Apr 13 2025 Inspiring Sign AN 47.10 & SN 22.37 Delson Armstrong

Here we are, everybody. Can everyone see if it's good? Oh, all right. So I'm going to get started with this, and then we'll get into the five. So this is Samyutta Nikaya 47.10. It's called the Bhikkhunis' Quarter. Then in the morning the Venerable Ananda dressed, and taking bowl and robe, he approached the bhikkhunis' quarters and sat down in the appointed seat. So Ananda was somebody who was actually very close with the nuns. He was somebody who actually advocated for the bhikkhuni order to start. As the story goes, and if I remember correctly, I think Gotami, who is the Buddha's stepmother, approached the Buddha and said, we would like to go forth. Basically, either they've all lived life, their spouses have passed away, or they just feel like they want to now live a life that's secluded. They too would like to become part of the order. And the Buddha

essentially said no. He said it a couple of times, and Ananda advocated for that. He really tried his best to convince the Buddha, and the Buddha said, all right, fine, that's fine. There will be a bhikkhuni order established. So I think it carried favor, let's say, with the bhikkhunis that Ananda was there and advocated, but he was very close with them in that sense. They always were fond of having him teach and interact with them. Then a number of bhikkhunis approached the Venerable Ananda, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him, "Dear Venerable Ananda, a number of bhikkhunis dwelling with their minds well-established in the four establishments of mindfulness perceived successively loftier stages of distinction."

What are they talking about here? Four establishments of mindfulness, that's the four foundations of mindfulness. But once they are established in that, what does that mean, to be established in it? It means to use one of the foundations of mindfulness as an anchor to come back to a collected mind. What does it mean to be having a collected mind? It means that the mind's attention remains unscattered. It doesn't go in different directions. It remains collected around them. And thereby, it says, they perceive successively loftier stages of distinction, which are jhanas. So it is, sister, so it is. It may be expected of anyone, whether bhikkhu or bhikkhuni, who dwells with the mind well established in the four establishments of mindfulness, that such a one will perceive successively loftier stages of distinction. Then the Venerable Ananda instructed, exhorted, inspired and gladdened those bhikkhunis with the Dhamma talk, after which he rose from his seat and left.

of aversion. While he is contemplating the body in the body, there arises in him, based on the body, either fever in the body, or sluggishness of mind, or the mind is distracted outwardly. So while he's contemplating the body in the body, meaning his mind's attention is now starting to become unified, but it gets distracted, there is something else that arises in the form of a hindrance or any other kind of distraction. That bhikkhu then should direct his mind towards some inspiring sign. When he directs his mind towards some inspiring sign, gladness is born and he is gladdened. Rapture is born. When the mind is uplifted by rapture, the body becomes tranquil. When tranquil in body, one experiences happiness. The mind of one who is happy becomes elated. So he reflects thus: the purpose for the sake of which I directed my mind has been achieved. Let me now withdraw it. So he withdraws the mind, and he does not think or examine. He understands without thought and examination, internally mindful: I am happy. So now we're going to break this down. By the way, this is in regards to body healing.

Any kind of mental state or phenomena, right? So body and body feelings, and feelings, mind and mind phenomena, in phenomena. What do we mean by that when we talk about the body? Perhaps he is mindful of his breathing, breathing in long. He's breathing in long, knowing that he's breathing in long. Breathing in short, he knows he's breathing in short. Or he's just aware of sensations in the body. Therefore, he's aware of experience, of feeling. Or he's aware that my mind is distracted. Therefore, his mind is alerted to that distraction. Or he might know his mind is uplifted. Mind is uplifted. Or phenomenon.

He sees there is present in me this particular enlightenment factor. The mind remains ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, without any distraction. But what does one do when there is a distraction? He says that bhikkhu should then direct his mind towards some inspiring sign. What do we mean by that, inspiring sign? This is essentially the 6R's. Why? Because he should direct his mind towards something that uplifts him, something that will gladden his mind. And what is it that gladdens the mind? The Relax and Re-smile stuff. This is why we do the 6R's, because it's fulfilling right effort. We are recognizing an unwholesome state that has arisen. We are releasing our attention. We're relaxing. What does that relaxation bring? It brings joy, brings happiness, a smile, or we come back to the smile to bring mindfulness back. So this inspiring sign is that we bring an uplifted state so that the mind can collect itself back to its original object.

