Day 6 May Retreat Talk AN6.63 & SN 36.21 Penetrative Discourse with Delson Armstrong

So, today, we are going to read from the Anguttara Nikaya, 6.63. This is the Nibbedhika Sutta, or the Penetrative Discourse. Bhikkhus, I will teach you a penetrative exposition of the Dhamma. Listen and attend closely, I will speak. Bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this: "Of sensual pleasures should be understood. The way leading to the cessation of sensual pleasures should be understood.

Feelings should be understood. The source and origin of feelings should be understood. The diversity of feelings should be understood. The result of feelings should be understood. The cessation of feelings should be understood. The way leading to the cessation of feelings should be understood. The source and origin of the taints should be understood. The diversity of the taints should be understood. The result of the taints should be understood.

The way leading to the cessation of sensual pleasures should be understood. For what reason was this said? There are, bhikkhus, these five objects of sensual pleasures: forms cognizable by the eye that are wished for, desired, agreeable, pleasing, connected with sensual pleasure, tantalizing; sounds cognizable by the ear; odors cognizable by the nose; tastes cognizable by the tongue; tactile objects cognizable by the body that are wished for, desired, agreeable, pleasing, connected with sensual pleasure, tantalizing.

However, these are not sensual pleasures. In the Noble Ones' discipline, these are called objects of sensual pleasure. A person's sensual pleasure is lustful intention. So there's a verse that says: "Here they are not sensual pleasures, the pretty things in the world. A person's sensual pleasure is lustful intention. The pretty things remain just as they are in the world.

But the wise remove the desire for them." So the BMW is not the problem. The craving for the BMW is the issue here. The lustful intention. The chocolate cake is not a problem. Chocolate cake is never a problem, by the way. But it's the craving for it, right? The pain is not the issue. The sitting, when there is pain in the sitting, that's not the problem.

It's the aversion to that pain that should be understood. So sensual pleasures is one thing, but the craving for sensual pleasures is another. And what, bhikkhus, is the source and origin of sensual pleasures? Contact is their source and origin. Makes sense. Without contact, you can't have a pleasant feeling. And what is the diversity of sensual pleasures?

Sensual desire for forms is one thing. Sensual desire for sounds is another. Taste, still another, and sensual desire for tactile objects, still another. This is called the diversity of sensual pleasures. And what is the result of sensual pleasures? One produces an individual existence that corresponds with whatever sense pleasure one desires, and which may be the consequence either of merit or demerit. This is called the result of sensual pleasures.

In other words, when there is a sensual pleasure, a pleasant feeling, if there is lustful intention, if there is craving for it, if there is aversion for it, there is an individual existence dependent upon it, meaning there is becoming an individualized self. There is a habitual tendency that arises dependent upon the craving and clinging for that sensual pleasure or the aversion.

That's why if a mindset is always wholesome, inclines always to the wholesome, then the choices that that mind makes will tend and incline towards the wholesome. If a mind has been unwholesome, then the choices that they make will incline towards the unwholesome. That is to say, the automatic conditioning will arise on previous choices that they've made in the past. So at rebirth, when there arises a pleasant memory or an unpleasant memory, if there is craving or aversion for that, and if it is strong there, that can give rise to certain formations, that can give rise to a new consciousness that takes rebirth in a new nama-rupa that is dependent upon those formations, dependent upon that pleasant, unpleasant experience.

On the micro level, on the day-to-day level, when there's a sensual experience, when there's a pleasant experience, the mind will see that and want that. And then the mind can obsess over it. And there is an individual existence wrapped around the wanting of that, wrapped around the grasping for that. And then from there, there is birth of action. There is birth of reaction.

Now, there was a question that arose in the interviews, which was, what about one who is a noble one, one who attains? What happens when they take rebirth? That is to say, a sotapanna or a sakadagami, because they'll still take rebirth in one of the sensual realms, whether it's the human plane or one of the six sensual heavens. already.

That is to say that they have completely cut off any possibility or potential for existence in a lower realm, any existence in an animal realm, in a hungry ghost realm, or in a hellish realm. So because of the purity of right view that's there in their mind, what will arise will be wholesome inclinations, almost automatically. So when they pass on, whatever will arise will be some wholesome thought, some wholesome memory.

And then that will give rise to the craving for that, or the identification with that. And then that will give rise to a new consciousness, which will then descend into a new nama-rupa, into a new mentality, materiality, corresponding with those formations, pleasant, wholesome experience that they're having. So for the sotapanna and the sakadagami, they are not going to go into any of the lower realms. Anything that arises will incline automatically to the wholesome.

And what is the cessation of sensual pleasures? So a sensual pleasure, that is a pleasant experience, arises as a feeling dependent upon contact. When contact ceases, so does that sensual pleasure. The Noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of sensual pleasures, namely right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right collectedness. So to cease contact, that is to experience the cessation that we understand as the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, you need to follow the Eightfold Path. You need to have right view in place. That right view will give rise to right intention. That right intention will inform and facilitate right speech and right action and right livelihood.

Right effort is the core of the Eightfold Path. Mindfulness is being able to attend or pay attention or observe how mind's attention moves from one object to the other. Collectedness is being with samatha and vipassana yoked together. That is where it gives rise. That is serenity and insight giving rise, or allowing the conditions to be there for the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness to happen, which means that is the cessation of contact as well. With the cessation of contact, there is the cessation of feeling and perception and consciousness.

In order to go from wrong view to right view, wrong intention to right intention, wrong speech to right speech, wrong action to right action, wrong livelihood to right livelihood, wrong mindfulness to right mindfulness, collectedness to right collectedness, you need right effort. You need to have the right view of knowing what is wrong view and right view, first of all. You need to have the right view of knowing what is a wholesome state and what is an unwholesome state. What are states that lead to unwholesome consequences and what are states that lead to wholesome consequences.

That right view helps you understand what right intention is. So you need the six R's. So first you need the information. You need the knowledge of what is right view. What determines what is right view and wrong view? Once you have that, then you can use right effort, the six R's, to recognize when there is a wrong view. Let that go and come back to the right view. You have the wrong intention. What is wrong intention? Holding on to something. Having ill will. Having an intention to cause harm.

What is right intention? Renunciation, letting go, abandoning, loving kindness, and compassion. So when you recognize that the mind is holding on to something, or the mind is having ill will, or the mind has an intention to harm, then you can let go of that using the six R's and come to the right intention. Letting go of that, you can then have right speech. When you recognize there's a wrong intention in your mind to say something that is unwholesome, you can let go of that using right effort or the six R's and come to right speech. When you notice that the mind wants to break a precept, you can recognize that and let go of that and come back to right action.

When you notice that the mind is making choices to go towards wrong livelihood, you can recognize that, use right effort and let go of that. distracted and is not paying attention, not observing how mind's attention is moving, you recognize that. That's what happens in the meditation. You recognize that, you let go of it, bring your attention back to the collectedness, back to the object of meditation.

Right collectedness, wrong collectedness. You notice that you're becoming one-pointed. You notice that you're using your mind in a way that causes tightness and tension. You can recognize that, you can let go of that, use the six R's, and come back to a softer mind in right collectedness. When he says a noble disciple, he's talking about one who is at least a stream enterer. A noble one is one who has become a stream enterer or above.

Thus understands sensual pleasures, the source and origin of sensual pleasures, the diversity of sensual pleasures, the result of sensual pleasures, the cessation of sensual pleasures, and the way leading to the cessation of sensual pleasures, he understands this penetrative spiritual life to be the cessation of sensual pleasures. So it's the cessation of what? Not the sensual pleasures in terms of the pleasant feeling or the unpleasant feeling. It's the cessation of craving or aversion or identification with those experiences.

And what is the source and origin of feelings? What gives rise to feeling? Contact. Contact is their source and origin. And what is the diversity of feeling? There is worldly pleasant feeling, there is spiritual pleasant feeling, painful feeling. There is spiritual painful feeling. There is worldly neither painful nor pleasant feeling. There is spiritual neither painful nor pleasant feeling. This is called the diversity of feelings. We've talked about the 108 different categories of feelings, all stemming from pleasant, painful, or neither pleasant nor painful.

So what is a mind that is rooted in craving, rooted in attachment to sensual experiences? What is a spiritual pleasant feeling? Jhana. Factors of the jhana or jhana. There is worldly painful feeling. So worldly painful feeling would be a feeling that you experience when you have aversion towards something. But what is a spiritual painful feeling? Meditation pain is one.

Hindrances are another one. So when you have meditation pain, there's a difference between meditation pain and physical pain. Physical pain will still be there after you move it. But then when you're meditating, your shoulder hurts, your chest hurts, your bottom hurts, your knee hurts, something or another hurts while you're sitting. And your mind pays attention to that and says, if I just moved an inch, not even an inch, if I just moved a centimeter, all would be well.

And as soon as you move, what happens? That pain disappears. Because that pain is meditation pain. That pain arises because you're trying too hard. You're becoming too focused, too much. And that can give rise also in conjunction with that restlessness. So how do you deal with that meditation pain? You tranquilize it. You relax it. You soften it. You pull back a little bit. Don't become so concentrated. Pull back a little bit. Six are what? The aversion to that pain. Not the pain itself.

Six are your reaction to that pain. Let that go. Soften things and come back. Notice, if you really pay attention, if you just pull back your attention a little bit, if you relax it a little bit, so does the pain go away. There is worldly neither painful nor pleasant feeling. What would this be? Neither painful nor pleasant feeling.

Indifference. I'll explain. There is spiritual, painful nor pleasant feeling. This is equanimity. So there is equanimity and there is indifference. Equanimity is what? Yes, good answer. Yeah, equanimity good, indifference bad. But why? What is equanimity exactly? Equanimity is seeing things as they are without the mind becoming one direction, seeing things as they are. Indifference is apathy. Indifference is I couldn't care. Indifference is I'm ignoring it. So there's actually a little bit of quality of aversion there, if you think about it. Indifference is I don't care about this thing.

But that's different from disenchantment as well. Disenchantment sees it, doesn't get affected by it, and doesn't engage in it. Indifference sees it and has this reaction to it, says, I'm choosing to ignore you. I have apathy for this. I don't care about this. This is called the diversity of feelings. And what is the result of feelings? One produces an individual existence that corresponds with whatever feelings one experiences, and which may be the consequence either of merit or demerit.

So let's split that up a little bit. Which may be the consequence either of merit or demerit, which means feeling is old karma, right? We talk about old karma: it is that which you inherit as a cascading of different choices that lead to the present moment which you're experiencing. Everything from formations down to consciousness, down to mentality, materiality, down to the sixth sense basis, down to contact, down to feeling and perception.

This is all old karma, to be experienced dependent upon past good choices or past bad choices, past wholesome inclinations or past unwholesome inclinations. This gives rise to a pleasant feeling or an unpleasant feeling or a neutral feeling, whatever that kind of feeling is. It is a result of previous choices. It arises dependent upon contact, that feeling can arise, that you can have an experience.

Once you have an experience, how do you choose to deal with it? If you choose to have craving for it, if you choose to have aversion against it, if you choose to identify with that experience, that will give rise to further clinging, and that will give rise to individualized existence, which is the becoming, the forming of an individual self, the personal belief in that self, or that making it into something that is me, mine, or myself. That's facilitated through the process of craving, and then further strengthened by clinging, and then solidified in bhava, in becoming, in habitual tendencies. That then gives rise to birth of action, or birth of reaction.

Likewise, when there is an experience at the dissolution of the body, that can be clung to, that can be craved for, have aversion to words, a new existence. As we talked about before, the consciousness arises dependent upon the formations that arise, and that consciousness then goes into a new nama-rupa and a new existence that corresponds with that kind of craving and aversion, with that quality of formation.

