Talk 6 -Bhava (Being) - Dependent Origination with Delson Armstrong-4K

Today we're going to talk about bhava. If you don't already know, what we're doing is going backwards in the sequence of dependent origination. We started with dukkha, and understood what dukkha is. We went into birth, the macro level of birth, the different kinds of births, the different factors that lead you to these different births, and the psychological manifestations of that in the human realm. And now we're going to talk about bhava. Bhava is one of the more challenging links to understand because there's so much going on there. A bhava can be translated as existence, can be translated as being or becoming, or habitual tendencies, and bhava is actually very crucial to understand in terms of how karma is produced, how the sense of self arises, and how to recognize it. So I'm going to show you today, or walk through, all of the different factors that lead to that point of bhava, which is just before any kind of karmic action is produced. I've taken some excerpts from the bhava book, and we'll go over that. First we'll go over what the definition of bhava is.

So bhava comes from the root bhu in Sanskrit, which means becoming, being, existing, the origin of cause, or production. Bhava, depending on context and usage, can mean these things and more. So bhava can be understood as a process of coming into existence, of production, and of coming into birth. It's not a stationary effect but a dynamic process, much like the rest of the links of dependent origination. It is the process of becoming something, and therefore it is the intermediary between the karmic fuel from craving, clinging and conceit, and there, and the output of that fuel as birth into a new existence, or the birth of mental, verbal and physical actions. Bhava can also mean the acquisition, accumulation or possession of something, which is why it can also be referred to as the storehouse of tendencies.

And that's what we're going to look at. It's important to clarify: there is a difference between the word bhava and bhava. See, there's bhava and bhava. Bhava denotes an emotion or some kind of affective disposition. It can also mean character, and sometimes bhava is used to mean intent. In usages outside of the Pali canon, but within the suttas, bhava is used in conjunction with other words to mean having become something, such as attabhava, meaning having become a self. So in that context, bhava is also where your self is strongest. Your sense of self is strongest, right? So what that means is, before you act, before you do anything, there is a series of firing of neurons, let's say, and synapses that are going on, and it creates all kinds of chain reactions.

And these chain reactions are the links of dependent origination. So, set on by contact, your mind, your sense bases, make contact with something that feeds back into the formations that arise, the sankharas. Those formations then give rise to a kind of cognition of how you view the world. That's the vinnana. I'll talk about that as we continue. But that vinnana can be defiled. That is to say, it can be affected, it can be stained, it can be tainted with certain kinds of afflictive states. And if that's the case, it can affect the way you interact with the world. It affects the way you view the world, and it affects the way you behave with others.

So when the feeling arises, whenever there is an experience of something, how you take that experience will determine what happens. If you identify with that experience, it's going to lead you into craving, which means you tighten up around that, and you say, I like this, or you say, I don't like this, or you say, I am this. And because of that, it gives rise to clinging. We'll explore clinging tomorrow, but clinging is basically that part of dependent origination which digs its heels into something: I am right, therefore I am this way. And if you find in your mind something like, I want this, or I like this, because that, because, that rationale that's there in the mind is the clinging that happens.

It says, I am right because I've studied this and I know exactly what I'm talking about, and so on. Or, I like this kind of music because I grew up listening to it. Or, I have this certain kind of view because of whatever so-and-so. So it's a process of further personalizing the situation, the choice, the experience, whatever it may be, which then gives rise to the word therefore. I am so-and-so. That word therefore, I am so-and-so, is the bhava. That's where you say, I am this or I am that. And when you say that, what comes to play are all of these habitual tendencies. There are these storehouses of habitual tendencies that arise, that your mind automatically inclines towards. You have a set series of choices of how you can react or respond to whatever is

arising. And if you decide to choose one of those, and they are rooted in some kind of kilesa, that is to say they're rooted in an unwholesome root, if they are defiled by the upakilesas, those are the defilements, and if they are affected by the underlying tendencies, then you choose those habitual tendencies, or you choose from those habitual tendencies, that then projects out some kind of an action.

So what that means is, does that mean bhava is inescapable? It doesn't mean that bhava is inescapable. What it means is that bhava is the most crucial step before the production of karma. So if you can pay attention to the factors that lead to the becoming, before it's too late, before you actually produce the action, then it takes you to the cessation of karma, which means there is no birth of action and there is no dukkha. So what does it mean when I say bhava is a storehouse? If jati, or birth, is the released arrow, then bhava is the state in which the arrow is drawn just before it is released. It's the trigger point.

The pressure of the undrawn arrow is bhava, in which is contained all of the karmic forces that are ready to push out an action in the form of expression. Bhava can be understood at many levels, primarily as a state of existence from one life to the next, or from one moment to the next. And it is one of the links in which many feedback loops can be seen. So when I say feedback loops, we see dependent origination as linear. Ignorance leads to formations. Formation leads to consciousness. Consciousness leads to nama-rupa. Nama-rupa leads to contact. Contact leads to the sixth sense basis, or the other way around. Contact leads to feeling. Feeling leads to craving. Craving leads to clinging. Clinging leads to becoming, right?

And then becoming leads to some kind of an action. But before all that happens, what's actually going on is there's a lot of feedback systems going on. So when the contact arises, it gives rise to further formations that allow you to feel a certain way, or feel and perceive a certain way. And the consciousness arises in tandem to that contact, and that colors what it is that you're seeing. Then when the experience happens, there can be an underlying tendency in that experience if the mind identifies with that experience. In other words, if it's a pleasurable feeling, if it's a pleasant feeling, then the underlying tendency that arises can be the underlying tendency towards craving. If it's a painful feeling, the underlying tendency that can arise is the underlying tendency towards aversion.

If it's a neutral feeling, what can arise is the underlying tendency towards ignorance. If you have views about what it is that you're experiencing, then there can be underlying tendencies towards views, towards doubt, towards bhava, towards conceit. And if the mind acts on them, if the mind starts to gravitate in that direction, then there is full-blown craving, the tanha. That tanha is thirst. It literally means to be thirsty. It means the mind is just wanting something that bad, right? It's just, if I don't have it, the world will not be right. If I don't have it, I will not be happy. Or, if this is still in my life, I cannot be happy. That's the aversion.

Or, I'm digging my heels in and saying, no, this is me. This is who I am. That's also part of craving. And then, when the clinging arises, the clinging, the upadana, there it's creating associations, rationales of this. I like this, or I want this, or I am this, or I don't like this, I don't want this, I'm pushing this away because of so-and-so, just whatever that is. And it can be an irrational rationale. It doesn't have to make sense at all, but in your mind it does make sense, because that sense of self is still steaming ahead.

Then the karmic force of all of that, that's coming in the Kilesas, the Upakilesas, the underlying tendencies, all tendencies and all of that, when they come together, they all accumulate in bhava. And they accumulate in the form of different inclinations that can arise. So the inclination to act a certain way, for example, if you have associated the color red with something negative in your life as soon as you see the color red there is a trigger and your mind automatically inclines towards having aversion towards it towards speaking out against it towards acting out against it so the bhava are all of these psychological tendencies psychological tendencies that cause you to behave in a certain

way this is the whirlpool of all of your different behavioral patterns and now the key is to understand what those patterns are so you can break them and there's a way to break them as well first and foremost you have to first recognize what those patterns are once you recognize them you have to understand how to let go of them when you let go of them and relax you then have to replace those tendencies replace those different factors with their antidotes instead of creating a vacuum where something else come can come in so it's a process of replacing unwholesome states afflictive states with wholesome states with states that are beneficial to the mind that uplift the mind, that cause the mind to intend or think, speak and act in a way that is in accordance with the path, in accordance with whatever is right for that situation.

And what that means is it doesn't cause one's self-harm and it doesn't cause another any intended harm. That's how you know it's the right action or the right speech. As I've just said, I'll just repeat here through these words: as the karmic stream of intention drives forward, formations that activate consciousness establish into a sense of bhava, this word meaning both a life form or sense of self and the state of being or becoming. From here, karma ripens and action is taken. Bhava is that which stores the effects of clinging and craving, as well as conceit and ignorance. And while at the macro level, it drives forward the birth of a being through conception, on the micro level, it pushes out an action at the level of birth.

