Tonight, I'd like to start off with a very short meditation, which is in connection with our study. It's a very simple form of metta bhavana, cultivation of loving kindness. So just sit in the way you are used to, in a comfortable manner. Keep your back erect and comfortable. Take a deep, slow breath. and just slowly breathe out and feel relaxed. I want you to recall a very happy and beautiful occasion, a happy event with someone very special in a non-physical way, a very happy memory with a certain person, a friend, relative, And just reflect on the happiness of the moment.

[01:04]

Try to feel the joy that was in you. Better still remember the happiest moment in your life and try to experience that wonderful joy with that person. And while you're experiencing it, just remind yourself, I am happy, very happy, joy, joy, in some way, in that manner. hand here now as we progress in our study i will relate to you the significance of what you've just done or maybe you'll discover it for yourself however let me ask you just one question about what you've just done what did you learn during the brief moment of

[03:28]

meta. Anyone like to say anything? The question is, what did you learn, or what did you notice, if you like? I use the word learn. Anyone? I learned that I couldn't pinpoint some specific occasion or some time that meant joy, happiness, like what was that word? But you felt that good feeling? Yeah. Okay, in other words, a kind of timelessness of it. Yeah, I had the same. But what they have done actually is directly related with this sutta, even from the very beginning, the first line itself, the not to associate with fools.

[04:54]

Because when we think of someone we're happy with, it brings us happiness, whereas a foolish person just does just the opposite. So that creates a kind of very wonderful feeling in us. This is a bit of like going back to the first line, but it's connected with the section we're going to cover today, that is the section dealing with Samadhi or meditation. Another interesting point is that although I'm talking about meditation, I somehow find that it is impossible for me to separate it from spiritual friendship. Because from the meditation you had just now, you find that just by thinking of a happy occasion, and when you think of a happy occasion, there's someone there. In this case, anyway, at least. Or it's easier to think of a happy occasion with someone happy. And you feel that happiness. So one way of looking at it is happiness is something we share. On a very simple level, it's something we share.

[05:57]

Certainly on a meta level. And we're talking about a very simple level at the moment. we will go on to a little bit more difficult level next week during the last day of our course. I'd like to share another thing with you today. This kind of feeling that came to me because of some many good friends that I have, but this particular one, because of his amazing interest in Buddhism, he was an ex-Jesuit. He gave up the training to be a Jesuit monk because he didn't agree totally with his teacher. But then I was giving this talk in Suramak, which is one of the states in Malaysia, and I was talking about the spiral path. We are caught up in a cyclic life called samsara. The idea in Buddhism, the aim of being a Buddhist is to break out of this cyclic life.

[07:01]

And when we try to break out, what happens is we go up in a spiral. The circle gets ever smaller and it's going upwards all the time. It's a metaphor. He seemed to like that. He is a sculptor and he made this huge big statue of a man with a big hole where the heart should be and this metal thing piercing through and then there's a spiral that he's going upwards, you see. To him, there's an image of something like the death of the old self and the rebirth of a new self and it's going upwards. Anyway, He has been writing to me all day from Australia, and every time he writes, I end up writing essays for him. He will tell me, OK, what do you think of this person? What do you think of that book? What do you think of this doctrine? And so on. And I find this friendship very rewarding intellectually, spiritually, even though we are a great distance apart. And I want to give you an example of some of the passages I've written to him.

[08:04]

This letter is dated November 7. Towards the end of your letter, dated October 19, 1993, you remarked that, quote, sometimes I see my research as Buddhist mission, unquote. I feel that learning is the most vital mission in life. The next is teaching. The result of the former is self-conversion. The result of learning is self-conversion, or inner liberation. And the former, the letter rather, that is teaching, leads to spiritual friendship. In the Buddha's teaching, there is a very interesting conception of learning. From my understanding, and you're probably the first person I'm expressing this to, though it has suddenly floated in my mind for some years, true learning apparently only occurs on one's attaining at least the first stage of sainthood, that is sotapanna or stream winning, with the utter removal of self-view, or believing in an unchanging or permanent entity, spiritual doubt, unwillingness to learn,

[09:10]

and attachment to mere rule and ritual. So, I was reflecting on this idea of learning, education and so on. And this is directly connected with meditation. That is why I ask you, what did you learn? Maybe the meditation was too brief, but if you sat for a long time, I'm sure you have noticed a lot of things, you have learned a lot of new things. And again, to my surprise today as I was browsing through the Shabbat, the first book that I caught my eye and I picked is a book by Maslow, Religious Values, Religions, Values and Peak Experiences. I was in a way looking for this book but I did not know it was there and I didn't even know the title. But we were discussing peak experiences in meditation as a definition of religion even. My point is that meditation is a valid form of knowledge.

[10:12]

You may even say meditation is the most valid form of knowledge because it's direct and you experience it yourself. I'm going to be backwards here because normally we start off with the first form of learning, second form and third form. The third is meditation. So the first, of course, is through theoretical study, through listening, and in a way like why I'm talking now, you see? So as you listen, theories form, ideas form, and then you begin to think. There's a second form of knowledge, you think for yourself, a kind of philosophical knowledge if you like. Now these first two kinds of wisdom of knowledge can be obtained from schools and universities and so on, but the third kind of learning or knowledge or wisdom can only be attained through your own inner experience, when you look within.

[11:19]

And that's when the meditation comes in. I think one of the most important thing we learn in meditation is, of course, peace of mind, which I don't think school learning actually teaches, unless it has meditation in its curriculum. We come to another big question now. In the traditional teachings, we have two very interesting terms, Sekha and Asekha, or Seksha and Aseksha in Sanskrit. Sikkha means the learner and the other one is Asikkha, non-learner. The learner here refers to the three types of saints, stream-winner, once-returner, non-returner. In other words, they are on the way to enlightenment, matter of time they'll be enlightened. The non-learner is the Arhat, he doesn't have any more to learn, he's kind of graduated, there's no more things you need to unlearn by way of causes of suffering, for example.

[12:25]

So I was reflecting, I said, if there are learners, who are we? Are we learning right now? Can we learn? Can I call myself a learner? If I call myself a learner, then what about that term that's given in the Bali text called seka? then it dawned upon me we try to learn but somehow things either get forgotten or get adulterated or we just don't hear them to use the reverse of the lotus symbolism water drops on it and just rolls off it happens to us because of that we do not have mindfulness so For a moment, I began to despair. I said, wow, if that's the case, we will never be able to learn until we become a stream-winner. But we know very well we do learn. We do. We are able to cultivate mindfulness.

