Talk 10 -Transcendental DO- Dependent Origination Conf. with Delson Armstrong-4K

Today we're going to talk about transcendental dependent origination. Let me give you an idea of what we're going to talk about today. First, we're going to do transcendental dependent origination. Then the next session we will be focusing on Nirodha and Nibbana. And then in the evening, there will be a Q&A to discuss these two topics. Yesterday we talked about karma and consciousness. We talked about clinging. And the day before we spoke about bhava. And the previous day to that we talked about dukkha and birth. So once you understand how this process works with dependent origination,

that's just the first two noble truths, suffering and how suffering arises. More importantly, you have to know the cessation of suffering and how do you get to the cessation of suffering. That is where transcendental dependent origination comes in. When we see transcendental dependent origination, it is really in the same way as the dependent origination that we know of right now. It is an elaboration of the first and second noble truths. Transcendental dependent origination is an elaboration of the third and fourth noble truths, because the path is intertwined in the links of transcendental dependent origination. All of the Dhamma, in terms of getting from suffering to the end of suffering, is within transcendental dependent origination. The seven enlightenment factors are there.

The five powers and the five faculties are in there. All of the 37 factors or requisites for awakening are present in the transcendental dependent origination, in the same way that the 37 requisites are present in the Eightfold Path. Indeed, the Eightfold Path also is present in transcendental dependent origination. So I will go, and we will go together, and explore each of these links and how they connect to the path and how they lead to the end of the path, which is essentially the destruction of the taints. So the sutta I'm using is Samyutta Nikaya 12.23. It's known as the Upanisa Sutta. And there are variations to this sutta also. It's available in some places in the Anguttara Nikaya.

It's available as Anguttara Nikaya 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, and in other places too. So, I will begin. While staying at Savati, the Blessed One said: "The destruction of the taints, monks, is for one who knows and sees, I say, not for one who does not know and does not see. Knowing what, seeing what, does the destruction of the taints occur? Such is form, such is the arising of form, such is the passing away of form. Such is feeling, such is the arising of feeling, such is the passing away of feeling. Such is perception, such is the arising of perception, such is the passing away of perception. Such are formations, such is the arising of formations, such is the passing away of formations.

Such is consciousness, such is the arising of consciousness, such is the passing away of consciousness." Does this sound familiar to you? This is what you do in the guided practice in the reflection of the five aggregates. For one who knows and sees this, monks, the destruction of the taints occurs. The knowledge of destruction with respect to destruction has a supporting condition. I say it does not lack a supporting condition. And what is the supporting condition for the knowledge of destruction? Liberation should be the reply. Vimutti. What is this liberation that we're talking about? I remember on the first day I said the whole problem with samsara is that we keep getting reborn in it. Rebirth is the issue here.

And so the liberation that we're talking about is liberation from that. Relief and release from having to keep coming back to samsara over and over and over again, and liberation in our minds from having to deal with the same kinds of situations in that one life, same kinds of relationships and people, over and over and over again. When your mind is liberated, your actions, your speech, everything is spontaneous. You behave according to the situation with the data set of the Eightfold Path, Right Effort, the Seven Enlightenment Factors, and the Faculties and Powers, and so on and so forth.

So when you get liberated, it's not like you are in a clean slate. You are in the sense that the slate before you is clean: no more new karma, but all of the things that you have now at your disposal allow you to live life in a way in accordance to what is required for every given present moment. You don't live in confusion and, more importantly, you don't die in confusion. You die the same way you live.

Liberated. Free. Happy. Elevated. Uplifted. Full of peace, joy and relief. The liberation of the mind can happen any moment, so long as you continue to develop the path and allow the proper causes and conditions to arise. Your job is to get out of its way. The only thing blocking the mind from full liberation is the sense of personal, permanent self.

It's so satisfying for the mind to hold on to it, that's why it doesn't want liberation. And the problem is, when you want a liberation, it is that you attach a sense of self to it. There's a difference between desire for liberation, that is chanda, wholesome inclination, and having aversion towards suffering. Aversion comes from identifying with the suffering, taking it personally, through ignorance, craving, and conceit. But the desire for liberation is essentially rooted from some kind of wisdom: the ability to know that this is wholesome and that is unwholesome. And the wisdom is what conditions the choice to incline towards the wholesome. So there's wisdom in every moment, so long as you are open to it.

So long as your mind remains tranquil and at peace, so long as your mind is uplifted, and that clarity is dependent on a few factors which we will talk about with the rest of the links of transcendental dependent origination. Otherwise, what's the point of retreats? What's the point of being here if it isn't for that liberation? If you're only here for tranquility of the mind, okay, that's fine. But you will still continue to suffer.