While this happens, the energy of the bhava, the energy of the becoming, the inclination, feeds back to its precedents. The asavas or taints, abhisankharas or fettered formations, fettered vinnana or consciousness, all of which have within them the karmic momentum of the underlying tendencies as well as the defilements spawned from the unwholesome roots. So dependent origination is basically karmic momentum. That's what it is. It's the karmic momentum driving forward. It starts with the asavas. The asavas are called taints, or defilements, or intoxicants, or fermentations of the mind, things like that. And within the context of understanding, there are three different types of asavas.

So I think it's important for you guys to really make note of this, because it will help you later on. As I'm talking about these different things, I'll tell you when to note them down, because you will then have a collection. There will be the taints, the formations, the defilements, and the underlying tendencies. Later on, after we take our break, we'll go into a breakout session, so we'll have groups of three. I mean, three groups will get together and start to understand the different things that happen. There's a worksheet that will be offered to you where you will see the different kinds of emotions that arise and how they are rationalized in the links of craving, clinging, becoming and all of those other links. Then you can discuss the different kinds of bhava and see where each one lies: where is the underlying tendency, where are the formations or where are the roots in those formations, where are the defilements in that consciousness, and then what is the bhava that arises that gives rise to a certain action.

So this will help clarify, through that particular discussion you have amongst yourselves, how that works. We won't have any questions at the end of this session, but we'll have questions at the end of the day, as we did yesterday. So you'll have time to ask whatever questions you have related to bhava. Having said all of that, let me get into the list of the taints. So you have the taint of sensual desire, you have the taint of becoming, and you have the taint of ignorance. The way to understand these taints is that they are the coding for the software. They are the ones and zeros of the matrix that create how you view the world, even before you actually view it.

It is a projection, or they are projections, of how the world seems to a mind that is already rooted in craving, conceit, and ignorance. So these taints are like the beginning of the stream before it continues. That's why they're called inflows or outflows. They're the micro little molecules or atoms that start to build up this whole process of creation. And that process of creation is happening in your mind. The world that you experience, the world that you see, is through these six sense bases. How you take that, how you perceive that, is dependent upon whether or not these taints are present. So when we talk about the taint of sensual desire, we're talking about the taint which causes the mind to project and say, how does this benefit me?

How does this benefit me as the six sense basis? So in other words, when the mind identifies with the six sense basis, the eye is me, the ear is me, the nose is me, the tongue is me, the body is me, the mind is me, or I am these things, or whatever other kinds of views that arise in relation to either the five aggregates or the six sense basis. And because of that, when the mind identifies with them, it says, this is very pleasing to me, when it's actually just pleasant to the eye. This is pleasing to me, when it's actually just pleasing to the ears or to any of the six sense bases. And when that happens, it leaves a trace, and that trace feeds back to the next arising of the taint.

When the mind identifies with the six sense basis and with the sensual experiences, that process of identifying creates a residual effect. That residue is the next arising of further taints of sensual desire. Then you have the taint of becoming, that is also known as bhavasava. So the first, the taint of sensual desire, is known as kamasava. The taint of becoming is bhavasava. Bhavasava means that there is a desire to be something, there is a desire to become something. Whether it's unwholesome or wholesome, there's still a process of identification going on. When the mind makes contact, or the six sense bases make contact with whatever experience is happening, naturally the mind will say, I like this, or I don't like this.

It just decides, I like it, or I don't like it, or this feels good to me, or this feels good, or it feels bad to me, or I am this. That part of the mind that says, I am this, or there is an I present there, can then give rise to the craving for existence, or the craving for non-existence. It says, I want more of this, or I want to become this, or I don't want to become this. So all of the intentions that are present in the mind, based on all of the conditioning that the mind has grown up with. If you grew up in a certain kind of family with a certain set of values, based on those values, you will behave a certain way.

And you will either want to continue that status quo of continuing those traditions. Or you'll say, I don't like this. I don't want this. And you'll have the desire not to become. And you'll say, I want to introduce a new set of standards, a new set of values. This is one way of understanding the desire to be or the desire not to be. And there's nothing wrong in them inherently. But what should be understood is how the mind clings to that.

If it doesn't happen the way you set out things to be, how does the mind react to it? That's what's important. If the mind is agitated by it, then you know there is a desire to become. There is a bhavatanha, as it's called, the desire to be, the craving for existence. And when that is present, again there is a residual effect. That residue is the taint of becoming, which arises in the next arising of the links of dependent origination. And then we have the taint of ignorance. What is ignorance here? Ignorance is not realizing and understanding the four noble truths, and that can mean different things. That can mean ignoring the four noble truths, that can mean not knowing about the four noble truths as well. Have you guys heard of the four kinds of competencies: unconsciously incompetent, consciously incompetent, consciously competent, and unconsciously competent?

These are the levels of competencies that you go through. So you don't know that you don't know. That's one level of ignorance. Never introduced to the Four Noble Truths, so how would you know about them? But then you know that you don't know. You realize, oh, you never heard of these four noble truths, and little by little you try to apply the four noble truths. But there are times when you have slip-ups, and this is because of the taint of ignorance. You forget, that's what it is. You forget to apply the four noble truths. You forget to be able to see the four noble truths in every moment. Eventually you make the effort, you six are, and now you become consciously competent of how to apply the four noble truths.

And then when all the taints are destroyed, you become unconsciously competent. It becomes automatic, just like that. So here, when we talk about ignorance, practically speaking, what that means is it's a lack of mindfulness, a lack of attention. But what kind of mindfulness? What is the definition of mindfulness? Remembering to observe how mind's attention moves from one thing to the other. So being mindful in every moment and understanding where mind's presence is.

Is it towards the wholesome or is it towards the unwholesome? Is it identifying or is it not identifying? Is it taking things personally or is it seeing things as they actually are? This is in tandem with what I call attention rooted in reality. This is my translation of the word yoniso manasikara, very simply put, that means proper attention. What does that mean? Attention given to the reality of the situation: that this is not me, this is not mine, this is not myself. That is dependent upon seeing that this isn't worth holding on to. Yes, it can be experienced if it's a wonderful thing, if it's wholesome and if it's pleasant, but don't hold on to it. Just experience it fully in that moment, without the sense of I, being able to experience everything fully without the sense of this is me, this is mine, this is myself. This is the essence of the Bahiya Sutta: in the seeing there is only the seen, in the hearing there is only the heard, in the sensing there is only the sensed. In the cognizing, there is only the cognized.

This is what happens when you apply the Four Noble Truths and see in every moment just an experience. There's no experiencer. It's just a process of experiencing. There's no meditator. It's just a process of causes and conditions coming together through an intention. Meditation that creates the process of meditation. A couple of days ago, when you guys were doing that guided meditation, if you apply it in the way that you're applying it, you will find that your mind comes to a point where there is absolute stillness, beyond just quietness, beyond just quiet mind. It's just, lack of a better word, pure awareness.

It's just this resting in pure clarity. There's no doer there, there's no sense of self there, there's no mine, me, myself there. It's just that process going on, it's just the experience going on, no experiencer. And the more you rest in that, well, who is resting, right? The more there is resting going on in that, the more subtle afflictive states start to release, start to release on their own because no fuel is being given to them, and eventually everything ceases. So ignorance is lack of mindfulness, lack of attention, which translates to not seeing that this is not me, this is not mine, this is not myself. But every time the mind ignores the truth of the moment, every time the mind is unable to see clearly, it has a residual effect, and that residue is the taint of ignorance in the next arising of the links of dependent origination.

Now, Sariputta has said in Majjhima Nikaya 9, Samadhiti Sutta, that it is the right view that the link of ignorance is dependent upon the asavas, and the asavas are dependent upon the link of ignorance. Why is that? Because all of these three taints arise due to that lack of mindfulness in any case. Why? Because let's talk about the taint of sensual desire. When the mind identifies with the sixth sense basis and identifies with the experience, pleasant, painful, or neutral, what is it doing? It's ignoring the four noble truths. It's not seeing the reality of the situation. It's taking things personally. It's identifying with them. And so it will give rise to whatever taint is there, because there is ignorance in there.