When you think about this process of the 6R's, another way of looking at it is that we are using the 6R's as a way of going from one object, or we should say one distraction, to another object, to another object. We are letting go of the distraction, and thereby there is now a mind that is undistracted. Then our mind's attention jumps towards the relaxation and the smile. That's one object, for a moment, just for a very brief moment. And then we come back to our original object, which is the loving kindness, or the equanimity, or compassion, or joy, whatever it might

be. When his mind is directed towards some inspiring sign, gladness is born. What do we mean by gladness? So gladness, rapture, tranquility, collectedness, these are abbreviated forms of the transcendental links of dependent origination. When the mind comes to an inspiring sign like the smile, the mind becomes uplifted. The mind becomes alert. The mind becomes mindful, becomes aware, and he has pamojja, pamojja, and what the confidence in the Dhamma. This actually works. The pamojja leads to a mind that has joy through the smile, and the body is tranquil because you've already relaxed any tightness and tension through the 6R's. Thereby you experience comfort, experience happiness, experience sukha. And when that mind experiences sukha, it becomes collected. So when we're using the 6R's process, we are actually allowing the mind to go from a distracted state to a state of collectedness, where there are loftier stages of distinction.

In other words, we go from a distracted mind to a jhanic mind, a mind that is more collected, a mind that inclines towards the factors of the jhanas. What are the hallmarks of the jhanas? How do you know you're in a specific jhana? The way I look at it is as many different factors that are present. There are many different jhanas. Of the eight jhanas, there are certain distinctive qualities for each jhana, and so these hallmarks of the jhanas are as follows. In terms of the first jhana, there is an intentionality of bringing the mind to collectedness, and the mind is free of a hindrance, and the mind experiences these three things: a mind that has intentionality towards an object. In other words, I'm bringing up loving kindness, my mind is free of distractions, and I'm experiencing

happiness. This is the hallmark. The second jhana: I'm experiencing that same joy, that same pleasure, that same feeling of happiness, but now I don't have to cause it to happen, or I don't have to bring up the causes and conditions for it by intentionally coming up to the loving kindness. The loving kindness starts to flow smoothly. Now my mind is on autopilot for the most part in remaining with the feeling of loving kindness. The hallmark of the third jhana is I feel more tranquility. My body, some people might feel like they are rooted into the ground or chair, and there's a certain kind of heaviness, or that there is an expansion, the body feels lighter. These are all hallmarks of the third jhana. In the fourth jhana, what happens is the mind becomes more prevalent in mindfulness. There's less mindfulness of the body, because now you're getting up into the head and beyond that, and now the mind experiences

deep equanimity, mindful, very clear mind. It's very difficult for the mind to get distracted. The attention remains very unscattered. So these are the hallmarks. If you know that this is what's going on, chances are you are in that particular jhana. But don't make a big deal out of it. It doesn't matter what jhana you're in, so long as you're experiencing happiness, in a way, peacefulness. As long as you're experiencing a mind that is clear, a mind that is free of distractions, so long as you're able to be aware and mindful of where the mind is moving, then you have these

things, samatha, calmness of mind, or clarity and calmness of mind, and the vipassana, which is the wisdom part of the mind. This is what tranquil wisdom is inside meditation. This is how we are experiencing the jhanas. Jhanas are not something to be looked at as just things to achieve. They are stepping stones towards nibbana. They're merely place markers, road markers of "okay, now we're here, now we're here." Sometimes you might be in the first jhana. You might skip through and go into the fourth jhana. Sometimes you might skip all that and go into the fifth or sixth jhana, depending on how advanced you are. It doesn't matter. It's just that as long as the mind is collected, is able to see what is happening in terms of formations arising and passing.

