Day 6 Dependent Origination Pt 1, BUDDHA PĀDA INSTITUTE, Kalimpong- Delson Armstrong

Today we'll be discussing some parts of Dependent Origination, Pratitya Samutpada. So in Majjhima Nikaya 28, in the simile of the elephant's footprint, Sariputta says that the Buddha said that one who sees dependent origination sees the Dhamma, and one who sees the Dhamma sees dependent origination. So you can understand the importance of understanding this process. Indeed, dependent origination is the core of the entire Dhamma. Once you understand dependent origination, first at an intellectual level and then at an experiential level, then you start to notice how this process of suffering arises. That the Four Noble Truths are: number one, suffering, dukkha; number two, the cause of that suffering, which is essentially craving or tanha; number three, the cessation of that suffering, which is nirodha; and number four, the Eightfold Path that leads to the cessation of that suffering.

So when we talk about dependent origination, that is the 12 links of dependent origination, which starts from ignorance and ends at dukkha, at suffering, or at actually jaramarana, which is aging and death, but there are other parts of it in dukkha. So these are the 12 links. Understanding how these links arise takes care of the first two links of, of the first two truths of the Four Noble Truths. So understanding how suffering arises, you understand the Noble Truth of suffering, and you understand the causes and conditions that lead to that suffering. Understanding how to cease these links, you then understand the third and fourth Noble Truth. You understand the cessation, and you understand how to cease that suffering.

So you have in front of you the chart. What you should be looking at is a chart that shows you from ignorance to suffering. We'll see if we can go over all of it, but we'll start in reverse order, because this is the way it would have been taught, which is first and foremost understanding dukkha, the 12th thing, suffering.

So what is Dukkha? Dukkha is understood in terms of its word as the axle of a wheel that is just not fitting proper. There's something off balance, off kilter about it. So I don't know, I have been shopping in India at all like in a grocery store but you know when you go to a grocery store in the US or you go to a shopping center like a Walmart or something like that you have these shopping carts that you push around and for some reason I often get the shopping cart where one wheel is always just not right and that's Dukkha. That's the perfect representation of what Dukkha is.

So dukkha is essentially this inherent dissatisfaction with life. There's a certain sense of unease about existence. Not everything seems to be going the way that you want it to. And so the Buddha has categorized dukkha into three categories: dukkha dukkha, viparinama dukkha and sankhara dukkha. So when we say dukkha dukkha, that's the most apparent kind of suffering. For example, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, pain is suffering, right? Grief is suffering, mental anguish is suffering, anxiety is suffering. All these things we know to be suffering. Unpleasant experiences are suffering, right?

Now the key is how do you deal with such suffering, right? When we talk about aging, for example, this is a normal part of existence. All beings experience aging on this physical level. When we talk about animals, when we talk about human beings, they are all experiencing aging at some level. It's understood that even the devas experience aging. They just don't realize it until it's too late. At the very end, they see, oh, I am going to go. And before they can even do anything about it, they snap out of it, snap out of that existence. So aging is a normal part of life. Now you see a lot of technology, a lot of biotechnology and all kinds of medicines and supplements that are aiding in trying to prevent the process of aging, or slow down aging, or even reverse cellular aging, and things like that.

Where does this all stem from? It stems from identification with the body, right? The more you identify with this bag of bones and flesh, the more you want it to continue as best as possible. There's nothing wrong with having good health. There's nothing wrong with wanting good health. There's nothing wrong with keeping yourself healthy. Absolutely. I mean, even the Buddha had prescribed that you walk up and down the hill, you do some walking meditation, and so on and so forth. But this process of aging, trying to control the aging process, first of all, you cannot. For our dukkha, you cannot, for our aging. It'd be wonderful if you could. It would be a lot more popular.

But you have to be able to understand where this fear of aging, and then fear of death, arises. It arises from identifying with the sense spaces, identifying with the nama-rupa, identifying with body and mind. And every time that happens, every time you say that this body is me, mine or myself, you're afraid to lose it. You're afraid when you get an illness. What's the big deal about an illness? An illness actually shows that the body's immune response is pretty good, right? So you should appreciate that the body is actually able to respond in a way that creates the circumstances for that illness to go away. So the illness is not the issue. It's the discomfort and the pain related to the illness that is the problem. So the fear of illness is because we fear that it might kill us. What's the big deal about death? Dying is very easy, right? It's all the fear around the mystery of death that causes anguish and pain and suffering.

So in the dying process, the way to understand the dying process is that it is an unraveling of the bodily energies. It's an unraveling of the sixth sense basis. It's an unraveling of the four great elements of the body. And that's exactly what's going on. It's just a process of decline of the sense bases, of the faculties and functions. That's a normal part of every single being's existence.

But it seems so terrible. It seems so bad because of the identification with this body. Those people who've had near-death experiences, whenever they talk about this process of dying, they say it was one of the most blissful experiences they've had. Majority of them say that. Majority of them say that there was a great and immense peace. That process itself was so quiet and so peaceful. There was no fear there. Total acceptance. Of course, that's dependent upon what kind of formations and sankharas were present in that mind. Because if somebody has been unwholesome throughout their life, somebody has had continually afflictive states of mind arising through acting upon anger, acting upon jealousy, greed, hatred and delusion, then what will happen is there is a life review process that happens.

And the majority of those scenes from that life review process will be filled with regret and remorse. Why did I say that? Why did I do that? I should have done this, I should have done that. But if somebody has been generally more wholesome, then the sankharas that arise during that time of dying will be generally uplifting.

And because of that, it creates an uplifted state in the mind. And because of that, the mind is able to get into, let's say, we go from one birth to the next, goes into a more positive, more wholesome rebirth. This is the general understanding, not only in Buddhism, not only in the Dhamma, but in all traditions. There is this idea that keeping the precepts is universal, because we understand the importance of keeping the precepts. We understand that we wouldn't want people or beings to harm us. We wouldn't want beings to kill us or kill our loved ones. We wouldn't want beings to steal from us, take from us what is not given. We wouldn't want beings to cheat us, to do all kinds of misconduct against us. We wouldn't want beings to lie to us, or lie about us.

And we wouldn't want beings to be rowdy and obnoxious when they're drunk around us. So knowing this, understanding this, do unto others as you would want them to do unto you, this is why you keep the precepts. Essential. Because there is a give and take. This is karma, action and consequence. There is an interdependency between all lives, between all existences, between all beings.

So dying, just understand, when you are going through that dying process, you will experience something like a life review process. It will happen. And so what do you want that final movie to play out like? Do you want it to be a lot of regret and remorse, or do you want it to be uplifting? And then moreover, do you want to let go of any kind of attachment to it, one way or the other?

This is all part of dukkha dukkha. So we talk about mental anguish, we talk about grief. So let's talk about grief. What is grief? When we have any kind of grief about the death of a loved one, we're not grieving for that loved one. We're grieving for ourselves. We're saying that person is no longer in our lives to make us happy.

