Day 5: Dependent Origination part 1

Today we're going to discuss dependent origination, the heart of the Dhamma. In Majjhima Nikaya 28, Sariputta says that the Buddha has declared that one who sees dependent origination sees the Dhamma, and one who sees the Dhamma sees dependent origination. So yesterday we spoke about transcendental dependent origination, or dependent liberation, which is understanding the different factors leading up to awakening, to freedom. Now we're going to be talking about how it is that the mind causes itself suffering. So the four noble truths are all ingrained in each of the links of dependent origination. In the process, the four Rs or the six Rs or whatever you want to call them, we are essentially understanding the four noble truths.

In Majjhima Nikaya 9, which is the Sammaditthi Sutta, there Sariputta talks about right view. Sammaditthi means right view. And he has asked constantly, what is right view? Is there a way to understand right view? Is there another way to understand right view? And Sariputta says, yes, if you understand suffering, you understand the cause of suffering, you understand the cessation of suffering, and you understand the way leading to the cessation of suffering. If you understand birth as suffering, the first noble truth, and if you understand the cause of birth, which is bhava or becoming, you understand that the cessation of becoming is a cessation of birth. And the way leading to that cessation is the Eightfold Path.

Contextualize it. You use the Four Noble Truths as a device, as a system, as a method of identifying what is present that is causing suffering, letting go of the causes and conditions for that, and experiencing relief from that. And letting go is the Fourth Noble Truth. The process that leads you to letting go is the Fourth Noble Truth, and that is the four R's or the six R's, or right effort. So anytime you hear the cessation of this is so-and-so, and the way leading to the cessation of this is the Eightfold Path, that means that they're talking about using right effort. Or it should be understood in that way, because it is through right effort that you go from the wrong factors of the path to the right factors of the path.

So what are the links of dependent origination? What are the 12 links of dependent origination? They are avijja, or ignorance; sankhara, or formations; vinnana, or consciousness; mentality-materiality, or nama-rupa; the six sense bases, or salayatana; phassa, or contact; vedana, or feeling; tanha, or craving; upadana, or clinging; bhava, or becoming, or habitual tendencies; jati, or birth; and dukkha, or suffering, or jara marana. Jara marana is really aging and death. Jara is aging, marana is death. So there are a few ways to understand dependent origination. One is from lifetime to lifetime, how this is basically the wheels, the mechanics of rebirth, how one life ends and another begins. This is the mechanics of rebirth at the macro level.

Another way of understanding dependent origination is that it is happening in every moment. There's contact, contact, contact. There's feeling, feeling, feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, and so on. That's one way of understanding. Another way of understanding is that it is the mechanics for karma. Once you understand what karma is in relation to dependent origination, then you know how to cease karma. So the Buddha has talked about karma in two ways. There is old karma to be inherited. What do we say in the morning? Karma, I am the inheritor of my karma. Karma is my relative, and so on and so forth. We inherit old karma as a result of previous choices we've made in the past.

dependent origination, and the new karma, which the Buddha has talked about, the reaction to the old karma, which perpetuates that karma to continue. So once you understand the delineation point, once you understand where karma can be ceased, at what point, then you're able to let go of any further arising of future karma. That's the beauty of dependent origination. It's not just something that's theoretical. It's something that can be applied and understood in every moment of our daily living and in our practice. So let's explore the different links of dependent origination. And we will start from the ending and work our way back. We will start with suffering, with dukkha. So this word dukkha, what does it actually mean?

Dukkha. Du means bad or negative or unwholesome, or the lack of. And kh is the Pali from the word sth in Sanskrit, which means stable. So dukkha is instability. Dukkha is inconstancy. Dukkha is where, when you go to, and I like to use this because this is the best way of understanding it, and it's the same analogy that the Buddha has used, but it's a little bit updated for our times. It's when you go to the market, to the supermarket, right? And you take one of those shopping carts and you're walking around with a shopping cart. There's one wheel in the shopping cart that is just a little off balance. It's always spinning around, or you're trying to move it around and it just doesn't move the way you want it to. That's dukkha, because dukkha is where the axle of the wheel isn't really matching and there's some kind of instability over there. This is what dukkha is. So it's manifested in different ways. There are different categories of dukkha.