When there is a desire to become and there's a craving for existence, the same thing. And when there is a general lack of mindfulness, the same thing. So that gives rise to ignorance, and that ignorance conditions the arising of formations. Now, when we talk about formations, that are sankhara, what does sankhara mean? Sankhara means to create something, to cook up something, to bubble up. For those of you who go into quiet mind, you will notice in either perception or non-perception there are these little proto-thoughts that arise. They're not fully formed thoughts. They are the beginning points of some kind of construction of a thought, and those are the formations. The formations can be related to mental feeling, perception. They can be related to verbal, that is expression of speech, and to body, that is inhalation and exhalation and other functions of the body.

There's also what's known as ayu-sankharas. Ayu-sankharas are essentially those sankharas that determine longevity, or a condition of longevity. So you could liken them to telomeres, right? They allow you to know how long this body is going to last based on the length of the telomeres. So these sankharas arise whether or not you're fully awakened, but there's a difference in the fully awakened mind, because there's no condition of ignorance, because there's no asavas going on, no taints going on. Those formations are set to be purified of the kilesas, purified of the unwholesome roots, and so they are just plain and simple facilitators or carriers of kamma. That's where they're also called karmic formations. They just allow the facilitation of kamma to arise when the proper causes and conditions come into play. But in the case of somebody not fully awakened, they are known as abhisankharas, fettered formations. They are formations that are rooted in the unwholesome.

And so these fettered formations are rooted in greed, hatred, and delusion. Greed, hatred, and delusion. Greed is the root through which all kinds of defilements can arise: attachment, jealousy, craving, sensual craving, craving for existence, and so on and so forth. Hatred is the root through which ill will can arise, aversion can arise, anger can arise, resentment can arise. And delusion is the root through which ignorance can arise: carelessness, conceit, taking things personally. So when these formations are rooted in any of these, what happens next? There arises a vinnana, consciousness. There is a sutta, I'm going to just take an excerpt from it, because first we have to understand what the word vinnana is. Vinnana can be synonymous with the word chitta and the word mana. Jnana means knowledge; the is to divide that knowledge is divided between the sixth sense spaces, or amongst the sixth sense spaces. That's why you have eye consciousness, your consciousness, knows consciousness, and so on and so forth.

Chitta means mindset. Chitta is a collection of similar patterns of thought that create a certain kind of consciousness. Mano is the part of the mind that is part of mentality. That's the process through, that's the faculty through which the processes of contact, feeling, perception, intention, and attention can arise. Now, this is how they can mean three different things, but this is how they can also be used synonymously to mean one and the same thing. So what we're saying is this chitta, or this vinnana, or this mano, which is consciousness, can also be cognition, the bare awareness of something. How do you cognize something? How do you see something? How do you become aware of something?

So if the formations are fettered by greed, hatred, and delusion, then the consciousness can be further defiled. And that's what I'm going to talk about now. They are called upakilesas, defilements. So now you can write these down. There are 16 defilements. The 16 defilements are covetousness, ill will, anger, resentment, contempt, competitiveness, jealousy, stinginess, deceit, hypocrisy, stubbornness, prone to quarreling, conceit, arrogance, self-infatuation, and carelessness. It is a coloring or bespeckling of consciousness in the process of dependent origination after the formations are taking root in the unwholesome. Therefore, these upakilesas make up a mindset, and the consciousness besmirched by them, so that one can say, for example, a jealous mindset or consciousness or cognition is defiled by jealousy, or a stingy mindset or consciousness or cognition is defiled by stinginess, and so on.

So, while the taints are like particulates or droplets that start the process, and the roots, or that is the unwholesome roots, bind the intention, the defilements are like clouds that obscure the mind. It is here that one puts on the defilement colour sunglasses and experiences the world through those sunglasses. So whatever it is that you are experiencing is projected onwards through the taints.

And those taints then continue to fetter the formations, that start to stain the consciousness that you are experiencing through. Whatever it is that you're experiencing has some kind of projection of one or more of these defilements, or can have one or more of these defilements. So within bhava, what we're starting to see now are the building blocks, right? It starts off with the residue of the links. It continues on to the formations. And now we're looking at the defilements in consciousness. So I'm going to list out the defilements and explain those defilements in some detail, so that you can also understand how to recognize them, how they manifest, and more importantly, what are the antidotes for each of these defilements.

Because as I said earlier, when you're doing the 6R's, it's a two-step process. You're first letting go of the unwholesome and replacing them with the wholesome. So you're letting go of the defilements, or the upakilesas, and bringing in the antidote. So how are these roots and defilements connected? The root of greed gives rise to the defilements of covetousness and stinginess. The root of hatred gives rise to the defilements of ill will, anger, resentment, contempt, competitiveness, jealousy, and quarrelsomeness.

The root of delusion gives rise to the defilements of deceit, hypocrisy, stubbornness, conceit, arrogance, self-infatuation, and carelessness. So I'll say that again. Greed: the root of greed gives rise to the defilements of covetousness and stinginess. So on your outline, you can kind of connect the dots there. The root of hatred gives rise to ill will, anger, resentment, contempt, competitiveness, jealousy and quarrelsomeness.

The root of delusion gives rise to the defilement of deceit, hypocrisy, stubbornness, conceit, arrogance, self-infatuation and carelessness. If you are able to make those dots and connect them together, it'll be helpful for you later on when you do the exercise in the breakout sessions. So the process first started with the droplets of the asavas, or the taints, which then streamed into the roots. And now that stream has gained momentum by a whirlpool of the defilements. We will now explore each upakilesa in depth that is present in the whirlpool that connects consciousness and mentality-materiality, since there is an interdependency between the two, for the purposes of understanding each effect on the link of consciousness that then extends to infecting the factors of nama-rupa.

So in other words, what we're saying here is once we understand the defilements of consciousness, we can understand how the effect, how contact is made, how feeling arises, how perception arises, what intentions arise, and how that attention is directed. So let's start taking the examples of each of these defilements. The first defilement is covetousness. So this covetousness can defile the factors of contact, feeling, perception, intention and attention in nama. It can intertwine with jealousy, competitiveness, deceit, and resentment. When you have this kind of mindset of covetousness, so covetousness means I want that, right? I want what they're having. Such a mindset is unable to see what is in one's own plate, because the eyes are always looking at what others are eating and wanting that, figuratively speaking.

Because of this, one is able to let go of restlessness and the mind becomes aggravated, possibly leading to breaking the precept of taking what is not given, leading to further restlessness. The overactivity of this covetousness can lead to an existence rooted as a hungry ghost in the mind. So, a mental kind of hungry ghost that's always seeking more and more and more and more.

Never satisfied. But the antidote for this covetousness is generosity and gratitude. Now, that's very important to understand. Generosity and gratitude are the way to deal with covetousness. Why? When you are generous, and that doesn't just mean with your resources, it also means with your wholesome states of mind. When you are generous with sending out loving-kindness, when you are generous with sending out compassion, when you are generous with sending out forgiveness for whatever is required, the mind stops looking for what it can use as a way to satisfy its agitation. So when the mind is agitated, when the mind is restless, it's always looking, how do I deal with that restlessness? And it's always looking externally, right?

It's that agitation of, I don't like this or I don't want this, that tension that arises in the mind and in the body that causes the mind to react to a situation in such a way that if I only do this, that restlessness will stop; if I only do this, that agitation will stop. And whatever it is that you're doing is motivated by that agitation, which causes further agitation. So what's important to understand is: what is the motivation behind what it is that you're doing? Is the mind agitated and then wanting to release that agitation, which means it is averse or aversive to that agitation? Or is it first recognizing, here is the agitation present, which is causing the mind to want, to desire, to crave, which is wanting the mind to say, this is what I want, is wanting to say, if I only have this I will be happy? If you can recognize

that let go of that and instead of being in the attitude of what can I get, what can I take, replace it with generosity, which says what can I give, how can I serve, what can I do to help you or to help others. That is generosity. And gratitude is also absolutely important, because gratitude allows you to take into inventory the things that are present already in your life. The things, the people, the situations, the relationships, the wholesome states, all of those things that are present in your life. The more you become aware of this, the less the mind will look outside of itself in order to be happy. So that's why I'm saying the antidote is generosity and gratitude.

