Day 8 Apr Retreat - Mulapariyaya Sutta MN 1- The Root of All Things with D. Armstrong

Namo atasabhuvatu varahato sammasambhutindasa. Namo atasabhuvatu varahato sammasambhutindasa. So today, we are going to read Majjhima Nikaya 1, Mulapariyaya Sutta, the root of all things. Thus have I heard. On one occasion, the Blessed One was living in Ukkata, in the Subhaga Grove, at the root of a royal solitary. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus: bhikkhus. Venerable sir, they replied.

The Blessed One said this: bhikkhus, I shall teach you a discourse on the root of all things. Listen and attend closely to what I shall say. Yes, venerable sir, the bhikkhus replied. So we should understand the context of what he's going to be talking about. According to the commentary about the sutta, it said that the audience that he was speaking to was a group of newly ordained bhikkhus who had in them this view that the universe and the self are one and the same thing. This view of universal cosmic consciousness, and is unskilled and undisciplined in their dhamma, apart from earth. He conceives earth to be mine.

He delights in earth. Why is that? Because he has not fully understood it, I say. So it says here, he conceives himself as earth, conceives himself in earth, conceives himself apart from earth, and conceives earth to be mine. These are the different types of self-view in relation to the world. The first says, so if you think about it, the idea of the aggregates, right? We talk about the five aggregates: form, feeling, perception, formations, consciousness. He conceives himself as the five aggregates.

He conceives himself in the five aggregates. So the idea is the self are the five aggregates, or the self is in the five aggregates, or he conceives himself apart from the five aggregates, meaning he conceives the five aggregates as being apart from what is a self. And then he conceives earth to be mine, meaning he conceives the five aggregates as mine, that the five aggregates are possessed by the self. He delights in the five aggregates. This is the clinging and craving that affects the five aggregates. This is the whole basis for conceit.

That mana that we were talking about yesterday, which means to measure. When there is an idea of a self separate from the aggregates, separate from all other conditions, or the self as in conditions, this is wrong view. This arises as a result of identification with something that's being seen. The ordinary worldling, as it were, all they are seeing is, how does this affect me? How does this affect the sense of myself, of mine, of me?

So when they are experiencing reality, they're experiencing it as a sense of an observer there, in the sense of an object of observation. So he perceives water as water. Having perceived water as water, he conceives himself as water. He conceives himself in water. He conceives himself apart from water. He conceives water to be mine. He delights in water. Why is that? Because he has not fully understood it, I say. He perceives fire as fire. He perceives air as air. He conceives air to be mine. He delights in air. Why is that? Because he has not fully understood it, I say.

He perceives beings as beings. Having perceived beings as beings, he conceives beings. He conceives himself. Here it says he perceives beings as beings. Having perceived beings, he conceives beings. The state of the mind of an arahant is that they no longer cling to any of the five aggregates. And the definition of a being, that is to say, not bhava, being in the sense of satta, a being, a personality, that definition is basically one who clings and identifies with one or more of the five aggregates.

So if an arahant has let go of all notion of being, has let go of all notion of identification with any of the five aggregates, can you designate the arahant as a being or as a non-being? So he conceives beings. The idea is that there is a me and there is a you. There is a us and there is a them.

When an arahant sees a being, he doesn't see a being. He sees a series of impersonal causes and conditions. He does not conceive that this is this person here. He understands it in the conventional idea of there is a being, but he doesn't project onto that being all this idea of personality. He doesn't see that being as separate, with a separate self.

In other words, he understands that being to be impersonal, not self. The worldling will always project what they think a being is. When they see their mother or their father or their brother or sister or their friends or their enemies, they don't see the being. They see a being who is the father, who is the mother, who is the brother, who is the sister, who is the friend, who is the enemy. Why? Because they have conceived that idea that this being is my friend. This being is my father. This being is

my sister. This being is my enemy. Because they have projected an image onto that being. So the arahant doesn't even have an image projected of a self. Doesn't have a sense of this is me, this is mine, this is myself. So if they don't have one for themselves, would they see other beings as selves? Would they see other beings with self? There won't be any projection of, this is how this person always is. The habitual tendencies of, oh, my mother always says this. Or why does she always have to say it that way? Or, yeah, that's her, she's always lazy. Whatever it might be. These ideas, these concepts, don't stick in the arahant. Because they don't conceive beings as beings.

