Day 2 All the Taints MN 2 -Hindrances!- Delson Armstrong

So today we're going to talk about all of the taints and how does one let go of them in a variety of different ways. Because the taints really are the origin, in some sense, of the hindrances. So if you can deal with the taints directly, then you can deal with that whole flow of dependent origination related to ignorance, craving, clinging, becoming, birth of action, and suffering.

The sutta I'm going to be reading from is called Majjhima Nikaya two, Sabbasava Sutta, all the taints. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Savatthi in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's Park. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus: bhikkhus. Venerable sir, they replied. The Blessed One said this: bhikkhus, I shall teach you a discourse on the restraint of all the taints.

Listen and attend closely to what I shall say. Yes, Venerable Sir, the bhikkhus replied. And the Blessed One said this. Bhikkhus, I say that the destruction of the taints is for one who knows and sees, not for one who does not know and see. Who knows and sees what? Wise attention and unwise attention. In Pali this is yoniso manasikara for wise attention and ayoniso manasikara for unwise attention. Yoniso manasikara: manasikara means attention.

Generally it's translated as attention, but it literally means to take a subject to heart. And yoni, so yoni means womb, to see the source of something, to see the source of an experience, the source of a link. In other words, what is it that caused this? What is it that caused this? What is it that conditioned that?

It's the attention that allows us to discern between wholesome and unwholesome, between that which is in alignment with the path leading to the cessation of suffering and the path that doesn't. When one attends wisely, unarisen taints do not arise, and arisen taints are abandoned. Because there are taints that should be abandoned by seeing, abandoned by restraining, abandoned by using, abandoned by enduring, abandoned by avoiding, abandoned by removing, and abandoned by developing. So we're going to go into each of these in more detail.

What taints, bhikkhus, should be abandoned by seeing? Here, bhikkhu, is an untaught, ordinary person who has no regard for noble ones and is unskilled and undisciplined in the Dhamma, who has no regard for true men and is unskilled and undisciplined in their Dhamma, and does not understand what things are fit for attention and what things are unfit for attention.

They are things such that when he attends to them, that is to say, he attends to things that are unfit for attention, the unarisen taint of sensual desire arises in him, and the arisen taint of sensual desire increases. The unarisen taint of being, the desire for being, arises in him, and the arisen taint of being increases. The unarisen taint of ignorance arises in him, and the arisen taint of ignorance increases. These are the things unfit for attention that he attends to. So these are the three taints that are usually mentioned, sometimes four, but the three general ones are sensual desire, being, and ignorance. Sensual desire means the inclination towards sensual desire. It's a deep imprint, a karmic imprint, of the mind heading in the direction of wanting more sensual desire or sensual pleasures.

And being is, in very practical terms, the desire to change or control the outcome of an experience. I want it to be this way. I want to be this way. Why? Because there is discontent with what is arising in the present moment. Ignorance, in very practical terms, is the lack of mindfulness. What is mindfulness? Mindfulness comes from the word sati, the Pali word sati, which in Sanskrit is smriti, which literally means memory. So what we're doing here is we're remembering to observe how our mind's attention moves from one object to the other. We have total presence of mind in whatever is happening right here, right now. That's the sati. And joined to that is something known as sampajanna.

Sampajanna is clear comprehension. So when we define mindfulness as remembering to observe how mind's attention moves from one thing to the other, that is the conjunction of sati and sampajanna, the conjunction of mindfulness, that is, to be aware, to have presence of mind, and the clear comprehension of what is arising and what is not arising in the mind.

Ignorance is a lack of that. A lack of that in the present moment with regards to the Four Noble Truths. The ignoring, that's why we say ignorance here, ignoring the Four Noble Truths in every moment. So ignorance comes from the word avidya or avija, and that means to not know, a lack of knowledge, or lack of wisdom, lack of discernment.

So in very practical terms, not being mindful of what is present and not present. A lack of mindfulness of the truth of every moment in regards to the Four Noble Truths. If there is suffering, one is unable to understand there is suffering. And thereby, one is unable to abandon the causes and conditions of that suffering. And thereby, one is unable to realize the cessation of that suffering.

The unarisen taint of being does not arise in him, and the arisen taint of being is abandoned. The unarisen taint of ignorance does not arise in him, and the arisen taint of ignorance is abandoned. These are the things fit for attention that he does not attend to. By attending to things unfit for attention, and by not attending to things fit for attention, both unarisen taints arise in him and arisen taints increase.

So how does one attend unwisely? He says, this is how he attends unwisely. Was I in the past? Was I not in the past? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? Having been what, what did I become in the past? Shall I be in the future? Shall I not be in the future?

What shall I be in the future? How shall I be in the future? Having been what, what shall I become in the future? Or else he is inwardly perplexed about the present, thus: Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I? Where has this being come from? Where will it go? These are the different kinds of conceptual proliferation, if you will, about the self.

With the idea that the self actually exists, it is with the assumption that there is this being that continues from the past all the way to the present and into the future. It's the lack of understanding and discernment and seeing of dependent origination. Because if you are able to understand dependent origination and apply it to everyday reality, your mind would understand that there is no permanent independent self present.

It's all a series of causes and conditions. And so, in terms of designation, in terms of transactional purposes, in terms of conventional purposes, we may use the words I, me, and mine. But in terms of the wisdom that arises in the mind, it realizes nothing in this conditioned reality can be called self. It can be belonging to a self.

When he attends unwisely in this way, one of six views arises in him. The view, self exists for me, arises in him as true and established. Or the view, no self exists for me, arises in him as true and established. Or the view, I perceive self with self, arises in him as true and established. Or the view, I perceive not self with self, arises in him as true and established.

Or the view, I perceive self with not self, arises in him as true and established. Or else he has some such view as this: it is this self of mine that speaks and feels and experiences here and there the result of good and bad actions. But this self of mine is permanent, everlasting, eternal, not subject to change, and it will endure as long as eternity.

This speculative view, bhikkhus, is called the thicket of views, the wilderness of views, the contortion of views, the vacillation of views, the fetter of views. Fettered by the fetter of views, the untaught ordinary person is not freed from birth, aging, and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair. He is not freed from suffering, I say. So this is very similar to another way of looking at self-view. This is known as sakkaya ditthi in Pali. It's one of the fetters that is destroyed when you see for the first time with your own experience how dependent origination works and come to the realization that there is no permanent self here. And that's the destruction of the fetter of self-view.

So it may not be established experientially yet to the point where it's always present, but because you have experienced it, because you have seen it on an intellectual level, more than an intellectual level, because you may discuss it, you may think about it, but through experience, through experiential confidence, you realize that the fetter of self-view is gone. Because what is the self we were talking about? In one way, it's like taking any of the five aggregates and considering them as self, or belonging to self, or self is in them, or they are in the self, or self is separate to them.

This whole world that we live in is so self-absorbed. Everything we experience in this reality is in relation to how does it affect me? What's in it for me? In terms of practical purposes, yeah, it makes sense when you have a career and things like that. But at a very deeply intrinsic level, you don't take yourself so seriously.

You see for yourself that, that's funny, you see for yourself that this self doesn't actually exist. So you just let go. The mind lets go of trying to have this intellectual gymnastics of self versus not self, not self seeing self, self being not self, and all of these things. The mind just drops all of that. And what is established is the understanding of causality and conditionality. And that's dependent origination, because that is the elaboration of the Four Noble Truths.

So, what are the things unfit for attention that he does not attend to? We talked about this. The taint of sensual desire, the taint of being, and the taint of ignorance. These are the things unfit for attention that he does not attend to. And what are the things fit for attention that he does attend to? They are things such that when he attends to them, the taint of sensual desire, the taint of being, and the taint of ignorance are abandoned.

These are the things fit for attention that he attends to. By not attending to things unfit for attention, and by attending to things fit for attention, unarisen taints do not arise in him, and arisen taints are abandoned. So what does he attend to that he does so wisely? This is suffering. This is the origin of suffering. This is the cessation of suffering. This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering. When he attends wisely in this way, three fetters are abandoned in him: personality view, doubt, and adherence to rules and observances. These are called the taints that should be abandoned by seeing. And this happens at a very deep level. In your mind, you can say as many times as you like, oh, this is suffering, this is the cause and condition for suffering, this is the cessation of suffering, this is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.

You could use it as a mantra, but how much more effective would it be that you actually see it for yourself? So when we say seeing, what we are talking about is using the eye of wisdom, the panya chakku, the eye of wisdom, or the dhamma chakku, the eye of Dharma. And it is truly understanding in every given moment that this is an impersonal process. And it will only happen when you see through the mind whenever the I arises, whenever the sense of me, mine, or myself arises. And if your mind can just let that go and see the experience for what it is, as just an experience. See the feeling for what it is, as just feeling.

See the sense basis as for what it is. Just sense basis. All as an impersonal process. In that seeing, the mind is actually applying the Four Noble Truths. Because as soon as the I, me, mine, myself comes up, now there are problems. Now there is an I that adheres to viewpoints. There is an I that defends a sense of self. There is an I that takes ownership of an experience, of a relationship, of a personality, of all of these different qualities of the personality or person.

But if the mind can totally let go, just sink back into just presence without I, without me, mine, or myself, then what you have done effectively is let go of the root causes of suffering. And when you sink back into that, you experience the cessation of that suffering. And the way you do that is utilizing the path.

So it's an application of this in real time that you're able to experience the cessation of suffering. And the more you do this, the more it becomes reality. It becomes your everyday lived experience. And now we talk about taints to be abandoned by restraining. So as we go into this sutta, we were first talking about primarily the three taints.

Likewise, reflecting wisely, he abides with the ear faculty restrained, nose faculty restrained, tongue faculty restrained, body faculty restrained, and mind faculty restrained. While taints, vexation, and fever might arise in one who abides with the faculties unrestrained, there are no taints, vexation, or fever in one who abides with the faculties restrained. These are called the taints that should be abandoned by restraining.

What are we talking about here? We aren't talking about holding on to or suppressing whatever is arising through the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind. Yesterday, if you recall, I was saying that there are those thoughts that arise that you just can't control. They're just arising. And the more you try to control, the more you try to suppress, the more I, me, mine, myself arises, and the more suffering the mind experiences.

So it's not about controlling in that regard. When we say restraining, we're talking about having mindfulness in regards to the experience of the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind. When we do not attend to what is arising in or through these sense bases, we have lack of mindfulness. Mindfulness is the gatekeeper.

It's the security guard that keeps out craving, keeps out clinging, keeps out becoming. So what do we mean by that when we say mindfulness is the gatekeeper? Again, being totally attentive to whatever is happening in every given moment without attaching or clinging or projecting or superimposing the sense of me, mine, or myself in regards to the experience, the feeling, the perception, the cognition, the sense base.

And when you notice that happening, what do you do? I just gave you the clue. You notice that happening, which means you've recognized your mind is now starting to proliferate. All kinds of concepts, all kinds of notions of self in regard to the sense base and its corresponding experiences. So what do you do? Gently release your attention from that.

Relax that tightness that is the sense of self, the sense of me, mine, or myself. And what remains is just a mind that is unburdened by ignorance. Using the six R's in that way. So when you are meditating, and this is mentioned in another sutta, actually a series of suttas, where Ananda recognizes Sariputta and he's walking down the forest path, and he says, your faculties are so bright and you look so cheerful. What's going on? And he said, I've been in the first jhana all day long. I've been in the second jhana all day long. I've been in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth. I've been in cessation all day long.

And he said, but it was with this understanding that there was no me entering that jhana. There was no I there. There was no something to control how that experience was happening. So when you are meditating, there is just meditating happening. The moment you have a goal in mind, and there's nothing wrong with having a goal, let me give you that disclaimer, that is the wholesome inclination that's known as chanda. Dhamma chanda, the inclination towards letting go, the inclination towards Nibbana. Wonderful. We all know why we are here, for the ending of suffering.

For Nibbana, we know that, but no need to make it into such a goal that the mind obsesses over it, because there is the taint of being, the desire to control how your journey is on the path, the desire to control how this particular jhana should feel like or shouldn't feel like, or the desire to be in a different state because you feel like you're not making progress. So with regards to the sense basis, when you walk around, when you do your walking meditation, when you are eating, when you are washing the dishes, when you're drinking a cup of tea, when you're meditating, whenever, whatever it is you're doing, just notice where your presence of mind is in relation to the experience and how it relates to the experience.

Is there a sense of separate self to the experience, or is there only the experience? Is there only in the seeing, there's only the seeing. In the hearing, there's only the heard. In the sensing, there's only the sense. In the cognizing, there's only the cognize. Or is there a you in that? Is there a you before that? Or by that? Or around that?

And if there is, it's as simple as relaxing that. Just abandoning that, letting it go. And then we get into different ways of abandoning the taints that are more, let's say, practical. And you'll see what I mean. Taints to be abandoned by using: what taints, bhikkhus, should be abandoned by using? Here, one reflecting wisely uses the robe only for protection from cold, for protection from heat, for protection from contact with gadflies, mosquitoes, wind, the sun, and creeping things, and only for the purpose of concealing the private parts. Reflecting wisely, he uses alms food neither for amusement nor for intoxication

nor for the sake of physical beauty and attractiveness, but only for the endurance and continuance of this body, for ending discomfort and for assisting in the holy life, considering, thus I shall terminate old feelings of hunger without arousing new feelings, and I shall be healthy and blameless and shall live in comfort. Reflecting wisely, he uses the resting place only for protection from cold, for protection from heat, for protection from contact with gadflies, mosquitos, wind, the sun, and creeping things, and only for the purpose of warding off the perils of climate and for enjoying retreat.

Reflecting wisely, he uses the medicinal requisites only for protection from arisen, afflicting feelings and for the benefit of good health. So very practical, just basically effectively using the four requisites. When you're here on retreat, which means you use this space for the purposes of protection from the heat and the sun and for the purposes of meditating. You use your cabin in the same way. You use the food in order for your body to be staved off of hunger so that you can focus on the work that you're doing here.

The clothes are protecting you from the insects and mosquitoes and whatever else that might be there. You may be using some medication. So it's very practical in that sense. We are just using it for the purposes of retreat. Here we are now for the next five or six days. So whatever it is you're utilizing is for the purpose of making a comfortable space around you with regards to your body and in your mind so that you can meditate.

Taints to be abandoned by enduring. That word enduring makes it sound like it's some kind of triathlon or something. But that's not the case. What taints bhikkhus should be abandoned by enduring? Here, a bhikkhu, reflecting wisely, bears the cold and heat, hunger and thirst, and contact with gadflies, mosquitoes, wind, the sun, and creeping things. He endures ill-spoken, unwelcome words, and arisen bodily feelings that are painful, wracking, sharp, piercing, disagreeable, distressing, and menacing to life.

That's all. Just having equanimity. So just because there is a painful feeling in your body, you're not going to attend to it? That's unwise. It's more about how agitated does your mind become in relation to that painful feeling? Can you notice here is a painful feeling? And six are the agitation, the aversion in relation to that painful feeling.

While addressing that painful feeling or that annoyance or whatever it might be. Just a few minutes ago, you saw that fly swarming around, buzzing around. You just endure it. So whatever it is, the sounds of the air conditioning, the heat outside, the barking of the dogs, the lawnmower if it goes off, noises all around, whatever it might be, it's just sound, it's just experience.

If you can use wisdom thus and see all sensation is just sensation, but that doesn't mean you become so rigid in your mind that you just bear it because that's suppressing. There's a resistance that's there. There's a tension that's there. It is accepting, exactly. It's just allowing things to be as they are and only dealing with the tension in relation to it and letting it go.

Taints to be abandoned by avoiding. What taints bhikkhu should be abandoned by avoiding? Here, a bhikkhu reflecting wisely avoids, and I'm going to have this issue here at Dhammasukha, a wild elephant, a wild horse, a wild bull, a wild dog, maybe a snake here or there, a stump, a bramble patch, a chasm, a cliff, a cesspit, or a sewer.

Reflecting wisely, he avoids sitting on unsuitable seats. So find a comfortable sitting position. And wandering to unsuitable resorts. Don't wander off here or there. And associating with bad friends. I think we're all good friends here. Since if he were to do so, wise companions in the holy life might suspect him of evil conduct. While taints, vexation, and fever might arise in one who does not avoid these things, there are no taints, vexation, and fever in one who avoids them. These are called the taints that should be abandoned by avoiding.

So be sensible in where you go and what you do. If you see a snake and you're unsure if it's venomous or not, go around it. Don't poke it. If you see a spider and you notice maybe it's a brown recluse or something, avoid it. Be sensible. Taints to be abandoned by removing. Very important here. What taints, bhikkhu, should be abandoned by removing?

Here, a bhikkhu, reflecting wisely, does not tolerate an arisen thought of sensual desire. He abandons it, removes it, does away with it, and annihilates it. He does not tolerate an arisen thought of ill will. He does not tolerate an arisen thought of cruelty. He does not tolerate arisen, evil, unwholesome states. He abandons them, removes them, and does away with them, and annihilates them.

Or, put it in a different way, the right intention is made up of three things. Nekkhamma, which means inner renunciation, having a level of contentment with whatever arises. Non-ill will and non-cruelty. What do we mean by ill will? Ill-will is animosity, an eye for an eye. He did so-and-so to me, she said so-and-so to me, and therefore I will retaliate.

I'll do one better. Ill-will. That desire to cause suffering to another being. And the extreme form of that is cruelty, which is adding to a person's suffering. And so these are actually pretty much connected. If somebody were to say something about you or to you that was unwholesome, and you choose to react in a way that causes them pain out of animosity, then what you're doing is you're adding to their own suffering because such people are already suffering.

They just don't see it for themselves. And if in ignorance we also react in the same way, then we're adding to our suffering and their suffering. That is cruelty. But if we have the intelligence and wisdom to be able to recognize that through the process of developing this practice, then instead of an eye for an eye, we see what it actually is. This person is suffering and I wish them well.

Or I choose not to engage with them, at the very least. Non-ill-will. At least I remove the ill-will in my mind in regards to them. And I choose not to engage with them. If you can look at it in this way, that every exchange can be an exchange of karma, then if somebody has said something to you or about you that is unwholesome, think of it as a way of depleting the balance of unwholesome karma.

That's fine. So you are basically saying to them, thank you for doing this, because now I don't have to go through the same karma again. If you can see it from that perspective, then every so-called adverse interaction that you may have had is you balancing the karmic accounts. So you don't have to add to that. You don't have to do anything. Just remain non-engaging.

If you can't send them loving kindness, that's fine. But don't send them intentions of ill will. So when we talk about nekkhamma, like I said, it's contentment. When we say contentment, we're just saying that, and this is in relation to Anguttara Nikaya 6.63, the penetrative discourse, the Nibbedhika Sutta, where the Buddha says, it's not the pretty little things of this world that are sensual desire.

It is the intentions rooted in craving. The pretty little things remain as they are. So the beautiful experiences that we have through the sense basis is one thing. Those are pleasant experiences, pleasant feeling. But it's how we relate to them, as I want more of that, which comes from the discontent, the lack of contentment, the lack of equanimity.

So if we have an intention, or if we have right intention, the mind that is rooted in contentment, that whatever arises, arises, whatever passes away, passes away. And it's like the entire world just becomes our personal movie. Things are happening, scenes are happening all around us. We can choose to engage with them, or choose to remain neutral, or choose to be disengaged, or choose to do whatever it is that we want to do.

But if we have that understanding that everything that is happening is arising due to causes and conditions, and is like a film reel that just is playing, then you don't have to interact with the experience. You can remain content, you can remain inwardly renunciate, disengaged, disenchanted, dispassionate from the experience or with relation to the experience. And this happens when you have a strong development of equanimity. Equanimity is the ability to see things as they are, one way or the other, without controlling what happens, without any expectations.

Likewise with the meditation, when you are meditating, what is your intention there? Is there a lack of contentment there? Is there a desire to control the outcome of the meditation? The reality is that the human mind is always, for the most part, engaged with things because it feels like it will get something out of it. It is engaged with whatever is happening with some kind of goal in mind.

And it is more engaged with how that outcome should be rather than the process leading to it. So when we meditate, we meditate by observing the experience of the mind like a movie, engaged in it insofar as our mindfulness and attention are with the object, and observing how that might change, and then keeping the mind attentive to whatever is happening in front of us mentally speaking. But if we desire to do something more than that, or we desire that whatever we are seeing in terms of the movie

Isn't something to our liking but we want to change it, then you're only having mind fighting with mind. You cannot change your thoughts. You can only remove causes and conditions or add other causes and conditions to create the so-called desired effect, which leads to taints to be abandoned by developing. What taints, bhikkhus, should be abandoned by developing? Here, a bhikkhu, reflecting wisely, develops the enlightenment factor of mindfulness, which is supported by seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, and ripens in relinquishment.

He develops the enlightenment factor of discernment, of energy, of joy, of tranquility, collectedness, and equanimity, which is supported by seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, and ripens in relinquishment. While taints, vexation, and fever might arise in one who does not develop these enlightenment factors, there are no taints, vexation, or fever in one who develops them. These are called the taints that should be abandoned by developing. So what are we developing here? The awakening factors.

Mindfulness, discernment, energy, joy, tranquility, collectedness, and equanimity. These enlightenment factors spill into each other. So mindfulness leads to discernment, discernment leads to energy, energy leads to joy, joy leads to tranquility, tranquility leads to collectedness, and collectedness leads to equanimity. And these are required for the mind to be in a jhanic state. First you require mindfulness, the ability to see what is arising in relation to an object, how the attention is moving. Remembering to observe how mind's attention moves from one object to the other.

Which leads to discernment. Discernment of what? Discernment between what is wholesome and unwholesome. There is another Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 19, which is the two kinds of thoughts. And in there the Buddha says, there are these thoughts that lead to my detriment and the detriment of others. So what does he do? He lets them go. And in place what arises or what he develops are wholesome thoughts, wholesome objects.

And then he discerns, there are these thoughts that do not lead to my detriment or the detriment of others. And so that is the discernment that he has. The knowing that this is wholesome and this is unwholesome. An unwholesome thought, an unwholesome state of mind creates pain, creates tightness, creates tension. A wholesome state of mind is more expansive, is relaxed, doesn't cause pain. It doesn't cause harm to oneself or to another.

And once you're there, now you've discerned, here is a wholesome state of mind, I have loving kindness in mind. He uses an analogy, he says it's just like the person tending to the cows in the summertime. He knows that they're grazing in the field, and they're not going into the corn field or the wheat field and disturbing or disrupting that particular place, but it's there here, grazing on the grass.

And he may just sit under the tree and poke and prod with a stick whenever he sees one or two cows going in a different direction. But he doesn't need to do much. So when you have your object, you don't need to do much. You're just aware, this is what's happening. It's like when you are, if you're flying in a plane, like visual flying, you're paying attention to what's happening outside the window. And only for a little while, like for a moment, you're noticing what's my altitude, what's my airspeed, what direction, what's my heading,

just to make sure you're heading in the right direction. But visually, you're noticing what's going on, so you don't have to do anything else. So once in a while you may discern, is there a wholesome state in my mind or an unwholesome state? If you know loving kindness is present, there's nothing you need to do. If you know joy is present, there's nothing you need to do. If you know equanimity is present, there's nothing else you need to do. If you know quiet mind is there, there's nothing else you need to do.

But if there's a disruption and you notice that, what do you do? You use energy, the balancing of energy, which is the 6R's. The balancing of effort. Now, too much effort in the form of adding too much of joy or too much of whatever creates an imbalance in the mind. Trying too hard, pushing too much, using the 6R's like a swatter, you're going to create restlessness in your mind.

Just letting the mind be lax and leaving it to be as it is without having mindfulness before you, in front of you, mentally speaking, your mind is going to go dull if you don't have that. And so that balances the joy, balances the tranquility in the mind. The joy that we're talking about, the piti, that arises in the first and second jhana, invariably leads to tranquility and contentment in the third jhana. And from that tranquility, there arises a definitive collectedness.

There is a certain kind of wide container which is attentive to the object. If we don't have that container, we risk having the attention being dispersed here and there and distracted by this or that. So if we find ourselves going in that direction with our mind, what do we do? 6R, bring back the mindfulness. As soon as you recognize your mindfulness has come back and your discernment that your mind went somewhere has arisen.

When you release your attention and you relax, now you're balancing the energy. Bringing up the smile, you have joy. And the tranquility has already arisen because you've relaxed. And by coming back to your object of meditation, now you have collectedness. And that all develops into the mind seeing things as they are without controlling them one way or the other. And that's equanimity.

And as this process happens, it is also a cyclical process. So the equanimity informs the next arising of mindfulness. And it happens so that by the time you are in the fourth jhana, you have what? Purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. So we must develop these enlightenment factors, but not in the way of forcing them through or bringing them up in a way that's like, I have to have mindfulness.

That is suppression. I have to discern what's going on. It's going to cause you restlessness. But when you 6R, it naturally balances all of the enlightenment factors. And all you have to do is be like that guy watching the cows. Once in a while, the cow might go this way or that way. Make little adjustments, come back to your object. Bhikkhus. When for a bhikkhu the taints should be abandoned by seeing, that should be abandoned by seeing, have been abandoned by seeing. When the taints that should be abandoned by restraining have been abandoned by restraining. When the taints that should be abandoned by using have been abandoned by using. When the taints that should have been abandoned by enduring have been abandoned by enduring.

When the taints that should be abandoned by avoiding have been abandoned by avoiding. When the taints that should be abandoned by removing have been abandoned by removing. And when the taints that should be abandoned by developing have been abandoned by developing, then he is called one who dwells restrained with the restraint of all the taints. He has severed craving, flung off the fetters, and with the complete penetration of conceit, he has made an end of suffering.

That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One's words. Does anybody have any questions? Yeah, I've heard the term volitional formations and karmic formations and intentions, interchangeably. Are they the same, or can you discern them? So, volitional formations or karmic formations are referring to sankharas. Sankharas are bodily formations, verbal formations and mental formations, and intention is what arises as a result of those formations coming into being. So about an intention, also, can be a mechanism to trigger the arising of future formations. So I've always said this: that if you want to know the quality of your formations, look at what your intention is.

So if there's a wholesome intention arising, then the next arising of formations will be wholesome, and vice versa. But when it says volitional formations, I know it's a translation, but why volitional? Because there is intention there. In the case of mental formations, it allows us to feel and perceive, that's what they call mental formation. So feeling and perception are the sensation of seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and all of that. And the perception of what it is that we're experiencing.

That isn't volitional, it's just whatever is arising as a result of karma. So those formations are carriers. But when we have an intention with the sense of an I, me, or myself, then those volitional formations arise. That is, the intention to speak something, the intention to act in a certain way, the intention to think in a certain way.

And generally, you'll find that happening mostly with verbal formations. When we say verbal formations, it's not just speaking, but it's the active kind of thinking about whatever it is and having a reflection on it and expressing it through speech. We're going to share some merit now. May suffering ones be suffering free and the fear struck fearless be. May the grieving shed all grief and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas of mighty power share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation. Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu.