May 2021 Online Retreat Q&A 3

Thank you. I'm sorry, I was muted for a second. Is there a very big difference between taking the path of past lives recognition or going through all the genres? There is a difference. So if you do past lives recognition, it's very active, very intense. a lot of interesting things that you might see that the mind might get distracted by that's why the suggestion is to always do it with the fourth Jana as your foundation so you go through the first second third and fourth Jana stay in the fortune on it for some time and then start that process of past life recognition and you're not doing it for any other reason but to really get sense of karma and rebirth get a sense of how this process works through dependent origination through each life and through each moments of each one so the outcome is primarily the same in terms of getting a deep understanding of dependent origination the path from the first of the eight jhana is uh much

Much softer, much gentler in that sense, because there's not a lot of activity going on. And that's not to say that in the past lives recognition meditation you would be actively doing something. You just have the intention and start to look back throughout your day, and start to let that happen over the course of past weeks and past months and so on. But you start with the intention and then you just observe in the same way. So it's not like you're making so much of an effort that causes you to really recall and remember different things, because it's just the first intention of looking back that sets your mind into looking at the different formations that led to that moment and other moments and so on and so forth. So it's the same kind of principle where you are observing and not doing anything, even in the case of going through the first to the eighth jhanas and then gaining cessation of perception and feeling, because you're only doing two things. One is observation, and six are whenever the mind gets distracted.

So that's really the main broad differences, right? Thank you. Delson, I have a question. Yes. In the talk on kamma, there was a question at the end where it was related to having good kamma and the effect on the attainment, and I was curious because I was thinking about the suttas, and the suttas about Angulimala, you know, because obviously he's someone who didn't have good kamma, but I know also he was interacting directly with the Buddha, which would probably give better odds of getting the attainment. But I was just curious what you thought about that, specifically with regards to Angulimala's story. Right. Well, yeah, that and the fact that he had a bad kamma, but he still... I don't remember if he became an arahant at the end or not, but obviously he did become a sotapanna, so

Yeah, so Angulimala's story is a very interesting one, in that the background behind that is, what he did in terms of killing was, yes, there was intention in it, but the intention was based on certain parameters. So there are different kinds of stories around that, but the one that I'm aware of is that Angulimala was doing it because he was basically collecting the fingers or the thumb. So angoli is the finger or the thumb, and mala is like a necklace, you know, like a mala. So he was doing it. He had to do a certain number of collecting fingers, for whatever reason, and it came to a point that he was going to go kill his mother. If I'm not mistaken, the story that I'm aware of is he was going to go kill his mother, and the Buddha in his

ability to look at the different parts of the world and the universe saw what Angulimala was doing, and he saw that if Angulimala went and killed his own mother, that would prevent him from becoming a sotapanna. So there are those five acts that one cannot commit, which is intentionally killing one's parents, so your mother, your father, and an arahant, drawing the blood of a Buddha with malintent, and creating a schism in the order, in the Sangha. So if he had done that he would not attain sotapanna, he would not be able to attain stream entry, and

the Buddha got in his path, and the story goes that they had a discussion, and he had some certain things that he said which made Angulimala realize the wrongness of his ways, and so he then took refuge in the Buddha. I'm shortening the story just because the main point of it is this: actually Angulimala did turn into an arahant. He became an arahant at the end, because he was renamed Ahimsa, funnily enough. So here's a man who committed great acts of violence, committed all of this murder, and then he was renamed Ahimsa, which means non-violence. As an indicator that he had been, quote unquote, reborn as this new sort of being, from having attained sotapanna and then arahant finally. But here's the thing about the arahant: the arahant is still facing the effects of old kamma, still affected, still facing the effects of previous karma that was committed prior to full awakening, prior to becoming an arahant.

So he actually did suffer at the hands of people, in terms of them beating him and all these other things. And the Buddha said that this is just an effect of your karma. So he was not, you know, prevented from that. He had to face the karma that he had committed, in a past life, in this case being his past identity as Angulimala. So there are also stories of, for example, Moggallana, who was another arahant. He was one of the two chief disciples of the Buddha, and he was known to have great psychic faculties and be able to use them for different things. And

at the end of his life, towards the end of his life, he was met with thieves and robbers. That's the one story, but the other story is that he was met by a group of people who were from a rival sect, from a rival group of wanderers, and they started to chase him. And he started to use his psychic faculties to move from one place to the other, to prevent them from harming an arahant who didn't want them to, you know, kill him, not because he was trying to protect himself only, but because that would produce quite bad karma for them. But eventually, because of the power of that karma in whatever previous life he had committed, those psychic faculties failed him. He was no longer able to avoid them by going from one place to the other, and eventually they caught up to him, and they beat him. There are two versions of the story. One version is

Moggallana then realized that this kamma is inescapable and that he had to just face it, and so they beat him and they killed him. The second story, or the second version of that story, is that he had just enough time to come to the Buddha and fall at his feet and see the Buddha and pass on with the understanding that this was his karma. So in terms of attainments, yes, there is something to be said about good kamma, which is to say that you start to create wholesome choices in every moment, and you start to, let's say, exercise generosity. You start to exercise the 10 armies, which is to say generosity and loving kindness and equanimity and renunciation, and so on and so forth. And as you start to develop that, you are starting to develop the wholesome intention that just helps in terms of being able to have a mindset in which you are able to meditate, and somebody's mic is still on

So in this case, when you start to create these parameters, or start to cultivate these parameters, your mind becomes better attuned for meditation. So you're developing your sila and then being able to have a mind steady for samadhi, for meditation, effectively. That's not to say that it won't be difficult in the process of having to deal with hindrances, so it's quite possible, and we can only speculate, that Angulimala probably had a lot of hindrances to deal with. He was meditating, right? Right. So, but eventually he did enter the stream and he did become a sotapanna. So karma is twofold. Karma is number one the effects of previous choices, but secondly karma is also effort, putting in the effort towards actually having that attainment. Thank you.

even uh amber pally or amber pally has a similar story she had to leave a life of a prostitute and then she became an artist yes that's right and she was a big supporter of the buddha once she once she saw him and she actually donated a lot of resources towards the buddha but yes that's another story so that means that it's not just it's not somebody's background It's not somebody's, you know, negative choices only, but it's also a person's ability to see the wrong ways and decide, you know, I'm going to walk the path and I'm going to cultivate wholesome intentions.

And this is my chanda, my cultivated intention to walk the path and exit samsara. Of course, so long as one doesn't commit those five acts. For example, there was King Ajatasattu, and Ajatasattu was the son of King Bimbisara, who was the king of Magadha, where the Buddha used to teach often. And Bimbisara was actually a very devoted student of the Buddha.

And Ajatasattu actually killed his father, and because of that, it prevented him from attaining stream entry. So there's, I think it's Digha Nikaya number two, the Samannaphala Sutta, which talks about the fruits of being a wanderer, the fruits of being a practitioner. Ajatasattu goes to visit the Buddha and he tells the Buddha, I have gone to visit all different kinds of wanderers. I've gone to see the Nigantas, I've gone to see the ascetics who are, you know, existentialists, who are eternalists, who are nihilists, and different kinds of wanderers, but I am not satisfied with any of their answers. And so I want to know what your philosophy is, what is your path, and what are the fruits of your path. So the Buddha goes through a fairly long discourse about the benefits of walking the path, and then finally he takes refuge in the Buddha as a lay follower, and he leaves. And the Buddha comments, saying that had Ajatasattu not killed his father at that point in time, he would have entered stream. Delson, yes.

Whenever Lady Shadow says that kamma does not desire to accompany that being, and kamma does not desire to produce results, it is forced, or forced to do so, by the fact that being takes possession of it through the harboring of such that: as it is, I have committed it, it is my kamma. Because of this forcible possessive act, that kamma is obliged to produce its results. Yes, yes. So that is... did you have a question about that? Do you want me to just comment on that? I just want a comment. Oh, okay. Basically, yeah, the understanding here is that anytime you identify with an action, so until you are an arahant, an arahant is not considered to be a being in that sense. So the last time we were speaking, I had referred to a sutra called the Satta Sutta, which talks about and defines what a being is, and a being is that which clings or craves or has identification with one or more of the five aggregates and therefore behaves in a way that takes those five aggregates as personal.

So in the case of the arahant, they have seen through the emptiness of the five aggregates and they have let go of any attachment to the five aggregates, so they have completely destroyed the fetters that can cause rebirth. That includes the fetter of attaching kamma to their actions by identifying with them. So anytime somebody takes something personal, there is the possibility of that creating kamma in the future. That's why the arahant's kamma, in the sense that their efforts or their activities that they commit, are... they bear no fruit; they bear no kind of fruit. They're just

impersonal processes. Whereas somebody who acts with craving, it is that craving taking that day than that feeling as personal that is what then fuels the cycle of karma. So that craving then leads to clinging, that clinging then leads to bhava, that bhava leads to rebirth, and that rebirth is the birth of action. At that point of rebirth of action, or birth of action, that's like releasing the arrow. At that point you cannot call it back. It's like firing the gun, you can't call back the bullet. At that point you can't do anything. But at craving, like clinging, at bhava, you can recognize, you can 6R and let that go, and that can stop the flow of any kind of effect of an action, because at that point you don't make or take an action that is fettered by that craving, fettered by that conceit, fettered by that ignorance. Whenever you see this and use right effort, but if you do, then that results in dukkha. That's where the jara marana and dukkha are mentioned as the twelfth link of dependent origination.

And so that dukkha is experienced in a next set of moments as some kind of vedana, some kind of contact feeling and perception. And when you see this and have the wisdom to notice this, then you don't do anything about it, and you just let it go. You just understand it as an impersonal process. In one of the suttas that is recommended in Day Eight of Karma and Cessation, there is one sutta in which Ananda is talking about karma, and he talks about it in the perspective that kamma is an experience to be felt. And if there is no more craving, there is no more clinging to that, and that experience is felt, and bit by bit that kamma is dissipated. So that doesn't mean that kamma will just be experienced and it won't start again. It can happen, depending upon the kamma, depending upon the effect that the effect might have, to be faced over and over, but the intensity

of that karma, the intensity of that effect reduces every time there is just the seeing of this as impersonal. But if you crave, take it personal, cling onto it, it increases that intensity again, and it causes one to proliferate that karma over it. And so this is the process of rebirth in every moment, which is number one, of course, the arising and passing away of consciousnesses. But number two, if you notice that you find yourself in similar situations with similar kinds of people, that means that karma is still there. Unless you break that cycle by understanding that process and responding rather than reacting with craving, you let go of that experience until it no longer takes rebirth over and over. It stops.

Thank you. Hi, Delson. I have some practical, meditation-related questions. Last time, I think it's either here or that weekend's Dhamma session, talked about bringing up compassion instead of, you know, the example was drinking coffee. This is in the brahmaviharas, this is a little bit of a difficult part for me. I always speed through that, in compassion.

and how can one bring this up? Maybe a quicker way. For me, if I have to start through from loving kindness, then I can feel it, and before I even can notice compassion, I'm already moving on to joy and then equanimity, as always, because this is the state that I really like to explore. Any tips? Yeah. So here, when you're just observing, at that point in time you will just see that loving kindness phases into compassion and joy and equanimity in whatever time it takes or however long it takes. But here you just make an intention that the mind will just be in compassion. So it's another way of having determination. So you just make up your mind to say, for the next 30 minutes the mind is going to just reside in compassion, and then you stay with that intention and just watch how that compassion starts to grow and expand and how you start to radiate, because in the, let's say

in the normal meditation all you're doing is observing, so you're starting to see how one thing transforms to the other, but here it's sort of like your intention is pinning one of the brahmaviharas down so that you can just stay with it. That's really the key difference, is having that intention, or chanda, or determination, to say, I'm going to stay here, or the mind is only going to rest in compassion for the next 30 minutes or for the next hour. And so you just allow the mind to be sort of infused with that compassion and radiating, and try that and see.

Is mastery over jhanas, remaining in one particular jhana for a long time, possible before becoming anagami also? It is possible. Um, I recommend that anyone who wants to do the determinations wait until they have the fruition of anagami, but it's not impossible for someone to start when they become sotapanna. It's just a matter of taking a longer period of time because of the craving and the aversion that might still be present. So because the anagami has taken away that craving and that aversion, they are able to stay with the jhana longer without having that craving present. They don't identify with the jhana as much, although there is still identification going on, but they don't crave for the different factors. It's just an intention, and then watching that intention, and then being able to determine, and then being able to exercise that. So it's a matter of experimentation.

And eventually you kind of hit the mark, and eventually you hit the mark exactly, and then you have the mastery of that jhana. So it's only recommended, but anyone can try it after they enter the stream. Thank you. Thank you. Delson, when you go for residential retreats, your online retreats will stop, I think. Is it correct? Probably. It depends on scheduling and how the body is feeling, but we'll see, because the online retreats are going on right now about once a month. And so if there is a break, enough of a break for the body to recover from a residential retreat and then be able to spend time doing an online retreat, we might do it. It's really dependent on different

Thank you. So, can I please ask another question? Yes, of course. One is day-to-day activities. I really noticed myself, because currently my job has a very little bit of downtime, which is nice, but the thing that comes with that is boredom, right? So, you know, I'm obligated to be present in front of the computers or whatever, and most of the time I'm reading whatever I need to do, but this is, you know, this boredom that I notice, but at the same time it's hard to shake off. Especially between the moments, you know, like probably in a very boring meeting or I'm waiting for something to happen, you know, like those times, it's just... and it's not pleasant. So I noticed that, okay, this is not pleasant, this is boring.

But what else, trying to let it go, any other tips or how to deal with this? You could practice loving kindness in those times where you're bored. So let's say you're in a boring meeting. You can have loving kindness towards yourself and towards anybody else at the meeting, and that can probably help you be more engaged, and it might even get you into a little bit of a jhanic state, so you can be a little more focused on what people are saying instead of letting the mind get into this boredom, because boredom is really a couple of things. Number one, the boredom that you experience, let's say when you get into higher states, there's not a lot of things going on in terms of mental activity. The mind becomes bored because it's used to mental activity, it's used to some kind of activity, and that boredom can then translate as sloth and torpor, where the mind just disengages with everything

Or it can translate as restlessness, where it's like looking for activity, so it starts to stimulate itself to create activity. However the manifestation of that is, you can notice that too. So if the boredom is there in, let's say, a meeting or whatever else it might be, you notice that the mind becomes active, where there are restless thoughts, or do you notice that the mind becomes bored and kind of feels lethargic and things like that? And depending upon what you notice, then you can start to play around with the enlightenment factors during that meeting as well, of course not to the extent that you go into a meditative state and then miss out on the meeting, but enough to be able to keep the mind engaged.

Thank you. Yes, like the point that you made, sometimes boredom, it becomes like a little bit of slop and topper. And I'm a little bit, the mind is really dull, and all of a sudden it's switched to the very extreme, the other extreme, like, well, why am I thinking this? All of a sudden it's very quick to go from one state into another state. But yeah, I guess it's been fun. It's observing online and can even see these things. So, yeah, I'll try.

Thanks. Hello, yes, so I have a question. How does one know when they've reached one of the stages of awakening? So, like, specific signs for each one? Yes. In the case of each of the stages, you have to look at it in the context of the fetters and in the context of how the mind responds in every day. So for example with the sotapanna, you have the first three fetters gone. With the one who enters the stream, you immediately start to see and recognize

that there is no way that the mind can go back into thinking that there is this underlying permanent self. They have understood that on an intellectual level, that the self arises and passes away dependent upon causes and conditions. The second thing is they let go of any doubts in the practice, or any doubts in what is considered to be wholesome or unwholesome, so they're able to make the right effort to notice. The third is they let go of any attachments to rites and rituals, with the belief that morality alone, or doing certain kinds of rituals, will lead one to nibbana. That doesn't necessarily mean that they just let go of doing the ritual. Maybe they like doing it, but with the understanding that it's just an activity that uplifts the mind, whatever it might be, but it doesn't directly lead to nirvana. It doesn't lead one to some kind of an awakening. So these three fetters, when they're destroyed, then one knows that they have entered the stream. When it comes to the sakadagami, there is less craving and aversion present.

When it comes to the sakadagami, it's different from the sotapanna in that the sotapanna will have certain reactions still present in terms of craving, sensual craving, or anger or irritation rising up, and they might even express it in some kinds of bouts of, you know, upstarts and outbursts and things like that. But when they do, they immediately recognize it. Well, not immediately necessarily. I mean, they could still be angry for a few hours, but then be able to return back to a state that is more tranquil, and so on. So they're able to recover faster from the craving and aversion. But with the sakadagami, they won't have outbursts. They won't have a lot of expression of aversion or expression of craving. They will notice the sensual craving arising in their mind, they will notice the aversion arising in the mind, and they may even notice that there might be a slight expression of this, or desires coming up, and so on.

But they immediately recover. It takes them less time to be able to recover from having done something as an expression of craving or aversion, but they won't have outbursts. They might have very minor and slight expressions of them. With the anagami, they will notice that their mind is usually very quiet, because there's not a lot of activity going on, except for some restlessness and identification. They will no longer see sensual craving or have an experience of sensual craving, and they will no longer have an experience of aversion. So the way they relate to the world is not about how does this benefit me or how can I prevent this from happening. They see that process as a series of causes and conditions, but there is still identification present. They still have, for example,

the five higher fetters. They still have restlessness present. They still have that mental activity that's there in the back of the mind. They still have craving for form realms and craving for formless realms, and what that really translates into is they have a certain kind of craving for the jhana. They have identification with jhana going on, and they have craving for the factors of the jhana. So they really enjoy being in jhana, or being in a formless state of mind, in infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothing, in either perception and non-perception. They also have conceit, which is the I am-ness we were discussing before. The difference really is that the sakkaya ditthi, which is the personality view, is the intellectual understanding

that none of the five aggregates can be considered as self. So they don't have a belief in an underlying self anymore, but because of formations, because of continually looking at it in this way, there is still that conceit of I am, so they have to deal with that. They have to deal with the idea that they can take pride in a certain kind of identity. There's still that present in them, and they still have ignorance, because they don't fully see the four noble truths in every moment. They're always, sometimes they have a carelessness, and they have lack of mindfulness because of that, but they are definitely more mindful than the sakadagami in that sense, because they are able to immediately clarify the mind and come to a point of stillness, although there is still identification and conceit present there. With the arahant, all of that is gone. They don't have any kind of craving for existence. They don't have any kind of

sense of being, so that conceit is gone. They don't equate the world as I am, me, and this is the world. They don't equate in those kinds of situations. They see everything as a series of causes and conditions. So they will use conventional language like I and me or mine, or whatever, in order to be able to have a conversation, but they don't have any more of that functioning from that identity, or that sense of I am-ness. When the arahant meditates, or even just when the arahant is doing whatever, their mind will have no restlessness. There won't be any kind of even little mental activity in their mind.

they can go into jhana they can go into the formless realms but they don't really have any they don't have any uh identification with that process they just see it as a as a pleasant abiding as they call it it's just a a time for the mind to just rest in it when they have a free moment they can just go and meditate but they don't crave for it don't have any identification and they've destroyed ignorance which means that they are able to see the four noble truths and understand it in different contexts so they can see dependent origination in such a way that they can understand the four normal truths present in each link of dependent origination

The other thing to understand is that the link of craving, the link of clinging, the link of being, and so on, well, those three links in particular are no longer present in the arahant. The arahant will still experience physical pain. The arahant will still experience people getting upset at them, shouting at them, and all other kinds of things, but there won't be any mental pain present because of that. So they understand that this person is upset, they send them loving kindness, and that's it, but they don't equate it as, they hurt me, I'm upset, and so on and so forth. None of that is there. So, since I mentioned dependent origination, the other context to look at, or the other attainments, is this: since the sotapanna has let go of attachments to rites and rituals, they let go of the clinging to rites and rituals. In the link of clinging, they let go of clinging to self-use and clinging to other views.

So they still have clinging to sensual pleasures, but they let go of those three clingings. The sakadagami also has obviously let go of that, and they reduce the clinging to sensual pleasures. Then the anagami lets go completely of clinging altogether and craving altogether. So they will still have craving in the form of conceit, which will still have bhava, that existence, that identity, that sense of habitual tendencies that arise that create up the sense of existence with the self. But the arahant lets go of bhava completely as well. That's why, with the three taints: you have the taint of sensual craving, and that's completely gone in them. You have the taint of bhava, the taint of being, completely gone in them, and the taint of ignorance, which is to say that they completely understand and see everything as being impermanent, seeing everything as having potential dukkha because it is impermanent, everything that is conditioned. And they see everything, even nibbana, they understand to be anatta, as impersonal. And because of that, every time a feeling arises, every time a vedana arises,

they see it as impersonal and they see it as impermanent. So there is no response to it, in the sense that this is my feeling. There's no response to it, that I like this feeling, or I want more of this feeling, or I don't like this feeling, I don't want more of this feeling. Because of that, there won't be any craving present. But these are some of the indicators to see how a different person of a different attainment would respond. Now, bringing that all together in terms of practicalities, the best way to understand it for oneself is to see over a long period of time, so really notice the reactions that might come up. So in the case of a sotapanna, they already have faith in the Buddha, faith in the Dhamma, faith in the Sangha. They protect the precepts and keep them close to them, so they're very mindful of making sure that they maintain the precepts, so they're very, very much rooted in that morality.

With the sakadagami, one can notice how they respond to craving and aversion, how quickly they recover from it, and you'll notice that over a period of time that craving and aversion is so minute it's almost at the breaking point, that it's almost non-existent. I mean, it arises in the mind, but the mind is able to see it, recognize it, and let go of it. With the anagami, one notices for themselves how they respond to the world and how no craving arises. So now the anagami can look for themselves and see that the mind is not immediately looking for a benefit from something or from someone, is not immediately looking at how does this serve me, in the way of fulfilling my craving, fulfilling my sensual or mental craving.

They're not looking at it as, when something is painful, why did this painful feeling come about, and then start to have all kinds of mental commotions about it. So for an anagami, they have to look at it over a period of time, maybe a month, two months, three months, four months, or even up to a year. And then with the arahant, one sees that in terms of: is there any presence of identity? Is there any presence of clinging, of 'I am', of that conceit, to anything that is happening? And secondly, how do they see the Four Noble Truths in every given moment, in their interactions with people, in their meditations, while they're walking? How do they understand the Four Noble Truths? So these are some of the practical indicators to understand for oneself where they might be on the path, and

in terms of it. Thank you. Somebody commented that 'I'm not that' is the key word in practice. Yes, absolutely. The understanding of anatta, the understanding of how this process is all impersonal, even nibbana. When you really experience that, then you come to a very meditative state where you know there is just observing going on. There's no observer, there's just processes happening, but there's no sense of self in any of that. So the more you're able to see this, the more it translates into your own meditation, and then that further translates into how you experience the world, and how you interact with people, and how you behave in your surroundings. Justin Fields : And I have a practical question.

Justin Fields : Yes, so when we retreat, we practice, we recite the precepts every morning. Justin Fields : Question is, outside of the retreat, obviously we're going to still endeavor to maintain the precepts. Is the value of reciting the precepts outside of retreat just to reinforce that adherence to the precepts? Then yes, definitely. It's not a ritual in that sense. I mean, it is a ritual because you do it every day, let's say, but it's a matter of having that intention first thing in the morning, that you know the mind is going to be rooted in these precepts, going to be rooted in that sila. There is a benefit to that, because, just like you said, it reinforces in the mind that it's committing to this morality, committing to this sila. All right, thank you. Thank you.

I had a question about the attainments, especially the lower ones. I understand that you would lose the three fetters if you got to nibbana yourself, because obviously you did it yourself, you didn't use rites or rituals, you must have clearly seen how the process works. So that makes a lot of sense to me. But my question is more around: can you, once you have one of these attainments, can you still lose them, or is that more something that will stick with you, or

how does that work? It will stick with you, because once you enter the stream, let's take the example of a sotapanna. There are actually three different kinds of sotapanna that the Buddha talks about. There is the seven-times returner, so up to seven times one can take rebirth in this world, and it can be in the world of the humans or the world of the devas. In that process of those seven returns, they are letting go of further defilements, and so on. In the case of the second one, that is known as the kolankola, which basically means family to family, and what that really means is up to two or three times the sotapanna will take rebirth until they completely let go and become an arahant. And then there is one called the ekabiji, which is the one-seeded, and this particular sotapanna will arise one more time. Then the question arises, what would be the difference between one sotapanna who comes back again and a sakadagami who comes back again one more time? The real difference is that the ekabiji

will arise only in a human birth that's one part the second part is they will still have craving and aversion to deal with more than the sakadagami will so the sakadagami can take pre-birth in a human plane or deva plane so this is just you understand that there are different types of sort of punks but once you enter the stream that's it that's like your one-way ticket before awakening you're not going to slip back down like so if you have actually entered the stream you're not going to take so you're not going to do the five the five the highness acts you know you're not going to kill your mother you're not going to kill your father you're not going to kill an arahant you're not going to draw the blood of a buddha with mild intent and you're not going to create a schism in order because you have basically there is complete conviction in this path there's complete conviction in this process

But the second part of that, well, the sixth element is that you won't take any other philosophy, or you won't take any other teacher of a different philosophy as your teacher. So you're not going to deviate from that. You're not going to consider that to be your path. You're like, right now, on the Noble Eightfold Path, and you're going to stay there. There's a story about, actually, and I have to go back to it, but there's a story where there was a particular sotapanna, somebody who was actually a drunkard. He had a big drinking problem.

And so one of the precepts obviously is to take the precept of not taking intoxicants, not drinking alcohol, and so on. So this guy had a big drinking problem, and when he died, people said, where did he go to? And the Buddha said he was a sotapanna, so he had already entered the stream. And they asked, how is that possible? And the Buddha says, it's because he took the precepts again. So that means the minor pieces of certain things where the sotapanna can fall back on are in relation to having intentionally shouted at somebody, or taken a drink, or something like that. But they immediately

recover from that and retake the precepts and commit to not doing it again. So that effect of that remorse is that karmic effect, in breaking that precept. That karmic effect of that remorse allows them to recover from that, retake the precept, and still maintain that attainment. But they won't fall back from the sense of killing anyone. They won't fall back in the sense of harming anyone with pain, and so on. They won't fall back in terms of having any doubt about the practice. They will still commit to the practice, still commit to learning about the Dhamma, and so on. So in the case of this drunkard, this guy who had a drinking problem, it was just his companion, he just had something that he had to deal with. But eventually, on his deathbed, he retook the precepts, attained Sri Manku, became a sotapanna, and died as a sotapanna.

Thank you. Can I ask a personal question? Yes. Why have you made Cambodia your home when the foundation is in Holland? That is a very good question. Actually, I was in India in early 2020, and I decided to go on a self-retreat, and then the pandemic hit. So I was there for some time, and my parents are actually here, so they asked me if I could come and stay with them until the pandemic situation was over. So I decided I would come here and stay here, and see all is well. So that's the only reason. Oh, so your parents are there currently? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.

Any last questions? We'll wait for a few seconds. Let's share something. May all beings be free from suffering, and the fear-struck be fearless. May the greetings of all great beings, and may all be with you, and finally, may all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired, for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May we be in heaven, in peace, and on the earth. Devas and nagas of mighty power, share this merit of ours. May we long protect the Buddha's dispensation. Sa-di Sa-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra. Thank you, Gelson. Thank you. Before we leave, I would like to just give my thanks to Kin for being the retreat manager, and my thanks to Suttavada, obviously, to Kuhn, and to Syl, who have been in the back, just organizing things, answering emails, and so on. So thank you to everyone who made this possible, and thank you all for attending this retreat. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you indeed.