It's the same like a breakup. You break up from someone, you always think about them. Oh, they used to always wear that particular brand of socks, or they used to always love this particular song. You go through this whole process of thinking about them, whether it's a dead loved one or somebody you've broken up with. So what is grief?

Grief is attachment to other beings. Grief is identifying with other beings as: this person is mine, this person makes me happy. Always having the idea of happiness, or the source of happiness, externalized towards things and towards people, is the source of suffering. Because people are fickle. Things are impermanent. They will change. And putting any expectation on people, whether they are parents, whether they are our siblings, whether they are our partners, whether they are teachers, whether they are whoever they are, putting expectations on them, projecting this idea that they make me happy.

If you let go of that, you won't suffer from grief. So some of these things, you know, mental anguish, grief, despair, all of these are part of dukkha dukkha, the most apparent form of suffering, the most apparent form of dukkha. There is something called viparinama dukkha. Viparinama dukkha means the dukkha of change, the dukkha of things that we don't want, or the things that do come to us that we wanted that don't come to us, I should say. So one is we want something and it doesn't turn out the way we want it. Another is we get what we don't want or what we didn't expect.

So having expectations about life, having expectations that situations will work a certain way is basically lining yourself up for suffering, for disappointment. One of the most mundane examples of that is, well, I'll give it to you from my own experience of viparinama dukkha. Last year I went to both Goa three times, and one of those times I was going with a friend from the US, and we were taking it easy. We thought, it'll be fine. We checked out from the hotel and we went to the airport, and then at the airport we put in our bags, and we saw the guy at the check-in. He was looking at us and he shook his head, and we went up there, and he said, what happened? And he said, oh, are you going for this flight? And he said yes. Well, we can't check you in. You're supposed to be there an hour or two hours before. We were like, 10 minutes before the hour mark. And he said, we're not gonna let you in.

And the flight that was supposed to be there to take us had not yet even landed at the airport. But that's viparinama dukkha, right? You accept it. The change, unexpected things will happen. So what happened? They had us go to a different flight at our own expense. Didn't expect that to happen, and the flight wasn't the same flight. We had to go to Calcutta. We were going to Bombay, but here we were going to Calcutta on the other side, and then from there go to Bombay.

Didn't expect that to happen either, right? Or another thing: let's say it's really, really cold outside. You're in a very cold environment, and you turn the geyser on and you put on the hot water, and you know, it feels really good. There's a lot of steam and it feels really good on your body, and you're just staying there under the shower experiencing the warmth of water. And all of a sudden the geyser breaks and there's just icy cold water. That's viparinama dukkha, unexpected change. But this is the nature of existence, impermanence. Right? When we talked about anicca, right? Anicca, dukkha. Anicca also means that which is inconstant, that which is unstable, always liable to change.

If we understand this and accept that this is the nature of all things, then we won't have any viparinama dukkha. Now, what does that mean? Does that mean that we can't have goals in life? Does that mean that we can't do things in life? No, that's not what it means. What it means is, yes, you can have a goal in life. You can have some sort of direction in life, some kind of inclination.

But if you get obsessed and get attached to that goal and it doesn't work out the way you want it, then you're setting up yourself for disappointment. So being open to life, being open to the different things that could happen in life, is a much easier, much freer-flowing way of living, rather than things have to be a certain way. Yesterday I was talking about that, the idea that it should be this way, it must be this way. Based on what?

It's based on our ideas of what we think the ideal life is, the ideal situation is. And guess what? It doesn't even stem from us. The sense of an ideal doesn't stem from us. It stems from causes and conditions that we've learned and inherited from our parents and our teachers and society and friends and TV and movies and what we read and listen to.

All of these are the different causes and conditions, external causes and conditions, that create this image of the perfect life, the ideal situation. But it is just an image. And that image then seeps into conceit, into your ego, this sense of this is how the world ought to be. And if it doesn't match that, then that is viparinama dukkha. But if you let go of that, if you let go of the standards of that and just live life in a way that is non-harmful to you and non-harmful to others, then you will see a lot of magic happen.

You will see that life is more than just your career. Life is more than just your relationships with yourself and with the people around you. It's more than that. Because relationships come and go. Careers change all the time. Even we change all the time. All the time. In every moment, we change. So letting go of the need to maintain a certain kind of identity. Letting go of the need to maintain a certain kind of ideal, a certain kind of lifestyle. Doing that, you let go of viparinama dukkha. And then there is what's known as sankhara dukkha. This is a very inherent kind of dukkha. That is the inherent suffering in existence itself, and this is brought on by total identification with one or more of the five aggregates, because one of the things the Buddha says is the five aggregates affected by craving and clinging themselves are dukkha. What does he mean by that? There's a sutta called the Satta Sutta, and in the Satta Sutta there's a monk who asks the Buddha, what does it mean when we talk about a being?

How do we define a being? And the Buddha says a being is defined by, or understood whenever there is, identification and attachment in relation to one or more of the five aggregates. In other words, we take the body as me, mine, or myself. We take feelings, all experiences that we're having through the six sense bases, as me, mine, or myself. We take perceptions, that is, the concepts of what we see. When we say that this is the color gray, we know this is the color gray because we've learned it like that. We say that this is a wooden table. We say that because we understand this is wooden and that this is a table. We understand this is a flower. So the cognizing of that, and understanding and labeling that, rooted in memory and learning, is perception. And every time we take our perceptions to be me, mine, or myself, every time we take formations, sankharas.

What are those? We'll get into sankharas a little deeper, but sankharas essentially are those that create our thought patterns, the way that we experience life, the way we understand life: the mental formations, the physical formations, and the verbal formations. Whenever we take those as me, mine, or myself, whenever we take even consciousness, awareness itself, as me, mine, or myself, it leads to dukkha. Because awareness, as we'll understand later, is dependent upon causes and conditions, any kind and all kinds of awareness.

Even this sense of there being an underlying awareness that is aware of all things, the sense of mindfulness, the sense of pristine clarity of awareness, even that is dependent upon causes and conditions. So if we take any of these, which are always changing, arising and passing away, as me, mine, or myself, we are setting ourselves up for dukkha. But in reality it's only the craving and clinging in relation to the five aggregates, that identification, that any of these five aggregates are either me, belong to me, I am in the five aggregates, the five aggregates are in me, or I am separate from the five aggregates. These viewpoints, these misunderstandings of reality, is what leads us to suffering, the inherent sankhara dukkha, because when we do that, when we identify with that which is essentially impermanent, that which is bound to change,

then being identified with that, we feel like life is just meaningless. Why does it keep changing all the time? I can't deal with life anymore. Existence is pain, existence is suffering. It's only because we identify with that which is impermanent. And so the misperceptions of reality, trying to see the permanent in that which is impermanent, trying to see that which is happiness in that which is suffering, and trying to see that which is self in that which is actually not self, is what sets us up for this dukkha. So that's the end point. There are different kinds of dukkha: aging, illness, death, mental anguish, pain, bodily pain, getting what you don't want, not getting what you do want, and the five aggregates.

All of these are encapsulated by dukkha. So what is the cause and condition for dukkha? It's understood that birth is the cause and condition for dukkha, jati. Here when we say jati, or birth, we mean two things. There are two levels of understanding. There's jati in terms of coming into existence, into a different plane of existence. And there is the birth of action.

So here, when we talk about birth, we're talking about birth from one life to the next life, right? The coming into being, when the development of the fetus happens, when the sixth sense bases are starting to be manufactured, when the five aggregates are starting to come to be, this is understood as birth. But there's also birth of action, the birth of karmic action. And this is more important to understand because this is what you deal with on a moment-to-moment basis, every single day.

So what is the birth of action? The birth of action is the birth of new karma. The birth of action is when you think or intend, when you speak, or when you physically act out some kind of an action. So mental, verbal, or physical action. So when you look at dependent origination like a river, it's a stream that gathers force. Each whirlpool within that river is a link of dependent origination that gathers further and further force.

And then there's the waterfall. And once you go past the waterfall, there's no way for you to come back up. Once you take the initiative to release that arrow, there's no way for you to recall that arrow. In other words, once you think a thought, there's no way for you to retract that. Once you say whatever it is that you say, there's no way for you to take that back. Once you make that action, once you take that physical action, there's no way for you to reverse it.

That is the birth of karmic action, actually taking that action. And that is dependent upon what is known as bhava. Bhava is understood in many different ways. It's translated as existence, it's translated as being, it's translated as becoming. One of the other translations that we use is habitual tendencies. So bhava: there are three kinds of existences, or three categories of existence. The first one is called sensual or sensory based existence, the second is called form existence, and the third is formless existence. So bhava is essentially the kinds of habitual tendencies that are rooted in one of these existences. They are also psychological states. So when we talk about the first kind of existence, the sensual based existence we're referring to in the cosmology of Buddhism, everything from any of the hell realms to the animal realms to the hungry ghost realms to the human realms to the realms of the devas, all of that is within the confines of sensual based existence. So what does that mean? If a mind continues to cultivate

Certain kinds of intentions that are rooted in certain kinds of thought patterns or states of consciousness will correspond to that particular kind of existence, even in this very life. An example of this is somebody who is jealous, somebody who is stingy, somebody who covets. That kind of person is very similar to what would be understood in the cosmology as a hungry ghost.

And so you see people who are like that. They're always seeking things out, never satisfied. Their hunger is never satisfied. There are people who are more generous, more kind, more forgiving and compassionate. And you notice their lifestyle and existence seem to correspond to that kind of intention. They're living the life of some kind of deva in this life itself, mentally and sometimes even physically.

Somebody who is more animalistic in nature, only looking for food and sex and entertainment, right? They're very much tied to their bodies. They're very much animalistic. And so you'll notice they're very gruff. They don't think beyond just the body. They're only about satisfying their sensual desires. Somebody else who's angry all the time is causing hurt to other people, causing harm to other people. What kind of psychological state are they living in? A very hellish kind of psychological state. So this is one way of understanding bhava.

The form existence corresponds to the brahma lokas. There are four brahma lokas, right? There's the maha brahma in the first brahma loka, with all of his retinue and so on. There's the abhassara brahma loka, which is the second. There's the subhakinha, which is the third, and there is the vehapphala, which is the fourth. All of these correspond to one of the jhanas. So if you've been cultivating one of the jhanas for a longer period of time, your mindset will be rooted in that kind of existence. You can see that with people on retreat. They're happy and uplifted and joyful, or they're very calm and collected and tranquil and equanimous. That's because they're either in the first or second jhana, or they're towards the third or fourth jhana. And so when we talk about celestial walking, it's essentially like they're taking the psychological state of a brahma into their walking. They don't have any hindrances in mind. Their mind is just meditative all the time.

and then when we talk about the formless existence the arupa states that's corresponding to the four ayatanas that we talked about infinite space infinite consciousness nothingness and neither perception or non-perception there are people who are meditating and experiencing that even during their waking days even while they're walking around eating their food they're experiencing infinite spaciousness they're experiencing infinite consciousness they're experiencing nothingness they're experiencing neither perception or non-perception so these are the ways to understand bhava is that our psychological states can correspond to a certain kind of existence within that cosmology but beyond that for practical purposes, we should also understand bhava as where the sense of self is most concrete,

And so from there, certain habitual patterns come to be, certain habitual tendencies come to be. For example, when you are met with a series of choices, when you are met with a situation where somebody is arguing with you and starting to get upset and starting to blame you for something, your habitual tendency might be to get upset.

Your habitual tendency might be to defend yourself. So you have a series of choices dependent upon what's going on, and those series of choices are your habitual tendencies. They are habituated. They are created into habit by continually inclining towards those particular choices. So if somebody starts blaming you and you become defensive and get angry, that's your habitual reaction. And if you act upon that, that's your birth of action, birth of karmic action. So your habitual tendencies can be wholesome or unwholesome. If you have cultivated a mindset where, if somebody does get angry at you, your habitual tendency is not to get angry, your habitual tendency is to radiate compassion to them and try to de-escalate the situation, that's a better habitual tendency, let's say, than getting upset. But there's still identification with that habitual tendency. There's still some kind of identification with existence that is let go of completely

when you become fully enlightened, fully awakened. But for the purposes of understanding practically how this process works, there's also bhava in the form of similar kinds of patterns of life that you go through. You seem to always attract the same kind of people in your life. No matter what country you go to, no matter what city you go to, you always seem to attract the same kind of people or the same kind of situations, the same kind of relationships, the same kind of group of friends, and so on. That is dependent upon your habitual tendencies.

Now, those can be good or wholesome, or those can be not so wholesome. And if you want to break those patterns, how do you break them? This is where right effort really comes in. When we talk about habitual patterns, when we talk about habitual tendencies, when we talk about different kinds of corresponding psychological states, this is where things can change, so long as we use right effort to understand how to make that change. The Buddha has said that when you apply right effort in understanding, this is a habitual tendency, and you let go of it, then there will be no renewal of further existence. There will be no renewal of further karmic action.

But the key is to have the mindfulness to recognize this is a habitual pattern, that this is a habitual tendency. And what do you do there? You have to let go. Let go of identifying with it. Let go of saying this is mine, that this choice is me, this choice is mine. Let go of that, and allow the intuition to arise. What is the difference between the mind and intuition? The mind works under the causes and conditions that it's presented with. Intuition works beyond that. Intuition arises

from a quiet mind. In other words, the birthplace of intuition is the quiet mind. When your mind is quiet, then there is the intuitive voice that says, this isn't the way to do it, this is the way to do it, this isn't what to say, this is what you should say. And that intuition will always be right. It might not be what you want, but it will be right, because it will be based in the Eightfold Path. It's from that intuition that your speech corresponds with right speech, and that your action corresponds with right action. So instead of replacing the bhava with another kind of bhava, you're replacing it with intuitive action, intuitive speech

that doesn't result in the renewal of new karma or renewal of further karma. But dependent upon what does bhava arise? Dependent upon clinging. When we talk about clinging, this is manifested in your mind as the rationalizations that you make for why you think you want something, or you don't want something, or you identify with something. So craving would be, in the mind, manifested as "I like this, I want this, I don't like this, I don't want this, I am this." Clinging is that which says "because": "so I like this because of so and so." That's the clinging. The clinging is what creates the associations around why you think you like something. There are four kinds of clinging. There's sensual clinging, there's clinging to rites and rituals, there's clinging to self-view, and there's clinging to views in general. So when we talk about sensual clinging, that's related to sensory craving, sensual craving.