So, you can understand it on an intellectual level. You can remember all you can about the Eightfold Path, and this is what gives rise to feeling, and so on. But how does that translate into your day-to-day experience? Unless you actually understand it as it arises, that is to say, when you see the links of dependent origination, actually understand it, you understand the arising, the origin of suffering, and then you understand the cessation of suffering. And then you understand in order for the cessation of suffering to happen, you understand that you need to have the Eightfold Path. And that's facilitated by right effort, by the 6R's. said feelings should be understood and so on, it is because of this that this was said.

When it was said, perceptions should be understood and so on. For what reason was this said? There are bhikkhus, these six perceptions: perception of form, perception of sounds, perception of odors, perception of tastes, perception of tactile objects, perception of mental phenomena. What is perception? Interpretation. Right. It's the interpretation of what is arising in the form of an experience. Whatever you are experiencing, whatever you are feeling, is that experience. But how you label it, how you recognize it, recognize what it is, that is the perception. So perception is rooted in memory. When you know something as something, whether this is the color red or this is the color blue, or this is green, or this is orange, or that's hot, and this is cold, and so on.

That is perception. You learn about it when you first experience it, and then it is there in your memory. And then when it arises again, your memory arises of what that is, and you perceive that experience. So there's a perception of the six sense-based experiences: the perception of sight, seeing things, perception of sounds, the perception of smells, the perception of tastes, the perception of tactile objects, and the perception of mental objects. What is the diversity?

And what is the source and origin of perceptions? Anyone want to guess what would be the origin of perception? Contact. Contact is their source, contact is their origin. Because when contact arises, there is perception, and conjoined to that feeling, there is perception. So the contact gives rise to the perception. And what is the diversity of perceptions? So the way to understand this is you have to understand that there is present suffering.

You have to abandon the second noble truth of craving or any of craving, clinging or becoming. And in that, when you abandon it, you experience the cessation of suffering. And to do that, you have to cultivate right effort. That is the heart of the Eightfold Path. So we talked about the taint of ignorance. So every time you're able to 6R, every time you're able to recognize how your mind's attention moved away, every time you recognized that your mind was okay with the present moment, to not okay with the present moment. In other words, it was in conflict because it had craving for something or it had aversion for something or it was identifying with the process.

Every time you notice that, then you have mindfulness, and then you're noticing there is here the suffering in the form of whatever it might be, and you let go of the cause of that, and then you experience the cessation of that, and you have cultivated and used, or utilized, the Eightfold Path through right effort to come to that cessation.

So, as an example, when you're in meditation, the hindrance that arises is the suffering, is the dukkha. So you understand, here is a hindrance. The craving or aversion towards that hindrance is the cause for it, to keep it there. In other words, your attention to it, which is misguided by craving or aversion, and craving and aversion fuel that hindrance further.

But if you release your attention from that hindrance and you've relaxed the tightness and tension, then you abandon the second noble truth of the cause, which is the craving or the hindrance. And by relaxing, you experience Nirodha in that moment. You experience mundane nibbana in that moment. And once you relax and then you come back with a smile, the object, you have now come back to collectedness.

You have utilized the smile as a way of bringing up a wholesome state of mind. So you're cultivating right view and right intention right there. And then you come back to the object and you're utilizing right collectedness. And implicit in that is all of right mindfulness. And that whole process is right effort. And when you do that, you can have right speech, you can have right action, right livelihood.

So every time you do the six Rs, you're getting more acquainted, having more wisdom about the Four Noble Truths. So every time that happens, you're whittling away at the taint of ignorance. And then finally, there comes a point when at Arahatship, you have no more becoming, no more desire to be, and you have no more ignorance. See the Four Noble Truths, you understand them through and through in every single way.

And what is the source and origin of the taints? No. Got you. Ignorance is the source and origin of the taints. Because it's through the ignorance of not knowing how to let go of this process that the taints you. Every time you have lack of mindfulness, every time you're no longer paying attention, you're only feeding further to the taints, because when you act upon the craving, you're feeding into the taint of sensual desire. When you act upon the desire to become something, you're feeding into the taint of becoming. Every time you have that lack of mindfulness, you're feeding into the taint of ignorance.

And what is the diversity of the taints? There are taints leading to hell. There are taints leading to the animal realm. There are taints leading to the realm of afflicted spirits. There are taints leading to the human world. There are taints leading to the deva world. This is called the diversity of taints. So the Asavas are the mechanics for rebirth. They are the starting point in one arising of dependent origination rebirth in one of these different realms. Why? Because when you have the taint of sensual desire, it keeps you locked into one of these sensual realms, whether it's an animal realm, whether it's a hungry ghost realm, whether it's a hell realm, whether it's an earth realm, whether it is a deva realm.

So this, along with the taint of becoming, along with the taint of ignorance, give rise to an experience in a realm of one of these six sensuous heavens, or one of these three lower realms, or one of the human realms. Now, there can be the deactivation and eradication of the taint for sensual desire, but the taint for becoming will still give rise to an experience or rebirth in a brahma loka, or an experience rebirth in a formless realm.

So in order for you to eradicate rebirth altogether, you have to let go of the taint of becoming and the taint of ignorance. And what is the result of the taints? One immersed in ignorance produces a corresponding individual existence, which may be the consequence either of merit or demerit. This is called the result of the taints. So one immersed in ignorance, meaning one who doesn't know the Four Noble Truths. So there are three levels of ignorance, you could say. There is the level of ignorance in relation to never having known about the Four Noble Truths, meaning never being introduced to the Four Noble Truths. Then there is the level of ignorance where you do know about the Four Noble Truths, but you don't apply the effort to let go the ignorance.

And then finally, there is the ignorance in relation to the ignorance that gives rise to the rest of the series of dependent origination. In other words, not knowing about the Four Noble Truths has two levels. There is the not knowing in terms of never being introduced to it, and then there is a not knowing in terms of non-application of the processes that eradicate ignorance.

Once ignorance goes away, then there is only wisdom, then there is only right view. Then that means that there is no more craving, no more conceit, no more wrong view, which won't give rise to any rebirth, which means for a liberated mind, the only links that are functional are formations, consciousness, mentality, materiality, the sixth sense bases, contact, and feeling. Be any ignorance there won't be any craving there won't be any clinging there won't be any becoming there won't be any birth of reaction that causes further new karma and further suffering. So there will be suffering. It's not that the liberated mind won't suffer, meaning they will still experience pain, they will still experience the consequences of previous actions that were taken prior to full awakening, but when that experience is felt at feeling and perception, when that experience happens, there's no further craving or clinging or becoming that causes renewal of that karma.

It just dissipates. And what is the cessation of the taints? With the cessation of ignorance, there is the cessation of the taints. Once you have known and understood and applied the Four Noble Truths completely, then there is no more becoming. There is no more craving. There is no more ignorance. There is another way of understanding the Four Noble Truths, which is talked about somewhere in the Sutras, which is about the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Aspects.

So the Twelve Aspects are that, number one, the First Noble Truth has to be understood. The First Noble Truth is understood. There is a confirmation that the First Noble Truth has been understood. The Second Noble Truth has to be abandoned. The Second Noble Truth is abandoned. And there is a knowing that the Second Noble Truth has been abandoned. The Third Noble Truth has to be realized or experienced.

There is the realization or experiencing of the Third Noble Truth, that there has been a realization and experience of the Third Noble Truth. There is the understanding that the Fourth Noble Truth has to be cultivated. The Fourth Noble Truth is cultivated, and there is a knowledge and knowing that the Fourth Noble Truth has been cultivated. So this is the twelve aspects of the Four Noble Truths. Is there a question or statement?

When it was said the taints should be understood and so on, it is because of this that this was said. When it was said karma should be understood and so on, for what reason was it said? Karma, for having willed one acts by body, speech, or mind. This is very important to understand. Because the Jain understanding is that any action, intentional or unintentional, is something that one has to suffer the consequences of. But here in the Dhamma, the understanding is your intentions will determine the karma that arises. In other words, there is an intention to harm that gives rise to a mental feeling that I want to harm this person, that gives rise to a verbal action, which is you're saying something to harm that person, or there's a bodily deed, bodily action, where you actually harm that person.

So karma is intention. Karma starts from intention, always. And origin of karma? The answer is right here. Contact is the source and origin of karma. What have I been saying? Karma is, old karma is everything that is experienced and felt. How do you experience and feel? Through contact. So when contact arises, what happens? This is where it gets really interesting. Like I said yesterday, contact arises. There is a feedback loop to formations which then give rise to certain intentions and which give rise to how feeling arises and what happens. To that feeling, how you perceive that feeling. That's why I said contact is the key. Contact gives rise to feeling, to perception, to intention, to karma, to consciousness.

Contact is the key right there. So the source and origin of karma, that is old karma, is facilitated through contact. Then that gives rise to vedana. That gives rise to an experience. New karma? Do you choose to crave for it? Do you choose to cling to it? Do you choose to become it? Do you identify with it, which gives rise to rebirth of new karma and further suffering? Or do you choose to see it as it actually is? That this is not me, not mine, not myself. You don't take it personally. And you allow it to be experienced without your reaction to it.

Non-reactivity is the key to letting go of all karma. Or I should say, non-reactivity and response rooted in wisdom. What is the response rooted in wisdom? It's having loving kindness, it's having compassion, it's having joy, it's having equanimity. So when you guys are doing these brahmaviharas, what you're actually doing is you're cultivating the ability to see any karma that arises, and when it makes contact with you, when you have loving kindness, that karma seems just like this. What seemed like a huge thing has now become this little thing. So now because it's become a little thing, what could have affected you negatively? If somebody said a harsh word to you, somebody abused you, if you didn't have loving kindness there, the reaction would have been to abuse them back, to say something in return.

But if you have loving kindness, if you have compassion, you see the suffering that that person has, act to them. Instead, you choose to de-escalate the situation. So the karma, the old karma that arose was the harsh speech that was given to you. By you continuing to have aversion to it and acting with harsh speech in kind, what's happening? Now that guy says something else that's harsher. Then you say something else that's harsher. And then he says something that's even harsher. And then you say something that's harsher. And then he punches you. That's even worse. And then that gets into further accumulation of karma.

But if you have loving kindness, if you have compassion, if you have joy, if you have equanimity, if you have wisdom, then whatever they say to you, you see it as empty. Why? When you have wisdom, you see that this is just vibration. This is just sound. When you have compassion, you see this person as suffering. They're saying it because they're suffering. So when you do it in that way, when you understand in that way, then any feeling that arises in the form of that old karma, that harsh speech, you don't take personally and you don't react to it, but instead you let go of it and you try to calm them down. You try to de-escalate the situation.

Now you have let go of that old karma and no new karma arises. And what is the diversity of karma? There is karma to be experienced in hell. There is karma to be experienced in the animal realm, of afflicted spirits. There is karma to be experienced in the human world. There is karma to be experienced in the deva world. This is called the diversity of karma.

So when we talk about karma, we're talking about two things. As I say, old and new. Old is just karma that is inherited, right? Old is what is known as the technical term vipaka, the fruit of that karma, the fruit of that seed. Karma is like different seeds. Right now I'm going to borrow what Venerable Viruchini was telling me the other day. Upandita was telling her this, which is how do you explain karma very simply? And he says, you plant a banana seed and there's a banana tree. You plant an apple seed and there's an apple tree. Which means whatever your intentions are, there will arise certain karma because of that. But that is in your control. You're in control of the seed in terms of your intentions and choices in every given moment.

What you're not in control of, how much water that seed has, how much sunshine that seed has, how much nutrition in the soil that seed has, that's dependent upon external circumstances. This is where we were talking about the Sivaka Sutta, which I'll bring up later, where there are other things which you cannot comprehend in relation to karma, in relation to your own intentions. All you can do is deal with the present moment.

If someone were to be able to tell you your whole karmic background, what use is that if you can't deal with it in the present moment? If someone were to tell you that this is the consequence, it's better that you know it yourself by understanding: if I did it this way, then this would have negative consequences. If I did it this way, this would have wholesome consequences. That's using wisdom. Wholesome. Now you have right view about it.

So karma, if there is an intention to be hurtful and harsh, they can give rise to a state that is hellish, a state that can be animalistic, a state that can be afflicted. And so there can be existence in that particular kind of realm. Or there can be a psychological state that is hellish, torturous, a psychological state that is animalistic.

Or a psychological state that is afflicted, like a hungry ghost. Likewise, if you're generous and so on, you can be born in the deva realm, or you have a deva mentality. And what is the result of karma? The result of karma, I say, is threefold. To be experienced in this life, in this very life, or in the next rebirth, or on some subsequent occasion. Now, using that analogy of karma being the seed, where you're planting with your intention certain kinds of seeds, some seeds sprout faster than others. Some seeds will sprout faster depending upon how much craving there is, depending upon other kinds of causes and conditions that can give rise to its fruition, that can give rise to it becoming a tree, whatever that tree might be.

A lot of different factors, but namely your choices, your intention, whether it's rooted in craving or whether it's rooted in wisdom. Now, in the Bhavasuta yesterday, I was saying there's another analogy which says that consciousness is the seed, karma is the field, and craving is the moisture. So what does that mean? Consciousness is the seed, meaning your awareness, right? Whether that's on the micro level or on the macro level, a new being coming to be. That's the seed. What is karma?

Karma is that in relation to old karma. Everything in terms of this body and mind is old karma. That's the field. So the seed is consciousness, the field is karma, craving is the moisture. Do you activate that karma further in this mind and body to be felt and experienced over and over again through further moisture of craving? Or do you let go of that and don't give it moisture, don't give it fuel, so that it doesn't turn out to be new karma and new suffering in subsequent births, whether it's rebirth in this very life, subsequent rebirth, or rebirth after that.

And what, bhikkhus, is the cessation of karma? With the cessation of contact there is a cessation of karma. Here what he's talking about is karma in terms of old karma. You cease that karma when there is no contact, because when there is contact there is feeling, and any feeling or experience is karma to be experienced. But you cease that, and there is no karma to be experienced and therefore no potential for new karma to arise in the form of craving for it or clinging to it or becoming it. The noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of karma.

When, bhikkhus, a noble disciple thus understands karma, the source and origin of karma, the diversity of karma, the result of karma, the cessation of karma, and the way leading to the cessation of karma, he understands this penetrative spiritual life to be the cessation of karma. When it was said, should be understood, and so on, it was because of this that it was said.

There are these three types of suffering. What three? There is the suffering of suffering, that is dukkha dukkha. The suffering of change, which is viparinama dukkha. And the suffering in existence, that is sankhara dukkha, the pervasive suffering. Old age, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and anguish all come under the category of dukkha dukkha. That's the suffering that's well known, right?

Then there is not to get what one wants, or getting what one doesn't want, is another kind of suffering. That's part of the suffering of change. You want something, that's the viparinama dukkha, but you're not getting it because of change. That's because of causes and conditions that arise. You're on your way to your flight to go on vacation and now that flight is cancelled.

That's the dukkha of change. That's the suffering of change. When it was very cold and you went for a hot shower, it was very pleasant. Suddenly it became icy cold. That is viparinama dukkha. That is the suffering of change. The inherent suffering is the suffering in relation to identifying with one or more of the five aggregates, which leads to craving and clinging.

That is sankhara dukkha. So identifying, taking things personally, gives rise to that suffering. It's not that the five aggregates themselves are suffering. That's not what it's saying. It's saying they are affected by craving and clinging, which means when you take them personally, when you say this form, this feeling, this perception, this formation, this consciousness is me, mine, or myself in one way or the other, and you identify with it, then it is a cause for suffering.

And what is the source and origin of suffering? Don't say contact. Craving is the source of suffering. That's the second noble truth. But craving is the shorthand for basically all of dependent origination. Dependent origination is the elaboration of craving, of the second noble truth. So that includes ignorance, that includes wrong views, that includes conceit, that includes craving.

And what is the diversity of suffering? There is extreme suffering. There is slight suffering. There is suffering that fades away slowly. There is suffering that fades away quickly. This is called the diversity of suffering. And what is the result of suffering? Here, someone overcome by suffering, with the mind obsessed by it, sorrows, languishes, and laments. He weeps, beating his breast, and becomes confused. That's one way. Or, suffering with a mind obsessed by it, he embarks upon a search, like going on YouTube, for example, saying, who knows one or two words for putting an end to suffering?

Suffering, I say, results either in confusion or in a search. This is called the result of suffering. Suffering is what gives rise for you guys to be here, right? You're looking for a way out of suffering, some kind of suffering that you have. You came here on retreat to let go of that. You came here on retreat to learn how to deal with suffering, how to abandon it, how to let go of the causes and conditions of suffering. Some people did a Google search. Some people went on YouTube. Like I said, you know, someone found out about TWIM, decided to do an online retreat or decided to do a physical retreat, and now you're learning a way leading out of suffering. And what is the cessation of suffering? With the cessation of craving there is the cessation of suffering. This noble Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.

Just to give more clarity on karma, basically. This is the Sivaka Sutta I was talking about the other day. So this is Samyutta Nikaya 36.21, Sivaka Sutta. On one occasion, the Blessed One was dwelling at Rajagaha at the bamboo grove, the squirrel sanctuary. Then the wanderer Moliya Sivaka approached the Blessed One and exchanged greetings with him. When they had concluded their greetings and cordial talk, he sat down to one side and said to the Blessed One, Master Gautama, there are some ascetics and Brahmins who hold such a view and doctrine as this: whatever a person experiences, whether it be pleasant or painful or neither painful nor pleasant, all that is caused by what was done in the past.

originating from wind disorders, originating from an imbalance of the three, produced by a change of climate, produced by careless behavior, caused by assault, produced as a result of karma. That some feelings arise here originating from phlegm disorders, originating from wind disorders, originating from an imbalance of the three, behavior caused by assault or produced as a result of karma, one can know for oneself and that is considered to be true in the world. Now when those ascetics and Brahmins hold such a doctrine in view as this, whatever a person experiences, whether it be pleasant or painful, or neither painful nor pleasant, all that is caused by what was done in the past. oneself, and they overshoot what is considered to be true in the world.

Therefore, I say that this is wrong on the part of those ascetics and Brahmins. When this was said, the wanderer Moliya Sivaka said to the Blessed One, Magnificent Master Gautama, from today let Master Gautama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life. So it says, and there's a verse here, bile, phlegm, and also wind. So this is just the three humors. In Ayurveda, that's the Pitta, the Kapha, and the Vata. These are different kinds of humors in the body. This is one way they understood medicine. Or the imbalance of those, and climate too, the change of climate. Carelessness, accidents, or assault, with karma result as the eighth. So this is what he talks about.

Only way you can understand karma is in terms of what you can understand here and now. It can be produced as a result of certain disorders in the body. It can be produced as a result of an imbalance in the body, as a result of climate, as a result of change in the environment, as a result of accidents, and as a result of somebody attacking you. Let's say somebody attacked you unprovoked. Now you can say that that was my karma. that person who was attacked, hey, that arose because that was your karma. How is that helpful for them in that moment? Right? So the idea of karma is so pervasive that the best way to understand karma is what is arising in the present moment, here and now, to be understood as it actually is. And dealing with it using wisdom, using the Eightfold Path. you