Talk 9 -Kamma and Consciousness - Dependent Origination Conf. with Delson Armstrong-4K

We're doing karma and consciousness today. So what is karma? That's the question. What is karma? Karma is action. Karma is intention. Karma is that which you inherit. Karma is the effect of previous actions. It's an activity. And basically, karma is the energy that moves the wheel of dependent origination. So if you think of dependent origination as a machine, then karma is comprised of the gears that rotate to drive forward that machine.

So it's through formations that karma gives rise to experiences, and it in turn is affected by intentions. So formations are the carriers of karma. What that means is karma is to be experienced and felt, but the only way it can be experienced and felt is through one of these six sense bases. And for that to happen, you need formations, specifically mental formations.

Mental formations allow you to feel and perceive when there is contact between the six sense bases and the sense-based object, and the corresponding awareness of that sense-based object. When that arises, it is felt. Now, that's one understanding of karma. But in order for you to speak, in order for you to think and do the application of thought, that is, to apply thought, you require verbal formations.

So these are intentionally done in order for you to speak. There is another aspect of formations, which are the bodily formations. When you inhale and exhale, when you move around, you have an intention to move around. And that is facilitated through physical formations, bodily formations. So it's the intention that arises that gives rise to a karmic action.

That's why formations can also be understood as karmic formations. So they allow the process of karma to roll forward. And when they are rolled forward, they give rise to a certain kind of consciousness, as we've seen before. That consciousness affects the way nama-rupa feels and perceives the world using the instruments of the six sense bases. Once the contact arises, there is a feeling. Now, that feeling in itself, or that whole process (formations, consciousness, nama-rupa, mentality-materiality, six sense bases, contact, and feeling), all of that is old karma. We touched upon this a few days ago about karma.

But if you think about that, formations, consciousness, nama-rupa, six sense bases, contact, and feeling are comprised of the five aggregates. So in turn, the five aggregates themselves are also karma. Karma that is inherited. The form you take on now is a result of choices that have led to the development of this body as it is in this present state.

The feelings that you experience right now are a result of taking the intention of sitting here and listening. Likewise with perception, and the formations arise in order for that process to happen. The cognition of that process happening is consciousness, the bare awareness of something. All of that is inherited karma. All of that is old karma.

So in Majjhima Nikaya 107, the discourse on the full moon, when the Buddha is talking about the five aggregates and there is a dialogue happening between an arahant and the Buddha about the five aggregates, somebody in the audience has the thought, okay, so the five aggregates are not self. So by which self is karma experienced through that not self? Or something like that. It's a very confusing question. He was very confused anyway. But that idea basically comes from the notion, or that question comes from the notion, that karma is one thing and the five aggregates another. But in reality, karma includes the five aggregates. The five aggregates themselves are karma. So the Buddha goes through that same questionnaire about form, feeling, perception, formations and consciousness that we did on the first day.

Is it impermanent or permanent? Is it happiness or suffering? Is it self or not self? And having realized this, you realize even karma is impersonal. Even though we say, in the context of language and in the process of understanding, that we inherit karma, there is no one inheriting karma. There is just karmic processes arising that are intersecting with other karmic processes.

In the absolute sense of reality, all that's happening are karmic vibrations interacting with other karmic vibrations. My intention, your intention, another person's intentions somehow correspond and intersect and give rise to further karma one way or the other. And it's all facilitated through the faculty of intention. This is why the Buddha has talked about it as: karma is intention. Intention is karma.

Karma is only produced when there is an intention, which means if there is a bug on the carpet and you walk by and you don't notice the bug, you will not have the karma of having stepped on that bug. But if you intentionally go out of your way chasing that bug to step on it, there is intention there. So that intention gives rise to ill will, and that ill will is then experienced as the old karma of the hindrance of ill will in your meditation practice. So now we will talk about intention. This is from the Samyutta Nikaya 12.39. It's called the Dutiya Cetana Sutta, or the Second Discourse on Intention, at Savatthi. Because what one intends and what one plans, and whatever one has a tendency towards,

this becomes a basis for the maintenance of consciousness. When there is a basis, there is a support for the establishing of consciousness. So what one intends is one thing. What one plans is another. Whatever one has a tendency towards, this becomes a basis for the maintenance of consciousness. That's how consciousness continues. When there is a basis, there is a support. These are the supports: the intention, the planning, and the tendency, for the establishing of consciousness, for consciousness to come into nama-rupa.

With habitual tendencies as condition, birth. With birth as condition, aging and death. Sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair come to be. Such is the origin of this whole suffering, this whole mass of suffering. So intention is one thing, planning is another. Intention is having a goal. I want to get to the other side of the road. That's my intention: I intend to walk to the other side of the road. How do I do it? That's my planning: I take little steps from here to there. That is my planning. That is the process of planning.

The underlying tendency is the underlying tendency towards craving: that I intend to go there, I want to go there, I desire to go there, I crave to go there. That gives rise to the consciousness of being there, of becoming. That consciousness gets established and is supported by nama-rupa. So let's take this step further. Let's understand it from one life to the next life. When there is the dying process, as we've understood, certain things come to be in the mind. There are formations that arise, and these formations are conditioned by intention,

interdependent upon intention. I have an intention. I see a memory from my life and I intend to hold on to it, and I plan, I hope I still stay alive so I can relive that in reality, and my underlying tendency towards craving for that arises. That gives rise to a new consciousness, which is called the patisandhi vinnana, the evolving consciousness or the rebirth-linking consciousness. This consciousness arises and takes with it all of that to descend upon a new nama-rupa. With the establishing of that consciousness in the new nama-rupa, there is life. There is conception. There is birth.

So there is nama-rupa, and then there is the six sense base. Then there is contact in the womb. As there is contact, there is some kind of feeling and perception, which means there are already formations coming to be in the womb, in the fetus. That doesn't mean that as soon as you come out of the womb, that's when you are born and that's when formations start. Formations start in the womb.

So that means how the mother's consciousness is, how the mother takes things, has an effect on her biological system, which has an effect on the world of that being, which in that case is the womb. And so that fetus will react and respond accordingly, and certain formations will arise. Which means in the mind, or in the brain, of that being, the synapses that are there start to get pruned out, and certain synapses start to grow. Which means certain formations are strengthened, not to a large extent, because there's not much the fetus can do, but it's still taking in nutrients, it's still taking in the emotions and reactions and all of the things that are going on.

And then when it is born, it already has the underlying tendencies based on its experience in the womb. That's why the Buddha says, even when an infant is born, an infant doesn't have notions of right and wrong, doesn't have notions of the Dhamma, but yet it still has underlying tendencies, underlying tendencies to where it's craving, towards aversion, towards views, and so on.

Right? And so all of the reactions that it has from day one, as it comes out of the womb, are now formulating and conditioning the next arising of formations over and over and over again. And this is how this whole mass of suffering arises. The baby is in an unprotected state now. It was in the comfort of what it knew as its home for those last eight or nine months, or whatever it might be. But now it's somewhere else. And already it's like, I don't want to be here.

What happened? We lost the plot. But then it finds comfort in the mother, because now it recognizes, oh, this is the person that's been with me all this time. And then afterwards, there's other things that happen, other kinds of contact that arise, and so on, and still continues to give rise to certain feelings and craving and clinging and so on.

So that intention that arises in the baby is what? Be with the mother as long as I can do so. But it's helpless. It can't do much. So what can it do? It can cry. That's its intention. So already it knows inherently that if I cry, I'll get help. So there is the underlying tendency, there's the intention, and there's the planning. It all happens almost at once.

I'm going to intend to get my mother here. So how do I do that? I have to cry. So the underlying tendency arises, and I start crying, and here she comes. And all is well with the world. So that's the origin of the mass of suffering. Then the Buddha says, if bhikkhus, one does not intend, in other words you let go of any kind of intention, there's no goal, you let go of all expectations, and one does not plan, you let go of a certain directionality towards whatever it is that you want, you let go of volition.

I should just keep letting go. They let go of that. They let go of any intention. They don't make any steps. They just have total equanimity towards the life memory stream that arises, or the signs of destination and so on. But there can arise the underlying tendencies, which are deeply rooted in the mind. These underlying tendencies arise because certain reactions arise. Those reactions are rooted in ignorance and conceit. Even if they have destroyed the underlying tendency towards craving and aversion and the other ones, there can still be the underlying tendency towards conceit. They make the decision, I'm not going to do anything, and they hold on tightly to that sense of I. What happens? There's still fuel for birth, and that birth can be in the Anagami realms, the pure abodes, because they've let go, let's say, of the other underlying tendencies, but there's still that one underlying tendency present, along with ignorance and bhava.

But bhikkhus, when one does not intend, and when one does not plan, and one does not have a tendency towards anything, no basis exists for the maintenance of consciousness. When there is no basis, there is no support for the establishing of consciousness. When consciousness is unestablished and does not come to growth, there is no descent of name and form. With the cessation of name and form comes the cessation of the sixth sense basis and so on. such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering unestablished consciousness is also the name of anidasanam vinyanam the non-reflective consciousness that we were talking about earlier which is in the signless collectiveness of mind there is no intention there there is no planning there no underlying tendencies arise and in due course of time because of the lack of fuel

no more formations arise and then there is the cessation of all perception, feeling and consciousness so intention is that powerful having an intention for anything can give rise to craving for existence or existence in general but then the question is what about the intention for Nibbana you can incline the mind towards the path you can incline the mind towards nibbana but then you let it go it's like if you've ever done those spinning tops and you uh you have to kind of like wind it up the winding up is the intention and then you let it go and the top spins so the intention is setting a course for something, but you don't keep, like, looking all the time, every waking moment, where are we, what's going on.

Now the mind is on autopilot towards Nibbana. That's another great title. Autopilot towards Nibbana. There you go. Nibbana on autopilot. That's a good one. So don't get obsessed with the path. There's a difference between being obsessed and being dedicated. Being dedicated means you have the attention, and you have the mindfulness, and you have the intention to remain mindful. That doesn't result in any further existence.

But obsession is clinging to the path. Am I doing it right? Is this going on? Or how come I don't have enough equanimity? There's something going wrong. You know, all of these thoughts arise. These are all obsessions about everything has to be just right. Everything has to be perfect. Nothing is perfect. If I only did it this way, I would achieve Nirvana.

That's impossible. Because that, if I only did it this way, is craving. It means you're fighting with the existing reality as it actually is. You have to let go of that. Keep letting go, letting go, letting go, letting go. That's it. And don't get obsessed with, is this the right way of letting go? Or am I not letting go? Or am I not letting go? Then there is what is called the Anguttara Nikaya 3.77, Duthiya Bhavasutta, or On Existence.

So actually this is also about bhava, but it gives us an understanding of how formations can be fettered and so on. Then the Venerable Ananda approached the Blessed One and said to him, Bhante, it is said, existence, existence. In what way, Bhante, is there existence? If, Ananda, there were no karma ripening in the sensory realm, would sense-sphere existence be discerned?

