37 Requisites with Delson Armstrong. MN 77

So we're going to go over the 37 requisites of awakening. And I'm going to show you how, by doing this practice, you are fulfilling all 37 requisites. This is a sutta called Majjhima Nikaya 77. It's called Maha Sakuludai Sutta. The Greater Discourse to Sakuludai. Thus have I heard, on one occasion the Blessed One was living at Rajagaha in the bamboo grove, the squirrel's sanctuary.

Now on that occasion, a number of well-known wanderers were staying at the Peacock Sanctuary, the Wanderers' Park, that is, Anabhara, Varadhara, and the Wanderers' Sakulodayin, as well as other well-known wanderers. Then, when it was morning, the Blessed One, dressed and taking his bowl and outer robe, went into Rajagaha for alms. Then he thought, it is still too early to wander for alms in Rajagaha. Suppose I went to the wanderer Sakulodain in the Peacock Sanctuary, the Wanderer's Park.

Then, the Blessed One went to the Peacock Sanctuary, the Wanderer's Park. Now on that occasion, the wanderer Sekulodain was seated with a large assembly of wanderers who were making an uproar, loudly and noisily talking many kinds of pointless talk, such as talk of kings and so on, whether things are so or are not so. In other words, they were dealing in restless speech, speech about politics, speech about gossip. Reading the newest edition of People magazine or whatever it is that they were doing. Then the wanderer Sakulayadeen saw the Blessed One coming in the distance. Seeing him, he quieted his own assembly thus. Sirs, be quiet, sirs, make no noise. Here comes the recluse Gautama. This Venerable One likes quiet and commends quiet.

Perhaps if he finds our assembly a quiet one, he will think to join us. Then the wanderers became silent. The Blessed One went to the Wanderer, Sekul Adai, who said to him, Let the Blessed One come, Venerable Sir. Welcome to the Blessed One. It is long since the Blessed One found an opportunity to come here. Let the Blessed One be seated. The seat is ready.

The Blessed One sat down on the seat made ready, and the wanderer Sakuludain took a low seat and sat down at one side. When he had done so, the Blessed One asked him, For what discussion are you sitting together here now, Udayin? And what was your discussion that was interrupted? This always happens to the Buddha. He goes to a group of people and he asks, What were you guys talking about? And what are their responses? Venerable Sir, let be the discussion for which we are now sitting together here. In other words, never mind that.

The Blessed One can hear well about it later. In recent days, Venerable Sir, when recluses and Brahmins of various sects have been gathering together and sitting together in the debating hall, this topic has arisen. It is a gain for the people of Anga and Magadha, it is a great gain for the people of Anga and Magadha, that these recluses and Brahmins, heads of orders, heads of groups, teachers of groups, well-known and famous founders of sects, regarded by many as saints, have come to spend the rains at Rajagaha. So the rains retreat was very common in ancient India. It wasn't just done by the followers of the Buddha or the monastic community of the Buddha, but also among yogis and other sects that were there and that are still there.

He too has come to spend the rains at Rajagaha. Now among these worthy recluses and Brahmins, heads of orders regarded by many as saints, who is honored, respected, revered, and venerated by his disciples? And how, honoring and respecting him, do they live in dependence on him? Thereupon, some said this: This Purana Kasapa is the head of an order, regarded by many as a saint, yet he is not honored, respected, revered, and venerated by his disciples, nor do his disciples live in dependence on him, honoring and respecting him. Once Purana Kasapa was teaching his Dhamma to an assembly of several hundred followers, then a certain disciple of his made a noise thus: Sirs, do not ask Purana Kasapa this question.

He does not know that. We know that. Ask us that question. We will answer that for you, Sirs. It happened that Purana Kasapa did not get his way. Though he waved his arms and wailed, Be quiet, sirs, make no noise, sirs. They are not asking you, sirs. They are asking us. We will answer them. So a lot of commotion going on. Indeed, many of his disciples left him after refuting his doctrine thus: You do not understand this Dhamma and discipline. I understand this Dhamma and discipline. How could you understand this Dhamma and discipline? Your way is wrong. My way is right. I am consistent.

You are inconsistent. What should have been said first, you said last. What should have been said last, you said first. What you had so carefully thought up has been turned inside out. Your doctrine is refuted. You are proved wrong. Go and learn better, or disentangle yourself if you can. Sounds like a news channel, talking heads just fighting with each other. Thus Purana Kasapa is not honored, respected, revered, and venerated by his disciples, nor do his disciples live in dependence on him, honoring and respecting him. Indeed, he is scorned by the scorn shown to his Dhamma. Some said this: this Makkhali Gosala, this Ajita Kesa Kambala, this Pakuda Kachayana, this Sanjaya Belaputta, this Nigantha Nataputta is the head of an order.

Once, the recluse Gautama was teaching his Dhamma to an assembly of several hundred followers, and there a certain disciple of his cleared his throat. Thereupon, one of his companions in the holy life nudged him with his knee to indicate, Be quiet, venerable sir. Make no noise. The Blessed One, the teacher, is teaching us the Dhamma. When the recluse Gautama is teaching the Dhamma to an assembly of several hundred followers, on that occasion there is no sound of his disciples coughing or clearing their throats.

For then that large assembly is poised in expectancy. Let us hear the Dhamma the Blessed One is about to teach. Just as though a man were at a crossroads pressing out pure honey and a large group of people were poised in expectancy too, so too when the recluse Gautama is teaching the Dhamma to an assembly of several hundred followers, on that occasion there is no sound of his disciples coughing or clearing their throats, for then that large assembly is poised in expectancy. Let us hear the Dhamma the Blessed One is about to teach. And even those disciples of his who fall out with their companions in the holy life and abandon the training to return to the low life.

What is the low life? Going back to the lay life. So we are all low lives here, most of us. Even they praise the Master and the Dhamma and the Sangha. They blame themselves instead of others, saying, We were unlucky. We have little merit. For though we went forth into homelessness in such a well-proclaimed Dhamma, we were unable to live the perfect and pure holy life for the rest of our lives. Having become monastery attendants or lay followers, they undertake and observe the five precepts. Thus, the recluse Gautama is honored, respected, revered, and venerated by his disciples. And his disciples live in dependence on him, honoring and respecting him. But Udayin, this is the Buddha speaking, how many qualities do you see in me because of which my disciples honor, respect, revere and venerate me and live in dependence on me, honoring and respecting me?

So he's asking, why do you think my disciples venerate me and honor me? What are the qualities that you see that you think that is the reason why my students have such respect for me? And so Udayin says, him and live in dependence on him, honoring and respecting him. Again, Venerable Sir, the Blessed One is content with any kind of robe and commends contentment with any kind of robe. This I see as a second quality of the Blessed One. The Blessed One is content with any kind of alms food and commends contentment with any kind of alms food. This I see as the third quality. The Blessed One is content with any kind of resting place and commends contentment with any kind of resting place.

Here's the Buddha's response. Suppose, Udayin, my disciples honored, respected, revered, and venerated me, and lived in dependence on me, honoring and respecting me with the thought, the recluse Gautama I eat little and commends eating little. Now, there are disciples of mine who live on a cup full, or a half a cup full, a bilva fruits or half a bilva fruits quantity of food, while I sometimes eat the full contents of my alms bowl or even more.

