Reverend Piazzolo comes from... where it's usually been monks monks practice now trying to open up a practice in Asia closer to the kind of practice that we have here.

[01:02]

So welcome. Let me first say Sukhi to everyone present here. Sukhi is a Pali word meaning may you be well. It's a kind of opening salutation. I'm very nervous about ceremonies. That's one reason why I left the robe, I think. Because I felt that, in a way, it is good for the monastics, but for the lay people, it can be a little difficult. So my hope is to be able to reach out to people in better ways. So, in a way, there are certain things you have to renounce. even sometimes renunciation itself, and I think Alan could relate to this very easily. So today I would like to share with you some of these thoughts I have within these short moments we have together. I've actually prepared quite a long paper which, as the thoughts come, I noted them down.

[02:07]

But I'll give the essence of what I have written here. Basically, I'd like to speak some very traditional aspects of Buddhism since this is my kind of spiritual debut in this new land for me. This is my fourth month here, so it's a kind of celebration for me too. Let me speak about what traditionally has been called the three roots of motivation, namely greed, hatred and delusion. In contemporary terms, which we can call the three wills. That is the will for power, the will for pleasure, and the will for life. Now these three roots of motivation, these three wills, are related to the very beginning of Buddhism, when Prince Siddhartha saw the four sides. When he saw the old man,

[03:08]

his intoxication with youth evaporated. When he saw the sick man, his intoxication with health evaporated. When he saw the dead man, his intoxication with life evaporated. Now, in other words here, he saw before him a scenario which shook his Otherwise, very secure and regulated way of looking at things. He was a royal prince. He lived a very shallow life. In other words, he began to ask himself very serious questions. What is life about? So this is where we come to the fourth and most important will, which is in fact the positive one, or the wholesome one, as we say in Buddhism. And this is the will for meaning. It is only when we ask ourselves a question, what is the meaning of all this, that we can fairly call ourselves Buddhists.

[04:16]

In other words, we are seekers. So, the Buddha started off by asking himself this question in one way or another, what is the meaning of all this? And because he asked the question, he became an ascetic in the tradition of his days. And he discovered the truth and because of that we call him Buddha. Now if he had stopped there, then he would just be Buddha. But because in his compassion he spoke out, he reached out to the many folk, the Bahujanais we call it in Pali. We call him the Samyaksambuddha, the perfect self-enlightened Buddha. And in addressing the common people, his message was that he's not alone. In every one of us, there is this, what we call today, the Buddha seed. And this is what makes him different from the others.

[05:20]

There was a time before him when salvation meant a series of rituals. which are dispensed by a specialized group of people called priests or Brahmins. But here, his message is that we could, with our own effort, through our own self-understanding, be liberated. In other words, in terms of our contemporary language, we might say that what the Buddha has actually taught us is to recognize our own frailties. that our mind is like a crystal clear mirror which we look at to see ourselves. And in so looking, we discover, we see and accept these frailties. And because we discover these frailties, therefore it naturally behooves us to transform ourselves. And to do so, we have to ask the question, what is the meaning of all this?

[06:23]

When we ask ourselves this question of meaning, we're talking about life itself. In many ways, we would like to know what is of value to us. Because when we speak of meaning, we also speak of value. And the whole of Buddhism can be boiled down to the idea of what is of the greatest value to us. When we do not have a sense of what is of the highest value to us, then we tend to collect things. We tend to think in terms of arithmetical amounts rather than the progression of the mind. So the basic teachings of the Buddha found the precepts give us a very good idea on what are of the highest value to us. For many years, I contemplated why the Buddha placed the precept against killing as number one. And I could not find the answer to this in any of the books I've read, nor from any of the teachers I've met.

[07:31]

There are very good commentaries on these five precepts, so don't doubt that. But strangely, through my studies of secular philosophy and in my reflections, I discovered that there is a very important reason why the first precept is put first. It's because Life is of the greatest value to us. Without life, there's nothing else. So the first precept is respect for life. And when we live as Buddhists, our aim should be to increase this, to upgrade this quality of life. And that is where we come to meditation. In meditation, we see ourselves in greater focus by renouncing unnecessary, by renouncing distracting thoughts and emotions.

[08:33]

All in the way of saying it is to transform them into wholesome and positive feelings and emotions. One might even say, or you might even say that we learn to cultivate the emotions. In the tradition I follow, we have two basic approaches in meditation. The first is to watch the breath. In this practice, we focus our mental energies so that we renounce or we push aside or simply ignore unwholesome thoughts. and focus its mental energy so that we are able to know ourselves better. It's a kind of, for lack of a better word, a kind of introspection, a kind of focusing internal energy. The second practice we do is called the Cultivation of Loving Kindness.

[09:38]

That is a kind of outward going, a kind of out looking approach. This is where we develop a sense of greater awareness of others. And we do this by wishing you well and happy just as we would wish ourselves. And in this way, we're able to accept a growing circle of people. In my four months here in the States, I noticed that, well, in some circles anyway, that friendship is a very jealous kind of association. where we keep our friends just to ourselves. There is, of course, a certain kind of friendliness, a very officious friendliness, but there is always this fear that we might lose our friends. But on the other hand, if we cultivate loving-kindness, we build up what is called an ever-inclusive kind of friendship, that friendship grows. I remember when I was at the first

[10:42]

At the opening meeting of the visiting scholars and students in the International House, the first thing I was told about America is that we are individualist. So what's meant here is that we think a lot for ourselves and we want to be different from others or we are different from others and so on. So I think this Loving Kindness Meditation is a very helpful practice here because despite our differences, we can still have the same universal feeling of acceptance because loving kindness builds up a kind of very wonderful and peaceful self-confidence. I think individualism starts off with the fear that we may not be accepted by others because we are the same as others and therefore we blend into this same into this black and white scenery and be lost. So in being different, we stand out.

[11:43]

But lovingkindness looks at the whole situation in a different way by spreading our wholesome feelings wider afield to include more and more people without any exception. And this is where we call breaking the barriers. And here again we see a very great difference between, a very profound, the most important difference between spirituality and non-spirituality. That is measurability. To put it very simply, we are living in a society where everything is to some extent measured. Science itself is a system of measurement. In this meditation of loving kindness is one of the four practices of what is called the immeasurables. They are called immeasurables because we should cultivate them to a point where we do not distinguish friend or foe, you or I. And this is where the doctrine of non-self comes in.

[12:53]

Where we identify ourselves with everything else around us. Things, beings as well as people. And when we can do that, we come to a point where we begin to have a greater respect for life. And in that way, a greater respect for ourselves too. Now, to be able to attain this level of participation in life, in other words, to enjoy life, and I feel that to be a Buddhist is to enjoy life. Enjoy, meaning to create joy, to end the joy. yin, that is to make a rise. So we have to be aware. To be aware means to enjoy the moment. Why do people, why do some people collect sensual experiences or power or whatever? It's because I feel that they are not able to enjoy those things, so they want more and more of those things.

[13:58]

But in meditation we slow down this whole process so that we could enjoy the moment. So we could enjoy whatever we have, whoever we are, wherever we are. That is why in Buddhist teachings we are told to be aware every waking moment. And I think this teaching cuts across all the traditions. Because if you are able to be aware of the present moment, That is the greatest wealth you can have, because that is all there is that is real, the present moment. And to summarize this very important aspect in the Buddhist teachings, I have a verse here from the Pali, which I'd like to recite to you and then translate. It's taken from the Mettā Sutta, the Discourse on Loving-Kindness. titan carang esi noa, saya noa, yāvata sa-vigata-mitto etam satim adityaya brahma metam viharam idam mahu.

[15:00]

While standing, moving, sitting or lying down, one should be undrowsing. Let one keep to this mindfulness. This is the highest living here, we all will say. This is taken from the Sutta Nibbata, Sutta number 8. So, to be a Buddhist, therefore, is to discover the highest living. So I'll hang here for the moment so that we can invite some questions from you. In more time. In more time. Anyway, you may put up your hand and ask me any questions at any time. Now, when we talk of the highest living, the Pali word is Brahmavihara. One of the very interesting points about Buddhism is how it uses words, or how the Buddha uses words.

[16:03]

In some way, what the Buddha said is not new. He made all things new. He took certain word that was already in existence and he gave it a new meaning, like karma and so on. Even siddha, morality or precept. So Brahma, up to the Buddha's time, meant the highest god or the creator even. But he used the meaning of Brahma as an adjective meaning perfect. So Brahma Vihara means a kind of perfect life or highest life. Vihara here again is not taken in terms of its meaning as a building. Vihara is a place where monks live, a monastery. Vihara is a kind of abiding, an actual doing. So to be a Buddhist is to seek that perfect life. Now, the whole point is that I don't think we can easily just take a step and there you are, we've reached a perfect life.

[17:14]

I think it'd be very boring then. The whole point is we are striving towards that goal, there is this ideal, and we move towards that. There is this journey. So as we move along, there is this change that occurs in us. And when we actually reach that perfect level of life, there is really nothing there. There is emptiness in the manner of speaking, because there is a lot of Zen anecdotes and language to explain this very wonderful experience. Now just to go back a little bit, when we talk about, we have talked about what is the perfect life, Before we can even have an idea of what leads to the perfect life, we have to understand, or we have to at least try to seek what is real. In another sutra called the Sampa Sutra, which translates as the Discourse on the All, A-L-L, All, the Buddha asked the question, what is real?

[18:20]

And he replies, The real is found in your six senses and the experiences of the six senses, the five physical senses and the mind. That is all that is the real. The wise man here is that we experience things around us and that's all we really do. But the problem is we usually try to go beyond what we experience. We try to see more than what the eye sees or we try to see less than what the eye sees. When we see less than what the eye sees, the eye becomes a filter and we are blind despite the eyes. When we try to see more than what the eyes see, we create delusion. So here we see the middle way. We try to adjust our mind such a way that we see what the eyes really see. So the five senses with the mind is the sixth.

[19:22]

are the doors to reality. This leads us to another important and interesting point of Buddhism, that is, within this six foot long body itself is found the door to salvation, to enlightenment. In other words, our human body is a vehicle for enlightenment. And again, here we come to this basic point for the respect for life. Because this life we have, if there is a purpose to it, it is to seek enlightenment. And to seek enlightenment means to develop yourself moment to moment so that your energies are more focused, your senses are more focused, and you begin to see things around you as they really are. My work seems to be slow.

[20:28]

How much time do you have? How much time do I have? It's about 20 minutes to 11. Yeah. Well, I prefer you invite questions at this point because I'm more used to Malaysian audience. It seems to me that what the mind does is what gives us trouble. ponders and uses, it does all these things and it gets us into trouble. So it seems to me that, and I want you to maybe say something about this, this is my delusion, that we have to sort of check and inhibit or

[21:34]

Well, as Sabasutta has mentioned, the senses are all we have. That's all there is to reality. My understanding is that this is, even itself, a provisional truth. The ultimate truth, of course, is emptiness, non-self. But the truth, or the tools of realizing non-self, are our senses. But it's because we have not learned the skill, or we have not totally mastered the skill of learning using these tools, that we suffer pain. I mean a very simple example will be taking the six senses as six kinds of instruments. Let's say maybe the eye is a hammer, or the ear is a nail, and so on, like carpenter's tools, and if we do not know to measure them, we get hurt by them. So it's a matter of knowing how to use them. There is another instruction given by the Buddha in this connection and it's very simple.

[22:50]

The amazing beauty of Buddhism is that some of the most important teachings are the most simple. There was once this person who asked the Buddha, teach me something quickly because I do not know I might die one day. And the Buddha was silent because it was the wrong time to teach. The Buddha was on alms round, he was with his bowl collecting food. Then this man said, well, please teach me something right now because if you don't teach, you might die. Well, but the third time, and it's customary in India that by the third time you either say or you don't say at all. So Buddha said, okay. And this again we see the Buddha's compassion over her rules. He said, OK, Bahiyya, that's the name of this person, Bahiyya, in seeing, note only seeing. In hearing, note only hearing. And so on. Nothing more, nothing less. This is the very essence of Vipassana. So, if we hear a sound, where is the sound from?

[23:58]

It's not from A or B or somewhere out there. It's from the ear. The source of the sound is the ear. The source of smell is the nose, the source of taste is the mouth and so on. So these are the six worlds that we carry around with us all the time. And all we need to do is just note them as they are. It is within our power, within our choice to decide what kind of sound, what kind of taste, what kind of thought and so on that they are going to be. Let's say if I'm speaking in Russian or some language which you do not understand, and I were to say something very nasty, very evil even, I mean you can't understand me at all, it makes no difference to you. But when you can understand me, you can get upset. So it's a choice we have really. So the practice here, if you go for a traditional Vipassana retreat, one of the first things that, one of the most important thing the instructor will tell you is,

[25:00]

It's just sound. Just say sound, sound, and that's it. So it's a very simple practice really. I have two questions, a short one and a long one. The short one is, how would a Malaysian audience be? very unlike an American audience I've prepared a whole lecture because I'm so used to it and the Malaysian audience will see it and they'll say, oh that's very good and at the end they'll say sadhu, very loud sadhu and that's it and you kind of have to force them questions maybe put some bright lights and... have you any questions? not to say have you any answers, but have you any questions? they're quite happy to listen and they want you to give all the answers and they're quite happy about that And the second question is, you were talking about the most important thing is to find a perfect life. And so you've been talking about the inner way, the meditative way of finding a perfect life.

[26:06]

And you haven't said anything yet about the social, the engaged way of finding a perfect life. The main reason I've not spoken much about the engaged way of Buddhist lives is because many people here are actually living that life and I'm here to learn. So whatever I say would certainly fall short of what you already know. So as we say in England, we are bringing coal to Newcastle or bringing flowers to California, I suppose you might say. I've come here as an observer where I've learned a lot of better words when it comes to engaged Buddhism. Although we have tried in our own small way to be engaged Buddhists and we have got ourselves into a lot of trouble doing that. For me, the main engagement I've done so far within the compass of my monastic life, I left the robe in December last year.

[27:14]

was to write very honestly what I think is wrong and to propose suggestions. But unfortunately, for some reason, the British community in Malaysia do not welcome such open criticisms, which is a very common American way of life. So I came here like fish into water. I'm very happy about that. Only before I came here, I was looking through one of my most terrible books. It's called, How Malaysian Buddhists Solve Their Problems. And I was wondering whether I'd written anything wrong or rather bad or untrue. I mean, I may be biased, but I couldn't find anything I said which is untrue. And I still received letters from Malaysia telling me the situation is not very good where these things are concerned. But I feel that in writing these things, the future will know, and they will not make the same mistakes, and I believe we are always getting better no matter how bad things may be.

[28:22]

This is the natural way of being a Buddhist. The very fact that someone says, I would like to know something about Buddhism, there is that Buddha seed arising. But we cannot take that for granted. We must say our piece. even if it causes our reputation, whatever. And for me, that is the starting point of engagement. I do not know what will happen next. It will take some time, I think. And also, you have developed this group, or this way of living which is almost like a lay monasticism. that we don't have. I think it's a beautiful model for us. Yes, that's a very nice way of putting it, a lay monasticism. My friends are given a choice, we give ourselves a choice whether we would like to be celibate or not.

[29:25]

Like two of them are married and they're doing very well together. I've written a reflection on this, and I think some of my friends here have that paper, with which I celebrated my first trimester in the States. And if you'd like to have copies of that, my reflection, I think Ellen has got it, or you can contact me, I'll happily give you a copy. That in the States, I do see this kind of trend happening and growing. where lay people get more involved with Buddhist work. In other words, Buddhism is a part of our daily lives. It's not in the hands of a very specialized group of people, whether they're monastics or otherwise. So I think there is a great future for Buddhism in the States for the world to follow. Could I ask you which works of

[30:30]

philosophy, secular philosophy, supported your view that life is valuable? Well, actually, there are some general books. One particular book I like is, I think, John Hosper's book. It's a first-year philosophy book, actually. Yeah. There are other books. Hosper's from, I think, England. I forgot which university. Some people call Zen the gate of bonduality. And in Dao Zen, the problem is if we look for some particular meaning, then what comes up is meaninglessness. Or if we look for some particular certainty, what comes up is uncertainty. So it seems that in the Buddha Dharma we have to go

[31:31]

Yes, I mean, I totally accept all of this. But, I'd probably run out of the temple if I said those very words which were spoken in Malaysia. There is no Zen in Malaysia at all, from my understanding, simply because Well, I'm trying to find out what is this reason why there is no Zen in Malaysia. I think the basic reason is because people only go to the temple once a week or they treat it like a church, I suppose. And the monks do everything for them. And this is the sort of situation I have renowned. And also I feel that the Buddha's teaching of skillful means is very important. Non-duality is definitely a very important, I might even say the most important Buddhist teaching.

[32:59]

But before we could reach that level, there are many who do not even have an understanding of some very basic terms and approaches. They are so busy with their daily life that we need to approach them in a different way. I think for that reason, the Buddha used hundreds of Jataka stories and various other means, skillful means. So this gateless gate can only be seen by those who meditate. And it must come with a love to know the mind. So this is one aspect I think is missing in some areas. So that is why it is also called the gradual way. Sometimes we take a lot of things for granted, like I think, like I said, here in the States there is a very wonderful atmosphere, an opportunity to know the Dharma. You can hear people talk about non-duality, but it's not so easily heard in some areas of Asia.

[34:03]

Not certainly not where I come from. Where I come from is more rituals, holy water, very pragmatic and direct experiences of immediate success, almost like America in reverse actually. But here I see the whole situation in reverse. What we thought was America is not. We see people sitting in Zanzan practicing, talking about non-duality. And I feel very happy about that. I feel very much at home here. I thought I would be homesick. In the first month I was very badly homesick. But it's wonderful to be here now. Because people talk about non-duality. You were saying, in passing, a few moments ago, you were talking about a notion of perfectibility, of things getting better. Sometimes I feel caught around that.

[35:12]

Sometimes I think, Well, yes. Things are getting better. Our practice is deepening. People's awareness of each other is deepening. And then I just look around at what's going on in the world and it certainly doesn't look any less barbarous than it was in any past age. And I wonder about the idea of perfectibility, is it something that we should be concerned about? Again, returning to what Raoul was talking about, if we want something to improve, is that earlier about loving-kindness, how does the reality fit with an attachment to accomplishing something?

[36:22]

I don't think I've thrown too much in there, but... Well, while listening to Ellen speak, well-known image of Indra's net of jewels come to my mind. Each of us is this jewel, this net. So what we do is reflected in every other jewel all around. And moreover, in connection with what I've said so far, the only real world is I, myself, you, yourself, each of us. That's the only world that really exists. And in that sense, we create our world. And what I say here and what you do there, even just sitting, you create a universe around you. It takes one man to destroy millions, it might even take one man to destroy the whole world. I hope it won't be me. When I became a monk over 25 years ago, I wrote to my sister and I said, his brother is working in the police, I said, please tell your husband that he has one criminal less to deal with.

[37:25]

And I think that one less is very important. I can't speak for everyone else. This perfectibility is like, again, a famous Zen analogy, the moon. We look at the moon, we point to the moon, with the finger pointing to the moon. It is all part of the First Noble Truth. that there is no perfectibility outside oneself there is only perfectibility within oneself that is the only perfectibility available and yet when you perfect that within us everything else falls into its own place so the key is the mind this whole of America, everything you look around here left and right, above and below, front and back, are mind made from the very floor you stand under, the beam above our head.

[38:26]

It's the mind that built this building, not wood or stone and sticks. It's the mind. So, it comes back to knowing yourself. In that sense, I'm the most important person in the world, you are the most important person in the world, center and ourself and spread out from there. And that's the only meaningful, practical way of looking at things. And if you try to go beyond this, you'll be schizophrenic, because it will never be real. So in this sense, Buddhism is a very powerful way of looking at life and perfecting it. If you were a monk for 20 years, you must have had fairly strong relationships with the other monks over a long period of time.

[39:32]

How did they feel about what you're doing now, when you left the monkhood? What was the range of feeling? Because I imagine they all didn't feel the same. There was probably some that had some feeling, others that had other feelings. And how did you feel? But how do you come to that? Well, that's a very easy question to answer, actually. Because the first thing is, I come from the Thai tradition, the Siamese tradition, where becoming a monk can be temporary. It's accepted. In fact, it is honorable. And from a short, let's say, a week to three months, or maybe for life, it's your choice. So it's no big surprise to them if I left the road, or when I left the road, or if anyone left the road. But there is this problem between new knowledge and old establishment. So many young monks who are well-educated, who have new vision of things, have difficulty fitting in the old establishment.

[40:40]

So they invariably destroy some of the greatest thinkers of time. before you're young monks. And many of my friends, most of my colleagues have actually disrobed. Only one or two of them are around somewhere, I don't know where they are, either in Holland or somewhere in the States. And if you stay long enough, you tend to get well promoted in the Iraqi. And then again, it's very difficult to meet such people, to become bishops, such bishops and so on. So, and moreover, even when I'm in Thailand, they knew that I was kind of different because I thought differently about things. I think they'll be more surprised that I stayed on longer. But, they still send me circulars in Siamese because they know I can read Siamese, so there is that connection. But right now, I'm seeking myself, so I'd like to kind of be by myself for a while.

[41:43]

I want to know exactly how I should conduct myself towards all the different kinds of Buddhists. Well, in terms of what I've learned, I think everyone works with ideas. We have to work with some sort of idea. As I sit here, you try to form some idea about me. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to give any talks in the States, actually. I'll just be in the student seat and absorb all I can. I'm a good number five in the Enneagram. But then,

[42:46]

I suppose one has to earn a living in the manner of speaking. And my way of earning a living is to talk, to give Dharma discourse as I've done before. I mean, earning a living means to make friends. To me, it's a very good chance to meet people, to know people. And I find it very awkward and very difficult because I'm more of a very private person. I'm more of a thinker and writer. But I'm happy because lately, Ideas are growing in me. Or should I say feelings are growing in me. And I could write poems again. But these are ways of looking at people. It's really wonderful if you do not have any ideas at all. You are just there like a flower. But I think you can be there unless you are enlightened. I don't think I can sit with a statue all the time and that everything has to go by me. Unless, of course, it's different in meditation, what I mean is, we all have certain kinds of ideas, we form of people, but we should be aware that these are just temporary tools, different ways of, different angles of looking at the same mountain, if there is a mountain at all.

[44:09]

Even the Buddhist teachings are provisional. Now if that's the case, I argue within myself, then what about the teachings of the other religions? They are surely provisional too. So that kind of opened many doors to be friendly with people of any religion or without religion. And it helps. It's a kind of liberation actually. And that makes me even more Buddhist. Because only as a Buddhist you could do that. You could be free to think and to seek ideas. and ultimately to say, yeah, I know this one, and when you say you know, you have let go of that idea. So knowledge, in other words, should be liberating, not imprisoning. While standing, moving, sitting, or lying down, one should be untrousing.

[45:29]

Let one keep to this mindfulness. This is the highest living here, the Aryas say. Here Aryas means the noble ones, the saints, the eight kinds of saints, arahants and so on. We could translate it as the noble ones actually. I am numberless.

[46:16]

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