May 1, 2021 MN 7 - The Simile of the Cloth - The Effect of Faith on Meditation Practice

I would like to give you a three, please. Thank you, Koon. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, everyone. I hope you're all doing well. So today I'm going to be reading from Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation of Majjhima Nikaya No. 7. And this is the Vatthupama Sutta, the simile of the cloth. I have 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, suppose a cloth were defiled and stained and a dyer dipped it in some dye or other, whether blue or yellow or red or carmine.

It would look poorly dyed and impure in color. Why is that? Because of the impurity of the cloth. So too, when the mind is defiled, an unhappy destination may be expected. Suppose the cloth were undefiled and clean, and a dyer dipped it in some dye or other, whether blue or yellow or red or carmine. It would look well dyed and pure in color. Why is that? Because of the purity of the cloth. So too, when the mind is undefiled, a happy destination may be expected. So here the Buddha is using the analogy of a cloth to the mind, and a mind that is defiled means it still has certain fetters in it. It still has certain hindrances that it's attached to, or certain things in the way, corruptions of the mind, the imperfections, as we'll see in the next part. And if that's the case and the mind holds on to that, identifies with it, personalizes it, takes action from it, it causes itself

even in this very life an unhappy destination in the way of the kammic effects of creating action, speech and thoughts from such a mind. But if a mind becomes less and less defiled by correct action, by utilizing the eightfold path, through right effort, through mindfulness, through collectedness, and ultimately through insight, then that mind can expect a happy destination, as the Buddha says. That could be the good effects of a mind that is less and less undefiled, that takes certain actions that are rooted in wholesome thoughts, rooted in wholesome intentions. But ultimately

a mind that is completely undefiled will no longer experience an unhappy or happy destination, because such a mind would be completely liberated and would have ended rebirth and the processes that cause rebirth, not only on the macro level but also on the level of the present life. In which case, whatever kamma is being experienced is the effects of kamma produced prior to the liberation of the mind, because after the mind is well liberated it will not act in a way that personalizes whatever is arising. It just sees things with pure mindfulness, with wisdom. And so any old effects, or effects of old, that arise are gotten rid of or experienced without any residue of new kamma, because there's no residue that sticks to an effect or to an action, speech or thought, that is personalized or that has craving or ignorance present within it. Through the certain imperfections, the upakkilesas as they're known. What, bhikkhus, are the imperfections that defile the mind? Covetousness and unrighteous greed is an imperfection that defiles the mind. Ill will, anger, resentment, contempt, insolence, envy, avarice

deceit, fraud, obstinacy, rivalry, conceit, arrogance, vanity and negligence. These are all the imperfections that defile the mind. Knowing that covetousness and unrighteous greed is an imperfection that defiles the mind, knowing that ill will, anger, resentment, contempt, insolence, envy, avarice, deceit, fraud, obstinacy, rivalry, conceit, arrogance, vanity and negligence are imperfections that defile the mind, a bhikkhu abandons them. When a bhikkhu has known... wait, before I continue, let me go through each of the imperfections. So in this case the Buddha is talking about knowing each of the imperfections, and when they are known, one abandons it. So this is actually talking about right effort, first and foremost recognizing our process, first and foremost recognizing that there is present an unwholesome state of mind in the form of one or more of these imperfections. And so when one recognizes it, one stops the flow of these imperfections from arising. Then one abandons it by releasing the attention from it and bringing the awareness to itself and to the body, you need back to the presence of awareness or present moment. And then one relaxes or tranquilizes the mind and the body, tranquilizing the formations related to those defilements, those imperfections.

Then one uses the re-smile. But in this case one can also generate, through returning to something that is an antidote to one or more of these imperfections, to these upakkilesas, and we'll talk about those now. So in the third right effort one generates a wholesome intention, a wholesome state of mind, and then maintains the awareness of that, and then from there one acts in accordance with that particular wholesome state of mind. So now, here are the imperfections. Covetousness and unrighteous greed. In essence this is craving. This is lust, this is greed. It's a mind that inclines towards wanting something because it's afraid that it won't have any more of it, and so it craves for it, and this causes one, or causes the mind

to become deluded, and this delusion is essentially taking what is present as personal, taking it as self. And because of that, one becomes so blinded that one can even break the precept in trying to attain what one craves, or trying to prevent whatever is arising from going away. So this covetousness is this immense lust and greed for whatever has arisen, or wanting to keep it that way. So in that one is unhappy with the present moment, and thus causes oneself pain and suffering, and indeed can cause others pain and suffering when they break their precepts to get what they want, so to speak, because of that personal sense of self.

Letting go is to relinquish. You maintain right intention, and that is nekkhamma. One is to understand with mindfulness, first and foremost recognizing that there is this covetousness present, recognizing its symptoms through tension in the head, tension in the body, irritation, frustration, perhaps a higher heart rate or increased blood pressure, or whatever it might be, but ultimately recognizing that there is craving present. And then letting go of it, coming back to the re-smile, coming back to something that is wholesome. In this case, letting go of the attachment to it and coming back with a brahmavihara, and it could be any of them. The helpful one would be equanimity, because it is with equanimity one is able to see clearly and prevent any further attraction to what has arisen, and understand that what has arisen will also pass away. Ill will, anger, resentment and contempt, and insolence. These are all connected. These are the aggressions from ill will. From aversion, it is because something has arisen that the mind identifies with as being unpleasant

as being painful, and so the mind tries to prevent it from arising further and wants nothing to do with it. And in that process there is resistance, there is tension, and then anger is present. If it doesn't go away, and if it's towards people, and one holds on to that anger, it can result in resentment and even contempt. So contempt really is acting in a way that causes pain, acting in a way that can create pain to the other person that one doesn't want to deal with. And insolence is an extension of that. Insolence is also this arrogance that arises, that one should be given respect no matter what, even if one is incorrect.

And this insolence is because one considers another to be one's equal, and so should be given the same respect, when in fact one is actually just not acting in a wholesome manner and doesn't realize it. So it blinds the mind, and in doing so causes further clinging, further becoming, rebirth of action that causes pain and suffering. So to let go of this again, you have to recognize it. One recognizes this, lets go of it, and generates something that is wholesome. In this case for ill will and anger and/or resentment and contempt, there can be the brahmaviharas of loving kindness or compassion.

And if resentment is deep rooted, if it's so deep that one can't let go and it causes one continual pain and suffering, then a forgiveness practice would be recommended. But once one lets go of that, then one continues to maintain loving kindness and one continues to maintain compassion. Envy is essentially jealousy, and this is a us both is an understanding first and foremost. With envy, one is comparing oneself to the other and seeing that there's something lacking, and perhaps the other person is better than you. That's the concept that arises. So for this one should have mudita, one should have empathetic joy, instead of denouncing in one's mind or even outwardly towards that person and their successes.

One should see the benefit in having mudita and celebrating their success, and being happy for that person, having empathetic joy. Avarice, in this case, is more about not sharing, not having generosity. So the antidote for this really is having a mind that is generous, starting with the re-smile, and not letting one's mind stay attached to things, understanding that all things that arise pass away. So holding on to things, holding on to possessions, holding on to concepts like credit, holding on to concepts like titles and things like that, these are all impermanent. And so once you develop the awareness of that, once you develop the awareness of impermanence, and then also the idea that

because they are impermanent, they should not be considered to be something that can cause everlasting happiness. And so it should not be considered as self. And then, of course, an active principle of this is generosity. To actively understand that avarice is present, let go of it, and then replace it with generosity, completely eradicates that avarice. And fraud. So this is really deception, deception in terms of hiding one's own misdemeanors, hiding one's unwholesome states, and in doing that, that causes a lot of restlessness. It causes a lot of activity in the mind, and that can cause further hindrances from arising. And then fraud, of course, being fraudulent towards others, lying and so on, which can cause further hindrances to arise and cause self-doubt, and cause doubt in one's own capacities and capabilities. So one should definitely maintain and uphold the precept of keeping oneself honest, by being truthful, by not lying, and using right speech, abstaining from false speech. Really stubbornness. It's a mind that is essentially holding on to views, even if one sees that there is

There is no fruit in holding on to those views, and one sees that there is a better view to understand and uphold. Ultimately, even the attachment to right view, that is to say the attachment to Dhamma, also has to be let go of. But first and foremost, one has to see if there are present any wrong views, with right view being the guiding light, so that one sees if the views that one seems to hold on to are in alignment with right view or not. That is to say, in alignment with, first of all, the mundane right view, which is that there is meaning in action and effect, that there is karma and rebirth, that one has or should maintain gratitude for one's parents, that there's a debt owed to them through gratitude and right actions. And then that there are beings who understand the super mundane right view fully and that they can teach that, and so one has a certain openness to learn from them. And then, of course, the super mundane right view is the Four Noble Truths.

So one has to see if the views that one keeps holding on to, that the mind continues to identify with and keeps personalizing, are they in accordance actually with the mundane or the super mundane right view, and ultimately with the Four Noble Truths, that is the super mundane right view. So if there is present any kind of wrong view, after having read the suttas, after having clarified the doubts that one might have through questions, after watching Dhamma talks and so on, after reflection and understanding, if one still holds on to the wrong views, those wrong notions, then one is said to be stubborn. But if one lets go of it and embraces with understanding and investigation the right view, then one lets go of that stubbornness as well. Let go of that obstinacy, rivalry, conceit and arrogance. These are all part of that fetter of mana. Mana meaning essentially to measure, to compare, to have a sense of self in comparison to others and to other beings. And it's very deeply ingrained in the mind because of continually personalizing and identifying situations.

with people, with views, with rites and rituals and so on and so forth, with certain tendencies that accumulate into a sense of being. And the more one does this, the more the mind does this, the more that conceit gets deeply rooted. So one has to be aware, one has to be mindful whenever this arises in the way of rivalry, having rivalry or conceit or arrogance. So rivalry in this case is really who is better than one, somebody who might

be better than one, or whatever kind of concepts like that. One has to let go of, essentially, being an island to oneself, not worrying about what others think, not worrying about where others are in the path. This can cause a lot of hindrances, this can cause a lot of blockages for one, on retreat or off retreat, where one is continually thinking about other retreat participants if one is on retreat, or friends if one is talking about practices and so on and so forth, that they are at this level but I am at this level and so I need to be better and so on and so forth. That is counterproductive to the entire path and that will cause one continual suffering. So just relax, let go of that, and just be aware where one is, just for the sake of comparing where one was and where one, let's say, quote unquote, needs to be. In other words, what is left to do in terms of completing the path, what are the attachments that one needs to let go of, what are the processes of identification one needs to shed light on, let go of.

So in this process one lets go of this comparison that goes on. And then of course arrogance, being that I am better than that person. Again, that's the flip side of that, letting go of that and just relaxing in the knowledge of where one is, and continually working, working and working until one attains arahantship, one completes the path and completes the task that's needed to be done. Vanity here is attachment to not only physical possessions but attachment to the body as well, attachment to, let's say, one's youth, attachment to one's beauty of the body and things like that. So body contemplations, seeing inside out the body, having a contemplation of that, contemplating on the processes of the body, contemplating on how the body will eventually decay after death and how that process of decay arises. That helps the mind let go of this deep attachment to the body, which can cause lust, but like it says, vanity as well. And the negligence is of course the opposite of mindfulness, not having the correct mindfulness, not being diligent, not being aware where one's mind is in any given moment.

not seeing if there is present craving arising or not, and this is only done through really the four foundations of mindfulness, or in other words having a mind that is openly aware, watching as things arise and pass away but not holding on to anything. And then ultimately seeing if there is something that causes the mind to hold on to something, causes the mind to crave or to have aversion or causes the mind to identify, then one uses the 6R's, comes back to a more balanced mind, and continues to watch, be ever watchful, be ever observing, be ever vigilant and diligent. So when a bhikkhu has known that covetousness and unrighteous greed is an imperfection that defiles the mind and has abandoned it, and has known these other imperfections that defile the mind and has abandoned those as well, he acquires unwavering confidence in the Buddha. Thus the Blessed One is accomplished, fully enlightened, perfect in true knowledge and conduct, sublime knower of worlds, incomparable leader of persons to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, enlightened, blessed.

He acquires unwavering confidence in the Dhamma. Thus the Dhamma is well proclaimed by the Blessed One, visible here and now, immediately effective, inviting inspection, onward leading, to be experienced by the wise for themselves. He acquires unwavering confidence in the Sangha. Thus the Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples is practicing the good way, practicing the true way, practicing the proper way. Individuals, this Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, the unsurpassed field of merit for the world. When he has given up. Let's stop there. So now this is about the faith really that arises, a matter of having a mind that is first and foremost open and seeing the Dhamma and experiencing the Dhamma by actually having right effort, trying the practice for oneself and seeing how it's effective, seeing how it affects the mind in a positive way. So in the process of using the 6R's, in the process of doing the meditation, this naturally arises, where one has

faith and conviction, deeper faith and conviction in this process, deeper faith and conviction in the Buddha and of course the Sangha. And then of course when one enters the stream, when one has stream entry, there is no more doubt present. There is now complete unwavering confidence, and this confidence is basically respect and reverence for the Triple Gem, and understanding that without the Buddha the Dhamma could not have been, without the Sangha the nama could not continue to be taught, did not be continued to be maintained. So one has gratitude for it. And the recollection of this also causes further joy and rapture and happiness, which can be used as a starting point for one's meditation practice as well. So it says, when he has given up, expelled, released, abandoned and relinquished the imperfections of the mind, in part, meaning now they're going through stages, so once he has that confidence

I am possessed of unwavering confidence in the Buddha, and he gains inspiration in the meaning, gains inspiration in the Dhamma, and gains gladness connected with the Dhamma. So now there is confidence in this practice because one has seen for oneself the end point, which is seeing, after cessation of perception and feeling, how this process arises through the links of dependent origination. And one of course lets go of the other fetters. One lets go of attachments to rites and rituals, and one lets go of this idea of a sense of permanent self, an idea of a self that is all-pervading and all-abiding.

So now, in part, which means one starts to let go in part, so then one can become a sotapanna, or one can become an anagami, and so on, until one becomes an arahant. But here it says first that he gains inspiration in the meaning, gains inspiration in the Dhamma, he gains gladness connected with the Dhamma. This is pamoja, this happiness that arises naturally when you're practicing and seeing that it works, that you are getting further and further insights, you're getting deeper into the jhanas and you're understanding this process, and this causes one's happiness. It causes this happiness connected with the Dhamma. And then when he is glad, rapture is born. This is piti.

I think we had an internet hiccup on Nelson's side. Yeah, I think so. Okay, so we just wait? Thank you. Okay, let me continue. So, as I said, he gains confidence in the Buddha, in the Dhamma, and in the Sangha. And when he is glad, piti is born in him. That is rapture or joy. In one who is rapturous, the body becomes tranquil.

One whose body is tranquil feels pleasure. In one who feels pleasure, the mind becomes concentrated or collected. So this is talking about really the process in which faith or conviction in the Triple Gem, in the Three Jewels, gives rise to a natural happiness. And this happiness then becomes joy. And this joyfulness relaxes the body, relaxes the mind, and one feels sukha, which is this comfort of ease of the body and so on.

So as we've spoken about before, there is this interconnection between joy and tranquility within the meditation process, where the first relaxes and feels that happiness in the smile, and that gives rise to joy. So these are different factors that are present through the process of the 6R's, and naturally arise when it starts with having this open awareness, open recollection, gratitude and conviction in the Three Jewels. This then gives rise to a mind that is collected, from which then the mind can continue to watch its object of meditation, and then this gives rise to equanimity.

and seeing reality as it is and then of course that gives rise to a liberated mind and the knowledge of the destruction of the taints. So the Buddha continues and says he considers thus: I am possessed of unwavering confidence in the Dhamma, and he gains inspiration in the meaning, an inspiration in the Dhamma, and gains gladness connected with the Dhamma. Likewise he considers that I am possessed of unwavering confidence in the Sangha, and he gains inspiration in the meaning, an inspiration in the Dhamma, and gains gladness connected with them. And when he is glad, rapture arises. When he is rapturous, the body is tranquil, and when there is tranquility he feels happiness, he feels pleasure, and the mind is collected. Then he says he considers thus: the imperfections of the mind have in part been given up, expelled, released, abandoned and relinquished by me. And he gains inspiration in the meaning, he gains inspiration in the Dhamma, gains gladness connected with the Dhamma. When he is glad, rapture is born in him. In one who is rapturous the body becomes tranquil. In one whose body is tranquil, feels pleasure. In one who feels pleasure, the mind becomes collected.

Now at this point the mind attains, first and foremost, stream entry by letting go of certain defilements, expelling and relinquishing certain defilements. Now anagami, as we'll see where he talks about when he says, because if a bhikkhu of such virtue, such a state of collectedness and such wisdom eats alms food consisting of choice hill rice along with various sauces and curries, even that will be no obstacle for him. In other words he won't have craving for the food that he's eating. In other words he won't identify with the food that he's so he doesn't have any more present craving or aversion. He has let go of the fetters of craving and aversion, and so has attained anagami. Just as a cloth that is defiled and stained becomes pure and bright with the help of clear water, or just as gold becomes pure and bright with the help of a furnace, a bhikkhu of such a state of collectedness and such wisdom eats alms food.

consisting of choice hill rice along with various sauces and curries, even that will be no obstacle for him. So in other words, at this point one's mind is continually developing sila, continually developing samadhi and continually developing insight. When one enters the stream, there is some level of understanding of the jhanas, and one deepens the understanding as one continues to progress. And because when one enters into the state or the attainment of a sakadagami, anytime any kind of craving or aversion arises, it's immediately seen and let go of. And there's a deeper understanding of the jhanas, further, deeper insights into how the mind works.

And then when one is in anagami, letting go completely, at that point there can be mastery of the jhanas, mastery over cessation of perception and feeling, and understanding the jhanas on a much deeper level. And so the mind becomes so purified and so bright, so malleable, that it is easy for one to be able to see the links of dependent origination. Of course what's preventing the mind is the higher five fetters, which are of course craving for existence and craving for non-existence, or craving for the form realms and the formless realms, and the conceit that arises, which these other three fetters depend upon, and ignorance. So now at this point the Buddha gives another understanding of how the process can happen.

Through the brahmaviharas, so at this point, whether one is just starting out on the path, stream enterer, sakadagami or an anagami, one can still do the brahmavihara practices to attain final knowledge. He says he abides pervading one quarter with the mind imbued with loving kindness; likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth. So above, below, around and everywhere, and to all as himself, he abides pervading the all-encompassing world with the mind imbued with loving kindness, abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill will. Likewise he does that with compassion; he does that with radiating any of the brahmaviharas. A practical point to consider is that there can be times when there's a lot of tension in the mind, a lot of tension around the head, because one might be trying too hard. And what happens is sometimes the mind will focus more on the actual radiating, and then causing one to take that as the object rather than brahmavihara. So to let go of this attachment to that, one can just, for the first few minutes

allow the mind to sort of sink into one of the brahmavihara so if one starts with loving kindness one can do that with compassion empathetic joy or equanimity one just allows the mind to rest and abide in that experience of the brahmavihara and then through that process of sinking into it allowing the mind to abide in it allowing the mind to experience it there is irradiating that one observes happening on its own so one doesn't need to completely focus on trying to radiate which causes the identification process which causes the personalizing process instead one just observes that there is an intention like a little drop in the water or a pebble in the water that causes ripples just watch that radiating happening now another practical point to consider is that in that radiating it could be understood that it's not just radiating from the head because that's where it causes a lot of tension when people focus on there but just a meter or two meters away from the body and the head and just having this sort of

ball or sphere around the body which starts to emanate and radiate that feeling that might be another way to consider doing it to be able to let the mind fully understand and experience the brahma vihara while at the same time observing the radiating happening observing it happening instead of trying to make it happen and so after all this happens there comes a point where the mind then deepens its clarity and experiences the clear quiet mind and then insight arises when there's cessation of perception and feeling and that insight is the insight into the four noble truths so here the buddha words it in a different way he says he understands thus there is this there is the inferior there is the superior and beyond there is an escape from this whole field of perception so there is this is suffering that there is present in existence suffering there is the inferior which is dependent origination and specifically craving that causes this suffering to happen that this whole process of dependent origination that turns the wheel of samsara and there is the superior

which is the eightfold path, which is the reverse cycle, the reverse wheel of Dhamma, and beyond there is an escape from this whole field of perception, that is the experience of nibbana, the cessation of suffering, erode. So instead of numbering it one, two, three, four, it's one, two, four and three, because it is through the process of understanding that craving is there and letting go of it, one is utilizing the path to then experience the third noble truth. When he knows and sees thus, his mind is liberated from the taint of sensual desire

from the taint of being and from the taint of ignorance. So in other words, when the mind completely lets go of any personalizing, of any identifying, let go of sensory identification, they let go of the taint from arising again, which is dependent on previous attachments. Let go. The mind lets go of the taint of being that is dependent on previous times that the mind has accumulated tendencies, and so on. And of course, completely understanding the four noble truths: understanding suffering, letting go of the cause of suffering, craving, experiencing the cessation of suffering by utilizing, developing, cultivating and finally perfecting the eightfold path, one then destroys ignorance completely, and so the mind is liberated. And when it is liberated there comes the knowledge is liberated, the knowledge of the destruction of the taints. He understands. So this now, this knowledge of destruction, by the way, is a process in which the mind reviews what has happened and sees and verifies for itself, so to speak, confirms that the taints are in fact destroyed. And so he understands birth is destroyed.

the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being. Because this bhikkhu is called one bathed with the inner bathing. This is an interesting metaphor that the Buddha uses, because at that time in India, and even now, there is an understanding that going to certain rivers, going to certain holy sites where there are rivers or lakes present, which are associated with certain deities and stories and mythologies of those deities, the idea is that you go there and you bathe in those rivers or in those lakes, and it destroys past effects of negative karma. And so one is, so to speak, born anew and free of any karma. But of course the Buddha will talk about and say this. Now, on that occasion the brahmin Sundarika Bharadvaja was sitting not far from the Blessed One. Then he said to the Blessed One: But does Master Gotama go to the Bahuka River to bathe? Why, brahmin, go to the Bahuka River? What can the Bahuka River do, Master Gotama? The Bahuka River is held by many to give liberation.

It is held by many to give merit, and many wash away their evil actions in the Bahuka River. Then the Blessed One addressed the brahmin Sundarika in stanzas: Bahuka and Adhikakka, Gaya and Sundarika, Payaga and Sarassati, and the stream Bahumati. A fool may there forever bathe; it will not purify dark deeds. What can Sundarika bring to pass, what Payaga, what Bahuka? They cannot purify an evildoer, a man who has done cruel and brutal deeds. One pure in heart, as evermore the feast of spring, the holy day, one fair in act, one pure in heart, brings his virtue to perfection. It is here, brahmin, that you should bathe: make yourself a refuge for all beings. And if you speak no falsehood nor work harm for living beings, nor take what is offered not with faith, and are free from avarice, what need for you to go to Gaya, or any well? Your Gaya will be your own well. So in other words, it is really our actions that determine our next set of circumstances.

It is our choices. It is the way we perceive what is arising. It is the development of wholesome speech, the development of wholesome action, that purifies and finally lets go of the effects of negative kamma. Ultimately, as was mentioned earlier, for one with the fully released mind, for the arahant, there is no more new kamma generated, because one has completely let go of the identifying process. So whatever is experienced in the way of negative kamma, it is purified, so to speak, through seeing it as impermanent, experiencing it but also seeing it as impermanent, seeing it as not worth holding on to, seeing it as not self. In terms of experiencing it, it's not that there is an experience and you're experiencing it. It's just that a set of causes and conditions

have created the way for this to arise and pass away. But if there is a clutching onto in between the arising and passing away, then there will be craving, there will be clinging, there will be being, there will be rebirth, of action, and then further pain and suffering. But if one just watches it and lets go without identifying it, even on a mental level, then no further actions or reactions will arise from that. Master Gautama. Master Gautama has made the Dhamma clear in many ways, as though he were turning upright what had been overthrown, revealing what was hidden, showing the way to one who was lost, or holding up a lamp in the dark for those with eyesight to see forms.

I go to Master Gautama for refuge, and to the Dhamma, and to the Sangha of bhikkhus. I would receive the going forth under Master Gautama. I would receive the full admission. And the brahmin Sundarika Bharadwaj received the going forth under the Blessed One, and he received the full admission, and soon, not long after his full admission, dwelling alone, withdrawn, diligent, ardent, and resolute, Venerable Bharadwaj, by realizing for himself with direct knowledge here and now, entered upon and abided in that supreme goal of the holy life, for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from the home life into homelessness.

And you explained it to me once, and it is really wonderful. And if you can do that again, thank you. Well, if I can remember correctly, I'll explain it. You will. So, yeah, clinging is really, as we understand it, to be an extension of craving. When there's craving, there's basically this dissatisfaction with the present moment. In other words, whatever is arising, the mind identifies with it, and there is dissatisfaction with what has arisen, either because one doesn't want this moment to pass away, or these series of moments where there is pleasure feelings arising, to pass away, or there is this aversion to unpleasurable feelings arising, or just continually identifying with what is arising now. If one continues to have that craving or aversion, it can cause clinging. Now, clinging as we understand it are of four types. There is the clinging to the sensory experiences or mental experiences, so clinging to feelings, clinging to whatever is arising, and that is really

creating certain stories of identifying with it. This is my favorite color, or this is my favorite food, I really like watching this show, so if I don't watch the show I'm going to be upset, and so on and so forth. So it's clinging to this that causes one to then create this sense of being. And we know about clinging to self-view, clinging to the different types of self-view, or more of the aggregates in one way or another. There is the clinging to rites and rituals, where one considers these rites and rituals to be the way to liberation of the mind. Then there is the clinging to the views in general. There is a clinging to, traditionally speaking, the view of eternalism or the view of annihilationism

which both presuppose some kind of self. In eternalism, there is an ongoing self that accrues karma, and it's the same self, the same consciousness, that arises in one body, moves from that body, and goes to a new body. The annihilationist view is that the self is the same as the body, feeling, and so on, and when they are gone, when that is destroyed, extinguished, so is the self. So it still presupposes that there is a self that is identified, that is identical with any of these five aggregates.

Now, in that process of clinging, when you see that the mind starts to create defense mechanisms for holding on to it, rather than seeing it for what it is. So in the case of craving, there is just this identification going on. There is this, I hope this continues, which is the craving, or I hope this goes away soon, which is the aversion. But there is the I am still present. Now in the clinging, what happens is the stories become even more intense, where the stories that arise are now defending some kind of sense of self: that I'm liking this because it's good for me, I don't like this because I know it will cause me harm, and so on and so forth. So if you recognize when there is this I am still present, where there is this proliferation going on, when you notice that the mind is starting to defend its

unwholesome states of mind, defend and want to keep those, then you know that clinging is present. So it's important to see: is the mind holding on to it, defending itself because of it? And if it is, then recognize it, let go of it, come back, relax, and then come back to a more balanced state of mind. Thank you. Yeah, Delson, I have a question. You mentioned that we can radiate not only through our head, but did you mean that through our body as well? Could you explain more about it? Thank you. Yeah. Basically, what I'm saying is that you don't need to focus so much on radiating from the head or radiating from the body itself.

Spend more attention on the feeling of the brahmavihara itself for the first few minutes. Just allow the mind to experience whatever it might be that you want to start off with: loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, or equanimity. Then allow that sort of mind to sink into that, and then just experience or watch how it starts to create this feeling or radiating. See when the mind is so satisfied with loving kindness, satisfied with compassion, or joy, or equanimity,

it has a tendency to want to be so. So you allow that natural inclination to radiate to arise. You want to see that happen and just observe how that process radiates on its own. Now, on the physical component, or the practical component, what I'm saying is it depends on what works for you. Some people want to radiate from the head, but they focus so much on just the physical presence of radiating from the head that it causes tightness. What I'm saying is, instead, you can imagine a halo, like a meter or two meters away, from which the radiation happens. You're focusing less or looking less at the physical component of that and more aligned towards radiating. Some people are comfortable with actually radiating as if it's coming from the whole body. I would say it doesn't matter whether it feels like you're radiating from the body or from the head. What I'm saying is, look more towards, in those first few minutes, experiencing and

letting the mind get comfortable with that brahmavihara, and then to let that natural inclination to radiate arise, and watch how, with the attention to that, it starts to naturally radiate. I emphasize returning after the relaxed step to the mind and the body. However, I'm not sure if we should still do that when in the arupa jhanas, because I was wondering whether that emphasis on the body will hold the process of entering the arupa jhanas. And to that I would say it's better to just return to the mind once you're in the arupa jhanas, return to any tension or any kind of uncomfortable feeling that might arise in the mind, and to let go of that. But when I say mind and body, I say it in general terms, but specifically when it comes to the arupa jhanas, you want to just come back to the mind. Thank you.

We'll wait for a few more seconds, see if anyone else has any questions. Hi, Delson. Yeah, I have one question regarding what you have been mentioning just now on the radiating, and also on one of your Q&A sessions when you are suggesting us to watch the deeper observation of change of feelings, in terms of instead of going back quickly to see the returning back to the object, so to see how the feelings. I have a little, not so clear, about how to distinguish a deeper observation towards investigation. If we are slowing down and watching the line of getting into a deeper feeling and investigation, how should we be able to distinguish that further, looking, and becoming an investigation?

May you just help me or give me some suggestions? Yeah, thank you. To ask you, are you referring to the actual 6R's process, the steps of the 6R's, or are you referring to the factors of the jhana? Or you were mentioning how the feeling changes. So are you talking in terms of how the feeling changes from loving kindness to compassion? It's the changes from, what the jhana situations, like we're looking at how your mind flows from one to another. But should we be looking closely? I was once commented by Bhante that I'm going into investigation when I was slowing down the process of watching. So I wasn't sure when you're mentioning about a deeper observation of the levels of the changes from the genres.

It like, would it become an investigation or which is the line to draw? Yeah, I'm still like not too sure there. I would first and foremost just say observe. Just observe how things change. You keep your object of meditation, your attention, on the brahmavihara, whatever it might be. You don't want to try to investigate again. You don't want to investigate it. It should come about naturally in the form of understanding. When you're observing, that's really mindfulness, being aware of what is happening. If you notice that there are certain factors present, the noticing of certain factors being present would be understanding, would be investigation. Don't have to not go looking for them when they arise, one by one. But it's because of that open awareness that you're able to do so while your attention is still centered around the brahmavihara. If you are, let's say, starting with loving kindness and you notice now that the mind no longer requires verbalizations, that is just the mindfulness and the understanding, the mindfulness and investigation.

Investigation is a word, or translation, that means to actively look for, actively reflect. But I would say, and I would suggest instead, it's more about discerning in that moment what has arisen and goes away. So if there is present the need to let go of the verbalization, there is a discernment, there's the understanding that that needs to be let go of. So one lets go of that, then there is a further collectedness that one becomes mindful of. One becomes more aware of certain parts of the second jhana, which is deeper, deeper piti or rapture, deeper sukha or a comfort, and one is just aware that's there. One isn't looking for it because one's attention is always going to be around the brahmavihara. Then as you get into the third jhana you see that the piti fades away, but you just notice it's gone. In the noticing, in the seeing, that there is now fading away of piti is the limit of that investigation. You don't need to go any further than that.

Likewise, when the sukha fades away, when that happiness, that ease of mind, fades away and there is only pure equanimity born of that mindfulness, are aware of that being present. In so far as being aware of that being present, you are utilizing mindfulness and the investigation in understanding that this is what is present. So ultimately you don't need to look for these states. They will come to you, and so to speak, they will be aware or made aware in your mind when they arise and pass away. Looking at the other elements, which comes to, for example, the factors of enlightenment, which comes to the faculties of mentality, like there's contact, feeling, perception, as we look at it from Majjhima Nikaya 111, one by one as they occurred there. It's not about looking for when contact arose, it's not looking for when feeling arose. One is just aware: mind makes contact with the object of meditation. There is a feeling of loving kindness, an experience, pleasant, of loving kindness. There's a perception that there is loving kindness present.

There is an intention that was started by radiating that loving kindness or igniting that loving kindness, and the attention that is there is the object, or the mind looking at the object, being aware of the object. So you can discern that anytime you see it in that way, but you don't need to look for it. It's not important to really look for it. It's more to see how mind moves from one thing to another, so long as it doesn't get distracted by it, so long as it doesn't become attached to it and then misses out on the other things that are arising. So if you actively investigate into that, saying that I'm going to look for where there is present feeling, the mind then gets stuck on that and doesn't continue to see in that stream what else is arising.

But if you just are mindful and observe, you become aware and are able to perceive and label this is what has arisen when it arises, and this is what's gone when it goes. You don't need to look for it. Just observe, and just not even wait for it to happen, just continue to watch your object, continue to observe it, and it will be made present to you, and there will just be a knowing that it is there, and it has come, it has stayed, and it has gone.

Can I relate it to just what you have mentioned about radiating? Sometimes when we have the intention to radiate, we have that stronger intention of letting it out from the head or even the body. So what you are just, I'm trying to relate the way of the observation here. So you said you just leave it and let it radiate by itself instead of there being that stronger intention. So it's more of a backing, more of backing off, even though in the watching of the changes also, in a way, instead of getting the deeper, is not trying to get in there but more of backing to see further. I think I got a little bit better. Yeah, okay. Well, thank you very much. Yeah, yeah, please continue. Yes. Yeah. You see radiating

When you're radiating, what's happening is there's already an intention present, but as you said, it doesn't need to be that strong of an intention. It's just first you have loving kindness present and you're just watching how it naturally inclines towards wanting to radiate, because when the mind is content with radiating, with feeling that loving kindness, when it's content with feeling that compassion just as it is, then there is a natural inclination. You will start to see once you just let the mind sink into it, you'll start to see that there is an intention that arises naturally: you want to radiate. And so it's not in terms of where is the intention. You will just see the intention when it arises, in the same way as you're watching in the lower jhanas, as we just previously discussed, how these different factors arise and go away.

- Oh, sorry. You want to continue? - No, I'm fine. Thank you. Thank you, Delson. - You're welcome. - Actually, I'm more wondering whether you have any tips of what to do, because I can move up from first jhana all the way to nothingness and perception, neither perception, quite smoothly, but sometimes when I'm enjoying all the quietness and the still mind, it just, you can feel that it's going backwards. It's sort of suddenly decided to go back to the stage that is radiating.

And it gets so strong. Well, then I started to feel there's craving, wanting to stop. I want to go back to obviously the still mind, and it doesn't work. So most of the time it ended up, I just open my eyes and start all again. Is there another way of doing it, or I just have to be... Yeah, I would say, when you have that smooth transition from the first jhana to second, and so on, until nothingness, and the mind just becomes quite, silent and radiant on its own, you have that quiet mind as your object. Allow the mind to rest in it, but don't try to observe the quiet mind again. You're just letting the mind rest in itself. When you see that there's a desire to go back, it could arise from restlessness. It could arise because the mind is so close to inactivity that it desires some kind of activity, because it's so used to having some kind of experience. So it could arise because of restlessness, that can cause then the craving for a previous jhana, a craving for a previous experience.

When you notice that, then you want to use the tranquilizing factors of enlightenment, which is to say, you have the mindfulness present that you know there is this desire to go back, there is some kind of restlessness arising. You use tranquility, you use collectedness, which means you tranquilize the mind first and allow the mind to rest. After that, collect itself around the quiet mind again, and then equanimity is just watching things as they arise, anything, or not wanting anything. So try doing that first and see if that works. But if it seems like there's a deeper reason why the mind maybe, it's the intuition at that point saying that the mind requires to go back, then you can go back, but then there, don't just radiate very strongly. Just let the mind sink back into whatever was love and kindness, compassion, or joy, or equanimity. Just allow it to just sink in there, experience it, and just watch the radiating happen again, and then naturally it will go towards quiet mind yet again. Okay. Okay, understand. Thank you. This is one question.

After listening to this, detaching ourselves from the space, then only we will enter into arupa jhanas. After detaching ourselves from the space, the senses will not be there, only mind will be there. Nama will be there. That nama is not particularly about spatial location. And it is equivalent to our deep sleep or dream. Is it correct or not? Am I... you're talking about, yeah, you're talking about from the first arupa jhana onwards, there is no more present, yeah, there is no more present, sensory contact, physical sensory contact. It's just really mental contact. That's horizon, yes. That state of deep sleep, or that feeling of deep sleep, that you or the dream state that you experience outside of, well, when you're sleeping, when you have that experience of dreams and so on, that is happening in the realm of the mind.

So in that there is, for example, in a dream, there can be a mind-made body which experiences certain things, and so you can have certain experiences of seeing certain colors, you can have experience of hearing, you can have experience of touching, basically all of them, from the senses. You can have an experience through that mental body, which is happening on an arupa level, because there is no interaction with the body and the outside world at that point when the body is asleep. So arupa jhanas are not visualizing, they are not at all. We are not visualizing them, because one after one they are progressing, one after one they are progressing, depending on our collectedness. That is, that's correct. That's correct. Can I say thank you? Yeah. It's more of a mental experience than a seeing, like even in your, let's say, so to speak, your mind's eye, you're not actually seeing a spaciousness, although it can happen that somebody whose formations are related to the eye faculty are very strong, that they might have a perception of seeing some kind of spaciousness.

but usually what happens is it's an it's more of a mental experience of spaciousness and then when it comes to infinite consciousness even there even if you're hearing the clicks or you're seeing something it's happening within the mental with the mentality it's happening on the on the level of the mind there's no activity happening with the senses it's just all happening internally so and then when you go to nothingness again it's a mental experience of nothingness which is to say that the mind is completely longer attracted towards any kind of thoughts or any images or anything related to the outside world related to the past present or future it just remains in itself it rests in itself and so that feeling of nothingness is basically where no ideas are present no images are present although some people are able to see an image of darkness or of mind interpreting what's going on and then of course it becomes so much deeper that in neither perception or non-perception the faculty of perception becomes so refined that it starts to become intermittent

So you start to perceive something and then it goes away and you don't see it, and it just keeps happening until there is no perception at all and complete cessation of perception and feeling. Thank you. Your conversation just now reminded me of one sutra where Buddha was explaining about the different self: the self, the gross self, and then the mind-made self while we are in the jhanas. And the mind-made body, which is the astral body. How much do you know about the astral body? Can you tell us a bit? - Yeah, the thing about the astral body is there's a lot of ideas about using it to go to different realms and things like that.

So the experience of having awareness of different dimensions of experience, different beings, seeing different beings and so on, happens at the level of the astral body. Some people call it the astral body, you can call it the mental body or the mind-made body. You can go to the brahma realms with the mind-made body and see what's going on, for example. So when people have experiences where they're doing astral projection, as they call it, or lucid dreaming or something like that, it could be that they're having an experience of higher realms or even lower realms if they somehow slip into that. But that's really what it is: it's the ability to experience different dimensions through that process. Hi Delson.

When you mentioned about letting the mind naturally unfold, because especially when we try to, there's a tendency, especially in the arupa jhana, that we try to radiate from the head, and it causes recklessness and tension. But I found it's also helpful that sometimes, if we radiate on top of the head instead of the middle, it actually causes a lot less restlessness, similar to the way that you describe about radiating from one or two meters away from that. Yeah, yeah. If that works for you, then you should continue doing that. I would say, generally, don't put too much importance or emphasis on the - Do I need to do it from the middle of my head?

Do I need to do it from here, there, wherever it is? If there is radiating happening and there's no tension present, you're good to go, filling up, whether or not, any of the brahmaviharas. Yeah, you should definitely have contentment, which is to say that you allow the mind to observe in the present moment every brahmavihara that is present, right? And you're content. You're not looking to do something with it, because then that's what causes the agitation, that's what causes the craving and restlessness and so on. But if you're in the present, meaning just watching it happen, just having the awareness of it happening, then you are naturally content because you're naturally just being aware.

Thank you. Just one simple question. After this Rupa is over, time is over. We'll speak next time. Can you allow me? Go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah, go ahead. The problem started in our literature: this particular dream state, deep sleep state and other things, they brought into the picture unnecessarily without having the idea of tranquil arupa jhanas, what we are discussing.

This is actually the crux of the problem in the Upanishads. All these words came unnecessarily, only that was there, not experiencing properly, just explaining with the help of their own mind. Thank you. That's right. Yeah, basically that's a good way of looking at it. There is the understanding that there is this all-pervading, ever-existent consciousness which is present in the waking state, in the dreaming sleep state, as well as in the deep sleep state, and it's all-pervading. Yeah, deep sleep as well. So they have different words for it in the Upanishads, and in that process, because of that absorption, that kind of concentration, it caused that mind, when it was seeing it, to understand it in that way: that the awareness is present at all times. But if you go deeper, in the sense of not becoming more absorbed but opening up your awareness, then you see that this consciousness arises and passes away dependent upon each moment of an experience.

Each atom or iota of an experience, meaning there is a consciousness dependent upon the experience of infinite space. There's a consciousness dependent upon the experience of infinite consciousness itself, where you see the arising and passing away. And same with nothingness: there's a perception, there's a consciousness and feeling dependent upon that experience. So when you see it in this way, instead of absorbing the mind in that feeling of, let's say, infinite space, because what happens, and what has happened because of seeing it in the Upanishads, is that I am always existing in all space and in all time, and this experience of aham brahmasmi, as you said, arises from that. So that arose and is dependent upon a mental experience. Still, if anything is still dependent upon a mental experience, it is then considered to be conditioned. It's still not the unconditioned at that point.

Thank you. Thank you very much. You're welcome. I think we can share some merit now. 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 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.