July 27 AN 3.65 Kalama Sutta Sunday Sutta Series-Delson Armstrong

all right here we go okay so this is angudara nikaya 3.65 it's called kesaputhiya sutta on one occasion on tour among the postal is together with some of monk when even with a large son kalamas named kesaputta the kalamas kalamas of kesaputta heard it is said that the ascetic gotama the son of the sakyans who went forth from a sakyan family has arrived at kesaputta now a good report about the master gotama has circulated thus that blessed one is an arahat perfectly enlightened and reveals a spiritual life that is perfectly complete and pure now it is good to see such arahats then the kalamas of kesaputta approached the blessed one some paid homage to the blessed one and sat down to one side some kept silent and sat down to one side

they said to the blessed one bante there are some ascetics and brahmins who come to case of case of purta they explain and elucidate their own doctrines but disparage denigrate deride and denounce the doctrines of others but then some other ascetics and brahmins come to kesaputta and they too explain and elucidate their own doctrines but disparage denigrate deride and denounce the doctrine of others we are perplexed and in doubt monte as to which of these good ascetics speaks true and which speaks falsehood fit for you to be perplexed column fitting for you to be in doubt doubt has arisen in you about a perplexing matter come columnus do not go by oral tradition by lineage of teaching by hearsay by a collection of scriptures by logical reasoning by inferential reasoning by reasoned cogitation by the acceptance of a view after pondering it by by the seeming contents of a speaker or because you think the ascetic is our guru but when kalamas you know for yourselves

This is a very important sutta, because it is talking about this understanding that we shouldn't take any doctrine as the truth. We shouldn't just accept it because some guru has some great marketing people behind him, or because you've heard that this particular person has some mystical powers, or that they come from this particular lineage which comes down from great gurus from the past, and so on, or even by just a process of reasoning and so on. It is about whether the teaching is leading to your benefit or not leading to your benefit. Are the thoughts, the words, the p... are they offering me any kind of benefit? Are they offering me the ability to be uplifted and experience wisdom for myself? Here the Buddha goes through this questionnaire. He says, "What do you think, Kalamas? When greed arises in a person, is it for his welfare or for his harm?"

Obviously for his harm. Because what do we mean by greed here when we're talking about greed? Now, here is the booster seat: greed is what's known as lobha, right? Lobha, in Sanskrit, lobha. It is a mind that is externalized towards wanting things. It's a very weak state of mind, a mind that feels like it is lacking something. It is scarce in what it has, and whenever you feel scarce about something, what do you do? You feel insecure. And when you are insecure, that gets projected as wanting more of what you're experiencing, because you don't feel fulfilled in yourself.

When you don't feel fulfilled in yourself, whatever you attract, you want more of; whatever you acquire, you want more of. So, as I was saying, greed: when somebody's mind is rooted in greed, they have a sense of insecurity in them. They have a sense of nothing is enough yet, and so they keep acquiring things. And as they keep acquiring things, their mind becomes dull, their mind becomes weak, and such a weak mind is unable to cultivate wisdom. When we talk about wisdom, wisdom is the ability to understand things as an impersonal process, to actually see for yourself that this is an impersonal process, which means that whatever is arising is not me, not mine, not myself. And so these three roots are rooted in the subconscious, in that part of the mind that is what we call the formations.

And the formations, the mental, the verbal and the physical formations rooted in greed, push out a consciousness that is inclined towards acquiring things. And when that happens, whatever contact arises is already stained by one or more of the defilements. And so the experience that might arise, if it's a pleasant experience especially, the mind will see that and the underlying tendency towards craving will arise.

And such a mind, because they have lack of mindfulness, because their mind is agitated by greed, will cling to that, will crave for that, and it will create clinging, becoming, birth of karma, birth of the illusory self, and lead to suffering. And when you understand it in this way, then you realize that greed, when it arises, is not for one's welfare or for harm, and it is for his harm.

And so here is what it says: "Kalamas, a greedy person, overcome by greed, with mind obsessed by it, destroys life, takes what is not given, transgresses with another's partner, and speaks falsehood. So through that process of greed you break the other precepts, and he encourages others to break precepts. So will that lead to his harm and suffering for a long time?" "Yes, Bhante." "What do you think, Kalamas, when hatred arises in a person? Is it for his welfare or for his harm?" "For his harm, Bhante." "And why is that?" Well, you think about what hatred is all about. Let me talk about the root of hate.

It is a mind that sees itself as separate to everything else, and it has the mentality of me versus the world, me versus others, because it holds on dearly to this sense of self, which is an illusion. And the hatred is the desire for vengeance, the desire to harm another being. And it is because you don't see with compassion, you don't develop compassion.

What is compassion? The recognition of your own suffering. When you see your own suffering, you recognize the suffering in others. And when you recognize the suffering in others, you do not want to add cruelty. You don't want to add that suffering to others, so therefore you have cruelty. So hatred, when the mind is rooted in hatred, it projects a consciousness that is stained by those defilements.

And so when the contact arises and there is an experience that arises that is unpleasant, the mind will have the underlying tendency towards aversion. And when the mind has the underlying tendency towards aversion, because of lack of mindfulness, because the lack of awareness of this is not me, this is not mine, this is not myself, the mind takes it personally.

Taking it personally, the mind says, "I don't like this," pushes away, decides to destroy that, clings to the reasons why it is bad for the mind, becomes into an identity, creates the birth of new karma, the birth of a new self, and then suffering emerges. So, therefore, Kalamas, a person who is full of hate, overcome by hatred, with mind obsessed by it, breaks the precepts and encourages others to do likewise, will that lead to his harm and suffering for a long time? "Yes, Bhante." "What do you think, Kalamas, when delusion arises in a person, is it for his welfare or for his harm?"

"For his harm, Bhante." What is delusion? Delusion is moha, moha in Pali or Sanskrit. And delusion is a mind that is completely misperceiving reality as it is. It misperceives that which is impermanent as permanent, that which is suffering as happiness, that which is not self as self. This delusion is, in all practical terms, the lack of mindfulness.

It is synonymous with avija or avidya, which is ignorance, the lack of knowledge. And when we say lack of knowledge, we're saying the lack of mindfulness of the four noble truths in every moment. What are the four noble truths? That there is this suffering. One understands that suffering is existent, there is suffering in this world, in this life. That there is a way to abandon, or I'd rather say one should abandon, the causes and conditions for suffering, namely craving and all of its co-arising companions like conceit and ignorance and aversion and identification, and so on and so forth.

When one abandons these, then one experiences and realizes for oneself nibbana, nirodha, this dukkha nirodha, which is the cessation of suffering, and one experiences for oneself nibbana, the unconditioned mind, the unconditioned element. And the way leading to this is through the cultivation of the fourth noble truth, which is the eightfold path: cultivating right view, the understanding that there is action and consequence, the understanding of the four noble truths; cultivating right intention, the understanding of having a contented mind, a mind free of ill will and free of cruelty; cultivating the precepts, right speech, right action, right livelihood; cultivating right effort, knowing what is wholesome and unwholesome, letting go of the unwholesome and generating the wholesome; right mindfulness, understanding what is present in one's mind and being free of that which is unwholesome, which allows the mind to become collected. When you have a collected mind, your mind becomes very quiet, and in that quiet space intuition arises, wisdom arises, insight arises, and this is the destruction of delusion.

What do you think, Kalamas? When non-greed arises in a person, is it for his welfare or for his harm? For his welfare. So what is non-greed? What do we mean by non-greed? When you let go and you understand for yourself that greed results in the breaking of precepts, that greed agitates the mind, and a mind that is agitated can never be the birthplace of intuition and wisdom, you let go of greed, and by continually doing this through the cultivation of the Eightfold Path, you do away with greed completely, so that your mind is established in what we would say non-greed, a mind that is content, a mind that is going with the flow. Whatever arises arises, whatever ceases ceases, whatever comes my way comes my way, whatever goes from me goes away from me. And so a person without greed, not overcome by greed, his mind not obsessed by it, does not destroy life, take what is not given, transgress with another's partner, or speak falsehood, nor does he encourage others to do likewise.

Defend your family, defend your life and limb, by all means we must do that. But when we do that, hatred is not in our mind, and that is the cultivation of loving kindness. At the very least, we are not hateful towards that person, and at the perfection of it, we still have loving kindness for our transgressors. Sometimes this is more difficult in the easiest situations, where you are like, I should have just not said anything. If I just shut up, it wouldn't have created so much of a commotion. And there's always that little nudge in your mind that says, don't say that. You know, whatever they're doing is whatever they're doing. And yet, through delusion, because we take it personally, we take what they say, the sounds of the words that they say, personally. We interpret it as affecting me, mine, or myself. We develop hatred towards that person.

But if you were to understand that all sounds are just sound, no matter what somebody is saying to you, the worst thing that they're saying to you, or the worst thing that they're doing to you, you obviously create boundaries. Set boundaries. You do not weaken into a shell. You stand up for yourself, but at the same time you don't react to them. You respond in a way that is in alignment with the Dhamma. This takes time. You start off small, and you start to see, as you perfect loving kindness, things don't bother you as much as they would have before.

What your mother says, what your father says, what your siblings say, doesn't matter. It really doesn't bother you anymore. You just understand, this is what they are. This is how they are. They're going on their own journey. That's their karma. Why should I react to that? I have my own life. I have my own journey. I have my own karma.

People may say things about you. What they say is none of your business. There's going to be all kinds of opinions. People will want to kill you, will want to hurt you, will want to do all kinds of things. But if you have loving kindness, you will know how to respond. And sometimes you don't have to respond.

For his welfare, Bhante. So what do we mean by non-delusion? The mind that is established in wisdom. What is wisdom? The understanding of dependent origination. The Buddha has said, one who sees the Dhamma sees dependent origination. One who sees dependent origination sees the Dhamma. And therefore, one is established in the Dhamma. And what is dependent origination? Dependent origination is the understanding of how we screw things up.

And we learn from those mistakes, from that karma, from those intentions, and we start to let go. We start to see for ourselves the benefit and the effectiveness of letting go of taking things personally. Non-delusion is the understanding that whatever is arising is arising due to a series of causes and conditions, and anything that is caused or has conditions or is conditioned is liable to change. It is impermanent, and that which is impermanent, even if it is the greatest happiness, is bound to change, and therefore ultimately leads to suffering.

And that which is liable to change and leads to suffering cannot be said to be self. That which is the self is understood, or has been understood by the ancient Indian traditions, to be sat chit ananda, self-existing without cause or condition, unconditioned, and that which is ultimate happiness, free of any conditions. But everything in our experience that we see, from the body to the mind to the sense bases to all kinds of experiences, sounds, sights, all of it is conditioned. And so we disengage. We become disenchanted by that. We become dispassionate, and our minds become liberated from the idea that this is me, this is mine, this is myself.

vast, exalted, measureless, without enmity, without ill will. This noble disciple, whose mind is in this way without enmity, without ill will, undefiled and pure, has won four assurances in this life. Very interesting. The first assurance he has won. I love these four assurances because it shows the great logic of the Buddha. He didn't say you need to believe in me. He didn't say just listen to my words, have faith in me, and all of these things. He said just look for yourself. This is the beauty of the Dhamma. It is immediately effective, inviting one to see an experiment for themselves. And so the first assurance is, if there is another world, and if there is the fruit and result of good and bad deeds, in other words, if there is a heaven or hell, and if there is karma, it is possible that with the breakup of this body after that, I will be reborn in a good destination,

in a heavenly world. The second assurance he has won is this: if there is no other world, if it's just this, this is the only existence that we have, and there is no fruit, there is no karma, right, still, right here in this very life I maintain myself in happiness, without enmity, ill will, and free of trouble. That in itself is the reward. I have a mind free of enmity, a mind that is at peace. The third assurance is this. Suppose evil comes to one who does evil. Then, when I have no evil intentions towards anyone, how can suffering afflict me, since I do no evil deed? That's one assurance. The fourth assurance, that is this: suppose evil does not come to one who does evil. Then right here I see myself purified in both aspects. This noble disciple, Kalamas, whose mind is in this way without enmity, without ill will, undefiled and pure, has won these four assurances in this life.

So it is, blessed one, so it is, fortunate one. This noble disciple, whose mind is in this way without enmity, without ill will, undefiled and pure, has won four assurances in this very life. And he repeats the same thing. Excellent, Bhante. We go to refuge in the Blessed One, the Dhamma, and the Sangha of bhikkhus. Let the Blessed One consider us lay followers who from today have gone for refuge for life. Any questions, Delson? Let me ask this: can you hear me at all? I can. Oh, the last, the four assurances, that's great. Do you think this could indicate that they have attained...

Something here or not, it's quite possible, because anyone who decides they want to take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha generally is a stream enterer at the very least. I say this because they see the logic behind what it means to be wholesome and unwholesome, the logic behind having established one's mind in non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion, which means that even if there was no other life, I still have this peace in my mind. Seeing through this logic, they realize that the Buddha, the qualities of the Buddha, the qualities of the Dhamma, the qualities of the Sangha. So one who takes refuge, from having seen for oneself

generally is a stream entry because they've seen this is an impersonal process. They've seen that whatever rituals we do do not lead to our ultimate welfare, which is Nibbana. So it's quite possible. Quickly, I should raise your hand. So let's get practical. I certainly have experienced deep experiences of the truth of this, and then I'm reading the New York Times right after I meditate. It's like, I can still do loving kindness for Trump and feel deep care for all of it.

And I can laugh at South Park and the brilliance of it. And there's this urge to do something, to alleviate the suffering. I see the gift of this political situation. If you don't understand subtle parts of greed, look, look where greed leads. There is really another side even of this coin, but it's just that urge, that inability to lessen suffering for others, is just heartbreaking. Yes. Of course, you will not like the answer that I will give you, but the ultimate, I say ultimate, but I'm qualifying it in this way. The ultimate realization is essentially that there is nothing we can do that can fully alleviate the suffering of others, no matter how hard we try.

And we can only do the best we can, first and foremost for ourselves. So when we are able to liberate our minds and feel the loving kindness for ourselves, then at some point whatever is happening in the world is just process, and in a very practical way we kind of become less attuned to all of that. We actually don't become more attuned to what's going on in the world. It's not that we become uncaring, but we realize the futility of whatever is going on, and we truly see everything as a process of causes and conditions.

Where we stand, especially in the U.S., to paraphrase George Carlin, is we have the front row seats to the circus of the world, and therefore we are seeing everything play out. Nowadays that is possible whether you're in the U.S. or in India or in South Korea, or places where there's free media and news and so on. But our minds were not built to know what is happening halfway around the world, let alone what is happening outside of our village, so to speak. The best we can do is that urge to help others. Yes, that's great, because that is empathy and that's compassion and that's wanting to alleviate suffering. The moment we are able to do something, we do it, but there's nothing beyond that.

If we try to do things beyond our limitations, we are going to find disappointment, because we can't fix anything. We truly cannot. So when we read suttas, my mind goes like this. There's a little itchy, sticky place where I bounce around. I recognize the truth. For that, I'm grateful. I experience that for myself.

And I do what I can. And I think apathy is not good. I don't want to not read the New York Times. I want to know what's going on. Yeah, it's just... I'm going to go at it this way. I mean, you can read whatever we read. You can watch the news. You can hear what's going on halfway across the world.

And then use that as ways of testing your ability to continue radiating compassion. Yes. I remember a story. Manindra used to watch horror shows for just that reason. He would go to the video stores in America and get these videos and watch the horror shows. It's like, I want to see where I react. Yeah, that's your reaction. That's your reaction, yeah. Yeah.

Thank you. Thanks for straightening us out every Sunday. Appreciate it. It is. Hi, Nelson. I would like to get back to what you said just before about Satchitananda. And if I stood well, you've said that it's Nibbana. However, in the previous Dhamma talk, you said that the pure consciousness, which is the shit in Satchitananda, is still conditioned up and touching the Nibbanic elements. so i'm a little bit confused now is satchitananda which is for me pure consciousness existence and bliss but especially the pure consciousness is the same as nibbana or is it still conditioned up in nibbana yeah i'm saying that this pure consciousness is not nibbana it is conditioned by having touched the nibbana element so what we're talking about is a nibbana and that can only be touched upon and then we can experience the result of that which is a mind that is utterly pure or purified of any kind of craving from any kind of craving so i'm using the word such as such ananda because that is what is known in most ancient indian schools as equivalent or equal to self with the big S.

But I didn't say, or if I did, then I'll correct myself, but I didn't imply that it means that that's Nibbana. What I'm saying is that if we are using those markers as touchstones for our reality that we're experiencing through the sense basis, then we start to see how fragmented reality actually is which is to say that it does not hold up to the ideal of Satchitananda and that is still just an ideal but the Nibbana Dhatu is beyond the notions of self versus not self it's beyond all concepts

it's totally non-conceptual and the problem with the word non-conceptual is we already create a concept of what that means oh it means it's black it's free of any kind of color it's free of any kind of this no it's the moment we engage the mind in that process right the moment we try to qualify it with something our mind has already landed in the world of conditions the quiet mind the mind that is signless the mind that is free of any kind of objectification or reification the mind that is free of any kind of intentionality or directionality towards something and the mind that is free of notions of self versus not self

that mind has touched Nibbana so I'm not saying pure consciousness is Nibbana I'm saying pure consciousness is something that arises as a result of touching Nibbana thank you Delson the confusion was mine any other questions from the audience Here. Yes, there's a question from out there. Earlier, you talked about free and patron delusion and rise to screen inclinations. I'm confused about the mental verbal formation, like affirmations in general. Do they precede greed, hatred, and delusion? No, they are rooted in greed, hatred, and delusion. So greed, hatred, and delusion are more fundamental, if you will, than the formations. Right. The formations, being rooted in it, spring forth from greed, hatred, and delusion. Or it can spring forth from greed, hatred, and delusion.

Emilio? Hi, Nelson. I have a question on last week's talk, if I can. So, basically, on this non-manifesting consciousness, on Annie Dalton. So, in practical terms, how do you know you're off this non-manifesting consciousness during... So, which basically in practical terms means you stay with your own experience. In the scene, there is only the scene. And I've been thinking about that, and I wanted to check with you if my thinking is in the right direction.

Definitely, if you have mental proliferation, you're off the non-manifesting consciousness. Definitely, if you have thinking, you're off this non-manifesting consciousness. Meaning, you see a nice scene and you're thinking, oh, I would like to build a house in this place, or I would like to come on a vacation in this place. Everything that means proliferation of thinking, you are not in non-manifesting consciousness. So basically you should stop at contact. That's my first question. So I would like to ask you if my thinking is correct. Second, assuming it is correct, am I to stop at contact? You, we know contact is

the prerequisite for consciousness to manifest, for formation to manifest, for perception to manifest. So does it mean that basically we live, we will stay in this context where there are formations, where there are perceptions, and deal with those without moving into craving, thinking, and even further mental proliferation? So it's almost translating in daily life what you have been talking about last time, last week. See, the thing is, the non-manifesting consciousness, if we try to bring it up in daily life, it's a fabrication.

So the non-manifesting consciousness can only arise when things are let go of. Which means, I repeat myself from the previous question, the answer to the previous question, which is the lack of any directionality of intention towards anything, including trying to experience the non-manifesting consciousness, or even trying to find it. Let go of all thought, of course, all proliferation, because Nibbana is nippapancha, non-proliferation. But let go of all trying as well. At that point, now, this is for somebody who's quite advanced in their practice, who already has experienced for themselves certain states. I'm not talking to this. I'm not saying this to beginners. It's very important to understand this.

But it's the understanding that any kind of continuous effort to get to that space is counterintuitive. For us to experience that awareness is in the letting go, in the seeing. There's only the scene. We talk about this as the practical approach: in the seeing there's only the scene, in the hearing there's only the heard, and so on. Which means what, exactly? There is just process. That in itself is the non-manifesting consciousness. It doesn't mean that we don't experience feeling. It doesn't mean that we don't experience perception.

It just means that things are happening, but there is no outward projection of wanting to own it or wanting to make it into something. The mind just remains in itself without any center point and without any boundaries. Thank you, Nelson. The communication went away a little bit. How about the second part? I understand. In essence, it's the 6R. 6R, whatever goes beyond the experience.

But that means since in that experience you have a contact, there are obviously consciousness arises, formations, perception. So you live in that experience because formation, as you often explain, formation is on the karma, everything in front of a nice view or whatever, different people have different formations arise, right? Which could be counterproductive for some people who have a formation that holds some unwholesome for the same experience. So basically you have to deal with those things still, right?

Yes, of course. But think about it this way. When the mind is engaged with different things, when you have to speak, when you have to write, when you have to do things, that part of the mind is doing things dependent upon formations. But when you sit down and you're dormant and nothing is going on, then your mind, its default space can be that non-manifesting awareness. Okay.

Thank you, Nelson. This is one kind of instruction I'm giving you because for us to try to bring that out into activity, before really engaging with it by letting go. And when I say letting go, I'm talking about letting go even of the need or desire or trying to get to that space. Because in that, there is no objectivity or objectification, no reification. Again, I'm repeating because this is very important for the mind to process. And you may have to hear this over and over again. There's no reification.

There's no intentionality, and there's no notions of self versus not self in the non-manifesting, yes, and it doesn't, yes, which I don't say is easy but is achievable in meditation. In daily life it is a little bit more challenging for that reason. I was asking those questions, but it's practice. It's about continuing to engage and understand and experience it, but not to fabricate it. I'll try to fabricate it. Okay, thank you very much. So I have interviews coming up. This is a short question, quickly, I'll take it. So when the scene is only the scene, and then you see, you're so mindful, you see oh that tree doesn't look so healthy, and then as long as you're still in process it's gonna be like that, right? Right, but what changes is now this whole fundamental idea. Okay, all right. Let's share some merit.

May suffering ones be suffering free and the fear struck fearless be. May the grieving should all grieve and may all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May beings having space and earth devas and nagas of mighty power share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation. Okay, thank you everyone. I'll see you around.