We have dukkha-dukkha, which is the pure generic kind of dukkha. Then we have the viparinama dukkha, which is the dukkha of change. And then we have sankhara dukkha, which is more of an existential kind of suffering. So what is dukkha-dukkha here? That kind of dukkha is illness, is aging, is death, is grief, mental despair, sorrow, lamentation, anxiety. All of these are part of dukkha. Viparinama dukkha is the dukkha of change: getting what you don't want and not getting what you do want. Things continually change.

And sankhara dukkha, the existential dukkha, is the dukkha of existence itself, which is when we identify with one or more of the five aggregates. That's why the Buddha has said that the five aggregates affected by craving and clinging are dukkha. The five aggregates themselves aren't, but the identification with them is what is the dukkha. At the links of dependent origination, we can understand that you can actually 6R some of the links to a certain extent, but not all of them. And here's the reason, because you cannot just 6R aging away. It'd be wonderful if you could. It'd be a great marketing device, right? Hey, come and see for yourself and de-age with the 6Rs. Not possible.

But what you can 6R, what you can 4R, what you can let go of, is your attachment, your identification with the aging process. The fear of aging, the fear of the decay that happens through the aging process. You can let go of identifying with the body. And what is aging? It is one's ability to use and engage with the six sense bases, right? The energy starts to decline and so on. And that is a natural process of life. All beings go through the process of aging. Even when we talk about Buddhist cosmology, the devas, the higher beings, go through a process of aging. is that they enjoy the fruits of their previous actions in the human realm, and they're enjoying, they're having a great time, and then all of a sudden they start to notice that the leaves around them are falling, the rose petals are starting to become dried up, and then before they know it, they're aging, and they're gone.

There's nothing they can do about it. So all beings within Buddha's cosmology are subject to this process of aging. When you talk about illness, illness is definitely preventable. But there are certain illnesses that we inherit. There are certain illnesses that come because of our lifestyles. There are certain illnesses that come due to predispositions and so on and so forth. Again, if we could just let go of illness right there and then, that would be amazing. It's a miracle. You can 6R your cold away. You can 6R your COVID away. How wonderful would that be? But not possible. But you can let go of your fear of illness. You can let go of your aversion to the painful feelings that illness brings.

And that creates relief in the mind. That's where we have the analogy of the two darts or the two arrows. It's something like this, right? Pain is unavoidable, but suffering is optional. So the pain that is experienced in terms of physical pain, in terms of illness and so on, that is the reality of the situation. Nothing we can do about it. However, our perception of that pain, our perception of that illness, we can let go of if it is unwholesome, if it is causing us mental suffering. So we can recognize our aversion and we can let go of it. And we can cultivate a wholesome state, maybe equanimity or compassion for ourselves and others. So we talk about aging, we talk about illness, we talk about death.

Death, again, is a natural part of life. Everything that arises passes away due to causes and conditions. No longer being able to function. That's just the way it works. And so we have to come to acceptance with this. We have to come to terms with this understanding. And we talk about the dying process. It happens through different ways, right? But the dissolution of the elements of the body happens a certain way. The dissolution of the sense bases happens a certain way. Consciousness, our mind. And in that sense, it's important to cultivate a mind that is rooted in the wholesome. So we talked about before, what is the importance of keeping precepts? Is it because we are going to be met with some kind of moral judge at the end of our lives?

Perhaps, perhaps not. We'll have to see. It is a life review process. That's just the way that the mind will unravel things as we continue to fall apart in the dying process. And perhaps the things that are brought up in that life review process, if they have been primarily unwholesome, will bring up unwholesome memories. Highlights, karmic highlights of that life. But if we've been wholesome, then the karmic highlights will be also wholesome. That's why the unwholesome leads to further unwholesome states, because we have regret, we have remorse, we have fear, we have confusion of why is this happening, what's going on. And because of that, it creates a mindset, it activates certain kinds of formations, which we'll talk about later, that activate a certain kind of consciousness that drifts from this life and goes into the next life, primarily unwholesome.

But if it has been wholesome, then there is attachment to that wholesome. There is a sense of elation in that wholesome. And from there, it activates a certain set of formations. It activates a certain consciousness that then drifts into the next life, which is primarily wholesome. So dying. Dying is just a natural part of life. But what we can let go of is our fear of that. The anxiety around the ending of something. There can be the death of the body. There can be the death of a relationship. There can be the death of events, the death of situations, and the death of friends, the death of people that we love. When the mind identifies with the body so much, the five aggregates so much, the fear of death is ingrained in that. The fear of the ending of any kind of relationship, the fear of loss, is a terrible thing. As Master Yoda would say, the fear of loss is a path to the dark side. What does that mean? It means the more that we are afraid of losing something, the more we self-fulfill that prophecy of losing that thing.

And we act in unwholesome ways to keep grasping to it from that fear of loss. And in doing so, ultimately, tragically, we lose it. So how do we let go of that fear of loss? Well, again, using Master Yoda's quote, somebody asks him about that fear of loss. And he says, train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose. Let go of the identification process with everything. This is my family. This is my set of friends. This is my father. This is my mother. This is my brother. This is my sister. This is my girlfriend. This is my boyfriend, my husband, my wife. This is my body. This is my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my.

This is all me, mine, myself. You let go of that. And what remains? Just whatever it is. This person here is there right now. But one day it will all go. The relationship will go. This body will go. This mind will go. That's the power of these five recollections that we do in the morning. It makes us understand that indeed there is nothing in this world worth holding on to. Because all of it is dependently arisen. Being dependently arisen, it has impermanence in it. When it arises, it will also pass away when the causes and conditions go away for it to rise.

And by that very nature, it is also dukkha. Even if it's a pleasant experience. Right now, we might have a pleasant experience of being with our family members, being with our friends, or being with a community where everything is wonderful, or celebrating some life event. But it will not continue. It will change. It continues to change. Conditioned things are liable to cause dukkha. And therefore, they should not be seen as me, mine, or myself. And I'll get more into what that means when we talk about the five aggregates. And then, of course, we have the mental suffering that arises in the form of grief, in the form of anxiety, in the form of sorrow and lamentation.

These are all conditions of the mind that arise due to something that is unpleasant. Does that mean grief is a bad thing? Does that mean sadness is a bad thing? Does that mean being in sorrow and lamenting is a bad thing? I say no. It is just an experience of the mind. Why judge it? Why fight it? It's okay. It's there. To be not okay with it is the issue here. To want it to change is the issue here. Fine. The mind is in grief. It's okay. If you accept it, if you allow that grief to be there and understand through the principles of the Dhamma that this grief too shall pass, then you allow it to be there, you allow it to be processed, and it goes on.

And it goes away. Likewise, with any kind of mental experience, it is just an experience. Hindrances are suffering: sensual craving, aversion, restlessness, sloth and torpor, doubt. It's there. Okay. So the first layer of that is to recognize it and to accept that it's there. Stop trying to fight with it. Stop trying to engage with it by reasoning with it. Can you just go away, please? Trying to push it down. Push it away. Let it be there. It's okay.

Fine. What I'm choosing to let go is my taking it personally. What I'm choosing to let go is that process of identifying it as mine. And most importantly, I'm choosing to let go of my undue attention to the hindrance. My attention has wavered from the object and gone to the hindrance. I'm choosing to redirect my attention by letting go and coming to a sense of relief and bringing my attention back to my object. Then we talk about viparinama dukkha, the dukkha of change. Accept change itself. We want things to be the same always. We are in this jhana and we want this jhana to continue. We have a lot of peace in the mind. I hope this peace of mind continues.

I hope it continues in my next sitting. And you come back to your next sitting and there's a lot of activity in the mind. And how do you feel? Terrible. Why? Because you expect everything to be the same. You don't like change. We don't like change as humans. All beings, even though we can adapt to change, our bodies can adapt to change, and so on and so forth. Mentally, we want everything to be the same. Why? Because it's comfortable. We don't want to stray from our comfort zone. So we don't get what we want, or we get what we don't want. And so when we have this experience of joy, we say, wow, this joy is great.

I hope it continues. And we try to lock into that joy and say, oh, I'm going to stay here. And the more we lock into the joy, guess what happens? The joy drifts away. Anything you chase after, it wants to be chased. And so you just keep playing that game of chasing. But as soon as you let go and you just stay here, what happens? The joy just comes to you. The loving kindness comes to you. The equanimity comes to you. It's a process of relaxing into it. Any kind of pushing is a kind of craving. Any kind of locking in is a kind of craving. Just being available to loving kindness. Being available to joy.

Which means there is an intention there, of course. The intention is to let go of any of our expectations and just to be present here and now. I am open for loving kindness to come. But at the same time, I'm not waiting. Because waiting is just another synonym for craving. One time, this was probably last July, somewhere around then. I was with Venerable Mettananda and we were on our way to Boston.

And we were at St. Louis Airport. And we were waiting in line to check into the airport. And I told Venerable Mettananda, you know what? Samsara, the majority of samsara is nothing but just waiting. We're always waiting for something. We're waiting in line. We're being waited on for our food. Even if we're preparing the food, we're standing there watching the microwave and the food rotating for a minute or two. We're waiting. But then the food is too hot. So we're waiting for the food to cool down a bit. There's always some kind of waiting that's going on. And that waiting is samsara. Waiting for the next best thing. Waiting for jhana to happen. Waiting for peace of mind.

Waiting for security. Waiting for this, that or the other. It's just another word for samsara, for craving. That's why boredom arises in the meditation. You're just sitting there and you're meditating and it's very deep. It's wonderful. It's a new sensation in the mind. Great. I'm very deep now. Now what? So if you can have this level of disenchantment and equanimity and just stay there without being in the waiting room for nibbana to happen, without being in the waiting room for ajnana to happen, then before you know it, when you least expect it, it happens. That's what Venerable Mettananda would say.

Expectations are dukkha under construction. So let go of expecting things. Just be present. That's it. Just be available. And when you do that, whatever changes happen are accepted as they are. This is the true meaning of equanimity. Whatever changes are happening, there is absolute acceptance of it. Then there's no suffering of change. Then there is no viparinama dukkha. Whatever comes comes, whatever goes goes, be it pleasant, be it unpleasant, be it neutral. And then finally we have this sankhara dukkha, this existential suffering that arises when we identify with one or more of the five

aggregates. What are the five aggregates? Form, feeling, perception, formations and consciousness. So what is form? Form means any kind of form, internal or external. The forms of our body, the forms of this phone, the form of this, these books, the form of these flowers. All is form, rupa, in different levels, right? So in different mixtures of the different elements make up that form. Internally we have our organs, which are forms. Externally there's the tree, that's a different kind of form. So any kind of form, near or far, subtle or gross. Feeling. When we talk about feeling, feeling can be internal or external. A feeling is essentially not related to emotion. A feeling can be related to sensation, but it is any and all experience.

That's why I like to use the word experience for feeling, for vedana. Any kind of experience that you're having. It can be pleasant, it can be unpleasant, or it could be neutral. You talk about perception. What is perception? Perception comes from the word sanna. So, sanna means to perceive, to label that which is being experienced. So, when you're in grade school, you learn the letters of the alphabet. You learn the numbers, you learn the different kinds of colors. There's red, there's black, there's blue, there's white, there's yellow, there's green, and so on and so forth. And as you learn all of these different things, then they're rooted in your memory. And so the perception happens automatically, concurrent to the experience.

It labels the experience immediately. This is a microphone. I point to this, you are seeing the microphone, that's the feeling. Knowing that it is a microphone is the perception. So that perception can be far, that perception can be near, that perception can be external, that perception can be internal, that perception can be subtle, that perception can be coarse. And then we have formations.

Now we'll delve deeper into formations, when we discuss formations as a link. But formations are anything related to our intentions and choices. We think that we are the ones who make that choice, but those choices are all conditioned by different kinds of causes and conditions, internal and external. And then we have consciousness, the big one. In a different tradition that thinks that consciousness is all-pervading and permanent and that is all that there is, it is just an idea that is present in the mind. But when we talk about consciousness in terms of the context of the Dhamma, we're talking about consciousness that arises dependent upon contact. Eye consciousness, it is because there is something that the eye makes contact with.

When there is ear consciousness, it's when the sound makes contact with the ear. When there is nose consciousness, it's because the odor or fragrance makes contact with the nose. Likewise with tongue consciousness, body consciousness, mind consciousness. So when you see any and all of these five aggregates, that these five aggregates arise dependent upon causes and conditions. That which is dependently arisen is impermanent because it is liable to change. Therefore, taking it personally will cause dukkha at some point. Now, why is it that we say that these five aggregates are not me, not mine, not myself? Why is it that we say all conditioned experience is not me, not mine, myself because at the time of the buddha let's say even now up until this point but even before the time of the buddha there was the idea of the atman in sanskrit we have the concept of atman this is in vedanta this is in other indian philosophy and so on and what is the concept of the atman

The atman is that which is self. The atman is me. It is the indestructible self. The atman is that which is all-pervading. The atman is that which is permanent. The atman is that which is a source of happiness. Now, let's say that there is such a thing as the atman, for the sake of understanding and clarity. We take that atman as the touchstone, and then we take all of our experiences and we see bit by bit: is form permanent or impermanent? Is feeling permanent or impermanent? Is perception permanent or impermanent? Is choice permanent or impermanent? Is consciousness permanent or impermanent? And as we start to see all of these different aggregates as being conditionally arisen, we realize that they have the nature of arising and passing away.

But wait, the atman is permanent. The atman is indestructible. The atman never changes. But each of these five aggregates changes. The atman is the source of happiness, permanent happiness. Aggregates can be liable to cause suffering even if they are pleasant in that moment. The fact that they change is also suffering, and that is what we mean when we say anatta, that which is not self. And so the dukkha that arises is when there is identification, a supplanting, a projecting of this sense of that self

onto that which is impermanent. That which is inconstant. That which is conditionally arisen. That which is liable to cause dukkha. And that's how we experience dukkha. Every time we identify, that's the existential dukkha. But as soon as you let go of the identification process, then everything is as is. Then there is no dukkha. There is no thinking of what was I in the past. Who was I? What will I be? Who will I be? Who am I? All of those notions go away because you understand everything as dependently arisen. So these are the different kinds of elements of dukkha. But what is the cause and condition for dukkha or jara-marana? It is said that birth is the cause and condition for jara-marana.

Now when we talk about birth, jati, it's understood as the different types of classification of birth. The main types of classification of birth are threefold: being in a sensual realm, being in a form realm, and being in a formless realm. These are the different classifications of birth. There can be spontaneous birth, there can be birth through how we are born as humans, there can be birth through the egg, different kinds of birth, different kinds of generation, as it's understood in the suttas. And so this is one layer or level of birth. But for practical purposes, we are already born, right? So we can't do anything about it. We can't just six ourselves out of existence.

Now we are born. Now what do we do with this? How do we deal with this? In every moment we are reborn, and we continue to change in every moment. And then there is the birth of karma. The rebirth of karma. The rebirth of action. The birth of action is what we're talking about here for practical purposes. The birth of action is essentially intention.

There's an intention to think about something, there's an intention to say something, or there's an intention to do something. The Buddha has talked about karma as action, but karma is also intention: what we intend to do. And so in order to understand this, what we should see is that dependent origination is like a river that's flowing, but actually it starts out much deeper than that, which we'll get into tomorrow. But let's say it just starts out at ignorance. And it streams out, and it continues to flow in streams through the river. And each of the links are like whirlpools in the river. And eventually, there is a waterfall that happens. Now, the bend of the waterfall is what's known as bhava.

which we'll get into shortly. But the birth of action is dipping into the waterfall. Once you go past the bend and down the waterfall, there's no way for you to swim upstream. There's no way for you to boat upstream. You just go down. That is the birth of action. Once you think of something, you can't recall that. Once you say something, you can't recall it. you cannot recall it. And therefore, you have to be beholden to the effect or results of that intentional action that's rooted in taking it personally. Rooted in having some kind of craving as a motivation. Some kind of aversion as a motivation.

So there's no way to six-hour birth. Both macro level and micro level. You can't recall what it is that you just said or thought or did. But now here we can start 6R, which is at the level of bhava. What is bhava? Bhava can be understood as existence. It can be understood as being. It could be understood as becoming. It could be understood as where the personality is fully cooked up. Or it could be understood as habitual tendencies. When you talk about bhava as existence, we're talking about the three layers of existence. There's the sensual realm or the sensual lokas. There's the form realms or the formless realms. And so we identify one or another with this.

In other words, we talk about the sensual realms. Every time there's an identification with a certain kind of habit pattern or habitual tendencies. What are habitual tendencies? When you are met with a series of choices, when you are met with a series of decisions in reaction or wanting to react to a situation, your mind has the general tendency to automatically incline towards a choice without even thinking about it. Right? If you are met with chocolate ice cream or vanilla ice cream, and you grew up liking chocolate ice cream, your choice would be inclined towards the chocolate ice cream. That's your bhava. That's your habitual tendency. Tendency is to try to defend yourself and shout back at them.

That's the automatic inclination that happens. And so when we talk about bhava, there are certain kinds of habitual tendencies, certain kinds of habit patterns that are associated with certain kinds of existences. Now let's just set aside the idea of the Buddhist cosmology of the different realms. But let's take into account psychological states that can be identified with these different realms. In other words, if somebody is generous, if somebody is forgiving, if somebody is kind, if somebody is compassionate, if somebody is joyful and grateful, then their psychological state is very deva-like. If somebody is jealous, somebody is greedy, somebody is always grasping at things, then their mindset is like a hungry ghost. If somebody is only about food and sex and the indulgence of the sense pleasures, then they're very much animalistic.

If somebody is violent, if somebody inflicts violence on others, is angry all the time, psychological state it's like hell but if somebody is always in a state of being happy and joyful and in jhana then their psychological state is identified with being like in the form realm being like a brahma or somebody continues to cultivate the arupa states then their mindset is likened to be in a formless realm Being in infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, neither perception or non-perception. So these habitual tendencies, they can be wholesome and they can be unwholesome. You can continue to recondition the habitual tendencies from being unwholesome. How? Using right effort. Notice what the intention is that's arising. And if you catch yourself going towards the unwholesome, six art, four art, let it go.

And replace it with the wholesome. When you do this, you change karma also. Now the birth of action is not the same. Now the birth of action is different. And bit by bit you eradicate that unwholesome karma. So at that waterfall, the bend of the waterfall, you are still able to struggle upstream, but you can still go upstream. But it's a little more difficult. But it's easier just before that, which is clinging. Now you can, with right effort, let go of clinging. Clinging is fuel, which is attachment. And there are four kinds of clinging. There is sensory or sensual clinging. There's clinging to views. There's clinging to rites and rituals. And there's clinging to self-view.

What is sensual clinging? What is clinging in general? Let's understand that first. It is rationalizing why it is you think you like something, or why it is you think you hate something, or why it is you think you identify with something. It is the associations that you make. So in your mind, when you think about this, when you say this is pleasant, that's a pleasant feeling. I like it and I want more of it. That's craving, because of so-and-so, or the stories that you make around it, is the clinging. And so is the personality that is developed at becoming, or habitual tendencies, and from which you act. This is the mental process that happens in your mind.

And so the associations that you make, when you talk about sensory clinging, you have a series of favorite things that you like or things that you abhor, right? For example, we all have a favorite type of music. That we like is the best music. But the music that this generation likes is all trash. Right? Why? Because we grew up liking a certain kind of music. And we associate good memories and feelings with that music or with that genre. We have a certain kind of taste that we like. We like a certain kind of flavor of food.

But we associate that because of the memories that we have with it. We have a favorite kind of fragrance. We have a favorite kind of texture that we enjoy. And so these favorites, these ideas, these stories that we create is clinging, sensory clinging. I don't know how it is here in Europe, but when you go to, for example, Walmart or any of the supermarkets, you will see that all in the cereal aisle, cereal is all at this height.

Why? Because you have toddlers toddling away and looking at the different cereals and enamored by the color and the characters on the box. And they say, I want that. For us, they create all kinds of advertisements that say, if I only owned this kind of car, I am a success. I am validated. If I own this type of clothes, I project a certain kind of personality. We have social media. We project a certain kind of idea about ourselves on social media. Clinging and bhava, personality development. So every time you notice that there is clinging there, every time you notice you're making an association, you're rationalizing why it is you think you like something, you can catch yourself doing that.

And you can let go of that. And when you let go of clinging, you let go of the rest of the series in the domino, which means there won't be any further habitual tendency, there won't be any further birth of action, and therefore there won't be a renewal of karma, which is suffering, really. So that's one type of clinging. Clinging to views. There's clinging to wrong views. So what are wrong views? Wrong views are anything that is not right view. So what is right view? Right view is understanding that there is action and consequence. Right view is understanding that there is this world and the other. When we say this world and the other, what are we talking about?

There is this world of the sensual experience and there is the other, which is a mental super mundane experience that is possible for us. That there is mother and father. In other words, there is an appreciation for our parents because we understand that they brought us into this world with the potential for us to be able to experience awakening. Have gratitude. That there is this process of karma and that there is meaning in giving. There is meaning in sharing. There is meaning in what is offered. In other words, these are all part of uplifting the mind by being open, by being generous, by keeping the precepts. There is meaning in all of this. That there are those who have walked the path and can show the path.

This is all part of mundane right view. Super mundane right view is the understanding of the four noble truths. That one understands what is suffering. One abandons what is the causes of suffering. One experiences the cessation of suffering. And one cultivates the path leading to the cessation of suffering. That's right view. So wrong view has to do with anything that conflicts with this. And it causes us harm. It causes us suffering. Clinging to views can also be clinging to our opinions, clinging to ideas, clinging to concepts, clinging to ideologies. When we cling to views, what happens? You read Majjhima Nikaya 18, the Honeyball Sutta, the Buddha says, disturbances. One can become so attached that it can lead to wrong speech and wrong action, even to the taking up of the stick and sword.

We see this for ourselves now in our reality. We've seen this for thousands of years, tens of thousands of years that this has happened. There's a clinging to some kind of idea. I am right and you are wrong and therefore you don't deserve to live. So clinging to opinions, somebody had said once, I wake up and make my coffee and I turn on the TV and I'm watching the news and it gives me all kinds of anxiety and all kinds of suffering. So what should I do? I said, stop watching the news.

Most of the news that we watch, especially in America, I'll say, the news that we watch is all just opinions. Just a bunch of talking heads giving their opinion about the reality, the so-called reality that we're experiencing. And what happens? We take that and we identify with it and we say, oh, this makes sense to me. So some of us identify as conservatives, some of us identify as liberals, some of us identify as this or that. Identity, identity, identity. That is the clinging that happens. And then we defend that because we have identified with it. And now in the habitual tendencies, based on that kind of clinging, we will react to a situation. So if you find the mind starting to cling to becoming opinionated about something, you can let go of that.

Because there's tension there. It creates a habitual pattern. It creates a habitual tendency from which we react. And of course, there's also clinging to the Dhamma itself. Becoming a Dhamma defender. We're doing this practice or we're doing some kind of practice and we say, oh, this is a great practice. Everybody should be doing this practice. Why? Happy with what you're doing. From your actions, from your behavior, people will be inspired. And then they'll come to you and ask you, what are you doing? And if you feel like you want to talk about it, you talk about it. Why be a Dhamma evangelist? Why defend the Dhamma? The Dhamma doesn't need any defending. The Dhamma is the Dhamma.

When you identify with the Dhamma, when you cling to the Dhamma, then it is just. It's like you having taken the raft from one shore to the other shore and then carrying that raft with you while you're walking up. Just leave it. You have utilized the Dhamma for its purposes, which is freedom of mind, which is the cessation of suffering, the ultimate happiness. So why cling to it? If it is giving you peace of mind, why cling to it? Thinking itself is disturbing you from that peace of mind. Somebody asked at one point, there's come a point where the mind has no thoughts at all. And I said, yeah, there comes a point where the mind has no thoughts at all, except the thought, but hey, there's no thoughts at all.

So that's what you have to let go. That last part is the identification with that too. But if you hold on to that, then what happens? You generate more thoughts. The same way you hold on to the Dhamma, what happens? You generate more suffering for yourself. Stop identifying with things. Just let them go. Use them for the purposes of what they're required for.

So that's clinging to views. Then we have clinging to rites and rituals. This is a corny joke from Bhante Sujato. It's not mine. It's Bhante Sujato's. I'm just giving you that caveat. He talks about clinging to rites and rituals, and that comes from the word sila, right, and pabbata, and upadana. So sila here, actually means rock. And pabbata means to move forward. So what we're clinging to is rock and roll. So we let go of all rock and roll music. But really, what does clinging to rites and rituals mean? Rites and rituals with the idea that they will take you to Nibbana. So we cling to this idea that if I only chanted this 108 times, or if I only light 10,000 candles, or if I only wear my lucky ring, or wear my lucky color, everything will turn out fine.

These different kinds of rites and rituals. What does it create in the mind? It creates identity. It creates all kinds of ideas that we cling to. When we come to take refuge, when we come to take the precepts and all of that, some people can say, oh, isn't that a rite and ritual? Sure, it could be. But it's only a rite and ritual if you're just doing it mechanically. But if you truly understood the reasoning behind why you're doing what you're doing, like why the power of the precepts matters, what it means when we take refuge, what does it mean when you take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha? What does it actually mean? The way I see it, when we take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, we're taking refuge not in the persona of the Buddha. We're taking refuge in what is possible. In terms of Nibbana, in terms of arahatship, in terms of full awakening. When we take refuge in the Dhamma, we're saying we're taking...