Zoom: Process of Dependent Origination Explained Quickly.

So what are we doing this morning? I heard there was a request to discuss clinging, and then maybe we can open it up for general Q&A. What do you think, David? Yeah, let's just outline parts of clinging. The other night we were talking about the papancha, about proliferation, and how the mind goes off into all these different directions. So perhaps you can explain the categories of all of that. So when we talk about papancha, how do we translate it? We translate it as mental proliferation, or an alternate translation is conceptual proliferation, which means that the mind, whatever it's receiving through the process of contact, through the six sense spaces, then contact and feeling, right?

So you guys have already, David, through dependent origination, a little bit, right? So they know. Yeah, yeah. So when you make contact with an object, when your sense base makes contact with an object, then there's an experience that happens, and that experience is feeling, vedana, and tied to that vedana is sanna, perception. So feeling is the sensation. Feeling is the experience that you're having. It could be neutral, it could be beneficial or unbeneficial, it could be painful, it could be pleasant, it could be whatever sensation it is. The perception is recognizing what the feeling is. So, for example, seeing the color red. You're seeing red, but recognizing it as the color red is the perception.

All of that happens before craving can arise. The processes of craving, clinging, and being, or habitual tendencies, all create, are all culminating in or are encompassed within the process of mental proliferation. So papancha. When we talk about papancha, this entire world is papancha. Samsara as we experience it is papancha. In fact, in India, where I am right now, one of the words for the world, one of the terms that is used for the world, is papancha. So papancha is all the concepts that we create to create this world that we have around us. The idea that this is the color red, that person is so-and-so, and this experience is so-and-so, and whatnot.

Based on that, there is the craving, right? There's craving, which is, I like it, I don't like it, I am it. So you have craving, aversion, and identification. You have craving for sensual things, that is, craving through the five physical sense spaces. So you see something pleasant and you say, I hope this doesn't stop and I want more of it. You hear something beautiful and when it goes away, you think, oh, I wish I had more of that. You taste some wonderful piece of fruit or dessert or whatever, and you say, that's really sweet, I want more of that, I really like that. Want it to stop, or I do want it to stop, make it stop. Resisting whatever the aversive experience is, creating that aversion, that is also part of the sensual craving. Now, there's also craving for existence, which is, I want to be so-and-so, or the craving for non-existence, I don't want to be here. So what you have to notice is how does your mind

Take what it has experienced. In other words, notice the stream of words that are being used in your mind. What are the verbalizing things that are going on in your mind? Like if you say, this is really pleasant, this piece of cake is really delicious, that's just perception right there. But then you say, I want another piece, I hope there's another piece there. That's part of craving. I want more. And then the clinging, which is the rationalizing for why it is that you crave something. So clinging, upadana. So upadana means fuel. It means to grasp at something. It means attachment. It's the fuel for further birth of karmic action. So there are four types of clinging.

There's sensual clinging, there's clinging to views, there's clinging to rites and rituals, and there's clinging to self-view. When we talk about sensory clinging, or clinging to sense experiences, that stems from sensual craving, so the associations that you make based on what you're experiencing. Let's say you have a certain type of favorite meal, and the reason you might have that favorite meal is because you've made certain associations with it. You were feeling good at the time, it was a pleasant experience, and you say, I want more of it. Or you have some memory that's associated with it. Every time you eat that food, your mind thinks about that, or has experiences or memories rooted in that experience.

So that's also part of sensual clinging. Smells, favorite types of colors, these are all part of sensual clinging. So the idea is you make associations, you rationalize in your mind why it is that you crave something. When we talk about clinging to views, we're talking about clinging to wrong views in particular, first and foremost. So in order to know what is a wrong view, first you need to know what is right view. Within the context of this practice, within the context of Buddhism, right view is essentially twofold. There's the mundane right view and there's the super mundane right view. The mundane right view has to do with the understanding of action and consequence. So in other words, understanding karma, understanding that every intention that we have has some kind of consequence.

We might not experience that consequence immediately, or we might. We might experience it at a later stage in time, or maybe not even, so maybe in another life, let's say. And that's only dependent upon what causes and conditions are ripe for the fruition of whatever intention we've had in the past. So this understanding that our actions have consequences is talking about karma. When we talk about karma, we're talking about intention. There's threefold karma.

There is the mental karma of what it is that you think about. No, I'm not talking about the stream of thoughts that come to be. I'm talking about what you intentionally think about, how you intentionally take what it is that you're thinking about. The second is verbal, what it is that you say. And the third is physical, what it is that you do. These karmic actions that we do, they cannot be recalled. Once you fire the arrow, once you let go of the arrow, you can't recall the arrow back. This is the understanding of the birth of action. So understanding that, and then understanding that there is a consequence to that, is part of right view. The other aspect of right view is that there is this world and the other. When we talk about this world, we're talking about the world of the five physical sense spaces.

We're talking about this matrix that we live in. When we talk about the other world, it is the experience of meditation, and primarily the experience of jhana in meditation. So there is this world that we experience through our five physical senses, and there is the world of jhana. There's the world of meditative experiences and attainments that happen in the mind, that the mind experiences, outside of the scope of any kind of sensual experience.

This world and the other. There is mother and father. When we talk about mother and father, we're talking about our gratitude to our parents who brought us into this world. Now, we might not have the best of relationships with them. We might have some unresolved pain with them, and if that's the case, use forgiveness practice for that. But the fundamental understanding here is that we have gratitude to our parents, because they allowed us the ability to come into this life. They were the causes and conditions, quite literally, for us to be able to be born in this world, in this existence, so that this life has the potential to bring us to the right path, to bring us to the path where we can experience total liberation from samsara.

In other words, experiencing Nibbana, experiencing this otherworldly, super mundane relief that is Nibbana, the ultimate happiness. So just understanding that alone, we have a level of gratitude towards our parents. Then the other aspect of that mundane right view is that there are those who have experienced these states. There are Brahmins and ascetics who have understood this and are teaching it. So we acknowledge that as well. So these are some of the components of mundane right view. The super mundane right view is the understanding of the Four Noble Truths. So the Four Noble Truths: there is suffering, there are causes and conditions for that suffering, there is cessation of suffering, and there is a way leading out of it, leading to the cessation of suffering.

So these four noble truths, when we talk about them, what does that mean? We have to experience those four noble truths in order to establish the super mundane right view. And that only happens with following the Eightfold Path. I understand Jordan already spoke to you about it, did a great discourse on it. So the Eightfold Path is the Fourth Noble Truth. The complete cultivation, development, and perfection of the Eightfold Path, that's the Fourth Noble Truth, leads to the complete total cessation of all suffering.

And how does that happen? Using the Fourth Noble Truth, the Eightfold Path, to let go and abandon all of the causes and conditions for that suffering to arise, namely ignorance, conceit, craving, wrong view, and so on. And then we experience the abandoning of that suffering. So we understand what suffering is. We understand this is suffering. We understand every time we identify with things, suffering arises. We understand that every time the mind takes something personal, suffering arises. Taking something personally is the beginning of that process of proliferation, craving, which leads to that clean air. So understanding this, we have super mundane right view. Now, what are the wrong views that could arise?

There's the wrong view of materialism, which is: there's only these five sense bases, and all we are here to do is essentially enjoy through the five sense bases. Now, we understand that there is another happiness not dependent upon the sense bases, a happiness that exists in the mind when the right causes and conditions are present for jhana to arise. There is the wrong view about asceticism, that if we only do certain kinds of ascetic practices, then our karma will be extinguished bit by bit. But the way the Buddha has taught karma is that it is through the process of establishing right view and through the process of using the Eightfold Path that karma ceases.

And the eightfold path can be encapsulated, abbreviated into the 6R's. The 6R's are right effort. And right effort is the core, the heart of the eightfold path. So if you understand this, then you know that every time you take something personal. Anytime you start to cling and associate, make associations of why it is that I like this or why it is I don't like this, right? Justifications for why it is that you crave something. And then act upon the habitual tendencies that are dependent upon that. Every time you do that, you are causing more suffering.

But every time you 6R, every time you notice the craving, and let it go using the 6R's, you are practicing the eightfold path. Now you can 6R craving, you can 6R clinging, you can 6R becoming, but you can't 6R birth of action. Like I said, as soon as you say something, as soon as you think something, as soon as you do something, you cannot call it back. So that's another kind of wrong view: the idea that if I only do certain kinds of ascetic practices, my karma will start to dissipate. The only way karma dissipates within this understanding is recognizing craving, which is the beginning of new karma, and letting it go. Everything else you experience right now in this present moment is a result of past causes and conditions. You can't do anything about those past causes and conditions, they've already arisen. What you can do is either take them personally and cause their further proliferation. So another kind of wrong view would be things like skepticism.

I don't know if this is true or I can't say. You know, this is what the Buddha called eel-wrigglers, people who never really concluded on it. The context of the understanding of Buddhism. There are certain kinds of absolutes, like the precepts. We understand when we take the precepts, we're making a commitment not to kill, not to harm, not to steal, not to cheat, not to lie, not to get intoxicated, because we understand that these precepts help uplift our mind.

So it's not relative. There are certain absolutes within Buddhism in that sense. Another kind of wrong view has to do with the idea that if I am killed or I kill someone, then nothing's actually happening because we are all eternal. There's just one eternal soul or consciousness. But as you start to dig deeper, through understanding, through your meditation practice, through study and realization, you see that in reality there is nothing that could be called a self that is eternal. When you look at all of the different components of experience, whether that's your body, whether that's feeling, whether that's perception, whether that's intention, whether that's formations or consciousness, all of those keep arising and passing away. All of them are subject to change.

And the understanding of a soul, the understanding of a self, is that it is eternal, unchanging, and a source of happiness. And everything that is impermanent is liable to cause suffering, and so should be seen as not me, not mine, not myself. Once you start to see this, then you realize that there are actions and consequences to killing. There are actions and consequences in regards to any of the five precepts that are produced from that.

And as a result, we realize that we cannot say that just because there is some nebulous self, that there is nothing going on and that self is always existent. That too is a concept within the mind. So these are the different kinds of clinging to views, to wrong view. And then there can be also clinging to right view itself. And that comes at a later stage, which you have to let go of.

Where you cling to the Dhamma, you make the Dhamma a process of argument, argumentation, a process of debate. Right? You use the Dhamma to say I'm wrong, you're right. You use the Dhamma in such a way that you cling to it, and you cling to it without realizing that the clinging itself is causing you suffering. So the idea here is to let go of any identification with that, and that happens in stages, that will happen later on. But first get your view straight, the right view straightened out, and then you can eliminate the wrong views by 6R. Every time you notice this is a wrong view that's arising. When we talk about clinging to rites and rituals, rites and rituals can be rites and rituals in the sense that we believe those rites and rituals will take us to nibbana. That's one kind of clinging.

But when we have walked the path ourselves and seen it through the end, or at least seen it through the first level of awakening, we realize, actually, this is the process to nibbana. It's not about rites and rituals. Does that mean that you have to stop chanting? Does that mean you have to stop lighting incense and candles and lamps and things like that, or whatever it is that you might like to do as a certain kind of ceremony? Does it mean that you have to stop that? No. It doesn't mean that. All it means is that you realize that these are just to uplift the mind. These are just to bring some kind of temporal peace in the mind.

But they themselves will not take fruit in the bottom. Other kinds of clinging to rites and rituals can be clinging to your routines. You have to have things a certain way. You have to wake up at a certain time. And if you don't have your coffee at 6.30 in the morning, all hell will break loose.

Or things like: things have to be in a certain way, placed in a certain direction, and all of these things. These kinds of clinging to rites and rituals, clinging to a certain kind of routine. You have to be more flexible. You have to be more fluid in your mind. Allow things to be as they are. Stop trying to attach the idea that this should be the way things need to be, that the more resistance you have with the things that arise, because you've already created, you've already had that mental proliferation, conceptual proliferation, proliferation, that is, this is how the world works, when in reality it's so much more than that. So that's another type of clinging to rites and rituals. Another type of thing to rites and rituals can be where you have this belief in luck: if I only pray to this particular deity, or if I only wear this certain color, my lucky color, or whatever it might be.

In India, there's so many things like that: wearing certain kinds of rings, wearing certain kinds of amulets, doing certain kinds of ceremonies, praying to certain kinds of deities, lighting incense, and going out, fasting on certain days of the week. All of these things, people have this idea that it will somehow benefit them. And it might. It's not discounting the fact that there are deities out there, but the idea that that's what's going to give you lasting happiness is a clinging that you have to let go of as well. And in the time of the Buddha, this is something that he actually addressed, because at the time, for quite a long time, the Vedic Brahmins, the priests, would do certain kinds of sacrifices.

They would offer things to the fire. And certain kinds of sacrifices would also mean killing living beings: sacrificing goats, sacrificing cows, even sacrificing bulls, and so on. Animal sacrifice is a huge thing. So that's another kind of clinging to rites and rituals. So how do you let go of clinging to rites and rituals? In your mind, you have to notice what's going on: if I only do it this way, things will turn out a certain way, or are you having certain kinds of belief systems that cause you more agitation in the mind rather than peace? So this is something that you should look at. And if it's starting to cause agitation, you notice that. You can recognize it, release your attention from it, relax any tightness and tension, come back to your smile, come back to a more wholesome mindset, whether that's loving kindness or equanimity or compassion or joy, whatever seems most appropriate for the situation.

And then we have what's known as clinging to self-view. Clinging to self-view is one of the first three fetters. This is known as sakkaya ditthi. And sakkaya ditthi means having the belief in a personal self. This is more intellectual than anything else, but it's informed or the letting go of it, the complete cessation and elimination of it, is informed by the experience of seeing and understanding for yourself dependent origination through direct knowledge and experience. Then you realize for yourself that actually this body indeed is fluid, changing all the time. These experiences here: the feelings, the perceptions, the intention, the consciousness. So these cannot be considered as self.

And you start to see everything as an impersonal process. That's how you let go of clinging to self-view. But on your way to it, you can recognize anytime the mind tries to identify with something and let go of it and experience the relief from that. This is different from what's known as conceit, which is let go of at the final level. That conceit is this very, very deep-rooted idea of identity around different kinds of things. It doesn't mean you stop using the words like I, me, myself, mine. It just means that there's no more tension around that. There's no more ownership of things. There's no more idea that indeed, in fact, this is mine. In fact, this is yours.

I am better than you. To the idea of, this particular person is better than this particular person, clinging to different kinds of worldviews and belief systems. These things have to be let go of bit by bit, because if they're causing your mind to get agitated and aggressively grasp at them, what results is violence. At the very, very ultimate stage, it's violence. If you remember listening to Majjhima Nikaya 18, the Honeyball Sutra, the Buddha says that.

He says that clinging to this can result in taking up of the sword and stick. So identifying with certain kinds of opinions, what's the point of doing that? What's the point of trying to defend your opinion? It's just in that moment you feel identified with it, but it just goes away after a while. You talk about it, and then the mind gets flustered by somebody who has a different opinion.

You have to recognize that, release that, relax, and just let it be. So that's the clinging to views, clinging to rites and rituals. The idea that they will take you to nibbana, you let go of that through direct experience. And anytime your mind starts to create these associations, that if I only do this I'll get that, if I only pray to this particular deity or if I do this particular chant or whatever it might be, you have to let go of that. You have to just recognize every time your mind starts to make associations, release, relax, we smile, and come back to a more you. Every time the mind says this is me, this is mine, this is myself, every time you can recognize that and let go of that, you are whittling away, drilling away, bit by bit, at these different self-views. So in summary, those are the four types of clinging, and one of the clinging itself being one of the ingredients through this whole process, for this whole process of mental eyes, craving, clinging and becoming. All right. Delson, sadhu, sadhu. It was a great talk. Thanks for coming on, and have a pleasant day. Thank you, and happy meditation to you guys. Take care.