We get habituated to certain kinds of things. A person prefers tea over coffee. Why? Because they've continued to habituate themselves to drinking that, and they say, "I'm a tea person" or "I'm a coffee person." That's your bhava. When you like a certain kind of food, right? I don't know how many of you actually enjoy Indian food, but let's say you go abroad somewhere where they have very bland food, and what do you think? You say, "Oh man, I wish I had some dal chawal. I just wish I had some really good home cooking." Why? Because you crave for it and you cling to it. If somebody were to give you just bland rice porridge and a plate of roti and bhaji and kia and all of this, which one would you choose?

It depends upon your inclinations, but you crave for something because you have associated that with comfort. I prefer a certain type of food because my mother made it that way. So that, because of that, is the clinging, the association, and that can be with any kind of sense base. For example, when you go to the supermarket in the U.S., you'll notice that in the cereal aisle, all of the colorful cereal is around this level, because it's catering to the young ones, it's catering to kids. They look at all the colorful packaging and they say, "I want that." So there's a craving. They see colorful and they say, "I like this because it's colorful." Or when you see an ad for something, some new piece of technology, the latest iPhone is out, and it associates the iPhone with luxury or with being modern or whatever it is, you say, "Oh, I want that iPhone." Or you associate certain smells with certain memories.

That's a kind of clinging that happens immediately with the infant. When a newborn clings to the mother, they feel the mother, they smell the mother, and that's the sense of comfort. As soon as you take the child away from the mother, what happens? They start crying. So that's the clinging, the association. Now, this can also mean trauma, PTSD. You associate certain kinds of sensory experiences with a terrible thing that happened in your life, and any time your mind has that experience, it goes back to that traumatic experience. So how do you let go of that clinging?

You have to use right effort. You have to recognize it. It will take time. It will take effort. It will take consistent practice of recognizing, I am clinging here, and relaxing it, letting go, and replacing it with something else. Replacing it with a mind that is free of that clinging, replacing it with a mind that is equanimous, a mind that is compassionate to yourself, and so on.

Here's another one. Clinging to music. Our generation of music is the best. The next generation of music is trash. What are they listening to these days? Why is that? Because we grow up in our teenage years, in our adolescence, listening to certain kinds of music, and it's that time when our brain is rewiring and associating this music with amazing experiences that we've had during our adolescence, and so we say that music is great, that music is amazing. And then you hear this barbaric music that the next generation is playing. What are they listening to? But that next generation is listening to that music with that same mindset, and now they're creating their own associations, their own clinging. So this is sensual clinging. Then we have clinging to views. This is clinging to certain kinds of views that are not rooted in the understanding of the Dhamma. This can be a view like materialism, a view of annihilationism or nihilism, a view that, you know, you have to do certain kinds of ascetic practices in order to let go of your karma.

Or a view associated with certain kinds of beliefs about rites and rituals, which have nothing to do with the Dhamma. So these kinds of views basically conflict with the understanding of right view. In other words, it conflicts with the understanding of action and consequence. It conflicts with the idea, like materialism, that there is this world and the other. Materialism says that there is only this world. Live for the body, live for the sense base, live for sensual pleasure. But as soon as you experience jhana, as soon as you experience meditation, you realize there's actually a pleasure that is outside of the scope of physical sensual experience.

So different kinds of views that don't correspond with the Dhamma is clinging to views. How do you recognize that? First, you need to have a good understanding of what right view is. How do you get an understanding of right view? You have to understand the difference between wrong view and right view. You have to understand what corresponds to right view, and how do you do that? By listening to the voice of another, by learning, by reading suttas, by studying, by seeing for yourself how this process works.

Now, there can also be clinging to the Dhamma itself. You can take right view, or the view of the Dhamma, and say, this view is correct and all other views are false. That is identifying with the Dhamma. When you do that, it prevents you from letting go of everything. There's a Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 74, called Diganaka. And Diganaka was either a nephew or a cousin of Sariputta. And he was part of the view of the skeptics at the time. In the suttas, they're known as eel wrigglers because they don't come to any view. They're afraid of holding on to any view with the idea that they'll have to defend it. So this is another kind of wrong view.

You need to have some kind of conclusion to what it is. Otherwise, it creates a lot of agitation in the mind. Anyway, Diganaka comes to the Buddha, and he tells the Buddha, I am of the view that I hold on to no views. And so the Buddha tells him, that's very good, that's very good. But do you hold on to the view that you hold on to no views?

And so then from there, he starts to dissect the understanding of views, the understanding of the sixth sense basis, the understanding of feeling and perception. And Sariputta at this time is fanning the Buddha and listening to this talk. And after a while, he realized that the Buddha is not even attached to the Dhamma. The Buddha talks about dependent origination, gives the Dhamma, but does not make the Dhamma a view. Does not make dependent origination a view. He understands it for what it actually is, which is to cross from one shore to the other. You're using the raft.

But after you get to the other shore, you don't carry the raft and keep traveling. You let go. So use the Dhamma. Understand the Dhamma. Apply the Dhamma to get to the other shore, to get to happiness. But don't make the Dhamma your only source of happiness. The Dhamma is, for the purposes, the utility for experiencing the ultimate happiness of Nibbana. Once you have experienced that, let go of it.

That doesn't mean you stop taking precepts. That doesn't mean you stop following the Eightfold Path. It just means you don't identify with it anymore. You don't try to defend it either. And you don't try to evangelize it either. You don't try to say, you should be doing this, you should try this. No, you don't do that either. So anyway, as Sariputta was fanning the Buddha and realizing that the Buddha isn't even attached to the Dhamma, in that moment, he attained arahatship by just dropping everything.

So, clinging to the Dhamma, let go of even that. There's clinging to self-view. This is clinging to the idea of a self in relation to the five aggregates. And this can only go away upon stream entry, because when you see for yourself how this process works, then you know for a fact, in your own experience, that there is no permanent abiding self. And so the intellectual view of a self goes away. And therefore, any clinging to the idea that the five aggregates are me, or that I am in the five aggregates, or the five aggregates are in me, or that I am separate from the five aggregates, and so on, all of these go away.

There's clinging to rites and rituals. What does that mean? Clinging to rites and rituals. At one level, clinging to rites and rituals means clinging to rites and rituals with the idea that they will take you to Nibbana. Nothing wrong with lighting a candle, nothing wrong with chanting, nothing wrong with praying, whatever it is that you want to do, that's okay. As long as you understand it's only for the purposes of uplifting the mind. But it will not take you to Nibbana.

It will not take you to the experience of the unconditioned. Another kind of clinging to rites and rituals is clinging to routine. I have to get up a certain time and I have to have my tea at 6:15 in the morning, and if I don't, all hell will break loose, or things have to go a certain way. If I only do this particular puja, then I will gain the favor of this particular deity, and then I will experience more abundance in my life, or if I only wear this particular talisman

or if I only wear red on Fridays, or if I only do this, or if I only wear this ring, or if I only have changed my name, add a vowel to my name, or do this or that, then it'll be all well and worth it. But that is in direct conflict with the understanding of karma. Now, I'm not disregarding all of these things. All I'm saying is, when we talk about karma we're talking about action and consequence. If you want to change your karma, change your intentions first and foremost. Sure, maybe they can help you mitigate, but they won't prevent that karma. Only you can understand that when you let go of identifying with the intentions.

when you understand that this karma itself is impermanent, liable to change, and not me, not mine, not myself. So that's the kind of clinging to rites and rituals. How does the clinging to rites and rituals go away? Again, upon stream entry, because you see for yourself that in order to experience the ultimate happiness, it's not about doing some kind of rites and rituals. It's about going deep in your own mind and experiencing for yourself Nibbana. So you let go of clinging to self-view. You let go of clinging to rites and rituals. You let go of clinging to wrong view. Every time you attain stream entry, anytime you should attain stream entry, so one who is a stream enterer lets go of these. But clinging to sensual pleasures only goes away when you become an anagami, because you let go of all sensual desire completely.

So dependent on what does this clinging arise? Dependent upon craving, tanha. There are three kinds of tanha: there is sensual craving, there's craving for existence, and craving for non-existence. So what is craving actually? Is craving saying that I want something, or I like something, or that this is pleasant? Or is it deeper than that? Because you can say I like eating this piece of chocolate cake but have no craving towards it. You can say that this is very unpleasant weather, but there won't be any aversion towards it. You just understand this is an unpleasant feeling. So what is that craving actually set by? It's by identifying with the experience. It's by taking that experience as me, mine, or myself.

So if you're eating that chocolate cake, instead of actually enjoying that chocolate cake, you're thinking, I hope there's another piece left so I can enjoy another one. That's craving. Getting irritated by the sounds in the air, getting irritated by why is this happening to me? That's the kind of aversion that we're talking about. The I don't like it, I like it mindset. Or just saying that I am this, defending a position and saying this is me, this is mine, this is myself. That's another kind of craving. When we talk about craving for existence, what does that mean?

Craving for a certain kind of jhana, I wouldn't say craving for Nibbana. There's a difference between craving and chanda. Chanda means a wholesome inclination towards something. You may have goals in your life, again as I said, and those are fine, completely fine. But being obsessed by that goal, being obsessed, if I only attain that I will be happy, that is the craving. So how does that craving manifest? It manifests as tightness and tension. Now humans or beings in general have been so accustomed, so conditioned by craving, that it works like this. Let's say a very mundane example: you do see that piece of chocolate cake, there's a certain tightening in the mind and the body. I want that chocolate cake. You get obsessed by that chocolate cake, or you hear there's going to be chocolate cake for lunch, special chocolate cake for lunch, and when you go sit for meditation, what happens? Chocolate cake, chocolate cake, chocolate cake.

You have to be able to for are that and let go of that, but being obsessed by that, you say, okay, I'm gonna finish my meditation at 11:55 so that I can get online, and I can get my chocolate cake early. So you're obsessed by this, but then what happens? You go to this to online and they don't have any chocolate cake. You get disappointed. So how do you know if craving is arising? Not only when you're obsessed by something, but when the object of craving goes away, how do you react? You get upset by it. You get disappointed.

So that tightness and tension that arises upon seeing or hearing or thinking about chocolate cake, and then the pursuit of obtaining that chocolate cake and tasting it, what does that create? It causes relief. Ah, I have my chocolate cake now, I feel good. So you see what's happening is the mind conditions to say, anytime I feel tension, I have to pursue something in order to relieve that tension.

But what if you could let go of that tension completely so that you don't have to crave at all? This is what you're doing with right effort, recognizing the tightness and tension and relaxing it. By relaxing it, you're not creating a mind with craving. You're letting go of that mind rooted in craving. And you're reconditioning the mind to say, I can be happy without this.

In fact, I am happy without this. Now that I've let go of that tightness and tension. So that fight or flight or freeze, what happens? The body tenses up, either in the pursuit of something or to run away from something. or in identifying with something but if you can recognize that and let it go and you feel relief then there's neither flight nor flight or there's neither fight nor flight or freeze it's just whatever has to arise in that moment you act spontaneously whatever is required for that situation you act spontaneously so craving for existence craving for existence means You know, I want to be a certain kind of meditator.

I want to live in a certain kind of lifestyle. So the craving there is the obsession about that. The inclination towards that is okay, fine. In the lay life, you will have that. But being obsessed by it is a craving for existence. Why am I not getting to the fourth jhana? That's a craving for existence.

Why am I not getting Nibbana? Well, that's the craving that's preventing you from doing it. What about craving for non-existence? I don't want to be on this retreat. Or I don't want to be in this place. I don't want to experience this. I don't want to be part of this family. I don't want to be part of this club. I don't want to be part of this group. I don't want, I don't want, I don't want. So listen to the words in your mind. I want this because of so-and-so, therefore I am. I want this is the craving, or I don't want this.

Because of so-and-so is the clinging, right? I want to be here because I adhere to this kind of view. That's a kind of clinging. Therefore, I am this kind of person. That's the bhava. That's the psychological state. And I will act from there. So craving for non-existence can also mean the desire to commit suicide. That too is steeped in identifying with this life principle.

The idea that if I only destroy this life, if I let go of this life, I will be in relief. Why? Because the things that are arising in that life, in that moment, are too overwhelming. I can't handle what's going on in this moment. I want it to stop. And so, wanting to commit suicide is a craving for non-existence.

When that happens, the best thing is to stop in that moment. It's easier said than done, but just relax. Again, easier said than done. Take a pause. That pause is so important in all moments. The reason why craving arises so quickly is because we react to situations rather than respond to situations. Our reactivity to experiences causes us to hold on to things, causes us to identify with things, causes us to say, I like it or I don't like it.

But if we take a pause and just take a space that allows our mind to go from that default mode network, and allows this part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, that can start to make executive decisions, to come online and prevent us from acting in a way that is not actually to our benefit. In that pause, it means wisdom arises and you can let go and act from that wisdom, act from that compassion.

So, how does it go from feeling to craving? How do we go from feeling to craving? Because craving is dependent upon vedana, dependent upon feeling. What is feeling? Feeling is anything that you're experiencing, everything that is being experienced through the six sense bases: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking. This is feeling. Tied to this feeling is a perception of: I am seeing this audience, I'm hearing the sound of my own voice, I'm smelling the freshness in the air, I'm experiencing the coolness of the air, I'm thinking about the next words I'm going to speak. All of this is feeling. But tied to it is the perception of what it is that I am feeling. So the quality of the feeling, the affective quality, that is to say the pleasantness, the unpleasantness or the neutrality of that feeling, is also part of perception.

