MN 41 'Conduct leading to Heaven or Hell' -Sunday Sutta Series - Good Conduct leads to Nibbana.

Okay. This is called, this is from Majjhima Nikaya 41. It's called Saleyyaka Sutta, the Brahmins at Sala. The Blessed One was wandering by stages in the Kosalan country with a large Sangha of bhikkhus. And eventually he arrived at a Kosalan Brahmin village named Sala. The Brahmin householders of Sala heard, what did they hear? They heard the recluse Gautama, the son of the Sakyans who went forth from a Sakyan clan. Now, a good report of Master Gautama has been spread to this effect, that Blessed One is accomplished, fully enlightened, perfect in true knowledge and conduct, sublime knower of worlds, incomparable leader of persons to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, enlightened, blessed. He has made known this world with its gods, its Maras and its Brahmas, this generation with its recluses and Brahmins, its princes and its peoples, which he himself has realized with direct knowledge.

He teaches the Dhamma good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, with the right meaning and phrasing, and he reveals a holy life that is utterly perfect and pure. Now it is good to see such an Arahant. Then the Brahmin householders of Sala went to the Blessed One. Some paid homage to the Blessed One and sat down at one side. Some exchanged greetings with him, and when this courteous and amiable talk was finished, sat down at one side. Some extended their hands in reverential salutation towards the Blessed One and sat down at one side. In the Blessed One's presence and sat down at one side. Some kept silent and sat down at one side.

You notice I didn't say wholesome or unwholesome. And it's not because I don't want to use that word, wholesome and unwholesome. I think even in the sutta, it might use that. But when you go back to the original Pali of kusala and akusala, it's really talking about that which is skillful for liberation. That which is skillful for Nirvana, that is, in that sense, skillfully liberating.

And there are actions which are unskillful, that do not lead to Nibbana. So akusala and kusala in that sense are, I like to use the word effective or non-effective or unaffected or ineffective, whatever the word is. But it's basically that skillfully liberating and that which is not liberating, that which does not lead to liberation. So this is a boring sutta for the people who are looking for jhanas and enlightenment and awakening and all of these juicy things that we always come across when we talk about Buddhism and practice.

But in reality, this is a very essential part of the path. [Right conduct] is absolutely dependent upon having right conduct. Absolutely dependent upon, obviously, the Eightfold Path in the context of the Buddha's understanding, in the context of the Pali Canon. There's a reason why we have this process, which is in succession, in progression from sila to samadhi, from samadhi to panya. In some cases, it's sila slash dhana, which leads to bhavana.

So bhavana here is mental development. That is the development of the mind through the practice of samadhi, through the practice of going through the jhanas, which leads to awakening, to panya. People will say, yeah, yeah, I got it. You have to be, you know, you have to keep the five precepts. Don't kill. Don't harm. Don't lie. Don't cheat. Don't steal. Okay, got it, got it. Let's move to the meditation now. What do I do? Tell me the practice. What is the actual practice?

But the reality is that is the actual practice. Boring is best when it comes to the practice. You don't need anything that's fanciful, right? We're not here to try to go to a certain realm, even though these Brahmins here in this Sutta are all wanting to know what leads you to hell and what leads you to heaven and so on. It's not even about being a good person or being not a bad person, right? Because when we talk about Buddhism and the word Buddhism, this is the tragedy of Buddhism, is it has become just another ism.

Just another view, just another religion, which it was never intended to be. The practice is more than that. The practice is a lifestyle, right? We're not here to worship the Buddha. We're not here to basically earn karma points. Although some people do that. They like to do that. And they have this idea that if I am a good person, then I will have a lot of merit and I can do a lot of things with that merit. And for those people, I say, well, I'm good. But if you really want awakening, you have to understand the context behind what it is that the Buddha is saying with regards to these skillfully liberating habits.

That's what they are. There's no moral policeman in the sky at your death who's going to say, here's what you failed to do, and so now you're going to go to heaven for these many years and you're going to go to hell for these many years. It's not useful. The Buddha was very practical in many ways. He had to use the culture and society that he was living in to make it digestible. And obviously the people at that time, and sadly even now in our time, are very interested in the mythology of how many realms are there, how many beings are there in those realms, what happens when you do this. Have you seen any nagas? Are there devas standing on your shoulders? All these stupid things. So really the reality is the Buddha was talking about this practice in order to make it more understandable for his time.

So the 10 wholesome activities or the 10 unwholesome activities, these are essentially helping us understand: are we leading towards Nibbana, towards freedom, towards liberation, towards a mind that is free of dichotomies, free of regrets, free of things that cause us suffering? Or are the actions leading us towards a mind that is full of craving, full of suffering?

It would be good if Master Gautama would teach us the Dhamma so that we might understand the detailed meaning of this utterance. Then householders listen and attend closely to what I shall say. Yes, Venerable Sir, they replied. The Blessed One said this: householders, there are three kinds of bodily conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct.

He misconducts himself in sensual pleasures. Even with those who are garlanded in token of betrothal. That is how there are three kinds of bodily conduct, not in accordance with the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct. So let's take this bit by bit. He says first, here someone kills living beings. So obviously somebody has an intention to kill or to harm.

He is murderous, bloody handed, given to blows and violence, merciless to living beings. Why is this a bad thing? Why is this unrighteous conduct? There are other traditions that say it's okay to kill for one's religion. It's okay to kill for one's country. It's okay to kill for one's society. It's okay to kill for many different reasons.

But the Buddha here is saying that one who kills living beings, one who is murderous, bloody-handed, given to blows and violence, silence, merciless to living beings. This is the kind of person who has hatred in their heart. This is the kind of person who has fear in their heart. I don't know about you guys, but there have been a few times in my life where I have been threatened for my life, starting at a very young age. I know how that feels.

There's a lot of fear that is covering up the heart. Because of it, there's a lot of adrenaline. There's a lot of self-protection that happens, and it becomes very, very difficult for the person to live peacefully. So when we try to do that to another person, we're causing that kind of hurt, we're causing that kind of fear, that fear that leads to a very depressing place.

Let's say there is something out there beyond this world. And then for the person who does it, why do they do it? They want power. They want whatever it is they want. It could be as simple as they are not right in the head. But still, that doesn't justify why they should be killing. To kill inculcates, it incubates, it creates ill will in the heart.

It creates a lot of darkness in the heart. And it's very difficult for such a person with ill will to have a meditative mind. To have a mind that is steady. A mind that can be focused. A mind that can be collected. A mind that can be stilled and immersed. He takes what is not given. He takes by way of theft, the wealth and property of others in the village or forest. So taking what is not given, taking what is not freely given, this could mean anything. In this context, the Buddha is talking about by way of theft, wealth and property of others in the village or forest.

What is this really pointing at? When you take what is not freely given, the mind gets very restless. And it can be restless for many different things. Taking time away from people, taking more attention than is given from people, taking energy away from people, trying to find or give or, I should say, take credit where credit is not really due, maybe in a project. So it comes from a mindset that is insecure. It comes from a mindset that feels that there's lack, a sense of scarcity. And it's not about scarcity and money or resources, although that could be the case. It comes from a very insecure sense of self, where one feels like in order to be heard, in order to be seen, in order to be recognized, they need to do these kinds of things.

And so they do this. And it could be as bad as being a kleptomaniac, or it could be just that, how come they got this and I didn't? And you take the limelight away from them, whatever it might be. And this translates to a mind that has restlessness, and this restlessness is worry and anxiety about the future, because there is discontent. There is a lack of contentment, and when there's a lack of contentment the mind cannot be steady. And when the mind is unable to be steady, I mean, generally the mind is unsteady, but it's much more unsteady when you have these kinds of hindrances.

So it's difficult to meditate. Not impossible, but you're just making the job harder for yourself when you have these kinds of intentions and you act upon these kinds of intentions. Who have a husband who are protected. So this is all obviously cultural, societal stuff. It could be any person like this. It could be a man or a woman, a man seeking a woman, seeking a man, whatever it is. But the essence of this is really the misconduct in sensual pleasures. It's not just misconduct in sexual activity.

It's the misconduct in sensual pleasures. First, let's talk about that, before we get into sexual activity. There is something that you see. I'm going to use my example, the age-old example of chocolate cake. I love chocolate cake, right? Everybody knows this at this point. And I will do anything for chocolate cake. I see chocolate cake on the kitchen table, and I have dinner, chocolate cake, and I'm about to go and get the chocolate cake, but we have guests, and the guest is standing between me and the chocolate cake. Now, depending upon my level of craving for the chocolate cake, I can do anything, from lying to that person, saying that if I don't eat chocolate cake right now I might collapse, to could kill that person for chocolate. It depends on the level of intensity in my sensual craving. Very simplistic example, but there are people in this world who have such obsession around different kinds of sensual pleasures: money, sex, power, validation, recognition, different things, for different reasons.

They want that particular car, or they want those particular kinds of clothes, or they want whatever it is. The obsession around that, what is that? That is craving. Craving is an intensified obsession around an object. And in this case it's sensual craving, but it could be any kind of craving. The desire to be someone, the desire to be the greatest meditator in the world, the desire to be awakened. Right? There's chanda. Chanda here is the wholesome intention towards Nibbana.

But the craving is the obsession that if I don't get Nibbana, I feel agitated. I feel heat in my mind. I feel heat in my body, in my energy. I feel this resistance, and I must, I should be there by now, for being. And the opposite of that is craving for non-being, the aversion: I don't like being in this place, I don't like being, I don't like sitting here, I don't like the fact that my mind is agitated and I can't get to this particular state of mind, or whatever it is. So these kinds of craving, when we act upon them, is misconduct because it continues to strengthen

that particular hindrance through that intention. Sexual misconduct. Sexual misconduct here for the lay people is different from sexual misconduct for monks. This is why the Buddha is explaining it in this way, obviously within the cultural context of a very male-dominated society. But nevertheless, what we're talking about here is: don't cheat on your partner or partners.

Don't make others cheat on their partners. The age of consent. Somebody who is of sound mind, who can consent to the activity. And it doesn't cause any kind of mistrust between partners. It doesn't cause any kind of harm in that way. Because when you do that, that is a level of deceit. It's a level of manipulation. And that is a form of lying.

And this creates all kinds of doubts in the mind about oneself, about others. It creates agitation. It does all kinds of things. And again, when it comes to the practice, when it comes to practicalities, why would you want all of that present in your mind? Because it's only during times of meditation, generally, I say only, but generally times of meditation, when we sit down and we want to be quiet, that the mind doesn't become quiet.

It's because we are totally with ourselves in the silence of the room, wherever it is, that our deepest fears, our deepest regrets, our deepest anxieties can come and manifest from the depths of the mind, strengthened and unchained into the mind through continual habitual processing of these kinds of actions. And the only thing we can do there is deal with the karma of that, which is the arising of those thoughts, whether it's in the form of guilt, in the form of shame, in the form of regret, in the form of anger, in the form of lust, in the form of whatever it comes in the form of. How do we deal with it? That is the practice. So it's not just a meditation that you will deal with when you're sitting on the train on your daily commute back home or to the office. Whatever thoughts are ruminating in the mind when you're sitting bored out of your mind listening to somebody talk at the meeting, thoughts are ruminating in your mind.

When you are driving, when you are walking, when you are cooking food, when you are doing anything. When you're in the shower, some of the greatest ideas apparently come in the shower. But sometimes even things like, oh, I wish I had said this to her instead of, you know, that. That would have shown her, you know. These kinds of thoughts come up as well. How do you deal with them? The idea is that these aren't these thoughts. themselves aren't the issue.

These thoughts are passive. They're coming as a result of your past intentions. How you choose to deal with them in the present moment will then determine whether these thoughts will continue to manifest through the strengthening by your attention, or whether they will weaken because you see it not as a big deal. You see it as karma, old karma coming forward in the form of this thought. And how do you meet old karma?

Just by seeing it as it is. There's only this thinking going on. There's only this thought process going on. The moment I interject with an I, then followed by that I is a whole plethora of emotions, ideas, concepts, shoulds and musts and shouldn'ts and must-nots, and all of those things create craving. All of those things are the links of dependent origination, the craving or aversion, leading to the clinging, any form of clinging, leading to the becoming, the habitual tendencies, leading to the birth of action. Oh, I'm going to suppress this thought. What's that going to do? It's going to create more suffering.

These thoughts are already arising out of suffering. By us engaging with it, personally, from a sense of these are my thoughts, a sense of ownership, a sense of identity around those thoughts, we're just causing more suffering. But if you allow the thoughts to just pass, see, this is why I say the mind in Nibbana is like the sky.

The sky doesn't mistake itself for the clouds. The clouds will come and go. Sometimes the clouds are white. Sometimes the clouds are dark. Sometimes the clouds are wispy. Sometimes the clouds are thunderous and stormy. But the sky remains the sky. So if you have that, that is the level of mindfulness and discernment that we all want to start to develop, so that we see the clouds and let them pass on by.

And whenever the sky mistakes itself for the clouds, what do we do? We repair that using a technique like the six Rs, just relaxing back into the present moment, the recognition of the here and now. And that completely starts to distance the mind from the clouds. And once you have that discernment, then you say, oh, why am I mistaking this for mind? It's just thought. It's just process.

He speaks harshly. He utters such words as are rough, hard, hurtful to others, offensive to others, bordering on anger. He speaks at the wrong time, speaks what is not fact, speaks what is useless, speaks contrary to the Dhamma and the discipline. At the wrong time, he speaks such words as are worthless, unreasonable, immoderate, and unbeneficial. That is how there are four kinds of verbal conduct, not in accordance with the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct. So all of this encompasses the acronym THINK before you speak. So the word THINK is T-H-I-N-K. So T, is it timely? H, is it honest? Do you know it to be true?

I is, what is the intention behind it? M is, is it necessary or is it unbeneficial? Is it causing gossip? Is it causing distraction? And K is kindness. Can you say it in a way that is not harsh to someone, that can't be mistaken as you know them, feeling hurt by you, even in jest? So when you talk about falsehoods, this is also lies of omission. You have to be completely honest with yourself and with others in your dealings. When you know or you don't know something to be true, best is to stay silent. Or somebody really wants to know, you can say, well, I don't know if this is true or not, but from what I understand or what I have been told, this is what is the case. Try to be very... to speak. In fact, the best situations are where you don't have to speak at all, and that is wonderful, because then it translates your mind that doesn't have to think about things unnecessarily. Yes, when you are in conversation.

Yes, when you are with friends or with family. I'll tell you, I mean, I can say this as an Indian. Indian people love to gossip. They love to gossip. We talk about spilling the tea, you know? They love to have their cup of chai and talk about the neighbor, or talk about, did you see what he was wearing at the party the other day, did you, these kinds of things. What's the use of that? We've got better things to do with our tongue, with our time, with our energy. So you've obviously heard this: it ends with the wise man, or with the wise mind. So the idea is not to spread that gossip.

Why? For what? To make yourself feel better. That's what it is. You know, I'm not like that, but that person is. So I'm here on my moral force and saying, look at that person. Why? Because there's some kind of insecurity. That's what. So, speaking when necessary is important, and obviously speaking with kindness. This is something that is very important amongst friends as well. When you're very good friends, you can joke around, you can say things and do these kinds of things. When I'm with my friends, we say all kinds of things to each other, but we know what the limit is. And sometimes when we cross that limit, because we're not mindful, we realize that.

See it in the other person's energy. You can see it in the other person's face. You can see it in the way that they behave, that something was said that made them feel uncomfortable. So err on the side of caution. So many times I will find myself where I don't need to say many things, and it's best to just stay quiet.

And when somebody says something to you that's sort of picking at you or trying to get you to say something, what do you do? Do you react and try to defend, or do you try to use a standpoint, or do you just say, you know what, it's just not worth my mental energy? Okay, fine, this is what you think about it. Great. I've not done that a lot in my past, and it just caused a lot of disturbance for me, but now I've seen for myself that if I just don't... okay, that's what you think, that's great, whatever. You know, I don't need to give my opinion all the time. I don't need to say whether that's right or wrong all the time.

I don't need to say something. I don't need to fill in the gaps. And there's a lot of peace in that. So when you have these kinds of speech, speech that isn't malicious, speech that isn't false, speech that isn't causing harm, speech that is not unnecessary, speech that is: this is what needs to be said in order to communicate what needs to be said.

Then you find that the majority of the time, like I said, you don't need to talk a lot. People just like to talk because they feel like they need to fill the silence for something. Yes, there is amiable speech. We see that in the suttas where they talk about, oh, what's going on? How are you doing? How's the weather? Whatever it is, that's okay, family and things like that. That's no issue. I mean, there's loving kindness in that. There's a sense of sharing your happiness with others when you're joking around and laughing, talking about this or that. But it's all done in good fun, with a light heart. There's no malicious intent behind that.

And how, householders? Are there three kinds of mental conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma? Unrighteous conduct. Here someone is covetous. He covets the wealth and property of others, thus: Oh, may what belongs to another be mine. Or he has a mind of ill will and intentions of hate, thus: May these beings be slain and slaughtered. May they be cut off, perish, or be annihilated.

And that is how there are three kinds of mental conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma. Unrighteous conduct. So what are these three mental misconducts? Covetousness. Covetousness gives rise to taking what is not given. Covetousness gives rise to a feeling of insecurity, a feeling of restlessness. To do to this is to have empathetic joy. Mudita is to notice when the mind is like, I wish I had what they had. It's very difficult in this world to be that way. It's so easy to be a jerk in this world. It's so easy to be unhappy in this world. It's so easy to be evil in this world. And I don't say this from a moral sort of high horse.

I'm just saying that it's easier to do that because everybody's doing it and nobody cares, right? Everybody's doing it. It's much more difficult to be loving and kind, much more difficult to be compassionate, much more difficult to be content, because everywhere we go in the world, and it doesn't matter whether you're a monastic or you're a lay person, the world has been built in such a way, through the myriad of evolutions of civilization, to function on one thing alone: dopamine. How much dopamine can I get for my brain, right?

Cheap dopamine in the form of comparing yourself with others on social media, in the form of, when I get these particular clothes, this particular car, when I have this much money in the bank, I can show the world how much of a good person I am, because that is what goodness has become in this world. I can only be respected for my wealth, for my power and my influence. And sometimes, once in a while, you see this in the media. You see this in the news. It's always about, this is what happens. So if you read the fashion, or you go on Instagram, or you do whatever it is, it's all wonderfully created to make us feel bad about ourselves.

And the more we feel bad about ourselves, the less we are inclined to do any good in the world. And it's only once in a while you'll see, especially in American media. I haven't really watched a lot of news while I was in Europe, but American news, there's always that segment, especially in the mornings, where it's like 10 minutes of goodness: a puppy got saved, or this kid did something, or whatever it is. It's just this little shot of feel good, whatever it is. And then the rest is: there was an accident on the freeway, and then there was this that happened, and then this person murdered this person. And oh, by the way, look at this advertisement about how slim and trim you need to be, and look at this advertisement about this car that you have to... all of these things are meant to make us feel insecure.

And so when we feel insecure, what do we do? We want what others have. We want to have that. And that insecurity is discontent. This world is not geared and engineered for us to feel contentment. We need to manufacture that contentment until it becomes our natural state of mind. In January, it's already been almost a year now. One of my first talks this year was about the word of the year, which is contentment. Contentment.

What does that mean? Can I just sit here and do nothing and still be happy with not doing anything? Can I sit for five minutes without moving and just be happy in my own company? Happy in this moment, not because something is going on internally or externally. That feeling of contentment is, let's say, the permanent antidote for covetousness. First you develop the empathetic joy, which is like: I feel jealous that this person has this because I'm insecure, but I now transform that into, oh, that's wonderful for them, they deserve that, that's their karma, that's wonderful, great. And I come back to myself and say, if I don't have it, that's fine. One day maybe I will, but that shouldn't be my motivation.

My motivation is, can I feel happy for the other person? Can I feel content for myself? Ill will. The mind of ill will and intention of hate about another person. Why does that happen? Because this person, to me, represents something that I'm unhappy about in my own self. And this person or this obstacle represents that. It represents an obstacle for the achievement of something. That's really what it is.

This person is getting in my way for whatever it is that I want. Right? Many times on retreat, whether it's at Dhammasuka or anywhere else, I'll always hear one person saying, there's this one guy who just coughs, or this one guy who just closes the door a little too loudly, or there's a lawnmower going on all the time.

I just wish that would stop. That's the obstacle that you start to hate, that you start to create ideas about. So the obstacle in itself is the way to freedom. Seeing what does that obstacle represent? The obstacle is the goal itself. It's like, I want this, which is, I want to be in jhana 1 or jhana 4 or infinite space or whatever it is.

I want a quiet mind. I want to be liberated. For what? What do you want to be liberated for? Have you actually thought about what it is that you want when you say that you want to be liberated, that you want awakening? For most people, it's an idea that represents heaven on earth. It's an idea that represents that I will no longer experience any kind of suffering and pain.

I will no longer experience whatever it is that we're trying to run away from. And when that's the motivation, and we try our hardest to get there, who keeps closing the door, sliding it back and forth? Now that person becomes the object of my ill will. Of course I don't want to kill him. Maybe one day I will. If I'm staying for 10 days, I'll be like, I hope this guy just gets sick or something and stops coming into the Dharma hall, right, whatever it might be. Why is this ill will arising? It's arising because it represents an obstacle for something that I want. And what is it that I want? Can I let go of that?

In letting go of that, coming back and resting in the moment, I see that that particular obstacle, whether it's a sound, whether it's a person, whether it's a disturbance, is just happening in this moment. But the moment itself is empty of those things. In the very absolute sense, obviously, this is something that you cultivate as an idea of understanding, but that is the practice: to start to see every intention of ill will as a desire for something that is being blocked, and then letting go of that desire, and realizing the obstacle is connected to that desire I need to do.

There's no meaning in what is given and what is offered and what is sacrificed. So it's like, why do anything at all? If there's no meaning to anything, then why do anything at all? There is no mother and father. There's no this world and the other world. It's a very nihilistic way of looking at things. And so skillful perspective, this is what I would call it. Skillful perspective is about coming to that point where you understand that when you are living and breathing in this body, with this mind, with the nervous system and its senses and everything else, you are beholden to the rules of the game.

The coding of the matrix, the physics of whatever it is, in terms of karma: when I do this, this is what happens. My intention leads here. Just have to see this, and that view collapses. You realize after a while that there is indeed something in terms of the relative world that has action and consequence. We can spout all kinds of philosophy and say there is no self, and in the ultimate sense of the word, where there's nothing to do, nowhere to go, nowhere to become. I say this all the time to you guys at the beginning of retreats. And that is true in the absolute sense.

But so long as you're living in the body and the mind and you have to deal with people, there's relational dynamics, and that is karma. You still have to deal with the grunt work of this world. But if you have that perspective while you're doing whatever it is that you're doing in your office, if you have that perspective while you're talking and arguing, that's spiritual bypassing.

You still have to do the work of dealing with karma. So long as there's interactions going on outside the world and within your own mind, you still have to deal with that. Have to deal with karma. It's much easier to manage and navigate when I start to see for myself there is action and consequence, there is meaning in giving, there's value in that because I feel good about it, or there's value in that because people around me feel good about it, and in tandem to that, I feel good about it. When it comes to beings who are reborn spontaneously... But if you have an understanding that in every moment I am reborn because of my actions, then I'm...

So what I'm trying to say here is all of this boils down to action and consequence. That is what right view is. There is no mother and father. There is mother and father. I came into this world because of a mother and father. Whether that mother and father were present for my childhood, whether they were present for my graduation, were present for my adulthood, that's a whole other story. The Buddha's not talking about this here.

He's just saying that there's action and consequence. Even when you talk about IVF, that's mother and father. There was a sperm cell and there was an egg, and it met and came out as us. Action and consequence. Causation and conditionality. That is what right view is. That is a skillful perspective. So, householders, it is by reason of such conduct, not in accordance with the Dhamma, by reason of unrighteous conduct, that some beings here, on the dissolution of the body after death, reappear in states of deprivation, in an unhappy destination, in perdition, even in hell. So now you know this is the flip side. Righteous conduct. There are four kinds of verbal conduct in accordance with the Dhamma.

Righteous conduct. There are three kinds of mental conduct in accordance with the Dhamma. Righteous conduct. And how, householders, are there three kinds of bodily conduct in accordance with the Dhamma? Righteous conduct. Here someone, abandoning the killing of living beings, abstains from killing living beings, with rod and weapon laid aside. Gentle and kindly, he abides compassionate to all living beings.

Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does not take by way of theft the wealth and property of others in the village or in the forest. Abandoning misconduct and sensual pleasures, he abstains from misconduct and sensual pleasures. He does not have intercourse with someone who is protected by their mother, father, mother and father, relatives, who has a husband, or whatever, who is protected by law, or with those who are garlanded in token of betrothal. That is how there are three kinds of bodily conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct.

Thus he is one who reunites those who are divided, a promoter of friendships, who enjoys concord, rejoices in concord, delights in concord, a speaker of words that promote concord. He abstains from harsh speech. He speaks such words as are gentle, pleasing to the ear, and lovable, as go to the heart, are courteous, desired by many, and agreeable to many. Abandoning gossip, he abstains from gossip. He speaks at the right time, speaks what is fact, speaks on what is good, speaks on the Dhamma and the discipline. At the right time, he speaks such words as are worth recording, reasonable, moderate, and beneficial. That is how there are four kinds of verbal conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct.

And how, householders, are there three kinds of mental conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct? May these beings be free from enmity, affliction, and anxiety. May they live happily. He has right view, undistorted vision. Thus: there is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There is fruit and result of good and bad actions. There is this world and the other world. There is mother and father. There are beings who are reborn spontaneously. So, householders, it is by reason of such conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, by reason of righteous conduct, that some beings here, on the dissolution of the body after death, reappear in a happy destination, even in the heavenly world.

Why is that? Because he observes conduct that is in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct. Brahmins and the well-to-do householders, yada, yada, yada, heaven of the four great kings, yada, yada, yada. And then finally, he says, also, householders, one who observes conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct, wishes, oh, that by realizing for myself with direct knowledge, I might here and now enter upon and abide in the deliverance of mind and deliverance. Why is that? This is the most important thing, I would say, right? This is what we're getting at: liberating insight. And that liberates us in the moment from whatever it is that's bothering us, to a larger schema where not a lot of things bother us anymore, to a thing where we're like, okay, things are still bothersome, but now we can navigate in a way that is not sticky.

What do I mean by sticky? That doesn't cause further suffering to myself. Fluid. We have a mind that is pliant, we have a mind that is malleable, so that whatever situation we find ourselves in, our default, for the most part, is to be in a state of peace. There are times when we need to speak up, and we will know when to speak up. There are times when we need to just shut up, and we know when to shut up. There are times when we know we need to act, and we will act. But none of that is sticky. None of that comes from a sense of, I need to do something about this because it's bothering me.

It's more about what is needed for the situation. And even if it is bothering me, so what? It's bothering me, but there's less of the situation of karma in the form of a reaction and more of a response, which is rooted in: is this necessary, or not necessary? Can I just let this go in this moment, or do I really need to act in this moment? All of that process happens intuitively, and this is how I see the full awakening: it is the ability to be in our intuition in such a way that doesn't cause us harm or cause others harm, for the most part, because there will be unintended consequences. But our intentions are clear, rooted in the Eightfold Path. As the Buddha says, they lead to the cessation of suffering, but they also lead to the cessation of karma.

So we no longer find ourselves in the same kinds of behavioral patterns. We don't find ourselves in the same form of friendships, in the same form of circumstances that cause this form of rebirth. We get liberated from those events, liberated from those circumstances, liberated from those situations and those people. That is free, that is happy, that is content, that is going with the flow in the best sense of that phrase.

We haven't let go. It doesn't mean that we become robots. We haven't let go of autonomy. What we've let go of is the desire to do something or not to do something. We're just completely present in the here and now. way that we feel, for the most part, at peace. When this was said, the Brahmin householders of Salah said to the Blessed One, magnificent Master Gautama, magnificent Master Gautama. Master Gautama has made the Dhamma clear in many ways, as though he were turning upright what had been overthrown, revealing what was hidden, showing the way to one who was lost, or holding up a lamp in the darkness for those With eyesight to see forms, we go to Master Gautama for refuge and to the Dhamma and to the Sangha of Bhikkhus. From today, let Master Gautama accept us as lay followers who have gone to him for refuge for life. Well, if there's nothing else, then I'll see you guys next week. Thank you. Take care. Bye. you you Thank you. you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you