Then we have ill-will. Ill-will is also another word for aversion. Aversion can mean the not wanting of an experience, person, object, or identity. The more one acts upon the defilement of ill-will, the more it manifests in stronger forms like anger, resentment, hatred, and violence in thought, speech, and action. Aversion can arise because of a painful feeling, and therefore it is also present as an underlying tendency, that is, the underlying tendency towards aversion. Now, this painful feeling can be purely physical, but if the mind attaches to it a sense of self, then there is further mental reaction of not liking the feeling, wanting it to go away, and with it the dukkha of the painful feeling manifests in union with what is displeasing, which can arise along with reactions of annoyance,

irritation, frustration, and building up to anger. The more one harbors these thoughts, the more they accumulate in the mental bhava of a being as one who is annoyed, and then they spill over into further actions of even heavier thoughts, heavy in that they are rooted further in hatred and even more stained with the defilement of ill-will. If this becomes the habitually habituated personality, and the consciousness is thus defiled at the moment of death, it can lead to unpleasant births in the next birth of existence. But aside from that, it can also lead into mental birth of an experience where everything is just terrible. It's just unhappy with everything, all the time. So what's the antidote for that?

Loving kindness is the antidote for ill-will. When you have loving and kind intentions towards yourself and towards all beings, to the extent that no more ill-will is present ever, you have perfected loving kindness. Until then, keep practicing. Loving kindness softens the mind. It softens the edges of the mind, and those edges of the mind are filled with that ill-will. It's the stain in the mindset or the consciousness that says, this sucks, I don't like this. It's the kind of mindset that says, that's annoying, that person, how they sneezed. I didn't like how they sneezed. Or why did they shut the door in that way? Don't they know I'm meditating? Does that person really have to make coffee right now while I'm meditating? Do they have to belch all the time? Whatever it might be, these thoughts manifest our ill-will.

But when you have loving kindness, your mind looks upon those things in a loving and kind way. That's the reality of the situation, which means the fruit of loving kindness is equanimity. Loving kindness leads to compassion. Compassion leads to empathetic joy. Empathetic joy leads to equanimity. And everything is okay with the world however it is. So if you really want to experience true beauty in this world, do it with loving kindness. Otherwise, if you have ill-will in your mind, how can you truly enjoy what is going on in the present moment? How can you be truly content with what is going on in the present moment? So the beginning of that is the practice of loving kindness.

Then there is anger. Anger is a destructive force, not just for the person receiving the anger, but for the one holding on to it. Anger is the intensification of ill-will and aversion, which results in a mindset that is heavily defiled and results in thoughts of harm, violence, and even murder. Anger is like an intoxicant because it muddies the senses, makes the head feel tense, and colors the perceptions in a way that prevents one from seeing reality as it actually is, thereby causing one to become heedless, caustic, and prone to breaking the precepts. Anger is rooted in hatred and can give rise to a mindset stained with intentions and thoughts to cause harm. And as these thoughts pick up steam, meaning after contact with something that enrages the mind, the unpleasant feeling gives rise to the underlying tendency towards resistance.

This causes one to deepen the aversion at the link of craving. At clinging, that anger is then possessed by conceit with the sense that this is me, mine, and I am. So this is me, this is mine, this is myself. And then there are justifications built around it, in a way, in a matter of microseconds, before it becomes part of a person's identity at bhava. And at that point, the mind is unable to make sense of what is wholesome and unwholesome. That means it's in confusion, it's in doubt. Then it is almost inevitable that the anger will give rise to further angry thoughts, speech, or action, at which point the energy of this anger is fed back to the other links, starting with the taints.

After this, the built-up tension is released, and the valve of becoming or habitual tendencies opens up to let out a flood of angry actions at three levels: mind, body, and speech. Then, when the dust is settled, the mind becomes tired, restless, or even lazy, and filled with sloth and torpor. However, the rush of anger for some, like an intoxicant, can become addictive. The personality around anger gets built up at bhava, and the habitual tendencies all swirl around this one defilement, causing one to identify as a person with anger issues or, even worse, as one who commits unwholesome actions, including murder. Then these tendencies become almost automatic. So what is the antidote for anger?

Compassion, karuna. Anger should be understood as an extension of ill-will and a direct cause of violence. Violence is cruelty, because anger in one who is angry makes the mind cruel, and the actions of mind, body, and speech are also cruel. Whereas metta is a feeling of friendliness that sees all beings as those who deserve happiness, and one has a genuine wish for this, compassion is a feeling of understanding and care for all beings who are suffering. One understands beings have their own suffering to endure, and when one truly sees this, one doesn't add to that suffering but has a genuine wish for beings to be free from that suffering, causing the mind to be calm and collected and free of suffering itself, just as a mind with loving kindness is void of ill-will if the mind is truly steeped in that loving-kindness.

A mind truly immersed in compassion is void of even an iota of angry thoughts. So compassion is the antidote for anger. Cruelty, that could be part of wrong intention, the desire to harm. And what does it mean to be cruel? It's not understanding another person's suffering or, another way put, adding to that person's suffering by causing them harm. When you truly have compassion, you understand beings as suffering in one way or the other. You recognize their suffering as the suffering that you have. So if you are suffering, would it make sense or would you like it if somebody added to your suffering? You wouldn't like it. So the true understanding of this is born when you have compassion, realizing that I do not want to add to the suffering of beings, and I wish all beings be freed of suffering.

And then you have an attitude or right intention of non-cruelty. Now, compassion doesn't mean that you have to take on another person's suffering. What it means is you are there as a support system for their suffering. You are there to help them out of their suffering, but they themselves must take the steps and walk the path leading them out of suffering. If it was that easy, the Buddha would have just taken us all out of suffering, but he is just the way shore. This is the path. Try it out and see for yourself, see if it works for you. And out of compassion he shows you that, but he cannot make you walk it. He has to give you that choice, but he's presenting you with a choice that says this can take you out of suffering. That in itself is

compassion and he can also give you the supports and causes and conditions through helping you cultivate your mind with right intention to helping you cultivate your actions and speech with right speech and right action and so on showing you how to do it but you yourself have to do it so don't become a crutch for anyone don't can't don't carry them on your back be a support for them but make them walk the path show them that you have to walk the path then there is resentment.

Resentment is holding on to ill-will or anger to such an extent that it becomes part of the framework of what one may consider to be one's identity or personality. Resentment is rooted in hatred and defiles consciousness as a result of unpleasant experiences. After contact arises, the unpleasant experiences of past abuses by loved ones, the betrayal of friends, or even being hurt by a group of people in society, results in the mind shattering into self-doubt, self-criticism, and self-hatred.

These become the stem for outward doubt and mistrust, critical behavior, and outward anger. If one doesn't forgive oneself or those who have caused harm to the mind in the past, this anger will turn into resentment that eats away at the mind. As the bhava, or habitual tendencies, become a depository of reactions, responses, and tendencies stemming from that resentment, one's expressions appear cold and untrustworthy. Not forgiving oneself, one cannot forgive others. Not trusting others, one is unable to trust oneself. That is why the defilement of resentment feeds the underlying tendency towards doubt more than the others, which can manifest as doubt in one's own abilities, in the practice, in the path, and in the Dhamma. Whenever one becomes doubtful, one's mind also becomes lazy and unmotivated, or it can become restless and anxious.

If a person who triggers resentment comes in the vicinity of one's area, the contact of seeing that person immediately fires up the defilement of resentment and underlying tendencies in microseconds, leading to the automated response of behaving a certain way stemming from the habitual tendencies. Even the mere thought of a person who has hurt one deeply in the past fires up those same defilements and tendencies. The more one thinks, speaks, or acts from these automated responses rooted in that resentment, the more one feeds that same resentment. It is a vicious cycle that only continues to energize itself through wrong or misguided attention and lack of mindfulness. There are five ways to let go of resentment: metta or loving kindness, compassion, equanimity, abandoning attention towards the person who sparked that resentment, and reflection on everyone being inheritors of their own karma.