Speaking of that, we're going to get into the undirected. So, moving forward, when I am going to talk in my retreats and introductions, I will be talking about two kinds of meditation: a directed meditation and an undirected. We're going to get to the second part now. So this is what it is. We direct our minds to a pleasing sign, a sign that is inspiring, like the smile, and thereby our mind, being uplifted, gets collected on the object: loving kindness, joy, equanimity, whatever it is. It is in such a way that Ananda, that there is development by direction. And how, Ananda, is there development without direction, not directing his mind outwardly?

direction. Thus, Ananda, I have taught development by direction. I have taught development without direction. Whatever should be done, Ananda, by a compassionate teacher, out of compassion for his disciples, desiring their welfare, that I have done for you. These are the feet of trees. These are empty huts. Meditate, Ananda. Do not be negligent, lest you regret it later. This is our instruction. This is what the Blessed One said. Elated, the venerable on on the I did. The Buddha is saying here, there's an undirected. Meditate the undirected, or the development of mind without

direction, is essentially this: now that your mind is experiencing collectedness, there's nothing else for you to do. You don't need to direct the mind anywhere. Let the process happen. Let it unfold naturally. So whether you are contemplating body in body, feeling in feeling, as the anchors for your mind, the mind becomes connected and comes to an object and remains on that one object. The only time you have to develop the mind is through the six hours, through a pleasant sign, through inspiring signs, so that your mind becomes connected and is able to come back to it once it's on an original object. You don't need any further development by direction, so that mind remains developed. It remains collected and goes through that process. Now, there's another way of understanding what we mean by development by direction, development by non-direction, or without direction. That when you get to that part in quiet mind where everything

is seamless, there's nothing you need to do, whether it's in the first jhana or in the eighth jhana. When you're in that space where the mind is ardent, clearly comprehending, and mindful, and you don't need to do anything, there's no further development. Just allow the mind to remain as it is. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, no one to be. That's this. And when you are here, when you least expect it, the mind is experiencing a space that is unconstricted. It experiences liberation. It experiences the undirected. The undirected here means that there is no object there. That's another way of looking at it: mind remains objectless, signless. That happens much later, when we're experiencing more advanced states. But I'm just giving some context into how we can develop through non-direction, the undirected meditation. So this is where we have to understand that there's nothing for us to do except come back to our object. It doesn't mean that we have to further develop by staying on it, by concentrating on it, by making an effort further. As soon as our mind relaxes back into its object,

resting, nothing else to do. The mind will take care of itself. The mind will do what it needs to do when it remains colorful. Our job is to get out of the way. Once our mind is collected, there's nothing else to do. This is why I say, once you've gotten to the quiet mind, there's nothing else for you. Everything else that we're doing is leading up to that space of the quiet mind, the luminous mind. Once we're there, then we have to get out of the way. Don't do anything. So I'll pause here, just to see if there's any

question oh the next one hold on so yeah i mean today's theme is ananda so we have another ananda sutta here so this is called ananda sutra it's from the samita nikaya it's 22.7 at savati then the venerable ananda approached the blessed one the blessed one then said to the venerable ananda as he was sitting to one side if ananda they were to ask you friend ananda what are the things of which an arising is discerned a vanishing is discerned an alteration of that which stands is discerned being asked thus how would you answer so the buddha is saying how would you know what is arising how would you know what is passing away and how would you know something has changed what is it that has these qualities of arising passing away and changing wherever whatever stands venerable sir if they were to ask me this i would answer thus with form and arising is discerned a vanishing is discerned

all of this is formed internal or external near or far forms that are here in this vicinity of this room forms that are away in the living room forms that are across the street all forms forms that are across the globe all forms forms that are outside of this globe into space and so on with space rocks and asteroids and that's all form subtle or gross what do we mean by subtle form form that is in the devaloka on that is um maybe not perceptible let's say by human vision and gross form that is perceptible by human being or tangible by human touch and so on feeling so feeling whether it's internal or external feeling in terms of i'm feeling a stomach ache that's internal.

External would be I'm experiencing the breeze of the air conditioning on my face. Far or near. Near could be I'm experiencing this right now here. Or far, I might be experiencing the sound of somebody shouting across the street. In the past, present, or future, whether it's form or feeling, I might be experiencing a memory of something that I experienced, like maybe, you know, a really good meal that I remember that I had with my friends I might be remembering that so my mind is looking going back to the experience the sensation of that's the past right now I'm feeling the air conditioning on my face that's the present feeling I might be thinking about the future whether that is you know when is my next meal or you know I wonder if we're going to Six flags or whatever it is it's an experience i'm looking forward to it that's also a feeling a subtle feeling could be a feeling like within the realm of jana a grosser feeling is with the feelings related to this five physical sense pieces all of those have the nature of arising

and passing our subject to change likewise with perceptions what perceptions that we mean perceptions that we've learned from the past rooted in memory. I see this as the color red. I see it in the present moment as red. I remember it as red when I first learned it and I will continue to think about it as red in the future. Subtle perceptions could be perceptions that are outside of the scope of human senses.

Grosser perceptions could be within the realm of human physical senses other subtler perceptions could be perceptions of the feeling of loving kindness which is subtle compared to the feeling of listening to the ringing of my phone or the voice of another and so on so intentions or formations formations volitional formation these are formations that are rooted in in in other words whatever choices i've made in the past they have led to certain kinds of moments they're subject to change I identify with my choices in the past doesn't mean I have to continue to do that in present or in the future things might change the decisions I've made will continue to change based on the circumstances so choices or intentions are subject to passing away arising and passing away consciousness itself when we talk about consciousness we're talking about consciousness in terms of the six sense-based

consciousnesses consciousness in the past. I'm thinking about my awareness of an experience in the past. I am thinking of an awareness of drinking a really nice cup of tea on a cold, crazy day. That's in the past. I'm aware of the situations. The awareness of that, tied to that experience, is happening in mind, but it's tied to one of the five physical spaces. This is what we mean when we say mind is chief, mind is the forerunner of all states, because whatever we're experiencing, even if it's from the five physical sensual sense bases, they're all fed into the mind for us to feel and perceive through mental formation, but they continue to arise in path. So consciousness is tied to, or arises dependent upon, whatever sense base is being activated through contact with its particular object.

When the attention goes away, so too does that consciousness of that experience, or the consciousness of that contact, or of that sensation, or of that perception. So these five aggregates, if we understand them fully, as impermanent, as first of all dependently arisen, that is, they are conditioned and thereby impermanent, subject to change, and thereby a cause of suffering, because if I hold on to it, even if it's pleasant, it's going to go away sometime, and I will feel the brunt of it. Therefore it is not me, it is not mine, it is not myself. So when we discern in this way, wisdom. Wisdom is the clarity of seeing this, when we are looking into the nature of dependent origination and we're seeing the links of dependent origination. You are seeing, at a fundamental level, the arising and passing away of the aggregates.

there is a sutta which is known as the maha padana sutta i think it's either 14 or in any case in that it talks about the vipassi buddha previous buddha who goes through his own process of awakening and he goes through it by discerning this process of um dependent origination and comes to the realization that all five aggregates are subject to suffer a change therefore suffering therefore not seen as mine or myself and wisdom dawns on it and he has awakening and so it is so imperative for us as practitioners to fully understand this i hope the meditation that you do today will give you more clarity and with this context when you do the meditation you realize that this is a very important and powerful experience for us to let go very deeply intrinsic level so that we can experience for ourselves station of suffering and come to the realization so one last thing i'll say is the five aggregates are essentially the inherent dukkha the sankhara dukkha the book talks about the dukkha which is in the coarser form of dukkha is aging death you know birth

illness and so on is not getting what you want things happen unexpectedly a way that you don't um and then the inherent dukkha is the identification the deeply intrinsic identification with the five aggregate by letting go of those and seeing the aggregates for what they are is like it's like this there's another suta the uh majiminikai 22 if i'm not mistaken it's the uh simile of the snake and there i think this it's that one where the buddha says you know look at the grass outside of the monastery if there were if they were to be trampled upon if they were to be cut if they were to be set ablaze would you really care about it you wouldn't think about you wouldn't think one way or the other that's the nature of our aggregates Our body is the same way.

