Day 2 June 2022 Day DN 2 Distractions -Retreat with Delson Armstrong

So today we're going to deal with hindrances, and I'm going to be reading from Digha Nikaya 2, which is the Samannaphala Sutta, the fruits of the homeless life. Thus have I heard. Once the Blessed One was staying at Rajagaha in Jivaka Kumara Bachcha's mango grove, together with a large company of some 1,250 monks. Ajat Satu Vedahiputta of Magadha, having gone up to the roof of his palace, was sitting there surrounded by his ministers on the 15th fast day, the full moon of the fourth month, called Komudi. And King Ajat Satu, on the fast day, gave vent to this solemn utterance: "Is this moonlight night charming? Is this moonlight night auspicious? Is this moonlight night... can we not today visit some ascetic or Brahmin to visit whom would bring peace to our heart?" Then one minister said to King Ajat Satu, "Sire, there is Purana Kasapa, who has many followers, a teacher of many, who is well-known." Another minister said, "At these words, King Ajat Satu was silent."

So here, Ajat Satu, just to give you a background: Ajat Satu was the king of Magadha. King Bimbisara was a big supporter of the Buddha. Bimbisara was a big follower of the Dhamma, and Ajat Satu was actually somebody who didn't like his father, and he killed him and then he took the throne. So the story goes, Ajat Satu was basically having a restless night. He was overcome by guilt for what he had done.

And his ministers are talking about all of these different sects, all of these different leaders of sects who have different kinds of views. And we'll go a little bit into it, but we'll talk more in depth at another time. But these are the main proponents of certain views that are counter to the Dhamma, counter to what the Buddha taught.

All this time, Jivaka Komarabhacca was sitting silently near King Ajat Satu. The king said to him, "You, friend Jivaka, why are you silent?" Jivaka said this: "Sire, there is this Blessed One, the Arahat, the fully enlightened Buddha, staying in my mango grove with a large company of some 1,250 monks. And concerning the Blessed Gautama, this fair report has been spread about. To your majesty's heart... then, Jivaka, have the riding elephants made ready." "Very good, sire," said Jivaka, and he had 500 she-elephants made ready, and for the king the royal tusker. Then he reported, "Sire, the riding elephants are ready. Now is the time to do as your majesty wishes." King Ajat Satu, having placed his wives each on one of the 500, and proceeded in royal state, accompanied by torchbearers from Rajagaha towards Jivaka's mango grove.

And when King Ajat Shattu came near the mango grove, he felt fear and terror, and his hair stood on end. And feeling this fear and the rising of the hairs, the king said to Jivaka, "Not deceiving me. You are not tricking me. You are not delivering me up to an enemy. How is it that from this great number of twelve hundred and fifty monks not a sneeze, a cough, or a shout is to be heard?"

"Have no fear, your majesty. I would not deceive you or trick you or deliver you up to an enemy. Approach, sire, approach. There are the lights burning in the round pavilion." So King Ajat Shattu, having ridden on his elephant as far as the ground would permit, alighted and continued on foot to the door of the round pavilion.

Then he said, "Jivaka, where is the Blessed One?" "That is the Blessed One, sire. That is the Blessed One, sitting against the middle column with his order of monks in front of him." Ajat Shattu was unable to recognize the Buddha, because the Buddha was not as you usually see him. He was like the rest of the other monks, with a shaven head.

So he looked the same as his other monks, so he couldn't recognize him, possessed of such calm as this order of monks. Prince Udayabhadda was Ajat Satu's son. And guess what happened to Prince Udayabhadda? He killed his father. So it went on in this family. "Do your thoughts go to the one you love, Your Majesty?" "Lord, Prince Udayabhadda is very dear to me. If only he were possessed of the same calm as this order of monks."

Then King Ajat Satu, having bowed down to the Blessed One and saluted the order of monks with joined hands, sat down to one side and said, "Venerable Sir, I would ask something if you would deign to answer me." "Ask, Your Majesty, anything you like." "Various craftsmen, such as elephant drivers, horse drivers, chariot fighters, archers, standard bearers, adjutants, army caterers, champions and senior officers, scouts, heroes, brave fighters, cuirassiers, slave sons, cooks, barbers, bathmen, bakers, garland makers, bleachers, cooks, barbers, bleachers, weavers, basket makers, potters, calculators, and accountants, and whatever other skills there are, they enjoy here and now the visible fruits of their skills.

So here Ajat Satu is asking the Buddha, what are the benefits of doing this practice? When he says the homeless life, he's talking about the monastics. But understand this to be in a larger context of the practice in and of itself. That is to say: sila, keeping your precepts; samadhi, cultivating the meditation; and panna, gaining insight. So the Buddha says, "Your majesty, do you admit that you have put this question to other ascetics and Brahmins?" "I admit it." "Would your majesty mind saying how they replied?" "I do not mind telling you, or one like him." "Well then, your majesty, tell me." "Once, Venerable Sir, I went to see Purana Kasapa.

Having exchanged courtesies, I sat down to one side and said, good Kasapa, just as there are these various craftsmen, they enjoy here and now the visible fruits of their skills. Can you, Kasapa, point to such a reward visible here and now as a fruit of the homeless life? At this, venerable sir, Purana Kasapa said, Your majesty, by the doer or instigator of a thing, by one who cuts or bruises to be cut, or causes to be cut, by one who burns or causes to be burned, by one who causes grief and weariness, by one who agitates or causes agitation, who causes life to be taken, or that which is not given to be taken, commits burglary, carries of treasures, robbery, lies in ambush, commits adultery, and tells lies.

No evil is done. If, with a razor-sharp wheel, one were to make of this earth one single mass and heap of flesh, there would be no evil as a result of that. No evil would accrue. If one were to go along the south bank of the Ganges, killing, slaying, cutting, or causing to be cut, burning or causing to be burned. There would be no evil as a result of that. No evil would accrue. Or if one were to go along with the north bank of the Ganges, giving and causing to be given, sacrificing and causing to be sacrificed, there would be no merit as a result of that. No merit would accrue.

In giving, self-control, abstinence, and telling the truth... This is Purana Kasapa, one of the leaders of a certain kind of monastic community or ascetic community that believed that there was no meaning to our actions. No meaning, whether you are doing good or doing evil. It doesn't matter. It's a very nihilistic kind of view. So this is a view that leads to trouble, that leads to suffering.

And Ajat Satu was not satisfied by it. "Thus, Blessed One, Purana Kasapa, on being asked about the present fruits of the homeless life, explained non-action to me, just as if, on being asked about a mango, he were to describe a breadfruit." In talking about non-action, he's talking about basically what's known as ahetu in Pali, which means without cause, without conditionality. And so I thought, how would one like me think despitefully of any ascetic or Brahmin dwelling in my territory? So I neither applauded nor rejected Purana Kasapa's words, but though despitefully of any ascetic or Brahmin dwelling in my territory, pleased, not expressing my displeasure, saying nothing, rejecting and scorning speech, I got up and left. Once I visited Makhali Gosala and asked him the same question.

Makhali Gosala said, "Your Majesty, there is no cause or condition for the defilement of beings. They are defiled without cause or condition. There is no cause or condition for the purification of beings. They are purified without cause or condition. There is no self-power or other power. There is no power in humans, no strength or force, no vigor or exertion.

All beings, all living things, all creatures, all that lives is without control, without power or strength. They experience the fixed course of pleasure and pain through the six kinds of rebirth. 6,000 others, and again 600. There are 500 kinds of karma, of five kinds and three kinds, and half karma. 62 paths, 62 intermediary eons, six classes of humankind, eight stages of human progress, 4,900 occupations, 4,900 wanderers, 4,900 abodes of Nagas, 3,000 hells, 400,000 eons, during which fools and wise run on and circle round till they make an end of suffering, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Therefore, there is no such thing as saying, by this discipline or karma or practice or austerity or holy life, I will bring my unripened karma to fruition. I will gradually make this ripened karma go away. Neither of these things is possible, because pleasure and pain have been measured out with a measure limited by the round of birth and death. And there is neither increase nor decrease, neither excellence nor inferiority.

Just as a ball of string, when thrown, runs till it is all unravelled, so fools and wise run on and circle round until they make an end of suffering. This is a view of fatalism, a view that says that you have no control over your destiny, you have no control over your future. Everything that's given to you is meted out and there's nothing you can do about it. So in other words, everything is already predetermined: the time of your birth, the time when you go to school, when you experience this, when you experience that. Even when you experience what sort of suffering you will.

And also the end of that suffering. All the way up until your enlightenment. Everything is already predestined. Everything is already predetermined. So this idea also negates the Buddha's understanding of karma. Because the idea of karma here is that we make our own efforts in every given moment. We do what we can in terms of understanding where our intentions lie.

Understanding what our actions are and what result they give. Through our mental actions, that is our thoughts. Through our verbal actions, that is our speech. And through our physical actions. So there is something known as karma. There is something known as cause and consequence. Action and consequence. Cause and effect. Conditionality. Thus, Venerable Sir, Makali Gosala, on being asked about the fruits of the homeless life, explained the purification of the round of birth and death to me. So I neither applauded nor rejected Makali Gosala's words, but got up and left.

Once I visited Ajita Kesakambali. It's a very interesting name, Kesakambali. Kesakambali means hair blanket. Or a blanket around his body made up of human hair. And I asked him the same question. Ajita Kesakambali said, No ascetics or Brahmins who have attained, who have perfectly practiced, who proclaim this world and the next, having realized them by their own super knowledge. This human being is composed of the four great elements. And when one dies in earth, one dies, the earth part reverts to the earth. The water part reverts to the water. The fire part reverts to fire. The air part to the air. And the faculties pass away into space.

They accompany the dead man with four bearers and the bier as fifth. Their footsteps are heard as far as the cremation ground. There the bones whiten, the sacrifice ends in ashes. It is the idea of a fool to give this gift. The talk of those who preach a doctrine of survival is vain and false. Fools and wise at the breaking up of the body are destroyed and perish. They do not exist after death.

This is the view of materialism. That there is only form. There is only the earth element as earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element as they are. So anything you do here in this world, according to this view, is all about taking the five physical senses. That's all you do. In other words, there's no meaning in giving. There's no meaning in being generous. There's no meaning in keeping the precepts.

There's no meaning in meditating. There's no meaning in developing insight. It's all material. This is materialism. So the idea here is in direct violation of the Buddha's Dharma, because the Dharma here says that we have consequences to our actions. So there is meaning in being generous. There is meaning in being steadfast in keeping our precepts. Because the more we keep our precepts, the better our mindfulness becomes.

The calmer our mind becomes. The more collected our mind becomes. Which is then ripe for the development of the mind, which allows us to experience panya or wisdom. Thus, Venerable Sir Ajita Kesakambali, on being asked about the fruits of the homeless life, explained the doctrine of annihilation to me. And so I got up and left. Once I visited Pakuda Kachayana and asked him the same question. Pakuda Kachayana said, seven things are not made or of a kind to be made, uncreated, unproductive, barren, false, stable as a column. They do not shake, do not change, obstruct one another, nor are they able to cause one another pleasure, pain or both. What are the seven? The earth body, the water body, the fire body, the air body, pleasure. These seven are not made.

Thus there is neither slain nor slayer, neither hearer nor proclaimer, neither knower nor causer of knowing. And whoever cuts off a man's head with a sharp sword does not deprive anyone of life. He just inserts the blade in the intervening space between these seven bodies. So this idea is actually known as atomism, but also eternalism. So there is a doctrine in India which talks about how you have the Atma, you have the soul, and that soul is always pure, never affected by anything.

It is eternal. So that which slays and that which is slain is neither the Atman. It doesn't matter, everything is okay, because as long as you are the Atma, as long as you are the soul, everything goes. But as we understand it, if you cause someone to be killed or you kill, there is an effect. There is a death, and you experience the fruits of that experience, which is guilt and shame and so on. If you break any of the precepts, what do you experience?

You experience agitation in the mind. There is this conscience in the mind that says, I shouldn't have done that. And so that conscience is the beginning of right view. Because right view, the very mundane version of that, is that there is action and consequence. There is meaning in giving. There is meaning in being generous, meaning in being bound by this fourfold restraint. Thus, he is called self-perfected, self-controlled, self-established.

So, when they talk about this, the four restraints, the fourfold restraints, really what they're talking about is the purification of karma through certain kinds of ascetic practices. The idea is, this is a Jain philosophy. This is a Jain view, the view of the Jains, which is there is a soul and it reincarnates from life to life. And as it reincarnates from life to life, it inherits or it imprints upon itself karmic dust, karmic particles. It picks it up as it goes from lifetime to lifetime. And one has to purify the mind of these karmic particles by doing certain kinds of purification processes.

Like fasting, like going into the forest and doing all of these strange ascetic practices that purify the mind and body. And by doing so, by experiencing displeasure, by experiencing pain, the body and the mind are purified. And therefore, the atma, the soul, is purified of its karma by doing this, purified, and becomes immortal, becomes eternal, and goes to this place which is for those who are all pure, for the purified souls. So the Buddha actually asked this question to this kind of group, and he said, how do you know how much karmic dust is left? How do you know what you're doing is leading to the purification of your karma?

And one of them asked Ananda in another sutta, this is how we purify our karma. This is how we purify and mitigate our karma. How do you guys do it? And Ananda said, there's three ways. One is through sila, perfecting the precepts. Another is through samadhi, practice of jhanas. And the third is through insight. Because in all three, when you're experiencing the perfection of the precepts, which leads to the perfection of meditation, which leads to the perfection of insight and wisdom, you understand reality as it is. So that anything that arises is seen as old karma. Anything that arises is seen as an effect of your previous choices.

So you don't take it personally. So it just arises and dissipates. And this is how karma is purified, mitigated, understood, and experienced, so long as you do not hold onto that experience. In other words, you don't fight with that experience, you don't crave for that experience, you don't push or pull or twist that experience. This translates to your meditation practice.

Because what is happening when you're meditating? You're met with a hindrance. You're met with a distraction. What's a distraction? It's a feeling. It's an experience in the mind. How did that arise? Because of previous causes and conditions. Hindrances arise based on choices you've made in the past. And these choices led to the breaking of precepts. And certain kinds of breaking of precepts lead to certain kinds of hindrances. We'll get more into that in a little bit. But because of that, you made the choice to do that, right? At some point, whether it was in this life or in a previous life or a life before that, whenever that was.

As a result of that, then it is experienced as a hindrance, whether it's in the meditation or whether it is in your daily life. Now, there are the five basic hindrances: sensual craving, ill will, restlessness, sloth and torpor, and doubt. And these arise dependent upon or based in breaking of certain kinds of precepts. So now you're met with the effect of breaking that precept in the form of this hindrance. What do you do with it? How do you purify, let's say, or mitigate that hindrance?

Do you push it? Do you suppress it? Do you fight with it? Do you crave for it? Do you have aversion towards it? Or do you understand it as it actually is? Which is, here is a hindrance. I'm not going to fight it. I'm going to acknowledge it's here. Which means you recognize that this is a hindrance. You recognize mind is now distracted from its object of meditation, taken away from its object of meditation, and leading to a distraction.

Now you recognize that. So how do you deal with it? You release your attention from it and you let it go by relaxing the tightness and tension in the body associated with that craving, related to that hindrance. Once you relax, now you have abandoned the unwholesome states of mind. Now you have to replace them with wholesome states of mind. The unwholesome arose because of something you did in the past, but if you continue to add to it by resisting it, by getting upset by it, then it's only going to continue. But if you let go by recognizing, releasing, and relaxing, then replace that with the smile, which uplifts the mind, and return back to your object of meditation, whether that is loving-kindness, compassion, joy, equanimity, or the quiet mind, whatever it might be, and you stay with it. When you do that, you are actually dealing with old karma.

This is how you purify that karma. Because what happens then? The hindrance comes up again, but this time it's weaker. It's not as prevalent. So what do you do there? You six are again, come back to your object. It might come a third time, a fourth time, a fifth time, but every time it comes it becomes weaker and weaker and weaker, until it fades away and now the mind is fully collected.

This is how to deal with old karma according to what is known as right effort. Once I visited Sanjaya Belataputta and I asked him the same question. He said to me, if you ask me, is there another world? If I thought so, I would say so. But I don't think so. I don't say it is so. And I don't say otherwise. I don't say it is not. And I don't say it is, and I don't not say it is not.

If you ask me, is there another world or both or neither? Is there fruit and result of good and bad deeds? Isn't there or not or neither? Does the Tathagata exist after death? Does he not or both or neither? This is what's known as a skeptic. This is what is known as an eel wriggler. Somebody who sits on the fence, has doubts about this or that, doesn't want to conclude one way or the other because ultimately they're afraid to have to defend their views.

Defend in the sense of trying to explain their view. So they would rather just leave all that away and say, it could be, it can't be, it might be, it might not be, who knows? So they're very much on the fence about things. Don't make conclusions. And this leads to doubt. This leads to a lot of doubt in anything that you're doing. Should I do this or should I do that? Am I doing the practice correctly or am I not doing the practice correctly?

Am I 6R incorrectly or am I not 6R incorrectly? Or all of these thoughts that arise. Thus, Venerable Sir, Sanjaya Belataputta, on being asked about the fruits of the homeless life, replied by evasion, just as if on being asked about the mango he were to describe a breadfruit tree. And I thought, of all of these ascetics and brahmins, Sanjaya Belataputta is the most stupid and confused.

I can, your majesty. I will just ask a few questions in return, and you, sire, shall answer as you see fit. What do you think, sire? Suppose there were a man, a slave, a laborer, getting up before you and going to bed after you, willingly doing whatever has to be done, well-mannered, pleasant-spoken, working in your presence, and he might think, So this person is thinking that when I do things that are in alignment with keeping the precepts, when I am moral, when I am ethical, that means I will attain to something that is in alignment with that, which means I will have a better existence at a future period.

And before long he does so, and he having thus gone forth, might dwell restrained in body, speech, and thought, satisfied with the minimum of food and clothing, content in solitude. And then if people were to announce to you, Sire, do you remember that slave who worked in your presence and who shaved off his hair and beard and went forth into homelessness?

What do you think, sire? Is that one fruit of the homeless life visible here and now? Certainly, venerable sir. Then that, sire, is the first fruit of the homeless life visible here and now. He's strictly talking about monastics. Somebody goes forth into the homeless life and becomes a monk or a nun, a bhikkhu or a bhikkhuni, and they are shown proper homage. They are taken care of, their requisites are taken care of, and people show them proper respect. People want to invite them so that they can make merit by offering them food and so on and so forth. This is one fruit of the homeless life. But if we broaden that understanding from even the layperson's life, if we kept the precepts and if we continue to do the practice, if we took care of the Dhamma by keeping the precepts, by continuing to practice samadhi, continuing to practice meditation and developing wisdom, eventually that would arise in the form of the way we interact with people.

And people would see that and they would pay due respect to you. They would be generous to you, not only in terms of gifts and things like that, but they would be happy to see you. They would look forward to seeing you. They would be happy in mind, body and speech, just as you continue to send loving kindness to them. They continue to act in the same way, often than not. I've seen it for myself. When I continue to radiate loving kindness or compassion or joy or equanimity, depending upon the situation, beings respond in kind. People love to speak with me whenever they have an opportunity, because they like to be in the presence of one who continues to spread loving kindness, one who continues to practice the Dhamma.

I have, and this is not boasting, but this is the absurdity of it. I have 11 pairs of shoes. What am I going to do with 11 pairs of shoes? People just keep sending me stuff because they want to be respectful and acknowledge the good that I've done for them and the good that they've received. Just yesterday, somebody gave me 60 bars of chocolate. What am I going to do with 60 bars of chocolate?

These are just small, minor things that happen. But wherever I go, people are always happy to see me. People are always happy to pay their respects however they want to. And I don't ask for it. I don't think that they have to or whatever. It's just that it happens naturally. So if you continue to be generous, if you continue to keep your precepts, not only does that translate into a peaceful mind, that translates into a mind well ripened for samadhi, but it translates to a life where you are taken care of. I don't have to worry about a single thing in life. Everything is taken care of for me. But venerable sir, can you show any other reward visible here and now as a fruit of the homeless life? I can, sire.

What do you think, sire? Is that one fruit of the homeless life visible here and now? It's the same thing. Certainly, venerable sir. Then that, sire, is the second such fruit of the homeless life. But, venerable sir, can you show me any other reward visible here and now as a fruit of the homeless life that is more excellent and perfect than these? I can, sire. Please listen. Whenever the Buddha says please listen, pay extra attention. Your majesty, pay proper attention and I will speak. Yes, venerable sir, said King Ajatasattu. And the blessed one said: Your Majesty, it happens that a Tathagata rises in the world, an Arahant, fully enlightened Buddha, endowed with wisdom and conduct, well-farer, knower of the worlds, incomparable trainer of men to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, enlightened and blessed.

He, having realized it by his own superknowledge, proclaims this world with its devas, maras, and brahmas, its princes and people. He preaches the Dhamma, which is lovely in its beginning, lovely in its middle, lovely in its end, in the spirit and in the letter, and displays the fully perfected and purified holy life. This Dhamma is heard by a householder or a householder's son, or one reborn in some family or other. Having heard this Dhamma, he gains confidence in the Tathagata. Gaining this confidence, he reflects: this household life is close and dusty. The homeless life is free as air. It is not easy living the household life to live the fully perfected holy life, purified and polished like a conch shell.

Suppose I were to shave off my hair and beard, don yellow robes, and go forth from the household life into homelessness. And having gone thus forth, he dwells restrained by the restraint of the rules, keeping the precepts, persisting in right behavior, seeing danger in the slightest faults, observing the commitments he has taken on regarding body, deed, and word, devoted to the skilled and purified life, perfected in morality, in sila, with the sense doors guarded, skilled in mindful awareness and content. Now listen carefully. And how, sire, is one perfected in morality? How do you develop and perfect your sila? Here, sire, a monk in the homeless life he dwells refraining from taking life, without stick or sword, scrupulous, compassionate, trembling for the welfare of all living beings. Thus he is accomplished in morality. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, abandoning unchastity or sexual misconduct or sensual misconduct, abandoning false and harsh speech, he refrains from wrong means of livelihood.

Thus, he is perfected in morality. When you keep the precepts, you're doing a few things. Number one, you're purifying your intention. You're going from wrong intention to right intention. That right intention means you're letting go of things that don't serve your mind. Right speech. You go from wrong speech to right speech. You go from wrong action to right action. You go from wrong livelihood to right livelihood.

By letting go of intentionally killing or harming another living being. By letting go and abandoning the taking of what is not given. By abandoning and letting go of sexual and sensual conduct. By abandoning and letting go of false speech, gossip and slander. By letting go and abandoning the indulging in intoxicants, you are purifying your intentions. When you purify your intentions, you purify your speech. When you purify your speech, you purify your actions. When you purify your actions, you purify your livelihood. This results in a that can do the six R's, that can easily recognize, using mindfulness, to see when the mind becomes distracted, that can easily let go by releasing and relaxing, that can easily generate wholesome states of mind by smiling and coming back to a wholesome object of meditation. And that is known as right effort. So it all begins with keeping the precepts, taking the precepts, making a commitment to keep the precepts.

And then, sire, that monk who is perfected in morality sees no danger from any side owing to his being restrained by morality. Just as a duly anointed king, having conquered his enemies, by that very fact sees no danger from any side, so one, on account of their morality, sees no danger anywhere. The blameless bliss that comes from maintaining this Aryan morality.

In this way, Sire, he is perfected in morality. So the blameless bliss, this is an experience. This is a mind that is feeling relief. A mind that doesn't have any regrets. A mind that doesn't have any guilt. Any kind of remorse. Any kind of agitation. Because they continue to keep precepts. When you talk about the Aryan morality, Aryan here means noble, so that means one who is following the noble eightfold path. And how, Sire, is he a guardian of the sense doors? Here, one on seeing a visible object with the eye does not grasp at its major signs or secondary characteristics, because greed and sorrow, evil unskilled states, would overwhelm him if he dwelt leaving his eye faculty unguarded.

So he practices guarding it. He protects the eye faculty, develops restraint of the eye faculty. On hearing a sound with the ear, on smelling an odor with the nose, on tasting a flavor with the tongue, on feeling an object with the body, on thinking a thought with the mind, he does not grasp at their major signs or secondary characteristics. He develops restraint of these faculties. He experiences within himself the blameless bliss that comes from maintaining this Aryan guarding of the sense faculties. In this way, Sire, a monk is a guardian of the sense doors. Now this is talking about right effort.

So here the Buddha is talking about what's known as samvara in Pali. Samvara means restraint, or is sometimes translated as restraint. But that gives a different connotation, because that means I have to control my senses. I have to control whatever's happening through my physical senses and through my mind. But it's not that. It's about observing and understanding when craving or aversion arise in relation to the sense experience. So guarding the sense faculties, guarding the mind, is not about trying to control it. You can't control what you see. You can't control the colors that you see. You can't change the color red that you see to the color blue. You can't change the sound of the birds. You can't change the sound of the lawnmower when you're meditating. The flavor of something sweet to sour just by thinking about it.

You can't control it. You cannot do anything like that. You can't just silence the mind. So as I was saying, you cannot control the way that you experience everything through your sixth sense basis. But what you can observe and understand and let go of is the craving and the aversion and the identification related to those experiences. And how do you do that? Right effort. You do that through the six R's. So in other words, the six R's aren't just used in meditation, because a hindrance can arise while you're walking, while you're taking a shower, while you're eating. So it's about observing your mind's attention and remembering to observe how it moves from one thing to the other, and when it moves towards craving, when it moves towards aversion, what do you do?

You do the six R's. So you're recognizing that the mind has craving or resistance towards a hindrance that arises, or towards an experience that's happening. Maybe you're walking down and you go to the dining hall during lunch, and you see that there's some freshly baked cookies, and you think in your mind, those cookies, instead of one, right? Because now you have craving for those cookies.

But if you recognize that craving and you let go of that, then you have relief right there and then. If you use the six R's, you're experiencing relief right there and then. You see, the whole idea about craving is that there's an agitation in the mind that arises from any of the experiences that you're having, that there's this part of the mind that says, or the mind itself says, I want this or I don't want this. So it either pulls towards it or it pushes against it. It resists it, or it says I am it and it stands its ground, trying to identify with that experience. When that happens, there's tightness and tension in the mind and body. This is a natural arising, because the mind is conditioned to be in that fight-or-flight kind of way of functioning.

And there's a recoil in the mind and body that says, I need to get that or I need to push that away. And what happens? There's craving or there's aversion to it. And the mind, when it indulges in that craving or acts on that aversion, experiences relief. And so the mind is conditioned to think, every time I indulge in a craving, every time I resist something, I experience relief. So that's the way to experience peace of mind, is to act on my craving, to act on my aversions.

But what if there was a way to experience relief without having to act upon the aversion, without having to act upon the craving? That happens through right effort. It is a process of deconditioning the mind from that craving by tranquilizing the formations, the mental and bodily formations rooted in craving, and relaxing the tightness and tension, and then reconditioning the mind by the process of re-smiling and returning to a wholesome object of mind.

By reconditioning the mind in this way, you experience relief without having to indulge in the craving, without having to act upon the aversion. Which means that the mind sees the absurdity in acting upon the craving. It sees the absurdity and uselessness of acting upon the craving and aversion. And now you start to develop wisdom as you use right effort. So whatever it is you're doing, whether you're doing your walking meditation, whether you're doing your sitting meditation, whether you're taking a shower, whether you're eating, petting the dog, driving, reading a book, answering an email, talking to someone.

What you are observing is not what it is that you're doing, but you're in relation to how the mind is experiencing it. Is the mind having craving towards that experience? Because this whole world that you experience is basically manufactured by your sixth sense basis. Cultivate is dependent upon how you relate to that manufactured world, dependent upon the sixth sense basis. And how you do that is through right effort, through right mindfulness, and through right collectedness. So you understand, okay, here is an experience, and you understand there's craving for this. Right now you can choose to act on that craving in that moment, or you can choose to understand and recognize it, and then let go of it using release and relax.

And cultivate something wholesome through the smile, which uplifts the mind, brings in more mindfulness, and then finally return to a wholesome object of meditation or mind. Clarity, the elements of your mind in terms of how they react or respond to what's going on, and the more you do that, the easier your mind is able to recognize subtler and subtler layers and levels of craving and aversion and identification, ultimately leading you to a mind that is completely free of that, a mind without craving. Right, and ultimately leading you to freedom of mind. Right. So now you are no longer a slave to the senses, no longer are you in debt to the world in terms of having to act upon it through craving and aversion. Now you're free from it. So every time you do the six R's you experience, in that moment, freedom of mind. You experience in that moment a mundane nibbana, a state that is a state, or rather a mind that has ceased all conditions, and in that brief moment experiencing the unconditioned. And when that happens, then your mind starts to tend towards that which is wholesome,

and it experiences peace in every moment. The more it starts to recognize the craving and starts to let go of it, the six R's aren't just for meditation in terms of your formal sitting practice, but the six R's can be used anywhere. Let's say you are in conflict with somebody. Let's say you start to get into an argument with someone. Maybe the general tendency for a person is to incline towards defending themselves, saying, how could they say this to me, how could they accuse me of this, or whatever it might be, all of different thoughts and patterns that come up. But if you can recognize it and let go of that, not necessarily have to smile, because maybe they might misconstrue that smile as you, you know, taunting them, but smile in the mind, smile in the heart, keep your mind uplifted, and then return to something like loving kindness or compassion, and realize that that person who might be upset at you is suffering, and that person is angry at you, but that anger is arising because they are suffering, and now you can respond with wisdom

to alleviate the situation, to de-escalate the situation, and to cause peace, not only for yourself but peace in their mind as well. So there is a practical application of the six R's in every moment, and every time you do that you continue to recondition your mind towards the unconditioned, towards nibbana. And how, Sire, is one accomplished in mindfulness and clear awareness?

Here, one acts with clear awareness in going back and forth, in looking ahead or behind, in bending and stretching, in wearing his outer and inner robe and carrying his bowl. So here he's talking about right mindfulness. In this way, yes, each of the steps in the eightfold path lead to the other, but they're also working in tandem. They're working together, so right effort leads to right mindfulness, which leads to right collectedness. But they're always happening, whether you're meditating or whether you're doing anything else. So long as you use right effort, you're having right mindfulness, and so collectedness.

So this process in meditation, where you get distracted, when you have a hindrance, when you use right effort by six R-ing, you come back to right mindfulness. Because right mindfulness is not about taking slow steps and paying attention to the contact between the feet and the earth, or paying attention to the taste of the food and paying attention to the birds in the air, mindfully listening, mindfully walking, mindfully taking a shower, mindfully petting the dog, mindfully, whatever it might be.

It's not about that. It's mindful in regards to: is there craving present in the mind? Is there aversion present in the mind? Is there restlessness present in the mind? Is there sloth and torpor present in the mind? So in other words, you are mindful of how mind's attention moves from one thing to the other. How mind becomes distracted.

The more you start to see this process, the more you develop wisdom on its own. That's the way you cultivate wisdom. Through observing. Just observing and using the six R's. So when you are in meditation, you are observing the feeling of loving kindness, or the feeling of compassion, or the feeling of joy, or the feeling of equanimity.

You're feeling it and you're observing that. And the closer you observe, which means just observing, you don't need to pinpoint or focus or try too hard or try to pinpoint where that feeling is. Just feel it. Just observe it. Like watching a movie, watching things unfold before your eyes. When you do that in the meditation, everything is flowing smoothly.

And if you're observing in that way, then you can recognize, oh, my mind got distracted suddenly. Now you're no longer observing the object of meditation. Now you're no longer feeling the loving kindness. Now you're no longer feeling the compassion or whatever it might be. Now your mind is bogged down by thoughts about this or that. So what do you do? Do you fight with that? Do you beat yourself up for that? Or do you recognize and acknowledge, okay, here is a hindrance, here is a distraction.

And do you release and then relax that tension and tightness, and then cultivate a wholesome state of mind through the smile and through returning back to the object of meditation? So this is how you develop wisdom. This is how you cultivate wisdom. This is how you develop the mind, bhavana, using the six R's, using right effort, which is in tandem with right mindfulness, which then results in right collectedness, into the practice of jhanas, which you'll hear about tomorrow.

And how is one contented? Here a monk is satisfied with a robe to protect his body, with alms to satisfy his stomach, and having accepted sufficient, he goes on his way. Just as a bird with wings flies hither and thither, burdened by nothing but its wings, so he is satisfied. In this way, sire, a monk is contented.

So here we're talking about contentment. Contentment is basically a mind that is equanimous, not pulled in one direction or the other, accepting of reality as it actually is, accepting of whatever is given to them. This results in a mind that has no agitation, no restlessness, but rather just deep, tranquil contentment. Then, equipped with this noble morality, noble restraint of the senses, noble contentment, he finds a solitary lodging at the root of a forest tree, in a mountain cave or gorge, a charnel ground, a jungle thicket, or in the open air on a heap of straw. From the alms round, he sits down, holding his body upright, and keeps mindfulness established before him. This doesn't mean that he becomes mindful of everything that's in front of him.

What it's talking about is establishing mindfulness in terms of just paying attention, being aware of what's going on in the mind and body. So you sit down, pay attention. Is there any tension here? Is there any tightness? Just let go of it. Relax for a bit. Relax it. And for just a couple of minutes, just notice where the mind is. Start to pay attention to what's going on. Start to pay attention to how mind brings up the feeling of loving kindness. Start to pay attention to how mind collects itself around loving kindness.

Abandoning worldly desires, he dwells with a mind freed from worldly desires, and his mind is purified of them. Abandoning ill will and hatred, and by compassionate love for the welfare of all living beings, his mind is purified of ill will and hatred. Abandoning sloth and torpor, perceiving light, mindful and clearly aware, his mind is purified of sloth and torpor. Abandoning restlessness, and with an inwardly calmed mind, heart is purified of restlessness.

Abandoning doubt, he dwells with doubt left behind. Without uncertainty as to what things are wholesome, his mind is purified of doubt. These are the five hindrances. Worldly desires, that is, sensual craving. This sensual craving arises dependent upon a mind that continues to cultivate intentions of sensual craving. So when you break the precept of abstaining from sexual and sensual misconduct, you continue to cultivate sensual craving, because sensual misconduct is basically a mind that becomes obsessed by an experience of the sixth sense basis or the five physical sense bases, let's say the ears, the eyes, the nose, the tongue and the body, and wants more of it and wants to indulge in more and more of it. But it becomes so obsessed by it that it blinds the mind from everything else, and it causes the mind to have misconduct. It causes the mind, through that obsession, to break other precepts. And the more it indulges in this, the more it strengthens and cultivates that hindrance of sensual craving. So how do you let go of sensual craving? You let go of it by understanding what it actually is.

That is to say, you understand that it arose because you continue to indulge in it, because you took it to be mine, me, mine, myself. You took it personally. But if you understand sensual pleasures as that which arise dependent upon causes and conditions, then you understand that they come and go. They arise and they pass away. So there's no point in holding on to them. When they go, they go. So if sensual pleasures arise and you act on them, okay. But if you engage with them with the idea that I have to hold on to them, I can't let them go, I have to keep them, or I have to get more of them, then now your mind is intentionalizing towards sensual craving.

But if you let go of that and understand that these sensual pleasures will come and go, therefore impermanent, therefore not worth holding on to, therefore seen as impersonal, now your mind becomes inwardly calm. Now your mind experiences a deeper pleasure, which is the pleasure of jhana. A deeper pleasure, which is the pleasure of relief from being bogged down by the hindrances.

So, sensual pleasures is one level, but the pleasure of jhana, the pleasure of meditation, supersedes the sensual pleasures. If you fully experience jhana, if you fully experience loving kindness, if you fully experience a mind rid of the hindrances, then you no longer are interested in sensual pleasures while you're in that state. So you abandon it by using the six R's: recognizing the mind is thinking about this or that in reference to sensual pleasures, letting go of that, relaxing the tightness and tension, coming back to the smile, coming back to a collected mind that's around its object of meditation, whether it's loving kindness, compassion, joy, or equanimity.

Abandoning ill will and hatred. And so how do you abandon ill will and hatred? First of all, how does ill will and hatred come about? Because you continue to develop and cultivate intentions rooted in ill will and hatred. Every time you intentionally harm or kill a living being, you continue to cultivate the hindrance of ill will. Every time you have anger towards somebody, every time, even if you think angrily towards somebody or something, then you're cultivating ill will. When you're here sitting down for meditation practice and you hear the lawnmower, or you hear somebody chopping wood, or you hear somebody talking or something happening, and your mind gets irritated by that, gets frustrated by that. But if you recognize it and say, okay, I noticed this, I recognize this, I'm going to let go of my attention to that, bring it back to mind and body, relax the tightness and tension, come back to my smile, bring up my smile and come back to loving kindness and compassion.

Now you're letting go of that ill will. So indulging or acting upon irritation through mind, speech and body continues to cultivate the hindrance of ill will. But recognizing it for what it is and letting it go using the six R's, you're deconditioning the mind from that ill will and reconditioning it with a response rooted in loving kindness, a response rooted in compassion.

Abandoning sloth and torpor, perceiving light, mindful and clearly aware, his mind is purified of sloth and torpor. What is sloth and torpor? Sloth and torpor is dullness of the mind. The mind starts to stop paying attention to its object of meditation. There's not enough attention being given to it. There's not enough balanced energy. There's not enough interest in the object of meditation. There's not enough collectedness in the mind.

So when the attention becomes dispersed and you think that you're with your object of meditation, but now another thought comes up, and little by little your mind starts to look at that and starts to, little by little, deviate away from its object of meditation. Sloth and torpor starts to seep in and you start to become dull. You aren't able to engage properly with your object of meditation. It feels foggy, it feels uncollected. Now it says here he perceives light. One of the ways to deal with sloth and torpor is to go outside and meditate in the sunlight, where it's very bright. That's why yesterday we talked about how you should keep the lights on here when you meditate, otherwise it can cause the mind to be sleepy and inattentive and lead to sloth and torpor.

So percipient of light means a couple of things. Number one, you go out somewhere where there's a lot of bright light. Number two, light in terms of the light of wisdom that's dependent upon having right attention. That means having more interest in your object in meditation. There's not enough interest. Energy: if you have too much energy you're going to have restlessness. If you have too little interest you're going to have lack of attention, and therefore sloth and torpor. If you notice this, you recognize it, you let go of it, bring back your attention to mind and body, relax, bring your attention to the smile, and collect your attention around the object. And bring a little bit more energy, a little bit more interest. It's like the camera lens.

If you loosen the focus too much, you might not be able to see what it is that the camera's capturing. But if you just tighten it a little bit, if you just bring in a little bit more energy, pay a little more attention, pay a little more interest to the object, then you don't have sloth and torpor. Now the mind becomes very attentive. Now the mind becomes very collected.

But be careful. Don't go into one-pointed concentration. Don't focus so much that your mind becomes tight and experiences headaches. Loosen the mind. Relax it when you notice that. Let go of that. Relax it and come back. Another way to deal with sloth and torpor is to walk backwards. Because when you walk backwards, you're paying attention more to the steps that you're taking.

When you're walking forwards, you take walking for granted. You just know the foot will land onto the earth, right? But when you're walking backwards, you're really paying attention to what's going on in terms of the steps that you're doing. When you do that, you have more energy, you have more collectedness, you have more attention. With that kind of a mind, come back to sit and see how the meditation goes.

Sometimes you're not having enough sleep. Sometimes the mind is just feeling sleepy. It doesn't have the energy because it hasn't had a good night's sleep. That happens, take a nap. Like I always say, I encourage naps on my retreats. Take naps as much as you can, if that helps. Not a long nap, 15, 20 minutes, 25 minutes at the most.

And come back and sit and see how it goes. Abandoning restlessness and with an inwardly calmed mind, his heart is purified of restlessness. Restlessness arises because you're trying too hard. You're pushing too much. You want that loving kindness to be experienced, so you focus as much as you can on that feeling. And what happens? There's this tightness, a band of tightness around the head, restless thoughts, all kinds of thoughts arise. Isn't there too much energy going on? When you recognize that, use the six R's. Back off a little. Just relax. Let the mind observe what's going on, instead of becoming the object of meditation, instead of trying to bring up the object of meditation. Allow the causes and conditions to arise, dependent upon your observation, dependent upon your attention towards it.

If you have too much restlessness, you might even want to just take a walk and just let the mind settle in by doing some walking meditation for about 15, 20, 25 minutes at the most. And as you start to settle in, come back to the hall and sit down for your meditation practice. See how that goes. Abandoning doubt, he dwells with doubt left behind, without uncertainty as to what things are wholesome. His mind is purified of doubt. Here the doubt is in relation not to doubt in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. The hindrance of doubt is in relation to: am I doing this practice right?

Am I recognizing what is wholesome? Am I recognizing what is unwholesome? Am I doing the six R's right? When you start to notice that, just six R that. As soon as you six R, what are you doing? You're cultivating a mind that recognizes what is unwholesome. And then you're letting go of that and bringing up the wholesome. So the doubt immediately goes away in and of itself.

So every time you six R, you're doing a few things. You're activating the seven enlightened factors, which are the antidotes for the five hindrances. In the case of sensual craving, you have joy that is the joy of jhana that arises, the joy of meditation that arises. It's a greater pleasure than sensual pleasures. In the case of restlessness, you have equanimity that arises when you 6R. And that equanimity balances the mind.

In the case of sloth and torpor, you have energy or the right effort that arises through the 6Rs. And now your mind is balanced. There's enough energy so that the mind doesn't become inattentive, so the mind doesn't become tired and dull. When you have any kind of ill will that arises, you have loving kindness as a result of that. You take the effort to bring up loving kindness. You have the mindfulness of ill will and you let go of that and you bring up loving kindness. Investigation of states.

When you bring up investigation of states, that means you know what is wholesome and what is unwholesome. It doesn't mean you're trying to analyze and reflect on what's going on. It doesn't mean you're trying to intentionally bring up these enlightenment factors. Just by observing them, your mind becomes collected. And when your mind is collected, that means the enlightenment factors have come into balance.

Understanding the six R's helps you activate the enlightenment factors, which are the antidotes for the five hindrances. When you recognize that you are distracted, you bring up mindfulness. You bring up investigation of states. When you release your attention from that distracted mind or that hindrance, you now bring up energy, because you are using the effort of letting go. When you relax the mind, you bring up tranquility. When you come back to your smile, you bring up joy. And when you return back to your object of meditation, the mind becomes collected, and as a result the mind is equanimous. If you are 6R-ing, that means that the mind is equanimous. Equanimity means that it is a mind that doesn't get disturbed, whether it's pulling you in one direction or pushing you in another direction. Your mind just sees things as they actually are. 6R, whenever you recognize, you're already seeing things as they are.

You're not trying to change them. You're not trying to fight the existing reality. You're not trying to fight the present moment. You're just seeing it as it is and you're letting go of it. Letting go of any attachment to it. Letting go of any aversion towards it. Just as a man who had taken a loan to develop his business, and whose business had prospered, might pay off his old debts, and with what was left over could support a life, might think, before this I developed my business by borrowing, but now it has prospered, and he would rejoice and be glad about that. Just as a man who was ill, suffering, terribly sick, with no appetite and weakened body, might after a time recover and regain his appetite and bodily strength, and he might think, before I was ill, and now I am well, and be glad about that.

Just as a man might be bound in prison, and after a time he might be freed from his bonds without any loss, with no deduction from his possessions, he might think, before this I was in prison but now I am free, and he would rejoice and be glad about that. Just as a man might be a slave, not his own master, dependent on another, unable to go where he liked. And after some time, he might be freed from slavery, able to go where he liked. He might think, before I was a slave, but now I am independent, and he would rejoice and be glad about that. Just as a man, laden with goods and wealth, might go on a long journey through the desert, where food was scarce and danger abounded.

And after a time, he would get through the desert. He might think, before this I was in danger, but now I am safe at the edge of a village, and he would rejoice and be glad about that. As long, sire, as one does not perceive the disappearance of the five hindrances in his mind, he feels as if in debt, in sickness, in bonds, in slavery, on a desert journey. But when he perceives the disappearance of the five hindrances. When you recognize a hindrance and you let go of it using the six R's, you feel in that moment that freedom of mind.

And when he knows these five hindrances have left in him, gladness arises in him. Your mind becomes naturally relieved. It feels relief from the five hindrances. And from gladness comes joy. And from joy in his mind, his body is tranquil. With a tranquil body, he feels uplifted. And with that uplifted mind, he is collected. And being thus detached from sense desires, detached from unwholesome states, he enters and remains in the first jhana. So in other words, the way to jhana, the way to cultivate a mind right for jhana, is by recognizing the hindrances and abandoning them using the six R's. And I will get to jhanas tomorrow.

Thus endeth the lesson. Any questions? Yes. concept from Buddhism originally and then it was kind of transferred over to more Western. Yeah, the six R's are just a modern fancy way of saying right effort. So right effort is steep. The right effort, which is basically one of the factors of the Eightfold Path, is letting go of unwholesome states of mind and cultivating wholesome states of mind and then maintaining those wholesome states of mind. So in other words, the six R's are just a mnemonic way of understanding that when you recognize that the mind is unwholesome, you're actually now recognizing the unarisen unwholesome states of mind. You're starting to let go of them because now you've recognized them, so any cascading of further unwholesome states of mind stops right there when you recognize.

That's the first right effort. The second right effort is to abandon the already arisen unwholesome states of mind, which means when you release your attention away from that distraction, bring it back to the present moment, bring it back to the mind and body, and you've relaxed the mind and body, you're basically abandoning those unwholesome states of mind, those that have already arisen. So that's the second right effort. You are bringing up a wholesome state of mind. You're bringing up something that's uplifted, so that's generating a wholesome state of mind. And then when you come back to the object, that's maintaining that. That's the fourth right effort, maintaining a wholesome state of mind. So whenever you do the six R's, which is just like I said, a mnemonic way of understanding it, you're fulfilling the four right efforts, which have to do with the right effort in the Eightfold Path.

I had a question about sila. I had two questions about sila. One, is sila the be-all and end-all of... sorry, are the five precepts this be-all and end-all of sila? Because it doesn't seem very comprehensive. Not break a precept, but does that make me a morally right person? So when we talk about the five precepts, that's just in terms of your own mind states. So you start off with that, and then that's going to help you guide what is right and what is wrong. If you just develop the five basic precepts, that's going to cultivate in your mind the ability to maneuver through what is right and what is wrong. It's not morally unjust to not help somebody in need, because maybe you don't have to help them, and you might actually be harming them if they're, let's say, dependent upon alcohol and you're trying to get them off of that by giving them alcohol or something, right? But the five precepts are really the end-all-be-all, because they are universal, whether it's in Buddhism or any other kind of philosophy.

The notion or the understanding of the five precepts is basically do unto others, or treat others as you would like to be treated. Don't kill others. Don't harm others, because you don't want to be killed. You don't want to be harmed. Don't take from others when not given. Don't steal from others, because you wouldn't like being robbed.

Don't have sensual misconduct or sexual misconduct, because you wouldn't like being cheated on. Don't tell lies. Don't gossip. Don't slander, because you wouldn't like it if people told lies about you. You wouldn't like it if people gossiped about you. And don't indulge in intoxicants, because the idea of indulging in intoxicants leads to the breaking of the other four precepts. And that means that you don't want to deal with people who are just drunk all the time, and all these other things. Cultivating a peace of mind for yourself, then that leads into samadhi and wisdom, which will allow you to maneuver through the world, what would be the best decisions in every moment. Is there something more specific?

If I'm eating two cookies when I should be eating one, am I breaking a precept? You're not breaking a precept in that way. You're breaking a precept when, in the pursuit of your sensual pleasures, you try to harm someone. You tell a lie. You take what is not given. So, just like the fifth precept will cause you to break the other four precepts, this sensual misconduct is that which causes you to break the other precepts: lies, harming another person, or, you know, taking what is not given. Sexual misconduct is very plain and standard, which is not not cheating on another person. In other words, if you are indulging in sexual activity with somebody who is engaged to another person or who is in a relationship with another person, so you are committing basically adultery. You're cheating on someone.

So that's really the basic understanding of sexual misconduct. There's no judgment about, in terms of sexuality and all these other things. It's just, don't cheat on people. Don't cheat on other people by indulging in sexual activities with somebody who's either engaged or in a relationship, or somebody under the protection of someone, and things like that.

So if I take two cookies, but I'm not harming anyone in the process, that's okay. Well, that should be okay. But then you have to notice that you act on your craving. That's not a precept. No, it's not a precept. But it's about cultivating a mind that is observing whether craving is there or not. So keeping the precepts keeps your mind non-agitated.

With a mind that is non-agitated, you're able to see more clearly. As you're able to see more clearly, you become more mindful. As you become more mindful, your mind becomes more collected. As you become more collected, you develop wisdom. That's why sila, really what it means is the foundation. It literally means rock, right? It literally means that which is the foundation, the basis of everything else. That's why it's so important.

There was somebody who asked a question at some point before in one of the online talks. It was during one of the Q&As, which is, I see books that are available online for sale. And I also see them available on sites like Pirate Bay and things like that. So is it breaking the second precept if I download those books? So if you have to ask the question, chances are that you might be breaking a precept. It's kind of like you have a precept detector. Built-in. Yes. And if you don't, you're a sociopath. Let's share some merit.