No, Bhante. Thus, Ananda, for beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, karma is the field, consciousness the seed, and craving the moisture, for their volition and aspiration to be established in the sensual realm. In this way there is the production of renewed existence in the future. He says the same thing for the form realms and the formless realms. But it's an interesting question: were there no karma ripening in that realm, would that existence be discerned? No. In other words, karma is required for existence.

Everything we see arises due to karma. Everything that you have here, all of the galaxies, all of the realms, are produced by karma. For example, this is going to trip you guys out. When we talk about the expansion and contraction of the universe, when the universe expands, that's the time when beings come to be. Then it stops for a while, and then it contracts, and that's the time when it's ready to be destroyed. Creation is ready to be destroyed. Now there can be the destruction by

fire, by water and by air, as we talked about the other day. When that's happening, let's say it's the ultimate destruction, where it destroys everything from the hell realms all the way up to the third jhana realm. But there comes a point where it contracts to such an extent that all of that is contracted into a potentiality of karma.

In other words, all of the karma that was arising before turns into one singular potentiality. And it stays there for a little while. It's contracted for a little while. A little while means many, many Mahakappas, which is a lot of eons. And then when that time has run out, or that course of existence has run out, that potentiality of karma ignites again.

And so when that happens, it expands. And when it expands, that karma starts to create new realms: hell realms, the hungry ghost realm, whatever realms there are. It just starts to create all of those realms, and then according to that karma, beings come to be. So the potentiality of karma from a previous existence in a previous universe comes to be established, and new consciousnesses arise for the population of those realms, those recreated realms, according to what the karma is.

So if that karma had been established in unwholesome intentions, that will produce the circumstances and causes and conditions for new beings to be reborn in that particular place. And this happens over and over and over again. So we are in a cycle of so many. That's the macro level of karma, of how it produces existence and the realms for that existence to continue.

So, quite literally, everything is karma as a result of previous intentions and actions. Everything. On the micro level, when we talk about karma, what we're saying is the intention that beings have. If that intention is hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, then the volitions and the aspirations that come to be will give rise to further existences, further renewal of being, further renewal of behavior patterns, patterns of situations that we've met many times before in this life and other lifetimes, in situations and in people and in relationships and so on.

What does it mean when we say that the intention is hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving? And he talks about intention here, Chetana, which is interchangeably used, or synonymously used, with karmic formations. So when the intention or the formations are rooted in craving and ignorance, due to previously intended actions that were rooted in craving and ignorance, then that cycle of existence continues.

Then that pattern of behavior continues. Then those similar situations continue. Then those similar relationships continue. But realizing this, recognizing it, and letting it go bit by bit, what happens is, instead of renewing that karma by continually acting in the way that you did before, with the intentions that caused that situation in the first place, instead of doing all of that, and letting go of identifying, what happens is, even if that karma arises again, it will not be as effective.

It will not be as strong. And eventually, because your mind starts to incline towards continuing to let go, there's no fuel for that further existence of that same behavior pattern, that same person, or similar type of person, or the similar kinds of situations, or the similar kinds of relationships. Once that fuel is gone, that's it, that's the end of it. That's from a micro level, and a life level, as well as the macro level.

When he says, karma is the field, consciousness is the seed, and craving the moisture, for their volition and aspiration to be established in that realm, what is he talking about? Remember, the other day I talked about karma as seeds in the field. Here what we're saying is karma is the field, because literally all the realms are made up of karma or are a result of karma, and the consciousness that descends in there. If that consciousness has craving in it, if that consciousness is stained by one or more of the defilements that we talked about, then there is liability for the renewal of being through the volitional steps that we take and the aspirations that we have.

So there is the intention, which is the goal. There is the planning, which are the volitional steps that we take. And then there's the underlying tendency. By continually letting go, the underlying tendencies start to cease. So we stop taking personally the experiences, we stop identifying with those experiences. So the next arising of karma will just be seen for what it is, just an impersonal process.

And there won't be any energy given to it through our reactivity. So the field is basically karma. We are playing in this field of karma here. And the consciousness, which is our awareness as seed, as the seed to grow and to evolve, will not grow and evolve if the causes and conditions are not present. So on the macro level, what that means is from one lifetime to another, if the karma is the field, if all that we are experiencing, including the streams of life, memories, including the signs of destination, our karma is karma, our consciousness being the seed, if the moisture, the nutrification of the growth of that consciousness is the craving

and we do not attach to that with craving, then there will not be further growth of that consciousness. On the micro level, what that means is when our intentions and our formations remain purified of any kind of greed, hatred, or delusion, there is no more consciousness neutrified by any kind of craving, then nothing will grow. In other words, no new karma will arise, and that's why the delineation point is so important to understand between feeling and craving. The gatekeeper for that is mindfulness. Is attention. If you have proper attention

you can recognize when the mind starts to identify with that experience and let it go. When that happens, the intention remains unfettered, unhindered, unfettered from craving, unhindered from ignorance, and so whatever arises there will be whatever is required for that situation without adding further proliferation of karma. And all of that can be understood as simply as saying, just the 6R's. So that's what takes me to the understanding of old karma versus new karma. We talked about this the last time, but I'm going to get into more detail of why I want to talk about this.

So this is Samyutta Nikaya 35.146, Kamma Nirodha Sutta, the cessation of karma. Bhikkhus, I will teach you new and old karma, the cessation of karma, and the way leading to the cessation of karma. Listen to that and attend closely. I will speak. And what, bhikkhus, is old karma? The eye is old karma. To be seen as generated and fashioned by volition, as something to be felt. The ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, the mind are old karma. To be seen as generated and fashioned by volition, as something to be felt. This is called old karma.

