Day 7 - Talk on Nibbana, Cessation, Nirodha- MN121, SN 41.6&7 with Delson Armstrong

Today we're going to go over voidness or emptiness, signless. Before I continue, I have three suttas as I'm going through, but they're all going to be short, so don't worry. So the first one is Majjhima Nikaya 121, Chula Sunyata Sutta, the Shorter Discourse on Voidness. Thus have I heard, on one occasion the Blessed One was living at Savati in the eastern park in the palace of Migara's mother.

Then, when it was evening, the Venerable Ananda rose from the meditation, went to the Blessed One, and after paying homage to him, I sat down at one side and said to the Blessed One, Venerable Sir, on one occasion the Blessed One was living in the Sakyan country, where there is a town of the Sakyan's name Nagaraka. There, Venerable Sir, I heard and learned this from the Blessed One's own lips. Now, Ananda, I often abide in voidness.

Did I hear that correctly, Venerable Sir? Did I learn that correctly? Attend to that correctly? If you recall, a couple of days ago we were talking about the seven types of people, right? One liberated by wisdom, one liberated both ways, and so on and so forth. Well, there's one more person, the eighth type of person, and this is known as the Animitta Vihari. There's a Sutta in, I think, the Anguttara Nikaya, where there's a Brahma or a Deva named Tisa, who comes down and talks about these seven different types of people.

And the monk who's listening to him listens eagerly, and then he goes to the Buddha and tells him, this is what I was told. And then the Buddha says, but did he not tell you about the eighth type of person? And that is known as the Animitta Vihari. Vihari means one who resides, one who abides. And Animitta is the signless collectedness of mind.

So as we go through the Sutta, we'll explore what that means. is void of elephants, cattle, horses and mares, void of gold and silver, void of the assembly of men and women. And there is present only this non-voidness, namely the singleness dependent on the Sangha of bhikkhus. So too, a bhikkhu not attending to the perception of village, not attending to the perception of people, So there's different ways of understanding voidness. Voidness is a synonym for emptiness.

You hear about emptiness in different schools of Buddhism, and usually it's understood as empty of self. So emptiness here is equated with anatta. But here the Buddha is talking about emptiness in terms of what is void of a state. As this place is void of the elephants and horses and so on and so forth, so too a mind can be void of different kinds of elements.

So when a monk enters the forest, it is void of villages and cities and towns, of these things. It is empty of people. But there is only this, the perception of the forest. He understands it is void of the perception of village. This field of perception is void of the perception of people. There is only present this non-voidness, which means that which is there, namely the singleness dependent on the perception of forest. Thus he regards it as void of what is not there. But as to what remains there, he understands that which is present. Thus, this is present. Thus, Ananda, this is his genuine, undistorted, pure descent into voidness.

Again, Ananda, a bhikkhu not attending to the perception of people, not attending to the perception of forest, attends to the singleness dependent on the perception of earth. His mind enters into that perception of earth and acquires confidence, steadiness, and resolution. So in other words, now he's only perceiving earth. Perhaps just the earth element. And so that is void of all of the different details of the earth element. There is just earth.

There is present only this non-voidness, namely the singleness dependent on the perception of earth. Thus he regards it as void of what is not there. Now, here it's going to talk about infinite space. So sometimes the interpretation is he sees the earth element and then he takes that as a kasina, the word kritsna. Usually it's understood that kasina means that one becomes one-pointed on that particular disk of the earth element. But kritsna actually means whole or expanded, which means he's actually expanding that perception of earth. And now he's going to experience that expansion in the form of infinite space. forest, not attending to the perception of earth, attends to the singleness dependent on the perception of the base of infinite space.

This field of perception is void of the perception of the base of infinite space. There is present only this non-voidness, namely the singleness dependent on the perception of the base of infinite consciousness. So we understand that the base of infinite consciousness, when you perceive that, it is empty of the perception of the base of infinite space. What about the first four jhanas? What is it void of?

Hindrances. What about the second jhana? Vitakka-vicara. Thinking and examining thought. What about the third jhana? Joy. What about the fourth? Sukha. Happiness. Again, Ananda, a bhikkhu, not attending to the perception of the base of infinite space, not attending to the perception of the base of infinite consciousness, attends to the singleness dependent on the perception of the base of nothingness. His mind enters into that perception of the base of nothingness and acquires confidence, steadiness, and resolution. There is present only this amount of disturbance, namely the singleness dependent on the perception of the base of nothingness. He understands this field of perception is void of the perception of the base of infinite space. This field of perception is void of the perception of the base of infinite consciousness.

But there's this sense of collectedness around the mind. The mind itself is an object. When we talk about the signless collectedness of mind, really that comes from the word animitta samadhi, meditation, so to speak. What that means is there comes a point where even the quiet mind just fades away and there's just a blank screen that's there. You're not looking at anything in particular. The mind is just aware, looking past things, looking through things. Little things might come up, but as soon as you see them, they fade away and the mind is just completely purely empty, void of any object. And this is the signless collectedness of mind. This mind is so purified that there are no vibrations happening.

The subtlest vibration that happens here is the formation rooted in conceit. The sense of I am, the sense of me, the sense of myself. From there, there can arise craving, there can arise restlessness, there can arise aversion, and so on and so forth. So as soon as you see something, you're no longer in that. In the same way, as soon as you perceive, then you're no longer in either perception or non-perception. As soon as the mind takes something as an object, it's no longer in this signless.

The analogy that I use is, it's like you take a flashlight, you switch it on to the sky, and when you point to the sky the light just goes out into space, but it's not landing on anything. As soon as it lands on something, there is an object there. But because it doesn't land on anything, it is just signless, objectless, just pure observing, not observing anything in particular, just looking. And because eventually the battery runs out, the fuel for that flashlight runs out, that is to say, because there is no more formations arising because they've been relaxed and let go of, and no fuel of attention is being given to any object in particular, whether their formations or the sense of I am or whatever it might be, the battery runs out and the mind's attention stops, and then one is in cessation of perception, feeling and consciousness.

So this is a very subtle state. It's not like you have to go there, but this is a state that is accessible once you get more and more developed in the practice. Once you have certain kinds of understanding of each of the jhanas. Once you have understanding of the quiet mind, and then see the quiet mind itself as very coarse and let that go.

Now that happens on its own when the mind becomes very relaxed and it softens the edges of the mind, softens the edges of one's attention and awareness. And then that just basically fades away. And there is that pure screen that's there. Some people see it as just this blank screen. Sometimes it has an orange hue. Sometimes it has a green hue. Sometimes it looks like static.

This signless collectedness of mind is conditioned and volitionally produced. But whatever is conditioned and volitionally produced is impermanent, subject to cessation. So even this signless collectedness of mind is conditioned. It's not the unconditioned, because there is still a sense of observer there. There is still an awareness there, which is conditioned by contact with the mind. The mind and the signless state.

So it's volitionally produced. What does that mean? There is an intention to relax further and further and further. Volitionally produced, conditioned by that intention. But once the mind realizes that even this is conditioned and therefore impermanent, subject to cessation, the mind loses complete interest in even the signless state. This is where disenchantment and dispassion come into the purview.

Here the mind becomes so disenchanted, so dispassionate, that it's not interested in any formations at all, not interested in any object at all, not even interested in the awareness of the signless state of mind. And then there is cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness. When this happens, when he knows and sees thus, his mind is liberated from the taint of sensual desire, from the taint of being, and from the taint of ignorance.

This happens when the mind makes contact with the Nibbana element, of contact with the nirvana element. Therefore, no more taint of sensual desire, no more taint of the craving for existence or of becoming, and no more the taint of ignorance. He understands when it is liberated, there comes the knowledge it is liberated. He understands birth is destroyed.

The holy life has been lived. What had to be done has been done. There is no more coming to any state of being. He understands thus, whatever disturbances there might be dependent on the taint of sensual desire, those are not present here. What disturbances are there dependent upon the taint of sensual desire? Craving, the link of craving, sensual clinging, and so on. be dependent on the taint of becoming, those are not present here.

What disturbances might those be? Clinging to existence, craving for existence, bhava, habitual tendencies. Whatever disturbances there might be dependent on the taint of ignorance, those are not present here. Tainted formations. Formations conditioned by ignorance. Ignorance is gone now. There's complete attention and understanding of the Four Noble Truths. Ignorance is destroyed. And whatever disturbance is dependent upon that, that is, formations rooted in that ignorance.

And then further on, the lack of mindfulness, experience of feeling. All of those disturbances, all of those that are dependent upon ignorance, go away. There is present only this amount of disturbance, namely that connected with the six bases that are dependent on this body and conditioned by life. He understands thus, this field of perception is void of the taint of sensual desire. Now what he's talking about is that liberated mind. Whatever it's perceiving all the time, it knows that it is empty of the taint of sensual desire.

This field of perception is void of the taint of becoming. It's empty of the taint of craving for existence. This field of perception is void of the taint of ignorance. It's empty of ignorance. There is present only this non-voidness, namely that connected with the six sense spaces conditioned by life. In essence, what is remaining is just the five aggregates, no longer clung to, no longer conditioned by craving.

All entered upon and abided in the same pure, supreme, unsurpassed voidness. Whatever recluses and brahmins in the future will enter upon and abide in pure, supreme, unsurpassed voidness, all will enter upon and abide in this same pure, supreme, unsurpassed voidness. Whatever recluses and brahmins in the present enter upon and abide in pure, supreme, unsurpassed voidness, all enter upon and abide in this same pure, supreme, unsurpassed voidness.

Therefore, Ananda, you should train thus. We will enter upon and abide in pure, supreme, unsurpassed voidness. yourselves, we will enter into the liberated mind. That is what the Blessed One said. The Venerable Ananda was satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One's words. That's the first sutta. Yes. One very quick one. Yeah. Every step of the way is pure descent, as opposed to unpure? Pure in the sense that it's not affected by disturbances.

It's just downshift from infinite space to infinite consciousness. It's just gradual, natural progression. The perception of infinite space, the experience of infinite consciousness. The experience of infinite consciousness is not present in the experience of nothingness. Basically, when you go from infinite space to infinite consciousness, you're no longer in infinite space. So you're just in infinite consciousness. When you go from infinite consciousness to nothingness, you're just in nothingness. There's no preceding states of infinite consciousness in nothingness when you're perceiving the base of nothingness. Starting off with 4th jhana, yeah.

Right. So he's kind of going backwards through the whole thing and just letting go. So that's, whereas before he started first, second, third, up, in a sense. So this is just showing you... There's levels of cessation, right? So the jhanas also are levels of cessation. So that's what you've been talking about, levels of cessation. This is kind of the basis of that. Yeah. So I asked you guys, what is empty or what is the first jhana empty of? It's the same way of asking what ceases in the first jhana, the hindrances.

And then in the second jhana, what ceases is the vitakka vicara. And then in the third jhana, what ceases is the joy and so on and so forth. So what you're seeing is these downshifts of the mind. So the coarser levels of experience through the different factors of the ambience of each of the jhanas starts to diminish and cease. So we're saying the kasina, the kritsna, is the fourth jhana? Yeah, it's taking you to the fourth jhana and then you expand that.

And then when you expand that, you're now getting into the experience of infinite space. There's consciousness, so there's feeling and perception also. But you're perceiving still, you're perceiving that you're seeing, you know. It's not nothingness, because nothingness is a perception. So there's still nama-rupa, then it's signless? cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness. If there wasn't, when we talk about mind and body, they are still present. It says there in the signless state, there is still the sixth sense basis dependent upon and conditioned by this life.

So the sixth sense basis, if they are still there, they're dependent upon nama-rupa and so on. It's just that in cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, now, that's what we're going to go through in a bit. But cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, the faculties are set to be clear. The reason is right now, when you're listening to my voice, when you're seeing me, when you're experiencing through the sixth sense basis, those are data packets being received by the sixth sense basis. Those are impediments in a sense. But when there's cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, there's absolutely no activity in the sense basis.

Which means, the faculties are clear of the impediments of these sensory data packets. So there is all of the objects, the signs and all of these things, and then for a moment there's no objects, but perception and consciousness are still working. Right. And then since there is nothing... Yeah, there's nothing for it to fuel, to continue, it just ceases. So in other words, at this point, there's still mental formations.

Right? But verbal formations and bodily formations have ceased. And we'll understand as we go through. Any other questions? I had a question just about the language. Yeah. Is it like singleness, dependent? Does that just mean like there's one thing? No, singleness here is the unification of mind. Or it's another way of understanding the collectedness of mind. There is the collectedness of mind. Okay. Yeah. And then it said, non-voidness? Yeah. Non-voidness means that which is still there. Okay. I know it's a very interesting way that they've talked. There is this voidness, like the chicken fried chicken. There is the... Voidness, void, void. And it's just like non-voidness because there's still the nothingness there and you're perceiving it.

No, so voidness means empty of something, right? So, for example, infinite space or infinite consciousness is empty of the perception of infinite space. But there is that which is still present. That's the non-voidness or the non-emptiness or that which is filled with. And what is filled, the mind is filled with the perception of infinite consciousness. Right?

Is that clear? There's still something there. So it's non-void. Non-void means there's still something there. That's right. Exactly. If it isn't raining, you could say that it's void and raining. Right. It's not like cosmic. But there is that non-voidness, namely the sun. Non-rain. Yeah. So in the cessation, am I understanding that then the sankharas aren't there or they're suspended? They're suspended. They're ceased.

Okay, so the next two are very short, interesting and very deep and subtle, so listen and attend closely. Yeah, this is the Samyutta Nikaya 41.7, the Godata Sutta. Now, this is actually an extract, if you guys are familiar with Majjhima Nikaya 43, where Sariputta is having that conversation with Maha Kottita about the different aspects of... What was the page number? Now, Citta the householder, he was known to be an anagami.

And he was somebody who knew how to enter the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness. And he was also somebody who taught the monks, because he was very adept in meditation. So sometimes the Buddha would send them to him to talk about the finer points of how to get into cessation and so on. The Venerable Godata then said to him, as he was sitting to one side, Householder, the measureless liberation of mind, the liberation of mind by nothingness, the liberation of mind by emptiness, and the signless liberation of mind. Are these things different in meaning and also different in phrasing? Or are they one in meaning and different only in phrasing?

And what, Venerable Sir, is the liberation of mind by nothingness? Here, by completely transcending the base of the infinity of consciousness, aware that there is nothing, a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the base of nothingness. This is called the liberation of mind by nothingness. Pretty straightforward. And what, Venerable Sir, is a liberation of mind by emptiness? Here a bhikkhu gone to the forest, or to the foot of a tree, or to an empty hut, reflects thus: Empty is this of self, or of what belongs to self. This is called the liberation of mind by emptiness.

Now, if I remember correctly, Bhante talked about a practice that he did: look back and see where did this thought arise, right? Whose thought is this? And you start to see the emptiness of self of these thoughts, emptiness of self of this body and so on. And so in that process, one enters the emptiness liberation of mind.

Liberation in the sense that it is void of any of the hindrances. One is just experiencing anatta there. And what, Venerable Sir, is the signless liberation of mind? Here, with non-attention to all signs, when we say signs, let's say object, non-attention to all objects, a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the signless collectedness of mind. This is called the signless liberation of mind.

This, Venerable Sir, is the method by which these things are different in meaning and different in phrasing. And what, Venerable Sir, is the method by which these things are one in meaning and different only in phrasing? So now we're talking about the measureless liberation of mind, the liberation of mind by nothingness, the emptiness liberation of mind, and the signless liberation of mind. They're different words, different adjectives that mean the same thing. Now, as follows: Lust, Venerable Sir, is a maker of measurement.

Hatred is a maker of measurement. Delusion is a maker of measurement. In other words, when there is greed present, when there is hatred present, when there is delusion present, there is a comparing going on, a measuring going on. And that is conceit, mana. Another word for mana is to measure. That is to compare: I am greater than this, or he is better than me, and so on and so forth.

Right. Yeah. That's the only way you can compare that: oh, he's taller than I am. Yeah. They're referring. No, they're all referring to the mind of a liberated... They're different in meaning because you have, okay, so you have, for example, the measureless liberation of mind. Here, liberation is a temporary liberation because it's liberated from hindrances. When you're radiating love and kindness, compassion, joy, or equanimity, there's no hindrances there. So in that sense, it's liberated.

When you are in nothingness, there's no hindrances there. In that sense, you're liberated. When you see anatta, the emptiness of self in all things conditioned and unconditioned too, then there is that emptiness liberation of mind, because there's no hindrances there. When you're in the signless state, there's no hindrances there. In that sense, you're liberated from them. Different in meaning and different in phrasing.

But when they're one in meaning, they're all pointing to that liberation of mind, which is liberated from the taints. Different in meaning, different in phrasing is liberation of hindrances. But when they're the same in meaning, same in phrasing, they're pointing to the liberation of mind from all taints. The different kinds of liberation, different types of liberation, different categories of liberation.

There is the category of the measureless liberation. When you are in infinite space, you're sending out loving kindness, compassion, joy, I mean, in any of the formless attainments. When it says that he transcends the base of infinite consciousness, he is liberated by nothingness, he's in nothingness, that's a liberation of mind. It's a category of a liberation of mind.

And then when he sees the anatta, the not-self of every experience, that is a category of liberation of mind. And when he's in signless collectedness of mind, he's in a category of liberation. But when we talk about the ultimate liberation, there's different ways you could call that ultimate liberation. of the fact that they are free of the taints, because the taints create the sense of comparison, create the sense of something there, create the sense of an object. And so in that sense, they have different names for it, depending upon how you see it. But they're all referring to the same thing in the second section, pointing to that mind. Right. Temporary liberation.

Meditative states. That's the mind that's just completely free. It's 43? Yes. What's the eye of wisdom again? Oh, the Dhamma eye, right? The eye of wisdom. Oh, no, it's the... Is it the eye of Dhamma? There are five eyes, I think. Ah. Like the eyes, like the... Is it? Oh, there's the eye, there's the divine eye. There's the eye of the Dhamma, there's this eye, and then what else?

Not necessarily, right. In a sense, he has the analytical knowledge. But before Nibbana... No, let's see. Yeah, before Nibbana arises, it's said that the Eye of Wisdom... Right. ...sees. Yes. Yeah. Or you could say the Eye of Wisdom awakens. The Dhamma Chakkhu, the Eye of Dhamma. Yeah. This is, I think, Panna Chakkhu, which is the Eye of Insight. Okay.

Yes, it's awakened because one sees dependent origination at that point. Do not engage with them. Yes. Keep looking. You're not ignoring them. You're not ignoring them. You're aware that they're there. But as soon as your eye of attention goes there, it's like now you're looking at something. You're looking at a sign. But if you're just seeing through it as being translucent, then the attention doesn't get fueled by that particular formation. Don't look at them. Don't pay attention to them. That's what it is. Right. Allow them to just...

And then they will go because there's no attention given to them. It's like in the very seeing of it, it's going to start to fuel further formations. But the mind automatically just lets go of them at this point. It's just relaxing them. But as soon as you engage with them, now the attention tightens around it. And now you're no longer in the signless because you're taking it as an object.

So I said, like, I'm looking in your direction, and I mean, I can see a little bit of coon, and there's some chairs or something like that, but I would just keep looking in this direction. I mean, they're there because they're there, but the second I actually turned to him, now he's like a full-blown object. So it's the signless collectedness of mind. Did I get it right? You said lust, hate, and delusion are a concept? Or they create concepts. Oh, they create concepts. Okay. Makers. Okay. Good, because that was... They create concepts. It's the matrix.

It's the matrix. That's all it is. It's the coding. I'm going to change my name to Neo. There you go. That's all you got to do. Everybody has to just change their name to Neo. And now you are the one. Okay. Moving on. This is Samyutta Nikaya 41.6. Page 1322. This is known as the Kamabhu Sutta. On one occasion, the Venerable Kamabhu was dwelling at Macchikasanda in the wild mango grove. Then Chitta, the householder, approached the Venerable Kamabhu, paid homage to him, sat down to one side and said to him, Venerable Sir, how many kinds of formations are there? Just having a dialogue with Kamabhu.

There are three kinds of formations, householder: the bodily formation, the verbal formation, and the mental formation. Good, venerable sir, Chitta the householder said. So he's acknowledging him, okay, you know your stuff, good. Then having delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Kamabhu's statement, he asked him a further question. But venerable sir, inhalation and exhalation are one component of the bodily formation. There are other aspects of the bodily formations. When you tighten your arm, what are you doing?

Bodily formations allow you to tighten your fist. Bodily formations allow you to walk. Bodily formations allow you to breathe. They allow you to do other kinds of functions within the body. But for whatever reason, it's only mentioning inhalation and exhalation. And we'll talk about that a little further. Thought and examination are the verbal formation. So the initial application of thought, or when you are listening to someone and you start to engage with them and speak. The mind which starts to formulate what you're going to say and how you're going to express it. The verbal formations allow that process to happen or facilitate that process.

Perception and feeling are the mental formations. So the way you perceive things, the way you actually experience everything is dependent upon mental formations. Good, Venerable Sir, Chitta the householder said. Then he asked him a further question. But Venerable Sir, why are in-breathing and out-breathing the bodily formation? Why are thought and examination the verbal formation? Why are perception and feeling the mental formation?

Householder, in-breathing and out-breathing are bodily. These things are dependent upon the body. Breathing are the bodily formation. First one thinks and examines, then afterwards one breaks into speech. So you're calculating what you're going to say. That is why thought and examination are the verbal formation. Perception and feeling are mental. These things are dependent upon the mind. That is why perception and feeling are the mental formation. Experiencing through the five physical senses, whatever you're seeing, it's an image created in the mind. Whatever you're hearing is an interpretation of vibrations in the air, picked up by the ear, and then interpreted by the mind.

Whatever you're tasting, smelling, feeling with your body, all of that is being interpreted by the mind. And therefore, these are all mental. That's why in infinite consciousness, even though your eyes are not active, even though your ears are not active, and you still hear flickers, that's happening on a mental level. Because everything, mind is chief, mind is the forerunner. This is what it is. Everything you're experiencing ultimately is interpreted or experienced by the mind.

What is that process of development of mind? Six R's, going through jhanas, yes. So in other words, you cannot intend to go into cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness until you become an anagami or an arahat, but that's a different case altogether. But in terms of the attainment, there's one is the attainment and one is the determination of going into it. When we're talking about the attainment of cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, what we're talking about is how does the mind experience it? How does the mind go into cessation, right? It happens not because you intend it. Instead, you are letting go through the six R's process. Letting go of coarser formations that arise in the form of hindrances.

Hindrances are nothing but just collected formations. The formation starts off as a little snowflake and then drops on the ground and picks up and turns into a snowball and then ultimately becomes into this giant snowball, which is the hindrance. So you're letting go of those. You're dealing with the little snowflakes. You're melting them away with the six Rs, right? Letting them go. And so you're ceasing certain formations, bodily formations, verbal formations, bodily formations, and mental formations. And this is how the process of cessation happens. Good, venerable sir, he then asked him a further question. Venerable sir, when a bhikkhu is attaining the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, which of these things ceases first in him?

The bodily formation, the verbal formation, or the mental formation? What do you guys think? Body. Householder, when a bhikkhu is attaining the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, first the verbal formation ceases, then the bodily formation ceases, then the mental formation. Because we're not talking while we're meditating. Right? First in jhana, the first jhana, there's no speaking going on. When you sit down for meditation, no speaking going on. You have the intention to bring up loving kindness. That's the thinking and examining thought. But then in the second jhana, that ceases. Now you have self-confidence and the meditation is flowing. So now the verbal formations cease there. Yes, you can perceive that there is this here.

There is that here, there is this here. But that's not verbal, even though it might sound like it's verbal. It's perceiving, it's perception dependent upon mental formations. Now, the bodily formation ceases when you get into the fourth jhana because now you're starting to lose contact with the body and now it's all going into a mental state. Now, for whatever reason, people have said over the ages that in the fourth jhana, breathing ceases. But what's going on here is that the mind becomes so calm, so collected, that the body becomes so relaxed, that the breathing becomes almost imperceptible.

Right? So it's not just the in-breathing and out-breathing. It's all bodily formations related to the feeling in the body. You might still feel contact when it comes to a fly landing on your skin and stuff. But otherwise, you're not paying attention to that at all. And if you're not paying attention to that at all, no bodily formations are arising.

What about mental formations? When do they cease? In cessation. Because mental formations give rise to feeling and perception. When there is a cessation of feeling, perception, and consciousness, it's the cessation of mental formations. Saying, 'Good, venerable sir,' he then asked him a further question. Venerable sir, what is the difference between one who is dead and gone and a bhikkhu who has attained the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness?

Householder, in the case of one who is dead and gone, the bodily formation has ceased and subsided, ceased and never to return again. The verbal formation has ceased and subsided. The mental formation has ceased and subsided. His vitality is extinguished. His physical heat has been dissipated and his faculties are fully broken up. His vitality, this is the ayu-sankharas, vitality, that which provides the life in the body, the energy in the body. His physical heat, the heat is dependent upon the vitality, and the vitality is dependent upon the heat. So when there is heat in the body, there is life.

And the heat arises dependent upon the life in the body. Sariputta gives an interesting analogy for this, an interesting image. He talks about the flame. The heat of the flame is there, and there is the vibrance of the flame, the radiance of the flame, that is dependent upon the heat and so on. So that heat is basically the metabolism of the body that continues.

That's still there in cessation, as we'll see. Vitality is still there. Faculties are still there. But here the faculties are broken up. Meaning now this is what is talked about when we talked about the process of death. In death, first the heat goes. The fire element goes. The fire element dissipates. Then the air element goes. Then the fire element goes. Then the water element goes. And then finally the earth element diminishes. And in that process, the other faculties, the sense faculties, are broken up.

So first the smell goes. Then the taste goes. Then the sight goes. Then the sense of touch goes. Then the hearing goes. And then finally the mind faculty goes. It breaks up at the breaking up of the body. That's what happens when a person dies, when they are dead. In the case of a bhikkhu who has attained the cessation of perception and feeling, the bodily formation has ceased and subsided. It's stopped.

The verbal formation has ceased and subsided. The mental formation has ceased and subsided. But his vitality is not extinguished, his physical heat has not been dissipated, and his faculties are serene or clear. So in other words, like I was saying earlier, when you are in cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, there is still this vitality, there is still this energy, there is still the sixth sense bases that are dependent upon the vitality.

They are serene and clear because there's no impediments of sensory data packets going on. Now, when you are in cessation, somebody might think you're dead. That has happened to me. When I was in the cave and I was in cessation, my caretaker and my friends saw me in the cave. They tried to shake me up. They thought something had happened. They took me back to his house. Later on, I think they contacted David. David said, don't worry, everything is fine. Wait for another three days, like I'm Jesus Christ or something.

But then, sure enough, I came out. But then the problem was, at least, when I came back, I was expecting myself to be in the cave. But I saw all of these lights, just like this, and I thought, I've done it now. Somehow, I've gone to the Brahma realms. I don't think so. They should have been. Or maybe the pulse is very, very faint, if at all.

I would be warm, that's true. But they were panicking. Yeah, just in cessation. I am not dead. That's all we need to start. Yes. Oh, no. On the third day, he rose again. This is the difference between one who is dead and gone, and a bhikkhu who has attained to the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness. Saying, 'Good, venerable sir,' he then asked him a further question. Sir, how does emergence from the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness come about?

There is an intention, right, that the mind will emerge after a certain point or under certain conditions. Feeling and consciousness then emerge back, and that's dependent upon that prior determination. Is that news? So for example, when we did the scientific testing, right? I told the scientists when they had me all hooked up to those different, that octopus, you know, on my head, and I said, okay, you're gonna see something happen in 10 minutes, right? It's going to dip down. And then after 90 minutes, at the 90-minute mark, something's going to come back up. And exactly at the 10-minute mark, everything ceased. And at the 90-minute mark, everything came back up. That's because of prior determination.

There was a determination that after 10 minutes, mind goes into cessation. After 90 minutes, there is the arising. So EEG readings? No, the EEG diminishes at the 10-minute mark, and then it starts to become more active again. The wave action is... Is elongated, or it's... So it's not flatline? No. Because there's still other electrical activity going on.

There's a vitality going on. There's a metabolism going on. So you know how in the previous sutta it was saying that the signless state is conditioned? And it wouldn't just imply that... The prior determination conditions the process of cessation to happen. But in cessation, there's no conditions. It's a cessation of conditions themselves. Feeling is a condition, perception is a condition. And feeling and perception are both conditioned as well. That's why when you come out of cessation, now as we'll get into it, the unconditioned, the experience of Nibbana. Saying, 'Good, venerable sir,' he then asked him a further question. Venerable sir, when a bhikkhu is emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, which of these things arise in him first?

The bodily formation, the verbal formation, or the mental formation? What do you guys think? Householder, when a bhikkhu is emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, first the mental formation arises. After that, the bodily formation, and after that, the verbal formation. Oh, wow. Oh, what was that? What just happened? And so, saying, 'Good, venerable sir,' he then asked him a further question. Venerable sir, when a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, how many kinds of contact touch him?

Householder, when a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, three kinds of contact touch him. Emptiness contact, signless contact, undirected contact. The contact with Nibbana. That which is signless, no object. That which is undirected, no craving there. That which is empty, completely no self there. This initial contact with the Nibbana element then gives rise to feeling.

The feeling of joy and relief. The mental formation arises with joy and relief. Feeling, the joy and relief is felt in the body: bodily formation. And then there's, oh wow, the verbal formation. Saying, 'Good, venerable sir,' he then asked him a further question. Venerable sir, when a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, towards what does his mind slant, slope, and incline?

Householder, when a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, his mind slants, slopes, and inclines towards seclusion. Now, this is a translation from the word viveka in Pali. So, one idea is seclusion, that the mind wants to be secluded. But there's another translation of viveka, which is discernment or wisdom. Origination.

His mind inclines towards seeing dependent origination. Good, Venerable Sir, Chitta the householder said. Then, having delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Kamabu's statement, he asked him a further question. Venerable Sir, how many things are helpful for the attainment of the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness? Indeed, householder, you are asking last what you should have first, but still I will answer you. For the attainment of the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, two things are helpful: serenity and insight. TWIM. Samatha Vipassana. Questions?

That is a smart householder. He is, yes. Who is this guy? You had a question first. That's okay. Because you might be asking the questions that I wanted to. Go ahead. I thought it was the same question. I remember Bante once said something like, if someone, I'm sorry, how does that square with this? Because it seems like if the person came out of, if Chita had attained Nibbana, I imagine he would be okay. No, but stream-enterers attain Nibbana too, right?

And so do Sakadagamis and Anagamis. Okay, so there's never a point where, oh my God, my mind is so clear, I need to go seclude myself from the rest of the world. You don't have any more... You lose it. I mean, you completely lose interest in things like supporting yourself, for example. And so that's why you then go into the homeless life. You go into becoming a monastic, because that's where you get your requisites.

Because you just don't have any interest in doing this or that. Your mind is completely at peace. It's not looking for this or that or another. And you want to teach and let people know, but then you get supported? You get supported as a teacher, or whatever it might be. Some have the analytical knowledges, and some arahants are saying, I'll just mop up the place.

A solitary arahant. Leave me alone. I just want to be in my cabin. Yeah, but feed me. Just leave it outside the door. I never saw any indication of that. Because the Buddha was always, oh, you're an arahant now. Okay, you go there. And even if they're not inclined to teach, but you ask them a question because of the experience that they've had, they'll be able to talk to you from experience. So it'll be like they're teaching you anywhere.

No, my question is, first of all, when do you do this determination? Before the sitting, or, like, I'm in the fourth jhana, I'm going to take a break and do the determination, or when do you do that? The way the exercise of the determination starts off is, you start off with the first jhana, then you move on to the second jhana. You do certain kinds of things. You get into the first jhana. For a certain time period you come out of it and you do micro jhanas. That's five seconds in that jhana and coming out in 10 seconds, and so on. And you do that with each of the jhanas and then you finally do that with cessation.

So let's say these are all preparatory exercises leading you towards determining if you can just get into cessation. Now I think the traditional understanding within certain communities is that you go all the way up to nothingness and you come out of nothingness and you say, attain neither perception or non-perception, then mind will go into cessation. But you can just go into cessation just like that. You won't get stuck for more than a few minutes or seconds.

Oh, no, no, no. But even then, if you go into it, where you do have an attainment, it's only for a split second. It's not even for a couple of seconds. It's just like that. You wouldn't even know how long you were in it for. It might have been there for a minute, then they're for a split second.

So there's a fear that comes up when people first experience cessation and then later on they're like, oh, what if I get stuck? But as far as I know, I've never heard of anybody getting stuck in cessation. They wouldn't even know. But you didn't determine. You had set your clock. And I just wondered, for someone who falls into it, is... Oh, can you shake them out of it when they're in it? It would be so brief that there wouldn't be no point having to... You would only notice when you have that, oh wow, what just happened? That was just for that split moment. To keep you in it, yeah, you need a determination. So for those of you who might be afraid to go into cessation, don't worry.

You're not going to get stuck in it. But what if I'm stuck for eight days? Don't worry, we'll hold a funeral for you. It'll be great. We'll have fireworks. We'll have fireworks. There you go. You won't be there, so they're going to be cheap fireworks. I have a related story that people might be interested in. At the end of the last retreat, a person came up to me and told me a story about this.

And the person said, this was a great retreat. Something prompted this. And I was going in and out of cessation for most of the time and having these repeated Nibbana experiences. And it was great. There was no concern in that person's voice whatsoever. And the smile never left. Right. I know who you're talking about. Yeah. Any more thoughts about, say, an anagami can go into cessation, but yet not attain anagamiship, and not have another experience of Nibbana? That can result in the breaking of the fetters or weakening of the fetters. But it seems like when they come in and out of cessation, they are allowing the mind the ability to weaken that fetter.

But then the Nibbana experience is the one that completely rusts it out. Because in that moment of Nibbana, the mind is utterly pure. It's completely unfettered, completely untainted. That brief moment of Nibbana, everybody is, let's say, an arahant, because there's nothing going on. It's completely pure. But then when you hold on to that experience and say, oh, that was great, I want more of that, the craving arises again or the identification with it arises again. And so certain fetters are destroyed. Like in stream entry, we know that the fetter of self-view, the fetter of doubt, and the fetter of clinging to rites and rituals are gone. Because you've experienced it for yourself and you realize, oh, this is an impersonal process.

And this is the way leading to Nibbana. So I don't have any more doubt about it. And no rites and rituals is going to take me there. So there's no longer any clinging to it. But then there's the weakening of sensual craving and aversion for the sakadagami. So they have an experience of Nibbana. And the joy is again there. Before. It'll still be there. The relief will still be there. But then with the anagami, there's a lot of equanimity actually there. There's a lot of balance there. Because now there's no craving going on.

But there's joy of the Dhamma. There's clinging to the Dhamma still there. And then with the arahant, when the contact with the Dhamma element happens, there's no grasping onto any experience. It's just seeing things as they actually are. Because there's no fuel in the form of grasping, none of the taints can arise, because those taints will arise dependent upon fuel of craving or identification or views or ignorance or whatever it might be. But that's no action. When the feeling arises, no action, mental, verbal, or physical, leads to craving for that. It's just seeing things as they are. Pure.

So nothing fetters it anymore. So the conceit goes away, and therefore the restlessness goes away. The craving for jhana, craving for formless states goes away. Obviously, ignorance is destroyed. It seems like cessation, there's a little hum left, and then there's nirvana. And there's some sort of, it's conditioned, nirvana not conditioned. So, you're saying between cessation and Nibbana or after Nibbana? Okay, what is the difference between cessation and Nibbana? Cessation is the cessation of all conditions. Nibbana is the unconditioned state that results.

Well, we can't say results because then it says it's conditioned. But the Nibbana element itself has no craving in it. It has no object that it perceives. It's just completely unconditioned. But the cessation itself is not unconditioned. The cessation is the process in which all things cease. And then when everything comes back on, there is the unconditioned.

So the unconditioned is there in cessation. The unconditioned is there. The emergence from cessation happens. It's another state born of cessation. Right. Or the Nibbana element was already there. It's just now the contact was made after the mental formations arose. Yeah. So in the order of what we're talking about, there's cessation, then there's contact with Nibbana, and then there's the seeing of the links. The reason is because we talked about the contact with the Nibbana element, that is to say, the first contact that happens, the mental contact. Then the formations arise dependent upon that contact, and the formations that arise dependent upon that contact are pure for that first time they come up. That's why you see whatever it is that you see, but then after that there's the joy and relief.

That joy and relief is conditioned. And that joy and relief, if taken and clung to, results in the refettering of the mind. Pure formations. Void of any craving. And he said a few things about nirvana I wonder if he'd agree with. He said there's a consciousness but it's not one of the... He said there's some kind of consciousness there and some kind of happiness but it's not a feeling and the consciousness isn't one of the links. And he also said it's technically always right here.

It's technically always right here. But it's not something we've ever experienced before unless you've gone through this process. I wonder if he's referring to the Phala Samapati, though. All in here is, right, and is we just don't experience this. It's always here. Just like when you light the candlelight in a dark room, light appears and darkness disappears at the same time. That's how it's a condition. Everything is right, then. The experience of that.

Well, we think about when we're going through the process of the jhanas, right? What we're doing is we're deconditioning the mind. So we're removing conditions. It's the cessation of conditions, which include conditioned feeling and perception, and perception and feeling themselves being conditions. So that process of cessation is where all conditions cease. All feeling, all perception, all consciousness dependent upon formations cease. Because even in that moment of cessation, all sankharas also cease.

Which then, what's remaining is the unconditioned. Because there's nothing there to condition. There's just unconditioned. But now you have to be very careful when you use language like this. Because then it's like, oh, so Nibbana is... it's a substratum. That's not the case here. What we're saying is, Nibbana is the unconditioned in the sense that there's no conditions present.

Which allows the mind then to see dependent origination as it arises. Pure. Pure dependent origination. That is to say, formations void of craving, consciousness void of craving, nama-rupa, and then contact. So what happens is, cessation, contact with the Nibbana. That's the first contact that arises. That's unconditioned. Then the formations that arise are the mental formations that allow you to experience feeling of joy and relief.

Then there is the joy and relief that's felt in the body. Bodily formations arise. And then there's, wow, what was that? That's the verbal formations, right? So now the feeling and the perception of that is experienced in the first set of dependent origination, then when the mind says, wow, I really like that, inclines to it, then the next set of formations, if clung to, are now fettered again by the craving for that experience.

But if there's no clinging to the Dhamma, then the formations that do arise are not rooted in the craving. So in this snap, there's so many dependent origination cycles going on. So in that moment of contact with Nibbana, the experience of Nibbana, you see pure dependent origination, that is pure formations, pure consciousness, and then the feeling as a result of that contact. And then if that feeling is clung to, then there's formations that are rooted in that clinging. And then you still have some fetters there. And for that, one thing I always wanted to know is, very short moment of the time, you might see something like that. You would not, I don't know, other people might, but I would not know what they were until you come out. Everything you reflect upon, oh, what was that?

And then, what are these, right? Because it's so fast. I mean, after you have that attainment, usually the mind is just filled with pure energy, right? It doesn't want to look back. It's just feeling the joy and the relief. But if you do have an experience like that, it would be useful for you to use the mind to reflect back on what happened. That way you have better clarity on seeing dependent origination. You see it regardless at some point or another. But if you look back, you might have better clarity on what you just saw, better understanding. Yeah. No question about some of the mechanics here. So two parts. So the first part is, you know, from where I am now to the experience of cessation,

if you will, I am in the stream of dependent origination, right? I'm rooted in ignorance. My formations are rooted in ignorance, my consciousness, my contact, all of it, right? So I'm curious, where is the free will, if you will, to even start making a different choice? Because even my contact has been shaped, and I know we've talked about that: at the point of contact where feeling comes up, that's when you can choose, if you will, right? But it seems like even making that choice has to come from some prior contact or formation that's already set and also still part of this dependent origination stream. So that's the first part.

So assuming we get through that, I have the experience of cessation, and I come out of cessation. And here, I'm trying to work out the answer, and I would appreciate your input here. Out of cessation, I make contact with the nibbana element. So that's the first contact. Formations arise. If they're pure, if the formations are pure, I experience the joy and relief. And if there's craving, then you kind of keep going, right? You have to keep going. We probably see that in our hunt. So where does that craving come from? And the reason I ask is because I was imagining dependent origination, almost like the cartoons, where you're running along and you go off the cliff, right?

Once you hit cessation, you're off the cliff, you're off this causal link, off this causal train. I'm now off of this, make contact with the, you know, unconditioned. So there are no, I'm not part of these links, how can this craving still be there? And so then I thought, well, maybe it's because of the fetters, right? The fetters are still there. So you have this moment, you know, you're in the young condition, but at the end of the day, your mind is still fettered. So that's where the craving comes from. But then, for the anagami, like, how is the... They don't have craving anymore, right? But the anagami still runs the risk of coming into contact with nirvana and saying, oh, but...

The risk of coming in contact with nirvana? Did you say that? Did you say the risk of coming into contact with nirvana? Okay. So what we're saying here is you have contact with nirvana. There's the experience, nibbana. The mind touches nibbana, and then the feeling that arises is conditioned by that experience, right? That's all the joy and relief that you experience. But contact also gives rise to formations. So when we're talking about dependent origination, right, contact is one of those things that gives rise to intention, gives rise to perception, and so on and so forth. So the next set of formations that come up are pure and allow the mental feeling of joy and relief to happen.

Now, dependent upon that, if the mind grabs onto that feeling of joy, then the next set of formations, as a result of that choice, will be fettered. But before that, all those formations that arose were unfettered. If it doesn't grab onto it, then they will not be fettered. Okay, and then what happens? And then one is an arahant. Oh, so one... so it's either or.

Right, so if there is that clinging to the Dhamma, which is, there's no lust there, there's no aversion there, but there is, I am experiencing this, and I enjoy the Dhamma. See, for the anagami, there's equanimity there. The first joy that you experience as a stream enterer is just amazing, because you've never experienced this joy before.

And then eventually, when you become an anagami, there's actually more equanimity than joy there. There's more balance there. Okay, so let's say the sakadagami. Okay, there's still some... some joy is there. So it's between. So then, is that when that first stream of dependent origination comes by and there isn't a grasping onto it, then what? Does that person then...

So you're saying somebody who attains anagami? No. Yeah, would then become an anagami. Would then become an anagami. There, the joy is instead just seen as it is, just an impersonal process. It just happens automatically as a result of continually 6R-ing. So this process of craving or not craving, this process of clinging or not clinging to it, is dependent upon how much right effort you've applied prior.

That's why one keeps saying that your choices are inclining towards either craving or not craving, depending upon how many times you've been mindful of that and 6R'd it. The more you 6R it, having that sharp, clear mindfulness, the more automatic your choice is to not crave for something. So you 6R all the way to arahatship. So, to build on what you're saying, if I understand correctly, the challenge for the stream enterer, right? Right. But they feel so good, and they're like, wow, I feel amazing. As they continue up the liberation chain, the more a person 6Rs and starts to incline their formations towards the wholesome, to incline towards not craving, towards letting go, the next time these experiences happen, they're more likely to not.

But that happens automatically. Right. So there will be, at that moment, they're not choosing anymore. It's like, whatever choices you have made previously, right now the fruition of that karma, the intention that you had, is not coming into the forefront at that point in time. There's this question about the arahant seeing dependent origination four times, the anagami three times, two times, one time. How do you see that? I think one way to look at it is that in the case of the stream enterer, they see something, but they're not able to fully comprehend what they saw. But I will say that afterwards, a stream enterer can go back to the suttas, and even in their own daily life, start to see dependent origination.

Like, oh, here is the contact, here is the feeling, here is so-and-so. And then once you get more clarity on this, and the second time around for the sakadagami, you might see more links. In the case of Ananda, he saw only certain links. He didn't see six sense spaces. He didn't see formations. He didn't see ignorance. But he saw certain links.

In the case of the sakadagami, they would probably have more clarity on dependent origination. So they might see those links and kind of even be able to say, oh, that was probably the formations. There's an intuition that comes up. And with the anagami, it's much clearer. With the arahant, it's like, in that moment of seeing, and this is going to sound very much like science fiction, it goes beyond kind of the notion of time. Because you're just seeing, almost in slow motion, or the perception of it is in slow motion, that you're like, oh, here's the formation, here's the consciousness, here's the nama-rupa, here's the contact, the six sense basis, here's the contact.

Not only that, but with the arahant, they can go backward and see, oh, this is where this was, this is where this was. So when we talk about the forward order and the reverse order, the arahant sees that, forward and reverse, upon reflection. So, as to one time, two times, three times, four times, the links themselves are kind of a flow of experience, right? Yeah.

This is the mind's way of perceiving what is actually happening. That's why for some people formations are seen as dashes, or they're seen as lines, or they're seen as circles, or they're seen as umbrellas, or whatever it might be, just little things that they see, circles and ringlets and things. But that's just the way that that particular mind is perceiving or interpreting what is happening in the flow of dependent origination.

So it's seeing reality as it is, dependent upon how mind perceives it. That's why the Buddha says, as to that Ananda, it's dependent upon their faculties. So it's almost, if our experience is like a river, right? You might think that the worldly one, the puthujjana, goes there and sees the river just kind of blowing by. But then you get the Noble Ones coming, and they'll actually be able to map out, if you will, links in the stream as it's happening, each with more refinements, if you will. And then the arahant will actually, I guess like... yeah, for them, so for the stream enterer, they're entering the stream, and the stream is a little muddy.

They can see the rocks, and they can see little fish, and they can see little algae or this or moss or whatever. A little bit, but they can't really catch it. It's just a little muddled. And with the sakadagami, they see a little bit more. And then upon reflection and upon their experience, they're able to see, oh, that was the moss, oh, that was the rock, and everything. And with the anagami, it becomes even clearer. And with the arahant, they can actually swim upstream and say, oh, that was where the rock is. They know exactly, this is where the rock is, this is where the moss is, this is where the salmon is.

This is where the whatever it might be. Just to make sure that I was understanding right, the Buddha will give different amounts of links in different suttas, so I guess what I was just confirming is, are there clear delineations between the links, or does it seem like those are just concepts we're placing on a flow of experience where there's no clear delineation? Clearly there is a distinction between, say, feeling and perception, but it seems like at some point it's arbitrary where we place the dividing lines between links, or what we're calling a link. Is that right? No, there is a pretty good delineation point. It's just that as it becomes clearer, you start to see those delineations.

So as you get deeper and deeper in the practice, and then as you get higher and higher attainments, you actually do see, here is the contact. Oh, here is the feeling. But however you perceive it, it is dependent upon your faculties. But you have a clear vision of those delineations. So why did the Buddha, well, I think there's some sort of, as you're talking about, where he starts, say, with consciousness, where he just, he doesn't. Right, he says with consciousness there's nama-rupa. Yeah, but the formations is missing. The formations is missing, right.

It's his audience. He's talking to the audience. Ananda, at that point, had become a stream enterer. So he was not able to delineate where the ignorance was. He was not able to delineate where the formations were. Oh, this is where the sixth sense bases were. So those three particular links are not mentioned in Digha Nikaya 15, which we went through a few days ago. And the reason being is the Buddha is speaking to what Ananda understands then.

At his level. I see, yeah. And then there's another one where sometimes the later links are grouped into bigger categories. Yes, yes. But that's just because he's just summarizing. And then if you go to Majjhima Nikaya 9, you have Sariputta, who goes not only just through all 12 links, but he says even before that there's the taints.

And he says the ignorance is dependent upon the taints, and the taints are dependent upon the ignorance. Is the ignorance an actual link? Because I feel like it's not really a link but a setting, the contamination of the other links. Consciousness and formations are really things. It's a condition. But it arises dependent upon the fact that one is not able to see.

And so it's seen as a link because it's saying this is what conditions formations. Ignorance, dependent upon ignorance, these formations arise. Meaning dependent on the fact that one does not see. Because you just don't know. A baby seeing a flame might put their finger in the flame, but they don't know. Ignorance. So that's why I was saying, obviously this is not in the Suttas, but I'm just terming it this way. There's the mundane ignorance and the super mundane ignorance. The mundane ignorance is that you don't know that you don't know, right? You don't know about the Four Noble Truths because you've never heard about them before. But the super mundane is you've heard about them before but you don't remember them.

Or you ignore them. Right. The consciously incompetent person, right? So technically khan, 6R, ignore it, right? It's only to the formation. Yes, 6R's are deconditioning the formations of ignorance. Every time you 6R, you are mindful, which means you're remembering to observe how mind's attention moved. When you do that, you're using your ability to use yoniso manasikara to see things as they are.

That they are impermanent, not worth holding on to, and therefore not considered to be self. Every time you see it, you don't project upon it, you just see it as it actually is. Ignorance starts to. The paint chips away. The yoniso manasikara. Yeah. Otherwise, mindfulness alone can be a wrong mindfulness. Wrong mindfulness would be, I'm eating, I'm paying attention to how I'm eating, right? That's wrong mindfulness, right? But mindfulness here is, oh, the mind was distracted and is taking this personal, but I see this as being impersonal and letting it go.

When you're using right effort, which is the 6R's, you're utilizing right mindfulness. That's why it is in that particular sequence. The Eightfold Path is in that particular sequence. Right effort leads to right mindfulness. Right mindfulness leads to right collectedness. Satisfied? Delighted? Let's hear some merit. May the suffering ones be suffering free. May the fear struck fearless be. May the grieving shed all grief and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas of mighty power share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation. Thank you.