Jan 24 2021 - MN 64 - The Greater Discourse to Mālunkyāputta - Paths of the Anagami and the Arahant

Thank you, Khun. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, everyone. I'll be reading from the Majjhima Nikaya 64. This is called the Maha Malunkyaputta Sutta, or the Greater Discourse to Malunkyaputta. The translation I'm using is Bhikkhu Bodhi. The Blessed One was living at Savatthi in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's Park. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus, "Bhikkhus." "Venerable Sir," they replied. The Blessed One said this, "Bhikkhus, do you remember the five lower fetters as taught by me?"

When this was said, the Venerable Malunkyaputta replied, "Venerable Sir, I remember the five lower fetters as taught by the Blessed One." But Malunkyaputta, in what way do you remember the five lower fetters as taught by me? Venerable Sir, I remember identity view as a lower fetter taught by the Blessed One. I remember doubt as a lower fetter taught by the Blessed One. I remember adherence to rules and observances as a lower fetter taught by the Blessed One. So we understand the five lower fetters to be those fetters that are destroyed for one who becomes an anagami. So I just want to quickly go over what each of these fetters really mean. Identity view is the belief in an unchanging self, a belief in an unchanging personality. Identity view can come up in different ways, but primarily the way to understand it is through the five aggregates that are affected by clinging and the views associated with them. The clinging within the five aggregates is to be the clinging to that self-view.

And there are 20 different types of self-view, categorized into four different sets of five. And the reason being is because what we're looking at is the first set of five is related to seeing the five aggregates as self. So seeing form, feeling, perception, consciousness, formations as self. That's the first set. The second set is seeing a sense of self that originates the five aggregates.

The third set is the view or the set of views that the self is within the five aggregates. So we have number one, the five aggregates as self. Within the five aggregates. And number four, the five aggregates contained within the self. So it's really seeing that clinging aspect with regards to the self views in each of these five aggregates.

And conceit is a higher fetter related to I, me, and mine. In other words, even though, for example, a sotapanna or a sakadagami has destroyed the identity view, there is still conceit, where one still has this projection of I, me, or mine upon the five aggregates, even though theoretically and intellectually they understand that the five aggregates have nothing to do with an unchanging self, or vice versa, or the other two sets of view. And then doubt is in doubt in the practice, doubt in the teachings.

The adherence to rules and observances is related to blindly following rules without understanding the importance of them within the context of the rites and rituals related to the Dhamma. But then more importantly, having an adherence to rites and rituals, believing that those rituals will lead one to cleanse their kamma in some way or ultimately lead them to nirvana. experiences and craving for the feeling that arises from the stimulation of the sixth sense basis. Ill will we understand as the opposite of that. So when there is an experience of the sixth sense basis and it is unpleasant or displeasing to any of the sixth sense basis, when one identifies with it, there is ill will or aversion towards it.

So then the Buddha says, my having taught these five lower fetters in that way. So it's interesting. The Buddha is saying that there is more to be understood through these lower fetters, these five lower fetters. The commentary says that the Buddha understood that in Malunkyaputta's mind, he understood that these were the five lower fetters, but that there is more to be understood in relation to the underlying tendency, which we'll see here. So how could doubt about the teachings arise in him? Yet the underlying tendency to doubt lies within him.

So how could ill will towards beings arise in him? Yet the underlying tendency to ill will lies within him. Would not the wanderers of other sects confront you with this simile of the infant? So the Buddha is talking about the underlying tendencies, the anusayas, which are understood to be the tendencies that are within the link of bhava, within the link of being.

It is through clinging to the four types of clinging that these underlying tendencies are given strength and solidify into that sense of being. Is referring to an infant who doesn't even have the notions about certain things related to the world, who doesn't have the notions of understanding of the teachings, who has no notion of sensual pleasure, who has no notion of the other beings. How could he have ill will or craving? How could he have doubt? He doesn't have a sense of understanding of self-view or what is not self-view, and so on. But there is still the underlying tendency. And how does this arise? If you look at it within the context of rebirth on the micro level, which is to say the rebirth that arises in every moment, every time there is craving that arises, that is to say that there's identification with the sensory experiences or the mental experience, where then a being says, I don't like this or I like this. They either try to push away whatever is arising by identifying with it, or they want more of it and are discontent with having not enough of it.

When the craving arises, this gives rise to all of the stories in clinging, which is to say there's a clinging to sensual pleasures. There's the idea that this is affecting me. And so this is the reason why it's affecting me. And so now it creates a memory of, or association of memories related to that craving. Likewise, we're clinging to self-view, clinging to rites and rituals, clinging to the clinging to rites and rituals, clinging to self-view, clinging to sensual pleasures, and clinging to views in general.

And then when that clinging becomes solidified, it actuates or activates these habitual tendencies, the underlying tendencies related to aversion or craving. It's the tendency towards craving, the tendency towards aversion, the tendency towards views, the tendency towards doubt, the tendency towards being, conceit, and ignorance. And so these accumulations of tendencies create that sense of a being, which then creates the birth of action, which is the action born from these tendencies, that are propelled by these tendencies.

On the macro level of rebirth, you have a being who is in the womb, for example, in a human birth. And then there is all of these tendencies being created based on what is experienced in the womb. And this is the accumulation of those tendencies. And then there is the physical birth through which those tendencies take root in that being. So the Buddha continues.

So those anusayas, those latent tendencies, those underlying tendencies, the more they are activated and used or utilized in the form of action through words, through speech, through action and thought, they start to solidify and they create those fetters. And those fetters are those five lower fetters. That is identity view. That is doubt. That is attachment to rules and observances.

That is sensual craving and ill will. So the more one behaves and acts and thinks and speaks in a way that is rooted in these accumulated tendencies, in these underlying tendencies towards all of these different ways of being, the further solidified those fetters become. And those fetters are those that chain one to this sensual sphere. By extension, all the fetters chain one to samsara in general.

And so he says, a well-taught noble disciple who has regard for noble ones and is skilled and disciplined in their Dhamma, who has regard for true men and is skilled and disciplined in their Dhamma, does not abide with the mind obsessed and enslaved by identity view. Is the escape from the arisen identity view, an identity view together with the underlying tendency to it, is abandoned in him. He does not abide with the mind obsessed and enslaved by doubt, by adherence to rules and observances, by sensual lust, by ill will. He understands as it actually is the escape from the arisen ill will, and ill will together with the underlying tendency to it is abandoned in him. So this is really the process of using right effort, the process of using the 6R's, whether it's in the meditation or it's in daily life, when an experience arises in the way of the senses or the mind, and you start to see that there is an identification with it, that there is this craving or aversion towards it.

And then there is this clinging, the four types of clinging. As soon as you recognize it and acknowledge it and are aware of it, you understand the danger in it. You understand that this is causing you stress. This is causing suffering. And so you let it go by releasing your awareness from it, coming back to the mind and body and relaxing the tension and craving present in mind and body. And in doing so, you are releasing the craving or any of the hindrances or those actions rooted in those five fetters. When you let go, you are abandoning also the underlying tendency, because you are reformatting the hard drive of your mind, so to speak. Arising and then act from there, you can make a choice to see that this is not the right way and let go of it.

And what's happening is bit by bit. Every time you start to let go through right effort, through the six R's process, you are strengthening certain formations that are rooted in those wholesome actions and activities and choices, and weakening the other ones, thereby weakening the underlying tendencies as well. Thereby weakening the clinging as well, thereby weakening the craving, bit by bit by bit.

There is a path, Ananda, a way to the abandoning of the five lower fetters, that anyone without relying on that path, on that way, shall know or see or abandon the five lower fetters. This is not possible. Just as when there is a great tree standing, possessed of heartwood, without cutting through its bark and sapwood too. So too, there is a path. This is not possible. There is a path, Ananda, a way to the abandoning of the five lower fetters.

And what, Ananda, is the path, the way to the abandoning of the five lower fetters? Here, with the seclusion from the acquisitions, with the abandoning of unwholesome states, with the complete [stilling of formations]. So he says, here, with the seclusion from the acquisitions. This is attention to the sensory experiences that are arising, which then give way to attention to the five aggregates, as well as the links of dependent origination. So for a mind to get into the first jhana, there has to be the understanding that the mind no longer pays attention towards the five aggregates or towards the sixth sense basis or their experiences, but it comes towards the feeling in the body and in the mind as it actually is. It tranquilizes the body, relaxes it. It doesn't pay attention to any of the sensory experiences, and then generates, with thought, the visualization or verbalization of that loving kindness, for example.

He turns his mind away from those states and directs it towards the deathless element. to is while one is in jhana or in this deep state of mind which is secluded from the experience of the five aggregates from the experience of the sixth sense basis and just pays attention to the arising of how form arises how feeling arises how perception arises not getting attracted or clung to them not clinging to them but understanding them as they actually are when they arise and pass away the form the feeling the perception the formations and consciousness in the seeing of the arising and passing away one understands them to be impermanent and if what is impermanent is not a self that is unchanging it continually changes one understands this as not self all of these terms as an affliction, as alien, as disintegrating, as void, as not-self, are basically synonymous of each other and synonymous basically of impermanence, that is anicca, suffering, that is dukkha, and anatta, or not-self.

So if something is impermanent and it arises and passes away, it cannot be considered to be self, not worth holding onto, and produces suffering because it cannot produce lasting happiness. So, having seen this, the mind naturally tends towards the deathless element, which is the nibbana element, and it is described in the following way: this is the peaceful, this is the sublime, that is the stilling of all formations, the relinquishing of all attachments, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, nibbana. These are synonymous with nirvana, but also progressive paths towards nirvana, or progressive steps towards nirvana. The mind is peaceful, it understands the sublime quality that is in the mind. The mind stills the formations. It stills the bodily formations by relaxing and letting go, letting go of the mental formations, letting go of the verbal formations. The relinquishing of all attachments. That is to say, the relinquishing of identifying with any of the five aggregates, understanding the five aggregates as they really are, which are impermanent, suffering and not self.

One lets go of this attachment to the five aggregates, as well as the sixth sense basis, which leads naturally to the destruction of craving. Because as soon as you understand feeling, the link of feeling as it actually is, you don't identify with it, and you understand it, and you don't have any craving or aversion arising. Therefore, the mind is naturally dispassionate.

It has no disturbance in it and it is completely disenchanted. And that leads to cessation. Cessation here, one can say, it can mean the cessation of perception and feeling, but that too is just a state. Truth of Nirodha: the experience of having let go of your attachments to the causes and conditions of suffering is nibbana, is Nirodha. It's the relief that is felt that leads to that nibbana element.

Again, with the fading away as well of rapture, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the third jhana. Again, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the fourth jhana, which has neither pain nor pleasure, and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. And then again, he reflects whatever exists therein of material form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

And there attain final nirvana without ever returning from the world. This is the path, the way to the abandoning of the five lower fetters. So before I get into the anagami and the arahant, you'll also notice that the Buddha doesn't talk about neither perception nor non-perception. That is because the mind is so refined that, because there is no inkling of perception, there's just this proto-perception, connected formations, that it is not possible for the mind to immediately see the arising of the different aggregates, even though they are present. The mind has become so subtle that it is unable to see it. So only up until the level of nothingness is the mind still able to see the processes of the five aggregates, and thereby, understanding the five aggregates as they really are, letting go of the clinging to them, letting go the perception of them, the mind immediately turns towards the release from them, the release of the causes and conditions of suffering, and understands it in this way, as the Buddha just said.

But then what is the difference between one who delights in the Dhamma, and then thereby becomes an anagami, and one who destroys the taints, the asavas, and thereby has arahatship? The five lower fetters, if that being still identifies with the Dhamma, which is to say that they relish in just the Dhamma itself. The Dhamma is a wonderful thing, but in identifying with it, you are essentially using the simile of the raft. You are essentially carrying along the raft with you after you get to the other shore.

So you need to let go of the attachment to the Dhamma. When one is an anagami, one needs to let go of that attachment, because it is that pride in the Dhamma, in identifying with the Dhamma, that there is still the conceit, and upon this conceit rests that fetter of restlessness, that craving for existence and non-existence, and the ignorance that is present. One still hasn't completely let go, using the Four Noble Truths, completely understanding the Four Noble Truths. But if one understood that the Dhamma itself is also impermanent and needs to be let go of, once one understands the path leading to the destruction of the taints, the taints will be destroyed. Those taints are sensual craving, sensory desire, or craving for being, or identification, and ignorance. As soon as one lets go of sensual desire, the fetter of sensual desire, there no longer arises the taint of sensual craving, because that sensual craving no longer projects onto things to create sensual desire in a person, or ill will.

But when there is still the being, the taint of being, there's still conceit, there's still projecting onto reality the associations of one's memories, the associations of all the things that one has learned as being self, projecting it onto reality, having conceptual proliferation. That is to say, when you see a tree, that tree is identified as something that gives you shade, and you identify it as something that serves you, or you serve it, or whatever it might be. There is this subject-objectivity dichotomy that's going on with the level of conceit. So there is still the sense of being, which still has certain accumulated tendencies. And of course, ignorance, being not understanding fully the Four Noble Truths, because one still hasn't completely let go, utilizing the Third Noble Truth, after having abandoned all notions of craving and all aspects of craving, including craving for existence, including craving for the Dhamma itself.

If the Buddha says there is a path to the destruction of the five lower fetters, then how is it that some bhikkhus here are said to gain deliverance of mind, and some are said to gain deliverance by wisdom? The difference here, Ananda, is in their faculties, I say. So the Buddha says that there is a path leading to the destruction of the five lower fetters, and that is the path of understanding the jhana processes, and then going through one, and then allowing the insight of seeing how the five aggregates arise, and therefore are impermanent, suffering, and therefore not self. And then the mind turns towards the release from suffering.

That is the insight practice that happens within the serenity practice of the jhanas. But there are people or beings who have been delivered, who have understood rightly without the jhana practice. [...] important than the other, because there are those who have been delivered, or have been liberated, through insight alone, and there are those who have been liberated through the jhana practice, through serenity, through having gone through the jhanas, having gone through cessation, and then seeing without involvement in the links of dependent origination how this whole process arises. And then there are those who have been liberated by both wisdom, by insight, as well as by jhana practice, by understanding cessation and seeing how the links arise.

There's no difference in terms of their ability to have attained nirvana, or their state of having attained nirvana, let's say. But the only difference is how they got there. That is what the blessed ones said. The Venerable Ananda was satisfied and delighted in the blessed ones. Questions? Comments? It sounds to me like it's quite difficult to turn your attention towards Nibbana without adding craving for Nibbana. With, yeah, it has to be a natural progression, so there can be the intention for nirvana, which is to say you have chanda, you have cultivated desire or cultivated intention towards nirvana, so you are in the practice of jhana. Know that your intention is the cessation of suffering, but once you have that intention, you let that go and just continue on with the practice, and the practice will naturally unfold. So in this Sutta, it does say that the mind directs towards the Nibbana.

This can be seen as a practice for people who might have attained higher stages where there's determinations involved and things like that. But generally speaking, the progression that you see with that statement that this is tranquil, this is sublime, this is peaceful, this is the distilling of formations and so on, is really the natural progression that arises as you go through the jhana practice.

So it's a matter of having the desire, having the intention of attaining nirvana, letting that go. And then in the process of letting go, anything that arises, experiencing that mundane nirvana at the level of the relaxed step, and then continuing on forward, letting go of even subtler and subtler layers of formations and desires. Thank you. I would like to ask you one question. Yes. Why in this sutta is a little boy who has no wrong views or intentions mentioned?

It is quite possible with all the human beings and the two who are in the path of progress of practice. Why is it required to mention the little boy? Well, you're talking about an infant. So what we're saying is that the infant, as we understand it, in terms of, you know, I mean, we can try to scan their brain and understand if they experience the world the same way we do, but in this understanding it's saying that an infant who has no understanding of the world around it, and is naturally learning through the six sense bases, naturally picking up information into the brain through the six sense bases, won't have these notions. That's the general understanding. But then as they grow up they start to develop certain tendencies, craving for certain foods, for example, or craving for a certain toy, for example, or not liking a taste, you know, not liking vegetables, for example, or whatever it might be. And as they grow up, let's say they become a teenager, they get curious about certain philosophies, they get curious about certain ideologies.

And as they go into adulthood they discover the Dhamma, and then they might have doubts about it. So with an infant, as we currently understand it, they're just picking up information. They're not necessarily interacting with the world at the level that an adult would or a teenager would. They're just picking up, soaking up, all of this sensory information. And then those underlying tendencies that are present are developed further by their identifying with those experiences, by them craving for those experiences.

Thank you. Hi, good evening. One question came to mind. There's another sutta that says that craving is the moisture and ignorance is the field, and consciousness is the seed, and that's how rebirth happens. From that illustration, does it indicate that the stage where we call it an existence, or a being, or underlying tendency, that part of the link can also be addressed as the stations of consciousness? Basically, this idea, that simile you're talking about, the moisture, the seed, and the field, is talking about being in these different three states of existence that the Buddha describes.

And so that's related to the macro level of rebirth. So the establishing of consciousness that happens in a being happens through clinging, through craving. So let's say at the level of rebirth, just before one takes birth into a new human life, there are certain formations that arise at that point of death. And those formations then are clung onto. Formations here are those carriers of kamma. So a being, for example, at that point will either have regret or remorse, or they will have craving for having more of that formation that arises. That craving or aversion is what then clutches onto that formation. Consciousness having dissipated, those formations are carried forward in that new consciousness that establishes itself in that new being.

And so there's that rebirth. What is then station of consciousness? When you say station of consciousness, can you clarify, please? In Indica Nicaria 15, Bhikkhu Bhutti explains the dependent origination when it comes to this part about the rebirth. He tends to talk about the element of the consciousness and the element of the stations of consciousness. And the way he says it is like the station of consciousness is like the field of karma, where it becomes mentality and materiality.

Without that, and without the consciousness to attach together, there will not be rebirth. So I'm just wondering, is that another way of saying the same thing? Because sometimes the Buddha explains the same concept in different ways. That's confusing. Yeah. As I understand it, there is that interdependency between consciousness, which gives vitality to mentality-materiality, and mentality-materiality, which gives support to consciousness, so consciousness cannot continue to exist without the mentality-materiality. Using the example I just gave you, let's say we have a second human birth. When that being clutches onto those formations, when they have craving or cling towards those formations, that consciousness, with that destruction or dissipation of the old mentality-materiality, dissipates, because that consciousness was dependent upon that mentality-materiality. However, the formations activate a new consciousness, which then gives life to the new mentality and materiality, and there is the being that is being created in the womb. And then the physical birth that arises after nine months, talking about that, is nama-rupa, mentality-materiality.

I think that's probably it. Then when it comes to the jhana stages that is explained in this sutta, for example, it seems to me the process of attaining sotapana, you go to the same stages of and when you want to go through the next level, Sakadagamin, you exercise the same again until you reach Anagamin and Narahan. What is the difference between the stage of Sotapana and Sakadagamin and Sakadagamin and Anagamin or after the base of nothingness and perception and non-perception at that stage, what is the difference between these few levels at that stage? So, for example, the one who continues on with the jhanas and experiences neither perception or non-perception, they have the experience of nirodha samapati and then have the understanding of the links of different origination, then they become a sodhapana.

comes to sakadagami the same thing can happen same with an anagami and an araha but the experience of nothingness and neither perception or non-perception and in fact of each of the jhanas becomes clearer and clearer as the mind becomes clearer and clearer so because for example in the sakadagami the sensual craving and the ill will are greatly diminished there's not a lot of that might arise that give rise to disturbances in the mind so much it's much easier for one to stay in any of the jhanas and more importantly to identify the factors of the jhanas when one becomes an anagami there is no sensual craving or any ill will present at all no aversion or craving present at all because of that the hindrance is related to those are no longer present.

And so one will still be able to more clearly see the factors of the jhana. Then with an arahant, there being no fetters at all present, thereby there being no hindrances present either. With the snap of a finger, the arahant is in a jhana and can immediately identify each of the factors of the jhana with precision. - Right, so that's the difference. I was also contemplating, let's say if you are going to sakadagami, where it reduces only the ill will and sensual desire, it's not anagami. Do you actually physically train yourself to be more charitable, reduce your sense of desire, then you actually have better meditation, or you actually practice your meditation, you automatically reduce?

I was wondering which one first? Either one, but there is a difference. As you continue to, let's say, create wholesome karma, continue to create wholesome intentions, continue to use, let's say, the 6R's process to less and less identify with sensory experiences, less and less crave for sensory experiences, that will eventually, over time, translate into a better meditation practice. And when you have a better meditation practice, it's much easier for you to have the mindfulness to identify in the present if there is craving arising, and then immediately let it go. Yeah, the mind is clearer.