So we already understand old karma is everything from formations all the way up to feeling. And what, bhikkhus, is new karma? Whatever action one does now by body, speech, or mind, this is called new karma. So that is just the activities that you do through mind, body, and speech with the intention. Now, if the intention is rooted in craving, it will give rise to further craving, clinging, and becoming, which are the ingredients for the proliferation and birth of new karma that is experienced as dukkha.

And what, bhikkhus, is the cessation of karma? When one reaches liberation through the cessation of bodily action, verbal action, and mental action, this is called the cessation of karma. So, in other words, ceasing bodily action rooted in intentions of craving. Ceasing verbal action rooted in intentions of craving. Mental action, ceasing mental action rooted in intentions hindered and fettered by ignorance and craving.

How do you do that? And what, bhikkhus, is the path leading to the cessation of karma? It is this noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration, that is encapsulated by the 6R's. Recognizing that the mind has an intention of craving or aversion, letting it go, relaxing the tightness and tension, bringing up a wholesome state by smiling, and staying there, and then letting wisdom guide you.

How does that wisdom develop? By continually following the path. Thus, bhikkhus, I have taught old karma, I have taught new karma, I have taught the cessation of karma, I have taught the way leading to the cessation of karma. Whatever should be done, bhikkhus, 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, bhikkhus. These are empty huts. Meditate, do not be negligent, lest you regret it later. This is our instruction to you. So if you just recognize and understand this one point, and keep your attention on the delineation point of whenever a mind starts to identify with an experience and attaches a sense of I, me, or mine to it, that is enough.

Because the more you do that, the more the mind whittles away at ignorance, craving, and conceit, the fuel for further existence and rebirth, the fuel for further renewal of karma, to be experienced in the form of repetitive behavioral patterns, similar kinds of situations and relationships and people. Now, I've said that everything is karma. I've said this field of karma is basically all of these realms, all of these galaxies, this entire universe, the expansion, contraction. I told you all of that. But in you knowing about that, how does it help you? It doesn't.

Just to blow your mind. And the reason I'm saying that is because then there is a tendency for the mind to kind of think, okay, I am experiencing this now. Why? How did this arise? What did I do in a past life that caused this karma? The mind starts to obsess over that. Well, we have an answer for that too. How do you deal with that? That is Sutta Samyutta Nikaya 36.21.

Moliya Sivaka Sutta. Don't try to blame karma for everything. That's my translation. On one occasion, the Blessed One was dwelling at Rajagaha in 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 doctrine and 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. What does Master Gautama say about this?

Likewise, some feelings here originate from phlegm disorders, from wind disorders, from an imbalance of the three, or produced by change of climate, produced by careless behavior, caused by assault, produced as a result of karma. That some feelings arise here produced as a result of any of these, one can know for oneself here and now, and that is considered to be true in the world. Now when those ascetics and Brahmins hold such a doctrine and 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, they overshoot what one knows by 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, Magnificent Master Gautama, from today let Master Gautama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life. And then there is an Udana here. It says: bile, phlegm, and also wind, imbalance and climate too, carelessness and assault, with karma's result as the eighth. So in other words, what he's saying is, while we understand everything is produced as karma, there's no point in trying to figure out what was the cause. It's like as if somebody shoots you in the leg and you try to figure out what was the manufacturer of the gun, what was the person's blood type, what was their genetic disorder, and all of these things that led them to shooting you in the foot.

Would it make more sense to figure out how to take the bullet out of your foot? So in other words, what makes sense is to figure out what is happening here and now in the present moment, and deal with the karma that you're dealing with here and now in the present moment. When he talks about bile, phlegm, and wind, he's really talking about different health conditions.

Now, you can do all kinds of things and ascribe it to saying, it was because I was so-and-so in that particular lifetime that I have this particular disorder. Is that going to help you solve it? You figure out what's going on with you right now. If you have a tummy ache, what do you do? Take some Pepto-Bismol.

Don't try to figure out, it was because I punched somebody in the stomach three lifetimes ago. Now, accidents can happen. Accidents. Somebody attacks you. Climate change. In terms of here, we are expecting sun to be there, sunshine and warmth to be there, and there's just mist and clouds everywhere. So karma should be understood in terms of here and now. What is going on here and now? And how do I deal with it here and now?

Anything else is just conjecture. Anything else is just trying to create theories and this and that. Better to just figure out what to do here and now. And how do you figure out what to do here and now? 6R's. Six R's are your intentions, if they're rooted in craving, conceit, or ignorance. Recognize it, let it go. Let spontaneous wisdom arise, which arises due to the cultivation of the path.

This is a very interesting sutta. This is called Anguttara Nikaya 4.171, Sancetanika Sutta, or Volition. And I've put it in parentheses, it's about the four acquisitions of personality and existence. Because when there is the body, then because of bodily volition, pleasure and pain arise internally. Let me say that again. Because when there is the body, then because of bodily volition, pleasure and pain arise internally.

When there is speech, then because of verbal volition, pleasure and pain arise internally. When there is mind, then because of mental volition, pleasure and pain arise internally, with ignorance itself as condition. So when pleasure and pain arise internally, it's because of some kind of bodily or mental or verbal intention. You intended to go somewhere, and in going there something happened to you.

It's maybe too hot and sunny. So you intended to go under the shade of a tree where it's cooler. And because of that intention, now you're experiencing coolness. Somebody is in conflict with you. With your intention, you start to add to that conflict by saying something in retaliation. Now you're causing yourself pain, displeasure. You think about something and you try to rationalize it with all kinds of irrational fears and thoughts, and you create a world in your own mind: this is what people think about me and this is what's going on. And what are you creating for yourself? Mental pain, or likewise mental pleasure, depends on what it is that you're doing.

Now, here is another one. Either on one's own, bhikkhus, one performs that bodily volitional activity conditioned by which pleasure and pain arise in one internally, or others make one generate that bodily volitional activity conditioned by which pleasure and pain arise in one internally. In other words, either you say or you think, it's better to go under that tree, and you go walk under that tree and experience the cool shade. Or someone's with you and says, hey, let's go there. So that's their own intention. They're saying let's go there, and you just follow suit and take cover under the tree. Either with clear comprehension one performs that bodily volitional activity conditioned by which pleasure and pain arise in one internally, or without clear comprehension one performs that bodily volitional activity conditioned by which pleasure and pain arise in one internally.

What is clear comprehension? This comes from the Pali word sampajanna, that means to know what it is that you're actually doing. It's the cousin of mindfulness, being attentive to what it is that you're doing. So either you can do it without attention or you can do it with attention or without attention. And so he says the same for verbal volitional activity and mental volitional activity. Then he says ignorance is comprised within these states. Why? Because when there is ignorance there is a lack of mindfulness or lack of awareness of the four noble truths, for one, and second

conceit can arise. But he says, with the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance, that body does not exist conditioned by which that pleasure and pain arise in one internally. That speech does not exist conditioned by which that pleasure and pain arise in one internally. That mind does not exist, conditioned by which that pleasure and pain arise in one internally.

That field does not exist. That field, that karma, that sight does not exist. That base does not exist. That location does not exist, conditioned by which that pleasure and pain arise in one internally. So what that means is, when ignorance is gone, that means no more craving for becoming, no more craving for not becoming, no more sensual craving, no more conceit, no more wrong views. All formations are unfettered, completely unfettered. All formations are unhindered. And so there is no basis in terms of renewal of karma there. So no basis for that experience to be taken personally, to be identified with.

So whatever arises is just an arising, is just an unfolding, nothing more. The mind and the six sense bases, the other five sense bases, feel it, and there's perception of that experience, but that volition and that intention remains pure, in the sense that it is purified of any ignorance, of any conceit, of any craving. So when he says that field does not exist, that site does not exist, that base does not exist, that location does not exist, conditioned by which that pleasure and pain arise in one internally.

He's saying whatever pain and pleasure do arise internally or externally arises without any underlying tendencies towards craving, towards aversion, towards ignorance, and the rest of that: that site does not exist, that location, that base, for the establishing of the renewed consciousness that takes part in the acquisition of further karma. There is only dissipation going on, no more continual proliferation. And then he says, because there are these four acquisitions of individuality or personality, what for? There is an acquisition of personality in which one's own volition operates, not the volition of others. That's the first one. There is an acquisition of personality in which the volition of others operates, not one's own volition. That's the second. The third is: there is an acquisition of personality in which both one's own volition and the volition of others operate

and there is an acquisition of individuality or personality in which neither one's own volition nor the volition of others operates. These are the four acquisitions of personality. What does that mean? Here's what it says. When this was said, the Venerable Sariputta said to the Blessed One, Bhante, I understand in detail the meaning of the statement that the Blessed One has spoken in brief to be as follows.

In the acquisition of personality in which one's own volition operates but not the volition of others, it is by reason of their own volition that beings pass away from that group. In that acquisition of individuality or personality in which the volition of others operates but not one's own, it is by reason of the volition of others that beings pass away from that group. So in other words, it doesn't have to be just passing away. What we're saying is, the volition of oneself, or your own volition, leads you to do something, to take some kind of action. Now, if you are in the office and you don't want to do something but you have to do it, it's because of the volition of another.

Somebody's making you do something. That's the action that you have to take. Now, will you take that personally, causing yourself suffering, or will you say, okay, that's just the process, and allow things to be? In the case of passing away, what he's saying is somebody lets go and passes away on their own. In the case of another's volition, that's plain and simple: somebody killing someone. That's what happens. In the acquisition of individuality in which both one's own volition and the volition of others operate, it is by reason of both one's own volition and the volition of others that beings pass away from that group. So now that's for passing away.

I'll get back to that briefly, but first let's understand your own volition and the volition of others. That's again using the example of taking on a project. You take on a project, it's your own efforts and the efforts of others. And over time that project continues, or it gets disbanded by the members of that project. And that volition can continue on from lifetime to lifetime to lifetime, and so those intentions can continue through the formations, giving rise to further rebirth of individuals who take on that particular project, or whatever it might be.

Now, in the case of someone passing away because of their own volition and the volition of another, it's them basically either sacrificing themselves, in the case of somebody trying to kill someone, or some example like that. But then Sariputta has an interesting question. He says, fine, you talk about these three, but what kind of devas should be understood as the acquisition of personality in which neither one's own volition nor the volition of others operate?

Before we talk about that part, let's talk about it in one life. Did you intend for it to be cloudy? Did anyone else here intend for it to be cloudy? I hope not. So, things like climate, things like disease, things like illnesses: you didn't intend that to happen, nor did someone else intend that on you. It just arose, and that's the new existence that you have to deal with. The imperative phrase here being dealing with it. How are you going to deal with it? Are you going to take it personally and cause yourself more suffering?

Or are you going to see it for what it is, get it resolved, and stop suffering? Stop identifying with it. So his question is, what kind of devas should be understood as those who arise by neither one's own volition nor the volition of others? They are, Sariputta, the devas of the base of neither perception nor non-perception. Interesting.

How do you get into neither perception or non-perception? Through the jhanas. How are you getting through the jhanas? Letting go. So what is the way to neither perception or non-perception? Letting go of all intention. Allowing the mind, when the causes and conditions are right, you let go of any intention and just let things arise. Allow things to happen.

Likewise for the signless state, you just keep letting go. So, the Buddha's answer is, or I should say Sariputta's question is, why is it, Bhante, that some beings who pass away from that group are returners, who come back to this state of being, while others are non-returners, who do not come back to this state of being? In other words, who are the agami, who come back to this state of being, which is this sense-based realms, the sense-based sphere? And those who are non-returners, anagamis, who don't come back to this state of being.

If they have that, they were liable to be reborn in any of the sensual heavens. If they don't have it, I should say. Let me go back. If a person does not destroy the fetters, the lower fetters, meaning they still have those lower fetters, and they continue to practice jhana, and they relish in that jhana, and they are strong in that jhana, and they attain that jhana upon death, then they will go to the corresponding Brahma Loka of that jhana.

But because the lower fetters are present, they are liable to come back to this world, or a world lower than this. Yeah, I'm getting to that now. But if somebody has destroyed the lower fetters, at least the first three fetters, and they enter jhana, and they relish jhana, and they master jhana, and they die in that jhana. They die while in that jhana, they are reborn in one of the brahma lokas corresponding to that particular jhana, but they will not return back to any of the central heavens or any of this earth plane.

even if they are a sotapanna or a sakadagami. Why? Because, what are the five lower fetters? Belief in a personal self, doubt in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, clinging to rites and rituals. Those are the first three fetters. What are the two fetters after that? Sensual craving and ill will, sensual craving and aversion. What happens when you are in a jhana?

No hindrances. That includes sensual craving and aversion. So if you are a sotapanna or a sakadagami and you continue to practice jhana and your mind inclines towards that jhana, it will go to whatever corresponding Brahma Loka is there. But it won't be liable to come back to the human realm or any of the six sensual heavens. From there it continues on until it attains arahatship. This is the jhanagami. So keep practicing, guys.

And the reason I'm telling you all this is to understand intention, rebirth and karma. When you continue to practice jhana, what you are effectively doing is letting go of all of those intentions that are rooted in greed, hatred, and delusion, that are rooted in sensual craving, rooted in aversion, rooted in doubt, rooted in sloth and torpor, rooted in restlessness.

And the more you do that, it translates into a daily life circumstance where you don't have those present in your life, or you have very few of those present in your life, or when they do arise you can deal with them with mindfulness and the 6R's. So here's another reason why you should use the 6R's in everyday life. It allows you to dissipate karma and not proliferate new karma. And it allows you to strengthen your mindfulness, strengthen your enlightenment factors, allows you to be in a jhanic state in whatever it is that you're doing, or allows you the causes and conditions, I should say, that can get you to a jhanic state with the right intention.

So that's all I have for karma. We'll talk about consciousness a little bit. When we talk about consciousness, we also see that in some suttas, they talk about the interdependencies between consciousness and nama-rupa, consciousness and mentality, materiality. What they're saying here is that in order for mentality and materiality to be experienced or to be active, you require consciousness.

But in order for consciousness to be understood, you need mentality, materiality. So in other words, I left my phone in my room. Let's say I have my phone. That's the nama-rupa, and the wi-fi signal is consciousness. But in order for me to access the internet, the wi-fi, I require the phone, but for my phone to have internet it requires a wi-fi signal. So you need both a medium and the energy for that medium.

So consciousness is dependent for its survival on nama-rupa, mentality-materiality. But in order for you to understand mentality-materiality, you need consciousness, you need awareness of that. And that's why it's talked about in Majjhima Nikaya 43, where there is feeling, there is perception, where there is perception there is consciousness. These three run around each other. So when we talk about infinite consciousness as a jhana or as an ayatana, what we are actually saying is we are seeing contact, contact, contact, contact, contact. There's contact going on all the time, because remember, what contact is, contact is three things

the sense base, the sense base object, and the sense-based consciousness that arises dependent upon the two. And how does contact arise? Dependent upon the six sense bases. Those six sense bases are dependent upon nama-rupa. And I told you that nama-rupa, or nama I should say, is contact, feeling, perception, intention, and attention. These correspond with the five aggregates.

and consciousness arises, or flows, wherever attention goes. So if there is attention being given to something, there is contact there, and that's how consciousness flows. So what you are experiencing at the level of infinite consciousness is internal mental contact that is constructing an experience in the mind. So you are feeling it, you are perceiving it, and you are understanding that there is contact going on here.

So to answer your question about where in the scheme of jhanas are we experiencing the links of dependent origination, at infinite consciousness you are experiencing consciousness, nama, and contact along with feeling and perception. And then as you get into neither perception nor non-perception, or I should say when you get into nothingness, there is still contact there, there is still feeling there, there's still perception there, there's still attention there, and all of those things are present.

But now what you're seeing is nothingness. Nothingness is now the background of the mind. But then what happens when you are in neither perception or non-perception? So here is the shortcut to neither perception nor non-perception. Letting go of all intention to pay attention. In other words, don't do anything. And then there is something called the Jeevat Indriya.

So the Jeevat Indriya is translated as the life faculty. And this life faculty comes along with heat, the vitality and heat that is still present when you are in cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness. That's why the question arises: what's the difference between a dead body and somebody in cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness? The difference is there is heat and vitality in one who is in cessation and there is no heat and vitality in a dead body.

So that vitality, that life faculty, is essentially life energy that keeps sustaining whatever is arising in the body. Now the problem is people can mistake that for the soul or for consciousness. It's just heat and vitality dependent upon external causes and conditions, and vice versa. And this heat and vitality are also dependent upon the ayu-sankharas. These are called life formations.

They are the telomeres that allow the body to do whatever it is that it's doing for a certain set amount of time. So in the process of one lifetime to the next lifetime, what is going on? The patisandhi link, that is the linking consciousness, goes from one life to the next. And that creates the opportunity for heat and vitality to arise.

So these three, again, are interdependent: heat, vitality, and consciousness. That life consciousness is dependent upon heat and vitality, and that heat and vitality is dependent upon that life consciousness. So that's the macro level, and then the micro level is feeling, perception and consciousness. And then I will finish up with understanding anidassana vinnana, the non-reflective consciousness that we've been talking about all this time. I'm going to touch upon it a little bit because we'll be talking about Nibbana and Nirodha tomorrow, and there will be more exploration about it. But anidassana vinnana is basically, it means, Nidassana actually means image or to look at something. Nidarsana in Sanskrit. Anidarsana means not to look at something, or no reflection,

or non-manifestive. And vinnana, there is consciousness. Now, it's been misinterpreted that this consciousness is independent, which means that this consciousness doesn't arise in any of the six sense bases. That's not the case here. Anidassana vinnana is a consciousness where there is no object being taken. So this is referring again to the signless collectedness of mind. And there are gradations of the signless collectedness of mind as well. You can know to some extent that you are in the signless collectedness of mind, or the level of knowing, the level of cognition starts to decline, which means the mind is sinking towards full-blown cessation. But that is called anidassana vinnana, which is dependent upon, not independent, dependent upon formations for it to arise.

And what are those formations? They can be formations rooted in greed, hatred and delusion, and conceit. Or, in the case of one fully awakened, those formations are just formations that are ayu-sankharas dependent upon the heat and vitality. That's it. And so there is only these six sense bases, and the heat and vitality, and that consciousness there. That is the supreme voidness that we were talking about, the taintless supreme voidness.

Thus ends the talk. Any questions? Last night, I asked about karma, and I still have confusion this morning, and it caused agitation. In this manifestation, that old karma is manifesting according to constant condition. Some of that karma can be from one, two, three, many lifetimes ago, manifesting now. To me, my mind thinks the hard drive you spoke about last night is somehow attached to something. But of course the five aggregates are impermanent. It can't be attached to anything. How does it know that a kamma is, conditions are correct, it's ready to bear fruit? How does it not give Don the comic reaction? How does it know that it finds Pat six length times later to apply, you know what I'm saying?

I know that's wrong, but I can't, my mind won't look at it. At least there's something, some way that there's some mechanism that keeps track of. No, there's no karmic tracker. Yeah. I'm going to ask him that, you know. Yeah. This kind of one card here, what is that person manifesting as? Yeah. Or something, how does that mechanism work? Yeah.

I can only tell you, I can only speak about it in that analogy of the seeds, right? Certain seeds will come to fruition based on what nutrients are available, and if those causes and conditions are not available, then that karma will not bear fruit. But I would also say that it's the intensity of the intention behind the action that creates some form of vibration throughout samsara. So it actually does create a vibration throughout samsara, but that doesn't mean it affects everything that is there in samsara directly. It might affect it indirectly. But how does it know to go there? Because there is a stream or a flow of karma. If you were to see this entire room right now with the divine eye, you would see all kinds of criss-crossing intersections of streams of light here, there, everywhere, and those continue to flow.

And when the causes and conditions are right for that, the karmic seed bears fruit and there is the arising of that. So I should say, not everyone, because I want to make sure that you understand that this is not some kind of soul that has an imprint of karma. What it means is that everybody here is always carrying their karmic baggage, so to speak, but that baggage is not always full.

It can be packed and repacked, depending upon intentions. So how does it flow? It's the intention that is the magnet that attracts what karma will come to be. And so if the intention is not there, and other causes and conditions are not present, then that karma won't come to be. And sometimes, like we saw in this sutta, the other sutta, it might not be your intention, it might be another's intention, but those causes and conditions are ripe enough for you to experience that karma. Because those causes and conditions create the attraction for that karma to come to be.

So if you look at the universe, if you look at samsara, it's a little bit like that there. You see that those crisscrossing lines, it's like that, all kinds of vibrations and intersections going on. But how does it know? If you say how does it know, it implies that there is somebody there who's taking, keeping track of this. It doesn't. It might happen and it might not happen. It might be and it might not be. This is a statement that's used by the Buddha to denote how to get into certain states of mind, and the reason is because it can only happen when the causes and conditions are right. Yeah, exactly, a blockchain. That's a good way of putting it. YouTube algorithm.

There you go. Yeah, all of a sudden, a video comes up that I'd watched a year ago on the subject, and it's like, where did they come from? Yeah. It's completely unrelated, but you did watch it a long time ago. Yeah, yeah. It comes out of the blackness of the algorithm. Yeah. So it's a combination of algorithms and blockchains. That's how karma comes to you. That's what I'm going to get to tomorrow. And I have another question. You talked about these vocabic connections and these streams, and just talking a little bit about the Hindu, is that the same as the Indra's net that is used in the Indian mythology?

Similar to it, similar to it. A day or two ago you had used an analogy of karma and a data package being transferred, and you had mentioned that it's possible that some of these files could be corrupt, so that karma, those corrupt files, would not be passed on, right? So could you elaborate a little more on that? That's— Yeah. So when I say, using the analogy of corrupt files, what that means is the karma is basically so weak or destroyed upon stream entry.

In other words, there could have been karma that could have led you to a lower realm. But upon stream entry, those files become corrupted and are not able to be transferred. Just to share an analogy to illustrate what you're saying, if somebody hasn't seen yet, what is called Conway's Game of Life. I think it's very similar. You have a bunch of pixels, and you have some rules that determine which pixel will die from one frame to the other. Separate rules, and what you see is things appearing, disappearing, seems to be chaos, but sometimes we'll see a creature appear, and it will crawl. So where does it come from? It's mysterious, but it seems to be .

- Yeah. I just want to check my understanding. Um, so it seems like if someone understands karma, they will understand that it's an impersonal process, and is it understanding that it's a personal process can also help lead to this enchantment in this passion? Um, and so again, checking my understanding: all of us in this room are here because of our karma, whatever it is, doesn't matter that we're here now. And I was thinking, you know, if I defend someone or don't defend someone, that's karma too, but then I thought no, because we have free will. So I'm a free choice of source, right? So I'm here because of my karma, but whether how I react to someone, right, is kind of up to me. Um, maybe I'm someone who came here with, like, my formations, maybe have a lot of anger, right? My formation is clearly, have a, you know, preference for strawberry ice cream, right? So, you know, he had the last scoop. I have formations of anger. I feel like we're experiencing rebirth now

over and over and over. So, um, the incorrect view of karma would say, well, you know, umero has angular disformations, that's his, you know, from karmic residual from who knows when. And so if he gets upset and goes after, you know, Jordan, then, you know, what to do? You know, like no one's responsible here, because that's just her karma. But the correct view would be, no, um, we might only hear because of the karma, but, you know, like, see him have the last scoop of ice cream, I might experience the anger, right, the painful thought, but I, sick song, and even though the karma that I inherited

I quote-unquote inherited is impersonal. Like, I didn't ask to be angry or, yeah, strawberries or anything like that, right? Um, I'm almost like a just a steward of the karma to keep it going in a wholesome direction, if you will, right? Just keep it flowing in that wholesome direction and stay out of the unwholesome. That's the choice I have. But that I am in this particular stream, if you go, is not up to me. That's a personal, that we're all in these streams and bumping into each other, that's, yeah, not up to any of us. Yeah, does that make the correct understanding? That's a good understanding. Uh, there was a question in the back, and then

I might have misheard it, but I thought yesterday you mentioned that in consciousness there are some taints, and I thought the taints are already kind of coded at the formation level. I didn't hear you mention anything about the taints in the consciousness topic today. So I was just wondering, did I mishear it, or...? No, that's right. I was talking about the defilements in consciousness. That's right. So, I mean, that's implied here: that if the formations are fettered and hindered, then the consciousness is liable to be defiled by one of the upakilesas, one of the defilements rooted in one of the three roots of greed, hatred, or delusion.

Yeah, there's one, and then one here. Is that an akusala? Akusala mula, yeah. I don't remember what the quantum physics theory is, but the idea that there's, maybe it's multiplicity, but there's, say, five of us, and each of the five of us has degrees of behavior. Where is all this fitting to something like that, or does it? Can you expand that a little bit more? The idea that there are ten Andrews simultaneously happening. Oh, I see. One place at one time. Yeah. What are you just saying, like, different versions? Yeah, different versions of yourself. Multiverse. Multiverse, in a sense, yeah.

So, I would say that the Buddha talks about different kinds of world systems. He talks about a 10 world system, a 100 world system, a 10,000 world system, and a 10,000 times 10,000 world system. That's a lot. But he could have referred to them as galaxies. But he also says that in each of these systems are their own Brahmas, their own Devas, and their own Maras, and all other kinds of beings.

That might point to the multiplicity that you're talking about. But regardless, there might be another Andrew out there who has nothing to do with you. He's living out his own karma. This is a little bit of a silly question, but it just rattles through my head a little bit. So you go up into the Himalayas and go into the cessation for six days, and walk around for a minute, and go back into the cessation. So if heat and vitality are necessary to keep the body alive, and you're not eating, what gives?

Well, it says up to seven days, so that's why I tried six days, just to be safe. And then on the seventh day I was eating, so it came to maintain the metabolism, maintain the heat and vitality. Let's find out. Do you guys want me to find out, or no? Okay. All right.

I think that's it. Oh, you have a question. Yeah. Great. Could you define consciousness, attention, and awareness? Yes. Okay. So, consciousness is the spotlight. And attention is where the spotlight is going. And looking at what is in that spotlight is awareness. One last question, and then we get to go. We mentioned a lot of intention. If it's not there, then karma won't be there. What would happen if you have a good intention? You know, like intention, want to help someone, want to lessen their suffering. Would that be a better karma than a bad intention? Or it doesn't matter what type of intention and they just let go of all? No, that's a better karma. Definitely, it's good to do.

But it could still lead to a rebirth. The only way it won't is if you don't identify with it. If you take away the conceit from it. One last question. And then that's it. The final thing. What if you have an intention, it has a little craving in it, but you could not do it, and you know it's not going to add up to anything important, but it is benign, you won't hurt anybody, does that make another part of it? No, because you don't act on it. Oh, but if you do, making things, cooking something, or art, or music, or something, you have an idea to make this.

But there's no craving in that. That's not craving. You'd want to make it. But wanting is not craving. Oh, how goody. That's crazy. Not wanting in the back, you can go on here. May suffering ones be suffering free, and the fear-struck fearless be. May the grieving shed all grief, and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired, for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas of mighty power, share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation.