July 3, 2021– DN 33 – The Chanting Together – Third Recitation - sets of Ten

I'm going to be reading from where we last left off, which is the sets of ten of Digha Nikaya number 33, Sangiti Sutta. There are sets of ten things perfectly proclaimed by the Lord. Ten things that give protection. Here, a monk is moral. He lives restrained according to the restraint of the discipline, or the Vinaya, persisting in right behavior, seeing danger in the slightest fault. He keeps to the rules of training.

one ever strives towards nibbana and off of the wheel of samsara, and therefore off the wheel of rebirth and continuous karma, and destroys any potential for existing in samsara in the same way as one did before, through conditioned perception, through conditioned reality, and through acting in a way and behaving in a way that causes further suffering. So it says a monk is moral, or anyone who practices these things is moral, lives restrained according to the restraint of the discipline, persisting in right behavior, seeing danger in the slightest faults. He keeps to the rules of training.

Here, this is really about keeping one's precepts in the case of lay practitioners, really. But for monastics, it's also about the restraint according to the discipline, according to the Vinaya, following the Patimokkha and following the different precepts that they have to follow, and persisting in right behavior, continually practicing those moral precepts, continually maintaining those precepts, seeing danger in the slightest fault. That is again going back to ottappa, which is to say seeing for oneself the danger and consequence of what could happen if one broke a precept, especially in regards to one's own mental state, and keeps the rules of training. So continues to practice according to how meditation is taught and how following the precepts is taught within the suttas and according to the Dhamma. He has learned much and bears in mind and retains what he has learned. In these teachings, beautiful in the beginning, the middle, and the ending, which in spirit and letter proclaim the absolutely perfected and purified holy life, he is deeply learned, he remembers them, recites them, reflects on them, and penetrates them with wisdom.

So here one is looking at the importance of the suttas, the importance of the teachings, the importance of the Dhamma as the Buddha proclaimed it. Understanding what is Dhamma, understanding what is not Dhamma, understanding the precepts, understanding the rules and training, understanding the teachings in relation to meditation practice, and remembering them in the sense of recalling them whenever there is a danger of breaking a precept or there is some kind of hindrance that arises. One reflects back onto what one has learned and how to deal with the hindrance, and uses, for example, the 6R's to let go of those hindrances and come back to the state of the wholesome, having let go of the unwholesome.

Recites them: so one can recite them in the sense of from complete memory, or one can have an understanding and know the true meaning behind what is being said and be able to reflect and say it in one's own words. And then penetrates them with vision: so having experience for oneself of the jhanas, having experience for oneself of the higher states of understanding, experiencing for oneself nibbana and the links of dependent origination, one can go back to the suttas and see them in a different light, based on one's own experience. He is a friend, associate, and intimate of good people. So this is the idea of beautiful friendship: keeping correspondence with fellow Dhamma followers, keeping correspondence with fellow practitioners and fellow meditators,

having an amiable talk, being trustworthy, and helping whenever one can, in terms of advice or however else one is able to help. And so one is naturally a friend. One looks out for others, especially when it comes to pointing out certain mistakes that they might be making in terms of their practice, in a way that is friendly, with the intention of benefiting that person. So in other words, you are a well-wisher, and you are somebody who has natural loving kindness and natural compassion. And so when you have that, you're able to provide that for others, and in the same way others will provide that for yourself.

He is affable, endowed with gentleness and patience, quick to grasp instruction. So here somebody is not haughty. Somebody is not arrogant. Somebody is humble and willing to listen, and open-minded, patient and gentle, which means any questions that they have don't come from a sense of authority, arrogant authority. It doesn't come from a sense of trying to prove someone wrong, but comes from a sense of understanding and trying to understand the other person's perspective in whatever it is they are teaching in relation to the Dhamma. And so by doing so, one is naturally quick to grasp the instruction. One is naturally quick to understand the instruction that is being given.

Whatever various jobs there are to be done for his fellow monks, he is skillful, not lax, using foresight in carrying them out, and is good at doing and planning. So this is especially applicable for a retreat environment. Sometimes when you go on retreat, maybe for half an hour, an hour, you might be assigned some kind of work to do, some kind of service to do, very simple tasks, to maybe do the upkeep of the retreat center or whatever it might be. And so one is willing to do that as a way of showing one's gratitude and appreciation, showing one's own care, and using that as a practice of mindfulness in whatever it is that one is doing. So one is quick to help. One is quick to do whatever is required for practical purposes.

He loves the Dhamma and delights in hearing it. He is especially fond of the advanced doctrine and discipline. As one continues to practice morality and the precepts, and continues to practice samadhi, continues to develop insight, one naturally has an inclination to the Dhamma. One has a deep interest in the Dhamma, and a deep interest in being able to penetrate the Dhamma with clear vision. The way one does it is through natural interest towards the Dhamma. And so whenever one hears the Dhamma, there is a natural joy that arises. There's a natural interest, a natural enthusiasm for listening to the Dhamma, listening to Dhamma talk, or reading a sutta, or whatever it might be. He is especially fond of the advanced doctrine and discipline. So here it could be understood to mean Abhidhamma, the advanced doctrine, but the Abhidhamma not in the sense of the third basket of the Abhidhamma, but in terms of the higher training and the higher discipline in relation to somebody who has furthered their practice into entering the stream and now wants to continue deepening their practice.

He is content with any kind of requisites: robes, alms, food, lodging, medicines in case of illness. So in this case, such a person would be quite content with whatever one receives, because one is few of wishes, as it were. One is few of desires. One accepts with gratitude and openness whatever one is given, because it's an exercise in gratitude and generosity for the people who are giving to one. And so there's much merit in receiving and much merit in sharing, through receiving with loving kindness and sharing with loving kindness. He ever strives to arouse energy, to get rid of unwholesome states, to establish wholesome states, untiringly and energetically, striving to keep such good states and never shaking off the burden.

And so here one is continually, in essence, practicing the 6R's, always being mindful of whenever an unwholesome state arises, and in noticing that unwholesome state or quality of mind, one is able to use the 6R's to let that go and generate a wholesome state of mind. And so the more one does this, the more one continually strives towards maintaining those states, and essentially coming to wisdom by that continuous effort and continuous practice. He is mindful, with a great capacity for clearly recalling things done and said long ago. So as you practice your mindfulness, as you sharpen your mindfulness, you will start to notice that your memory also becomes sharper, and that's just a natural byproduct of being mindful, as it comes from the word remember, sati, which means to remember, to recall. It comes from the word memory, and you are remembering to notice how mind's attention moves from one object to the other, and if there is craving present. So every time you sharpen your mindfulness through the six R's process, every time you are completely

Aware of what is happening in relation to the mind, the body or surroundings, and so on. The mind is naturally open and the mind is naturally clear, naturally uplifted, and so the memory centers of the mind, as it were, are clear, and they are functioning at a high level. So that means that you are able to absorb information more when you are more mindful, and retain that information for longer periods. You also notice that, because of that clarity, you can remember things that you didn't remember before. You can remember certain details about things in your childhood, or even past lives, and so on.

He is wise with wise perception of arising and passing away, that ariyan perception that leads to the complete destruction of suffering. He is wise, meaning he has wisdom. One has wisdom in seeing the arising and passing away of all phenomena, and in seeing the arising and passing away of all phenomena, one understands and perceives impermanence. By seeing and perceiving impermanence, one then sees the intrinsic dukkha in all that is impermanent. By seeing the nature of suffering in all that is impermanent, one sees that it is not worth holding on to as self, and so understands the impersonal nature of anatta of that phenomena. In seeing that anatta, one has dispassion and abandonment of any causes you continue to identify with that phenomena, and ultimately one experiences cessation. And therefore that leads to the complete destruction of suffering.

10 objects for the attainment of absorption. One perceives the earth kasina, the water kasina, the fire kasina, the wind kasina, the blue kasina, the yellow kasina, the red kasina, the white kasina, the space kasina, the consciousness kasina, above, below, on all sides, undivided, unbounded. So this word kasina, for whatever reason, has come to mean a circle or a disc that one focuses on and starts to create an image of it in one's mind, according to the element of earth, water, fire, air, or certain colors like blue, yellow, red and white, or the spacious kasina, or the consciousness kasina, sometimes even just as a pure white light disc. This idea of looking at it as a disc is not really found in the sutta. It seems to be more in the commentaries, and possibly from the Visuddhimagga. The reason one says that is because kasina itself doesn't mean disc. It doesn't mean anything like that. The word comes from the Sanskrit kritsna, and kritsna means whole, w-h-o-l-e, whole, or entire, or complete, or total, totality, which means the entirety of something.

So if you look at it from that context and from that understanding, what you're looking at is earth as earth completely, as the earth element. You're looking at water as water completely, as a water element, whether internal or external. Likewise for earth, likewise for fire, likewise for air. One can use colors like blue, yellow, red or white. One can use the idea of space or the awareness or consciousness. And what's important here is not the kasina itself, for the purposes of collecting the mind and keeping it attentive. One can use an image of whatever it might be that one perceives the kasina to be. But what's important to understand is this last part, which is: one sees it, and one is able to expand it above, below, on all sides, undivided, unbounded. So essentially what this is saying is that through this process of imagery, through this process of visualization, through this process of using that as a visual object, a mental visual object within one's mind, one imagines, imagines it, and perceives it expanding. So what one invariably is doing is experiencing infinite space.

so this links back to majumanikaya one two one the shorter discourse on emptiness where the buddha is talking about emptiness in the context of what something a state in which it is empty of the previous state and so the buddha goes through various uh perceptions of the house of uh the people of the village of the forest of the earth element and so on what that's doing is expanding one's awareness and expanding the sense of spaciousness so in in other words at a certain level one can just uh jump into the experience of infinite space as one would do when one uh radiates uh metta or radiates compassion or joy or equanimity or whatever it might be so the importance here is to experience that spaciousness and allow that spaciousness then to be experienced uh fully so that on seeing that and letting that go one then experiences infinite consciousness nothingness and neither perception or non-perception 10 wholesome courses of action sorry 10 unwholesome unwholesome courses of action taking life taking what is not giving given sense sexual misconduct or central misconduct

Lying speech, slander, rude speech, idle chatter, greed, malevolence, and wrong view. So this comes back to understanding the precepts again. Taking life, that is harming another being or killing them intentionally. Taking what is not given, so stealing is the most coarse form of this, but taking what is not given in the form of stealing intellectual property, or stealing credit, or seeking attention when it's not given, and so on and so forth. Sexual misconduct is one, but that also encompasses sensual misconduct, becoming heedless and attached and identified with the sense basis, that one identifies with the experiences and causes one to be careless and heedless, and therefore cause one to break further precepts.

Lying speech, so speaking falsely. Slander, gossip and talking bad about other people. Rude speech, using harsh speech, using abusive speech. Idle chatter, gossip again. Greed, so that is the root of greed that leads to jealousy, that leads to craving, that leads to craving for existence, that leads to stinginess, and so on and so forth. Malevolence, so that's ill will and cruelty and anger and resentment, and so on. And wrong view, that essentially is the view that there is no meaning in giving, there is no meaning in karma, there is no meaning in rebirth, there is no meaning in generosity.

Giving, as I said, there's no meaning in having gratitude for one's parents. There is no right view. There is no four noble truths, and so on and so forth. It is just a view that is deviated from right view, that leads one to wrong intention, and that wrong intention leads one to wrong action and wrong speech, wrong livelihood and wrong effort, and therefore wrong mindfulness and wrong samadhi. And wholesome courses of action. So this is when one commits to keeping the precepts and maintaining them. So one avoids taking life intentionally. One avoids taking what is not given. One avoids sensual and sexual misconduct. One avoids false speech.

One avoids slander, rude speech. One avoids idle chatter, avoids greed, malevolence, and straightens one's view. So one first understands that there is this right view, this mundane right view as it were, where one understands that there is meaning in giving, there is meaning in having wholesome states of mind and also actions, there is meaning in having gratitude for one's parents, the gratitude life of the life one has currently. There is meaning in having respect for teachers who know the way to nibbana, and learn from them, and respect them. And finally, straightening that view, one understands, or is open to providing that understanding or receiving that understanding of what is right intention. So essentially, one, like I said, commits to keeping the precepts. One understands the importance of right intention. So one avoids and abandons greed, avoids sensuality or sensual thoughts, abandons the intention of attachment, and so has the intention of renunciation. Avoids and abandons the intention of ill will and cruelty, and therefore cultivates loving kindness and compassion. By doing so, that leads naturally to right speech.

Naturally to right action, naturally to right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and of course right collectedness. Ten ariyan dispositions. So when they say ariyan dispositions, really they're talking about the noble ones, ones who are on the path, ones who have entered the stream. Here one has got rid of five factors, possesses six factors, has established one guard, observes the four supports, has got rid of individual beliefs, as quite, has quite abandoned quest, is pure of motive, and has tranquilized one's emotions, is well liberated in heart and by wisdom. And so now, sorry, the sutta explains and expands on these dispositions. How has he got rid of the five factors? Here he has got rid of sensuality or sensual craving, ill will, sloth and torpor, worry and flurry or restlessness, and doubt. In other words, in such a mind one has gotten rid of the five hindrances, and so one is inclining towards jhana when he does that.

What six factors does he possess? On seeing an object with the eye, hearing a sound, smelling a smell, tasting a flavor, touching a tangible object, or cognizing a mental object with the mind, he is neither pleased nor displeased, but remains equable, mindful and clear, clearly aware. So the six factors are in relation to the sixth sense basis and their experience. In other words, one has naturally cultivated renunciation, nekkhamma. One sees with the eye or experiences any of the objects of the sixth sense basis and doesn't see it with pleasure or displeasure, doesn't see it with craving or aversion, but seized it as it really is, which is to say one has an understanding that this is an experience that is impersonal and impermanent and therefore not worth holding on to. And so one remains with equanimity, remains mindful and aware. And when that happens, there won't be any potential for craving or aversion to arise because

one has not acted upon or inclined the mind towards the arising of an underlying tendency at that experience of that feeling. So by not reacting to an experience in that way, one weakens the underlying tendencies and therefore experiences the cessation of those tendencies in that moment. The more one does that, eventually one roots out or uproots the underlying tendencies, therefore destroying the potential for further craving or aversion to arise, and therefore clinging and being. How has he established the one guard? By guarding his mind with mindfulness. And so this is an extension of that. That mindfulness here is being aware of every moment, understanding what is arising in every moment, and noticing if there is a potential for craving or aversion to arise, and therefore use the 6R's: recognize, release the attention away from that, relax the mind and body.

We smile, or bring up a smile to uplift the mind, and then return to a wholesome object or a wholesome quality of mind, and repeat whenever required. By doing this, one is ultimately using right effort and right mindfulness to be able to be aware whenever there is craving. So by guarding the mind with mindfulness, one again prevents any possible craving or aversion from arising. What are the four supports? He judges that one thing is to be pursued, one thing endured, one thing avoided, and one thing suppressed.

So this one thing to be pursued, this one thing to be endured, one thing to be avoided, one thing to be suppressed, isn't really just that one thing, but it can be, according to the situation. But generally speaking, the understanding here is: the thing to be pursued is the path, the eightfold path. It is to be pursued, to be cultivated, to be developed. The thing to be endured is unwholesome states, in the sense that one doesn't have aversion towards them but sees them with equanimity and mindfulness, so that one can let go of them using the 6R's process. The thing to be avoided is craving in general, any kind of identification process, any kind of conceit, any kind of ignorance, lack of mindfulness or heedlessness. And the one thing to be suppressed

It should not be said suppressed, but it should be said tranquilized, or relaxed, or let go of, or abandoned. And that would be craving, that would be tightness and tension in the head. When one relaxes the mind and one relaxes the body, one opens up the awareness. There is spaciousness to the consciousness. There's a spaciousness in which one experiences the complete cessation of suffering, and so therefore experiences the third noble truth of nirodha at that moment. And when that happens, one experiences and glimpses nibbana. How has he got rid of individual beliefs?

Whatever individual beliefs are held by the majority of ascetics and brahmins, he has dismissed, abandoned, rejected, let go. So in other words, any kind of beliefs that one has picked up in terms of views, whether that is attachment to certain rites and rituals with the belief that they will lead to the exiting of samsara, whether it is certain kinds of views related to eternalism, that there is one soul that continues to reincarnate from one life to the next, or in the belief in nihilism or annihilationism, that once the body is dissolved, that's it, there's nothing else beyond that. These beliefs have to be understood as being related to wrong view, and therefore they have to be dismissed, abandoned, rejected, and let go of.

And how is he one who has quite abandoned quests? He has abandoned the quest for sense desires, for rebirth, for the holy life. Here, the quest for sense desires is essentially sensual craving. Rebirth is essentially craving for existence, or it could also mean craving for non-existence, or bhavatanha. And the quest for the holy life, in other words, one has some vega and understands that there's something beyond this experience of conditioned reality. There is some kind of way out of this conditioned reality in experiencing the cessation of suffering, but one has that quest. And when it is seen for what it is, one abandons any kind of identification. And then, when one is leading the holy life, whether as a monastic or as a lay person, in the sense that one continues to cultivate sila, samadhi and panna, there's no conceit in there. There's no sense of self in there. There's no identity, there's no identification there. There is just the experience, there is just a cultivation.

Development. And so one abandons any quest for a personal sense of self, because that's how any kind of quest or craving arises. It is in relation to a sense of self that any kind of craving arises. How is he pure of motive? He has abandoned thoughts of sensuality, ill will and cruelty. In other words, he has abandoned wrong intention. He has abandoned the attachment to sensory experiences by cultivating nekkhamma, or by cultivating renunciation, by cultivating the mindfulness to be able to see this experience, that is a central experience or mental experience, as being impermanent, therefore not worth holding on to and not being considered as me, myself or mine.

And he has abandoned thoughts of ill will and cruelty. So he has let go of any kind of aversion and replaced it with love and kindness and compassion, and therefore has cultivated the right. How is he one who has tranquilized his emotions? So this is in relation to the kaya sankhara, that is to say not just the bodily formations but also the sankharas in relation to experiences with emotion, experiences with feeling, not in regard to sensation. That would be the mano sankhara. But here it's in relation to tranquilizing the bodily formations.

Or tranquilizing any formations. It's in tranquilizing formations, especially and specifically, when one does the 6R's process. When one relaxes, what one is doing is tranquilizing any formations related to an unwholesome state that has arisen. So when an unwholesome state arises, one notices it and stops that flow. Upon seeing that and taking the attention away from that, it's not to say one is ignoring it, one has already acknowledged it. And now one has looked at the attention to it as the cause for that hindrance or for that unwholesome state, and therefore releases that undue awareness to that hindrance or unwholesome state, brings it back into the presence of mind and body, brings it back to the mindfulness of mind and body, or body, and then with the intention of relaxing, which is the intention of letting go. It's essentially that experience, as one has talked about: when you tighten your fist, you can feel tension, you feel tightness. As soon as you let go, you experience relaxation. So that translates in the process of the relaxed step of tranquilizing formations that arose as a result of those

unwholesome states, in those same formations that caused those unwholesome states. So what one is doing when one relaxes is going at the deepest level and relaxing the causes of those unwholesome states at the root, which is at the level of the formations. By doing so, by tranquilizing formations, one experiences a nirodha and experiences the third noble truth, the cessation of that unwholesome state, the cessation of dukkha, and therefore experiences nibbana in that moment. And so that is the process of tranquilizing formations, because having given up pleasure and pain, with the disappearance of former gladness and sadness, he enters into a state beyond pleasure and pain, which is purified with equanimity. This is the fourth jhana. And so, going further, as one does this, one becomes collected, and that collectedness leads to natural equanimity. And then there is that mindfulness born from equanimity. So that means that one continues to develop this whole process to come to a point where the mind is naturally equanimous and naturally mindful.

And so that happens in the four jhanas. How is he well emancipated in heart? He is liberated from the thought of greed, hatred and delusion. So this can also be understood as cetovimutti, which is to say that one experiences all of the first four jhanas and the four ayatanas, and even cessation of perception and feeling, where the mind is liberated from any experience of greed, hatred or delusion. Any time the mind is in that temporary liberation of jhana, or even in the experience of cessation of perception and feeling, in such a mind there are no hindrances present. Because there are no hindrances present, there are no roots of greed, hatred and sensual greed, hatred and delusion present. When that happens, the mind is in utter peace, utterly silent and collected, and filled with wisdom, and emancipated in heart, which is to say the citta, the mind, is emancipated from these roots. The citta is undefiled by these roots.

How is he well liberated by wisdom? He understands, for me, greed, hatred and delusion are abandoned, cut off at the root like a palm tree stump, destroyed and incapable of growing. So in other words, there is the liberation of the heart, or liberation of the mind, and there is the knowing that the mind is liberated. And so this constitutes wisdom. We can understand this from the experience of when one sees paticca samuppada, dependent origination, on a deep level. One is liberated from any kind of conditioned contact.

One is liberated from any kind of greed, any kind of hatred, any kind of delusion. In those moments, having made contact with the unconditioned element, made contact with the nibbana element. And so when one experiences that, one experiences extreme relief, which is the experience of breaking or weakening the fetters, and this experience of having seen without any personalizing, without any identifying. And then when the mind looks back, there is the knowledge, there is the knowing, the understanding that this has happened. So when the mind is liberated, that is the liberation

or the vision. And when there is the knowledge of that, that is the knowledge. So that is the yatha bhuta nana dassana, that is seeing and understanding, the knowledge and vision of reality as it is. So there is the experience, and there's looking back at the experience of having known and understood that this is what had happened. So anytime one experiences cessation, one experiences it, and immediately there's a response in the mind of what just happened. And in reviewing that, one sees the process of what had happened. That's why there's emphasis in the teaching on reviewing one's meditation practice. This further exercises the mind's ability to review

because this is a very important component of that process of entering into nibbana, but more importantly, understanding that the mind has made contact with the ten qualities of the non-learner, the sekha, which is another name for the arahant, because the arahant has nothing else to learn. They are a non-learner in that sense. And so there is the non-learner's right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right collectedness. Each one leads to the next. Right view conditions the right intention. The right intention gives rise to the right speech and right action, and right livelihood, which gives rise to right effort, which then gives rise to right mindfulness, which then gives rise to right collectedness. Once one has experienced the understanding, then one has the knowledge of that, and that's the right knowledge or the right insight, and therefore the mind knows that it is liberated, and one experiences, or continues to experience, that liberation.

That is the samma vimutti, the right liberation. So in the case of the arahant, they have, in the sense, unlocked these last two factors of the path. They are a result of having perfected and cultivated the path, the eightfold path. And when one does that, the arahant's mindset is such that it is always in the default mode of functioning from the eightfold path. Therefore the arahant is able to intend to go back and revisit that process of the right knowledge and right liberation and take that as an object of abiding in it. That is a natural state of mind for the arahant. These are the sets of ten things which have been perfectly set forth by the Lord who knows and sees the fully enlightened Buddha.

So we should all recite them together without disagreement, so that this holy life may be long lasting and established for a long time to come, thus to be for the welfare and happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, welfare and happiness of devas and humans. And when the Lord had stood up, he said to the venerable Sariputta, Good, good, Sariputta. Well indeed have you proclaimed the way of chanting together for the monks. These things were said by the venerable Sariputta, and the Teacher confirmed them. The monks were delighted and rejoiced at the venerable Sariputta's words.

Any questions or comments? Not that important, but the idea of mindfulness and the connection with remembering what is said and done a long time ago, you can use it in a very practical way. For instance, if you have trouble remembering where your keys are left or your wallet. So I do this often when I know that I forget something like my keys. I am very mindful when I put them away, and it has never failed me. I always remember, when I do that, where I left the things that I put away. Just as wonderful. Hi, Delson. I just wanted to know the proper way to reflecting, or I don't want to say the word contemplating.

It should be done at the end of each session of the meditations or throughout the day. What will be the most, you know, proper way or most beneficial way per se? Thank you. yeah this is more in in in regards to the meditation itself so especially when one is in neither perception or non-perception or cessation perception and feeling and the process thereafter one just naturally stays there for a few minutes maybe two to five minutes and just inclines the mind towards remembering or recalling what happened to that process that's using the intuition to see anything that the mind might have missed because of the very subtle formations that I might that might have come across the mind would have not detected but they need to detect but at the same time in reviewing that one is able to actually let it go and by letting go experience further cessation of those formations so that in the next sitting it becomes much clearer and more stable and much deeper so it would be suggested to do it after every sitting it's not necessary that one needs to do it throughout the day

Rather, throughout the day one would just continue to be mindful or practise in whatever way one is practising. This is more suggested after sitting. Thank you. Thank you for sharing again. I have a question on the reflection of, like, our avoiding of daily sensual reactions to things, right? Sometimes I'm still not in that every moment of mindfulness, obviously, right? And I have noticed that much later, oh, I was caught into it. So that notice later is allowing me the reflection in that sense, so it often comes later.

Still at this moment. But that was where I should be taking it as a chance to reflect and see, and hopefully that period of, like, later is shorter. Is that what we should be, like, noticing, or well, we just 6R's as long as we notice it? That, I mean, even the reflection part is going back to previous moments of, like, oh, I saw my attachment, but it was much later. So at that point, should I do 6R's, or should I be, like, reflecting, like in the reflecting process, how attached I was, should I see myself? Sometimes I see myself in the mode of, like, oh, I keep reflecting or I keep thinking that, oh, this is done and this is not right, what it should be. Like, not mindful enough. So it's a longer process in the reflecting than at the point of doing it, but I can see there is the shortening, or that might lead to my better. But I'm still asking the question: at reflection moment, should I do 6R's?

Do you get my... Yes. So if you notice that the mind's mindfulness slipped, or one wasn't mindful of any kind of craving that arose, whatever might have happened, by reflecting and seeing it, then you can. Yes, it's a good practice to do the 6R's in the sense of letting go of any attachment to that, especially if there is a residual effect of feeling like beating yourself up mentally, meaning why didn't I remember or how could I forget, and all of those kinds of thoughts also you want to let go of, and 6R's. Then the reflection is just a mere understanding that this is what happened, and you let go of it and make a commitment to be more mindful. It's as easy as that. There's nothing more than, let's say, analysis or continuing to reflect for an extended period of time, that will only cause restlessness and weariness. In yes, thank you. Thank you very much. Hi Delson.

Hello. Just have a very quick comment. That was a very refreshing take on this sutta. Thank you so much for that. It does free up a lot of our thinking behind absorption. One point. Thank you. Can I ask one more question, please? Yeah. Like, this is not related to the Suttavada, but I'm trying to make it work in my head. It's about karma. It's someone else, karma intertwined and following. The reason I am asking the question is, like, I'm trying to listen to some of the Dhamma talk in the very beginning of the Buddha and Devadatta stories, and all these, maybe in many thousands of years, or at least many hundreds of years, he became the enemy of the Buddha and trouble one after another life, right? But I'm pretty, like, I was thinking, even in the very beginning of the story, I don't think the Buddha is the one who has attachment to it and implications on Devadatta's life. Devadatta is the one who hated the Buddha so much that he followed lights after lights. Is that mean, if someone else

attachment on us can follow us in the path too no no uh there is a two-way street here meaning it wasn't just devadatta who had hatred for the buddha but the buddha is the bodhisatta and before in previous lives also um let's say it was mischievous or did something to cause dave that harm right uh and so there is a exchange of karma so to speak there is a repercussion a supercal exchange that's not to say that uh you know whatever the buddha did or didn't do was uh was justified or whatever it might be it's just the natural way of of that process of karma so um it has been throughout whatever countless lifetimes that they have they have had an interaction or an exchange um if somebody has an attachment or hatred towards another being and it continues on that's not to say that that's going to cause the other being to further take reap because if that being has uh

has become an arahant and stopped uh craving stop the process of fuel for further rebirth then they are off the wheel of samsara but if the person who still has attachments continues on then their formations will connect with another set of formations that cause them to continue to have aversion to so whatever interactions that they have they will see uh similarities or things that or situations that are similar that cause the same arising of those formations cause further harm for themselves and so that's the thing about karma that is why it's so complex because you have different intentions working all the time there can be karma that arises because of one's own intention or there can be an existence that arises because of the exist the intention of others uh the decision of others in one's own life it can be the arising of certain existence because of the intersection of multiple intentions or there can be an arising without any intention at all as well where neither one's intention or another's intention but it's the the mechanics of karma interspersed

with other factors whether they're environmental or whatever it might be that can cause further a rising of existence so if there's somebody in one's life who who might be having that kind of hatred it's best to understand that let it go forgive them and if possible try to help them manage that you know if it's possible not that you have to it's not like if you don't something is going to happen because remember in the end everyone is the responsible party so to speak of their own karma so it's not about how they react to you but how you respond to their reaction to you that either continues to uh that continues to cycle through those intentions continues to cycle through those continuous rebirths because of your response or reaction that continues to fuel it so if you don't allow it to feel it if you don't react in a way that causes further arising of such an existence then you have stopped the flow for yourself so to speak meaning you have stopped the flow of those formations from her but the other person is responsible for their own actions and their

own yeah thank you thank you i understand now Hi Gelsen. Before we take a long leave, I want to ask you an important question. What will be the recommended contemplation for impermanence, the perception of impermanence? I mean, there are quite a few options, but what will be the recommended one while we're doing meditation and also when we are out of meditation yeah um just the general mindfulness itself meaning going back to the basic practice of the four foundations of mindfulness uh if you go back to reading that sutta the buddha always talks about seeing uh or having mindfulness for that particular foundation of mindfulness let's say uh as a way of the bare knowledge of what is happening or in the sense of what is arising and passing away and so in the seeing of the arising and passing away there is a perception already of impermanence

If you look deep enough with the mind that is collected, settled, uplifted, joyful, relaxed and so on, and you start to notice this arising and passing away, you start to see first and foremost that there's this impermanence already intrinsic to the arising and passing. Upon seeing that, the mind becomes tired of it, and then experiences the understanding that there's no controller there, that why should I take this personal? So one can start with the basic practice of the four foundations of mindfulness. One can also see it within the own practice of jhana. So when you are in the first jhana and you start to notice the fading away of the factors of the first jhana, moving into the second jhana or into the ayatanas or whatever it might be, there is an impermanence there as well. So noticing that there is an intrinsic

quality of things changing. Things are bound to change. When it comes to conditioned experiences, including the jhanas, including the ayatanas, would be another good practice to do. Of course, on a coarser level, there is of course the understanding of the impermanence of the body. So one can contemplate the impermanence of the body, the impermanence of the body in relation to the charnel grounds, as a corpse. And one can also contemplate just changes in general, so being so mindful that when you see changes, in terms of changes in climate, changes in one's workplace, this entire pandemic is a wonderful understanding of the nature of impermanence and anatta. Nobody is in control here. Anything can happen. There's so many variants out there, and so on and so forth. Seeing that and understanding that nothing in this conditioned reality is stable. So another understanding of impermanence is instability.

That there is this constant instability, whether it's in the process of thoughts, the process of one's own aging in the body and the mind, or whether it's in the surrounding, wherever one is living, in terms of one's climate, in terms of one's job, family relationships, friends and whatever else is happening. So seeing it through that lens, one starts to abandon any attachment to it, abandon any kind of aversion to Sorry, your suggestion of the pandemic sounds more interesting.

Yeah. Good idea. I'd like to read what is written here. Yes. And of course, changes in the senses. Thank you. So, sounds arising and passing away. So your sensory experiences, whether you are hearing music or whether whatever it is you're hearing, whatever it is you're tasting, whatever it is you're seeing and smelling, all of your five physical senses, as well as your thoughts in general. Your thoughts are so unstable that they are bound to arise and pass away. So getting to that route, to getting to that itself, also gives very deep experience of

impact. Are you trying to say something earlier, Bharat? Uh, I think we can't hear Tony. He's trying to speak. Oh yeah, Tony, even though you're unmuted your sound is not coming out. You want to re-log in and see if that works. If you have a question, you can type it in chat. We'll be right back. Okay, there is a question in the chat: may I know what is the meaning of sense restraint gradual training? So this comes from the word samvara, which is to say restraint of senses, and that is to mean

restraining the senses doesn't mean to suppress or to block it. It means to be first and foremost mindful and aware of what is happening in the sensory experience. See, it's not the sixth sense base itself, it's not the experience of the sixth sense base, nor is it the object of the sixth sense base that needs to be restrained. It's not the pleasant feeling or the unpleasant feeling or the neutral feeling. It is the underlying tendency towards craving, the underlying tendency towards aversion, that needs to be seen, and that is best understood at a physical level or a mental level, a certain type of tension or tightness. So anytime you start to notice this and you start to see that you're identifying with this experience and wanting more of it, or trying to push it away, or identifying with it just as a neutral experience, that is what needs to be restrained, in the sense of not suppressing but understanding and acknowledging it. So you're using this six R process to see it, be aware of it, release your attention away from it, and relax it, abandon it, and let it go,

and then in the process experience the release from that tension, the release from that suffering. So really, sense restraint might not be the best way to translate it. It's more about release from craving, the release from identifying with the sensory experience. Hi Delson. Hi Tony. Yeah, I have a question related to the previous one, regarding the reflecting in retrospective after the sitting. So of course when you're reviewing it, there shouldn't— sometimes it could be the tension could be coming up, and then you can think all that, but sometimes I guess it's just a thought or an image, or just the process of taking things personally during the sitting. And I guess it's not the tension itself that we six R.

It is just by reflecting and reviewing it, and remembering that, and six R-ing it, and letting that go, help you to develop the skill. So when it comes, maybe the next sitting, you're able to six R is better. Just a better understanding. Yes, yes, yes, that's exactly it. So it's not just the tension that might arise, not just the tightness as you said, that might arise, but even just the images or whatever thoughts, whatever formations that arose that the mind identified with, or whatever it might be, because all of that comes under the scope of conditioned existence. And seeing that and seeing the mind attaching to it is what then you have to 6R. And the more you do this, first and foremost, the fact that you do this causes the mind to go to a deeper level of relaxation. The reason why is because there might be a tendency for some individuals where their mind is trying to look for every little thing that's happening in the jhana, and in the process of trying to look for every little thing, it causes further restlessness,

so they are over investigating. Let's say they are over analyzing or over reflecting in that process of meditation. But because they know that at the end of the meditation they will be reviewing this, they will let go of over analyzing and just be aware and observing what is happening, allowing the process of the jhanas to happen on their own, naturally. So by doing this, it helps the mind to be stabilized in the next meditation. Thank you. Definitely. Thank you. If anybody else has any more questions. May suffering ones be suffering free, and the fear struck, fearless fee. May the grieving shed our grief, and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisitions 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. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Thank you, Delson. Thank you so much. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Have a good break. Have a good break. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you everyone. Hi everyone.