Okay. Sorry, I have so many questions in one sutta. Liberated by mind and liberated by wisdom and liberated by both ways is always talked about when Ananda recording who has attained arahant. And here it says just one line, the difference is in their faculties. Actually, what does it really mean? So, faculties really is talking about one who is more prone towards meditative practices. The mind is naturally inclined towards getting into jhana, naturally inclined towards meditation. There is a mind that is more analytical, a mind that is more intellectual, more understanding the theories behind certain things in the time, and is able to pick up certain things much clearer without having to have gone through the jhanas.

So the faculties here are related to whether a person has the inclination towards analysis and reflection or inclination towards meditation and, of course, the jhanas. - Okay, I understand. No, I understand. Okay, makes sense. Thank you. - Hi, Ditsun. My question is the same one which she asked at the end, like it is the two ways, the deliverance of mind and deliverance by wisdom. In Pali it is translated as cheto vimuthi and panya vimuthi. It looks like for me, before this talk my understanding was that one has to first attain the cheto vimuthi, deliverance by mind, followed by, it is just like being in jhana.

Then after, he will be liberated, then it is called panya vimuthi. Is my understanding correct? So, if you're not doing one-pointed absorption in the jhanas, if you are doing jhana practice in a way where the mind is open, where there is an open awareness, then you have the space for insights to arise. You have the space for panya to arise. So with the jhana practice, it happens simultaneously that you have certain insights. For example, in infinite consciousness, you start to get some insights into impermanence of consciousness, into the suffering aspect of consciousness. It might be that you experience and understand that there's no controller here, that it's just being caused by a series of conditions.

And then there is that insight into the three aspects of reality. So there is a concordance between jhana practice and insight. The insight will arise if you're doing the correct form of jhana. So it's not that they are divorced, that they are separate from each other. They are very much intertwined. When you have the jhana practice, one who has panya vimuthi, one who has cheto vimuthi, will have insight arise into the understanding of dependent origination. One who is liberated by wisdom, panya vimuthi, is one who reflects on the Dhamma, reflects and understands the five aggregates as they are, understands it, lets go of it, and has this deep understanding. And that insight that arises is quite natural.

It doesn't arise because of analysis. It's not another thought that arises. It is an experience of Nibbana, which is the experience of letting go and the effect of letting go, which is that Nibbana element, the deathless element. And then, of course, one who is liberated in both ways is one who has practiced both: dependent origination, and one who has also reflected on the five aggregates and experienced the deathless element. Without the foundation of jhana practice? Delson, you mean, but never muti is through the experience of Nibbana only? Yes, there will still be an experience of Nibbana. There will still be, because it is the cessation of suffering. Understands the four noble truths: yes, there is suffering, this is the cause of suffering, there is the abandoning of the cause of suffering, and thereby the nirodha, the cessation of suffering. And this is how it was using the tools of the fourth noble truth. Say something like, if somebody is Cheto Vimuthi, and with just Cheto Vimuthi, he can become a noble.

Noble means minimum sotapanna. Without Panya Vimuthi. Excuse me? Without Panya Vimuthi, can anyone become noble? But that's what I'm saying. Even with Cheto Vimuthi, there is still insight. There is still insight that arises. Okay, got it. I got it. I'm just trying to understand the word unification of mind, in, you know, jhana and onward. You have to have, I think it's a Pali word, mind, that is the mind which is knowing. Am I understanding? Correct me if I'm wrong: knowing and the contact, feeling, awareness, or intention, attention, I'm saying backward, and then perceptions all together is described as a unification of mind. All has to be present in understanding all these elements, one by one.

So one is understanding contact as it arises, for example. And I would say, if I remember correctly, and from my own experience, there is still a unification of mind from the first jhana all the way up to the higher jhanas. So the unification of mind has been mistranslated or misunderstood as one-pointed focus. I understand it is an attention that is unified around its object. It has an open awareness, open enough for insights to arise, but it is aware of what is happening as it is happening. So the process is happening, the process of contact is happening, whether it's mental or physical, through the faculty of contact. So what you're referring to are those five faculties that are present in mentality: the contact, feeling, the perception, the intention and attention.

So one is aware of when contact is arising while one is in jhana. One is aware when perception is arising, when feeling is arising. One is aware as it happens in that moment, because of this unification of mind. That will not be possible with one-pointed absorption. If you have one focus, it's like a laser, which, you know, you're just completely on your aim, but there is no ability for insights to arise. Whereas if your awareness is open enough, it will arise, because your clarity of mind is able to see these different factors of mentality arise through their processes when they do, in reality, in the present moment. So it's all about that unified mind. It is all about having the attention on the object, but not so much to the point that it blocks out what else is arising, in the way of feeling, perception, intention, contact, and so on.

For example, intention. What is the intention here? The intention is to be in the first jhana or to be in the second jhana. But you are aware that there was an intention of that. The attention is you're aware of the attention on the object. The feeling is the mental feeling of experiencing the bliss of that jhana, experiencing the joy, the factor of that jhana. And the perception is noting and understanding, recognizing that this is bliss, that this is comfort, this is needs, and so on. And then the contact, of course, is the feeling of joy, or the experience of joy, making mental contact with the mind. Thank you.

One last question. Buddha here uses an example of an infant. I remember my child, the minute she was born, she was already very fierce. The nurse was saying that this is a very fierce baby. They have already a character of their own. You put the boy, he will have his own character, the girl will have his own character, you can tell. Is that due to underlying tendency? And as such, can we say underlying tendency, in a way, from the last life to this life, is translated to what we call character of the infant? Or is it memory? Because, you know, that's kind of the confusing part. And then, on top of that, people are telling me karma is actually consciousness.

When you look at infants, they already seem to have the personality of their own, don't they? Some are fierce, as you said, some are more docile, you know, some are maybe more angry, or some are more peaceful, or whatever it might be. And character and memory. So when you look at it, the underlying tendencies are being, so they are what create the character of, let's say, a person, quote unquote, a person. So being can also be understood as character. That's actually a very good word to use in place of being, let's say, because your character comes from the habits that you continue to create and cultivate, based on how you experience reality around you and how you respond to the sensory experiences. But karma cannot be considered to be consciousness. Karma is, there are two words or senses of the word kamma.

What I mean to say is there's the active sense of kamma and there's the passive sense of kamma. The passive sense of kamma is the effects of choices made in the past. The active sense is the choice you are making now in the present moment. The decisions you make is the active kamma that you produce, that is new kamma. Old kamma is the effect of kamma that was produced by previous choices.

So it's not that consciousness is kamma, but consciousness can be a carrier for kamma. It's the formations that activate the consciousness, but the formations have the kamma within them and are carried forward through the consciousness, which then establishes itself in mentality-materiality. To say that, go to a secluded place, and there must be a reason for it. And just more of a daily living kind of, more tangibly, if I reflect on just a lay life: yes, we want to buy something, and you look up a product on Amazon, and tons of products come up. As you are reviewing the products, there is an activation of 'I like it, I don't like it.'

'This is what I want. This is what I don't want.' So there is an activation of some level of craving that is being activated even in that decision-making process. So the question is, what would be a wholesome way of conducting that kind of activity, given that as lay people we are constantly making decisions like that? - Yeah. Essentially, you want to see if the product you're looking at, let's say on Amazon, is it beneficial to you? Instead of, you've got to reframe the understanding and the intention.

Instead of having the mind immediately magnetised towards it and saying, 'I want this and I need this,' rather come back to it and let that go and say, is this useful for my present situation? Is this somehow going to be useful or beneficial for my present situation? Does it have some kind of utility value in my life circumstance at the moment? Instead of identifying with it, again saying, 'Well, I need that because it's colourful, I need that because so-and-so,' rather have the question: is this going to benefit me in the long term, and is it going to be practically beneficial to me, rather than fulfilling some kind of emotional need, or fulfilling some kind of spur-of-the-moment need which identifies with that craving.

Thank you. I have a question related to the previous one regarding one experience in Nibbana element through reflecting in the Dhamma of reflecting on the five aggregates. So does it mean that they not particularly understand clearly the dependent origination through that reflection process? - No, they would experience and understand, depending on you, because they will see how craving can arise in one or more of these five aggregates. See how craving arises if one identifies with form, which also includes the physical sixth sense basis. One can see if craving arises because one identifies with the sensory experience at the level of feeling, or with perception, in which one sees it as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, and identifies with that. Likewise with cognition or consciousness: it is the sensory cognition or the sensory consciousness where one can see craving is arising.