If we treat, or I should say, if we perceive, our body, feeling, all forms actually, all feeling, all perceptions, all choices, decisions, intentions, formations, all consciousness, as the same as something like a plant or a tree or a grass field, and something happens to it, we don't give it a second thought. Same way; it's the nature of the five aggregates. Once we start living in that way, we start to become free, and we become carefree in the right way. We don't become careless. In fact, we become more attentive, more aware, we become more mindful, but we care less about the things that don't need to be cared about at all. I mean, we have created our samsara in the way that we do. You know, I'm sure that they would laugh at us. It'd be like, these stupid humans, they've just made this world for themselves, full of suffering, with, oh, I have to make a living, and I have to go to this. Oh, the economy is tanking, and the economy is going great, and this and that. We tie our identities to

so many different things. Oh, I hope I get into that relationship. Oh, I hope I get to that college. Oh, I hope I get that loan. Oh, I hope I get that house. Oh, I hope I get this and that. And this, and all of that, all of that is, and we built it for ourselves. It's just man-made

stuff. It's just mind-made stuff, that is samsara. And the less interest we take in it, and the less seriously we take it, the more free we become. Does that mean that we have to renounce everything? Well, if that's your approach, in your path, by all means go ahead. You can become a bhikkhu. But even in the lay life you don't have to be so caught up in different things that are happening. Okay, you lost a few bucks. Okay, you lost your house. Okay, this happened. I mean, what is the big deal? I know it sounds like a big deal, but if you think about it in terms of what is the worst that could happen, the worst that could happen, and you say, okay, that is the worst that could happen, that's why the Buddha gives you those five reflections. I am subject to illness. I am subject to death. My relatives are subject to death. I am an inheritor of my karma. These five reflections, if we have them in the morning, whatever happens in our world, we just

chalk it up to, okay, that's just karma, and I had to experience it today, but tomorrow things might be different. We don't hope for things to be different. We just say, okay, things are going to change one way or the other. The worst that could happen is you end up dead. You die. That's not so bad. What I mean by that is I'm not telling everybody to kill themselves. All I'm saying is, if we die, we have to let go of the fear. The worst thing is that we die somehow.

And if we have our peace of mind, and if we can let go in that moment, nothing else for us to do, we can in that instant be liberated and experienced, don't have to come back to this hellhole of a merry-go-round that's called samsara. So stop taking things seriously. Have fun, joy, and live life, live long and prosper. All right, that's enough. Any questions? Yes, Spock, live long and prosper. Oh yeah, right. Okay, may the force be with you. Hey, yeah, that's right, it's wrong franchise, but I'll take it. Yeah, well, I know, well, we gotta have them both, you know, we're not partisan.

There are no attachment to views here. No, no, no. Okay, so I see. Yeah, go ahead, Louisa. Hi, thank you, Delson. I'm wondering where you put emotions. Because do they fit into feeling or perception? And Shinzen Young puts them, when he and his system, feel in, is an emotion. And feel out would be like your stomach hurts. But you seem to mention emotions like anticipating some good thing happening into perception.

I just want to clarify that. Yeah, so, if you think about feeling in terms of emotions, love, they are twofold. They are both feeling and perception. They're stemming from mental states, which stem from mental formation. So the initial experience of being happy, or the initial experience of being sad, or the initial experience of being angry, arises due to a contact with an external object or an object in our mind, and then our mind looks at that and has a reaction to it. That reaction is the experience, or the sensation, of the emotion. And our perception of labeling it as, I am angry, is the perception. How we choose to take that emotion, whether we choose to react from that emotion or choose to react to that emotion, will determine whether craving or illness. So initially emotion is essentially just an experience. It's a feeling. When we label the experience, then it's a perception. Oh okay, that's subtle. Thank you.

All right, all right. The suffering ones, be suffering free, and the fear-struck, fearless being. 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 us. May they long protect the Buddha.