Forgiveness is an antidote to resentment, and it ultimately helps cultivate and fulfill these five methods. Forgiveness is a powerful cleanser of the mental and emotional debris that had been lodged for many years, or even lifetimes, through the process of formations arising and passing away. Forgiveness sheds light on that debris and makes it float up to the surface so that it can be fished out rather than getting stuck and strengthening the rapids of consciousness, feeling, craving and clinging, all experienced as a self in bhava and from where one acts. The way to forgiveness is first through self-forgiveness, so that is through the process of doing the forgiveness meditation. This phrase of not understanding, for those of you who know the forgiveness meditation, you say: 'I forgive myself for not understanding' or 'I forgive you for not understanding.'

So that word, not understanding, that phrase, not understanding, has wisdom in it. It means that oftentimes one may misjudge people, and one realizes that whatever a person did, they did at that point in time for whatever reason, but they are not the same person anymore. Perhaps one misread someone's words and misinterpreted them as words of hurt or anger. Forgiveness provides clarity into a situation, to realize that the mind has been holding on to the resentment for so long while the person that caused it has no awareness of it. How often do people just hold on to that resentment towards someone without even realizing that the person who caused that resentment has no awareness of what they did?

What's the point of doing that? Instead of confrontation, the energy of forgiveness in meditation sweeps through the consciousness and cleans it of any stains of resentment. When this happens, the rest of the undercurrents dependent upon that defilement fade away, and there is a cleansing at bhava. With true forgiveness, the bhava of hurt emotions, resentment, and a personality rooted in that are all demolished. So, in other words, the forgiveness transforms the bhava from an unwholesome bhava to a wholesome bhava. Ultimately, you want to let go of all identification with bhava, but it's a process of transformation.

And the tool for that is forgiveness. You change resentment into acceptance. You change resentment into equanimity. So the fruit of forgiveness is that the next time you think of the person who hurt you, you no longer have any ill will towards them. You just see that person as they actually are. You see that situation as it actually is, without taking it personally and without identifying with it.

Then there is contempt, or disparaging others. Contempt arises from the root of hatred and a strong sense of self. So, contempt happens when you achieve some level of success, right? You have some level of... and you say, I am better than others, you know, or they are no longer my friends because I hang out with a different bunch of friends now, you know, or whatever it might be. So that contempt is rooted in some level of arrogance, some level of conceit, saying that, you know, I'm different now. I'm more enlightened than you are, so you better listen to me. Or whatever that might mean. That's also contempt.

So contempt is a thought process which gives rise to an existence in which the mind is deluded and intertwines with the defilements of conceit, arrogance, self-infatuation, and carelessness. Self-pride intoxicates the mind and causes it to misperceive reality. It is the opposite of the adage, I don't know if you guys have heard of this saying: don't believe in your own press. Conceit and contempt are rooted in believing in your own press, taking the praise that arises personally. Oh yeah, I'm a great meditator, you know. All of those things, let go of that. And when one does this, the mind becomes critical of others or even looks down on them. A mind with contempt doesn't have or make any consideration for others.

As this happens, one leads a lonely life filled with bitterness and emotional pain, which becomes the new existence, or bhava. In order to let go of this pain and this bhava, one must closely examine and abandon those thoughts that lead you to the idea that you are better than another just because you have achieved a higher level of success. So the antidote for contempt, this is what it says in Sutta Nipata 2.4: reverence and humility, contentment and gratitude, timely listening to the Dhamma, this is the highest blessing. So that is to say, reverence or respect for those who brought you up, your parents, your elders, your mentors, your teachers, keeps you aware of how you got there in the first place, to success.

Humility is modesty, being one of few wants, and self-effacement. This naturally arises when you see the impermanent nature of all processes, including success, and you don't take them personally. Contentment is being happy with the qualities you already possess, aware that anything else is extra. Gratitude is a cause of this, in that you are always aware of the depth of value something or someone has, and you don't take anyone or anything for granted, including the support of those who brought you up. Listening to or reading the Dhamma, suttas and talks helps the mind be clear-sighted in order for you to have all of these things. So reverence, respecting those people who were instrumental in bringing you to that level of success, whatever that means for you.

So appreciation for them, reverence to them. Humility. Okay, fine, this meditation teacher is more accomplished, or whatever it might mean. So they expect a certain level of treatment. And if they don't get that level of treatment, what happens? They get upset. But there's a same or similar level of attainment that another teacher has, and they are made to do something that is maybe below what they should be doing. But they still do it because they have humility. It doesn't matter. They've let go of that conceit. It doesn't matter, whatever that might be. So humility is very important here. And then contentment.

Just being content with what you have right now in the present moment. That is the way to renunciation, true renunciation. True renunciation is to let go of taking things personally. True renunciation is being able to disengage with whatever is arising so that it doesn't cause you pain or suffering in the long term. True renunciation means you let go of the idea that this is me, this is mine, this is myself. That's all it is, and that only happens when you are truly content with whatever is arising in the present moment. The lack of contentment can lead to craving, misidentification, or aversion. Then we have competitiveness and jealousy. These are rooted in hatred. Well, competitiveness is rooted in hatred because one has a sense of wanting to be better than others and domineering for personal gain while harboring ill will and aversion towards them, and so it is intertwined with jealousy, covetousness, conceit, arrogance, self-infatuation and carelessness. Thoughts rooted in competitiveness arise due to having seen someone better than you are, and now you want to dominate the playing field.

So it comes from insecurity. You get a sense that you have lost and become greedy to regain what you mistakenly thought you have lost, whether it's respect or attention, praise, resources, and so on. With this misperception, a person can become domineering, wanting to be right instead of getting things right. In other words, the person whose consciousness is infused with competitiveness develops the bhava to see everyone as a competitor instead of as a collaborator. That's what's happening in this world. It's all about competition. I have to be better than that person. They have to lose and I have to win, instead of seeing everything as a collaborative effort and being happy for the other person's success, whatever that means for them.

Jealousy is closely related to covetousness, but it is also a sense of possessiveness, especially when it comes to relationships. This defilement stems from the root of hatred, in that the mind has aversion towards an object of jealousy. It also stems from insecurity. Perhaps, for example, in a romantic relationship, one starts to see others begin to interact with their partner, and they start to feel jealous, possessive of that partner. And thoughts rooted in that jealousy can manifest in speech and action that exhibit that possessive attitude, causing you to cultivate the bhava of a being who is jealous and possessive. This can lead you to become suspicious, and it begins to proliferate all forms of what-if scenarios and the self-fulfilling prophecy of not wanting to lose that partner.

In other words, you become jealous and you don't want to lose that partner, but because you're motivated by that jealousy, you do everything to lose that partner. Among siblings, one sibling may feel jealous of the attention the other sibling is receiving from the parents or elders in general. One may view their sibling in a negative light, and this can manifest in harsh words or even actions towards the sibling, as well as the parents or elders. This can also happen in the workplace, where one becomes jealous of the praise a colleague is receiving, and instead of celebrating in that colleague's success, you harbor jealous thoughts, and every time that colleague comes to mind, you may even bear ill will, anger, and resentment towards them.

Jealousy can cause the mind to shut down from the reality of the situation, just like the other defilements, and it can produce many unwholesome behaviors, which if repeatedly acted out can become part of the storage of automatic reactions in the link of bhava. These actions can be cold, standoffish, and avoidant behavior, or at the extreme they can cause the mind to become destructive and violent. These can then give rise to further ill will, anger, and resentment, causing a flurry of interwoven unwholesome tendencies at bhava. So what is the antidote for competitiveness and jealousy? Collaboration, which is through mudita. Empathetic joy. So what is empathetic joy?

Empathetic joy is being able to be happy for another person's success, genuinely happy for them. Whereas loving kindness, as I said, is all about having friendliness towards all beings and wishing for their happiness, and compassion is the wish that all beings be free of suffering. Mudita is the joy that you feel when you see that others are free of suffering. So when you hear of somebody else having an attainment, what happens? Is the mind happy for them, or is the mind like, why didn't I get that, why wasn't I able to do that, how come they're in the fifth jhana and I'm only in the third? Right? That creates competition. We don't want competitive meditators here. That should not be the motivation. Mudita helps you to recognize the joy in others, which in turn starts to bring up that fountain of joy in you, being genuinely happy for others and whatever they have.

And then we have stinginess. Stinginess stems from the unwholesome root of greed. There are five types of stinginess regarding one's shelter, one's family, which can be understood in different ways, gains, praise, and the Dhamma itself. One may have attachment to all of these, thus causing one to become identified with them and consider them as me, mine, or I am, at which point then the bhava rooted in such conceit becomes defensive and holds on to these types of stinginess. You can consider your house as the ultimate possession and feel thwarted if you have to share that dwelling space with another person. And this doesn't just have to be for someone who has a large mansion, but even as small as a dorm room or a hut.

Anybody who has roommates can attest to this, right? This is my space. Do not go anywhere near my space here. That's stinginess. Being stingy regarding one's family is, to me, it means relationships in the lay life in regard to sharing the support of families with others within the Sangha, in the life of a monastic. So how can you be stingy with relationships? For example, you may be controlling of where a family member may go or who they can speak with, and so on.

Instead of family for a monastic, you may try to hoard the support of lay families trying to exclude the rest of the Sangha from being able to receive donations from such families stinginess in regard to gains is not sharing the food or other resources one has gained with others you may have received some money for the benefit of your community family or team members in a work environment but you hoard that money control how it's spent in such a way as to make sure only you are benefited the most from it and the cost of others missing out at the cost of others missing out perhaps you receive donations in the form of clothes electronics for the benefit of spreading the teachings of the dhamma but you are uninclined to share and are rather possessive of these things when you receive teachings of the dhamma you may be stingy regarding those teachings by trying to hoard what you teach or what you have learned rather and not share with them share them with others who may require it when asked about it.

You can be stingy with the Dhamma too. You'll learn something new, and when somebody asks you about it, you're just annoyed by them and you don't want to deal with it. You don't want to share the Dhamma in that moment. You can be stingy with it. All of these are manifestations of the root of greed, because you don't want to part with any of them, under the misguided perspective of seeing what is impermanent as permanent, intrinsically suffering as happiness, and what is not self as belonging to self. So as you start to misperceive the reality of the situation, you start to hold on to things, and you don't want to share them with anyone. So what is the antidote to stinginess?

Generosity is the one surefire way to change one's existence and false sense of identity rooted in stinginess. Expressing generosity exercises the mind to share even when it doesn't want to share. Recognizing the stingy quality of the mind and then releasing your attention from it, then relaxing the formations rooted in greed, the mind gravitates towards dana, or generosity. You can practice dana specifically related to the five types of stinginess. That means you can share your home, inviting others for a meal. You can let them rest and use the facilities of your space.

As a monastic, you may share the resources received from a family of supporters with other monastics. You may be open to the choices members of your family make when it comes to who they meet and where they go, respecting their way of life and not holding on to them like possessions. You may share the food that you have at home with your guests. You may express formal generosity with monastics, that is to say, offer food or any kind of requisites with an open heart to all and with all beings. In all forms of giving, it should be done with loving kindness and a sincere wish for the benefit of those receiving, without expectation or reward or returns from that generosity.

The generosity itself should be a source of happiness, meaning the giving itself should uplift your mind. Everything else is just icing on the cake, the cherry on top. If you are aware of certain teachings of the Dhamma, you should not hesitate to teach when requested to do so. And of course, the simplest way always is to share one smile with all, causing others to experience an uplifted mind. It's as simple as smiling, guys. Now we'll talk about deceit and hypocrisy. How do you deal with that? Deceit and hypocrisy are two sides of the same coin. They are rooted in delusion, because from both defilements there is identification and a personal sense of self present. The difference is in the intention.

Deceit here is about misrepresenting oneself by concealing the unwholesome tendencies one might have. Therefore, one tries to bring their best foot forward but is not forthright with their shortcomings. They may do this in order to gain favor, support, resources, and name and fame. You try to maintain an identity or image in society of someone who is morally upright and void of any immoral behavior. That is why it is of the nature of concealing. In the case of hypocrisy, you say one thing and you do another, or what you represent is not your intention. It is treachery. You may say that you are someone's friend, but stab them in the back, figuratively or even literally.

You may say that you are a master of a certain technique, or you have attained so-and-so, but in reality you haven't even begun the practice. There is a difference, of course, between someone who misrepresents themselves through conceit and arrogance and ignorance, but has no intention to deceive, and someone who says they are something when they know they aren't, with the intention to trick and fool others. In the first case, it is an overestimation of an attainment, and in the second case, there is just a need for gaining favor and teaching people with fraudulent misrepresentations of the teachings. A mind that is defiled by hypocrisy may also lead people astray from right view. And this can create an extremely unwholesome existence where such a mind may not even have remorse for their actions, believing their thoughts, speech, and deeds to be right and effective. Such a person is lost, and it can become difficult for them to find their way back to right view, if they themselves believe they are on the right path when they really aren't.

So what is the antidote for deceit and hypocrisy? A commitment to sacca, or truth, and honesty is a deterrent against deceit and hypocrisy. Undertaking the precept to abstain from false speech is rooted in an intention and thoughts that stem from a commitment to truth. When this arises, the remembrance of that precept of being true in all dealings, and using that as a foundation, helps one to become aware of one's thoughts, to see if they have the power of being untruthful. In other words, once one makes a commitment to be truthful, the mind has some clarity that translates into a bhava of being truthful. And then the mind recognizes an intention to deceive or trick another being, and if given attention, replaces that with an intention to be truthful.

So when this happens, the consciousness that arises will not be defiled by deceit or hypocrisy. Eventually, even the bhava of a trickster can turn into the bhava of an honest person, a bhava of a trustworthy person, if they let go of those defilements bit by bit. So in other words, if you find that the mind has an intention to be untruthful, or wants to trick others, recognize that, acknowledge that, and be okay with it, and just say you're going to let go, you're going to relax, and you're going to replace it with a commitment to be truthful and straightforward and forthcoming. The more you do this, the less those defilements of deceit and hypocrisy arise, and the more the mind is rooted in right intention to always be honest and forthcoming. Then we have stubbornness.

So stubbornness actually comes from the word thambha in Pali, or stambha in Sanskrit, and stambha means pillar or post. It's unyielding, inflexible. It's just stubborn in your ways, stubborn as a bull, as they say. A mindset defiled by stubbornness holds strongly to views, is on, and unable to move forward with ease, if at all. Usually such stubbornness may be expected in the beginning, for a mind that is doubtful or skeptical, questioning everything. This is a good thing insofar as experimenting and seeing for oneself the beauty and practicality of the teachings of the Dhamma. But if this becomes the mode of thinking, where it is unable to let go of ineffective thoughts due to attachment to those views, then this is called stubbornness.

So you have to be flexible with what you see around you and what you hear. At the same time, that doesn't mean you just accept everything that is told to you. You have a balanced approach to new information. You just don't have immediate resistance to things that seem like they may be contradictory at the surface to what it is that you already know.

Instead, you make amends for it and say, okay, let's listen to what this person has to say. Let's hear what this teaching is. Instead of saying, no, that's wrong teaching. I'm not going to hear that at all. You just allow the mind to hear it. And if you see if it makes sense in accordance with the four noble truths, then you say, okay, that makes sense. If it doesn't make sense in accordance with the four noble truths, then you can discard it. So you use the four noble truths as your touchstone to see if the information that you're receiving makes sense or doesn't make sense. And even then, don't hold on to the four noble truths themselves. Don't be stubborn in that either.

So what is the antidote for stubbornness? Since stubbornness is rooted in delusion or ignorance, one must first recognize that the mind is inflexible and unable to process information related to the Dhamma in an unbiased manner. So that is not to say that there won't be some bias present for one with an open mind, since such bias is always rooted in intention. But at the very least, with an openness that explores and investigates through reflection, observation, study and discussion, that mind will orientate itself in the direction of attaining the Dhamma. Even an arahant, accomplished in the Dhamma, will always be open to suggestions and advice regarding anything and everything. There is no pride in their attainment, and so they see all advice as an opportunity to be able to convey the Dhamma effectively and accordingly.

So in other words, if you tell an arahant, okay, you said so and so, I was wondering what about saying it in this way? They won't just say, I know everything, so you don't know anything, I'm not going to listen to you. They will take into account those suggestions and say, okay, that makes sense, that's probably a better way of saying it, so let me use that and see how that works. That flexibility, that ability to take in suggestions and be able to apply them and see if they work, that's the antidote for stubbornness. Having an open mind, having a mind that is open to experimenting in accordance with the Dhamma and in alignment with the four noble truths.

So the next one is called quarrelsomeness, or prone to quarreling, hostility, or being quick to retaliation. So this is rooted in hatred and has a connection to ill will, anger, resentment, and competitiveness. If a mind is defiled by this particular defilement, that is hostility, and they are criticized, then they are prone to retaliate with critical words. If such a mind is attacked, then they are prone to retaliate to that attack. In other words, a mind defiled by prone to quarreling is unable to practice restraint and abandon the ill-will arising in them from the underlying tendency towards resisting the painful feeling, in the form of critical words or physical attacks. As that underlying tendency manifests into the birth of action in the form of retaliation, that experience that seems to bring some superficial relief to the mind from having expressed the underlying tendency re-nourishes the root of hatred and further clouds the mind with the defilement of quarrelsomeness.

Because one retaliated, the tendencies in the link of bhava continue to grow and automate towards continually retaliating. Such a process causes one's existence to be fueled by fuming thoughts, aggravation, and irritation. This can cause one to be aggressive in mindset, thoughts, words, and deeds. If a being has not let go of this defilement, they are prone to enter a state of dismay, misfortune, and pain throughout their lifetime. Moreover, at death, the defiled consciousness that automatically arises from these formations rooted in hatred will establish into a new mentality-materiality in a life of turmoil, in the human existence, in the Asura realms, or even the lower realms. This is because this defilement leads one to break all five precepts and destroys the purity of one's mind.

Such a mind is untamed and not cultivated properly for the practice of meditation, and thus such a mind will not obtain wisdom. So what is the antidote? The reactionary state of this defilement must be countered with a pause after that defilement is recognized in the form of thoughts stained by it. So, for example, if someone criticizes you or even mocks you, if you notice the arising of resistance and aversion to that painful feeling, this is the first step towards letting it go, and taking a pause after having cultivated the mind with loving kindness. Quarrelsomeness and the bhava originating from this defilement are quick to arise in a matter of microseconds. But in those last few moments where a thought forms with the intention to retaliate, that is where mindfulness and attention are most required.

Attention and mindfulness are the gatekeepers to any pleasant, painful, or neutral feeling. They are the gatekeepers that block underlying tendencies from becoming fully manifested as craving, clinging, and becoming. So you need mindfulness. You need that pause. You go from a reactionary state to a responsive state. Stop reacting to everything and take a pause so that you can respond with wisdom, with compassion, with loving kindness, with whatever is required for that situation. And then we have conceit and arrogance. So the word for conceit is mana, and that means to measure something. This is a deeply embedded view in mind that sees the world in the context of I am. It is the identification process that is one of the most subtle elements of rebirth to eradicate.

It is a concept of the sense of an intrinsic self that the mind mistakenly grasps at. So mana is basically... it can manifest in each of the five aggregates in different ways. I am this, or I am better than this, or I am equal to this, or I'm worse off than this. So that's all about self-esteem issues as well. That's also related to conceit and arrogance. And so arrogance is actually an aspect of conceit, while conceit is threefold. You have the inferiority complex, the sense of equality, and the superiority complex. The arrogance is the third of these types of conceit.

There are 55 types of conceit. I'm not going to go through all of them, don't worry. 55 types of resistance, and 55 types of resistance to hearing that conceit. Which one is the best conceit? Ah, that's a good question. The conceit of all conceits is the conceit that says, I am the most conceited. The basis for all of these different types of conceit stem from the idea of an I am in relation to the five aggregates. This gives rise to attachment to a sense of self that then translates into the desire for bhava or vibhava, the desire to exist or not to exist. Until there is this sense of I am present, that bhava will continue to remain as a link.

This bhava doesn't just extend to a certain type of identity or existence on a macro level, but it can also arise within the context of meditative states. one thinks I am experiencing this jhana or I have attained this space or I enjoy the factors of this state and they are identifying with that jhana so I want to clarify what that means it's not doesn't mean that you can't enjoy the state it just means that don't be attached to these jhanas don't be attached with the idea that I have achieved them no the truth is they are arising due to causes and conditions. So what you see is that these jhanas are present because the mind has continued to let go.

The jhanas that are considered the practice that we do arise from letting go. They don't arise due to constructing a process. They arise due to deconstructing and decoupling a process. By letting go of the hindrances, by letting go of identification, the mind becomes calm and collected and the different factors of the jhanas arise quite naturally. So if the mind starts to identify with it and takes it as this is me, this is mine, this is myself, then you're going the wrong path. You have to understand that this is just a meditation process, nothing more. Don't give so much importance to the practice in such a way that when you do experience something, you attach to it and you say, I want this to continue.

It will change by the very nature of the fact that it is conditioned. And so that brings me to the antidote of that conceit and arrogance. And that antidote is the perception of impermanence, the understanding and realization of impermanence. And this is also said in Anguttara Nikaya 9.1, Sambodhi Sutta. When one perceives impermanence, the perception of non-self is stabilized. One who perceives non-self eradicates the conceit I am, which is nibbana in this very life. So it starts with the perception of impermanence, the realization and understanding of impermanence. And then we go into self-infatuation and carelessness. So this is vanity, intoxication, or pride, so it's related to conceit. And there are three types of infatuation. There's infatuation to one's youth, to health, and to life. When these arise, one is liable to identify with these objects of infatuation, then the mind becomes attached, and through this attachment comes further clinging, where the mind proliferates reasons for becoming infatuated with these impermanent components of existence.

When this self-infatuation arises, it can become an obsession that causes the mind to lean towards becoming greedy or hateful. Ultimately, self-infatuation is rooted in delusion. But self-infatuation can also be subtler than that. There can be infatuation to your achievements, your birth, your status, your gain, your being honored and respected, fame, followers, one's appearance, knowledge, wisdom, intelligence and expertise, and even mastery of jhanas and other meditative states, and so on. When this arises, it gives rise to the underlying tendencies, which then causes the mind to create further fuel for bhava as an existence, in either sensual form, luminous form or formless. On the micro level, it causes the mind to further root itself into greed, hatred and delusion.

Ultimately, the carelessness that arises is because there is a lack of mindfulness and lack of attention. Carelessness means that you're just not paying attention. You're unmindful of whatever is going on in the present moment. So what is the antidote? Diligence is the key to abandoning the defilements of self-infatuation and carelessness, and ultimately all other defilements, tendencies and hindrances. It is the coefficient to yoniso manasikara, attention rooted in reality, mindfulness, comprehension, discernment and awareness, which together lead to collectedness of mind and the insight into reality as it is. This arises through right intention and right effort. It's only after you recognize that the mind is deluded and confused that you seek a way out of such states, and that is rooted in the intention inclined towards the path.

Right effort here is the pivotal tool, which changes the wrong view to right view, wrong intention to right intention, wrong speech to right speech, wrong action to right action, wrong livelihood to right livelihood, wrong mindfulness to right mindfulness, wrong collectedness to right collectedness, and so on. Through such an effort, beginning with preventing yet-to-arise unwholesome states from arising, then continuing on to abandon already arisen unwholesome states, generating wholesome states, and finally maintaining those wholesome states, the mind works towards preventing all defilements from becoming collected at bhava into a new existence, colored, stained, tainted, and conditioned by those defilements. In other words, six R's. So in order to let go of negligence or carelessness and self-infatuation or any of these defilements, what you require is the ability to recognize them first and foremost.

So how do you bring up that mindfulness? How do you bring up that attention? You need to bring up the path. You need to first understand what is the path. You have to first develop right view. That right view leads to right intention of letting go, of cultivating loving kindness, of compassion, which results in speech that is right speech, that abstains from harsh speech, abusive speech, that abstains from false speech, from gossip and slander and so on, and right action, that is to keep your precepts, and right livelihood, to have a livelihood that does not cause you harm or cause others harm. All of these allow you then to be able to utilize the six R's. When you use the six R's you regain your mindfulness. When you have mindfulness there is collectedness. When you have collectedness the mind is primed for insight. When there is insight there arises liberation. So ultimately, following the path diligently, consistently

constantly, 24/7, 365, no holidays. And then we'll talk about a little bit about the different underlying tendencies, because these are what underlie the feeling when you have a painful feeling, or let's start with a pleasant feeling. When there's a pleasant experience, what can arise is an underlying tendency towards craving. So you see something that is pleasant, pleasing to the eye, pleasant to the ears, and so on. And what happens? The mind immediately engages with it and says, this is pleasing to me. I like this. And if the mind holds on to that, then the underlying tendency in that feeling arises and gives rise to craving. If it's a painful feeling, the mind says, this is painful to me.

I don't like this. And in that unpleasant, painful feeling, there arises the underlying tendency towards aversion. When the mind holds on to that, there arises aversion in full-blown craving. The underlying tendency to ignorance can underlie pleasant feeling, painful feeling, and neutral feeling. That underlying tendency towards ignorance is to ignore the Four Noble Truths, to have a lack of attention and mindfulness. Then there's the underlying tendency towards doubts. Doubts in terms of being confused about whether this is a wholesome state of mind and an unwholesome state of mind. How do you recognize the difference between a wholesome state of mind and an unwholesome state of mind? How do you know what is wholesome and unwholesome? Yes.

Unwholesome creates tightness and tension in the mind. Wholesome creates space in the mind. Wholesome liberates the mind. Unwholesome binds the mind. Once you recognize tension and tightness, you can let go of it and come back to the wholesome. And there won't be any underlying tendency towards doubt. The underlying tendency towards views, having opinions about what it is that you're experiencing and holding on to those opinions. What does that mean? You have perceptions of an experience. You say that experience is bad or that experience is unpleasant and you have opinions about it. You start to judge it. You start to take it personally instead of seeing it non-judgmentally, instead of seeing it as just another process.

You also start to have different opinions in terms of views regarding everything from politics to religion to whatever it might be, even the Dhamma. All of those views keep the mind bound over here to samsara, one way or the other. You have the underlying tendency towards conceit, which is just that identification process of saying, this is me, this is mine, this is myself. And then you have the underlying tendency towards bhava. You like this. You like being in this existence. You like being a meditation teacher, or you like being a meditator, and you don't want to let that go.

If it damages or creates a hindrance for you to continue that existence, and you don't like that, then you have the underlying tendency towards that power. But if it goes away, and you're okay with it, and that's fine. So all of these underlying tendencies, the basis or the antidotes for them, are manifold. With craving, it can be equanimity. With aversion, it can be loving kindness. With doubt, it can be investigating and understanding what is wholesome and unwholesome. With views, it's understanding what is right view and letting go of other views that might be in conflict with those right views. With ignorance, it's about maintaining proper attention and mindfulness. With conceit, it's about seeing impermanence. And with bhava, it's about letting go of a sense of self to anything, whether it's your job, your career, your relationships, your family, whatever it is, even the idea of yourself, because what you think you are is just basically a collection of different memories and experiences and relationships and things around you.

And then that's further strengthened when you start to extend that sense of self to all of that. Yesterday I gave you the example of the bowl. This is my bowl here, nobody touched this, right? This bowl is an extension of me. If you do anything to this bowl you're harming me, so don't touch it, right? That's the underlying tendency towards bhava, towards conceit and so on. But all of the different manifold things that I've shown you as antidotes, the basis for all of them is mindfulness. And as a result of that mindfulness you have the seven enlightenment factors. The mindfulness gives rise to investigation of states. The investigation of states is an antidote for doubt.

That investigation of states gives rise to energy and effort. That effort gives rise to joy. That mental joy can be an antidote towards sensual craving and towards aversion. That joy then gives rise to tranquility. That tranquility can be an antidote towards any kind of aversion, any kind of view, any kind of conceit, and so on. Then that tranquility gives rise to collectedness and equanimity. So if you have mindfulness, everything else will take care of itself. Mindfulness will naturally evolve into the rest of the enlightenment factors. That's how you let go of the underlying tendencies.

The same with the hindrances: how do you let go of the hindrances? You need mindfulness first and foremost, and that is the six R's. That's the first step of the six R's: to recognize what is arising. As soon as you recognize, you bring in attention, you bring in mindfulness, and using the rest of the six R's you also cultivate the factors of enlightenment. That is to say, when you recognize, you bring into the mind that regained mindfulness. When you release and let go and relax, you have energy and tranquility. So first you have mindfulness through recognition, and you have investigation of states, because you say, I recognize the mind is now in an unwholesome state of mind.

When you release and relax, you have the proper energy and tranquility that arises. When you re-smile, you bring up joy. When you come back to your object of meditation, you have collectedness. When you do that whole process, you have equanimity. So again, the answer is observe and six are in conclusion. But all of these are different parts and components of bhava, and they can concretize or solidify into the hindrances, into the fetters and so on and so forth. The fetters are basically that which binds you to samsara, that which doesn't allow you to live life fully, in a way that you can experience everything without taking it personally. You can experience everything without it turning into craving or aversion.

You know, the ten fetters, those fetters are a manifestation of bhava continuing to arise over and over and over again, and they are all interrelated to the hindrances and the different defilements, the different roots and the different underlying tendencies. So how do you let go of the fetters? Make some attainments. Yeah, it's that easy. When you enter the stream, you let go of the first three fetters. When you become a Sakadagami, you weaken the sensual craving. You weaken the aversion. When you become an Anagami, you destroy the first five fetters.

And then when you attain full awakening, arahatship, you let go of conceit. Conceit is the basis for three other fetters: conceit is the basis for restlessness, craving for jhana, and craving for arupa jhana. So through the sense of conceit, that this is me, this is mine, this is myself, the restlessness arises because you say, I'm not happy with how things are going right now in the present moment, because there's still an I and the world that is detached from that I. That sense of I. If you let go of the I, if you let go of the sense of self, then the mind is collected and settled naturally. That is why when you were doing the meditation a couple of nights ago, whatever that was, you experienced a level of quietude where you were in what was known as the signless, and being there, there was very little, if at all, the sense of I am, of conceit. That's why there was no vibration at all going on there. There was no restlessness going on over there. The formations of conceit were

so neutralized to such an extent that no vibrations were happening, just consciousness, and that consciousness arises because the formations are still present. When the formations go away completely, consciousness ceases completely, with it ceases conceit, and in that moment the mind experiences cessation, cessation of perception, feeling and consciousness. When the mind comes out of that and experiences Nibbana, for that micro moment, every mind that experiences it experiences arahatship. But what happens after will either determine if that arahatship continues or there is still some work to be done. Because the mind can take that personally and cling towards it and crave for it and create all other fetters over again, or some of the other fetters over again, specifically conceit, from which then that further restlessness arises: the craving for this to continue, I want this to continue, or the craving for certain states not to continue. And so

on and then you have ignorance. So ignorance is not knowing the four noble truths. Once you have fully understood the noble truth of dukkha, that is to say, you have completely understood that ultimately all conditioned experience, no matter how wonderful it is, is ultimately dukkha, so you don't take it personally, you don't identify with it. As a result of which you fully abandon all kinds of craving: craving for existence, craving for non-existence, and craving for sensual experiences. When you do that, you fully experience Nirodha, Dukkha Nirodha. You realize for yourself the truth of Nibbana, the reality of Nibbana. And how did that happen? That was facilitated through the cultivation of the fourth noble truth, the path itself.

So the repeated practice of the path is what will take you to the end. Ignorance is standing in the way. Just a lack of mindfulness. You need full commitment, full dedication. I'm not talking about pushing. I'm not talking about making the wrong type of effort. I'm not talking about suppressing the mind. I'm not talking about crushing mind with mind. I'm talking about diligence and total commitment in every waking moment to walk the path, nothing less. That is the way to freedom, to liberation of the mind. Thus ends the talk. So Jordan, what do you want to do? Oh wait, got to share merit. Thank you. May suffering ones be suffering free, and the fear-struck fearless. May all beings that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness, may all beings, and having space and earth devas and nagas of mighty power, share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation.