MN 9 Right View - Majjhima Series with Delson Armstrong

Here we go. We will share. All right. So this I consider to be one of the most comprehensive suttas that there is. There are no favorites as such when it comes to suttas, if you ask me. But there is the Bahiya Sutta, which is one of the very profound suttas that I've read and seen a lot of great benefit from.

But this one is an interesting one because it's, as it suggests, Sammaditthi Sutta, right view. And it refers to really the super mundane right view truths. And this is the sutta that is jam-packed with a lot of Dhamma. It's with dependent origination, with the Four Noble Truths, with the Eightfold Path, and so on and so forth. So it's going to be kind of a long one, and I'm going to try to encapsulate it as much as I can in a way that's digestible. This is the sutta that I first did when I was at Dhammasukha.

So back in 2021, it was, I think, November of 2021, I came to visit Bhante for the first time at Dhammasukha. And he was doing one of his last retreats of that year. And I was shadowing him just to see how he does the interview processes and discussing Dhamma with him. And we had a really good time. And then at one point after the interviews were over and we were walking down the steps from the SEMA, he looked at me and he said, okay, tonight you're going to be doing the talk and you're going to be talking about dependent origination.

And I said, okay, let's do that. And so that evening was my first sort of debut talk, which was on Sammaditthi Sutta. And it's definitely one of the highlights of my life in terms of teaching, but also in terms of practice. So let's get into it. The bhikkhus thus friends because friend they replied. The Venerable Sariputta said this: "One of right view is said, friends. In what way is a noble disciple one of right view, whose view is straight, who has unwavering confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma?" So here when he says one of right view

So we have to understand when we talk about right view, there are two kinds of right view. There's the mundane right view and the super mundane right view. And the mundane right view is something that anyone can come to because it's talking about action and consequence. It's talking about that there's meaning in giving. There's meaning in what is offered. There's meaning in what is sacrificed.

That there is mother and father. That there is this world and the other. And that there are teachers and guides who have learned and experienced the Dhamma for themselves who can show the path. So this is the mundane right view. But here we're talking about a noble disciple, which means somebody who has entered the stream at the very least. And so for someone like that, their view is straight. They have unwavering confidence in the Dhamma. And they've arrived at the true Dhamma, and that is really the Four Noble Truths. The supramundane right view is a view in regards to the understanding of suffering. It is the view of understanding how to let go of the causes and conditions of suffering, namely craving; it is to understand how to experience the cessation of suffering, which is nibbana, or Nirodha, or Dukkha Nirodha; and understanding how to cultivate the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering.

And that is the Eightfold Path. So now, you need to understand one thing about this, is that the Four Noble Truths, they are there as the encapsulation of the entire Dhamma. But they are also a diagnostic tool, in the sense that you can use the template of the Four Noble Truths to understand any component of life. And in this case, we will see any aspect of dependent origination.

Because in reality, the first two noble truths, you can say, are the encapsulation of dependent origination. And that dependent origination is the elaboration of the first two noble truths. Whereas noble truth number three and four are the encapsulation of the transcendental of dependent origination, and vice versa, where the transcendental links of dependent origination are the elaboration of how to experience nibbana and walk the path that leads to nibbana. Indeed, friend, we would come from far away to learn from the Venerable Sariputta the meaning of this statement.

It would be good if the Venerable Sariputta would explain the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from him, the bhikkhus will remember it. Then, friends, listen and attend closely to what I shall say. Yes, friend, the bhikkhus replied. The Venerable Sariputta said this. When, friends, a noble disciple understands the unwholesome and the root of the unwholesome, the wholesome and the root of the wholesome, in that way he is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has unwavering confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma. This is called the unwholesome.

So here, what the Buddha is talking about is essentially the three unwholesome bodily actions: killing living beings, taking what is not given, misconduct, and sensual pleasures. That's three unwholesome bodily deeds. False speech, malicious speech, harsh speech, gossip. These are the four verbal unwholesome actions. Covetousness, ill will, and wrong view are the three mental unwholesome actions. So altogether, they form the ten akusala, or the ten unwholesome and ten unskillful activities or actions.

And what is the root of the unwholesome? Greed is a root of the unwholesome. Hate is a root of the unwholesome. Delusion is a root of the unwholesome. Greed, hate, and delusion, these are what's known as the roots. They are what fetter the formations. Greed, hatred, and delusion is what is at the core of the spinning of the wheel of samsara. Greed in this case is that initial intention to want to acquire something and get obsessed by it. I don't like this and the desire to push it away or to attack it.

And delusion is the misperception of reality as it is by taking what is impermanent as permanent, what is suffering as happiness, and what is not self as self. And what is the wholesome? Abstention from killing living beings is wholesome. This is called the wholesome, of keeping the precepts, essentially, and also not indulging in harsh speech, malicious speech, not indulging in speech that is divisive, speech that is gossip, right? Uncovetousness here means to have contentment, nekkhama, as one of the right intentions, non-ill will as another aspect of right intention, and right view, right? Subscribing to the mundane right view, and ultimately that leading to the establishing of the super mundane right view.

And what is the root of the wholesome? Non-greed is a root of the wholesome. Non-hate is a root of the wholesome. Non-delusion is a root of the wholesome. This is called the root of the wholesome. So this is pretty self-explanatory: to be rid of these akusala roots, and there are kusala roots, right? There are these roots that lead to the cessation of suffering. They don't lead to further elaboration and cycling of karma that leads to further suffering. These roots take you away from suffering and ultimately lead to the cessation of bhava, bhavanirodha, that's nibbana. Dukkha Nirodha, that's nibbana. Tanha Nirodha, that's nibbana.

This will lead to the abandoning of lust, abolishing aversion, extirpating the view and conceit I am, right? One abandons ignorance. One has total mindfulness. Ignorance, practically speaking, is lack of mindfulness of the Four Noble Truths in every moment. And what does that mean when we say lack of mindfulness of the Four Noble Truths in every moment? Does it mean that we always have to be aware, okay, this is the first noble truth, this is the second noble truth, this is the third, this is the fourth? No.

It just means that you see everything as arising due to a series of causes and conditions and thereby understanding the impermanence of experience, all experience, and the emptiness of self in regard to all experience. This is how one is able to be aware and mindful of the Four Noble Truths in every moment. This is how one sees reality as it is. And this is how one makes an end of suffering here and now.

When a noble disciple understands nutriment, the origin of nutriment, the cessation of nutriment, and the way leading to the cessation of nutriment, what does that mean? The Four Noble Truths. In that way, he is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. And what is nutriment? What is the origin of nutriment? What is the cessation of nutriment? What is the way leading to the cessation of nutriment? There are four kinds of nutriment for the maintenance of beings that have already come to being and for the support of those about to come to be. So for the beings that are already here and for the beings that are about to be born. What for?

body, gross or subtle. Contact as the second, that is to support feeling, perception, and volition. Mental volition as the third, that is to support consciousness. And consciousness as the fourth, that is to support name and form. With the arising of craving, there is the arising of nutriment. With the cessation of craving, there is the cessation of nutriment. is just this noble eightfold path. That is right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration or collectedness. Let's understand this for a moment. What the Buddha is saying is that the arising of craving is the arising of nutriment. Why is that? Because it is craving. It is the mind that has regret about something or remorse for something or the desire to possess something in its final moments that leads to the arising of a new consciousness, which is known as the rebirth-linking consciousness, the patisandhi consciousness, or what's also known as the gandabba.

And this then gives rise to the name and form in the next life. So that's also nutriment. That name and form can give rise to context, which can then give rise to feeling, experience, and volition or intention. And of course, food. We crave for food and that arises some way or the other. But when we let go of craving, we let go of the identification with one or more of the five aggregates, then the nutriments start to cease. They start to subside.

And there is no more remaining leftovers of new being and new birth. And the way leading to that is what's known as the Eightfold Path, the Noble Eightfold Path. So right view, we've talked about, right intention, having contentment, having non-ill will, having non-cruelty. Right speech, we know what that is. Right action, we know what that is. Right livelihood is livelihood that doesn't cause harm for oneself or for another being. Right effort here is abandoning the unwholesome and generating the wholesome and staying with it. Mindfulness is being aware of what is arising as it comes up in relation to the mind. In other words, remembering to observe how mind's attention moves from one thing to the other.

Simply put, that is the awareness of what is arising here in this present moment. This leads the mind to be able to let go and experience right collectedness so that one can experience the jhanas. But the short form, let's say, for practical purposes, when we talk about the Eightfold Path, is to use something like right effort. Right effort is the heart of the Eightfold Path. It's through right effort that we can let go of wrong views, wrong intention, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong mindfulness, and wrong collectedness.

And we can generate the right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right mindfulness, and right collectedness. And so when we talk about the right effort here, for the understanding of all of us, we will just short form it as the Six R's henceforth. So the way leading to the cessation of nutriment is the Six R's. underlying tendency to greed. He abolishes the underlying tendency to aversion. He extirpates the underlying tendency to the view and conceit I am. And by abandoning ignorance and arousing true knowledge, he here and now makes an end of suffering.

Birth is suffering. Aging is suffering. Sickness is suffering. Death is suffering. Sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering. Not to obtain what one wants is suffering. affected by clinging our suffering. This is called suffering. So this is where we talk about the three categories of suffering. There's dukkha dukkha, that's the suffering of suffering. There's viparinama dukkha, the dukkha of change. And there is the sankhara dukkha, the essential suffering, the suffering that is inherent in existence. So when we talk about birth, why birth? It is a harrowing event for both mother and child and for everybody involved. It used to be in the time of the Buddha and sometimes it still isn't. Even despite having modern medicine and sciences, things can still go wrong.

So birth can be suffering. Aging, of course, is suffering. Our senses dull out. Our bones become more brittle. We may be more prone to infection. All kinds of things happen. Sickness is suffering, death is suffering. These are all dukkha dukkha. Sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and emotional despair, or emotional suffering, suffering of the heart, depression, anxiety, mental health challenges. All of these, when we are met with overwhelm, when we are met with situations that we don't know what to do with, and we just close down or we panic. And that all is suffering. So this is also part of dukkha dukkha. Not to obtain what one wants is suffering. This is the viparinama dukkha, right?

When we get on a flight, or we're on our way to the flight, and we realize that it's canceled when we get to the airport, that, it's not in our control. In short, the five aggregates affected by clinging are suffering. Here when we say the five aggregates affected by clinging, we're really referring to identification with the five aggregates, that is suffering. The five aggregates in and of themselves are impersonal, like every other form of suffering, really. But what the Buddha is pointing out is that when we identify as this form, feeling, perception, volition, or intention, or formations, and or consciousness, myself, then there's a liability for the mind to take that as personal, and therefore there can be suffering. There can be craving, clinging, becoming, birth, of renewed action, and therefore new karma and new suffering. So what is the origin of suffering? It is craving, which brings renewal of being, is accompanied by delight and lust, and delights in this and that. That is craving for sensual pleasures, craving for being, and craving for non-being.

These are three types of craving. This is called the origin of suffering. What is the craving for sensual pleasures? A craving where we identify with the sense bases and what we're experiencing through the physical sense bases. Oh, this is a wonderful smell. Where is it coming from? I want to own that and don't want it to stop. That is the craving. Craving for being.

I want to achieve a certain thing. I want to be at a certain place. I want to attain a certain jhana. Initially, that's chanda. But the obsession around it to such an extent that we get so obsessed by the process of how we're going to get there and the process of the outcome that it hinders our progress instead of allowing things to happen step by step. Of course, craving for non-being.

I don't like being in this place or I don't like being in that place or I don't like being in the situation that I'm in right now. One way of dealing with that is acceptance. This is what we have to accept in this moment. Of course, the worst form of craving for non-being is a craving for suicide, because the mind takes something very dearly as self and feels like everything else is so overwhelming and so aggravating that the only kind of solace one can experience is to let go of this life.

And that is misguided, because there's identity still in there. There's a process of this is me, mine, myself in there. And it leads to regret, very deep regret for the one who does it and for those that are left behind. In fact, it's very unfair to those who are left behind. This is called the origin of suffering.

And what is the cessation of suffering? There's a remainderless fading away and ceasing, the giving up, relinquishing, letting go, and rejecting of that same craving. So, dropping it, letting it go, right? When you let go, the mind experiences great relief. And that relief is the beginning of Nibbana. And what is the way leading to the cessation of suffering? It is just this Noble Eightfold Path, Six Arim. This is called the way leading to the cessation of suffering. the coercion of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the way leading to the cessation of suffering, the here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way, too, a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

And what is aging and death? What is the origin of aging and death? What is the cessation of aging and death? What is the way leading to the cessation of aging and death? The aging of beings in the various orders of beings. The old age, brokenness of teeth, grayness of hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of life, weakness of faculties. This is called aging. We just talked about this. The passing of beings out of the various orders of beings.

Away, dissolution, disappearance, dying, completion of time, dissolution of the aggregates, laying down of the body. This is called death. So this aging and this death are what is called aging and death. So when we talk about aging and death, jara marana, that's what it's known in Pali. These are the two things that caused many of the bodhisattvas, before they entered into the homeless life, to then become Buddhas. They are encountering it, and that shocks them, and that motivates them to find a way out of this jara marana. Of course, not even the Buddha escaped jara marana. He too experienced aging, and he too obviously experienced sickness and death.

So what did he escape? What was different? What ceased for him? Well, in terms of the metaphysics of the Dhamma, what we will understand is that what ceased was no longer this repetition of aging and death in new lifetimes. You have to experience it once in this life and then that's it. It's over. of aging and death. With the cessation of birth, there is the cessation of aging and death. The way leading to the cessation of aging and death is just this noble eightfold path. So here we'll talk about birth, but really when we say birth, let's understand it as, let's say, the macrocosm level. It's the birth of beings, right?

Birth will obviously ultimately lead to aging and death. I was listening earlier yesterday to a discourse by Osho, and he's talking about this. And he said, the moment you are born is the moment you die. Your death clock starts. And so every birthday that we have is also a reminder of our death day, but really it's just one year closer, one step closer to the grave, one step closer to the funeral pyre. Where there is birth, there is going to be death, and so on. That macrocosmic level, birth leads to death. Birth leads to aging and death. For some, birth leads to death. Some die very young, some die as soon as they're born. Sometimes that happens all the time in nature, with animals. A deer is giving birth to her baby and a crocodile is nearby and eats the baby, and that's the end of that life. That's suffering.

But then we'll also look at birth in a different way, at the microcosmic level, which is the birth of karma, the renewal of karma. We'll talk about that in a bit. If you think about it in that way, when we see the identification with the body, with the mind, with the aggregates, then we are letting go of anxieties around aging and death, and we come to acceptance of that.

Their coming to birth, precipitation in the womb, generation, manifestation of the aggregates, obtaining the basis for contact: this is called birth. With the arising of being, there is the arising of birth. With the cessation of being, there is the cessation of birth. The way leading to the cessation of birth is just this noble eightfold path. That is the 6R's. We'll see what we're talking about here. When we say birth at the macrocosmic level, it's the birth of this body, the birth of the sense basis, the birth of animals when they come into being, whether it's through eggs or through any other form of generation, any other form of birth. The Buddha talks about the four kinds of generation.

One is spontaneous generation, which happens primarily for the devas and the people that we don't see, the non-human entities, let's say. There's the birth through the womb, which pretty much most mammals experience, and if not all, I have to brush up on my biology skills, biology classes, but that's how I understand it. The birth through eggs, we see that with certain reptiles, certain fish, birds. And the birth through moisture, which is to say that the birth of the germs that come up and the bacteria that comes up and things like that, and that creates new life and so on. That happens through moisture.

At the microcosmic level, we're talking about the birth of karma. The birth of karma also arises because of being, which we'll see what that means. So we're getting into obviously the territory of dependent origination. And the way we should understand dependent origination is that it is like a river. And there are bends, and all kinds of things that are happening. There are eddies and whirlpools and all kinds of stuff happening underneath the river.

And each kind of whirlpool that happens is a certain link of dependent origination. But at the bend, that is to say, when there is the bending into a waterfall, that's the being. And that's the inclination towards a certain birth of action. As soon as you shoot, you fire the gun, you fire the arrow. As soon as you say the words, as soon as you think the thought, as soon as you slap someone, that cannot be reconciled. Called it has been done, so you can't six are the birth of action, but you can see the intention that comes behind it, by seeing it before it translates into physical action or verbal action or even mental action. Sometimes you'll see the mental action. You say, oh, I'm thinking ill will of this person. I can let go of that before it translates into me saying something I will regret

or doing something that I will regret. You can't climb the waterfall. You'll have to go with the flow and go down, but you can let go of the being that will lead to the birth of new action, and we'll see what that means. And so when a noble disciple has thus understood birth, the origin of birth, the cessation of birth, and the way leading to the cessation of birth, he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too, a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. Saying, good friend, the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sariputta's words. They asked him a further question: But friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma? There might be, friends. When, friends, a noble disciple understands being, the origin of being, the cessation of being, and the way leading to the cessation of being.

In that way he is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. And what is being? What is the origin of being? What is the cessation of being? What is the way leading to the cessation of being? There are these three kinds of being: sense sphere of being, fine material being, and immaterial being. With the arising of clinging, there is the arising of being. With the cessation of clinging, there is the cessation of being. The way leading to the cessation of being is just this noble eightfold path.

So when we talk about being or becoming, this comes from the word bhava. Bhava is existence. And so oftentimes we'll translate this as habitual tendencies. Again, on the macrocosmic level, we're talking about three types of beings, three types of existence. That happens here in the sensual realms, with us humans and animals and other things. There is the fine material being, that is to say the jhanas, and so we have the brahma lokas associated with those jhanas. And then the immaterial existence, which is the arupa jhanas or the formless states of mind or the formless brahma lokas.

So obviously on the microcosmic level we're talking about here, we are now existing in the sense basis. There's this world, and then there's the other world we access by going into jhanas. There's the world that we go into by accessing the formless attainments. So these states of mind contribute to the mind experiencing the strengthening of certain sankharas, certain mental formations, certain kinds of grooves in the mind that lead to further inclination in those states.

And so this is why it's understood that the most profound experience you may have may once again be relived at the time of your birth. And so if you've been somebody who experiences the first jhana constantly, then there's a tendency that your mind will continue onward to the loka associated, the world associated with that first jhana. Likewise, if somebody has been in the sensual realm and been violent, been full of hatred, then they're living a very hellish kind of life. Their psychological state is very hellish.

And so when they die, that could lead to that state of mind, to that state of existence. Or somebody has been very generous, developing the paramis. Somebody has been very equanimous and patient, loving and kind. Somebody has been grateful. They're more deva-like in nature. Or they're more generous, as somebody who's giving, and somebody who is always helpful to other beings. This leads to a more positive state of mind, positive state of existence in this life, and then obviously in the next life.

So this is the way to understand what we're talking about in terms of being. At the microcosmic level also, it's the habitual tendencies that lead to a certain action, when we are met with or made contact with certain situations, or a specific choice to act in a certain way. And this is arising due to the library of habitual emotional reactions or emotional tendencies or habitual tendencies.

And so if we are aware of those tendencies, as soon as we see what's happening, we can let go of it. In other words, we recognize, here's a tendency arising: I want to say this, where I'm always in the same situation. I say this and I know that it's not good for me, and I know it leads me into the same situations no matter where I go. It will lead me into the same set of circumstances, or a similar kind of situation, or a similar kind of relationship. So how do I let go of that? By becoming more aware of that tendency: the recognizing of it, the abandoning, the releasing and relaxing of it, the generation or the bringing up of a wholesome state of mind where I can be free of that tendency, and see with wisdom that if I act in this way it will be for my harm, but if I act in another way it will lead to the cessation of suffering for myself and possibly the other person. And so I choose to act in that way, and this is how, bit by bit, I recondition my tendencies.

until the unwholesome tendencies go away and there's only the wholesome, and bit by bit I let go of identifying those wholesome tendencies. There's no longer any pride or conceit around those wholesome tendencies. And so from there, I will experience the cessation of all tendencies ultimately and not have to experience further birth. So our tendencies lead to our karma, or the renewal of karmic circumstances.

And if we are aware of this, there's great power in this. This, taken into account, forget about everything else. If you understand this, this is the essence of the Dhamma: how do I let go of karmic tendencies that will lead to further suffering? Six hours, the recognition of that and making the right effort to go and incline the mind towards that which does not lead to further birth of karma, the birth of further suffering. So saying, "Good friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sariputta's words. Then they asked him a further question.

And what is clinging? What is the origin of clinging? What is the cessation of clinging? And what is the way leading to the cessation of clinging? There are these four kinds of clinging: clinging to sensual pleasures, clinging to views, clinging to rules and observances, and clinging to a doctrine of self. With the arising of craving, there is the arising of clinging. With the cessation of craving, there is the cessation of clinging. The way leading to the cessation of clinging is just this noble eightfold path. Or the six hours when a noble disciple has thus understood clinging, the origin of clinging, the cessation of clinging, and the way leading to the cessation of clinging, he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too, a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

So, when we say clinging, it's the reason or rationalizing of why we obsess over something, why we are angry about something, why we have aversion over something. If you think about it in these terms, when we think, "I don't like this person because they do so and so, and therefore I'm going to do this." Let's break that up. "I don't like this person." This is the aversion. "Because they do so and so." That is the association of the mind. That is the clinging. "Therefore, I will act like this." That is the tendency. And then there's the action of that.

So here, when we talk about clinging, clinging to sensual pleasures, clinging to views, clinging to rules and observances, and clinging to a doctrine of self, it's the associating with the physical sense basis. The associating of, "I always have to have an iPhone because everybody else has an iPhone. I always have to have the finest wines or foods because it's associated with wealth. Or I have to have the finest perfumes because of so-and-so, because it makes me feel good. It makes me feel comfortable, and I only want to possess the best, right?" So the identification with who I am as a person is dependent upon how I view myself, which leads to associating with certain kinds of sensual pleasures, which makes me want to acquire those sensual pleasures, and that's the clinging.

We live in a world now, I've said this before, where the greatest currency that we have in existence is attention. We live in a world now with social media, with phones, with TikTok, with who knows what's going to happen later, with AI and super AI and all that other stuff, where the powers that be feed off of our attention.

They make money off of our attention. And so they will do everything to make things appear very colorful, very bright, very luxurious, very comforting. Even the mind: if you don't do this, you're not worthy of that. That kind of marketing, that kind of symbolism and subliminal messaging that happens, peace of mind. Remember this: if you just remember that I have currency that they want, which is my attention, and I can choose how I want to spend my attention, there's great, great power in that, to decide how you want to choose to spend your attention.

Either outward, to appear a certain way, to possess certain things, to cling to certain identities, or to go inward into the mind and observe carefully how the mind arises and passes away and ultimately leads to the cessation of suffering and great freedom. Likewise, we're clinging to views. In the time of the Buddha, we had many different kinds of views: views related with nihilism, views related with eternalism, views related with skepticism, views related with all kinds of things.

And so the Buddha refers to clinging to those views that are wrong views, views that don't lead to the cessation of suffering. But also there's a clinging to our opinions. Opinions are not our own. Our opinions arise due to our upbringing, through inheriting them from our parents, from our teachers, from our peers, from our students, from the world around us. We watch a certain news network and now we are in this particular alignment with this particular party.

And so those are the bad guys and we're the good guys. We have certain opinions about certain people because of what is shown to us. Again, they're sucking away our currency of attention. Clinging to our opinions, clinging to the Dhamma, the view of the Dhamma. People will say all kinds of things about this, about, you know, what we do in our practice.

But we are not there to be crusaders. We are not there to be evangelists of the Dhamma. We're here to get off of the wheel of samsara, for goodness' sake. Let's focus on that. Everything else will take care of itself. The clinging to rules and observances. Here we're really referring to the clinging to rites and rituals. The idea that if I just pray to this deity, or if I just do this animal sacrifice, if I just wear a certain amulet, then I will get this.

And that bypasses the understanding of the Dhamma with reference to karma. And this is the kind of clinging. And of course, clinging to the doctrine of a self, which is referring to the 20 kinds of self-view, clinging to an identity of the five aggregates: form, feeling, perception, formation and consciousness, with reference to the four types of self-view: that they are me, that the me or the self is in them, that they are in the self, or that the me that is there is separate from them. Many different ways of seeing this.

But the way we let go of this rationalizing of why we want something is to observe how our mind is doing that. If we can't let go of the aversion or the obsession about something, which is the craving, we can notice when the mind associates and says, "Oh, it's because of so and so. It is that I don't like this person," or "that I like this." If we let go of that and see that it is something that we have inherited from the outside, because of good marketing, because of our upbringing, because of associations, because of trauma of different kinds, of different things, that it is not me, not mine, not myself, we can disengage from it and let it go. We experience great peace in that moment. We're able to see it. Then we can see when the habitual tendencies arise and we're about to act in a certain way that leads to the further renewal of karma, and we can see those tendencies. Six are athletic, and we experience great peace of mind in that moment.

Saying, "Good friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sariputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma?" "There might be, friends. When a noble disciple understands craving, the origin of craving, the cessation of craving, and the way leading to the cessation of craving, in that way he is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma." And what is craving? What is the origin of craving? What is the cessation of craving? This Noble Eightfold Path.

So craving here is that tightness and tension we immediately experience when we say, "I want this and I want to own it, and I don't want it to stop." Or, "I don't like this and I want it to go away and I want it to stop." Or, "This is me and I'm holding on to it because it is me, and I won't let anything happen to it."

So here, of course, the Buddha is referring to the craving in association with experience, with vedana, with feeling. Any kind of experience is the experience of the sense basis or of the mind. And when we say with the cessation of feeling there's a cessation of craving, what we're saying is that with the cessation of identifying with feeling, there's a cessation of craving.

This identification with feeling means that as things arise in this moment, what does this do for me? And can I hold on to it because it's good or pleasant? Or what can I do to let this go because it's unpleasant? Or what can I do to hold on to it because I identify with it? I see it as mine.

But if you're able to experience everything fully without the sense of "I" arising, this is the instruction to Bahiya. In the seen, there's only the seen. In the heard, there's only the heard. In the sensed, there's only the sensed. In the cognized, there's only the cognized. When Bahiya, there is no you in that, no you after that, no you by that, right? Before that. There's no you that is shaped around that, that there's just the experience as it is.

And that is a cessation of suffering, because no craving can come from there. No clinging can come from there. No becoming can come from there. No birth of new action can come from there, and hence no new suffering can come from there. So how do we identify with the experience? Every time experience arises, there's always a sense of "this experience is mine." But if we can let go of that tightness and tension and just observe, right? Just be in pure awareness of the experience as experience, that this is pleasant, this is unpleasant, this is neutral, like pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral, that this is just experience, then there's nothing else for us to do there.

The mind can just experience great peace. So when you say the cessation of feeling in this context, the cessation of the underlying tendencies that lead towards craving, and namely, the cessation of the with the feeling as me, mine, or myself. What are the underlying tendencies? The underlying tendencies are the underlying tendency towards craving, towards aversion, towards ignorance, towards doubt, towards conceit, towards views, and towards existence.

And they arise when we look at the feeling and say, this is me, mine, or myself. When it's pleasant, we want more of it, so we have craving. When we're unsure of what's happening, we have doubt. When we want a certain kind of existence, we have bhava. When we identify and misperceive it as me, mine, myself, there's ignorance.

When we see it as painful and we don't want any more of it, that's the aversion, and so on. Or when we have opinions about the experience in a way that causes us to identify with a wrong view, or hold on to our opinions in such a way that causes us suffering. That's the underlying tendency to views.

Letting go of identifying with experiences of the sense bases and of thoughts in the mind. Just observe the thoughts as thoughts. They're just going down the stream. And there's just an observing of that, of mindfulness. Nothing else needs to be done. Saying, good friend, the Bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sariputta's words. And they asked him a further question. But friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma? There might be friends.

When friends, a noble disciple understands feeling, the origin of feeling, the cessation of feeling and the way leading to the cessation of feeling. In that way he is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. In what is feeling, what is the origin of feeling, what is the cessation of feeling, what is the way leading to the cessation of feeling.

There are these six classes of feeling. Feeling born of eye contact, born of ear contact, born of nose contact, born of contact, born of body contact and born of mind contact. With the arising of contact, there is the arising of feeling. With the cessation of contact, there is a cessation of feeling. The way leading to the cessation of feeling is just this noble eightfold path. When a noble disciple has thus understood feeling, the origin of feeling, the cessation of feeling and the way leading to the end of suffering, in that way too, a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. So let's take a look at this. When we say feeling born of these different contacts, we know experience as just feeling that arises based on the sense bases and the mind, and it arises due to contact. And what is contact? Contact is three things you need to have. When I'm looking at this computer screen, I need my eyes to function.

I need a functional eye. And there needs to be the screen. And the light bounces off the screen and hits my eyes. And there is an underlying eye consciousness that arises. And dependent on the contact of this, there is the eye consciousness. So these three constitute eye contact. E-Y-E, eye contact. Same with the ears. If you're saying something to me, or I'm saying something to you, if you have functional ears, then the sound is entering, the vibration is entering your ears, you're picking that up, there's an underlying ear consciousness, and the joining of those three is ear contact. The sound, the ear, and the ear consciousness.

This consciousness, the sense-based consciousnesses, this is attention. Very practically speaking, this is attention. So right now, if I was to say that stop paying attention to me and pay attention to what David might be saying, as an example, then what has happened is there is no longer the feeling, the vedana or the experience of my voice coming through.

Because your attention, which inclines contact in a different way, there's new contact that arises, new consciousness that arises. Because your attention now is going to the sound of David's voice, now there's new contact dependent upon the sound of David's voice hitting the ears and the underlying ear consciousness arising because of that. So feeling arises when we have a certain attention towards it.

It doesn't mean if I'm not seeing what's behind me that it doesn't exist. It just means that I'm not experiencing it because my attention is not there. When we meditate and we experience loving kindness, it's because we gather our attention and incline, intend our attention towards the feeling of loving kindness. And when a hindrance arises, that's another feeling because now our attention has gone there, refining and re-inclining the attention back to its object. When we understand this again, coming back to the currency of attention, then we realize what great power there is in where we put our attention.

And that depends on our intentions, and those intentions depend upon what our circumstances are and vice versa. Now we'll go to the next. Saying, good friend, the bhikkhu is delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sariputta's words. And they asked him a further question. But friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma? There might be friends. When friends, a noble disciple understands contact, the origin of contact, the cessation of contact and the way leading to the cessation of contact. In that way he is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. And what is contact, what is the origin of contact, what is the cessation of contact, what is the way leading to the cessation of contact? There are these six classes of contact.

Eye contact, ear contact, nose contact, tongue contact, body contact, mind contact. With the arising of the sixfold base, there's the arising of contact. With the cessation of the sixfold base, there's a cessation of contact. The way leading to the cessation of contact is just this noble eightfold path. When a noble disciple has thus understood contact, the origin of contact, and the way leading to the cessation of contact, he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too, a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. Now, we've talked about contact, right? Attention leads to a certain kind of contact. But in order for contact to fully arise, we need sense basis.

We need the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind. If that's not there, then no contact can arise. Everything else around can exist. But if there's no receptor, no receiving power of that, and no attention given to that receiving power, then no contact can arise. So when we say cessation of the sixfold base, here we're saying, again, the cessation of the attention to that particular sense base, that particular eye or ear or nose or tongue or body or mind. If you let go of the attention to that, then no contact can arise and no feeling can arise. Saying, good friend, the Bhikkhus delighted and rejoice in the Venerable Sariputta's words.

And what is the sixfold base? What is the origin of the sixfold base? What is the cessation of the sixfold base? What is the way leading to the cessation of the sixfold base? There are these six bases, the most famous He here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too, a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. When we talk about the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the body and the mind, it's dependent upon what's known as mentality materiality.

And we will talk about what that is. Essentially the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the body and everything, it depends on the nervous system. For it to function, it means nerves, functional nerves, for us to receive whatever it is that the experience is outside, so to speak. So the sense bases are our interface to deal with the matrix of samsara. When we don't have that, we can't really deal with it. You have a person who might be having nothing but they might still just have the mind. Something is still going on there. You may not be able to understand it, because most of us, if not all here, have all of our six sense bases intact. We're not sure how such a person who has just the mind available to them could function. You need something in order for the continuance of existence in this reality. And so when we say cessation of mentality and materiality, we're really referring to the cessation of the faculties of the mind and the shutting down.

We can say shutting down, but really it's the letting go and the release and the relaxing of the nervous system to such an extent that any kind of subjective awareness related to the sense base ceases. And this is what is called cessation of perception and feeling, as nirodha samapatti, where the faculties are clear, the sense bases are clear, they're functional, but no traffic is arising in them, because the mentality materiality, the faculties, are not contacting anything, and because no conscious subjective consciousness is arising to give rise to that faculty.

We'll discuss what these faculties are: the cessation of mentality-materiality. In that way, he is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. And what is mentality-materiality? What is the origin of mentality-materiality? What is the cessation of mentality-materiality? What is the way leading to the cessation of mentality-materiality? Feeling, perception, volition, contact, and attention. These are called mentality.

Here, there's the faculty of feeling. We can say these are aspects of the brain or the mind, because they're two different things, but in terms of the materiality, there are different functions of the brain that allow us to feel, to experience, to perceive, to collect information, to intend, to pay attention to, to make contact with. And then there are the four great elements and the material form derived from the four great elements. These are called materiality. So when we say the four great elements: earth, water, air, fire. Solidity of the body, liquidity of flow of the blood, air, the functioning of air, inhalation and exhalation, and the airs in the body, the winds in the body, and the heat, the temperature of the body.

They make up this body. They make up how we are in this body. This is materiality. This is form. And so when we talk about mentality and materiality, it's the nervous system that gives rise to the six-fold base. But it's also the five aggregates. Think of it this way. Here, the feeling faculty is related with the feeling aggregate. The perception faculty is related with the perception aggregate. The volition faculty is related with the formation aggregate.

And contact and attention is related with the consciousness aggregate, and materiality with the form aggregate. So this mentality and this materiality are what is called mentality-materiality. With the arising of consciousness, when there's subjective consciousness there, there is the arising of mentality-materiality. With the cessation of consciousness, there is the cessation of mentality-materiality. The way leading to the cessation of mentality-materiality is just this Eightfold Path, the Six R's. So does that mean that when consciousness ceases, that mentality materiality is no longer there?

No, it's that they are there. They are present. But the awareness of them, the functioning of them with relation to a subjective awareness has ceased temporarily through Nirodha Samapati. When a noble disciple has thus understood mentality materiality, of mentality materiality the cessation of mentality materiality and the way leading to the cessation of mentality materiality he here and now makes an end of suffering in that way too a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma saying good friend the Bhikkhu is delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sariputta's words and they asked him a further question but friend might there be another way in which a noble disciple one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

There might be friends. When friends, a noble disciple understands consciousness, the origin of consciousness, the cessation of consciousness, the way leading to the cessation of consciousness, in that way he is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. And what is consciousness? What is the origin of consciousness? What is the cessation of consciousness? What is the way leading to the cessation of consciousness? There are these six classes of consciousness. Eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, mind consciousness. With the arising of formations, there is the arising of consciousness. With the cessation of formations, there is the cessation of consciousness. The way leading to the cessation of consciousness is this eightfold path.

When a noble disciple has thus understood consciousness, the origin of consciousness, the cessation of consciousness, the way leading to the cessation of consciousness, he here and now makes an end of suffering. And that way too, a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. So here when we're talking about consciousness, we're talking about the attention given to the arising of the ears, the nose, the tongue, the body, the mind. So there's cognition. There's the knowing of what is happening. That is consciousness. And for that to arise, we need formations. Namely, we need mental formations. There are three types of formations, as we'll see. But mental formations allow the cognition to arise, and that cognition gives the knowing faculty of what is being felt and perceived.

When mental formations cease, as they will in Nirodha Samapati, then any subjective awareness and consciousness ceases as well. The way to do that is to Six R your way through it. Saying, good friend, the Bhikkhu is delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sariputta's words. Then they asked him a further question. But friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma? There might be friends. When a noble disciple understands formations, the origin of formations, the cessation of formations, and the way leading to the cessation of formations, in that way he is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. What are formations? What is the origin of formations? What is the cessation of formations? What is the way leading to the cessation of formations?

There are these three kinds of formations. The bodily formation, the verbal formation, the mental formation. With the arising of ignorance, there is the arising of formations. With the cessation of ignorance, there is the cessation of formations. The way leading to the cessation of formations is just this noble eightfold path. When a noble disciple has thus understood formations, the origin of formations, the cessation of formations, and the way leading to the cessation of formations, he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too, a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma. Formations, bodily formations, allow us to experience inhalation and exhalation, movement of the body, and so on.

Verbal formations allow us to think about what we are seeing and express verbally. Setting up a loving kindness and staying with that is verbal formation, even though there might not necessarily have to be "May I be happy, may I be well" and so on. Of course that is explicitly verbal formation, but the placing of the mind towards something, right, that is an intention that gives rise to verbal formations. And mental formations are the synapses, the neurons that fire in order for us to feel and perceive whatever is arising. And so these formations give rise to cognition. How does ignorance give rise to these formations?

It's the lack of mindfulness, that is ignorance, that leads to the formations that are fettered, what are known as abhisankharas, the intensified sankharas, fettered by the roots of greed, hatred, and delusion, that lead to cognition that is stained by the 16 Upakilesas, which leads to the experience that can give rise to an underlying tendency, that can give rise to identifying with the feeling, or vice versa, that can give rise to craving, which leads to clinging, which leads to becoming, which leads to birth of action, which leads to suffering.

They will just be formations that carry forward whatever karma that has already arisen in order for us to experience at the level of feeling. But what we choose to do with that, if we identify with it, it renews that karma through the ingredients of craving, clinging, and becoming, and birth of action. But if we are just seeing that in the seeing, there's only the seeing, in the hearing, there's only the heard, in the sensing, there's only the sensed, and in the cognizing, there's only the cognized, no new karma arises.

So whatever formations arise, they give rise to whatever the old karma that we have to experience as a result of karma from the past that we produced when we identified with something. Now we choose not to, now we see it for what it is, then those formations cease because we have mindfulness in that present moment. Saying, Friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma? There might be friends. When a noble disciple understands ignorance, the origin of ignorance, the cessation of ignorance, and the way leading to the cessation of ignorance, in that way he is one of right view and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

And what is ignorance? What is the origin of ignorance? What is the way leading to the cessation of ignorance? Not knowing about suffering, not knowing about the origin of suffering, not knowing about the cessation of suffering, not knowing about the way leading to the cessation of suffering. This is called ignorance. In other words, there is ignorance where we are never introduced to the noble truths, the four noble truths, and there's ignorance where we are unaware because of our identification of taking things personally, that we can't see things as they actually are. That is the ignorance of the four noble truths. With the arising of the taints, the asavas, there is the arising of ignorance, so ignorance also has an origin. We'll get into that. With the cessation of the taints, there is the cessation of ignorance.

So when we let go of the taints, when we see the taints, we see ignorance. And that just basically means becoming more mindful of what is arising right here, right now. And then the rest will follow suit. The way leading to the cessation of ignorance is just this noble eightfold path. So, we go into taints, saying, the Venerable Sariputta's words.

What is the way leading to the cessation of the taints? There are these three taints: the taint of sensual desire, the taint of being, and the taint of ignorance. With the arising of ignorance, there is the arising of the taints. With the cessation of ignorance, there is the cessation of the taints. The way leading to the cessation of the taints is just this noble eightfold path. So when we look at the taints, they're basically the corrupted software of the mind, right? They're the corruptions that corrupt the software of the mind. They're the viruses that create disease in the mind. The taint of sensual desire is the deepest layer of sensual desire.

That is to say that identification with the sense basis. It's the seed. It's even before the seed. The taint of being is that seed or before the seed, in which there is this push of wanting to be or become something or somebody. And here the taint of ignorance is the taint, the seed of where we are not mindful.

This is why their origin is ignorance. So these run around; they're interdependent. Ignorance and the three taints. When there's lack of mindfulness, the seed of sensual desire can arise. The seed of the desire for being can arise. The seed of not knowing and misperceiving reality as it is, in terms of the Four Noble Truths, can arise.

May suffering ones be suffering free and the fear struck fearless be. May the grieving shed all grief and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas of mighty power share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation. Thank you, everyone. I'll see you next week. Take care.