The relative truth and the ultimate truth. The relative truth is concerned with the relation between a subject and object, the world of duality. And we take this world as only a phenomenon. So we don't take it so seriously. That's why really we should not have any problem if we understand the world of phenomenon. So phenomenon is up and down, going up and down. It's not stable. But when we sit in the ultimate area, with the ultimate transcendental consciousness, then we can see the transience, the change, the fleeting aspect of phenomenal world

[01:01]

without being affected. That is why the Buddha said, Enlightened man or awakened man grows in the world but stands above the world, undefined by the world. It's like a lotus growing in the mud but stands above the mud and the water and is not defined by the water or the mud. So it does not mean that we have to leave the world. We have to grow in the world. But we do not belong to the world. It's quite interesting that Sufi mystics talk about being in the world but not of the world. This quite has the same meaning as what the Buddha said. We can be in the world but we are not of the world.

[02:02]

We have freedom and liberation to live life, to grow in the world without having any conflict or difficulty. So then freedom and liberation is the goal of life. We have to come to that point. So this is essential that the way of thinking is essential for coming to understanding of ultimate truth. So we have to be in emptiness in sunyata and anatta. Empty of the thinker, perceiver, feeler. Empty of the things which will become the object for attachment.

[03:06]

But emptiness is the way, the fullness, fullness of being. When we are, suppose you can say when your mind becomes completely empty of its contents then you feel completely full in your heart. We can say that when the mind is empty the heart is full. When the heart is full there is love, there is compassion, there is understanding and clarity. And the mind will not disturb us because it is empty of its contents. It cannot do anything harmful or it cannot create any distractions or interruptions. I think this is the practical side of life in regard to understanding of consciousness and the operation of mind.

[04:18]

Also talking about mind we may have feeling and we may have... Mind must be divided into something like a feeling and different states and intellect. So I think that should be enough for today that we talk about the meaning of words most of the time and the Buddhist view of life and the teaching of sunyata or anatta which is very essential. And this I would like to say a few words. This is, this teaching of sunyata or anatta

[05:20]

makes Buddhism completely different from other systems of thinking and religion. So that is the unique thing the Buddha developed. He was a very revolutionary man against the Hindu ideas of Atman, the immortal soul. The idea of reincarnation in Hinduism comes to be because of belief in the Atman, immortal soul or immortal self. But Buddha said no, such thing does not exist. Even nowadays people cannot really accept it. But you can see that in this world of science

[06:25]

they come closer and closer to Buddhism when they have new discoveries of the physical world. But psychology, we cannot say that psychology in the West is like a child compared with the Buddhist psychology. So we will not be able to understand the depths of mind unless people go into meditation learning to dive into the depths of oneself through different levels of consciousness and have the capacity to analyze. The Buddha talked about this from his enlightenment not from the theories. He didn't learn from anybody. So we can learn about it too.

[07:28]

Tomorrow we will go further into this subject. As I said that I talk about practical side of it too but sometimes it is rather difficult. So we have to be a bit intellectual in some way. Thank you very much.

[07:52]

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