As themselves, or themselves in beings, or apart from beings, or that they are possessed of being. Because that identification with the five aggregates is gone. So there is no being in the mind of the arahant in the sense that there is no more habitual tendencies. There is no becoming. But also, there is no sense of a definition of a satta, S-A-T-T-A, satta, Pali, for the being as a personality.

Because there's no longer any clinging. He perceives gods as gods. Having perceived gods as gods, he conceives gods. He conceives himself in gods. He conceives himself apart from gods. He conceives gods to be mine. He delights in gods. Why is that? Because he has not fully understood it, I say. Pajapati. Now, this is interesting. Delights in Brahma.

Why is that? Because he has not fully understood it, I say. Now, when they talk about Brahma, there is the idea of the Brahma Loka. But what is associated with the Brahma Loka? The first jhana. The first jhana is associated with the first Brahma Loka. But the brahmaviharas are a way to get into jhana. So you could say that he conceives himself in the first jhana. He conceives himself as the first jhana. He conceives himself apart from the first jhana, or he conceives himself as this jhana to be mine. In other words, when you're in the first jhana, when a first-timer is in the first jhana, somebody who starts out on the practice, there's all of these different attachments that they have to the first jhana, right?

That was my joy. I experienced that joy. I produced that joy. That joy arose when I became collected. And so there's a sense of I am doing this. I created the circumstances for this jhana. I am in this jhana. So there's still a sense of self that I am in this jhana. He conceives the gods of streaming radiance to be mine.

He delights in the gods of streaming radiance. Why is that? Because he has not fully understood it, I say. The gods of streaming radiance are the Abhasara beings. The Abhasara beings are the beings who arise from there because of experiencing the second jhana. Their experience there is of the second jhana. So the gods of streaming radiance. He conceives himself as the second jhana. second jhana he conceives himself apart from the second jhana so here is me and here is the factors of the second jhana or he conceives that these factors of the second jhana are mine he perceives the gods of refulgent glory as the gods of refulgent glory having perceived the gods of refulgent So the gods of refulging glory, those are the subhakina beings.

with the third jhana. Same thing. When a person gets into the third jhana for the first time, they see this as, wow, look at that. That's a great experience. I am feeling the tranquility of the third jhana. I'm feeling the comfort and ease of the body in the third jhana. I caused this third jhana to happen. I am in the third jhana. This third jhana is mine. Here I am and here I am experiencing the sense of self that's there in the jhanas, the clinging to the jhanas. So the gods of great fruit, those are associated with the fourth jhana.

The fourth jhana beings. So one is in the fourth jhana and experiences the purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. Experiences that pure balance of mind and says, experiencing this balance of mind, I am in this balance of mind. This balance of mind is mine. He delights in the overlord. Why is that? Because he has not fully understood it, I say. The overlord here is another word for the realm of the pure abodes. So this is an anagami. An anagami has let go of the sensual craving, has let go of the aversion, but they still have craving for existence. They still have craving for non-existence. They still have conceit. They still have clinging to the Dhamma.

So they still have a sense of pride in being in these jhanas. A sense of pride in having attained this experience now. That pride doesn't mean that they're arrogant necessarily, but that pride means that there is that sense of clinging, that identification with that process. There is that clinging to the joy. The anagami, the experience of the Dhamma itself, the experience of Nibbana itself, having attained Nibbana, as we'll see. So here you're radiating compassion in infinite space, for example. And you conceive yourself as that infinite space. You conceive yourself as that compassion, in that base of infinite space. Or you conceive yourself apart from the base of infinite space, seeing a self or an observer in the base of infinite space and compassion.

