Jan 31 2021 - MN 137 - The Analysis of the Six Sense Fields

to youtube so we'll have some some people joining in from youtube as well and if there are any questions at the end also I will read them out if there are questions coming in from the youtube so with that I'd like to hand over to you thank you good morning good afternoon good evening everybody. I'm going to be reading Majjhima Nikaya 137. This is the Salayatanavibhanga Sutta, the exposition of the sixfold bases as translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi. As have I heard, on one occasion the Blessed One was living at Savapi in Jetta's Grove, Anathapindika's park there he addressed the bhikkhus thus bhikkhus venerable sir they replied the blessed one said this bhikkhus I shall teach you an exposition of the sixfold base

listen and attend closely to what I shall say yes venerable sir the bhikkhus replied the blessed one said this the six internal bases should be understood the six external bases should be understood the six classes of consciousness consciousness should be understood the six classes of contact should be understood the 18 kinds of mental exploration should be understood the 36 positions of beings should be understood therein by depending on this abandon that there are three foundations of mindfulness that the noble one cultivates cultivating which the noble one is a teacher fit to instruct a group among the teachers of training it is he that is called the incomparable leader of persons to be tamed this is the summary of the exhibition of the sixfold base the six internal bases should be understood so it was said and with reference to what was this said there are the eye base the ear base the nose base the tongue base the body base and the mind base so it was said with reference to this so it was with reference to this that it was said the six internal bases should be understood

So what he's talking about here is of course the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body and the mind, and their corresponding receptors, sensory receptors. The six external bases should be understood. So it was said, and with reference to what was this said? There are the form base, the sound base, the odor base, the flavor base, the tangible base and the mind object base. So it was with reference to this that it was said the six external bases should be understood. So the six internal and the six external bases formulate the 12, I have the knots, the different sense spheres that include the receptors themselves and the object of the senses as you just mentioned. The six classes of consciousness should be understood. So it was said, and with reference to what was this said? There are eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness

body consciousness and mind consciousness. So it was with reference to this that it was said the six classes of consciousness should be understood. So here consciousness is referring to the bare awareness of the six sense receptors. So you are aware of the eye faculty, the ear faculty, the nose faculty, the tongue faculty, the body faculty and the mind faculty, and that awareness provides one the ability to be aware of the sensory reception, the sensory information being inputted through the sensory receptors. The six classes of contact should be understood. So it was said, and with reference to what was this said? There are eye contact, ear contact, nose contact, tongue contact, body contact and mind contact. So it was with reference to this that it was said the six classes of contact should be understood.

This contact here, the eye contact, the ear contact, the nose contact, tongue contact, body contact and mind contact, it's the stimulation of these six sense receptors. So you have the sensory object, you have the six sense bases themselves, and then you have the consciousness of that, and the meaning of these three is sensory contact. It's the actual stimulation of the photoreceptors when one sees something. It's the actual stimulation of the auditory nerves when one hears something. It's the activation of the olfactory bulb and the taste buds when one smells or tastes something. It's the feeling that one has of the air hitting the skin or a fly landing on the skin. And then when a thought emerges in the mind space, so to speak, there is the thinking, which is the feeling. The 18 kinds of mental exploration should be understood. So it was said, and with reference to what was this said? Mental exploration here is referring essentially to thinking and examining thoughts. If I'm not mistaken, it's referring to vitaka and vichara, in the sense that one has thoughts about what one is seeing.

One has thoughts about what one is experiencing in different ways. So he says, on seeing a form with the eye, one explores a form productive of joy. One explores a form productive of grief. One explores a form productive of equanimity. So here he's talking about the pleasant, the joyful, or the joyous, the unpleasant, that is grief, and the neither pleasant nor unpleasant, or neither pleasant nor painful, which is equanimity.