[13:27]

So later on, in this letter to my friend in Australia, I told him, I said, yeah, maybe we should think in terms of what is a kind of learning in between the enlightened, rather the saints, saint learning, and those who do not learn at all. And I call that middle learning. So what we are doing actually, we are going through a process of middle learning. Middle learning is kind of like the lotus that floats on the water. It bops up and down. and when the sun is bright or conditions are right, it blooms forth beautifully. So this learning we are going through similarly could, under right conditions, bloom forth fruit spiritually. So it is not useless, it is not something that should be looked down upon because there are in some circles in Buddhist circles, even non-Buddhist circles, they say, oh, you know, worldly learning is useless and just stick to your sutras or whatever.

[14:31]

The sutras are good, definitely. But today, worldly learning is also becoming more disciplined and they are Sometimes they know how to look at sutra much more than how the traditions look at it. So what I'm saying is that both aspects are very important. There must be an awareness of what's going on, especially if we are interested in teaching Buddhism. Because one day we might be surprised, someone out there who's not even a Buddhist, and there are lots of non-Buddhists conducting in-depth research on how Buddhists meditate, how Buddhists live, And we find such people talking about Buddhism and we suddenly find ourselves at a loss because they're talking about more things than we know. And that can be quite an earth-shaking experience for us. So, what I'm trying to say is, I find that my stay here has taught me a lot of things in making me a better Buddhist. And being a better Buddhist also means knowing your mind. and to know your mind is to experience it to such a depth that it brings you personal joy as well as you're able to relate to people in a happier way which are not always easy but well that's what buddhism is for now having said that let us now after the long introduction let's look at the sutra okay

[15:59]

So today we've gone to verse 7 in the text. The whole of the last two weeks we have covered the moral conduct aspect of the Sutta, and today we'll begin with the meditation aspect, or mental concentration aspect. Verse 7, loathing evil, refraining from it, being self-restrained towards intoxicating drinks, and heedfulness in mental states. This is the most auspicious fortune. In a way, I see this as a kind of elaboration of the fifth precept. The first precept is against killing, the second is against stealing, taking the not given. The third precept is against sexual misconduct. The fourth precept is against untruth, falsehood. Now, these four themselves, they're almost complete.

[17:00]

But then we have the fifth one, against intoxicants and drugs. The reason why it says the fifth is because if one is drugged or drunk, the chances of breaking the other four precepts are greater. And also, it's a kind of prelude, a reminder regarding personal or mental development. So there's a bit of meditation in the precepts even, a hint of it in the fifth precept. So in a way, loathing evil, refraining from it can refer to the first four precepts kind of summary of the first four precepts they represent also the first two right efforts not doing an evil deed and then refraining from it and then being restrained towards intoxicating drinks now so this is quite evident and direct

[18:07]

So in order to have precepts, you have first of all the precept of abstaining, not of avoiding. Sometimes we stop there. I think that's not the actual way of practice. There is the other aspect, the aspect of doing. So moral conduct, in other words, has got the avoiding aspect and then you've got the doing aspect. The doing aspect is what bridges the practice to meditation. For example, in one of the suttas in the Pali Canon, the Nikayas, it's mentioned having stopped killing, the disciple practices loving-kindness. and it goes on like that, having stopped taking the not given one by resource generosity. So the second aspect is also very important. So this verse is a preparation for meditation. In other words, before you actually go into serious meditation, the aspect of moral conduct must be examined.

[19:13]

And if anything is amiss or needs some rectification, you kind of do it. Only yesterday in our Tibetan class, we have what I call a secularized transmission of the Tibetan meditation of visualizing the letter R, Tibetan letter R, which looks like a lotus. So, I mean, this professor was teaching a group of, there were four of us there, I think. Three were non-Buddhists, and I'm the only Buddhist with the lecturer. So he was giving in a beautiful way. You don't even hear the word Buddha or Dhamma there, but it is Buddhism. So he says, he explained taking a refuge as looking inwards towards a kind of inner feeling of goodness. and then reflecting on the precepts on what are the important values that are important to you and then you're going to visualize or look at this letter R on the wall around eye level which he gave to us and then sharing that joy with all beings after that so there's a complete simplified form of Tibetan meditation

[20:41]

So this being self-restrained towards intoxicating drinks is an important aspect in the introduction to meditation because we are dealing with the mind and to be intoxicated is to lose control of your mind. Now I've never been drunk in my life so I do not know how a drunk person feels. I don't think I need to know because I've seen how they behave. There was once, I remember, I had a couple of novices that I ordained as for their temporary short-term practice. So we were discussing the precepts. So I asked them, I said, I'm not sure about drunk people. Maybe they are not aware of what they're doing and that's when it is wrong. But one of the novices put up his hand and said, oh, no, they know what you're doing. How do you know? I was drunk before, he said.

[21:46]

And when you're drunk, he said, you have more courage to do those things you otherwise would not do. I said, that's very good. You have confirmed some very important things. So one is not actually unaware when one is drunk. One is aware of what's going on, just that one has more courage to do those things that one usually would not do. So it can affect mindfulness, in other words. And the mind becomes shaky and so on, as we notice in people who are drunk. Now, then heedfulness in mental states. So this is the next logical step. To watch the dharmas as they arise. The word here is dharmas. Here, this very big term dharma refers to what goes on in your mind. So whatever arises, watch it, denote it, be aware of it. Right now, I'm going through this rather complex study of, I think it's Sarvastivada Abhidhamma.

[22:47]

It's not Theravada Abhidhamma. in our Tibetan class, so it's very interesting to look at from another angle of Buddhist psychology. What I've learned is that the actions we experience in our daily life go so fast that we do not notice some very important things. When we look at something that is desirable, At once you say, I want that. So what we have done is, we have kind of jumped cue. We have not examined, we have not slowed down the process and say, what's going on really? So there is this, the eye, there is this form outside, and there's this consciousness that, there's a third dhatu is this called. So when these three come in contact, there is this experience of seeing. However, we do not stop there. We decide.

[23:50]

We say, OK, in a split second, we say, this thing, this object looks beautiful. It looks expensive. I want it. Now, if you stop at cup, you say it's beautiful. Or not even beautiful. You just say cup. It's OK. Nothing's wrong. You don't create bad karma. If you say beautiful cup, it's still all right. You are an artist. But if you say, calm, beautiful, I want it. Then the samskaras have arisen. Then it is bad karma. So there's nothing wrong in looking at something beautiful if you say, it's just seeing. Now there of course I find it's very similar to the Theravada school of psychology. So what I'm trying to impress here is that if we watch what we are watching, We will notice this kind of, we will learn this through our meditation. There is this process going on in our minds.

[24:52]

It's almost like a breakdown of the mental process. But more important than the breakdown is the breakthrough. Breakthrough through these layers of ignorance that hide our true self. So heedfulness in the mental states means watching it as it arises. Then what else do we notice? We notice there is a kind of sine curve of mental process. There is this thought arising, stabilizing, passing away. Arising again, stabilizing, passing away. It goes on like that. And I think all of us who have meditated, we know when there is pain arising, we watch it. For a moment, it seems to grow, it seems to feel so bad, you might say, oh, my legs are going to fall off or something, or I might become gangrenous if I don't move it and so on. Of course, assuming we don't watch the thought, we watch the pain, we feel this pain enlarging. Now, if you're patient enough, you find that after a while, it just goes away.

[25:57]

So there is this kind of normal curve of the experience of pain. So we watch that, we watch the impermanence of it all. So that's another way of watching. So this is what heedfulness here means. Opposite of heedfulness, of course, is to follow this thought and then wander off, and then you're not meditating. Or we wait for the bell. That's very common for beginners in retreats. I mean, here, the Buddha simply says... In our practice, we're always beginning. Yes, I should know better. The founder of this centre talks about a beginner's mind. So in a way, mindfulness in mental states is to have a beginner's mind, watching all the time as the thoughts arise. Every thought is a first thought, and you watch it.

[27:00]

And that's the most auspicious fortune that you have. The beauty and the action of watching the mind as it arises. I mean here, even as we kind of glance through the sutra, the Buddha is saying, what are the highest blessings? These are the ones, one by one, and he goes on talking about meditation now. I mean, at first we have simple things like respecting parents and so on, and you see how it progresses to more complex practices. Now, then, the next verse, verse 8, preserving reverence and humility, contentment and gratitude, timely listening to the Dharma. This is the most auspicious fortune. Now this aspect is the receiving of the instructions, preparing yourself for that transmission of the Dharma.

[28:01]

It's almost a kind of a social preparation in this case, in terms of meditation. Now the previous verse is a kind of personal preparation, the precepts, watching your mind, not drinking and so on. At one point it just came to me about Buddhism in the West. I remember when I was in England, the Buddhists were drinking happily on every happy occasion. So I was rather surprised at first. Then at first I was told, in Thailand we would say propane is tradition, but in England they say this is the West, so whatever they mean by that. But then, I'm not making any valid judgements, I'm just making an observation. But I didn't notice anyone getting drunk though. And I also felt that Westerners cannot have that feeling of celebration if they do not drink, somehow.

[29:10]

And I said, I mean, that's fine, you know. But the problem comes up. I was told this. If we enforce a fifth precept to the letter, we will probably lose most of the Western converts to Buddhism, especially the Scots, for example. So here is where they need to be interpreted in a skillful way. For example, I think I read somewhere, the commentary traditions probably, but certainly some recent teachers, they've talked about the strict interpretation of the precepts and what's called the, not relaxed, rather a kind of more gentle approach for beginners. The strict observance, of course, can be observed under the right circumstances, like during retreats, where the conditions are right. But when you're introducing Buddhism in a new society, which are so used to drinking, let's say, so there might be some kind of allowance being made as a gradual lessening of the practice.

[30:17]

So that's one way we can look at it. In other words, drink, but do not be drunk. That's one way of looking at it, I think. And also, still on this point of drinks, I was rather amused when I was writing my notes, doing my research in the Vinaya. The Vinaya and the commentary explains to some detail, first of all, what kind of drinks there are, a whole catalogue of drinks. Secondly, how they were made. So I was telling myself, now this is interesting because now I know how to make drinks. The idea is that the Vinaya has to be very specific. What is a drink? The Vinaya is law. You cannot say, oh, drink, but you do not know what it is. So it must be very clear what it's trying to talk about. For example, the rule says,

[31:18]

If the wine or the intoxicant is mixed with food, then it can be taken. Or if it is taken as medicine and it is rightly taken as medicine, it is also allowable. Then there are some very interesting cases like, let's say there is this glass here and there is some wine, and I do not know it is wine, I thought it is water, and I take a sip, and the moment I realize it is wine, I kind of stop drinking, that's still alright. But if this is water, and I think it is wine, and I drink it and enjoy it despite the fact it is water, I have still broken the precept. So these are some interesting aspects of the Vinaya. Yes.

[32:25]

Well, as I said, in the West it's a special case. If the occasion is right and there's a limit to it, you know, and I think adjustments need to be made. And we should not be fanatic about it. Now, so coming back to verse 8, preserving reverence, humility. These two terms, reverence and humility, can be very difficult terms to talk about in our present times. Now this word reverence in part is garawo, from which we get guru, another rather heavy-hearted word. When you say guru, we feel rather unhappy nowadays, and for good reasons too. Now, the original word for the meaning of guru actually is heavy. Here again, Indians have got very quaint etymology sometimes. Someone told me the meaning is heavy because when you see a true guru, you bow down.

[33:31]

Your head gets heavier and you just get weighed down. You bow to him. But now, I suppose the meaning of heavy is in another sense, not so happy sense. Anyway, Related to the word guru is garao. The action which is proper to what's a true teacher, a guru, a true guru, is garao. So it's very interesting how words are formed in Pali and Sanskrit. And a whole list is given here. This is very traditional, of course. Look who are those worthy of Garawa, worthy of reverence. The Buddhas, the Pachika Buddhas, the noble disciples, teachers, preceptors, parents, elder siblings, and so on. I'm not sure whether Americans will agree with elder siblings, but that's a traditional list. But I still feel, from what I notice as I move around society in Berkeley anyway, and I think Berkeley, although it may be, some people say very un-American, but still, there are Americans here.

[34:39]

There is this respect shown to people in some way. It's just that, for various reasons, it's different from the way, let's say, Asians show it. Asians tend to be more showy about it, I suppose. And again, there are reasons for that. Here, what I notice is we live in a very crowded environment, so there's an effort to avoid a kind of too much of closeness because of the crowd. So there is some kind of device, some kind of space that's needed so that we could function in a more relaxed way. So one way is they kind of... I'm just talking about walking. You just walk straight and you go your way. Because I noticed if I looked around, then I have to give way. If I walk straight, then I have my way. Now, what's this got to do with respect?

[35:43]

Well, the idea here is if you are going to say hello to everyone you know, you probably won't get to your destination. because there's so many friends around, that's one. And this being an industrial society, you have a very kind of heavy timetable, especially say in school. So this idea of respect is in a way, what do you call, pushed aside by this very quaint social custom of just going your way. And it's accepted. And it's regarded as... I would say it's regarded as polite, in a way. Of course, I find it rather uneasy, even today, you know, when someone walks right across me and almost touches my nose. And it's alright to them. Many times I say, well, that's the custom here, I just have to adjust. It's not disrespect. So these are some very interesting kind of adjustments. Now if I were in Malaysia or in Thailand, and we would watch from a distance, or there's this elder person or this teacher coming in, we will make sure there's this big social space between us and this other person.

[36:50]

So, here again we have, these are social differences, not spiritual differences. So respect is shown in different ways here. So although traditionally we say, okay, these are the people we show respect to and this is how we do it, we put our palms together and we stand at one side, ekamantang, you know, not upwind as a tribe as I mentioned previously. Here the situation is different, so it's not Indian, so we have to adjust. Southeast Asia is very Indianized, so we could follow those styles, because in a way the weather is very similar, the language is very similar, many other things are very similar to India. But here we have a totally different culture. So here we have to consider what is regarded as respectful in this culture, and then practice those things which do not go against the basic principles of Buddhism. And that would be in keeping with the Mangalas, with what is most auspicious.

[37:55]

Another difficult word is humility. Sometimes we confuse humility with submission. They are quite different. Submission means a kind of weakness. And again, humility can also be misunderstood and it can be used to gain a certain status. To say very simply, there are people who are so proud in their humility. I know there's Charles Dickens' own character, he was very humble, or humble without a hitch. So this is one of those things I sometimes notice in monastic circles where Maybe it's Asian, I don't think it's monastic in this case, of being very self-effacing, of never admitting you are good in something. So when you speak to an Asian, an expert, a professor with so many degrees and titles and experts in so many fields, he says he knows nothing. So I don't know anything and you make a fool of yourself trying to talk about it before this expert.

[39:03]

But if you meet an American expert, he will tell you he's an expert. He will give you a card showing you he's an expert. So again, two different approaches to people. So why is humility mentioned here? Again, it is a preparation here, a preparation to receive the Dharma. The opposite of humility is pride. Pride is a kind of block, an emotional block. One feeling it gives you is that you know more than the other person. Another feeling is this other person is not worthy of respect or to learn from and so on. So it becomes a block. There's a beautiful story here from the life of the Buddha. The ascetic Siddhartha, just before his enlightenment, was sitting down under the Bodhi tree, deserted by his five friends, all alone by himself.

[40:09]

Why? Because he decided to take some milk rice from the lady Sujata. So the five monks thought that, oh, this ascetic is no more practicing. He decided to eat and left him. Now, if you are to follow the traditional principles of democracy, that five speaks better than one, there would be no Buddhism today. The Buddha would say, OK, you five must be right. I won't eat. I'll continue. And if I die, well, that's good. It's a saint. There would be no Buddhism. But he, the Buddha, or rather the ascetic Sudatta, went on practicing all alone. Now this is a very beautiful story. First of all, it means that some of the most important things that happen in our lives happen when we are alone. Some of the most beautiful thoughts, some of the most important ideas,

[41:16]

And when I say alone, you could be alone in a crowd. You could be in a crowded place, you could be watching, you could be listening to a Dharma, and suddenly you find yourself all alone. Suddenly the sound of the crowds die away, it's as if you have been uplifted into the clouds and there you are, lost in your thoughts. But it's so beautiful. I often get this kind of thoughts, so I'll run to my computer and start writing an essay, or writing a letter or something, I'll just note it down, note the idea down and later I can experiment. And these are very enriching experiences. It can make you happy for the whole day, or maybe for a long time, even the rest of your life. So, here this What has it got to do with humility? You have let go of all ideas about yourself, the status, position, whatever.

[42:21]

Let me just give you some analogies given by Buddha Gosha in a commentary to the Kudaka Nikaya. What does it mean to be humble? It means putting away conceit and arrogance, to be gentle, genial, and easy to talk with. And here comes the three beautiful analogies. Like a foot rug. Or a bull with horns amputated. Or a snake with fangs extracted. Very graphic representations. Like a foot rug. I mean, what do we do with a foot rug? We rub our feet over this foot rug. Now this is a good reflection when we feel pride arising. So we say let me be like a foot rug, let them step over me. Now these are not very easy things to practice. But then these are very helpful thoughts when those very difficult moments arise. The other choice of course is to fight back and start a war or something.

[43:24]

Now this is not so dramatic as another analogy the Buddha gave in the Kakucha Pamasutta, the parable of the double-edged saw or double-handed saw. I find this particular parable, this particular imagery very difficult to practice, impossible for me anyway. The Buddha said if anyone were to torment you and even to hold you spread you out and then saw you right in the middle with a saw, you still would not be angry and you eradicate loving-kindness. If in any angry thought should arise in you, you're not my disciple. This one is for your non-violence. I mean, that's the classic statement of non-violence, you know. And I think we've seen some examples of this in the movie Gandhi. How people can get beaten up and they still do not fight back. I mean, these people have put this up to us, you know. Or at least they are. Very loyal followers of Gandhi. On the other hand, I think if your meditation on metta especially, even breath or whatever meditation you have done, that leads to calmness.

[44:29]

I think it's very difficult, maybe impossible to retaliate. You don't even need that analogy anymore. The idea of the Buddha giving the analogy is for those who don't meditate. Such a thing is possible. Frightening graphic, yes. But that's what religion is about, really. It's the opposite of war. Excuse me, do you mean that if one meditates, then the metta arises automatically? Or is it one way of getting the metta is to meditate? Yes. But that's the idea. When it can arise in you naturally, even as we are talking now, then it means you have accomplished something in your meditation. But usually it's not that easy, so we go through a process by, say for example, saying it out, so that we clear away negative thoughts like self-hatred, other negative emotions, by using words, may I be happy, may I be peaceful.

[45:32]

So we go on saying this so that these sounds echo in our minds, and then become actual feelings. feelings that we cultivate, we train ourselves to evoke. And then a time comes when we could evoke, we could inspire these feelings almost effortlessly. Then there comes a point where your whole life is like that. Natural, like the Buddha, you know. His whole life is one of metta, one of karuna, compassion. So we go in stages like that. Yes? regarding these analogies. A snake without fangs cannot survive. And, you know, a snake with fangs doesn't act out of hatred.

[46:37]

It acts out of instinct and perceived need. There is no ill will there. some problems with him saying that he misquoted this? I think what they are, we have to give some allowance, some space to, maybe Buddha Gosha never knew snacks, I don't know. But the idea is a kind of feeling of allowing your body, as it were, to be used in a way which would bring wisdom to others. And of course, as I said, I think we need a lot of wisdom to reflect on the meaning and the spirit of such analogies. Wisdom and compassion must be balanced. There was this reflection that came to me today as I was walking, about wisdom and compassion.

[47:42]

I was saying, if I'm hungry and every time I go, I mentioned this last week actually, If every time I go to this person and say, I'm hungry and this person gives me food, that's compassion. I go 10 times and he gives me food 10 times, that's compassion but no wisdom. Now suppose I go, I'm hungry and I go to another person out there. Okay, he feeds me the first time, that's compassion. The second time I go, he tells me, okay, this is how you could get a job or this is how you could get food, this is how you grow it and so on. That's compassion and wisdom. So there's a balance. So in other words, compassion can be addictive, and we should not allow that to happen. There must be a kind of self-learning. So even though Buddhism speaks against self, I think what Buddhism is speaking against is selfishness. But Buddhism speaks on self-reliance. So that aspect of self is very important.

[48:47]

Self-reliance, self-conquest. So you have the wholesome side of self. Another question discussion. The next point is also another controversial one, contentment. The very economic system of this country is based on opposite of contentment, discontent. And I think Buddhism has come to the right country. Santuti. Now we know tuti means to be happy, and then san is very similar to the Latin calm, to strengthen it. A great sense of satisfaction. Now here, contentment is with regards to the four requisites I've already mentioned the last time.

[49:48]

Four requisites, that is food, clothing, shelter and medicine. With regards to this, one is contented with what one gets, of one's own strength and of what is befitting oneself. So you have, of course, here again with traditional Buddhism with the like numbers, so you get twelve kinds of contentment. You got three, the four requisites, and you got three kinds of contentment. Does this mean that we should say, okay, that's it, I'm happy with it, and then it will kind of encourage indolence? Well, that's not the point here. What you're talking about right now, When we have this thing, what do we do? There is another observation, a very interesting observation, a cultural note here. Where I come from, I don't think I should say Asia, let me just say where I come from.

[50:56]

Let's say we receive food and we do not like this food, we will still eat it and finish it. I'm really surprised, here, if you do not like it, just leave it like that, or you throw it away. And I was quite shocked by that at first. If you do not like it, throw it away. In Asia, I and my colleagues back in Malaysia, we would complain, we would say, you know, I don't like this stuff, but we would go on eating. that are ordained, or is this just a general population? Oh, this is what I'm talking about, the non-monks. The monks, yes, the monks would not say it at all, they would just go on eating. They might whisper, they might whisper privately though. They might say, let's not go to this lay person's house, the food is not that good. Of course, this is not in a bad way, but if they have a choice, they say, okay, they'll send a novice to them.

[52:04]

And the more important among is the more you notice the size, you know, because they get all the better food. That's one way of looking at it. Anyway. So, well, contentment means accepting the present as it is. Because if you do not, then you not only lose the present, but you lose the future too. So we kind of build it up with noticing the present, being aware of it, absorbing it. Is this the point you just brought up about the monks avoiding it? in the future, is that, in a sense, not accepting the future? The mind does not kind of reject the future. It's just that the reflection is that... It depends on their philosophy already, because the Buddhist concept of time is that now is the most important.

[53:10]

The simple level is now is what is real. And even as I say now, it's gone, it's already future. Right? Now then, in the Dhammapada, there's a statement there where Buddha says, you even let go of the now. Let go of... No, Buddha says in a very metaphorical way. Let me tell briefly the story behind it because it's very beautiful. The Buddha was kind of going his rounds one day, and there happened to be this acrobat. and he was balancing on his head on the top of pole, high on the pole, upside down and here comes the Buddha standing near this acrobat and Buddha said, let go in front, let go of the back, let go in between Now imagine if you are poised upside down at the top of this pole, listening to the sweet voice of the Buddha saying, let go of in front, let go of the back, let go of the middle, suddenly you feel you are, I don't know, you probably feel you have lost your grounding, or you are floating, or the sky suddenly opened because you are looking at it, or whatever it is, this man realized something.

[54:33]

Now this brought on another problem. Someone wrote a whole book on this. Whether there is grace in Buddhism? Buddha merely said something and this man got levels of attainment. He doesn't even have to meditate. And those who do not like meditation capitalize on such stories. But there's one problem here. We do not have the Buddha going around saying, let go in front, let go in the back, let go in the middle. So the Buddha left this legacy of meditation, this method for us. So I still feel that, yes, you could listen to a teaching or someone say something and then certain translations kind of come to you. Because those words, those external stimuli or stimulus have triggered this karma in you, this beautiful Learning you have accumulated from past lives. So here comes a familiar sound, a familiar word, and then say, oh yes, I learned it before.

[55:38]

So that's what it is. Then it flowers. So the Buddha did that. The Buddha knew, okay, this person is ready. So it is not kind of like a magical, like a fairy godmother coming with a wand and touches you and then you're enlightened. It's not quite as simple as that. There is this readiness. Buddha Vinaya is the technical term. So we must not use this as an excuse for not meditating, for not having mental development. I think that's besides the story. That was a very absolute teaching. What do you mean by that? Letting go in all those ways, that's a very absolute teaching. On the other hand, you could also least speculate that the acrobat had lots of training and discipline.

[56:39]

Yeah, we can say the Buddha was using his language. So here, lack of the middle means to also not be attached to the present. I think this applies to those thoughts as they arise when you meditate. So you watch them, you're not attached to them. So the context of the words are very important. Once you come to the level of words, the context is very important. Words may point you to be absurd, but it's really not absurdity. And the next word is gratitude. That's like in English.

[57:47]

So, knowing that something has been done. Acknowledging that something has been done. So, to show gratitude means to accept the fact that something has been done to you. In a good way, of course. If you do not acknowledge it, if you forget it, it is not gratitude. That's the meaning. Then there's another word, kataveri. So it means to respond to that goodness done. This teaching is that a very quaint custom in Japan, which followed the Chinese incidentally, I think. I remember New Year, Chinese New Year especially, we will exchange gifts. I say exchange because house A will send gifts to house B and it is very important that the The vessel that carries the food, or if there's no vessel, something else must be given in return. Usually it's given in a vessel. We will put oranges and so on.

[58:51]

Usually it's orange. The Chinese like oranges because the meaning sounds like gold. So there's always something given back. Now the Chinese are not too particular about this. If you do not do that, they probably won't. They'll just talk a bit about it at home and they'll forget about it. But the Japanese are even more particular, so much so that you get this fantastic cycle of gifts exchange. So I read one book on Japanese customs. You've got to be careful about giving gifts so that you don't start a cycle, an endless cycle. But this is based on this, I think, on this teaching here of gratitude. When someone gives you something, you try to give something in return. and a relationship starts there. We come to a very interesting situation here. If I teach you, does it mean you're going to teach me? Well, that's not the meaning, it's not so simplistic as that. A short story from the Buddha's life will illustrate my point here. The Buddha was passing away.

[59:52]

The enlightened monk was sitting down meditating. The not-so-enlightened monks were weeping. The lay people, of course, were very sad. They were tearing their hair, beating their breasts, as the text usually mentions, and rolling on the ground and so on. Basically, they are sad. I do not know whether they actually did that. But there was one monk who was not bothered at all with what's going on. He was somewhere quietly meditating. I mean the Arahats there, I don't want to be kind of nearby, but this monk was somewhere in his quarters probably. So the matter was told to the Buddha, and this monk was summoned. So the Buddha of course, here of course the Buddha did not speak to this monk, but he did speak to this monk, and I think for our benefit. And he asked this monk, is it true that what these monks have complained that you were not meditating there, unconcerned about what's going on?

[60:57]

And the monk said, yes, Lord. And why are you doing so? The Buddha asked. He said, because you have taught us a very important teaching. It is no point of me grieving your passing. The best I can do as your pupil to return your kindness is to meditate and be enlightened before you pass away. And then the Buddha said, yes, that is a true pupil. That's the best way to repay a teacher. And he has honored the Buddha best in that way. So that's the highest form of gratitude by the practice. So that is why we bow down to the Buddha, or to his image. We bow three times. Because we are showing in a way, one way of looking at that gesture of bowing is to show gratitude to this teacher who has given us this teaching. And the next step is practicing it. Timely listening to the Dharma.

[62:09]

The right time is very important. Otherwise, I'd be tempted to get a soapbox and stand opposite Sproul Hall, and the other life is full of suffering, and the cause is craving, you know, craving this and craving that, and there is a way to end it. Use a PA system, and I'm sure you'll get some followers. But it's the wrong time, wrong place, and there is no respect for the time. So the Dharma in other words is a very precious jewel and it must be treated as such. The idea of preciousness here is that it is life-changing and another way of looking at it is like a very potent medicine so it cannot be just simply misused. It could bring wrong effects. So timely listening means the Dharma is auspicious and the vocation for listening to it is also auspicious.

[63:22]

And why is that so? Well, three reasons are given. One, listening to the Dharma removes one's mental hindrances. That is why during retreats you often find teachers kind of talking about Dharma, kind of preparing us for the meditation to remove mental hindrances, wrong ideas we have brought from outside. And having run some retreats before, I noticed that sometimes it takes three days to really get into actual practice. because the first three days, especially when you come from an urban area to retreat, you find that you begin to really settle and you get your concentration 30 onwards. So those first three days will be a lot of preparation, pujas and dharma talks, things like that. Secondly, four benefits come from concentrated recitation of things heard. Yeah, you see, in Buddhist time, when we say recitation is one of the ways of teaching.

[64:28]

The teacher teaches, the pupil listens, and the pupil goes to his quarters or anywhere that's suitable, he will recite the teachings. So he has to remember them and reflect on them. So, four benefits from constant recitation of teachings are A. Even if he should die with a confused mind, he would be reborn among the devas who would recite the Dharma to him. B. When reborn there, if the devas do not do so, that is, do not recite the Dharma to him, some monk with psychic power would do so to them. C. If there were no such monk, then some deva would recite the Dharma to a host of devas. Or D, if there were no such Deva, then an apparitionally born being reborn there would make them recall that formerly they have recited the Dharma. This is found in Sotanugatha Sutta in the Anguttara. What is meant here is simply that, having heard the Dharma, that event, that experience is recorded in your mind,

[65:38]

And it will, under the right conditions, create that learning environment again. Well, I don't know, maybe I may sound a bit selfish by telling you how I feel about being here in Berkeley. I'm going to say it anyway. This is how Americans have to talk. I don't usually talk like that back home. All my life, actually, I've kind of wanted to be in a situation where all the books I want, I need are there, all the people I would like to ask are there, all the teachers that I need to learn from are there, and all the bookshops I need to go to are there. For a while, Thailand served that purpose for me in the monasteries. Let's say I'm doing a translation and I found this Pali word which I couldn't understand.

[66:42]

I just need to walk to the next room and knock on the door. There's this Pali monk who specializes in Pali. What do you mean? And the problem is stopping him from talking. He will give a commentary. It comes from this and this is the section you look up this reference and so on. And those were really beautiful memories. And when I left for Malaysia, I said, oh, there it goes, that beautiful heaven of learning. And for more than 10 years, I was on my own, struggling to write my own reflections. But here I am, with all the university of learning here so it's that kind of when you cultivate a kind of feeling the kind of habit good habit in this case it will happen again and it will bring you joy but that's one way of looking at it now so that's the second uh aspect of listening to the Dharma.

[67:44]

The third is the most important one. It eventually makes an end of your cankers. This is from the Kalasutta. The four cankers are things that make you reborn and suffer and so on. The Kalasutta and Anguttara Nikaya again. Now, what about the right time, Su? What were the right times? There are four right times. First is a timely listening to the Dharma. Then timely discussion. We'll come to that later. Then timely practice of calmness or Samatha. And timely practice of Vipassana. So here we have, in this same sutta, the Kala Sutta, these four aspects of timeliness. Time to talk, time to discuss, time to practice calmness, time to practice insight.

[68:48]

So this of course is left to the teacher and pupil. Then there are the five classic benefits of listening to the Dharma. This is also given in Agathara. The first benefit is, one hears what is unheard of. One hears what one has not heard before. Now, you may say, yeah, I've heard this before, many of the things today I've heard before. There are occasions when I hear the same talk or same topic over and over from different teachers, but I find that each time, even though we listen to the same thing, there's something different, something new about it. In fact, I myself hear the same talk over and over again on many occasions, because what else can we talk about besides the Four Noble Truths, really? Maybe we give variations to it, but it's about the Four Noble Truths. But then, as we listen, something changes in us.

[69:49]

So the next time we listen, it's different. It's like listening to good music. If you listen to a good piece of music, especially when you're very new to music, you wait for the interesting part, the bang, and that's music to you. That's the piece, the whole piece. It's nothing but a bang. And then later, when you study music, Oh, there are various nuances you listen to, and the actual beautiful part which the experts say are good is something else. It's so subtle you do not notice it. So in other words, your perception becomes more refined. So meditating is not actually numbing of the senses. On the contrary, it is sharpening our senses even more, much more. So, one hears what is unheard of before, even in music. And the music of the mind is even more complex and more inspiring, more liberating. Then second benefit, one hears things, one clears things heard.

[70:51]

First time you might hear it wrong, the second time you hear it better. Thirdly, one dispels one's doubts. Fourthly, one's views are straightened. And I think that's why we have constant Dhamma studies, Dhamma talks, to kind of straighten one's views, sometimes even the views of the speaker himself. And fifthly, I think it's the most beautiful, once mind becomes inspired, Pasadi. It's a very popular term here. It means when you listen to something happy, you get Pasadi, you get this bright mind which fills yourself with faith. So timely listening to the Dharma has got to do with this timeliness of right action. Now let's go to the last verse for today, verse 9.

[71:53]

Sustaining patience and being responsive towards correction and seeing recluses, timely Dharma discussion. This is the most auspicious fortune. You can see how this is connected with the previous verse. Patience. Kanti. Another meaning is endurance. Here, it's a little more... Well, patience is a little more difficult to practice than humility, I suppose. In this category, anyway. Because here, patience means there is something going on, like someone insulting us, so we do not answer back, that's patience. And in India, in Buddhist time anyway, there were ten terms which are used as kind of terms of insult.

[73:00]

which we today would not think they are in terms of insult. For example, in India, to call someone a camel would be very insulting. Today, in America, it's a brand of a cigarette. Why I mention this is because some people who are very upset with the Buddha for various reasons, jealous of the Buddha, decided to run the Buddha of the city, so they thought they could. So they employed some thugs to call the Buddha names, one of which I've mentioned. The Buddha, of course, was still upset, but Ananda was very upset because Ananda was not enlightened. So Ananda told the Buddha, let's get out of town. These people are really bad here. And the Buddha said, now what if we go to the next town and people call us names again? Ananda says, we'll go to the next town. And you know Ananda is going to say again if Buddha mention what if people call us names again. So the Buddha said, no Ananda, we should not do that.

[74:07]

It's not proper. It is our task to stand our ground. In seven days all this thought will die out. And the Buddha did not do anything. He just said in seven days it will die out. Now, I do not know why Buddhism is seven days. No one has done any research on the significance of seven days. You've got seven days, seven days, and there's full of numbers in Buddhism. Somebody might come up with numerology one day, Buddhist numerology. I think it means in a short time. Maybe less than seven days, maybe slightly more than seven days, maybe exactly seven days. We do not know, but it will not last forever. And you don't have to answer back. You will just die out of its own accord. And also in this connection, there is another saying which is very popular in Thailand, which came from the sutras. In Thailand, I think it is said, you speed to the sky, isn't it?

[75:07]

Speeding to the sky, is it? I forgot. You speed to the sky, it falls back on you. Isn't it? Like a proverb? Yeah, a proverb. The other one in the sutra is, when you throw dust against the wind, it will come back on you, upon you. So, these are two metaphors which can be used in connection with this story I've told. So, why don't we fight back, you might ask. One reason is, I think, karma. In a way, In a way, I'm underlining that. It is our past karma. So, what has happened to us now, at this very difficult moment, is because of something we have done in the past, which, because of our ignorance, we are not able to see what it was. So, by facing this trials and tribulations, in a way, it is as if we have come to terms with the

[76:11]

on wholesome karma we have done. And to fight it would kind of be running away from paying a debt, to use an analogy popular with karma. That's one way. In that sense, in another letter to the same friend, a letter which I read to you, I wrote that we There are occasions when we deserve our sufferings. You know, if everyone thought that way, it would be a very peaceful society, right? But it's not an easy thought, of course. That's why I say it's only one way of looking at problems. Because you also can change the situation. In a way, I can say it's quite selfish. If you are patient and say, let this person cause me suffering, I'm paying back my old karma, what happens to the other person? He's creating bad karma also.

[77:14]

So what do we do about that? We've got to think about that too. So one way, of course, is to try to reach out to the person too. And I'm convinced that it does work. In a way, through my very great difficult moments, many of the people who do not like me have never harmed me in any way, except politically, in the sense of making certain things difficult for me. But they have never physically tried to harm me, as in many other cases. There are many dreadful stories about people who are very outspoken against such people. I feel this is because there is this... I always try to include that in my metta, though it's how difficult it may be sometimes. Again, I'm saying something very personal here. Why I say metta does work is because when I meet these people face to face, I never fail to notice some of these people especially, that they have this

[78:18]

certain feeling of uneasiness about as if they have done something wrong. And that also makes me very uncomfortable. So for that reason, I try not to meet them for the comfort of both sides, actually. So they have this idea that I'm a very strict Vinaya monk and I'll be watching them smoking or sitting with a woman or something like that. I'll write about it. Maybe they are right. But then, I do not know any other way really. Because I do not know what it means, any other way to be a monk. So this is a big debate inside me, a very difficult debate. And I wish I could discuss with them these things. I suppose sometimes we have to make decisions. But I think still this idea of sending metal out is very important.

[79:23]

Somehow maybe this good feeling will arise in them. One day something will happen and they will change. And I'm sure they do want to change too. The social circumstances they are in somehow encourage a certain mischievousness and so on. So, when we practice patience, we must also consider the other side. How do we help them? Then, being responsive to correction. Well, this is, of course, especially in the Sangha, this is very important, and I think In society too, this is very important. Of course, it can be very controversial here when we say, does this mean we simply listen to authority? Here, the context is spiritual. Let's say, especially in a sangha, when you live together in a community, a situation has been clarified and this person has been explained very clearly why something is wrong.

[80:34]

And in that sense, I think this statement applies. There are occasions in the story of monks in the Sangha in Buddhist time where although they did not really make a mistake, but they still accept the decision of the Sangha. That is how they respect the Sangha. Often I forgot the story, but In my mind, I faintly remember this one occasion where this person respected the Sangha's decision. And that brings harmony to living in the community. So as I said, the context is very important here. To be in harmony with others. This first line here generally means to be in harmony with others. Now, let me just quickly finish the other two, since we don't have much time. Seeing recluses. Now here, this is the ancient Indian practice of darshan.

[81:36]

Just seeing recluses, holy monks. And I think here, it does not merely mean Buddhist monks, there are other holy people too, because the Buddha oftentimes spoke quite highly of practitioners of other religions who show very great spiritual virtues. Now, what's the opposite of this? We like to watch pornography, things like that, because they excite the senses. But here, when we watch, say, a holy figure, an arahat or an ordained member or a monastic member of the Sangha. Here usually, traditionally, that's why it's meant recluses here, meditating, a practitioner, a monk, a nun. So we look and we feel this joy. That's the idea here. Like Anathapindika, for example, he's quite happy just to have darshana with the Buddha. He's just happy to sit there and listen and look at the Buddha. And today we have practices like watching a visualization of the Buddha, for example, especially in Tibetan order.

[82:47]

So that's a kind of later development from this. Now, how does this help in our meditation? It creates a wholesome image in our minds to help us clear away negative emotions and negative images in the mind. And then the the last Mangala for today, Timely Dharma Discussion. That is a kind of follow-up from having listened and kind of accumulating a store of knowledge, then one goes on to discuss. The discussion here not only clarifies one's mind, but also creates Sangha. Because, for example, again speaking for myself, brought together the community of Dharmapharas, my other friends, and keeps us going is this constant discussion we have whenever we are together. And there is this great joy, and we look forward to this when we get together, because in the discussion we also talk about ourselves, and we are able to see each other's strengths and weaknesses, and that greater self-knowledge, other knowledge, strengthens the foundation of Sangha.

[84:04]

We could do that for one reason, because we are still small, still a small group. But if we cultivate this on a gradual way, in very small groups, then you mix the groups around, then you have a bigger Sangha. It can be done too. The smallness of such a group for Dharma discussion is very important. Not too big. Then you kind of become very impersonal. So this is the most auspicious good, most auspicious fortune. Well, at least five minutes for any questions or discussion. I'm still not sure about the contentment when we were talking about the monks eating the food, and even if they don't like it, they'll eat it and be happy with it at the moment. But if they say, if they think to themselves at that moment, well, next time we'll avoid this house, is that true contentment?

[85:12]

Yes, well, maybe you should have taken too seriously that last remark. But I think that's the way people think. Traditionally, some monks may say, as I said, these are the monastic asides. I'm speaking from inside. And those are happy moments. We talk about it, but we still go to the house. We might say, oh no, we get the same food, but we still eat it. That's our human side. I'm not saying we go there like very pious saints. Most of the time we do, I think. It's just that occasionally we discover worldly thoughts to arise. But it doesn't trouble us that much. But it reminds me of a very beautiful story of Mahakasyapa about eating. Now, you know, as monks we have to receive any kind of food given to us, either we eat it too or share it with others. Now there was a leper who offered Mahakasyapa food that day. Mahakasyapa is said to be the next, the monk next in importance to the Buddha.

[86:16]

Now this leper, and I hope you have a stomach for this, I'm going to tell, His finger was rotting, it was going to drop. So as he put food into this, Mahakasyapa's bowl, his finger is actually rotting. And Mahakasyapa was just watching it mindfully. See, when we receive food, we hold the bowl, we just look here, we don't look around at all, so the finger dropped in. Mahakasyapa didn't bother, then he went his way, then he sat down, just put the finger aside and went on eating. and of course, in his own way, showed his gratitude to this leper. I couldn't find a reference to this story. I should have asked the person where the story came from. The meaning of the story here is, again, not only contentment, but it shows that Mahakasyapa could just Watch what's going on before him and just eat. It's not worry about all this feeling of revulsion and so on.

[87:20]

So that is living the moment. This doesn't mean that it's a great thing to have a finger dropped into the bowl and it's a mark of sainthood. That's not the meaning. It's the meaning of control the senses. Detachment. in among the vegetables was a snake. And he's chopping up all the vegetables and puts them all in the soup, serves the food. The abbot gets this bowl of food and he's eating it and he says, oh, he calls the head cook. He says, what's this? And he pulls out the snake's head. And the head cook says,

[88:28]

Now. Eating the flame. Being nourished by it. You have no vegetarians, have you? Have you vegetarians? Yeah. No intention. I said Chinese. You were talking about the cup, and if I remember correctly, you said looking at the cup is okay, or just seeing, and then noticing it's beautiful is okay, but when what arose was desire, I want the cup, that created better karma. How is it bad karma as opposed to just karma of when we're acting on something?

[89:42]

I'm not sure if you actually said bad karma. Yeah, I mean, if you desire it, then it's bad karma. Because there is only roots of negative roots. The last one is the tree roots. Right, tree roots. One of them is there, at least. I think there's one that's always there in an unenlightened mind, a small heart, that's delusion. So that lasts for that desirable object. So, in other words, whenever there's a kind of a wish to appropriate it, and there is one of the unwholesome roots of that, it is unwholesome karma. Maybe evil karma is too strong, maybe unwholesome. Maybe it's just a thought, so it is an unwholesome thought. But you stop it there, it does not go to the level of action. So the precepts are there to prevent that level of action, that it becomes a bodily action. So as long as it is held back in the mind, it's not that bad.

[90:45]

But the problem is, you must not let it become a habit. Then one day it will express itself in the physical way. if we're given everything. I mean, within the context, as you said, it's very important. If you're given food and shelter and clothing, then you don't have to... I mean, desire might come up, but it's more of a preference as opposed to actually being in the world and having to make choices. Yeah. As I say, we cannot oversimplify some of these statements. We do, for example, say, I want this, it's beautiful, right? But then you must be aware of that thought too. So you must not allow the thought to drag you into doing things which are not becoming of you, of a practitioner. I think it's natural in anyone who is not enlightened, certain feelings will arise, you want this, but then you notice it, thought of this one thing arises, so you watch it.

[91:50]

On the other hand, it might be good, it might be needed, the food or the thing would be useful to the centre or for the family, but it just happens at that time the thought arises, because you thought it in the wrong way, then you're supposed to switch your thinking another way. I mean, say in a crowded supermarket, it's confusing to think. So what is important here I think is to watch the mind, what's going on at that time. And I think at that time you will know what to do with it, if you're a practitioner. What I'm saying is a very theoretical level here, about how to note whether the mind is wholesome or unwholesome, especially in a retreat environment. Then to train the mind to go on the right track. Atta Samma Pannidhi, that is the one we went on earlier, setting the mind on the right course. So they're called interconnected. the rules that kind of keep us focused.

[93:55]

I think for some reasons it can be difficult for us in the West to live in terms of rules because there's been so much tradition of such rules from previous religions in the West. Some may say 5 precepts, 10 precepts. It can be quite difficult and for various other reasons. But I think what is important here is, as I mentioned, there are virtues that precepts point to, or values, if you like to call them that. For example, the first precept...

[94:33]

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