Or you say this compassion is mine and this experience of infinite space is mine. He perceives the base of infinite consciousness as the base of infinite consciousness. Having perceived the base of infinite consciousness as the base of infinite consciousness, he conceives himself as the base of infinite consciousness. He conceives himself in the base of infinite consciousness. He conceives himself apart from the base of infinite consciousness. He conceives the base of infinite consciousness to be mine. He delights in the base of infinite consciousness. Why is that? Because he has not fully understood it, I say. So now you experience empathetic joy, and you're experiencing the arising and passing away of consciousnesses, and now you say, oh, there it goes, my consciousness arising and passing away, there goes another consciousness of mine, passing, arising and passing away. Or that I am experiencing the arising and passing away of infinite consciousnesses, or I am these consciousnesses that arise and pass away, and so on, or that I am the joy that is experienced in the base of infinite consciousness.

So the sense of me, mine, or myself that's there in the jhanas, that's there in the formless attainments, one has to see that as arising because of that process of identifying with these experiences. He delights in the base of nothingness. Why is that? I say. So here a person, let's say they're in infinite consciousness and they hear about nothingness. They know, are told about nothingness.

I have to achieve the base of nothingness or I have to achieve the base of neither perception nor non-perception. Instead of seeing that as an impersonal process that arises because of the right causes and conditions, that is to say that the joy turns into equanimity and the gap between consciousnesses in infinite consciousness widen and there is an experience of nothingness.

Once that is experienced, then the mind says, oh, I am experiencing nothingness. Now, there's one way of experiencing these things and saying I am in the conventional sense that using the word I am, but not clinging to that sense of I am. And there is a sense of, oh, I, the self, me, mine, myself, is experiencing the base of nothingness. Now here's an interesting one. Why is that? Because he has not fully understood it, I say. In neither perception nor non-perception.

There is some level of consciousness there, but you don't fully perceive. So how could he perceive the base of neither perception nor non-perception? Only after coming out of it and reflecting on what happened. This is what you guys should be doing. Every time you come out of neither perception nor non-perception, spend a few moments, spend up to a minute or two just looking back, reflecting, what happened.

But in that process of reflecting on what happened, don't allow whatever arises in the mind, whatever formations, patterns, pictures, squiggly lines, spirals, patterns, whatever it might be, shapes, don't let that be a basis for the self to arise. Don't let that be as, oh, I was experiencing that when I look back on it. Or I am those things when I look back on it. are in me, or I am in those things, and so on.

So just see those as impersonal formations that arose and created the different squiggly lines or patterns or shapes or disconnected images. He perceives the scene as the scene. Having perceived the scene as the scene, he delights in the heard. He delights in the sensed. He delights in the cognized. He delights in unity. So what he's talking about here is the seeing, the heard, the sensed, the cognized.

These have to do with the sixth sense basis, the sixth sense basis. So seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and thinking. is the collectedness of mind. Diversity is the perception of diversity. So that is the perception of the different sixth sense bases and the experiences of those sixth sense bases. And then the all as all. The all is also understood as the world. And the Buddha says the world is the sixth sense bases. It is this mind and body because it is through mind and body that you have a perception of the world, a conception of the world.

So you see things in a certain way because of the way your eyes are able to receive sensory data. You hear things in a certain way because it's dependent upon how the ear picks up that sensory data. The bird sees it differently. Certain birds will see it differently. Certain animals will see it differently. The devas see it in a different way. The brahma beings see it in a different way, and so on and so forth. So when we talk about the sixth sense basis, or the sensed as the sensed, he perceives himself in that, or he perceives himself apart from it, or he perceives them in himself, or them to be mine. What that's saying is, the mind identifies with the sixth sense basis.

It identifies with the experience of the sixth sense basis. When that happens, what happens? You take it personally. When you take it personally, what happens? There is craving. And then there is craving, there is clinging. And when there is clinging, there is becoming. And when there is becoming, there is birth of action. And when there is birth of action, there is that whole mass of suffering.

So, what do we do? How do we resolve this? Before we go on, is it an interesting one? as Nibbana. Having perceived Nibbana as Nibbana, he conceives himself as Nibbana. He conceives himself in Nibbana. He conceives himself apart from Nibbana. He conceives Nibbana to be mine. He delights in Nibbana. Why is that? Because he has not fully understood it, I say. How is that possible? This is a worldling. How can they perceive Nibbana? They have some ideas of what Nibbana is and what Nibbana isn't. But also, when you six are and you relax, that relief in that moment can be taken as mine. There are actually different kinds of wrong views. There are 62 different types of wrong views.

is and isn't. So that can include mundane nibbana, but within the sutras it also talks about the idea that nibbana is the cessation of feeling, the cessation of being, the cessation of this and that. But these are all concepts in the mind. These are all views until they're actually experienced. And then when they are experienced, what happens? We'll see with regards to one who is in higher training.

So the disciple in higher training, the sekha, that is one who has attained to the view, had an experience of stream entry, and is still now training in the higher wisdom and in the higher mind towards full awakening. Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu who is in higher training, whose mind has not yet reached the goal, and who is still aspiring to the supreme security from bondage. So in the first case, they were perceiving Earth as Earth. But now they're directly knowing Earth as Earth. What does that mean? They understand the Earth element to be the Earth element. They understand the water element to be the water element. They understand all form to be just that. Or they are making an effort to understand that form is impersonal.

He must have wisdom. He must eradicate, eliminate, ignorance. And then he says the same thing about he directly knows water as water, fire as fire, air as air, the beings as beings, the gods as gods, Pajapati as Pajapati, the first jhana as first jhana, second jhana, third jhana, fourth jhana, the foremost attainments and so on. But when he sees them and directly knows them, he should not conceive himself as them. He should not conceive himself in them. He should not conceive himself apart from them. He should not conceive them to be mine. So the disciple in higher training, the sekha, when they're experiencing jhana, they should see the impersonal nature of jhana.

Yes, it feels good. And there's nothing wrong that it feels good. It's a pleasant mental feeling. It's a higher pleasure beyond the sensual pleasure. And it feels good. Nothing wrong with that. But as soon as you attach the idea that I have to be here, or I have to go to that jhana, or this jhana now that I'm experiencing is mine, or that this loving kindness that is arising, or this compassion that is being radiated, or this mudita that's being radiated, or this equanimity that's being radiated,

This is stemming from me. I am the one who is radiating it. Or I am the one who is experiencing it. Or that I am the one who is in it. Instead, if you allow the mind to just see it as it actually is, that it arises through an intention. There is an intention to be in the first jhana. There is an intention to be in the second jhana. But that intention is a wholesome chanda, a wholesome intention, of self. It arose because it saw that this is the way to experience jhana, and the mind collects itself using the tools it has. So even though the noble eightfold path, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right collectedness, even though they are conditioned, they're also still impersonal. It doesn't seem like it when you start off in the beginning, but now when you have experienced Nibbana for yourself, you realize that all things are impersonal, even Nibbana.

There's a sense of the experiencer and the experience, the subject and the object. So I am the one who's experiencing this. So the self is dependent upon, or the sense of self is dependent upon the experience, or even vice versa. So the disciples in higher training have to see this. They have to understand that when they are going into jhana, when the mind enters jhana, it's all just an experience.

So one of the ways to do that is to just spend a couple of minutes to understand or observe the intention of radiating love and kindness, for example. How the intention arises. Is it arising from a sense of I am radiating loving kindness? Or is it arising from a sense of here arises loving kindness? There is an intention, an inclination towards radiating loving kindness. So making everything impersonal. Seeing everything as impersonal. Now even in your daily living, when you are going to go off retreat, see your family members, you're going to meet your relatives, you're going to meet your friends, you still have the same projections that you have on them. That this is my friend and this is my enemy.

This is my mother and this is my father. This is my sister. This is my brother. And because they are so and so, they'll always be having these kind of character traits. And so you're not actually ever even listening to them. You're not actually ever seeing them as they are. You're only seeing the image that you have built of them in your mind. And you're only experiencing yourself dependent upon the image you've built of yourself in the mind. But if you eradicate that image of yourself, then there's no conceit there. And when there's no conceit, there's no restlessness. There's no craving. There's no aversion.

There's no identification at all. No suffering at all. Because as soon as you have an image of yourself, that I am so-and-so, that I am belonging to this nationality, or I belong to this particular party, or I am a meditator, or I am a TWIM practitioner, I belong to the TWIM community, and all of that stuff. That can give rise to pride, that can give rise to conceit, and that can give rise to, when somebody says something about TWIM, do you get upset by it?

If somebody says something terrible about the practice, do you get upset by it? Do you become a Dhamma defender? Dhammapala. Dhammapala, yeah. Or do you just see that this person is saying whatever they're saying, but it doesn't have an effect because that's their opinion or that's what they are saying? The TWIM practice is the TWIM practice, but it's not your TWIM practice.

It doesn't belong to anybody. It's just a practice. So if you have that identity of, I am a TWIM practitioner, or I am a person who is in jhana, and then you have to tell somebody else this, that, I'm a TWIM practitioner or whatever, and somebody says, oh, TWIM, I know what TWIM is. That's not the real Dhamma.

How are you going to respond to that? How are you going to react to that? You're so wrong. Are you going to just have loving kindness and continue the practice? And you just say, okay, well, that's how you think. That's fine. And so here it says, he directly knows Nibbana as Nibbana. Having directly known Nibbana as Nibbana, he should not conceive himself as Nibbana. He should not conceive himself in Nibbana. He should not conceive himself apart from Nibbana. He should not conceive Nibbana to be mine.

He should not delight in Nibbana. Why is that? Because he must fully understand it, I say. So he directly knows Nibbana as Nibbana. In the first case, there was a conceiving of what Nibbana is. There was a perception of this is what Nibbana could be. already attained the stream and therefore they have already experienced Nibbana at some point, but having experienced Nibbana they see that they were in Nibbana or that they had come out of Nibbana, or that the Nibbana experience was amazing to me and the joy and relief I felt thereafter was awesome, and so on and so forth. So there, that clinging to the idea of Nibbana, after having experienced it, is also something one who is in the higher training has to let go of.

It is a tough one because once you have that experience, what happens? You're looking out for it again. Bhikkhus. A bhikkhu who is an arahant with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the goal, destroyed the fetters of being. This is very important. Destroyed the fetters of being.

In other words, he has eradicated ignorance. So now he sees things as they actually are. know the names of people. They will know the personalities of people. They will understand this is the type of person this person is when they're in this mood and in that mood and so on. But when they actually speak to that person, when they actually see that person, they don't have that whole cascading idea and concepts of this person as being that person.

They just see that person fresh in that moment without any expectations. Without any concepts of, oh, they're going to say that, or I knew they were going to do that, or I'm expecting them to be in a terrible mood because of so-and-so? They just allow things as they are. They see things as they are, meaning they also see beings as they are.

There's no sense of this person is me, mine, or myself. There's no sense of it's affecting, this person is affecting me, mine, or myself. It's just, okay, this person is angry. This person seems to be angry at me, but there's no reaction to that because there's no sense of, oh, they're affecting a sense of me. It's just, that's their anger.

They say something negative to you, the mind of an arahant sees it as, okay, they're upset. I'm going to send them compassion. They obviously are suffering through something. So I'll send them compassion. himself apart from Nibbana. He does not conceive Nibbana to be mine. This is the arahant. So likewise with jhanas as well. There's a sutta in which Sariputta is walking around and Ananda sees him and he says, your faculties are so clear, your face is shining. Why is that? And Sariputta says, well, I was in the first jhana all day long and in the second time I was in the second jhana all day long and so on. I did not think that I am in this jhana, or I am entering this jhana, or I am leaving this jhana.

And Ananda says that is because you have the destruction of conceit. So the arahant, when they're experiencing jhana, there is just jhana going on. There's just the experience of jhana. When they're experiencing Nibbana, obviously, when Nibbana happens, it's the unconditioned. So you don't know it until the mind emerges from it. However, in that experience of coming out of Nibbana, there's no sense of I have come out of Nibbana. There's a sense of self that has come out of Nibbana or cessation for that matter. Remember yesterday we were talking about there's no sense of I will emerge from cessation or I am attaining to the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness. They just see it as an impersonal process.

Nibbana one way or another, they just experience Nibbana. And that also means that their mind, which is free of craving, is experiencing Nibbana, the mundane Nibbana in that sense. So they're not even thinking of themselves as being empty of this and that. They just know, oh, here is mind empty of lust, empty of hatred, empty of delusion. Here is mind free of the taints. But it is not that I am free from the taints, or those taints are free from me, from the taints. It's just that this is a mind without any taints, a mind without any craving.

And why is that? Because he is free from lust through destruction of lust. He is free from hatred through destruction of hatred. He is free from delusion through the destruction of delusion. So he has destroyed the taints and he has destroyed the roots, the akusala mula, the unwholesome roots of greed, hatred, and delusion. And because of that, there are no longer fettered formations that cause the mind to conceive or to identify with anything that's arising or passing away.

And so when there is no identification, there is no craving, there is no clinging, there is no more becoming, and there is no more birth, and hence no more suffering. Now, I have to clarify, an arahant will still feel physical pain. Sometimes people have an idea when you say there's no suffering, does that mean if you poke an arahant, will they not feel it? They'll feel it. They'll experience pain, bodily pain. But that second dart, as we call it, won't be there. The first dart is the pain that you feel. Even if somehow they put their hand on a hot plate, they will have the reflex of bringing their hand off of that hot plate.

Oh, like anger at that hot plate or anger at themselves for doing that. It's just, oh, that was an unpleasant feeling. That was an unpleasant experience. So there's only that knowledge and wisdom of here is an unpleasant, impersonal experience. Or here is an impersonal, pleasant experience. But it's not affecting a me, mine, or myself. And therefore, the second dart of mental suffering, craving, or mental identification with that pleasure or pain is not there. I don't know how to say ouch too. Oh, they'll say ouch, yeah. Why not?

But they won't say, I'm an idiot. So this is a lesson to sekha. When there's that first dart, is to watch the reaction. Yes. That is habitual tendency in action. Yes. Stub your toe and get stung by a wasp. Yeah. There's an interesting neuroscience experiment on experienced meditators, probably not arahants, but it actually showed that the spike when they were giving someone, people, a painful heat sensation with water in a tube so it wouldn't actually burn them. But it showed a greater reaction when the pain stimulus came for the experienced meditators. But there was no expectation spike, and there was no, after the pain left, there was immediately a return below baseline.

Whereas when they told the other non-meditators that the pain was coming, there was a big spike in expectation, and then after the painful stimulus, there was still this emotional response. Is the second dart. in earth. He does not conceive himself apart from earth. He does not conceive earth to be mine. He does not delight in earth. Why is that? Because the Tathagata has fully understood it to the end, I say.

So that's an interesting statement. But before we continue, let's just break down what does Tathagata mean exactly? Daskan. The thing is Tata, Tata or Tatata, means that, or whatever that experience is, the Nibbana experience. Thus gone, which is thus gone forth, or one returning from. Because the diacritic of the A, that's above the A, that can mean the Tata Gata, who has gone, Agata, or Gata. So it could mean one who has gone forth, or one who has returned from.

What is he seen right there? Dependent origination. Delight, another word for craving, is the root of suffering. From that and that with being as conditioned, there is birth. And that for whatever has come to be, there is aging and death. This is the last few links of dependent origination. So it's a summarized understanding. Therefore, Bhikkhus, through the complete destruction, fading away, cessation, giving up and relinquishing of all craving, craving for sensual experiences, craving for existence, craving for non-existence, the Tathagata has awakened to supreme full enlightenment, I say. Understood it to the end. That's different from when we talk about the Arahat. Here the Arahat, it says the Arahat knows and understands because they've destroyed greed, hatred and delusion.

But in the case of the Buddha, he has understood it to the end and he has attained the supreme, or he's awakened to supreme full enlightenment. So what's the difference between the Tathagata and the Arahat? That's exactly what I'm coming to, which is, think about it in that sense. You have to come to a great amount of wisdom to figure this out all for yourself.

The Four Noble Truths, dependent origination, the path leading to Nibbana, the experience of Nibbana, all of that. And actually, I'll go through just a small part of the Sutta, which is Majjhima Nikaya 12, to understand that the Buddha possesses certain faculties. Ten powers of a Tathagata. Sariputta, the Tathagata has these ten powers, possessing which he claims the herd leader's place, roars his lion's roar in the assemblies, and sets rolling the wheel of Brahma, the wheel of Dhamma.

What are the ten? Here he understands, as it actually is, the possible as possible, and the impossible as impossible. So if the Buddha wanted, he could go and look into the future of a person, where they might be. Where might they end up depending upon the formations that were present. He could see into the past because he was seeing into past lives and so on.

And so he could see the karmic repercussions of certain choices. He understood karma completely. Again, he understands as it actually is the ways leading to all destinations. So he understood that this choice will lead to this effect, therefore can lead to rebirth in this particular realm and so on. He was the first to discover how karma works in this way. Imagine having to go through that kind of process of understanding: here is the cause and here is the effect, and this is the cause and this is the effect, and so on.

The Tathagata understands as it actually is the world with its many and different elements. So he understands the different foundations of the world in terms of the elements, the four great elements, the different things and the different components that make up the world, and the different sense faculties that are made up, and the different ways that the sense faculties are experienced, because we know that the world is really experienced through the sixth sense basis.

He understands, as it actually is, how beings have different inclinations. He could understand here is a being with an exalted mind, here is a being with a mind with craving, here is a being who has attained the stream, here is a being who has attained so and so and so. He understands as it actually is the disposition of the faculties of other beings and other persons.

So he could look into other beings, the Devas, the Brahmas, and understand their minds, inclinations and their choices. Understands as it actually is the defilement, the cleansing and the emergence in regard to the jhanas, liberations, states of collectedness and attainments. So he saw for himself how this jhana arises, how this particular temporary liberation arises, the signless state arises, this particular emptiness state arises, how these different attainments arise.

And then he saw the defilements for each of them in terms of what defilements are remaining for the stream-enterer, what defilements are remaining for the Sakadagami, what defilements are remaining for the Anagami, and so on. Well, not so on, but until the Anagami. The Tathagata recollects his manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births, and so on. Thus, with their aspects and particulars, he recollects his many lives. So these last three are threefold knowledge. He possesses the threefold knowledge. And then later on, Arahats understand how this happens, and they also possess the threefold knowledge. Before Buddha, you could possess the first two knowledges.

Anyone, doesn't matter if you're a stream-enterer or not a stream-enterer, you can go back and look at your past lives. You can look into the different realms and see the arising and passing away of beings. But that threefold knowledge is exclusive only to Arahats, the destruction of the taints. And so he has awakened to supreme full enlightenment because his faculties have been developed over many Mahakappas. Going through developing and cultivating the perfections of, you know, loving kindness and this and that and the other. And then attaining to that supreme enlightenment because of all of his previous actions. The idea of spending that time looking at how does birth arise?

How does becoming arise? And then how does clinging arise? And then how does craving arise? He asked the question, waited for the answer using his intuition, and it came forth. This is how it arises. Now you know about dependent origination and you understand it. Imagine being a mind that has never been introduced to this at all, and then asking them, how does birth arise?

The Tathagata, the Buddha, is the first of the Arahats, the first of the supremely awakened, who has seen it through to the end, meaning has understood every aspect of this path, cultivated every aspect of this path, and then, having rediscovered it, being invited to actually go ahead and teach the Dhamma, and then through that having other people attain the same that he's attained by following that same path. This is the difference between the Buddha and the Arahant.

That is what the Blessed One said, but those bhikkhus did not delight in the Blessed One's words. Now there's two ways to understand this. Remember I told you in the beginning of the Sutta that these were bhikkhus who had the idea of universal consciousness. So the idea is they didn't accept what the Buddha said. But I tend to think about it in the second perspective, which is they realized that delighting in anything can lead to clinging. So they did not delight in those words.

So they probably became arahats by listening to... That would be awesome. That would be amazing. Right there. So are you guys delighting in this? I don't know. There's no one here. That's fierce. May the suffering ones be suffering free. May the fear struck fearless be. May the grieving shed all grief and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas of mighty power share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation. Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu. Thank you.