productive of joy one explores these productive of grief one explores these productive of equanimity thus there are six kinds of exploration with joy six kinds of exploration with grief and six kinds of exploration with equanimity so it was with reference to this that it was said the 18 kinds of mental exploration should be understood so upon experiencing any of these sensory information there is a reflection and analysis of what is going on and that analysis starts with perceiving what is pleasant painful or neutral the 36 positions of beings should be understood so it was said and with reference to what was the set there are six kinds of joy based on the household life and six kinds of joy based on renunciation there are six kinds of grief based on the household life and six kinds of grief based on renunciation there are six kinds of equanimity based on the household life and six kinds of equanimity based on renunciation herein what are the six kinds of joy based on the household life

So in this context, when the Buddha refers to these things that are cognizable by the sixth sense basis, that are wished for, desired, agreeable, gratifying and associated with worldliness, he's talking about a mindset that is extroverted, in the sense that it is always looking for things around it, even within the mind in relation to thoughts, and attaching a sense of self to it, personalizing it, identifying with what is agreeable, what is gratifying, associated with worldliness. There are times when such a mind will think about the past, where nostalgia might arise, and one might start to create all kinds of ideas around it, all kinds of fantasies around it. You know, those were the good old days, and all kinds of things like that. And one experiences some form of joy around that. But because it is a joy with identifying and with the idea that this is permanent and lasting, at least in those moments there's no idea that this is impermanent, there's no idea that this is impersonal, there's no idea that this is going to cause suffering because it is impermanent.

And because of that, there is eventually and inevitably suffering that will arise, because one has personalized it, one has identified with it. That nostalgia factor that's there, although it has joy, is also tainted by longing, tainted by a certain form of sadness or disappointment, that such as such is not now. The past is not now anymore, and so one has all kinds of thoughts related to suffering and thoughts related to belonging because of that. Herein, what are the six kinds of joy based on renunciation? Renunciation, I'll have to see what the original Pali is, but my guess is it's based on the word nekkhamma. Nekkhamma means basically letting go, and what are you letting go of? You're letting go of sensual craving, letting go of the factors that could cause that craving to arise. And nekkhamma is actually one of the factors of right intention, right intention being the attitude of letting go, the attitude of renouncing that which is impermanent, that which is not self, that which is liable to bring suffering. And along with that is non-ill will and non-cruelty. These three make up right intention.

Or if you're just doing something, you're staying with whatever it is that you're doing, whether it's eating or driving the car or walking, whatever it might be. At a certain point the mind gets distracted. Perhaps it starts getting thinking about the past. It starts thinking about things related to what has just been experienced in the way of the senses. So perhaps somebody saw something that is pleasing to the eye or displeasing to the eye, and that creates mental proliferation, started by that mental exploration. From there there's that perception, and then there's that craving. So you recognize that using the first R, recognizing that your mind is distracted. Bring your awareness back to the mind and the body, centering yourself back to the present, and relax. The moment you relax, which is to say let go, that is that nekkhamma, the renunciation of that tension, the letting go of the craving and the factors leading to creating, which is that personalizing, which is that identifying.

When you do that relaxed step of the process, you immediately find the mind to be tranquil. You immediately find the mind to be open, and obviously relaxed. You immediately find the mind to have a natural sense of joy emerge. And so, in the context of the meditation, you come back to the re-smile, which activates the joy even further. So there is great joy that arises when you let go, and a mind that lets go is naturally collected, and such a mind is also naturally happy, and vice versa. So there's an interdependency there. Upon having that joy the mind is naturally collected and relaxed, but upon relaxing and letting go of anything that causes tension and craving, upon letting it go, the mind becomes naturally relaxed and joyful, and hence naturally collected. Herein, what are the six kinds of grief based on the household life? When one regards as a non-gain the non-gain of forms cognizable by the eye that are wished for, desired, agreeable, gratifying,

grief arises. Such grief as this is called grief based on the household life. These are the six kinds of grief based on the household life. So this grief that is being discussed is that regret, when you think about the past, things that were not accomplished, that were not achieved, states of regret where one wanted to do something but was not able to, or where one did something that one has remorse for, and so on and so forth. And then, of course, in the present situation, where one desires something, one wants something but is unable to gain it, which is to say there is craving present, but because that craving arises and it does not fulfill, that discontentment is not fulfilled. There arises suffering. There arises this grief. Herein, what are the six kinds of grief based on renunciation? When by knowing the impermanence, change, fading away and cessation of forms, one sees as it actually is with proper wisdom that forms both formerly and now are all impermanent, suffering and subject to change, one generates a longing for the supreme liberation. Thus:

When shall I enter upon and abide in that base that the noble ones now enter upon and abide in? This is referring to that state of mind which is free of craving, in essence a fully awakened mind, a mind that is completely liberated, free of craving, free of identifying, and free of ignorance, because it is only in such a mind that one will not crave, one will not have ill will towards anything, and one will not identify with the senses, thus creating the fuel for craving.

In one who thus generates a longing for the supreme liberation, the eight jhanas, as well as the cessation of perception and feeling, grief arises without longing as condition. Such grief as this is called grief based on renunciation. These are the six kinds of grief based on renunciation. So, in other words, the mind understands, at least on the intellectual level, after having heard the Dhamma talk and reading the sutta and having it being expounded, yes, on a theoretical and intellectual level, one understands that all of these sensory experiences are impermanent, are subject to cessation, are the cause of suffering by craving.

And are impersonal. But how can I understand that better? And so that grief is there in the sense that there is a longing to be able to experience the cessation of craving, and hence experience the cessation of suffering. Meaning one longs for the path, which is right collectedness along with the other seven factors of the eightfold path. But specifically here, as the Buddha talks about, is the supreme liberations related to the eight jhanas and the cessation of perception and feeling, because it is after that one sees with wisdom, one understands as it actually is, the unfolding of dependent origination. So one understands this on the intellectual level after having heard the talks, and there's a longing for that. There's the desire for that, and there is a sense of longing that is disappointing because one has not achieved that yet. So what's important here now to understand is, if somebody desires that, that desire has arisen from understanding that this is the path, and so one wants to follow that path and experience it for oneself. This is chanda. This is wholesome desire, or cultivated intention.

Once that's there, one lets that go and then uses the tools one has learned to enter the jhanas, also understanding later on that even the jhanas need to be let go of, and ultimately cessation of perception and feeling, which leads to that wisdom. Herein, what are the six kinds of equanimity based on the household life? On seeing a form with the eye, equanimity arises in a foolish, infatuated, ordinary person, in an untaught ordinary person who has not conquered his limitations or conquered the results of action and who is blind to danger. Such equanimity as this does not transcend the form.

That is why it is called equanimity based on the household life. These are the six kinds of equanimity based on the household life. So what does this mean? It says here equanimity arises in a foolish, infatuated, ordinary person, and an untaught ordinary person. So this is referring to somebody who has not been introduced to Dhamma and thus doesn't really have a pathway, a guidance system of how to deal with sensory experiences via equanimity. And so he has not conquered his limitations or conquered the result of action, which is to say he has not understood that these are all impermanent and one should let go. And from there there arises that equanimity. And the results of action here is one still has the sense that one is the doer, one is the self, experiencing all of these different objects of the sensory experience, of the sense of the sixth sense basis. So one identifies with the sensory experiences and then reacts from a sense of self, reacts from that sense of doer, that I am doing this. So this is really related to conceit, and that notion of me, mine and me,

Renunciation, remember, is nekkhamma. It's the attitude of letting go. So that means you have already utilized right intention. You utilize right effort when you let go of any distractions and bring up the enlightenment factors, bring up the wholesome states of mind. You are mindful whenever your mind gets distracted and releases that craving, so you get into jhana, and so now you are using right collectedness. Now, the arising and passing away of hindrances is dependent upon your ability to let them go in the meditation, but also implicitly connected with following or not following the other factors of the path, namely right speech, right action and right life. So that means essentially following the five basic precepts. The more you do this, the less there is a chance for hindrances to arise. It's not a one-shot deal where you start experiencing or maintaining the five precepts and then expect that no hindrances will arise. Hindrances will still arise based on karma. Remember, these hindrances are also mental karma. They're arising in the mind, they're becoming, in contact.

With the mind, so that is the mind option. But now let's go a little further. When you experience the base of infinite consciousness, when you experience the sixth arupa jhana, or the six channel, let's say you are experiencing the arising and passing away of sensory contact, and experience it as internal contact. It's happening within the process of the mind. Yes, it can happen while you're meditating with your eyes open. Let's say you're walking. There have been circumstances where people see reality become frames of a film reel, so it starts to become flickering. One might hear flickering in the ear, or all kinds of different flickering in the way of the senses: electricity in the tongue, a phantom smells and flavors, electricity in the head. They start to see the thoughts arising and passing away without any involvement or personalizing. And in seeing all of this, one sees the arising and passing away of sensory consciousness. One sees the rebirth of consciousness, so one is experiencing firsthand impermanence.

And after a while it becomes tiresome to the mind, because it becomes tiresome to the mind it is suffering. It is dukkha, inherently dukkha, because it is impermanent and because it keeps arising and passing away. On a broader scale, we're talking about samsara, which is inherently filled with dukkha for that very reason, because there is rebirth taking place all the time, and nowhere is there anything permanent within samsara. There's only nibbana, which is considered to be the unconditioned, permanent reality, I'd say. So one experiences the impermanence of these senses and the consciousness of these senses while in infinite consciousness, and then experiences the dukkha, and ultimately sees that there's no controller here, that you didn't cause this. So there's no sense of you causing it. It just arose because of a series of causes and conditions.

Where there is the meeting, internally in the mind, of the eye and whatever is happening in the way of visual perception, let's say within the mind, or if you are seeing it with your eyes open, the meeting of form, the meeting of light in the eye, and it's flickering because you're seeing firsthand that rebirth of consciousness. What happens after that, when you're in that jhana or in that state of infinite consciousness? Once you realize this, that flickering starts to slow down on its own. You are still using joy as the object of meditation, but eventually that joy starts to fade into equanimity, and this is the equanimity that arises upon realizing this. As that flickering fades away or slows down, it gets deeper, and everything stops, and there is that level of nothingness.

the effort to go into the first jhana through loving kindness. One's attention is for the most part on that loving kindness, and so there is a reduction of sensory craving, and finally a complete elimination of craving for those senses when one is in the first jhana, when one is completely attending to loving kindness. It is thus they are abandoned, it is thus they are surmounted. By depending and relying on the six kinds of equanimity based on renunciation, abandon and surmount the six kinds of joy based on renunciation. So even in all of this, we're talking about it in the context of meditation, but also in daily life, one can understand through experiencing and seeing firsthand how this is not worth holding onto. Which means one uses mindfulness to pay attention to the feelings that are arising, dependent upon the sensory experiences that are arising, and not allowing the mind to identify with it, and letting it go. And so there is that renunciation of letting go of that identifying, or letting go of the craving if it arises, or letting go of the aversion if it rises.

It is thus they are abandoned, it is thus they are surmounted. There is, bhikkhus, equanimity that is diversified based on diversity, and there is equanimity that is unified based on unity. And what, bhikkhus, is equanimity that is diversified based on diversity? There is equanimity regarding forms, sounds, odors, flavors and tangibles. This, bhikkhus, is equanimity that is diversified based on diversity. So there is the equanimity of seeing this as impersonal and not attaching to it, and having a mind that is balanced and free of craving, that is naturally filled with that clarity of mind that you experience when you release your awareness from that craving and let go of that tension arising because of that craving. And what, bhikkhus, is equanimity that is unified based on unity? There is equanimity regarding the base of infinite space, the base of infinite consciousness, the base of nothingness, and the base of neither perception nor non-perception. This, bhikkhus, is equanimity that is unified based on unity. Here, bhikkhus, by depending and relying on equanimity that is unified

based on unity abandoned and surmount equanimity that is diversified based on diversity it is thus this is abandoned it is thus this is surmounted this is getting into jhana practice so there will still be for example sounds that you might hear uh other sensory experiences that you might still experience in the first four jhanas so there is still contact with the body but not so much so in the four jhanas and in the jhanas thereafter or in the planes of experience thereafter so this is talking about creating a mind that is completely unified and feeling that equanimity that arises in the fourth jhana that comes quite naturally and eventually that then transcends the body you start losing sensory awareness of the body and mostly feel it in the head and then from there you experience infinite space infinite consciousness nothingness and neither perception and perception

Because by depending and relying on non-identification, abandon and surmount equanimity that is unified based on unity. It is thus this is abandoned, it is thus this is surmounted. In other words, the non-identification here is letting go of the idea that you are experiencing the jhanas, letting go of the idea that you're experiencing the arupa jhanas, let's say, the idea that you are meditating. Let go of the different factors, and let go of the identifying of those factors. You understand them as they arise, but you don't attach to them. A sense of self, you don't attach a sense of self to the compassion, to the joy, to the equanimity or the loving kindness. You don't attach a sense of self to the experience of the hindrances or the process of the six-sense process. You're just watching it as it arises, understanding with mindfulness and awareness that there is a distraction.

Utilizing with intention the six-sense process, experiencing that letting go, but understanding that all of this that is happening is because various kinds of factors, of causes and conditions, are happening to bring this together. But nowhere in that should it be said that there is identification there. It might feel like it because there is the intention there, but even that intention is dependent upon formations, and so because of that they are also impermanent and impersonal, and you let that go as well. Let go of the idea of identifying with any of this that happens within the jhana. So it was in reference to this that it was said: therein, by depending on this, abandon that. There are three foundations of mindfulness that the noble one cultivates, cultivating which the noble one is a teacher fit to instruct a group. So it was said. And with reference to what was this said here? Because compassionate and seeking their welfare, the teacher teaches the Dhamma to the disciples out of compassion.

with it. So this is a great way of being. This is a great source of inspiration to be a teacher. In that regard, to not have any expectation of one's students and just be happy when they are moving and progressing along, but at the same time not being disturbed if they don't, because everyone's actions in common is their own. They are responsible for their own effort. They're responsible for their choices. They're responsible for the effects of those choices and the effects of those actions and efforts that they commit. And so it says: guided by the elephant tamer, bhikkhus, the elephant to be tamed goes in one direction, east, west, north or south. Guided by the horse tamer, bhikkhus, the horse to be tamed goes in one direction, east, west, north or south. Guided by the ox tamer, bhikkhus, the ox to be tamed goes in one direction, east, west, north or south. Bhikkhus, guided by the Tathagata, accomplished and fully enlightened, the person to be tamed goes in eight directions. So now these eight directions are in reference to the four form jhanas and the formless spheres of understanding.

possessed of material form he sees form this is the first direction not perceiving forms internally he sees forms externally this is the second direction he is resolved upon the beautiful this is the third direction so now he's referring to the different states of the genres in the rupa genres so here the beautiful is referred to really the fourth jhana and then he says with the complete surmounting of perceptions of form with the disappearance of perceptions of sensory impact so the mind doesn't experience that much sensory contact with the body with not attention to perceptions of diversity aware that space is infinite he enters and abides in the base of infinite space this is the fourth direction by completely surmounting the base of infinite space aware that consciousness is infinite he enters upon and abides in the base of infinite consciousness this is the fifth direction by completely surmounting the base of infinite consciousness aware that there is nothing he enters upon and abides in the base of nothingness this is the sixth direction by completely surmounting the base of nothingness he enters upon and abides in the base of neither perception or non-perception

This is the seventh direction. By completely surmounting the base of neither perception or non-perception, he enters upon and abides in a cessation of perception and feeling. This is the eighth direction. Bhikkhus, guided by the Tathagata, accomplished and fully enlightened, the person to be tamed goes in these eight directions. So it was with reference to this that it was said: among the teachers of training, it is he that is incomparable, the incomparable leader of persons to be tamed. That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One's

words okay questions i have i have a question yeah a person who has not his limited who has not uh reached his limitation limitations are the results of action something it was mentioned who has not conquered conquered his limitations means yeah so that means somebody who is basically carried away by craving carried away by personalizing and identifying with a six sense basis and the results of actions here as i understand it is referring to comma meaning somebody who who identifies with that comma and then creates new comment through personalizing through identifying and through craving and aversion you see there is the old comma and there's the new comments somebody who keeps identifying with the experiences that they're feeling they will react in a way that causes new suffering to arise that causes new rebirth to arise that causes new comma to arise so that means this is somebody who is basically not able to understand in that moment when craving arises and therefore is not able to let go of that craving and therefore is not able to let go of the effects of that comma the results of those

actions. One more question. Equanimity of household life. Next, grief based on household life and joy based on household life, renunciation. Somewhat a bit explanation is required. I'm not able to understand, please. So he was talking about the equanimity of the household life, where there's still some kind of identification going on with it. So even though one doesn't have a pleasant or unpleasant feeling, there's a neutral feeling, there's still a sense of I going on there. There's still a sense of ownership. There's still a sense of this is me, this is mine, this is I am this. So that is the equanimity of a householder. The grief of a householder is one who

longs for something but is unable to attain it. So they have a craving for something but they don't attain it, and that is the grief that arises, or they have regret over something that they didn't achieve in the past or accomplish in the past. And then the joy, of course, is the longing that arises, and then they have the craving that arises upon having that experience, which is the identification of that experience. The equanimity of the one who's renouncing, or based on renunciation, is the equanimity that arises quite naturally at the level of infinite consciousness. So when you see for yourself that all of these different sensory experiences are impermanent

meaning that they just arise and pass away and therefore are tiresome, and they cause the mind this tiredness, this sense of when is this going to end, and that's that suffering. And you see that there's no control there. So that naturally brings to that person equanimity, which one feels at the level of nothingness in meditation. The joy of renunciation, or based on renunciation, is where one experiences the joy of renouncing the sixth sense basis. This is spelled when one sees that this feeling that is arising based on sensory experiences is not myself, is impermanent. And so one does not have longing for it and lets it go in that moment, renounces it in that moment.

But in the case of the meditation as well, there is the seclusion of the mind from the sixth sense experiences. So the mind becomes collected when it initializes the application of thought for the loving kindness to arise. So that joy, that bliss that arises, is because of the mind that is secluded from the sensual pleasures, which is dependent upon the sixth senses.

Then the grief that is experienced based on renunciation is that longing for the jhanas, the longing for the experience of nirvana, the longing for the cessation of suffering. So at an intellectual level you have the understanding that sensory experiences, feeling and so on are impermanent. I get them. They are filled with suffering. I understand that they are not, so all right, I have some kind of understanding of that on an intellectual level. But how can I experience this for myself in reality? How can I experience the three symptoms or the three characteristics of existence for myself? And when one understands that, it is through following the eightfold path, which all culminates in the eighth factor, the eighth fold, which is jhana practice, that one has longing to experience the jhanas, because one knows that this is the way to experience knowledge and vision, to experience liberation of the mind. So that grief that arises is that longing to experience the jhanas based on the understanding

that all of this is impersonal, impermanent and not what we're going on to. Thank you, thank you. Uh, Delson, yeah, the centre touches on, like, absent-minded students, and then the teacher not being affected by that. But one of the issues that I actually have with this is the way that I learn it. Like, audio is a really, really terrible way for anything to go into my mind. I need to really just get it led to me being really bad at my job for quite a long time, actually. I need to get something down, and maybe, like, write it down or something. Is there a practice that you could recommend to go alongside listening to these talks that can help me, because it's that difficult to process when things are being said, you know, for it to actually go in, that I become absent-minded, because it's, yeah. Yeah, well, as far as I understand about your experience, you have, uh, quite some

Understanding of Dhamma to some extent. So after this, what needs to be done is more practice. So allow your mind to continually experience jhana, allow your mind to continually experience the meditation practice, thereby you will be able to recognize all of the things that are being discussed when you review them. So if the mind is not able to understand or not able to penetrate what is being said in that moment, that's quite okay. There's a lot of information in the suttas and there's a lot of things to be expounded upon, but the beauty is these things are recorded, so you can always refer to them later on. When you start to experience jhana, you can go back into the first and second jhana, all the way up to the fourth jhana, resolve your mind to be calm and collected, and then re-listen to them from that mindset.

Thank you. If nobody has another question, I do. It's in regard to the advice to the Anathapindika Sutta, and clinging is used as a very significant description on how to retain the nirvana by not clinging to the aggregates and other various things throughout that sutta, but also throughout all suttas. But what I don't seem to understand is the relationship between how just not having, not clinging

But you could, you could still have craving there. So I don't know if you could describe maybe the difference or the relationship between the two. Yeah. Craving essentially is the longing for something. It's the craving is also the identifying with something. So you have craving in the sense that you either want more of it because you're not satisfied in the moment, there's this contentment there, or you have aversion towards it because you're not happy with the present reality that's being experienced, and so you don't want any more of it. Both of these are dependent upon the sense of I, the sense of me, the identification process, the clinging within the process of the links of dependent origination.

Is the clinging to the four types of clinging, the clinging to the sensory experience, which starts to create all kinds of mental proliferation, dependent upon that, and start to create an identity around it: that I like this and I don't like that, this is my favorite color, this is my favorite flavor, and so on and so forth. There's the clinging related to views, including clinging related to self-view, and then there is the clinging related to rites and rituals, which is there is this sort of requirement in the mind, which is that I have to do this in order to attain salvation. I have to do this in order to attain nirvana. So that's that one kind of clinging, which one no longer has when one becomes a sotapanna.

The clinging to views is related to clinging to the two types of views related to eternalism and annihilationism, meaning there is a self which is eternal and will therefore experience heaven that is eternal and permanent, and so on, so it creates this sense of identity there, or that there is a self that is demolished at the dissolution of the body, so it's not experienced beyond that. These two extremes.

Are what are the clinging to views traditionally speaking, but it could also mean clinging to political views, clinging to, this is my favorite sports team or whatever it might be. It's all kinds of views. You have to let go of all of that and come to the right view, which is the view of, of course, the four noble truths, but more importantly, on the mundane level, when one is practicing understanding generosity, understanding kamma, a given, take and receiving, understanding that there is a debt of gratitude towards one's parents and to those who have brought one up in this life, because it was because of them that this life is possible for you to be able to experience the four noble truths, we can be escape to be able to experience nirvana, and the understanding that there are beings

other than here in different realms and there are beings who understand that there are realms in other places in other situations and there are other beings in those realms and things like that. So that's the mundane right view. So the four types of clinging are related to this in the idea of clinging from the links of the I think you refer to the Sutta of Anathapindika, 143?

Yeah, so there he talks about clinging, where I will not cling to this and so on and so forth. But that is referring to not developing an identity around this, not developing views around this, not developing a self-view around this. And that self-view is identifying with any of the five aggregates, which is to say you have those 20 different types of self-view, which are the idea that the self is the same as the five aggregates, or the self is apart from the five aggregates, or the self is created from the five aggregates, or the five aggregates are created from the self. And so there being four types of views for each of the five aggregates, there are completely in total 20 different types of self-view. So in the process of clinging one doesn't have a self-view around the sixth sense basis, or the experience of the sixth sense basis. One understands that this is arising because of contact, and this contact is arising because of the sixth sense basis, which are rooted in the mind and the body

Which is dependent upon consciousness and so on and so forth. So through this understanding one doesn't cling, and more importantly one doesn't crave. There's that destruction of craving because there's no longer an identifying scenario where one is personalizing with the sixth sense basis or personalizing with the feeling dependent upon the sensory experiences of the sixth sense basis. Thank you very much, Delson. That was brilliant. Thank you. Hi, Delson. Hello. So I guess that's a few more minutes. I just wanted to kind of get the overall message of the sutta from the perspective of six sense fields. So, this today is the analysis of six sense fields, how we approach the experiences on those six senses.

On those six senses, what is our approach? What Buddha is saying is you cannot directly go into the state of non-identification, so you have to take a gradual step, like a baby step. You first let go of some sort of dissatisfaction based on household life by taking another gradual step and think about some sort of gratitude that you get from the renunciation life, then take another leap towards joy based on the renunciation. So it's kind of instead of taking a giant leap you take those steps. Yeah. So this is the message I'm getting. Kind of, it's hard to suddenly get into the state of liberation, and this is, these are the steps you need to take. Yeah. And this is exactly. So this is what I understood, and there is a couple of sentences there I always kind of a bit puzzled here: possess the form he sees, from not perceiving, from internally he sees from externally.

Do we have any clarification on this? Are these just summarizing the genres, the first four genres? Yeah, you can experience it in the way of jhanas, but also in let's say just normal activity. You said possessed of forms, he sees forms, meaning that means the mind is possessed of forms, meaning the mind is gravitating towards that form through the eye faculty, through the eye consciousness and the contact with that form in the eye. So that is one way of understanding. And by not perceiving forms, you said externally or internally, not perceiving forms internally. Yeah, he sees forms externally. Sort of is this kind of a projecting some sort of a mind-made body or some sort of... It could be, it could be. We'd have to go back to the sutta and see. But that's interesting. Yeah, yeah. This is quite interesting. This doesn't sound like one of those jhanas, but it's kind of some sort of summarizing of those four jhanas as one statement.

Yeah. It's a good point. Yeah, and finally what I'm understanding here is once you have kind of let go of any sort of identification, then you have got eight choices. You pick any of those directions and let go of any sort of identification. Whatever arises, it's not yours, and thereby at those eight doors you can pick any of those eight doors to liberation. Yeah, yeah. This actually ties back to I believe last week's talk we were talking about how one can be in the first jhana and then recognizes the five aggregates. Yeah, and it understands that this is not me, this identifies with them, sees them as impersonal, and then the mind is naturally directed towards letting go, from which arises the dispassion, the cessation, and then the nirvana experience. So yes, if you

not if you don't identify with the body and the mind and you enter jhana with that as Sariputta was known to do, then you are easily able to experience nirvana and more quickly able to experience nirvana. So it's vice versa also, meaning you can go into jhana and understand that these factors are impersonal and not identify with them and experience them, or before going to any of these genres, don't have the inclination of identifying with the whole process. Thank you. Hi, Delson. I know it's a little bit late, but I just have one question about the infinite

consciousness jhana. And in that jhana, most of the time, it's like, for me at least, the flickerings are very strong that I sometimes barely feel a joy. So in that scenario, like, will I be paying a little bit more attention, just let it be? Well, I don't have any other choice. Every single time I get into it, it's very strong. So, you know, that's one question, and then the other one is, say, when I get into that jhana state, you know, the flickerings are like very fast, but always I remember Bhante was saying, it's like between there, there should be a frame. Should I go pay even more focused attention on each frame?

So yeah, you were talking first. Your question was about the experience of joy. Now, sometimes people might not experience that strong of a joy, and that joy that is being referred to is mudita, which is really different from piti. Piti being that very energetic sense of joy, and that joy that you experience is empathetic joy, which is mudita. So it can be not as energetic, not as exuberant. In fact it won't be really, not at all, not always, but that joy is quite naturally experienced even in daily living, when you are happy about somebody else's happiness, when you're happy that somebody else has achieved something good. Like maybe your child got good grades or whatever it is. You're happy for them, you're proud of them. So that's the kind of joy that you will feel in daily living, and then the joy that you feel in the experience of infinite consciousness might not be as strong, and that's okay. It can be strong, cannot be strong, but you don't need to make any adjustments there, in terms of as long as you

can still feel the joy even if you feel compassion, that's fine, but as long as you feel something and you use that as your object, you don't need to pay attention too much to the flickering. The flickering will happen on its own, and eventually on its own it will slow down, and what you have to look at is how the mind deepens. There can be the sensation of just following, falling into the nothingness, sort of like the mind just sinks into a deeper level, which is that nothingness, or the mind basically magnetizes towards that frame of nothingness, that space between the flickering. And then that joy turns quite quickly into equanimity.

And then the flickering stops and all you have is this blankness, this sensation of nothingness. Thank you. Okay, I think we can share some more. May the suffering ones be suffering free, and the fear-stricken be fearless. 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 acquisitions of all kinds of happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas, almighty powers, share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation. Thank you, Delson. Thank you, everyone. Thank you very much. Thank you.