So there is a wonderful sutta which I often quote. It's called the Bahiya sutta. It comes from the Udana, and there's a wonderful story about Bahiya, who is in the forest and meditates, and he thinks that he is an arahant. He thinks he's become fully awakened. But somebody from his past life, who is a deva, comes to him and says, Bahiya, you're completely mistaken. You still need to let go of certain things. So go to the Buddha and he will show you how to let go. So Bahiya decides he's going to find the Buddha, and he goes in search of the Buddha. Now Bahiya is called Bahiya of the bark cloth, one who wears bark for clothing. Now this is understood historically as somebody who has studied the Upanishads, and the Upanishadic idea is that there is the

seer behind the seeing, there is one who is hearing behind the heard, there is one who is smelling behind that which is being smelled, there is the taster of the taste. And this is understood to be the atma. There's the thinker behind the thoughts, there is the sakshi, the observer. So Bahiya has this view and he goes to the Buddha, and the Buddha is on his lunch break. He says, come to me after lunch. And Bahiya says, I could die after lunch. If you just give me the teaching now, give me a very short teaching that I might understand and let go of all suffering. And the Buddha says, No, no, I'm on my lunch break, come back after lunch.

That's the second time. Then the third time he says the same thing, and anytime you ask the Buddha three times something, he has to give it to you. So on the third time the Buddha says, okay, listen to me. In the seen there is only the seen. In the heard there is only the heard. In the cognizing there is only the cognizing. In the sensed there is only the sensed. When there is no you with that, then there will be no you by that, and there will be no you in between the two. Just that is the end of suffering.

What does he mean by that? All that is being experienced through the five physical sense bases and being reflected upon by the mind is just a process. When the mind identifies with that process, then there is a possibility for craving to arise, and then that whole series which leads to suffering. But if in the experiencing there's only the experienced, there's only the knowing of an experience and no saying that this is me, this is mine, this is myself. So in other words, if you can fully experience reality without adding the sense of I to it, then you won't have any suffering. So Bahiya understood this immediately. He got it. Okay. So there is no thinker behind the thought, there is no seer behind the seen. There is just this process of seeing dependent upon causes and conditions. But I am causing myself, so to speak, suffering every time I'm taking it personally.

So if I let go of that, just that is the end of suffering. Having understood this, he left. And shortly thereafter, there was a cow and a calf, and he met with an accident and he died. So when you guys become an arahant, make sure that you look both ways, and there are no cows anyway. So after he passed on, after he was dead, they saw his body, and the monks brought the body, and the Buddha said, monks, give Bahiya the same treatment as you would one of us. Even though he was not fully ordained, even though he was not formally ordained, he was considered an arahant. And he said to them, do what you will with him as you would with one of us.

So, he says, you know, Bahiya of the bark cloth understood the Dhamma but he did not bother me about the Dhamma. In other words, he didn't ask me useless questions. He didn't try to debate. He didn't try to say, what about this, what about that. He understood, and that was it. And then there is a wonderful little statement that the Buddha says, which is the Udana itself, that's an inspired utterance. He says something like: where there is no footing in earth, water, air, fire, beyond duality, beyond space, beyond time, beyond where light and darkness cannot touch, just that is the end of suffering. He's referring to Nibbana, Nibbana, the anidassanam vinnanam, the non-manifestive consciousness.

This is the understanding of seeing things as they actually are, an awareness not tied to a sense of self. I call it non-reflective, because here is the awareness, which is the mirror, and here is the person, and you are seeing a reflection of yourself in the mirror. Take away the sense of self and all that's left is the mirror that reflects. But what is it reflecting on? It's not reflecting with a sense of self. It's just seeing things as they are. In the feeling there's only the felt. If you understand this, then there will be no craving, and that is dependent upon having proper attention.

Attention rooted in reality. Attention and understanding that this experience is, number one, impermanent, and if held on to will cause suffering. Therefore it should be seen as not me, not mine, not myself. It is just an experience. Through that mindfulness, which is the gatekeeper, there will be no craving. However, if there is a lack of mindfulness, a lack of awareness, a lack of proper attention, then the underlying tendencies, the anusayas, that underlie that experience is what bridges the feeling to craving. There are seven underlying tendencies. There is the underlying tendency towards craving, the underlying tendency towards aversion, the underlying tendency towards views, the underlying tendency towards doubts, the underlying tendency towards existence, the underlying tendency towards conceit, and the underlying tendency towards ignorance.

When you have a pleasant experience, what happens? The mind says, oh, I like that. That means now there's an underlying tendency that can arise which says, I want more of that, and it bridges to craving. When it's an unpleasant feeling, the mind says, oh, this is unpleasant. There can be then the underlying tendency that says, I don't like it, which is the underlying tendency to aversion. When there is a feeling that is neutral, the mind might have lack of mindfulness of it and say, I am that, or identify with it, and that's the underlying tendency towards ignorance. The lack of mindfulness first and foremost is the underlying tendency towards ignorance, and then identifying with that is the underlying tendency towards conceit, that this is me, this is mine, this is myself.

Then the other underlying tendencies: having views and opinions about what it is that you're experiencing. Oh, I hate this weather, this weather, every time the weather is like this I can't meditate properly, right? Those kinds of things. So that's an underlying tendency towards views. Underlying tendency towards doubts: confused about what the experience is. Is this unwholesome or wholesome? Is it pleasant or unpleasant? Underlying tendency towards existence: oh, with this I hope I can get this right. With this experience I hope more of this experience continues.

Right, so these are the different kinds of underlying tendencies that can arise whenever an experience happens. The moment there's an I attached to it, then there's liability for craving to rise. But as soon as you can recognize the I, the me, the mind in that, and you let it go, then there's no craving. And if there's no craving, there's no clinging. If there's no clinging, there's no becoming. And if there's no becoming, there's no birth of new action, and if there's no birth of new action, there's no renewal of dukkha. So we'll end here, and we'll continue with the rest of the series tomorrow.

Any questions? Thank you for the talk, Delson. Very enlightening. You talked about duality and non-duality. Can you explain a bit more what that means? Oh, in reference to Nibbana? No, I think you talked about just now, I don't know which link it was. Oh yeah. Yeah. So the idea, but if you can explain it with the relation to this experience of an I and when this breaks, there is no. Yeah. So the idea here with duality is that there is an I, there's a sense of self, and there is an experience to that sense of self. So in other words, actually it's threefold, because there is the object of the experience, there is the experiencing, and there is a sense of the experiencer. But for simplicity's sake, let's just talk about the experiencer and the experienced. That's the duality. What happens when this experience fades away, when the experiencer fades away? Then there is just the experience.

I still don't understand. Can you explain a bit more? Because the idea has always been, in most traditions, that in order for an experience to happen there needs to be an experiencer, right? But in actuality, that experience is dependent upon causes and conditions, namely contact. Like for example, let's say that you're seeing something now. The mind can continue seeing without saying that I am seeing it. So that can also happen, where you might not have mindfulness and you're actually seeing, but in reality you're thinking about something else.

But what I'm talking about here is, if you're seeing the color red, there is no projection of this red is beautiful to me, or I like this color red, or I want this color red. It's just seeing red. So the feeling of seeing the red and the perception that this is red, the moment you add the sense of I, that's the duality. So tradition, generally, the mind has been accustomed to think that everything that has been experienced is because there is a self that is experiencing it. But in reality, that experience is dependent upon the contact. So when I see the color red, what's actually happening is the color red is bouncing off into my retina, and so the eye and the color red are meeting, and there is a corresponding eye consciousness that arises.

This is the contact that arises, and dependent upon that there is the experience of seeing red. As soon as I say I'm experiencing red, then there's liability for I want that, or I am that, and I don't like it, or whatever it might be. If there was no experiencer, will the color of red still be there? So that's another good question, because when we talk about the color red, that's only rooted in perception, the memory of seeing color red. So that also is an impersonal process.

It's only by saying that this experience is me that the issue is there. But if you can just say there's an experience going on, that's fine. You can even say, okay, I am observing that the experience of color red is going on. But if you continue to add more to it, then suffering will arise. Let's say there is a subject, right, and there is an object, flower, and there's just me and there's this, the subject and the object. The subject moves out of the room, now the object is gone, that specific object is gone, that's right. There's no observer, right? But I'm not referring to that duality. I'm referring to the duality of adding the sense of I to the observer.

So when we talk about, for example, non-reflective awareness, right? There is still going to be that flower, and there's still going to be an awareness of seeing that flower. There's a cognizing, there's a seeing and a perceiving of that flower. But now there's no sense of there is a me seeing that flower. There's no sense of I am the one who's seeing that flower. I am the one causing the seeing of the flower. Yes, the seeing is dependent upon the flower. You need these three. You need the flower, you need the eye, and you need the corresponding consciousness. As long as that corresponding consciousness doesn't have, oh, I want this, then everything is fine.

So when we talk about non-duality, what we're talking about is taking out the misperceived personal sense of self in that process. Just related to that, adding 'I' means perception? No, taking it personally. Perception is automatic, tied to the feeling. So perception is there? Perception is there, that this is a flower, that's the perception. I am the one seeing this flower is the sense of self that's added to it. Okay. Thank you, sir. Two questions, actually. I don't know, was it a Buddha who told this small story of a blind turtle who is at the bottom of an ocean and keeps coming up every hundred years to it? And there's a wooden yoke which is floating on there.

So the chance of that neck of the turtle going through that yoke is as astronomical as the likelihood of a person who goes down to the hell realms to come up. Is that really true? Is that ascribed to the Buddha? No, that's not. The second part of that is not what is mentioned. What the Buddha says is, he's talking about the chances of being in a human existence, just the preciousness of being in the human existence. So not only being in human existence but being in touch with that, and not only being in touch with that, the ability to become, to apply the teachings, and so on and so forth. So the chances of that happening are the same chances that that turtle will pop up and its head will go through the yoke.

The second is that at the time of death the person is in a comatose state, let's say on a ventilator, and completely, the chances of that person going to a lower realm is high? No, no, that's dependent upon what's going on in their mind. So even though we're saying that that person is in a coma, the mind is still functional, and in that functioning of the mind, they can arise different sankharas. And those sankharas are dependent upon choices they made throughout their life. That could lead to a hell realm, or that could lead to a higher realm behind you.

Sir, like we are practicing TWIM and day by day our mindfulness increases. Like in daytime we can know we are mindful and we can break the chain of dependent origination. Yeah, what about the night, sleepy time? Like mind constantly gets in touch with... Yeah, so don't worry about that. Just have a thought like, yeah, don't worry about that, because in your dreams you're not having any intention. They are rising as a result of feeling and perception, contact, feeling and perception. There's nothing you're doing in your dream that's causing yourself harm, so don't worry about that. Thank you, sir.

Yesterday you mentioned animitta samadhi before nirodha, so I was wondering what's the difference between animitta samadhi and anidassana vinnana? Nothing, it's the same thing. Yes. So in one way... So now you're going to get into a very interesting discussion, because animitta samadhi can mean a state of mind where the mind is in signless collectedness, but the quality of being in that signless collectedness is the same as being in anidassana vinnana. But it also can refer to the signless collectedness of mind of an arahant who doesn't take anything as an object of greed, hatred or delusion. Yeah, so I was wondering if those two things are the same thing, and if after animitta there is nirodha, and then contact happens with nibbana dhatu.

Why is it necessary to go through nirodha and contact with nibbana dhatu if animitta samadhi is anidassanam vinnanam? Anidassanam vinnanam is still within the concept, within the realm of concepts and conditions. It's dependent upon the life condition. If you read Majjhima Nikaya 121, the shorter discourse on emptiness, the Buddha says you come to this point where you're experiencing the signless collectedness of mind, and you understand that this is dependent upon just these six sense spaces, and being dependent upon it means that it's still conditioned, and so it cannot be considered as the unconditioned. But when we talk about animitta, the objectlessness, as being that of the mind of an arahant, it means there is no greed, hatred and delusion, and in that sense that mind of the arahant is experiencing nibbana 24/7 in the form of mundane nibbana, relief from any greed, hatred or delusion. Therefore anidassanam vinnanam means no projection of me, myself, in relation to any object. Okay, so can it be said that one is a temporary experience and one is permanent, or

No, I wouldn't say that either. It depends again on the context, right? If we're talking about animitta samadhi as the signless collectedness of mind, then yes, it is temporary. If we're talking about animitta as the objectlessness of greed, hatred and delusion in the mind of the arahant, then it's permanent. And therefore, same with the anidassanam vinnanam. Behind you. I was curious if there was ever an explanation, maybe in the sutta or something, why there is this tendency of the mind in the first place to identify with things, to identify with the experiences.

It's the underlying tendencies. That's how the Buddha explains it. There's Majjhima Nikaya 64, the Maha Malunkyaputta Sutta, where Malunkyaputta says there must be those who are not experiencing craving, like for example an infant. And the Buddha says, well, actually, even an infant can experience craving, because they're still identifying with the world through underlying tendencies. So the explanation is that these underlying tendencies are dependent upon the sankharas, which in one way are understood as the synapses in the brain that cause us to behave a certain way, that cause us to cling, that cause us to say this is me, this is mine, this is myself. It's a mode of survival, a mode of, I have to protect this body, I have to protect what's going on here. That's innate in all beings, the desire to protect oneself. But when that becomes

when that becomes an issue, that becomes a process of pushing people away. It causes grief, it causes hatred, it causes all kinds of afflictive states. That's where the issue lies, that's where the problem lies. So when you let go of that at the root, which is the conceit, then there's total freedom from any of that, from ever arising again. So it could be seen as a survival mechanism, just not useful anymore nowadays, or not that useful, right? A question here, and then there's a question all the way there. So when you talked about bhava you explained it in three levels, different levels of existence, different levels humans experience in this life, and then how we can experience that individually. So first

Again, based on the ramps, can we assume that certain levels are better, like the formless is better than sensory, and so on? Can we assume that absolutely? Okay. And second question: how does one, of course, I can probably identify in this moment how I'm feeling, or when I'm in a jhana meditation and so on, but how does one first identify their own general tendencies in terms of where they kind of lie, sensory, form and formless, and how can they use the intention aspect to improve in their day-to-day life? So that, you know, I think as Bhante says, right, life is meditation, meditation is life.

How do we use intentionality to keep progressing even when we are not meditating when it comes to bhava? Complete, absolute, perfect, consistent application of right effort. One more quick question. You said about clinging. So, in case of neurodivergent people, say some autistic who has certain sensory tendencies, or someone who is diagnosed or not diagnosed but has OCD, and they have certain clinging to rights and certain rights, and they can actually cause disruption in their experience. How do we interpret that in terms of Buddhism, and does practicing the Noble Eightfold Path help with those tendencies? It can... I wouldn't say it's a complete cure for it or something like that. I would never say that, but I would look at it in such a way that it is because of certain kinds of tendencies that have arisen in that mind that they are behaving that way. That might be the case.

But it can go even deeper than that, in the sense that it's a physical condition in the brain, in terms of certain possible neuronal or chemical imbalances that are going on. Those can be kind of managed by certain kinds of medications, let's say, but they can also be managed through behavioural reconditioning if that mind is ripe for it. And that's a process of patience and understanding on the part of the one who's helping that individual. So in the case of OCD, for example, right, if things have to be a certain way, or I have to do this before I do that, and things like that, you have to condition their mind to show them: if you didn't do that, what would happen? And be with them, and show them, like, if I just be patient, nothing actually is going to happen. And the more that they do this, the easier it starts to become reconditioned.

So that is also within Buddhism. That is the whole purpose of Buddhism, is complete behavioural reconditioning. All the way in the back. As I have understood ideas about consciousness previously, for instance there is one idea now in the West with technology that we want to make human consciousness interplanetary. So there is a sense of enterprise, there is a sense of protecting and upholding consciousness, and even in myself, as I am stuttering asking you this question, I can feel that I am attached to this idea of consciousness. So the things you were mentioning about non-duality, that there are objects in reality, and then when there is a sensory perception and there is a sense of "I", the "I" could be let go of, and let's say even the contact goes away, and the cycle of dependent origination is like we achieve what we are trying to do here.

What happens to consciousness? Is it destroyed in any sense, or what happens to it? I am going to talk more about consciousness tomorrow, but what I will just say is the understanding within the context of dependent origination is there's the consciousnesses that are dependent upon the six sense bases, and that's the process of being aware or cognizing what is arising and passing away. Then there's something known as the jivitindriya, which is the life principle, and that is mistaken as that underlying consciousness

the life principle that's there, that is fuelling the metabolism and functions of the body and mind and so on, and that is what is perceived, in let's say today's modern world, as the idea of consciousness. But even that is actually dependent upon that energy of life, let's say, and that changes all the time. So if someone lets go completely of identification with all experience, then that jivitindriya continues the way it's supposed to continue. The only difference is now there's no relating to consciousness as me, mine or myself. There's no relating to consciousness as their consciousness, or this is arising, do I mean this consciousness is permanent, and things like that. It's just there is a flow of life energy that goes on, and whatever choices are made in that moment or moment to moment are dependent upon the wisdom that is cultivated, that is born from the experience of full liberation.

Thank you. Okay, by doing for us, are we the sankharas, habitual tendencies, we are relaxing? Yes. But feeling and perception is going to remain the same. Yes. But the habitual tendency, the only thing you can 6R or 4R is craving, meaning letting go of that clinging, letting go of that and becoming. You can also let go of any identification with the feeling and perception, but you cannot 4R the feeling and perception at all. And we'll go deeper into that tomorrow when we talk about the potential links that happen from ignorance to contact, because there's a lot more to understand from the level of attention, intention, contact, nama-rupa, consciousness and sankhara. I just wanted to ask you, I heard in the Dhammapada that it is said, be with the company of wise people and don't be with the fool. So how can one recognize who are wise people? And the question to this is, we always come together from like-minded people, yeah, so we are fools. If I am a fool, how can I be in the wise people group? I don't think you should call yourself a fool at all.

The fact that you're here means you're wise. So how do you recognize the company that you keep? Based on the fruits of your efforts: if what you're doing in the company of people is causing you pain and suffering, then obviously you're not in good company. But if you're in the company that allows you to experience wisdom, that allows you to see for yourself how this practice works, then you're in the company of like-minded people, maybe not all wise, but all who are in the process of becoming wise. Right? Kalyana mitta, right, beautiful friendship. That's what it means: being in the friendship and companionship of those who are on the path, or those who are walking the path, or those who have completed the path. So you recognize it by the effects of your actions, of your behaviours. If you notice your behaviours are tending towards the wholesome in the company you keep, then you're in good company. - Could you help me understand intuition?

In other, I don't know, schools of thought, there is this higher self, and therefore intuition guides you and knows all that is good for you. But in this space, how would you explain where does intuition, how is it aligned with the Eightfold Path, automatically? - Yeah. With the Eightfold Path, automatically. So intuition, as I said, the birthplace of intuition is the quiet mind. When the mind is completely quiet, then intuition arises, and intuition is when the way I've explained it in the past is essentially that when synchronous

formations arise with what is required for every moment. So what that means is that if you are met with an experience, the intuition is a eureka of thoughts and ideas and intentions that are most congruent for the expression of that. So let's say you're met with a situation where you're with a bunch of people. If you are just functioning within the mind, and within that just a sense of self, you'll only look out for me number one. You'll only look out for how does this benefit me. You let go of that, and then there's no agitation in the mind, then the intuition guides you into thinking what is best for everyone involved, not just yourself. So within the scope of the Eightfold Path, intuition is governed by right view.

It's the wisdom aspect of mind, or it's dependent upon having cultivated a certain degree of wisdom that is right view. And so, does it sit within us, or does it sit between us? Because when you- yeah, yeah, this is a good question. Because when we talk about mind, for example, I'll be talking about that tomorrow also, which is: what is mind? Is mind the brain? Is mind the heart? Is mind the nervous system? Well, I mean, you think about mind in terms of there's mind radiating loving kindness, and another person feels it. Is mind the morphic field? What is it, right? So mind is all encompassing of this entire samsara, this entire existence that we call life.

So it is one mind in the sense that it is shared by everyone, but there's individual understanding of mind that is dependent upon causes and conditions. Now, that intuition that arises is not coming from yourself, so to speak. It is an intuition that arises based on having a quiet mind, so that you can pick up what's going on. It's almost like a process of telepathy, like you're picking up on the thoughts of others, or you're picking up on what is required for that situation. So you're functioning at the level where mind is encompassing Allah samsara. That's the intuition.

Okay, last question. Just adding to that, can we understand intuition as something that is not arising from fight, flight, and freeze? Yes. Yes. Yeah, that's it. Thank you. Let's share some merit. May suffering ones be suffering free and 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. Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu.