Nov 1 2020 - MN 141 The Analysis of the Truths - Applying the Four Noble Truths

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening everyone. I'm going to be starting with Majjhima Nikaya 141, the exposition of the truths. Thus have I heard: on one occasion the Blessed One was living at Benares, in the deer park at Isipatana. Bhikkhus, thus, bhikkhus, venerable sir, they replied. The Blessed One said this: at Benares, Bhikkhus, in the deer park at Isipatana, the Tathagata, accomplished and fully enlightened, set rolling the matchless wheel of the Dhamma, which cannot be stopped by any recluse or Brahmin or God or Mara or Brahma or anyone in the world. That is the announcing, teaching, describing, revealing, expounding, and exhibiting of the four noble truths.

That is the announcing, teaching, describing, establishing, revealing, expounding and exhibiting of these four noble truths. Cultivate the friendship of Sariputta and Moggallana bhikkhus. Associate with Sariputta and Moggallana. They are wise and helpful to their companions in the holy life. Sariputta is like a mother. Moggallana is like a nurse. Sariputta trains others for the fruit of stream entry. Moggallana for the supreme goal. Sariputta, bhikkhus, is able to announce, teach, describe, establish, reveal, expound, and exhibit the Four Noble Truths.

The Blessed One said this. Having said this, the Sublime One rose from his seat and went into his dwelling. Soon after the Blessed One had gone, the Venerable Sariputta addressed the bhikkhus thus, "Venerable Sariputta." The Venerable Sariputta said this: "At Benares, friends, in the deer park at Isipatana, the Tathagata, accomplished and fully enlightened, set rolling the matchless wheel of the Dhamma, an exhibiting of the Four Noble Truths. Of what four?

The announcing and exhibiting of the Noble Truth of suffering, of the Noble Truth of the origin of suffering, of the noble truth of the cessation of suffering, of the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering. And what, friends, is the noble truth of suffering? Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, death is suffering, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering, not to obtain what one wants is suffering. In short, the five aggregates affected by clinging are suffering. And what, friends, is birth? The birth of beings into the various orders of beings, their coming to birth, precipitation in a womb, generation, the manifestation of the aggregates, obtaining the basis for contact.

This is called birth. And what, friends, is aging? The aging of beings in the various orders of beings, their old age, brokenness of teeth, grayness of hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of life, weakness of faculties. This is called aging. And what, friends, is death? The passing of beings out of the various orders of beings, their passing away, dissolution, disappearance, dying, completion of time, dissolution of aggregates, laying down the body. This is called death. And what, friends, is sorrow?

The sorrow, sorrowing, sorrowfulness, inner sorrow, inner encountered some misfortune or is affected by some painful state. This is called sorrow. And what, friends, is lamentation? The wail and lament, wail and lamenting, bewailing and lamentation of one who has encountered some misfortune or is affected by some painful state. This is called lamentation. And what, friends, is pain? Bodily pain, bodily discomfort, uncomfortable feeling born of bodily contact. This is called pain. And what, friends, is grief? Mental pain, mental discomfort, painful, uncomfortable feeling born of mental contact. This is called grief.

There comes the wish: oh, that we were not subject to sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair, that sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair would not come to us. But this is not to be obtained by wishing, and not to obtain what one wants is suffering. And what, friends, are the five aggregates affected by clinging that in short are suffering? They are the material form aggregate affected by clinging, the feeling aggregate affected by clinging, the perception aggregate affected by clinging, the formations aggregate affected by clinging, and the consciousness aggregate affected by clinging. These are the five aggregates affected by clinging that in short are suffering. This is called the noble truth of suffering. And what, friends, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering? It is craving which brings renewal of being, is accompanied by delight and lust, and delights in this and that. That is craving for sensual pleasures, craving for being, and craving for non-being. This is called the noble truth of the origin of suffering. And what, friends, is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering?

It is the remainderless fading away and ceasing, the giving up, relinquishing, letting go, and rejecting of that same craving. This is called the noble truth of the cessation of suffering. And what, friends, is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering? It is just this noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right collectedness.

And what, friends, is right view? Knowledge of suffering, knowledge of the origin of suffering, knowledge of the cessation of suffering, and knowledge of the way leading to the cessation of suffering. This is called right view. And what, friends, is right intention? Intention of renunciation, intention of non-ill will, and intention of non-cruelty. This is called right intention. And what, friends, is right speech?

Abstaining from false speech, abstaining from malicious speech, abstaining from harsh speech, and abstaining from idle chatter. This is called right speech. And what, friends, is right action? Abstaining from killing living beings, abstaining from what is not given, and abstaining from misconduct and sensual pleasures. This is called right action. And what, friends, is right livelihood? Here a noble disciple, having abandoned wrong livelihood, earns his living by right livelihood. This is called right livelihood.

And what, friends, is right effort? Here a bhikkhu awakens zeal for the non-arising of unarisen evil, unwholesome states. And he makes effort, arouses energy, exerts his mind, and strives. He awakens zeal for the abandoning of arisen evil, unwholesome states. And he makes effort, arouses energy, exerts his mind, and strives. He awakens zeal for the arising of unarisen wholesome states.

He abides contemplating mind as mind, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. As mind objects, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. This is called right mindfulness. And what, friends, is right collectedness? Here, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhana, which is accompanied by applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion. With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, he enters upon and abides in the second jhana, which has self-confidence and singleness of mind, without applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of collectedness. With the fading away as well of rapture, he abides in equanimity, and mindful and fully aware, feeling pleasure within the body, he enters upon and abides in the third jhana, on account of which noble ones announce: he has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful.

That is the announcing, teaching, describing, establishing, revealing, expounding, and exhibiting of these four noble truths. That is what the Venerable Sariputta said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Venerable Sariputta's words. The Four Noble Truths are the be-all, end-all of the Buddha's dispensation. Within them are contained dependent origination. Within them are contained the truth of the Noble Eightfold Path. Within them are contained the 37 requisites for awakening, the seven factors of awakening, the four foundations of mindfulness, and so on and so forth. The Four Noble Truths, when one completely understands them and completely experiences them, are what establish right view in one who is fully realized, in one who is fully enlightened.

The First Noble Truth of suffering does not mean that life or existence is suffering. It says that there is suffering in the various forms that are described: that is birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and so on. And all of these different aspects of suffering can be experienced through the five aggregates, which are within the mentality and materiality of a being. If you reflect on this, you will see that any time you experience suffering, it is through one or more of these five aggregates.

Whether you have mental pain, in which case it is experienced through consciousness and the feeling in mind, and the perception through which the formations come through and create that sense of suffering, and then of course bodily pain through the materiality or the form or the body of a being. But not all of existence or life is suffering; it's just that there is this suffering that arises. And there is also happiness. There is also joy.

But one has to take into account what sort of joy one is depending upon. Is it the joy and happiness dependent upon the sensory experiences of the sixth sense basis? Or is it the joy and happiness born from the first jhana onwards? A happiness is in that regard self-generating. It's not dependent upon external factors. It's not dependent upon the experience of the five physical senses, but occurs only in the mind, through which there are sensations that arise, let's say in the body, of that bliss and rapture and joy.

In which case the entire body is suffused with this joy from the second jhana onwards. But the suffering that is experienced also happens through the mind and the five physical senses. What is the cause of suffering? Suffering is craving. How does craving arise? The Buddha has elaborated on craving in multiple ways, as have the other arahant monks who have talked about it in the suttas. There is the craving that is explained through the process of dependent origination, through the process of taking personally the sensory experiences that arise at the level of feeling.

By taking it personally and attaching a sense of self to that feeling, that is the cause of the suffering. Because as soon as we take something to be personal, we identify with that feeling. If we identify with the feeling that is good, as soon as it fades away we crave more of it, and that creates suffering. If we identify with the feeling and it is painful, that in and of itself creates suffering. If we identify with a neutral feeling, we are digging deeper the fetter of ignorance within the formations, because all of existence, as seen through the lens of the three characteristics, the three marks or the three symptoms of reality, is that all of existence, all of conditioned existence, is impermanent. All of existence is suffering. All conditioned existence is suffering. All of existence is not self, is impersonal.

So the pain that we suffer from is taking what is impermanent as permanent, taking what is suffering as a means for everlasting happiness, and taking what is impersonal as personal. This is the craving that arises, and this is the cause of our suffering. So how do we let go of this craving? In letting go of this craving, first and foremost, we experience the third noble truth, which is that the cessation of craving is the cessation of suffering.

And this craving is rooted in the sense of I through conceit. It is rooted in that ignorance of the Four Noble Truths, the ignorance of kamma and rebirth, the ignorance of the three characteristics. So we must first replace this ignorance with right view. And this is done so that we cease craving, so that we cease suffering. And this is done through the Noble Eightfold Path.

Right view, the ultimate, established, perfected right view, is the total understanding of the Four Noble Truths: understanding suffering, understanding the cause or origin of suffering, understanding the cessation of suffering, and understanding the way out of suffering. But this right view needs to be established through our experience of letting go of suffering. We need to experience that cessation of suffering.

And there is the right view related to kamma and rebirth, related to understanding that our actions have consequences. In reality, if we don't understand that our actions have consequences, then it's a free-for-all, and obviously that's not the case. All of our actions do have consequences, good, bad or indifferent, and these actions are not only our physical actions but also the words we speak and the thoughts that we think. So once we have an intellectual understanding of kamma, that every action has a consequence, and we start to see this in our own lives, we then turn to right intention or effective choice.

We understand that it is better to be in a wholesome state of mind, speech and wholesome actions rather than going on with unwholesome intentions, unwholesome thoughts, unwholesome actions and unwholesome speech. We use right effort, that is the 6R's process, to recondition our mind in the meditation, to release our attention from the, which are invariably related to the hindrances, which are inversely related to keeping the precepts.

So the more we practice right action rooted in right intention in our daily life, right speech rooted in right intention in our daily life, and right livelihood rooted in right intention in our daily life, we start to follow the precepts naturally. And we have the intention of letting go of all those states that are not conducive to creating wholesome states of mind and leading to Nibbana. So renunciation is the 6R's process here. We are first and foremost letting go and relaxing our craving and tension in the meditation, when we replace the unwholesome with the wholesome and maintain that.

As we continue to do this in the practice, by being mindful through right mindfulness or effective observation in the meditation practice, we are aware of when our attention is no longer on our vehicle of meditation. Step, we are exercising mindfulness, we are seeing how our attention is moving, and then bringing it back through right effort. First through the intention of renouncing or letting go, releasing and relaxing that craving arising from the hindrance, and then we bring up through our smile and through generating that good feeling, the wholesome state of mind. This is in the meditation practice.

In daily living, when we are met with difficult people and difficult situations, before we react, we should take a pause, because the situations that are being met are the sensory experiences of our mind and the five sense bases, the physical senses and the mind, which encompass the six sense bases. And this is the feeling, the sensory experiences, the sensations that we first have to be aware of through right mindfulness.

And through that right mindfulness, we then recognize if our mind naturally lets go of any craving, in that we try to avoid the situation, avoid the person, or avoid the difficulty, and rather let go of the need to avoid through personalizing that situation, personalizing that interaction with the person, personalizing the circumstances or events. The more we let go of our need to control, manipulate and domineer, the more we are letting go of craving, the more we are letting go of personalizing, and the more we are establishing and understanding that everything is impersonal. And because of that, we also understand that this event, the situation, this interaction with this person, is also impersonal, not worth holding on to.

Taking it personal, considering it to be permanent, and affecting a sense of self. And by letting go and cultivating through the practice of the brahmaviharas, loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, or equanimity, or tranquility, responding through that in a way that diffuses the situation and helps ourselves and helps the other person. Through a compassionate mindset, we can understand the other person's suffering rather than reacting to the effect of that suffering, which is the difficulty that they are causing.

We are able to understand the underlying cause behind that, which is that they themselves are suffering, and we have a compassionate attitude and let go and try to alleviate the suffering that they are having by diffusing the situation, coming to a more peaceful stance, let's say, and allowing ourselves also the mental peace and the equanimity to not take it personal and not be disturbed by these challenges or difficulties with people.

And the more we do this, we are exercising effective choice. That means we are exercising right intention, we are exercising right action, right speech and right effort, because we have been using mindfulness to take a pause from what is occurring and allowing our mind to cultivate a wholesome state of mind. If there is a whole unwholesome state, allowing the mind the space and time to let go of it, it comes to the relaxing of the craving that may have arisen in taking it personal, and then diffusing the situation. And what does this do?

It prevents the new kamma from forming, because every interaction that we have, every situation that we deal with, even our very thoughts that occur in the form of hindrances, especially in the meditation, all of that is kamma. So we have already had the intellectual understanding, through that mundane right view, that there are actions and there are consequences, which means that our thoughts have consequences.

That is our mental formations. Our verbal formations, that means our speech has consequences. Our physical actions have consequences, that is our bodily formations. So time and time again, every time we are practicing right intention by letting go of the need to control and personalize, thereby letting go and relaxing the tension brought on by any kind of craving, and thereby replacing bit by bit the fetters of ignorance with right view by practicing the knowledge and applying the knowledge that actions have consequences, we are understanding that every time we have a wholesome intention, we are producing good kamma. Of course, this means that we elevate from the unwholesome to the wholesome, and from the wholesome we elevate to complete eradication of personalizing, even with the wholesome

and understanding that everything is purely impersonal, purely impermanent. Once this is established, we are replacing bit by bit the link of ignorance, destroying bit by bit the taints or defilements or projections of craving for sensory experiences, craving for being and non-being, and ignorance of the Four Noble Truths. And the other way that we apply the Four Noble Truths is in our own lives, where we can reflect and contemplate whenever an unwholesome state of mind occurs in the form of anger, in the form of depression, in the form of sadness, in the form of grief: what is the underlying cause of all of these emotions and unwholesome states of mind? And then understand how to seize that by exercising the Eightfold Path.

It is the Eightfold Path that ceases new kamma from arising and ceases the effects of old kamma by experiencing it in the correct and effective manner that is utilized through right intention, right speech, right action, right effort and right mindfulness. And all of this culminates through our practice in meditation at Right Collectedness, jhanas, because the only time we can be in a jhana is with the eradication, the non-appearance, the non-emergence of the hindrances, and the emergence, the appearance and the sustenance of the seven factors of awakening. That is the only time we are present in the jhanas, and then thereafter through the spheres of perception

the dimensions of infinite space infinite consciousness nothingness and neither perception or non-perception and it's because of the fact that we continue to practice the eightfold path in our daily lives by maintaining the precepts and making choices that are rooted in right intention that are the effective choice that it builds a profound foundation for our minds And we see our minds are clear. There is a natural clarity to mind. There is a natural luminance and luminous mind. It's a luminance and radiance of that mind, which is naturally clear and aware, which is naturally mindful and therefore naturally inclined towards the wholesome states of mind and thereby naturally inclined towards Nibbana. And the more we do this in our daily living, the more we have this sort of a mind to be able to stay in the jhanas and allow mind to continually let go of formations while using the six hour process to let go of it by relaxing any incoming craving that might arise or any craving that has arisen.

And then continuing to observe the wholesome state of mind, to stay aware, to stay mindful of the present, and not allowing our thoughts to drift here and there in regards to the past, in regards to the future, or in regards to our identification with the present moment. And the more we allow that space and time for the mind to unravel itself, the more we let go, the more there is non-grasping of right intention, and indeed the crux of the entire Eightfold Path, which leads to the cessation of suffering. The more we have that non-grasping attitude and behavior, the easier it is for us to let go of the subtlest of formations and enter, so to speak, Nirvana or Nibbana. Have that awakening and have that perspective shift that allows us to let go and break free from the fetters that chain us to conditioned existence, that continue to provide rebirth in the form of entering the womb, entering the mentality of higher realms, and entering the womb in lower realms, and so on and so forth.

Then when we have destroyed all of the fetters, eradicated all of the defilements, and replaced ignorance with right view, we have actualized, realized, experienced, developed, cultivated, and penetrated the Four Noble Truths in this manner. So it always begins with understanding on an intellectual level, which then is applied through practicing the Eightfold Path, applied in practicing and implementing the Eightfold Path in our daily living, and culminating in application of that in our meditation practice.

This then unlocks, if you will, the effective insight or the right knowledge that indeed rebirth has been destroyed. There is no more being. The defilements are destroyed. There is no more craving. There is no more ignorance, and this brings about effective release, or right liberation, that is the liberation of the mind and the heart through insight, through understanding, through wisdom, and through non-attachment and non-grasping, which is Nibbana. Let's open up for questions. Yeah, go ahead. Fantastic. Delson, if I could kick off with a question. You know, we talked about our both mental, verbal, and physical actions called consequences.

And, you know, let's say an example that, you know, we might not have that mindfulness and ended up doing something that might be a bit unwholesome, and I'd love to hear your guidance around when we recognize that and how do we correct that, you know, correct, bring that wholesome action. Could there be a potential forgiveness that we could also consider? So I'm really kind of looking at that transition from the unwholesome, and what could be the really good kind of tips, if I could say that, that you could give us? Thank you. Well, first and foremost, I will say that let's say somebody does slip from their mindfulness and say take personal the feeling, and then from there react in a way that can create and cause new karma.

The effects of that are sometimes immediately felt, in that let's say we come across a situation where we were not mindful, and immediately it results in us having some kind of a bodily pain or mental pain. As soon as you recognize it, you can backtrack, release it. If you want, you can forgive yourself if that feels like a natural practice. Let's say we, someone might start to self-judge.

And be hard on themselves for slipping away from their mindfulness. That would require forgiveness, just in the sense of saying, you know, I forgive myself for not understanding, or whatever it is, and come back to a wholesome state by laughing it off. If you laugh it off, if you smile, you come back and say, well, I did this and I won't do it again. Now, if there is a more subtler sense of craving, which you take that feeling to be personal, and you want more of it, and you start to notice that you're getting into clinging, which is that you start to accumulate ideas and concepts, this is the mental proliferation that happens from perceiving that feeling to be personal. If you can catch your mind in this process of mental proliferation, you can apply the Four Noble Truths in seeing, for example, number one: the truth is there is mental. Number two, the cause of it was having that craving and taking in personal.

Number three is relieving that craving, releasing that craving, using the 6R process in that moment, and then backtracking back into a more, let's say, a more wholesome state of mind, or at least a more equanimous state of mind, a mind where you are neutral or clear, or there's a clarity of mind, self is tranquil, which in of itself is peaceful. So anytime you start to see that you've gone too far from taking personal the feeling, whether it is in that moment where you start to see that you're taking it personal and you're reacting in a way that can create suffering for yourself, and you notice the effect of that suffering, if it's not too late, meaning you have not yet fully experienced that suffering, you can backtrack.

By backtracking, meaning by letting go of that suffering, by using the Noble Truths, the Four Noble Truths, and backtracking from suffering, backtracking from being, from birth, from being, from clinging, and coming back to craving, letting that go, you start to actually condition your mind, and in that process. So whether it's a subtle craving and a subtle sense of suffering, which is the mental pain, and you catch yourself in that mental pain, and you don't allow your mental proliferation, in catching the mental proliferation creating that mental pain, to continue on by recognizing it first, releasing your attention from it, relaxing it, relaxing the craving that caused it, and then coming back to a neutral or a wholesome state of mind. And when I say neutral, I mean more tranquil, more clear, more peaceful, more of equanimity, or if you require loving-kindness, forgiveness, compassion, empathetic joy, whatever is required for that situation.

And as you do this, what you're doing is you're conditioning your mind, you're reconditioning the formations in that process, so that if it happens again, where you have the potential for taking that feeling to be personal, you catch yourself in that moment much quicker. So you might not do it in the first initial steps, but if you catch it later down the links of dependent origination, and it occurs again because you have been able to recondition with the 6R process, you might find that you are seeing it earlier than the clinging, and even catching it at craving. And then the next process again, you might catch it at feeling, and eventually you have reconditioned the formations to such a point that you no longer slip in your mindfulness of taking that particular feeling, situation, person, or circumstance to be personal.

So it's a gradual process. It's a gradual training of the mind in that regard, to continue to use the 6R process. And of course, you mentioned forgiveness, which is to say that don't beat yourself up. Don't go into self-judgmental mode, which will only create more suffering for yourself. In laughing at yourself, in laughing at the situation, in laughing at the circumstance, you immediately let go of your attachment to it. And by doing that, it's easier to 6R. In fact, by doing that, first and foremost, you have already recognized.

Second, you have released and relaxed by laughing and understanding that it's only this states. So really, laughing is one of the quickest ways to use the 6R process whenever you catch yourself going into self-judgmental mode, or catch yourself going into attaching to that craving, attaching through that clinging, or through that being or sense of action, nothingness. We examine the links of dependent origination. Yeah, during that time, are we in jhana or are we in the state of nothingness or not? So if I understand correctly, you're saying when we're in nothingness you start to see some of the links of dependent origination arising, right? Yeah. What would you specifically see? I can see that if there is a slight tightness is forming, if I just focus my attention on feeling, that will go away eventually.

And even if I see something before that, like if I see the consciousness, even the feeling also doesn't dominate. I mean, feeling, feeling, feeling is also. I can just, I will be seeing only consciousness at that time, so only consciousness will be remaining there. Okay, so if I'm examining in this way, I just want to confirm: am I in jhana, or am I just out of jhana, of nothingness? At that point of seeing, and then allowing your mind to get, let's say, sidetracked, you would be out of the jhana. But what happens is, when you are in nothingness and you see it but allow it to just let go, you come back into the jhana.

So this practices both, let's say, calmness and insight or samatha and vipassana. seeing the links of depend origination you let go of it but don't allow it to let's say distract you from the jhana so in the process of seeing it consider it to be something as a distraction and allow it to be six art and then come back to the jhana because in this process the jhanas it by well first and foremost the brahma viharas or what you're taking as your object of meditation the vehicle of meditation is a way for you to stay for you to stay aware of what's happening. But more broadly speaking, the jhana in of itself is a collectedness that is coming from staying aware, staying present.

So if in the presence, in that unsteady presence of awareness, you notice the dependent origination arising, but you don't allow it to take over you. In other words, you don't allow the mind to identify with it, but let it just be understanding that this was a link and let it pass by, that's fine. But as soon as you get distracted by it and identify with it, you let go of it and you come back into the jhana. Because you will notice, for example, and this is a more simplistic example, when you are in the first parts of the practice, which is the first and second jhana, when you are aware of your object of meditation,

you might notice thoughts in the background. But as long as your attention is not on there, but you know that they're there, but your attention is staying steady and present with the Brahma Viharas, those thoughts will dissipate on their own because they don't have any attention to feed them. Likewise, when you see consciousness arise, if you see formations arise, if they are not distracting you, to automatically let them go by automatically 6R'ing at that point. Because at the point when you are in nothingness, neither perception or non-perception, your mind has become so purified that it can automatically 6R. It can automatically let go of things. But the moment you put your attention on the link of dependent origination, you are no longer in that jhana.

So there's a difference. Putting your attention on it, thereby getting distracted, which is then when you're not in jhana. And when you are in jhana, just being aware that it's there and letting it go or allowing the mind to let go and still staying in the jhana. Thank you. Thank you very much, Delson. I can allow others to ask the question. Yeah, please go ahead. Hi Delson, hi Hindu, how are you? I guess I will take this opportunity. Go ahead for a few minutes. I'm just trying to map out the path. Yeah, okay. We have some sort of understanding that the Noble Eightfold Path, we start with some sort of letting go of unwholesome states, then we develop the wholesome states, both wholesome and non-wholesome states, then we come into equanimity, and we reach some point where even the equanimity is let go of, and then we stay in some sort of state called non-identification. This is the kind of highest level of discussion. So where does the Eightfold Path culminate? Is it the sort of, what is it, is it the afternoon identification

that we let go of and arrive at the cessation? This is where the path culminates, or where do we...? I'm just talking about these stages. Yeah, the path culminates in Nibbana, which is the understanding, the wisdom that arises from seeing how the process re-arises from cessation. So you have the cessation of perception and feeling, which is the effect, or the emergence, the cessation that arises. Or in other words, the cessation of feeling and perception that happens, occurs because of letting go of the formations, which is still effectively using the path, namely right intention and right effort, which is the intention of letting go and using right effort to continue to let go. But other factors of the path are still involved. It's these two, which then, after having let go of all of the formations, you come into cessation of perception and feeling.

But after that, when the mind switches back on, as it were, you see, purely see, the links of dependent origination arising. In that seeing is the wisdom of how existence arises, so to speak, how everything is made or formed or conditioned. that regard. The seeing of this is Nibbana, or culminates in Nibbana. So the final outcome, the final product, as it were, of the Eightfold Path is the effective release, the right liberation, which is Nibbana. And that also means, I'll just add, that also means in terms of stepping off of the wheel of samsara, the destruction of the taints, the destruction of the defilements, which happens in right knowledge, where effective vision, or right view of the Four Noble Truths, is established and replaces ignorance.

Thank you. Hi, Delson. I have a question. Can you hear me? I can. Go ahead. Okay. This is the first time I do a Zoom call. In the Anguttara Nikaya, it says that there are four kinds of kamma: bright, dark, mixed, and the fourth kind is called the Noble Eightfold Path. I'm not quite sure how to see this, because is it...

Do you have to make an active intention, that now this choice or thought is rooted in one of the factors of the Noble Eightfold Path? Or do you not even have to have that intention, but you act according to the Noble Eightfold Path? And secondly, does this mean that when we use the 6R's, are we creating kamma that destroys karma? So first and foremost, as you mentioned, there are the four types of kamma, which is good, positive deeds, negative deeds, neutral deeds, and the cessation of kamma, which is the Eightfold Path. So first it is intending the Eightfold Path, which means you make an effort to follow the Eightfold Path. But the more you make an effort to follow it through the 6R process of letting go, and through following the precepts and making the choices with intention, meaning effectively making those choices with effort, you start to recondition the mind to a point where, at the level of an arahant, it actually does become automatic.

So for an arahant, it is without any effort, without any kind of second thought, as it were, the Eightfold Path. And the reason why the Eightfold Path is called the cessation of kamma, it's because we divide the kamma into two. There is the old kamma, which is the effect of kamma that we have acted out or created in a previous choice. And this old kamma is considered to be the changes that we, quote-unquote, inherit in every given moment of the five aggregates of the mentality and materiality.

So then at the level of feeling, which is at the level of when we are interacting with objects, with people, with situations and circumstances, and through the six sense bases, that experience that arises is the manifestation of the old kamma. And that manifestation can be eradicated or nullified or terminated bit by bit. It doesn't always happen all at once. It can take time for it to gradually, let's say, wear away. But it's through using the 6R process that we wear away at the old kamma. Now, the new kamma arises because we take something personal in the way of feeling or sensory experiences.

The moment we start to take that feeling personal and then crave, or have that link of craving, unless we let go of it through the 6R process, it will, and unless we continue to 6R it, if we go down the path all the way up to being, because then at that point there is the birth of new kamma, which is to say that at that point we have acted out of a sense of self, which will then create a of that kamma, which will then become the old kamma in a second choice, in a new choice.

So to simplify, the 6R process is a way of eradicating the effects of kamma that have come to be, or that have yet to come to be, and that are brought to fruition through the experiences that we have at the level of feeling, through our sensory experiences. And so the choices we make can either lead us into more kamma, good or bad, by taking it personal, or letting go of our need to control, letting go of the idea that there is a self that is attached to that feeling, and letting go of the potential for that craving through the 6R process, that we wear away the old kamma, and that old kamma doesn't have the opportunity for new kamma or new effects of reacting from a sense of self to that kamma.

Does that make sense? Yes, it makes very much sense. Thank you very much. Okay, we can have one last question and then we can wrap it up. So if anybody has a question, please go ahead. Hi, Delson. I can ask questions. For the Noble Eightfold Path, for a person who doesn't really know the Dharma, which one should be the first one to, like in order for us to, I guess, walk the path? Yeah. started the journey.

Thank you. It's to start with right view, because you want to start with the mundane right view, with the understanding. And this can happen through the experience of suffering. And this is something I always say: suffering is always the starting point, because it is out of suffering that you understand. Well, there is a person who can be suffering and unaware of their suffering, or not wanting to get out of the suffering.

And there is a person who is suffering and wanting a way out. And then from that, we'll start the process of understanding, as I said, that our actions have consequences: our thoughts, speech, and action. And that is really the beginning of right view, the beginning of understanding kamma and rebirth. Once you have, you start off with that intellectual understanding of right view, then you start to develop the path by cultivating right intention. So starting the path is first and foremost having the intellectual understanding, let's say, that is rooted in the suttas, through that right view, and then developing the right intention by letting go and then using the process of the 6R's. And then, of course, on a more practical level, understanding the importance of the precepts and then keeping them and maintaining them.

So that is the very beginning of the path, which will then culminate in right collectedness as you start to use the 6R process. And then, of course, that completely culminates into Nibbana and the ultimate right view of the Four Noble Truths. Thank you. Okay. Struck fearless be. May the grieving shed all grief and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas of mighty power, share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation. Da-duh, da-duh.