going to be lasting. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:18 Highlight the passage at 1:18:18

1:18:53 This is why attachment can be so powerful. I mean, if this were the actual nature of the object, I'd want to get it myself. If that object really existed as appealing, as attractive as it appeared, and it was in the very nature of the object, and moreover, that ability to bring me pleasure was unchanging, and moreover, desire or attachment filters out any flaws in the object, the mind is unbalanced. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:53 Highlight the passage at 1:18:53

1:19:30 It's, It filters out any negative aspects. So what do we have? We have a flawless, unchanging, extremely appealing object which is able to bring me bliss by way of its own nature. That sounds pretty good to me. I'll take a dozen of those. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:30 Highlight the passage at 1:19:30

1:19:57 You can be attached to Nirvāṇa. You could be attached to... You could be attached to your conception of nirvāṇa. Your conception of nirvāṇa. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:57 Highlight the passage at 1:19:57

1:20:14 Yeah. Permanent. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:14 Highlight the passage at 1:20:14

1:20:22 Permanent. I mean, nirvāṇa is just an absence. Yeah. It's an absence of disturbing factors. So, yeah, you could be attached to your conception, your idea of nirvāṇa. Very, quite easy. Yeah. You could be attached to liberation. Yeah. Your conception of liberation. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:22 Highlight the passage at 1:20:22

1:20:45 Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:20:45 Highlight the passage at 1:20:45

1:20:56 that's all right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:56 Highlight the passage at 1:20:56

1:21:08 Yeah, please. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:08 Highlight the passage at 1:21:08

1:21:12 These are going to be, when we come to view, the sixth of the root afflictions, it's divided into five. And we'll go through the five. Sometimes you hear the word ten, ten root afflictions. And they say that because there's five non-views. The first five of the six as listed here. And then they're just saying that afflicted view is divided into five. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:12 Highlight the passage at 1:21:12

1:21:42 And they just say, well, there's ten altogether. That's all. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:42 Highlight the passage at 1:21:42

1:21:50 Yeah, please. Oh, Report an error in the passage at 1:21:50 Highlight the passage at 1:21:50

1:21:56 lots of those. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:56 Highlight the passage at 1:21:56

1:22:09 Sure, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:09 Highlight the passage at 1:22:09

1:22:18 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that's, yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:22:18 Highlight the passage at 1:22:18

1:22:30 yeah. So attachment, it's not always very gross. Sometimes it's very subtle. Sometimes we don't know where you're attached to something until we lose it. And then we see how disturbed it. You can be attached to anything, anything, anything. You're being right all the time. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:30 Highlight the passage at 1:22:30

1:22:48 But yeah, there's nothing that you can't be attached to. It's like, it's essentially, it's Report an error in the passage at 1:22:48 Highlight the passage at 1:22:48

1:23:03 like glue. We get stuck. We get fixated. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:03 Highlight the passage at 1:23:03

1:23:12 You know, in talking about it, I guess it's... You know, lot of people are there. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:12 Highlight the passage at 1:23:12

1:23:09 um... Report an error in the passage at 1:23:09 Highlight the passage at 1:23:09

1:23:16 It's useful just simply to mention that in talking about attachment, Buddhism is not suggesting that we are to give up all wanting or we could even say intentional activity in general. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:16 Highlight the passage at 1:23:16

1:23:37 The Dalai Lama speaks quite often about we have innate desire for happiness. We can have a desire for enlightenment. You know, we have. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:37 Highlight the passage at 1:23:37

1:23:47 To be a Buddha, desire to be a benefit to others. So we're not to give up intentional activity or wanting in general. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:47 Highlight the passage at 1:23:47

1:24:03 It's necessary to make a distinction between a racially warranted desire and afflicted desire. We can achieve the object of racially warranted desire. We can desire to get to work on time. That's something very real. The object of our afflicted desire does not exist. It can never be achieved. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:03 Highlight the passage at 1:24:03

1:24:40 So there's a distortion. The object is a hallucination because it's exaggerated in its nature with regard to the appealing quality and its ability to bring us pleasure. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:40 Highlight the passage at 1:24:40

1:24:55 To the desire to get to work on time is fine. Desire to be happy. Desire to make a livelihood and have a comfortable home. There's no problem with that. So we're talking about what Buddhism is encouraging us to diminish the driven, compulsive, stuck forms of wanting. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:55 Highlight the passage at 1:24:55

1:25:24 It's not asking us to give up wanting altogether. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:24 Highlight the passage at 1:25:24

1:25:40 can just desire, you can do it for yourself. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:40 Highlight the passage at 1:25:40

1:25:58 So essentially, we don't use this word very often, but it's asking us to give up our addictions. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:58 Highlight the passage at 1:25:58

1:26:06 What is Report an error in the passage at 1:26:06 Highlight the passage at 1:26:06

1:26:13 the difference between attachment and love? Report an error in the passage at 1:26:13 Highlight the passage at 1:26:13

1:26:19 What's the difference? Okay. What's the difference? Report an error in the passage at 1:26:19 Highlight the passage at 1:26:19

1:26:26 There's no difference, okay, Report an error in the passage at 1:26:26 Highlight the passage at 1:26:26

1:26:45 between love and attachment. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:45 Highlight the passage at 1:26:45

1:26:49 Unconditional. Oh, Report an error in the passage at 1:26:49 Highlight the passage at 1:26:49

1:27:09 yes. So, okay, yeah, I think there's some good, something there. But Report an error in the passage at 1:27:09 Highlight the passage at 1:27:09

1:27:26 I love you, don't leave me. I love you so much. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:26 Highlight the passage at 1:27:26

1:27:41 Whether it's harmful or not. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:41 Highlight the passage at 1:27:41

1:27:46 So love is not, love is not harmful. So attachment can be, Report an error in the passage at 1:27:46 Highlight the passage at 1:27:46

1:28:05 love them to death. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:05 Highlight the passage at 1:28:05

1:28:11 Love which is selfless. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:11 Highlight the passage at 1:28:11

1:28:16 Okay, that's a big order there. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:16 Highlight the passage at 1:28:16

1:28:33 there's something, if you love something because... Report an error in the passage at 1:28:33 Highlight the passage at 1:28:33

1:28:46 close to my heart right Report an error in the passage at 1:28:46 Highlight the passage at 1:28:46

1:28:51 Sweet. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:51 Highlight the passage at 1:28:51

1:29:19 Degree of altruism. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 1:29:19 Highlight the passage at 1:29:19

1:29:44 good. Yeah, I think that's... So I think, yeah, I think that's... I mean, it's a big question, isn't it? But both love and attachment are concerned with happiness. It's just, who's happiness, isn't it, in a way? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:44 Highlight the passage at 1:29:44

1:30:03 Yeah, love is simply the wish to be happy. So love asks the question, how can I make you happy? Attachment asks the question, how can you make me happy? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:03 Highlight the passage at 1:30:03

1:30:21 Something like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:21 Highlight the passage at 1:30:21

1:30:27 I still love that. So, I mean, most of the time I think, you know, our emotions are mixed, aren't they? We have both moments of love and moments of attachment coming, rising one after another. I mean, Report an error in the passage at 1:30:27 Highlight the passage at 1:30:27

1:30:50 if there's attachment, that's for sure. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Then you become disappointed, hurt, angry, and so forth. Yeah, it sets off a chain reaction. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:30:50 Highlight the passage at 1:30:50

1:31:09 sure, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:09 Highlight the passage at 1:31:09

1:31:22 Okay, that's nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's very nice. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:22 Highlight the passage at 1:31:22

1:31:35 He's very fortunate. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:35 Highlight the passage at 1:31:35

1:31:56 The second, I don't know, anyone talk about attachment? There's a family of, you know, we're just talking a family of this. So this kind of stuck, fixated, compulsive. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:56 Highlight the passage at 1:31:56

1:32:14 Desire, which overestimates the appealing nature and sees the object as having the ability, by way of its very nature, to bring its pleasure. It's flawless. It's going to last. It's reliable. These are kind of the qualifications of what we mean by attachment here. Desire is attachment. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:14 Highlight the passage at 1:32:14

1:32:44 Possess and wanting to hold on to. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:44 Highlight the passage at 1:32:44

1:32:50 Yeah, yeah, yeah. You want to maintain contact. So it can be a desire to get, to hold on to, and to repeat contact again in the future. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:50 Highlight the passage at 1:32:50

1:33:04 So it can be in three times. Yeah, but to hold on to. You want to maintain. This is good stuff. I want to hold on to it. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:33:04 Highlight the passage at 1:33:04

1:33:18 yeah. Hold on. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:18 Highlight the passage at 1:33:18

1:33:26 It's a codependence. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:26 Highlight the passage at 1:33:26

1:33:33 Sure. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:33 Highlight the passage at 1:33:33

1:33:50 is just, yeah, I mean. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:50 Highlight the passage at 1:33:50

1:33:56 The loss of a loved one. Tragic. It's very painful. I mean the grief. Also the attachment to a self-image. It makes it difficult to change. So it kind of holds you in place. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:56 Highlight the passage at 1:33:56

1:34:19 Anger. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:19 Highlight the passage at 1:34:19

1:34:23 The malice toward sentient beings suffering and the sources of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:23 Highlight the passage at 1:34:23

1:34:37 Most generally, wishing to harm. We don't say that so much, do we? That sounds a bit heavy duty. But simply, I wish you have a desire. You want something. And this is obstructing you from what you want. There's something, there's an obstacle, which is you have a frustrated desire. The mind is unhappy. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:37 Highlight the passage at 1:34:37

1:35:07 The mind is irritated. And you identify an object. If it wasn't for you, I'd be happy. If it wasn't for the guy playing that music next door, I'd be happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:07 Highlight the passage at 1:35:07

1:35:20 There's something that's obstructing you from getting what you want. So you don't want it there. You want to be separated from it. You want it not there. So this wishing it not to be there can take various forms. It can be simply wanting to be separated or it can... To harm the object, to destroy it, to kill it. But essentially most it's simply wanting the obstruction not to be there. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:20 Highlight the passage at 1:35:20

1:35:59 Okay, then there we have to begin to nuance what we mean by anger. That's a good point. It's a difficult subject because there we're talking more about... Protesting injustice, for example. The word anger, here we're using anger, okay? Sometimes you use the word hatred. Anger, it has a much broader meaning in Western usage than is intended by the Ambidharma or the Buddhist usage of the term. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:59 Highlight the passage at 1:35:59

1:36:19 doesn't, so. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:19 Highlight the passage at 1:36:19

1:36:47 Most essentially what is being gotten at here by anger is a malice. A malice means a wish to harm. So that's all that we're trying to get at. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:47 Highlight the passage at 1:36:47

1:37:05 The reason that we want to do this is we want to diminish the disturbance of the mind that anger afflicts on us immediately. as a means of Report an error in the passage at 1:37:05 Highlight the passage at 1:37:05

1:37:18 To prevent harming others, but also creating the causes for future suffering. In the West, we could have a strong dislike. We could have assertiveness, like don't use my computer without asking me. We could have creating independence. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:18 Highlight the passage at 1:37:18

1:37:47 Sometimes I like to go for a walk by myself. We could set in boundaries. Please knock on my door before you come in. We could have protesting injustice. I'm setting up a website to protest the war, or whatever it might be, or setting up a website to protest how the government is treating the refugees. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:47 Highlight the passage at 1:37:47

1:38:12 But none of those necessarily involves anger, the wish to harm. Inacted very forcefully and passionately without the wish to harm. So if there was a strong dislike, you see somebody mistreating a child, you could say, stop. You could intervene without having to get angry. But if you said, stop or I'm going to punch you in the face, then that would probably be anger. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:12 Highlight the passage at 1:38:12

1:38:49 So we can have a very, you can come from a very, you know, we can come from what we call tough love. Don't do that. But it doesn't involve, you know, we don't, giving up anger doesn't make you a doormat of being compassionate. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:49 Highlight the passage at 1:38:49

1:39:09 That's a good point, I think. You know, there's also what's called wrathful compassion. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:09 Highlight the passage at 1:39:09

1:39:22 Like a mother. A child starts to run out on the street and the mother, don't you ever do that. She doesn't want to hurt her child. But it's a very wrathful appearance and it sends a message out of caring. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:22 Highlight the passage at 1:39:22

1:39:45 Okay, so let's see. Anger. It can be directed toward a source of one's own suffering. Let's see. The object of anger is a source of one's own suffering. You know, what Report an error in the passage at 1:39:45 Highlight the passage at 1:39:45

1:40:10 we recognize as a source of suffering. You could get angry at a, you come home and you see a pile of dirty dishes. That's a source of suffering. You could get angry at the pile of dirty, it doesn't have to be inanimate, it could be maybe most generally. I don't know, you know, like if you bang yourself with a, you kick, you know, you trip over something. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:10 Highlight the passage at 1:40:10

1:40:34 Or it could be the pain itself, or it could be whatever Report an error in the passage at 1:40:34 Highlight the passage at 1:40:34

1:40:42 caused the suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:42 Highlight the passage at 1:40:42

1:41:11 By all means, from your emotional balance course, I'd like to hear if you could add some comments. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:11 Highlight the passage at 1:41:11

1:41:32 Forty other words. So there's a whole family of words, yeah. Okay, wait a minute. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:32 Highlight the passage at 1:41:32

1:41:36 A whole range of nuanced words. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 1:41:36 Highlight the passage at 1:41:36

1:41:54 that's interesting. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:54 Highlight the passage at 1:41:54

1:42:07 So they were using anger in a way which wouldn't correspond to anger here. But we're using the same word, aren't we? Report an error in the passage at 1:42:07 Highlight the passage at 1:42:07

1:42:22 Indignation. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:22 Highlight the passage at 1:42:22

1:42:35 And I think in all of these, there's a reason. I said it's a movement of the mind to work out a strategy to set things right, to remedy a situation, that something's not right. The mind is in an agitated state. There's a reason, Report an error in the passage at 1:42:35 Highlight the passage at 1:42:35

1:43:04 and I talked a bit about this over the course of some of the talks on the afflictive emotions. There's a reason that we continue to be angry, strangely enough. And there's a, there's... At some level, we hold these various afflictions to be, we assume that they are useful to ourselves. Otherwise, we wouldn't continue to employ them in reaction to trying to solve problems. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:04 Highlight the passage at 1:43:04

1:43:40 We might be misjudging. They might have served a purpose at one time, but nonetheless, we assume they still do. So in working with these afflictions, it's I think one of the important elements in bringing about change is seeing the beliefs I have around these emotions. I must believe that anger serves me well or I wouldn't continue to employ it. And how is anger beneficial to you? Report an error in the passage at 1:43:40 Highlight the passage at 1:43:40

1:44:22 actually Report an error in the passage at 1:44:22 Highlight the passage at 1:44:22

1:44:26 Enumerating, like having a journal, how is anger serving me? What are the benefits of anger, essentially? What are the benefits of anger? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:26 Highlight the passage at 1:44:26

1:44:37 And when I ask people to think about it, they find it extremely difficult, especially Buddhists. It's not politically correct to think of the benefits of anger. But I think it's necessary to begin to... Report an error in the passage at 1:44:37 Highlight the passage at 1:44:37

1:44:55 Bring to consciousness, why am I holding on to this particular strategy, an emotional strategy, to get what I want? I must think it works. I still employ it. I must think it's beneficial. What do I see as the benefits of anger? And then you can say, once you've established those benefits, you can go along and say, are those real benefits? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:55 Highlight the passage at 1:44:55

1:45:26 Or do the negative consequences outweigh any possible benefit? Or are there other ways I could achieve that same end which aren't harmful? Or are there more skillful ways than anger itself to achieve a better end? Report an error in the passage at 1:45:26 Highlight the passage at 1:45:26

1:45:58 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:58 Highlight the passage at 1:45:58

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:46:42 So it empowers you. You get what you want. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:42 Highlight the passage at 1:46:42

1:46:53 Yeah, yeah. It intimidates people. Getting what you want. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:53 Highlight the passage at 1:46:53

1:47:03 I mean, Report an error in the passage at 1:47:03 Highlight the passage at 1:47:03

1:47:09 it's really useful. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:09 Highlight the passage at 1:47:09

1:47:14 It appears, yeah. But is it, okay, yeah. So, Report an error in the passage at 1:47:14 Highlight the passage at 1:47:14

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:48:07 okay, that's, Report an error in the passage at 1:48:07 Highlight the passage at 1:48:07

1:48:20 yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:20 Highlight the passage at 1:48:20

1:48:28 So, Report an error in the passage at 1:48:28 Highlight the passage at 1:48:28

1:48:38 yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:38 Highlight the passage at 1:48:38

1:48:51 It's a much broader meaning. But, yeah. where we're getting Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:51 Highlight the passage at 1:48:51

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:49:02 So can you get what you want without harming, without the wish to harm? It's interesting, we got away from... Whenever I ask people what are the benefits of anger, it's really hard to stay on that subject. It's interesting. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:02 Highlight the passage at 1:49:02

1:49:24 Anyway, I don't want to... I'm just saying... Because how we... I think how we... How we view our emotions will, in part, determine which emotions we allow into our emotional repertoire that we express, that we invite, that we make use of, and those that we're disinclined to. view our emotions. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:24 Highlight the passage at 1:49:24

1:50:08 To allow to develop, that we push away. We have attitudes toward our various emotions. Some people have a very limited, narrow emotional repertoire. They feel very uncomfortable and most of us are very emotionally inarticulate. don't. how are How we look upon our emotions makes a difference in our emotional life, how we relate to emotions. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:08 Highlight the passage at 1:50:08

1:50:47 Where was I going with that? So it makes a difference because, you know, like in the Western... We didn't get very far. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:47 Highlight the passage at 1:50:47

1:50:59 It's like beginning with Freud. know, he, and... Report an error in the passage at 1:50:59 Highlight the passage at 1:50:59

1:51:12 He tried to take psychology out of the area of philosophy and put it into the area of the natural sciences. He wanted to make a science out of psychology rather than simply philosophic speculation. So he used the models, the metaphors that he began to make use of in talking about and explaining the operation of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:12 Highlight the passage at 1:51:12

1:51:34 One of the areas he drew his metaphors was from the area of... Of hydrology, of the study of water. And he began to view the mind. He spoke of the mind. And it's only metaphors, but it's become so embedded in our culture that we take it as the way things are. That there's an underground stream. There's the unconscious. And as long as that stream is able to flow, from time to time it bursts up to the surface, impulses. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:34 Highlight the passage at 1:51:34

1:52:09 But if that stream is blocked, the pressure is going to build up and it's going to explode. It's only a metaphor. The way Freud chose to view anger. You know, it's like there was a book published on anger by a Buddhist author. On the cover is a volcano. Explosion. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:09 Highlight the passage at 1:52:09

1:52:39 And I question whether that metaphor is really all that useful in working with anger. It's like we're giving anger some agency which it doesn't possess. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:39 Highlight the passage at 1:52:39

1:53:00 But it's not its way of life, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:00 Highlight the passage at 1:53:00

1:53:11 Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:11 Highlight the passage at 1:53:11

1:53:32 Or you're going to explode. And therefore, let it all hang out. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:32 Highlight the passage at 1:53:32

1:53:42 The more you do something, the more you do it. The easier it is to do it again. So I think it's quite interesting, our view, the way of viewing our emotions, the way it's been conditioned. And maybe there's another way that we can relate with our emotions. But yeah, it's quite fascinating, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 1:53:42 Highlight the passage at 1:53:42

1:54:14 I think we give... We give the emotions, like anger, for example, a sense of as if it had a mind of its own, an agency, a power. And there's almost a paranoia with regard to becoming angry, like there's some force which we have to keep at bay. And there's a lot of fear in that. And I don't think that's a very healthy way to relate with our emotional life. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:14 Highlight the passage at 1:54:14

1:54:50 And I think Report an error in the passage at 1:54:50 Highlight the passage at 1:54:50

1:54:54 we have to use wisdom rather than willpower in how we work with our minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:54 Highlight the passage at 1:54:54

1:55:09 Oh, we didn't get very far. But anyway, it's interesting. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:09 Highlight the passage at 1:55:09

1:55:18 We'll have to go quickly. It's my fault. I'm angry at myself. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:18 Highlight the passage at 1:55:18

1:55:30 Let's see. One thing was that I asked if we could extend the class. Probably one more week, so they said it was fine. So we'll have a class on the 22nd. That'll be our final class of the year of Mind and Cognition. So we have two more. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:30 Highlight the passage at 1:55:30

1:56:01 Oh, by the way, I don't know if you looked at the program for next year that there's a mistake. They put the wrong course in for next year. We're going to be looking at the first seven chapters of the... The book that you mentioned by Shantideva, The Bodhisattva's Way of Life. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:01 Highlight the passage at 1:56:01

1:56:23 No, no. Good night. Drive safely. Yeah, no, that was just a mistake. Okay. So, yeah, if you'll look at the quiz answer 12, what you got tonight, and we'll try to work through the rest of the remaining material in the next two weeks. Sorry, I'm not a very good time manager. So we can dedicate the... Report an error in the passage at 1:56:23 Highlight the passage at 1:56:23

1:56:55 Positive energy we've created together. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:55 Highlight the passage at 1:56:55

1:57:04 May all beings everywhere, plagued by sufferings of body and mind, attain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of my merits. May no living creature 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 warring with toil be restored and finally reposed. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:04 Highlight the passage at 1:57:04

1:57:30 May the naked find clothing, the hungry find food. May the thirsty find water and delicious drink. May the poor find wealth, those weak with sorrow find joy. May the poor lawn find hope, constant happiness and prosperity. May there be timely rains and bountable harvests. May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:30 Highlight the passage at 1:57:30

1:57:53 May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. Whatever the uses there are in the world, may they never occur again. 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 sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain to dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:53 Highlight the passage at 1:57:53

1:58:19 Through these skillful actions may I quickly become an awakened spiritual master and lead each and every living being to that awakened realm. 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. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:19 Highlight the passage at 1:58:19

1:58:39 In the land encircled by snow mountains, you are the source of all happiness and well-being. Powerful Chenrizi, Tenzin Gyatso, please remain in the cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:39 Highlight the passage at 1:58:39