Suppose Udayin, my disciples, honored, respected, revered, and venerated me, and lived in dependence on me, honoring and respecting me with the thought, the recluse Gautama is content with any kind of alms food and commends contentment with any kinds of alms food. Now there are disciples of mine who are alms food eaters, who go on unbroken alms round from house to house, who delight in gathering their food. When they have entered among the houses, they will not consent even when invited to sit down. But I sometimes eat on invitation meals of choice rice and many sauces and curries.

Suppose Udayin, my disciples, honored, respected, revered, and venerated me, and lived in dependence on me, honoring and respecting me with the thought, the recluse Gautama is secluded and commends remote resting places, who lived withdrawn in remote jungle thicket resting places and returned to the midst of the Sangha once each half-month for the recitation of the Patimokkha. But I sometimes lived surrounded by bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, by men and women lay followers, by kings and king's ministers, by other sectarians and their disciples. So if my disciples honored me with the thought the recluse Gautama is secluded and commends seclusion, then those disciples of mine who are forest dwellers should not honor, respect, revere, and venerate me for this quality, nor should they live in dependence on me, honoring and respecting me.

Thus, Udayin, it is not because of these five qualities that my disciples honor, respect, revere, and venerate me, and live in dependence on me, honoring and respecting me. However, Udayin, there are five other qualities because of which my disciples honor, respect, revere and venerate me and live in dependence on me, honoring and respecting me. Now we get to the crux. What are the five? "Here Udayin, my disciples esteem me for the higher virtue thus. The recluse Gautama is virtuous. He possesses the supreme aggregate of virtue. This is the first quality because of which my disciples honor, respect, revere, and venerate me, and live in dependence on me, honoring and respecting me. Virtue: keeping all of the precepts. How many there are, the minimum being five, not four, like they have in Sweden. I'll tell you why, because this is from the last retreat. I was told by Venerobasa that in Sweden there was a place they went to, which was a center, and there they gave them four precepts instead of five, because they had a difficulty keeping the fifth precept.

So the person there just gave them four precepts. But the minimum here is five precepts, right? Keeping the five precepts or keeping the eight precepts or keeping the ten precepts or keeping the 227 precepts for bhikkhus or, how many, 311 for the bhikkhus, so be happy that you have to keep only eight and a minimum of five when you get off of retreat. The fifth one is non-negotiable. Remember that. No micro-dosing. No micro-dosing, exactly.

Except joy, equanimity, collectedness, and... Again, Udayin, my disciples esteem me for my excellent knowledge and vision thus. When the recluse Gautama says, I know, he truly knows. When he says, I see, he truly sees. The recluse, Gautama, teaches the Dhamma through direct knowledge, not without direct knowledge. He teaches the Dhamma with a sound basis, not without a sound basis. He teaches the Dhamma in a convincing manner not in a not in an unconvincing manner this is the second quality because of which my disciples honor me and this is the the standard that he's left for someone to be a teacher being able to only speak from experience or from true understanding of what one is talking about

Again, Udayin, my disciples esteem me for the higher wisdom thus. The recluse Gautama is wise. He possesses the supreme aggregate of wisdom. It is impossible that he should not foresee the implications of an assertion. So the aggregate of wisdom, that is panna. What is the wisdom here? The wisdom of the four noble truths, the understanding and seeing of the links of dependent origination. It is impossible that he should not foresee the implications of an assertion, or that he should not be able to confute with reasons the current doctrines of others.

That was the specialty of the Buddha. He was able to foresee some of the questions that people would have and then be able to just answer them exactly as they needed it, or even know what other sects would talk about and be able to refute or confute that in a way that caused them to let go of that and come to the Buddha Dhamma. What do you think, Udayin? Would my disciples, knowing and seeing thus, break in and interrupt me? No. Who would dare to do that?

No, venerable sir, I do not expect instruction from my disciples. Invariably, it is my disciples who expect instruction from me. This is the third quality because of which my disciples honor me. Again, Udayin, when my disciples have met with suffering and become victims of suffering, they fall prey to suffering. They come to me and ask me about the noble truth of suffering.

Being asked, I explain to them the noble truth of suffering, and I satisfy their minds with my explanation. They ask me about the noble truth of the origin of suffering, about the noble truth of the cessation of suffering, about the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering. Being asked, I explain to them the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering, and I satisfy their minds with my explanation. This is the fourth quality because of which my disciples honor me.

Remember, the Buddha has said, I only teach two things, suffering and the cessation of suffering. Every sutta that you read where the Buddha is talking about something, or one of his disciples is talking, they are always using the Four Noble Truths as a framework, as a template, sometimes very explicitly and sometimes implicitly. So that's all he's revealing: the understanding of suffering and how to let go of the causes and conditions of suffering. Again, Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way to develop the four foundations of mindfulness.

Here bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating feelings as feelings, contemplating mind as mind, contemplating mind objects as mind objects, ardent, fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world, and thereby many disciples of mine abide having reached the consummation and perfection of direct knowledge. So now we're talking about the four foundations of mindfulness. Contemplating the body as a body, contemplating feeling as feeling, contemplating mind as mind, contemplating mind objects as mind objects.

And the Buddha has given different techniques within the four foundations in the Satipatthana Sutta or the Mahasatipatthana Sutta to discuss how do you contemplate body as body. You can contemplate body as body in terms of understanding the dying process of the body and the decaying of the body. So the charnel ground practices, the asubha practices, the body as the four great elements, the body possessed of the five physical sense bases, and so on and so forth. Now, when you are doing this practice, you do contemplate body as body insofar as understanding what is going on with regards to the body. You contemplate there is, now this is also with feeling, right? When we talk about feeling, understanding a worldly pleasant feeling, a worldly painful feeling, a worldly neutral feeling, an otherworldly pleasant feeling, an otherworldly painful feeling, an otherworldly neutral feeling.

Understanding what feelings arise and pass away. So what is a worldly pleasant feeling? It's any experience that you have through the five physical sense bases that feels pleasurable. What is a worldly painful feeling? Any kind of painful experience that you have through the five physical sense bases. What is a worldly neutral feeling? Ignorance, not knowing what is going on in terms of the feeling, and indifference.

What is an otherworldly pleasant feeling? Jhana. There is this world of the five physical sense bases, and the other world where you can experience jhana with the mind: pleasure not born of the senses, pleasure born from seclusion, pleasure born from collectedness. Any of the jhanas, any of the qualities of the brahmaviharas and so on, are all otherworldly pleasant feelings.

What are otherworldly painful feelings? Mental corruptions, upakkilesas, anything that distracts the mind from being collected. What is an otherworldly neutral feeling? Equanimity, the signless awareness of mind, quiet mind, the fourth jhana, which is a complete equanimity, and so on. What is the painful otherworldly feeling? Hindrances, having any kind of distractions that come up in the mind, anything that takes you away from your object of meditation. Why do they use the same meditation pain? Meditation pain also is part of that. So now that's the question. What is the difference between meditation pain and bodily pain?

In bodily pain, you have some kind of pain in the body where, if you get up from your sitting, that pain continues. Whereas meditation pain can arise somewhere around here, in the shoulders, in the back, and even when you're sitting on your seat. But that pain arises as a result of the mind pushing too hard. Whenever the mind becomes constricted, whenever the mind becomes too concentrated, that is a sign that meditation pain arises. And how do you know it's meditation pain? When you move around, the pain disappears. So it's not related to the physiology. It's related to mind.

Let's leave the questions until I finish. I learned last night that I should finish, and then we'll have the questions. So if you have questions, write them down later. So those are the kinds of feelings that you experience. What about mind as mind? There are different qualities of mind. There is constricted mind, there is collected mind, uncollected mind, surpassed mind, unsurpassed mind, exalted mind, unexalted mind, liberated mind, unliberated mind. And these are all referring to different kinds of mind. There's mind with sloth and torpor, there's mind with sensual desire in it, there's mind with restlessness in it, there's a mind that is in jhana, there's mind that is experiencing the arupa states, there is mind that has experienced stream entry, or there's a mind that has experienced any level of awakening, nirvana.

Now let me talk about mind objects, and then we'll talk about how this practice incorporates all four foundations, the way that you were doing it. Mind objects as mind objects: these are different kinds of mental phenomena, like the five hindrances, like the four Noble Truths, like the seven enlightenment factors. So when you notice, understand and are aware of a hindrance, you're contemplating mind objects. When you understand how this process works in terms of the four Noble Truths, you're contemplating mind objects. Whenever you use the 6R's, you're bringing up the enlightenment factors.

Whenever you notice bodily pain, you are seeing it as part of the body, and you're seeing it as part of feeling, and you're noticing what is happening to mind. Mind is distracted, mind is uncollected, and there is a hindrance present, so that is a mind object. Now, the way the Satipatthana Sutta has been laid out, it seems like you have to do one thing at a time and contemplate one thing at a time. And you can do that using the different techniques that are in there, like the charnel ground practices, the asubha practices, and so on. But when you are doing this practice of meditating using the 6R's with Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation,

you are understanding what is going on. If you are not, and there's something wrong here, because you're trying too hard and you're too concentrated and you're not aware of what's going on, or your focus is too loose and you've lost your object of meditation and your attention. When you have the balance and you notice what is arising and passing away, in terms of now there is loving-kindness present.

Now there is the joy factor of the first jhana present, and that disappears. Now there is the second jhana present, now that disappears. Now there is the experience of infinite space, now that is experienced, and then that disappears. Now there is present this hindrance, and what do you do? You 6R's, and you let it go. So how do you contemplate, understanding, the four foundations of mindfulness? It's not just the sitting meditation. It's also while you're walking, while you're getting up to stand, while you're sitting down, while you're eating, while you're taking a shower, while you're using the bathroom, while you're driving, whatever it is you're doing: putting on your clothes, taking off your clothes, taking food from the buffet and then eating. Whatever it is, where is your mind? Do you have sati and sampajanna? Sati is mindfulness. Sampajanna is comprehension of what is going on in the present moment, of whatever it is you're doing. So mindfulness is remembering to observe how mind's attention moves from one thing to the other. Every time you use the 6R's, you are doing that.

Moreover, sampajanna is knowing what you are doing as you are doing it. When you are meditating, you know you are meditating. When you are walking, you know you're walking. When you are eating, you know you're eating. Your mind doesn't drift anywhere. When you notice your mind drifts somewhere, you have mindfulness, and you bring it back using the 6R's. So in doing this process, you are actually integrating all four foundations of mindfulness in this way.

The key takeaway here is understanding that everything changes. Your attention will move from place to place, and that is okay. But if you can't notice your attention move from place to place, then you do not have enough mindfulness, and you do not have enough comprehension of what it is that you are doing. So I've given some advice to some of you about this, and I'll give it now here. When you are meditating, meditate with the understanding that there is no "I" meditating.

There is no meditator here. You put a space, you put a distance, and then you understand mind is meditating. So you look at it in this way. Mind is experiencing loving-kindness. Mind is experiencing infinite space. Mind is experiencing sloth and torpor. Mind is experiencing craving. Once you see this, there is this space you are in, from where you can recognize that happening if it's a distraction, and then release, relax, re-smile and come back to your object.

Once you have this shift in perception, in seeing it as mind meditating, then you don't take it personally. In other words, experience the meditation fully without the sense of "I" as the meditator, without this being my meditation, without this meditation being myself. The moment you do that, the sati and sampajanna are always present. And it doesn't just mean about meditation. In the walking, there is only the walking. In the eating, there is only the eating. In the showering, there is only the showering.

When there is no you in that, and there is no you before that, and there is no you after that, just that is the end of suffering. Giving that space to your mind so that there is no I being projected onto it. This is the way to do the practice, whether it's walking, sitting, or doing anything. Again, Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way to develop the four kinds of effort.

Here, a bhikkhu awakens zeal for the non-arising of unarisen, evil, unwholesome states, and he makes an effort, arouses energy, exerts his mind, and strives. He awakens zeal for the abandoning of arisen, evil, unwholesome states. He awakens zeal for the arising of unarisen, wholesome states. He awakens zeal for the continuance, non-disappearance, strengthening, increase, and fulfillment by development of arisen wholesome states, and he makes effort, arouses energy, exerts his mind, and strives, and thereby many disciples of mine abide having reached the consummation and perfection of direct knowledge. The four right efforts. What are the four right efforts? Here one awakens zeal for the non-arising of evil, unwholesome states, the abandoning of arisen, evil, unwholesome states, the arising of the unarisen, wholesome states, the continuance, non-disappearance, strengthening, increase and fulfillment by development of arisen, wholesome states.

How do you do that? The six R's. Right? Every time you recognize that the mind is distracted, you have prevented the arising of further unwholesome states from arising because the moment you recognize here is a wholesome state of mind that whole stream of thoughts that give rise that whole stream of formations that give rise to further hindrances stops right there and then as soon as you have mindfulness and recognize it.

And then you release and relax. You abandon the present, current hindrance in mind. You release it, and you relax any tightness and tension associated with it. When you come back to your smile, what do you do? You generate a wholesome state of mind. You bring up a wholesome state of mind. And when you return back to your object of meditation, what do you do? By staying there, you maintain, you continue, you make sure that the object of meditation doesn't disappear, just through your attention and awareness and mindfulness.

So the 6R's allow you to do this, allow you to use right effort, the four right efforts. Again, Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way to develop the four bases for spiritual power. Here, a bhikkhu develops the basis for spiritual power consisting in concentration due to zeal and determined striving. He develops the basis for spiritual power consisting in concentration due to energy and determined striving.

He develops the basis for spiritual power consisting in concentration due to purity of mind and determined striving. He develops the basis for spiritual power consisting in concentration due to investigation and determined striving, and thereby many disciples of mine abide having reached the consummation and perfection of direct knowledge. When we say the four bases for spiritual power, what does that mean?

It's all the seemingly fun stuff that we discussed yesterday: about seeing past lives, about walking through walls, about walking on water, about seeing with the divine eye. But there is one psychic power, psychic faculty, spiritual power that everybody seems to have forgotten. And that is full awakening. Everybody's so interested in all of the trailers, and they forget the main feature.

So you will require this for full awakening. Namely, what are these? Energy, purity of mind, and investigation. So what is this enthusiasm? How do you bring enthusiasm? Somebody said something, exactly, that is the wholesome inclination for something. So the wholesome inclination goes towards a goal, and what is the goal here? Nibbana. The mind inclines to nibbana. The mind has set the course for nibbana. Just set the intention, and now you're on autopilot. That doesn't mean you have to keep obsessing: when is nibbana coming, are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet? It just means you've set the course and you let go. You've changed the rudder in the direction of nibbana. Energy, what is that energy? Virya, making the right effort. What is the right effort? A balanced effort.

It means not trying so hard and not trying enough, right? Preventing your mind from trying too hard and not trying enough. There's that balanced effort. And how do you do that balanced effort? Using the 6R's. Everything is integrated in the 6R's. If you start to see it in this way, the 6R's are really the core fundamental tool for the cultivation of all of these states of mind. Purity of mind. What does that mean? A mind free of hindrances, a mind free of distractions, a mind that is collected.

A mind whose attention is non-dispersed. Investigation, mimamsa. What does this mean? Now, you know, we use the word investigation, and that sometimes denotes the idea that we have to look really hard, and we have to analyze, and we have to reflect, and we have to investigate. But it's as simple as discerning what is arising and what is not arising. It's as simple as comprehending what is arising and passing away. And that is dependent upon what?

Mindfulness. As soon as you have mindfulness, as soon as your attention, you see how your mind's attention moves, you know where your mind's attention is. Knowing where your mind's attention is, is the fulfillment of mimamsa, or synonymously dhamma vichaya: knowing where your mind is, your discernment of states, your comprehension of states. It's not about pinpointing each atomic particle of the mind and noticing what's going on moment to moment to moment. You can do all that if you want, that's fine. But when you do that, what happens? The mind becomes super concentrated, and becoming super concentrated is unable to reflect fully of what's happening around it. If you have that clear comprehension, the ability to just have sati and sampajanya, where you keep a distance in the mind, a space in the mind, see what is going on in mind.

Then you will have the awareness, the discernment, the ability to understand what is present and what is not present. Is mind distracted or undistracted? Is mind collected or uncollected? And so on and so forth. That is what it means to investigate. Again, Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way to develop the five spiritual faculties. Here a Bhikkhu develops the faculty of faith, which leads to peace, leads to enlightenment. He develops the faculty of energy, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of collectedness, the faculty of wisdom, which leads to peace, leads to enlightenment, and thereby many disciples of mine abide having reached the consummation and perfection of direct knowledge. So, the five faculties: faith, energy, mindfulness, collectedness, and wisdom.

How do you develop these five faculties? How do you develop faith? By clearing away any kind of doubt. So at the very fundamental, at the very elemental base of understanding what faith is, it is essentially not having doubts or not being confused about what states are present, about what is wholesome and unwholesome, being able to recognize what is wholesome and what is unwholesome. Once that doubt is cleared, now you have faith in the practice, that indeed this can lead to the wholesome and ultimately to nirvana. And how do you know what is wholesome and unwholesome? Remember I said wholesome is that which is beneficial for oneself and unharmful to oneself and unharmful for another.

That which does not harm you, and that which does not harm another. And the quality of a wholesome state of mind is essentially where the mind is open, spacious, and clear. What is an unwholesome state of mind? A state of mind that is not beneficial to you. A state of mind that can be harmful to you and harmful to others.

Such a state of mind creates tightness and tension and blockages in the mind and heart. Not physically, not the physical heart, I mean the spiritual heart. So when you recognize wholesome states and recognize unwholesome states, how do you do that? How do you recognize unwholesome states? Mind, I just use the word, first word, recognize, your 6R's. You notice there's an unwholesome state of mind, and you let go, and you bring up a wholesome state of mind and come back to the wholesome state of mind. That is how you start to cultivate faith, initially understanding how this process works, that faith will then turn into experiential confidence in Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha when you actually experience nibbana and understand how this process works.

What about energy, again virya? How do you cultivate and develop virya? It's the right effort. It's the ability to understand how much energy is present in the mind, in terms of too much energy or too little energy. Too much energy and the mind becomes too concentrated, experiences tightness and tension, experiences all kinds of hindrances. Enough energy and the mind becomes inattentive, and the mind experiences sloth and torpor, and the mind can experience the inability to recognize what's going on. But the moment you have mindfulness and clear comprehension

using the 6R's, now your mind becomes back to balanced energy. There is enough collectedness in the mind to continue the practice of meditation and understanding. What about mindfulness? What is mindfulness? Remembering to observe how mind's attention moves from one thing to the other. How do you cultivate and develop mindfulness? What is the basis for mindfulness? What is the equipment for mindfulness?

Effort, right effort. What is right effort? How do you cultivate right effort? 6R's. You use the 6R's. What is collectedness? What is that? Samadhi. What is samadhi? A mind that is balanced. A mind that is tranquil. A mind that is collected. A mind whose attention is non-dispersed. What is the equipment for collectedness? Right effort and right mindfulness.

How do you get right mindfulness and right effort? 6R's. Are you seeing a pattern here? Wisdom. What is wisdom here? Wisdom is understanding what is going on. Wisdom is synonymous with dhamma vichaya, in the sense of discerning what states are present and not present. And the ultimate wisdom is understanding how mind processes reality, using the understanding of dependent origination.

How dependent origination works, the wisdom of the Four Noble Truths: how this arises dependent on its condition. When that condition ceases, so too does its effect. Seeing this process in how the mind starts to crave, how the mind feels and identifies, and then lets go of that feeling. This is how you cultivate wisdom. Somebody asked me in the kitchen while I was there last evening, 'Is it okay for us to continue to practice seeing how feeling arises, when craving arises, when contact arises? Or is that cheating?' And I said, 'No, that's not cheating, because the understanding was that maybe it happens automatically.'

You need to make the effort to recognize when craving arises, when any link of dependent origination arises. Be attentive, awareness, understand what is going on in the mind all the time. And then use the 6R's to let go of any tightness and tension. Let go, just see it without projecting the sense of I on it. The more you do this, in terms of the balanced effort, in terms of the awareness, in terms of the mindfulness, in terms of clear comprehension, the more it translates to a better meditation when you sit.

So what is the fuel that you're bringing to your meditation practice? It is all of the stuff you do before the sit. When you wake up, where is your mind? Have you woken up with a smile on your face? Have you woken up with some clarity, or are you groggy? If you are groggy, do you know you're groggy, or do you become the one who is groggy?

When you're walking to the shower, are you going on in your mind while you're walking? What states are present, what states are not present? How can you do this with mindfulness? How do you cultivate that mindfulness through the 6R's? This is how wisdom is developed: through proper attention, through yoniso manasikara, noticing any time the mind takes this personal, this is me, this is mine, this is myself, and letting go of that, and just being in that space where you're observing mind. There is just an observing going on. That's it. I've said this before and I always say it: I could save you guys two hours, three hours, with just saying two words, observe and 6R's. If you just did this, that is the practice. Observe and 6R's. What are you observing? What is going on in the mind, how mind is relating to experiences. What are you 6R's in? Any time mind takes things personally, identifies, craves, as aversion or any kind of ignorance.

The powers here mean strength. The word power comes from the word bala. Bala means to be strong. What does that mean, bala, to be strong? It means you develop the faculties in such a way that they become part of your mind. They become a quality of your mind. They become second nature to your mind. So you develop faith, the faculty of faith, until it becomes a strength that your mind has. The power of faith is the experiential confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha. The power of energy is being able to 6R immediately, all the time: recognizing, releasing, relaxing, re-smiling, returning, recognizing, releasing, relaxing, re-smiling, returning, noticing craving in every moment, whenever it arises, not even a lapse in developing that.

What is the power of mindfulness? Remembering to observe all the time. So first, it's the practice, the faculties of development. Development of faculties is the practice, and then the powers lead to the perfection of that practice. Practice makes perfect. Now you are mindful all the time. It's second nature to you. You don't even have to think about it. You are always mindful, collectedness. Your mind's attention is always non-dispersed. Wherever you incline your mind to, there it goes, whenever you want it to. Initially you had to practice. You had to make an effort. You had to incline the mind towards it. Now you can master the jhanas whenever you want, for however long you want. You can be in that jhana. This is what is meant by mastery of the fourth jhana that I was referring to yesterday, being able to go into that jhana whenever you want, at a moment's notice, for however long you want, precisely, accurately, and then also coming out of it whenever you want. So how is that developed?

Being able to understand each of the qualities of the jhana. When you explore each jhana, you're exploring the territory of that space. Like when you go for a hike, you stay at one place for a few minutes and you notice the nature around you. Here are the different bushes. Here are the different trees. Here are the different kinds of birds chirping. Here are the squirrels, here are the chipmunks, here is the shade, here is the sunlight, here is the view of the valley. Whatever it is that is there, you are taking it all in.

This is how you would start to develop mastery of the jhanas. Take it all in. Notice the joy, notice the sukha, notice the collectedness, notice the equanimity, notice the tranquility, notice anything that is arising in the form or as a factor of that particular jhana. Once you start to get yourself acquainted with it, and trust me, you can get quite acquainted with it. There is so much to explore. You can notice when the contact arises, when the feeling arises, when the perception arises, when the intention arises, when the enthusiasm arises, when the energy arises, when the decision making arises, when the resolution happens, and all of these different factors are present that are mentioned in Majjhima Nikaya 101-111, the Anupada Sutta.

Noticing which enlightenment factors are present and to which degree they are present in each jhana. Right? These are all the side quests that you do on this game to Nibbana. And then finally you have the power of wisdom. What does that mean? The power of wisdom: whatever it is that you want to know, you can know immediately. We can recognize any of the links of dependent origination. You can see what is going on in every moment, immediately, seeing the four noble truths, immediately, instantaneously, in every moment. What is arising and passing away.

Understanding with proper attention, attention rooted in reality, the three characteristics of every single moment. Seeing it as dependently arisen, seeing it as permanent, seeing it as liable to cause dukkha, seeing it as not me, not mine, not myself. You don't even have to think about it, it just becomes part of your nature. That is the power that you possess. How are these powers developed?

Six R's. Again, Udayeen, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way to develop the seven enlightenment factors. Here, a bhikkhu develops the mindfulness enlightenment factor, which is supported by seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, and results in relinquishment. He develops the investigation of states enlightenment factor, the energy enlightenment factor, the joy enlightenment factor, the tranquility enlightenment factor, the collectedness enlightenment factor, the equanimity enlightenment factor, which is supported by seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, and results in relinquishment, and thereby many disciples of mine abide having reached the consummation and perfection of direct knowledge.

The seven enlightenment factors. How do you develop the seven enlightenment factors? They are integrated whenever you use the six Rs. Whenever you recognize that the mind is distracted, you bring up the mindfulness enlightenment factor and the discernment enlightenment factor of noticing that the mind is distracted. Whenever you release that hindrance, whenever you release that distraction, you're abandoning and balancing the energy of mind.

Whenever you relax any tightness and tension, you are bringing up the tranquility enlightenment factor. Whenever you come back to your smile, you are bringing the joy enlightenment factor. When you come back to your object of meditation, your mind becomes collected and it has a collectedness enlightenment factor. And throughout that process you have developed equanimity, because you are seeing things as they are, or seeing things as they arise or as they become.

You remain unaffected one way or the other. You just notice mind has a hindrance. You recognize that, release, relax, re-smile, return. You have equanimity throughout that process, not fighting with the distraction, not saying oh no, here's this distraction again, not being frustrated by it, not wrestling with it, or not even evading it, not running away from it, just being okay: here you are, come in, let's talk, see what's going on. The moment you have that attitude of saying, okay, instead of saying, what is going on? Why is this happening to me? Oh my goodness, what's going on here? To, oh, it's only this.

You start to loosen that hindrance. The moment you start to make friends with your hindrance, the moment you start to invite the hindrance as a guest and say okay, I see you here, no big deal, and you laugh at it and you smile with it, it goes from this big terrifying thing to it's only this. And how do you go from that to this? Bringing that spaciousness in the mind of it is just the mind that's meditating. Just saying, okay, mind has present sensual craving. No big deal. Recognize it, release it, relax it, re-smile, come back to your object of meditation. You just keep doing that. Just keep doing that. And eventually, you will go through that hindrance and it will fade away completely.

Again, Udayeen, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way to develop the Noble Eightfold Path. Here, a bhikkhu develops right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right collectedness. And thereby, many disciples of mine abide, having reached the consummation and perfection of direct knowledge. So, what is right view? What is right intention? What is right speech? What is right action? What is right livelihood?

What is right effort, right mindfulness, and right collectedness? What is right view? Right view is first and foremost understanding karma, in the sense that if I do something unwholesome I will have an unwholesome consequence. If I do something wholesome there will be a wholesome consequence. Maybe not immediately, maybe not subsequently, but maybe at a certain point in time.

Understanding cause and conditionality. Understanding every action has a consequence. Understanding that there is this world of the five sense spaces, and there is that world of experiencing jhanas. This is all part of the mundane right view. Having gratitude for one's parents, because they brought us here to be able to experience Nibbana. Having faith in teachers and recluses who preach, or not preach, who teach the Dhamma.

And being able to learn from them and understand what is going on. And then finally, there is the right view, which is the understanding of the Four Noble Truths: coming to the understanding that this is suffering, coming to the understanding and abandoning of the causes and conditions for suffering, experiencing and realizing the total cessation of suffering, and the complete perfection of cultivating the path that leads to the cessation of suffering. Essentially, the Noble Eightfold Path.

It's amazing how this process works. The Four Noble Truths and how they work. There's all of these different beautiful feedback loops that allow the mind to be reconditioned in the right way, in the effective way, in the harmonious way. All you're doing is installing an update to the software of the mind. But it takes time. It takes a little effort to continue to do that. But don't do what you usually do and say, I'll do it later, I'll do it tonight, or remind me again in 24 hours. Do it right now. Do the upgrade now. This whole process, the way it works, the self-referential, the self-referencing that's going on, the fractals that go on in this whole process, how they come together.

And they're all done through the cultivation of right effort, all done through the process of using the six R's. And so you recognize what is wrong view and right view. That is your first understanding of right view. And you let go of wrong view using the six R's to come to right view. What is right intention? Right intention is letting go of the sense of this is me, this is mine, this is myself in relation to any kind of an experience. The cultivation of non-ill will or good will, that is loving kindness. The cultivation of non-cruelty or compassion, not harming others. The intention of not bringing harm to oneself nor bringing harm to another.

When you have that right intention, then you have right speech. What is right speech? Refraining from false speech, from harsh speech, from abusive speech, from unnecessary speech. There's an acronym that you can use to understand this, which is to think before you speak. T-H-I-N-K. What is that? Is it timely? T stands for, is it the right time to say what you want to say? H is for honesty. Do you know what you're going to say is truthful or not? I is for intention. What is the intention behind what it is that you want to say? Is it a wholesome intention or an unwholesome intention? N is for necessity. Is it necessary or beneficial to say what you want to say for the person or for yourself or for both or for neither.

And K is kindness. Can you say it with loving kindness? And that always brings up the question, what if I have to scold my child? What if I have to reprimand an employee or somebody who's being insubordinate? You can be sternly loving and kind. You can reprimand them using loving kindness. You don't have to use harsh speech, you don't have to use abusive speech, you don't have to bring them down.

You can do it with the cultivation of intentionally bringing them up. And that just requires skillful means of understanding what would be best for that situation. So think before you speak. What is right action? Refraining from taking what is not given. First and foremost, refraining from harming and killing living beings, refraining from taking what is not given, refraining from sensual misconduct. In other words, with right speech and right action, you are keeping the precepts.

And then right livelihood, not being part of any kind of business practice that harms yourself or harms another, not being part of any career or any job that harms yourself and harms another. That is right livelihood for laypeople. From right view, there comes right intention. From right intention, right speech and right action and right livelihood follow. Once you have cultivated that, the mind becomes ingrained in sila. The mind has morality and ethics, and the mind is purified by that sila, and now the mind is ready to do the real work, which is to meditate. But you need the equipment of meditation, and what is that? Right effort and right mindfulness.

What is right effort? Using the six senses. What is right mindfulness? Remembering to observe how mind's attention moves from one object to the other. That gives you right collectedness. What is right collectedness? Going into the jhanas, experiencing the first jhana, experiencing the second jhana, experiencing the third jhana, experiencing the fourth jhana. Having unification of mind that allows you to see and perceive what is arising and passing away.

So what is right collectedness? It means that there is no hindrance present in the mind and you are cultivating wholesome states of mind, namely the enlightenment factors that lead you to the factors of the jhanas, using the object of meditation to anchor the mind. So how do you go from wrong view to right view, wrong intention to right intention, wrong speech to right speech, wrong action to right action, wrong livelihood to right livelihood? You need right effort first. You need the right view of what is wrong and what is right, what is wholesome and unwholesome, and then you need the right intention to let go. That is imbued in right effort, which is recognizing, releasing, relaxing, re-smiling and returning. What do you return to? The right view, the right intention, the right speech, the right action, the right livelihood. And how do you do it mindfully? Notice how your mind's attention moves from the wrong factors to the right factors. When you do this, what are you cultivating? Right mindfulness. Once that's happened, what do you have?

Right collectedness. Right mindfulness leads to that right collectedness. And so, what is present in right collectedness? You have the four jhanas. Again, Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way to develop the four jhanas. Here, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhana, which is accompanied by applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion. He makes the rapture and pleasure born of seclusion drench, steep, fill, and pervade this body, so that there is no part of this entire body unpervaded by the rapture and pleasure born of seclusion.

Just as a skilled bathman or a bathman's apprentice heaps bath powder in a metal basin and, sprinkling it gradually with water, kneads it till the moisture wets his ball of bath powder, soaks it and pervades it inside and out, yet the ball itself does not ooze. So too, a bhikkhu makes the rapture and pleasure born of seclusion drench, steep, fill, and pervade this body, so that there is no part of this whole body unpervaded by the rapture and pleasure born of seclusion.

So this happens when you start to develop the mastery of the first, second, third, fourth jhana. That's what I was talking about earlier, where you notice what is going on in the first jhana. And you can dial down or dial up the volumes of the different factors. Think about it in this way. You're in the first jhana, and you're exploring the territory. Here is the contact, feeling, perception, intention, enthusiasm, resolution, decision-making, and equanimity, and so on. And here are the primary factors of joy, thinking and applied thought, or thinking and examining thought. Here is the factor of joy. Here is the factor of happiness or comfort in the body. Each of these has a dial that you can bring up or bring down, and you can notice: if you bring up more of the joy, what happens? If you bring up more of the sukha, what happens? You can start playing around with it, and so you steep the entire body with the feeling of joy. You steep the entire body with the feeling of sukha, with comfort, with happiness.

Now, you're doing this automatically whenever you have your object of meditation. You experience joy in different ways. You experience it as heat in the body. You experience it as radiance in the mind. You can experience it as some kind of a warmth going throughout your body or an aura around your body, or however it is that you experience these different factors.

Again, with the stilling of applied and sustained thought, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the second jhana, which has self-confidence and singleness of mind. What is the self-confidence? Now I know what's going on. Now I'm on autopilot. I can let go of the verbalizing, let go of the initializing, I can let go of all of that and stay with the loving kindness and go on autopilot.

So too, a bhikkhu makes the rapture and pleasure born of collectedness drench, steep, fill, and pervade this body, so that there is no part of this whole body unpervaded by the rapture and pleasure born of collectedness. Now the joy wells up. It's like a wellspring, it just keeps coming up. You actually start to experience the joy rising up sometimes. And what's going on is you start to experience the loving kindness expand.

It starts to become more expansive. It starts to feel like it's moving up towards the head. There's no more verbalizing going on over here. Now again, if you want to develop the second jhana, what do you do? You go into the second jhana and you explore the territory. How loud can you make the joy? How loud can you make the comfort and happiness?

Or how soft can you make it? You can just play with the dials and see for yourself how this process works. And how do you do that? By placing your intention on the joy, placing your intention on the happiness, placing your intention on any of the factors of that jhana. And you can increase the intensity or decrease the intensity.

Again, with the fading away as well of rapture, a bhikkhu abides in equanimity, mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body. That's the sukha. He enters upon and abides in the third jhana, on account of which noble ones announce he has a pleasant abiding, who has equanimity and is mindful. He makes the pleasure divested of rapture, that is to say the sukha alone, drench, steep, fill, and pervade this body, so that there is no part of this whole body unpervaded by the pleasure divested of rapture. Just as in a pond of blue or red or white lotuses, some lotuses that are born and grow in the water thrive immersed in the water without rising out of it, and cool water drenches, steeps, fills, and pervades them to their tips and their roots, so that there is no part of all those lotuses unpervaded by cool water.

So too, a bhikkhu makes the pleasure divested of rapture drench, steep, fill, and pervade this body, so that there is no part of this whole body unpervaded by the pleasure You're divested of rapture. So now you're experiencing a lot of tranquility. A lot of contentment. Sometimes you feel like you can't feel your body. Sometimes it's like your body has become light. And sometimes it feels like your body has become quite heavy. Quite grounded. Quite rooted.

And sometimes what you will feel is the expansion of loving kindness. It's moving even further up. And there's a lot of equanimity, a lot of tranquility, a lot of happiness, comfort in the body. Now, when you are developing the jhana, how do you do it? When you develop the mastery of the jhana, pay attention to the different factors. Again, you can drench the entire mind and body with the feeling of equanimity, with the feeling of tranquility, with the feeling of contentment, with the feeling of sukha, of comfort and happiness.

Again, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the fourth jhana, which has neither pain nor pleasure and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. He sits pervading his entire body with a pure bright mind, so that there is no part of this whole body unpervaded by the pure bright mind. Just as though a man were sitting covered from head down with a white cloth, so that there would be no part of his whole body not covered by the white cloth, so too a bhikkhu sits pervading this body with a pure, bright mind, so that there is no part of his whole body unpervaded by the pure, bright mind.

And thereby many disciples of mine abide having reached the consummation and perfection of direct knowledge. So, in the fourth jhana, what happens? You start to get into the mind, the pure, bright mind that has purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. And some people can see this as pure radiance, as pure luminosity, in terms of actual white radiance or white luminosity.

And this is just a sign that the mind has become quite collected. And so, when you are developing and mastering this jhana, when you do notice that luminosity, let the entire luminosity pervade the mind and the body. And how do you do that? By inclining your mind towards that light. If there is no light present, there is a stability of mindfulness that is equanimity.

You can dial up or dial down the equanimity and allow the equanimity to pervade the entire body. This is how you can develop the mastery and understanding of the different territories of each of the jhanas, if you so wish. This Udayin is the fifth quality, that is to say the development of all of these wholesome states, because of which my disciples honor, respect, revere and venerate me, and live in dependence on me, honoring and respecting me. These Udayeen are the five qualities because of which my disciples honor, respect, revere, and venerate me, and live in dependence on me, honoring and respecting me. That is what the Blessed One said. The wanderer Udayeen was satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One's words.

Any questions? It doesn't... I skipped through a lot. Do you know what I skipped through? Yes, the recollection of past lives and seeing with the divine eye, and all of that pomp and circumstance. - Yeah, you had a question. - So, say we're talking about jhana, let's say, I think we want to start with the first one. - Yeah, yeah. - So, what kind of things should we do to start with in the first one? So you start with an object of meditation and start to notice what factors are present in the mind.

Here is the verbalizing, here is the application or examination of thought, here is the joy that's arising, here is the comfort in the body that's arising, and then you notice the mind doesn't have any hindrance present, so now you are in the first jhana. Then you incline your mind, or take your intention, and notice the joy and start to work with the joy, start to work with the sukha, start to work with each of the different factors. You do the same thing with the second, the third and the fourth. So first you have to bring up some kind of an object so that the mind can become collected around it and be free of any kind of hindrance, and then work your way through it.

That's right. Eventually you will be able to master it as you start to become more familiar with the territory. Yeah? I have a question about the four bases and spiritual power. Yeah. The third one, the concentration on collectedness developed by purity of mind. Yeah. The way that you described purity of mind was defining it as collectedness. That's right. So that power, in that sense, is collectedness developed by collectedness? That's right. Could you elaborate a little bit on that? Well, it's essentially noticing any hindrances, any defilements of the mind that are present, and then letting them go. The thing about these 37 requisites of enlightenment is, though they seem separate and listed out in different separate categories,

they're actually overlapping and interconnected. So a lot of times the collectedness that you see in right collectedness and the collectedness you see in the enlightenment factor of collectedness, they might have different qualities, but they're all pointing to something similar or the same. Likewise, when we talk about purity of mind, we're saying that the mind is purified of any unwholesome states, which leads to collectedness. I had a question about when you said you were talking about kind of like the two fundamentals of practice being the 6R's and observe, correct? And so I was trying to think about in the context of when you're having a conversation with someone or you're speaking to someone, what is the observation?

Is it the observation of how I'm speaking, or where does the observation fit into that context? The observation is what are you saying and how are you saying it, and what is your intention behind what it is that you're saying. And letting go of any kind of craving that might be there, any kind of motivation of aversion that might be there, or taking something personally, taking the speech personally, whether it's yours or the other person's.

When you mention that you go to the jhana, you can dial up or dial down, depending on what you want, the sukha, what have you, wouldn't that be going again to the observation that there's a sense of craving in it, that, oh, I want more sukha, oh, I want lots of this, and it's like manipulating, in some sense, wouldn't that be it, instead of just observe whatever it is? That's what you're doing right now, but if you want to master it, you can start to understand what's going on using Chanda, wholesome inclination, to see how much joy there arises. Now, yeah, that's important to understand. If you do that you can get obsessed by the joy and start to be like, dial it down, dial it up, all the way to 11, forget 10, just go all the way to 11 and become obsessed by that. But it's a process of understanding how well your mind can be malleable from one level to the next.

It's not about like I need that joy or I need that sukha, it's about, okay, this is what happens if I do this, this is what happens if I do that. It's a process of experimentation, and by no means am I telling any of you to do this on retreat. But some of you have asked what is the mastery of jhana, so therefore I'm answering this question. This is how you do it, and then you get to determinations, right? That's interwoven with determinations, and while we've given some of you the determinations to see how long you can sit in one jhana and for how long you're able to stay in it and come out of it, it's a matter of consistent practice of doing it until you hit those time markers. That's for the mastery of duration of being in a jhana or duration of being in nirota, but the other levels of mastery are being able to see how well you can explore and understand and discern the territory of each of the jhanas, which is exactly what Sariputta does in Majjhima Nikaya 111.

He's noticing so many different factors that are present in each of the jhanas. Now we've done that in the past where we've actually sat together and we've read Majjhima Nikaya 111. It takes a lot of time, so we do the first four jhanas, and we go through the first jhana and we talk about each of those factors, and we all go sit in a circle and meditate and go into the first jhana and explore what exactly it is that we're able to discern, and then we come out and we all discuss what's going on there. So this is one way of doing it. If you have a sitting group it's a wonderful way of developing it with your sitting group. Go into the first jhana, discuss what's going on, go into the second jhana, discuss what's going on. You can do this all the way up to cessation if anybody in your. So I am again thinking of worldly painful feelings and unworldly painful feelings.

Yeah. And this in Pali works as samisa and niramisa. Sometimes they translate it as bodily and in-flesh and not in-flesh. It's so confusing. So when I see it as bodily or in-flesh, you're really talking about the five physical sense spaces. And when you're talking about out-of-flesh, sure, not of body, you're really talking about mind. That's a mental experience. What would be a painful mental?

Well, for example, we were talking about the meditation pain as one, but the hindrances is another. Any kind of mental corruption that's present can be experienced as a mental painful feeling. Restlessness is a big one, yeah, that is true. A painful feeling. Yeah. A lot of agitation that goes on that the mind is just... Yeah, nothing. Yeah. Yeah. But it's in your flesh, yet it's not. Yeah. It's a feeling, but it's a mental feeling. In the body, it's not like your leg is cut, it's a... Or even sloth and torpor for that matter. Yeah. It's a pain for a meditative person, right? Right. Yeah, although, yeah, that is true. It is painful specifically for a meditative person, but anybody who is experiencing restlessness is still experiencing a painful mental feeling, whether they know it or not, whether they're aware of it or not.

Some people go through their whole lives being restless, and that just becomes their state of mind. Yeah, that's right, that's the irony, that's the big paradox, and that happens very commonly where somebody is meditating and all of a sudden they're experiencing sloth and torpor. Everything seems to be in balance. You've taken a cold shower, you wash your face, you've sat down and you're like, there, and then you nod off to sleep, and then you go to lie down and your mind is fully awake and unable to take a nap.

It is sloth and torpor. But sloth and torpor isn't always to do with lack of sleep, isn't always to do with tiredness of the body as well. It can just be that the mind is shutting down because it's just so unused to being secluded. And so you have to provide it with the right amount of the right factors, which include proper attention and effort and joy. Joy really slices through sloth and. Pain during the meditation, some of the other meditators sometimes associate that with a past life event, but it's not like the back pain, it's going to be someone's tapping in the back. Yeah.

It could be. It's possible that that could be an outcome of some kind of past life where the pain is a residue of that. But you think about any kind of pain that you experience, that's why if somebody's having that kind of pain, first and foremost I would say stop trying so hard and relax. Sometimes if that pain is persistent, then I would offer forgiveness practice as a way of letting go, because any pain in the body, even if it's physical, can be a representation or manifestation of some kind of knot, like a K-N-O-T, knot of unresolved emotional or mental blockages. Well, if somebody has fun doing it, they can do it, but usually it's not fun.

Okay. The other question regarding the dependent origination, let's say if you take a monitoring example, you're talking about this aggregate is not me, it's not my control. If I decide to go and take a shower, is that a habitual tendency, is that an intention? I'm trying to give you some limits of the other intention beside that, and it comes out. And if I go there, of course, I try hot water and a bath, and then that, of course, might be habitual tendencies or feelings, or sometimes I not get things or I don't like that feeling.

So where is that intention of going to take a shower and doing something that comes from? Is that the formation part or is it the actual tendency of perception? It starts with contact. That's contact. Yeah, because mind makes contact with the object that maybe I should go take a shower. And then there's an intention to go. So the contact gives rise to mental formations that provide the thought and the experience of going, or the inclination to go, and there is the intention of walking to take a shower.

Yeah, yeah. One last question, is it okay to prove that the first two are more mental intentions in the speech and action and doing more physical interaction with the material more than the last ER support of the first word in Ghana? What is your categorization again you said? So the first two drive to your intention are in the mind. The mind activity. The speech and action and livelihood are the body action and the interaction between the external life or the material world. And the lack of weight is of course the effort for the higher health or the donna and again the mental activity.

There is sila, samadhi, panya categorization. That's, yeah, that's the usual categorization that's given; sila, samadhi, and panya. That is to say, sila has to do with right speech, right action, right livelihood. Samadhi has to do with right effort, right mindfulness, and right collectedness, and panya is "Right view" and "Right intention." That's what I was saying, it's like this self-referencing loop that helps recondition the mind. Yeah? I had a question on the factors of the jhana that you can die after now. I was trying it as a student and it was really cool. And I'm having thinking, every time I enter jhana, it feels like it's different. The factors are different. And retreats is very usually quite strong now.

What determines what setting these dials are effective? First of all, the intention that you have, the level of clarity that you have, the level of effort that you're making, determines the strength and intensity of these different factors. When I was doing jhanas initially, the first few months plus of my practice, I was concentrating for months, and pajamas were so okay. Now that I'm doing it better and less concentrated and more wise, the factors in the future are what you mean? Partly.

Because I'm also talking about the fact that you can still experience joy, and still experience joy to a greater degree, but still not be one-pointed in that experience. So when I say talking about clarity, talking about the intention and the effort, it's really about all dependent upon how good your mindfulness is for each of the factors, and what enlightenment factors are also present, and what level of enlightenment factors and degrees are present in there. I wondered if it would be okay to just offer an addendum to when you asked earlier about the interactions, the conversational interactions between two human beings, two people, what to be mindful of, for years I didn't even really know that this was kind of a formal practice, but I was just observing tension and tightness.

Because when you're interacting with another human being, there is always some kind of tension or tightness going on in the body somewhere. And it's gross, right? It's a more obvious thing. It doesn't really require some kind of refined mindfulness. So anyone can really observe their own tension and tightness during their interaction with another human being and it will point to things to them. Right.

That's a good addendum. Yeah? If someone's able to master the jhana with that sense that they're also able to master mindfulness better outside the daily activities or that would not correspond because I find it easier to sit but when you real were walking out with all the senses in the bar it is so hard so I feel like I shouldn't be sitting too much, I should do more stuff that I'm not good at and use my practice there. The better you get in meditation, the more it will translate to mindfulness in daily life. The more mindful you are in daily life, the more it will translate to a better meditation.

Again, feedback loop systems. Just more mindfulness, better meditation. Better meditation, stronger mindfulness. So do one or the other and notice how it transforms. Is there a way to practice mindfulness in my day-to-day, if I'm doing an activity, say, I'm reading, I have to read a book, for example, on a plane, on a subway, is it possible to practice mindfulness at the same time? Because usually when I do it, I notice I put too much on it, and I lose all of my tasks. Yeah, when you're doing anything, that's the other thing, when you're doing a task, the mind has a tendency to just do that one task alone, and at the end of that task, how does the mind feel?

For a few maybe hours it might feel really good, it feels like it's been in flow state, and what happens usually? It feels tired by the end of it. But if you have mindfulness in terms of when you are there and you're reading, your whole mind is reading and aware of how it's reading and what's going on. In other words, if you're reading a book or you're studying or even watching a movie, you're noticing if your mind's attention wavers and you let go of that, let go of any tightness and tension and come back and pay attention to what it is that you're doing at the task at hand.

If you become too focused, what happens is it means you're suppressing any distractions. You'll have to find the balance. Keep working with it. You'll see it. One thing is to say that reading a book requires concentration, whereas in meditation it is more collectedness. Collectedness. In reading a book I think if the book says something unfortunate, your mindfulness will say it is not good for me to read. It brings up these unborn daughters and that is where mindfulness is helping you. I was trying to figure out a way to practice my mindfulness at work and help with. Because that's where the majority of my people are. Right, so understanding if there's craving or aversion present in whatever it is that you're doing, whether it's reading or reading an email or answering an email or whatever it might be, whatever it is that you do at work.

Let's share some merit. May suffering ones be suffering free, and a 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. Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu. All right.