You should look for liberation and nothing else, and nothing less. It's non-negotiable. Liberation, monks, also has a supporting condition, I say. It does not lack a supporting condition. And what is the supporting condition for liberation? Dispassion should be the reply. Dispassion. Dispassion comes from the word viraga, or in Sanskrit it is known as vairagya. It means to be detached, or I should say non-attached. There's a difference. You detach because you realize the mind is attached to something. And then, more importantly, you keep that mind non-attached. Through dispassion and not clinging, his mind was liberated. You hear that so often in the suttas. So dispassion is non-clinging. Letting go of all of your stories, letting go of all of the different irrational rationalizations of why you think you're right, and why you think that you should have this and shouldn't have this, and so on and so forth.

The I, the me, the mine. It doesn't mean that you have to renounce everything, because that's just physical renunciation. Oftentimes, people will come up to me and say, should I become a monk? Should I become a monastic? And I'll say, that's up to you. But make sure that in the process of becoming a monk, you don't trade one identity with another. So physical renunciation is one thing. All well and good. No problem. What about mental renunciation? That's called nekhama in Pali. Nekhama, N-E-K-H-A-M-M-A. And nekhama is actually a factor of right intention. So right intention is threefold: renunciation, non-ill will, and non-cruelty.

So renunciation, what does that mean? Renunciation basically just means that same thing: this is not me, this is not mine, this is not myself. It's one thing to say that over and over in your mind as a mantra, and it's completely a different thing to actually do it. And how do you do it? By identifying every time the mind takes something personally and letting that go. And you will find that in that space of letting go, you have a taste of Nibbana. For those few micro-moments, you are in arahant. There's no conceit, no ignorance, no craving, nothing there. Find that space and just let the mind rest in it. And so dispassion is the ability to recognize that and remain undisturbed by it.

In the meditation, when you get to quiet mind, you have disenchantment and dispassion. And that dispassion is the ability for the mind to remain completely unaffected by whatever is arising in the form of various proto-thoughts, in the form of formations. What does dispassion feel like? What does it practically feel like in daily life? This dispassion doesn't mean that you become like an ascetic and you only eat certain types of food and only wear certain types of clothes and only do certain kinds of things. This dispassion means that the mind, in whatever is happening, remains collected, remains in the eye of the storm. You can try changing the way you speak, you can try changing the way you act, and all of these things.

And it's commendable, but that's surface level. What you have to change, what you have to transform, is the intentions in the mind. Everything begins with intention. Remember what we talked about yesterday with karma: everything starts with intention. If your intention is rooted in craving, in greed, hatred and delusion, it will lead to suffering. But if your intention is to just let go, allow things to be, then everything will work out fine. You have to be open to existence, allow things to happen, and the synchronicities and causes and conditions will come to be. And that is using intuition. This disenchantment leads to dispassion, which we'll talk about a little bit later or very shortly, but through dispassion the mind is liberated.

And has intuition. Intuition has been understood in so many different ways, but intuition is just being available to life without holding on to it. Being able to just see things as they are and allow causes and conditions to arise in the way they will, and having the ability of the mind to recognize those causes and conditions and make those connections. That's what a lot of people ask me: how is it that you're able to read all these suttas, or know the numbers of these suttas, or be able to make these connections? Because of intuition. It's not like there's an encyclopedia in here. It's like quantum entanglement. When this atom behaves this way, another atom behaves the same way.

So the mind just goes right to it. Just ask anything and it goes right to it, and the answer is there. And that arises because you remain open to life. You remain open to existence. You don't close yourself off. You don't shut down. You don't force things. You don't suppress. You remain relaxed, tranquil, collected, uplifted. It's the quiet mind which is the womb of intuition. The signless state that is the birthplace for intuition. The more you remain in that, the more efficient your mind becomes.

You don't have to think about it. You don't have to think about anything. You allow things to happen, allow things to unfold. But because your mind is open and because your mind is present, it will be able to know what is required exactly for that situation. And in doing that, in being available in that way, it produces no further karma. Dispassion, monks, also has a supporting condition, I say. It does not lack a supporting condition. And what is the supporting condition for dispassion? Disenchantment should be the reply. Disenchantment. When we are born, we become enchanted with this world. We become enchanted by exploring the world through our physical senses. What does enchantment mean? It means to be dreaming.

Dreaming, being under the spell of something. Being under the spell of what? The spell of our sixth sense basis. And who makes that spell? Who casts that spell? We ourselves, by identifying with the sense bases and identifying with the experience of the sense bases. We become enchanted by that. And so what is that enchantment? It's craving, it's aversion, it's clinging, it's becoming, leading us to make actions that cause us suffering. So what is disenchantment in that case? Giving you another example of what disenchantment is: if somebody makes you your favorite meal, you're very happy about it and you enjoy it, but they say, have another helping, and you're polite. You're a little stuffed. So you see, you're polite and say, yeah, I'll have another helping. But they're already preparing the third helping for you. And just by hearing that they're going to make another helping for you, what does your mind feel like, let alone your stomach? I think I'm okay for now. That's disenchantment. You've had enough of suffering, you've had enough of pain and pleasure and all of these things.

You've gone beyond being drugged by the senses. Bhante Poonaji would call it being awakened from the dream of existence. Awakening from the dream of existence. That's disenchantment. You're no longer pulled in the direction of the sense basis. You're no longer interested in all of that. Because you understand reality as it actually is. And that leads me to the next one. The next supporting condition. Disenchantment, monks, also has a supporting condition, I say. It does not lack a supporting condition. And what is the supporting condition for disenchantment? The knowledge and vision of things as they really are should be the reply. Yata Buddha Jnana Dasanam. Yata Buddha means reality as it is. Actually, if you want me to go a little more technical, Yata means that or there. And Buddha means element or property.

Jnana means knowledge. Dasanam means vision. To see, to know, and see things as they actually are. What is it that you are knowing and seeing things as they actually are? What is that? Yata Buddha, the property of whatever is there. What is that property? The three characteristics. But it's not just saying in your mind, oh, this is impermanent, this is suffering, this is not myself. That's not what it is. It's truly understanding that all things that are conditioned are not worth holding on to. And so another word for knowledge and vision of things as they actually are is equanimity. Equanimity comes from the word upekkha or upeksha in Sanskrit.

And upeksha is the opposite of apeksha. Apeksha means that the mind is agitated, confused. Apeksha means the mind is looking at two different choices and unable to know what's going on. It has other connotations as well, but essentially it's a mind that is agitated. So when you have true equanimity, the ability to see things as they are without letting your mind go in one direction or the other, and just staying here and now, being available and open to the here and now, that is seeing things as they actually are. It doesn't mean you're going to see particles in the air. It doesn't mean you're going to see the karmic streams. It doesn't mean you're going to see links a certain way.

It doesn't mean you're going to see lights a certain way and all of these other things. It can happen, sure. But remember, it's the knowledge and vision of things as they actually are, which means there is a shift in your perspective. That shift happens when you allow the mind to remain open, undirected, signless, and empty. The only way to do that is to understand impermanence, is to understand dukkha, and is to realize anatta. When you truly understand impermanence, there's nothing the mind holds on to, nothing, internally or externally. There is no this or that. There is no here or there. There is no going or coming or remaining in the between, or in between the two.

This is what we'll talk about when we talk about Nibbana, but that is what it is. The mind doesn't point in any direction, outside or inside, anywhere. The mind just dissolves. But where does it go? Do you ask where the fire went when it goes out? It's enough to know that the mind is liberated. It's enough to know that the mind is in disenchantment. It's enough to know that the mind is dispassionate. It's enough to know that the mind is dissolved. When you truly understand impermanence, the mind becomes signless. When you truly understand dukkha, the mind doesn't go anywhere. It's not in any direction. There's no directionality anymore. When you truly experience not-self, that mind is empty.

That's how you see things as they actually are, because that is the truth of existence. Empty, void of self, nothing worth holding on to. The knowledge and vision of things as they really are, monks, also has a supporting condition, I say. It does not lack a supporting condition. And what is the supporting condition for the knowledge and vision of things as they really are? Concentration should be the reply.

Collectedness, samadhi. What is samadhi? Sama means to be even, to be the same. Dhi is a contraction of buddhi. That is your mind. Even-mindedness. So going through the jhanas is not a process of creating an experience. Going through the jhanas is all about letting go. Each jhana is a level of cessation. And the more you let go, the deeper the mind becomes, the more collected the mind becomes. The more unscattered the attention is, the stronger the mindfulness is, the deeper the mind is able to penetrate the truth of existence. So when we talk about samadhi, what we're saying is samadhi is facilitated through an intention to let go. And what is it that you're letting go?

You're letting go of the mind's identification process. You're letting go of the mind which thinks that it knows what is happening. You see, when we engage in jhana, when we are in jhana, we're tricking the mind. We're basically keeping that part of the mind that thinks that it knows busy. We're giving a bone to the dog, saying, "Go do that." Because once that happens, then that mind becomes satisfied, content, at ease, collected. And then the real work begins of just not doing anything. Remember, don't try to do anything, just don't do anything. The trying mind, that's what it is, the trying mind. The mind that always needs something to do, because it's been trained through a process of intentional craving and conceit and so on.

Over the millennia, over the eons, over countless lifetimes: I have to do something. It must be done this way. So the jhana practice, the process of meditating, going into jhana, is just keeping that aspect of the mind busy and satisfied and content. And when that happens, the mind remains open to seeing things as they are. The jhana is just a facilitation process. It's a process of letting you experience reality as it actually is. That's it. So don't get attached to the jhana. Don't try to perfect the jhana. Let it be whatever it is. If you start to see that the mind is holding on to that jhana, holding on to that mind state, holding on to the factors and trying to create something or recreate something, because it was a great practice an hour ago and I had to recreate that same practice again.

Every meditation will be different, every meditation. But the key is to be open to that. Just let go of hindrances and everything else will take care of itself. Samadhi is not about concentrating, that's the word that's being used, concentration, but it really means a mind that remains unscattered, an attention that is unscattered, a mind that is settled. Bhante Poonaji used the word mental composure. I really like that word. Mental composure. So once that happens, then you see how things are, and that gives you disenchantment. You awaken from the dream of existence. You're dispassionate. You don't hold on to anything, and the mind becomes liberated.

Concentration, monks, also has a supporting condition, I say. It does not lack a supporting condition. And what is the supporting condition for concentration? Happiness should be the reply. Here happiness comes from the word sukkha. Sukkha, for those of you who've been to DSMC, it's not the fat cat. Sukkha: su, suku, wholesome, kha, stable, stability of mind, being able to be happy no matter the situation. Non-reactivity, just allowing things to be as they are. Sukkha is qualitatively like going into the hot tub and it's just the right temperature. It's perfect. I was in San Diego and I was staying at my friend Chetan's house. And wherever he's staying, it's interesting. Wherever I've been in San Diego, the places I've stayed, somehow they always have a swimming pool and a hot tub.

I don't know if it's a California thing or a Southern California thing. And so he said, you're invited to come and check out the hot tub, which I did. And I felt perfect sukkha. He had it at the right temperature. And we were out where there was literally very little, if at all, light pollution. So you saw the stars in the sky. Out in the night, perfect. That's sukkha. Everything is right with the world. Everything is okay. So that stability of mind, sukkha, poise, balance.

When you're happy, you don't know you're happy. But when you're sad, you can immediately recognize you're sad, because when everything is going right with the world, you don't really pay attention. It's only when something is wrong that your mind says, "Oh, something is wrong." Once in a while, when your life is going well, pay attention to that. Tune into that. That is sukha. Happiness, monks, also has a supporting condition, I say. It does not lack a supporting condition. And what is the supporting condition for happiness? Tranquility should be the reply.

Tranquility. Passaddhi. So now we're starting to get into the enlightenment factors here. Yathabhuta nanadassana. That's equanimity. That's the equanimity factor. Concentration, or samadhi. That's the collectedness factor. Then the sukha, which is dependent upon tranquility. That is passaddhi. That's the tranquility factor. So what is tranquility? To relax. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't know how to relax, or they find ways to relax that are not sustainable. What does it mean to relax? It means to let go. To abandon. What are you abandoning? To soften. Softening what? Softening the edges, the hard edges of your mind.

Those hard edges that are craving, and conceit, and ignorance. To let go of the need to be right. To let go of all kinds of attachments. Again, that doesn't mean you have to give away all your stuff. You can, if you want to. It's fine, but you'll still have attachment to those things. Attachment is in the mind, not related to the stuff. How do you know if there's attachment? Take away the stuff and see how your mind reacts. It's clinging. This is the attachment here. This is letting go.

Relaxation. How does it feel in the mind? Attachment and clinging and holding on to things can give you pain, tightness, and tension. It can give you a headache. But letting go, relaxing, softening, you feel that immediate space in the mind, spaciousness. Right there, there's this sense of a clear crystal blue sky. That's tranquility. When you let go, you experience relief. That's tranquility. From that relief, you smile. That is sukha and joy. From that sukha and tranquility, your mind becomes collected. That's samadhi. And then you will remain aware. You remain present to things as they actually are. That's equanimity. And then you become disenchanted and dispassionate. And your mind is liberated. Tranquility, monks, also has a supporting condition, I say.

It does not lack a supporting condition. And what is the supporting condition for tranquility? Rapture should be the reply. Rapture here is translated from the word piti. Piti. Joy. This joy is not dependent upon the physical. It is a mental joy. It is a factor of the first and second jhana, for example. This joy that arises, it arises due to relief, release from the hindrances. When you 6R, your mind automatically activates all of the enlightenment factors. Here is yet another factor that we have. we had yatabhata nyanadasana which is equanimity we had concentration or samadhi which is

So that joy is just this wonderful sense of being uplifted. It can be experienced in different ways. Some people experience it as warmth in the hands, warmth in the chest, warmth all around the body. Yeah, sure, that can be joy. Some people feel like they have butterflies in their stomach. Some people feel like, actually, we went to Six Flags a few weeks ago, and when you go up that roller coaster, just about at the precipice, some people feel anxiety. But what I was feeling was joy, butterflies in my stomach. You should see the photos of me and David on the roller coaster.

We're the only ones who are smiling and happy while everybody else is freaking out. That joy, that joy that you feel, and how does that come up? Just because you've let go. And if you just put your attention on it, just keep your attention there. Don't do anything. Just rest in that. Let the mind rest in that. That joy automatically flutters up. That's it. There are some people here who have a lot of joy. Too much joy, in fact.

Yeah. I'll introduce you to them. So you see, you have to be able to balance as well. You have to be able to allow the enlightenment factors to come into play in such a way that they start to just balance themselves out. You have too much joy. What do you do? Bring a little bit of tranquility. Step back a little bit. Relax. If the tranquility is too much, you might not have enough concentration. You might not have enough collectedness. So what do you do? Bring a little bit of joy, bring a little bit of energy. And that we'll talk about in a little bit. So now we have which factors? We have equanimity present, we have collectedness present, we have tranquility present, and we have joy present.

Rapture, monks, also has a supporting condition, I say. It does not lack a supporting condition. And what is the supporting condition for rapture? Joy, in this case, pamojja, should be the reply. Pamojja. Pamojja comes from the word pramoda in Sanskrit. Pamojja in Pali, pramoda in Sanskrit. And that joy is the joy of the Dhamma. When you listen to a talk, when you read a sutta, when you chant, you feel good. You feel glad. That's what it is, gladness. Gladness because of the Dhamma. Not because of any other physical sensation. That gladness is because you are truly enjoying the Dhamma. And the only way you can truly enjoy something is to be absolutely present with it. Completely there with it.

So this pamojja also arises due to the fact that you keep your precepts. And so in other variations of transcendental dependent origination, like when you read in 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 in the Anguttara Nikaya, it talks about virtue. Virtue means to keep your precepts. And that virtue leads to non-regret. Non-regret, being blameless. When you are blameless, you have nothing to worry about. As soon as you tell a lie, what happens? Your mind says, "I shouldn't have done that."

And your mind tries to either cover up that lie with more lies. And when it does that, there's a whole story you have to be aware of, so that the next time you talk to that person, you don't slip up. It's all kinds of mental agitation. And when you have that kind of guilt, that kind of regret, that leads to suffering in the end. So pamojja only arises when you have no regrets. And being blameless and not having any regrets means to keep the precepts. Having total sila, perfect sila. There are those in the world that we see who are truthful and honest, and they don't cheat, but they commit sexual misconduct. There are those who are celibate, and truthful, and honest, but they kill, they harm.

There are those who don't kill, don't harm, are truthful, are celibate, or they're faithful, let's say, but they steal, they take what is not given. And then there are those that don't harm, don't kill, don't steal, are faithful, don't indulge in sensual misconduct, and don't lie, but they drink. To have absolute moral perfection: difficult but possible. And when you can do that, you will have no regrets, and when you have no regrets, your mind remains uplifted, and your mind enjoys the Dhamma, celebrates the Dhamma, looks forward to the Dhamma. That's why you all are here, I hope so, because you see the value in the Dhamma. You understand the value in peace of mind. I recently did an interview, well, about money and things like that, but what I explained was the ultimate wealth. That's how they market it: "Delson tells all, it's the ultimate wealth." So what is that ultimate wealth? What is the secret to the ultimate wealth? Peace of mind. That's the ultimate wealth. Peace of mind.

That's what everybody is after. They're just taking extra steps for it. "If I only had a million dollars in my bank account, yeah, if I only had that mansion, if I only had that Ferrari, if I only had that relationship, if I only had that career, I would be happy. If only I would have enlightenment, I would be happy. If only..." That's probably true, well, yeah. If only, that's the agitation that arises. But if you just let that go, if you just relax, you'll be at peace. There are variations to this story, but I'll see if I remember the story correctly. This is a story about a fisherman. Aside from the fact that he fishes, which is kind of breaking a precept.

Let's just ignore that for a moment. But you have a fisherman in the village, and he sells some fish in the market. He has a large amount of fish that he gathers one day, and he goes to the market and sells the fish. In the village there's this person, this corporate guy, who comes in, and he looks at all that fish and says, "Wow, you have a lot of fish there. What if you could grow your business? I can show you what to do. I can hire some more boats for you. I can hire some more fishermen for you, and you would manage them, and everything will be great." And then he asks, "And then what?" "Oh, and then we will grow it into a company, and we'll make millions of dollars." "And then what?" "And then we'll go to the stock market and make it a public company, and you'll have a billion dollars." "And then what?" "And then you can retire and go on the beach and relax."

And the man says, "But I'm already doing that." So the ability to just be content here and now with whatever is going on, that's also gladness. Gladness, monks, also has a supporting condition, I say. It does not lack a supporting condition. And what is the supporting condition for gladness? Faith should be the reply. Faith. Saddha. S-A-D-D-H-A. Saddha. In Sanskrit, that's Shraddha. And this can be understood in different ways. Faith can mean the ability to have complete devotion to the Dhamma. Be very devoted to the Dhamma. It doesn't mean that you have to chant and you have to do ceremonies and rites and rituals and all these other things. It means to listen closely to the Dhamma.

Pay attention and listen closely to the Dhamma, and have the faith that it will take you to where you need to go, which is Nibbana. The ability to just listen with an open mind, when the Buddha says, see for yourself. It is open for experiencing it for yourself. Try it out. On one level, it means to have an open mind, a mind that is willing to try what is going on here. But after you do that, what is that faith? That faith is basically discerning what is wholesome and unwholesome. That faith is rooted in right view. What does it mean to discern between the wholesome and the unwholesome?

It means to investigate. That is, investigation of states. And committing to the precepts is the energy that's required. So now we have the other enlightenment factors. From faith, there arises investigation of states and the energy to keep the precepts, which results in gladness, which results in piti. Piti then gives rise to tranquility and collectedness and equanimity. But all of these are dependent upon one foundation, and that is mindfulness.

People can come up here and tell you about what the Dhamma is, go into the intricacies of the Dhamma, go into the intricacies of karma, tell you what Nibbana is like, tell you what meditation practice is like. But if you don't actually do it, what's the point? And the first step is to watch your mind, mindfulness. Mindfulness consciousness comes from the word sati.

Sati means to remember, to recollect, to remember to observe how mind's attention moves from one object to the other. That is sati. So listening to the Dhamma, reading the suttas, coming to the Dhamma with faith, the inclination to actually take the steps that are being told to you, is faith born from saddha. There is that level of faith, which is conviction, experiential conviction, because you have actually walked the path that leads you to seeing for yourself that indeed this is the path to Nibbana, available over there

somewhere. Now there's no doubts about it. Now it's like, yeah, this is how you attain Nibbana. No more doubts in the Buddha, no more doubts in the Dhamma, no more doubts in the Sangha. In the Parinibbana Sutta, or Mahaparinibbana Sutta, there is a section called the Mirror of the Dhamma. And in it, Ananda asks the Buddha, when you are gone, how are we to know if somebody has entered the stream? How are we to know if somebody has entered the path? And the Buddha says, Ananda, when somebody has total conviction in the Buddha, in the Tathagata, in the Dhamma, and in the Sangha, then you know that they have walked the path, or they are entering the path.

And that can only happen not because somebody tells you to have faith, not because somebody tells you you need to believe, but because you have to try it out for yourself, and only then have confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, only then have that total conviction. So that is the ultimate faith. After you have attained stream entry, you have no more doubts that this is the path. You have no more doubts that the Buddha actually did it. You'll have no more doubts in the Sangha. You'll let go of all doubts. Faith, monks, also has a supporting condition, I say. It does not lack a supporting condition. What is the supporting condition for faith?

Suffering, dukkha. Otherwise, why would you do this? Sometimes people will say, I still feel attached to this. I still feel like I don't know how to let go of this, and things like that. My answer to it is, because you haven't suffered enough, you haven't understood for yourself the consequences of this enough to be able to be disenchanted with that and say, that's enough, I'm tired of this, there has to be a way out. So the Buddha has talked about this. He says that suffering leads in two directions.

Suffering can lead to further confusion and thus further suffering, or suffering can lead to a journey where the person asks, who knows the way out of suffering? What is the way out of suffering? YouTube is the way out of suffering? Thank you, definitely not Google. I mean, now in our modern world, that's how I came to this path. I had been meditating and exploring different kinds of meditation: kundalini practice, kriya practice, all kinds of practices. And I went back to the Yoga Sutras. I was basically mastering all of the different techniques that were mentioned in the Yoga Sutras. And I came to this one. And in that it said that the cultivation of the brahmaviharas leads to stability of consciousness.

And so I asked, how do you do that? And nobody actually was able to give me a proper technique, let's say. Proper steps on how to do that. There were some things out there where you have to say, may I be happy, may I be well, and you keep doing that, and all of these things, but that wasn't satisfying. So I searched on YouTube for metta and brahmaviharas, and lo and behold, Bhante Vimalaramsi shows up. I listen to what he's saying. Initially I can't make sense of what he's saying, because it's all kind of new language to me. But then I keep listening to him. Well, there was that one YouTube video that he had, or he has now, on the channel still, which is taking you through the jhanas. It's an audio recording, actually, and then he talks about relief, about Nibbana. I was like, that is it, that's what I want to know, how do you get there? So I had my share of suffering. Those of you who know me well, you'll know how much suffering I've had, and how that suffering has led to

me at the age of 16 to just leave and go to the Himalayas and find out a way out of this suffering. That's what I was motivated by. How do I get out of this suffering? There has to be a way out. I've done everything. I'm not interested in all this other stuff, not interested in a job, not interested in college, not interested in a career, basically a total loser and proud of it. And so my journey was, you know, looking at all of these different texts and looking through the Yoga Sutras, Vedanta, Yoga Vashistha, Yoga Yajnavalkya, Sankhya, all kinds of philosophies, going to Dzogchen, Mahamudra, Kriya Yoga, Kundalini, every kind of practice that I could get a hand on, and just do it, and just the dedication of doing that.

In that sense, I was one-pointed. I had only one goal, getting off of the wheel of samsara. I didn't even know what that meant, but I just knew that I had enough. So that suffering motivates you in two directions. Some people experience suffering, but when they do, they find ways of numbing that suffering. For some, it's food. For some, it's sex. For some, it's alcohol. For some, it's drugs. For some, it's codependent relationships. For some, it's wealth. The pursuit of wealth. Work, workaholics. They just distract themselves from that suffering. They push it away. I just do this and I'll be fine.

But guess what? That just leads you to more suffering. More and more suffering. And then the other path is to finally say, okay, I've had enough. Because all of those other pursuits, the pursuit of wealth, the pursuit of work, the pursuit of relationships, the pursuit of all kinds of indulgences, all of that is rooted in sensory experiences, in sensual craving. But then you go on a different journey. You start to look into the mind. How does the process of mind work? And now you start to get introduced to the jhanas, and understand how do you get into the jhanas? And then you make contact with an otherworldly joy, a joy that is not dependent upon the experience of the physical senses, and you realize, wow, this is available to me at all times, free of cost.

And so you start to do that. And you start to become less and less interested in the pursuit of sensual happiness. But it all starts with suffering. Some people just are plugged into the matrix. They're not suffering enough. That's okay with them. They're living out their lives and doing whatever it is that they're doing, and that can lead to anxiety, but that's just a part of the world for them. That can lead to depression, but that's just a part of the world for them. They think that's what the world is, that's it, this is all there is to it: eat, drink, be merry, numb out the suffering, eat, reproduce and survive. Same thing the animals are doing. What's the difference then? What's the point of this evolved self-awareness that humans are gifted with? It's wasteful. The pursuit of something

deeper beyond just the physical is open here for us. And being able to experience that, what a gift that is. The ability to experience jhana. Do you know how many people in the world right now are able to do that? Not enough. But it all starts with that. So suffering leads to faith, faith leads to gladness, gladness leads to joy, joy leads to happiness or sukha. Sukha leads to tranquility. Tranquility leads to collectedness. Collectedness leads to equanimity, or seeing things as they actually are.

Seeing things as they actually are leads to disenchantment, awakening from the dream of existence. Disenchantment leads to dispassion, no longer falling asleep. Through dispassion, the mind is liberated. When the mind is liberated, it knows that it is liberated. It knows what had to be done has been done. There is no more coming to being. The holy life has been lived. Birth is destroyed. And how does it know that? When it reflects on the five aggregates and realizes and sees for itself, the five aggregates are impermanent, dukkha, and not self. Such is form, such is its arising, such is its passing away. Such is feeling, such is its arising, such is its passing away. Such is perception, such is its arising, such is its passing away.

Such are formations, such are their arising, such are their passing away. Such is consciousness, such is its arising, such is its passing away. So in doing this process, in walking the path, going through jhana, and then inclining the mind, using that guided practice that we did the other day and adapting it for yourself, you start to penetrate in with just a present mind, which allows the insight to arise into the nature of each of the aggregates, and you start to let go of them. And as you start to let go of them, you experience the sinless, and you go deeper, and you just don't do anything, just rest, and then the mind ceases and is liberated.

Now this doesn't mean that it can happen in that way where the mind becomes fully liberated, although it can, but usually it happens through a series of cycles. You enter the stream. How do you enter the stream? Same thing. Faith, joy, or faith, gladness, joy, happiness, tranquility, collectedness, equanimity, dispassion, disenchantment, dispassion, liberation. Liberation from what? Liberation from the three fetters. Do it again. Then you attenuate sensual craving and aversion. Do it again. Then you destroy sensual craving and aversion. Do it again. Then you let go of conceit, restlessness, craving for jhana, craving for arupa states, and ignorance. That's the path. And interwoven in the path, it's not like you have to think about it. That was the Buddha's job.

That was the beautiful thing. The Buddha had this cerebral capacity through experience, through intuition, to be able to create an amazing interconnected, interdependent map of how this whole process works. The 37 requisites, which includes the Eightfold Path, the five powers, the five faculties, the seven enlightenment factors, the four bases for psychic powers, and so on and so forth. All of that he was able to just map out. And then within that, within the Eightfold Path, the different factors of each step in the Eightfold Path, all of that. Our job is not to try to memorise all of that. Our job is not to try to study all of that and become academics here.

Our work here is to be able to apply it, is to be able to just follow the steps. You can do it in whatever direction you want. You want to start with the Eightfold Path, start with the Eightfold Path. You want to start with the enlightenment factors and the cultivation of the enlightenment factors, start with that. You want to start with developing the faculties and the powers, start with that. You want to start with the basis for psychic powers, start with that. You want to start with the four foundations of mindfulness, start with that. But invariably, all of them are interconnected. If you do one thing, you're doing all of the others.

And it will take you to Nibbana. Suffering, monks, also has a supporting condition, I say. It does not lack a supporting condition. And what is the supporting condition for suffering? You guys are familiar with this. Birth should be the reply. We've spoken about this. Birth of action, the birth of karmic action, the birth of beings. And what is the supporting condition for birth? Existence or habitual tendencies. We went over this as well. What is that bhava? It's the accumulation of habitual tendencies that solidify into a fully cooked sense of self. What is the supporting condition for habitual tendencies? Clinging should be the reply. What is the clinging? We talked about that. The four kinds of clinging, the rationales that you have, the associations that you make, the attachments that you produce.

And what is the supporting condition for clinging? Everybody know? Craving. What is craving? It's the tightness and tension that is experienced as a result of the mind identifying with any kind of an experience. And what is the supporting condition for craving? Feeling. Feeling is vedana. Any kind of experience you're having here and now and tied to that is perception. Feeling and perception go together. Perception is the ability to label and recognise through learned memory what it is that you are experiencing.

And what is the supporting condition for feeling? Contact should be the reply. So, what is contact? It's the initial spark, the initial connection made between the sense base and the sense object and the arising of the corresponding sense consciousness. These three constitute contact. What is the supporting condition for contact? Six sense bases. What are the six sense bases? The eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind. What is the supporting condition for the six sense bases? Mentality, materiality. What is mentality? Mentality is mind, is name. What are the factors? Contact, feeling, perception, intention, attention.

What is materiality? The four great elements: earth, water, air, and fire. What is the supporting condition for mentality, materiality? Consciousness. What is consciousness? The bare cognition of whatever is arising. Consciousness, remember, can be understood in different ways. The patisandhi consciousness, which links from one life to the next. The arising and passing away of sensory-based consciousnesses, sense-based consciousnesses. What is the condition for consciousness?

Formations. Formations are threefold: mental formations, verbal formations, and bodily formations. And they are carriers of karma dependent upon intention or interdependent upon intention. Formations, monks, also have a supporting condition, I say. They do not lack a supporting condition. And what is the supporting condition for formations? Ignorance. Ignorance means lack of mindfulness. Ignorance means not understanding the four noble truths, not being able to fully understand suffering, not being able to fully abandon craving, not being able to fully realise the cessation of suffering, and not being able to fully perfect the cultivation of the Eightfold Path. Thus, monks, ignorance is the supporting condition for formations.

Formations are the supporting condition for consciousness. Consciousness is a supporting condition for mentality, materiality. Mentality, materiality is a supporting condition for the six sense bases. The six sense bases are a supporting condition for contact. Contact is a supporting condition for feeling. Feeling is the supporting condition for craving. Craving is a supporting condition for clinging. Clinging is a supporting condition for existence or habitual tendencies. Habitual tendencies are the supporting condition for birth. Birth is a supporting condition for suffering. Suffering. Let's see if you guys remember this now. Suffering is a supporting condition for faith. Faith is a supporting condition for gladness. Gladness is a supporting condition for joy. Joy is a supporting condition for tranquility, and then happiness, or vice versa. All right. Tranquility is a supporting condition for collectedness. Collectedness is a supporting condition for

knowledge and vision of things as they really are, or equanimity. That is a supporting condition for disenchantment. Disenchantment is a supporting condition for dispassion. Dispassion is a supporting condition for liberation. And liberation is a supporting condition for the knowledge of the destruction of the taints. Just as, monks, when rain descends heavily upon some mountaintop, the water flows down along the slope and fills the clefts, gullies and creeks; and these, being filled up, fill the pools; these, being filled up, fill up the ponds; these, being filled up, fill up the streams; these, being filled up, fill up the rivers; and the rivers, being filled up, fill up the great ocean. In other words, once you start one thing, it automatically starts the rest in that chain, whether it's dependent origination or transcendental dependent origination.

In the same way, monks, ignorance is the supporting condition for. Formations are the supporting condition for. Consciousness is the supporting condition for. Mentality, materiality is the supporting condition for. Six sense bases are the condition for. Contact is the condition for. Feeling is the condition for. Craving is a condition for. Clinging is a condition for. That is a condition for. Birth is a condition for. Suffering is a condition for. Faith is a condition for. Gladness is a condition for. Joy is a condition for. Sukha is a condition for. Tranquility. Tranquility is a condition for?

Collectedness. Collectedness is a condition for? Equanimity. Equanimity is a condition for? Disenchantment is a condition for? Dispassion is a condition for? Liberation is a condition for the knowledge of the destruction of the taints. Yeah, that's the end. Yeah, I had to just make sure. Is that the end there? Thus ends the talk. Let's share some merit. 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.