And then with formations, seeing how the intention is present. Is the intention rooted in craving, or is it rooted in wisdom and understanding that this is impermanent? So if somebody is just reflecting on the five aggregates, they will still have an understanding of how the links of dependent origination flow through these containers, each of these five aggregates.

Thank you. Hi, Delson. If I may ask, in the same regard that you have just talked about during the practice of the understanding on the reflection of the five faculties of the happenings, that they are a condition to the arising, so is it possible during the practice that this conscious, awareness, can lead to a faster and expedite the whole process from joy to, from, like you still have the awareness, the attention of the object, for example compassion, or even goes through the joy quicker and to a level that it is like, because you're able to reflect during the sitting that there is this, it is all condition given to each other, that you have this arising, and it takes you quicker to the step of a more like through all the process, that there is still the understanding, but there is the quietness

that that that all through it it was quicker like all through the stages i don't and i don't know if this is happening but this seems to be the way that it is like once you understand because the previous uh talks that i was having with you is that it is all condition so when the sitting is there this was understood as they are giving each other a condition and this leads to a quick steps to a very still like a stage of like backdrops of one to another this the quietness that has been able to prolong and stay like in the mind and while you're still aware what is around you so is this possible my question is like Is it like something that you can still reflect during your sitting?

Like you're seeing the, I have the perception of the feeling of my body towards what is going on, but it's still like you see it as a condition of the thing. So is it possible in the sitting that you have the reflection and all this happening going together? - Yes, yes, it is possible, and in fact it is recommended that you have that reflection, but it should not be an intentional reflection. We need to see things naturally arise when they arise. It's not a matter of reflecting in the sense that, and this can be done of course within the jhana, outside of the jhana, but what's more conducive is to allow things to naturally unfold as they unfold, and then see them as they are in reality, in the present, understanding them as conditions, and then letting them go.

And that expedites the process. In the moment, seeing them as conditions, not holding on to them and letting them go, you then quickly get through each factor of the jhana, or each step through the process of the jhanas. But even more important to that, or more important than that, is that if you were able to reflect, even just in the first jhana, and see that all of these are conditions, the mind naturally drops all attachment to everything. And in fact, there is the potential for the mind, as we have seen in the sutta, to experience Nibbana from the first jhana onwards.

Okay, yeah. Yeah, give me some hints there. Yeah, it's not the intention to look for it, but you're seeing it from what is happening around at that moment. That is what it is, yes. So you can still feel like the breathing is there, but you're not putting the attention. You know, this is just one of the ways that it just comes along, right? So you can feel that very internal breathing creating some signs of the body, that inside the breathing there are the signs of the breathing that you are noticing. So those are signs that give you the perception of that feeling towards the understanding of the mind, the consciousness. But it is like, it is coming and going.

So it's one of the conditions arising. That is the way that we see it, even during the sitting. Is that right? - Yeah, and that is the aspect of the mind, to be able to see as it arises what is arising. So if you have the perception of breathing, you'll see that there is the mindfulness that the body is breathing, and then there's a mindfulness of how the mind moves from there to seeing, for example, how a fly touches the skin, or the mindfulness of how the sound arises and passes away. So that's the mindfulness aspect, that's what you're utilising when you're seeing these things. - Okay, thank you. Thank you for how we are answering you. Thank you. As a final question, maybe I was thinking about what exactly are we doing when we are sharing merit, because it sounds like you are giving away good kamma, but that is not possible to my understanding. So what are we doing in that way?

My understanding of sharing merit is being able to get to that level of loving kindness, to be able to share the good, benevolence and wishes of other beings being freed of suffering. That's how I understand sharing merit. - Yes, the idea of transferring one's good karma to another, I can't say whether that happens or not, because there are different schools of thought about that. But on a very practical level, as I understand it, when we share merit, we are all essentially tuned to that loving kindness, attuned towards that compassion. And in that, our minds are delighting.

Our minds are uplifted. And whether that merit is shared or not, that is to be seen. But at the very least, for our own selves, let's say, we are experiencing the growth of loving kindness. Very clear. Thank you. So on that note, shall we share merit? May suffering ones be suffering free, and the fear-struck fearless be. May the grieving shadow grieve, and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired, for the acquisitions of all kinds of happiness. Inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas of mighty power, share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation.