MN 6 Akankheyya Sutta - PRECEPTS ARE THE BASIS OF AWAKENING!

I think I'll get started, and then as people come in they can have a look. Yeah, yeah, 1007. Yeah, okay, everybody can see this now? Remember, Delson, to put yourself on the right side there. Make it just so that we just see you. Oh, right, okay, yeah, got it. Speaker only, and you can pull it apart with that tab, make yourself smaller. But yeah, yeah, okay. I think that's cool. All right. This is now the sixth sutta in Majjhima Nikaya as we're going on with the series, and this is known as the Akankheyya Sutta, which means if a bhikkhu should wish. Actually, I think it comes from the Sanskrit Akanksha, which is a wish or a desire to manifest something, let's say.

So we're going to go through this refrain of "if a bhikkhu should wish, may I do so and so" and so on. It always ends with the understanding of following the precepts. So let's get an understanding of what the patimokha is. Pati means leading towards. And mokha is moksha, or freedom, liberation. So when we talk about patimokha, it is taking or undertaking the training precepts for the purposes of liberation.

So what the Buddha is explicitly saying here is, when we take precepts, we are doing so for the purpose of liberation, for the purpose of awakening. That in doing so, now we are in the stream, now we are on the road, or in the stream, or whatever you want to call it, towards freedom. Every time we remember the precepts and keep the precepts and continue to keep them, then we are that much closer on our way to awakening.

So when he says perfect in conduct and resort, conduct, of course, here is how we conduct ourselves with regards to body, mind, speech, right speech, and right action, and right livelihood. And resort, resort here is referring to resorting to one's robes and bowl and so on, and alms food and things like that. So in the context of the bhikkhus.

And seeing fear in the slightest fault. Why would you do that? Because you see that when you break a precept, it causes mental agitation. It causes a disturbance in the mind, which can relate towards a disturbance in the practice itself. And so, seeing that, if you do this, you undertake the training precepts. Now, in terms of the patimokha, right, we as lay people generally take the five basic precepts. When you're on retreat, you usually take, I think, eight precepts. And when you become someone like an anagarika, that means 10 precepts. Or a samanera also will take a certain amount of precepts.

So there are actually 227 precepts that bhikkhus take, those who are fully ordained bhikkhus. And there are 311 that the bhikkhunis take, that is the nuns, the ordained, fully ordained nuns, which are few compared to, let's say, the male monks right now. But in any case, I mean, a number of bhikkhunis. In any case, why did these number of precepts come about?

So the Vinaya was introduced by the Buddha situationally. If something happened that resulted in people seeing the bhikkhus in a certain light and context that would cause people to lose faith in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, which is important and imperative for the purposes of practice, the Buddha would introduce this particular precept or training rule. So sometimes it would be something like not eating after the noonday meal, because monks would go out from the forest at different times of the day seeking food, and it would sometimes scare the villagers. So he made this understanding: do it, don't eat anything after the noonday meal, to keep things clear. Sometimes it has to do with, of course, the precept of intoxicants, where an arahant had one too many and became intoxicated, and that was not a good look. So a lot of the Vinaya is all about managing optics, for the purposes of faith, for the purposes of people having faith in the Sangha, which is very important then, and important now as well, for people to do this practice.

The bhikkhunis have more because, culturally speaking, at the time of the Buddha and even now in parts of India, there is an overprotectiveness for women. So it was important that women were treated in such a way that didn't cause a disturbance to their security and safety, and this is why bhikkhunis have 311.

So the Buddha says, "If a bhikkhu should wish, may I be dear and agreeable to my companions in the holy life, respected and esteemed by them. Let him fulfill the precepts, be devoted to internal serenity of mind, not neglect meditation, be possessed of insight, and dwell in empty huts." So now we start with this. If one should wish that, may I be dear and agreeable to my companions, respected and esteemed by them, may I have good dealings with them, good exchanges of words with them, and actions with them, may they see me as somebody who's upstanding as a practitioner, then let him fulfill the precepts, keep the precepts, sila, be devoted to internal serenity of mind, not neglect meditation, samadhi, be possessed of insight, panna, or wisdom, and dwell in empty huts, which means for all of this we need to find seclusion and solitude, where we can sit for some period of time and actually practice some kind of formal sitting.

Very important. "If a bhikkhu should wish, may I be one to obtain robes, alms food, resting places, and medicinal requisites, let him fulfill the precepts," and so on. "If a bhikkhu should wish, may the services of those whose robes, alms, food, resting place, and medicinal requisites I use bring them great fruit and benefit." So, very interesting here. One is, of course, may I have these four requisites. So, in order for me to have them easily available, if I keep the precepts, if I continue to practice the meditation,

if I continue to develop insight and do so in solitude and seclusion, these things will come easily for one. And because I am keeping the precepts, and because I am dedicated to the practice of meditation and cultivating insight, whatever I receive in the form of dana, whether it's robes, alms, food, resting place, or medicinal requisites, those who have donated that may receive great benefit from that, because my mind is purified by keeping the precepts, and that purifies the process of giving and what is received.

"If one should wish, when my kinsmen and relatives who have passed away and died remember me with confidence in their minds, may that bring them great fruit and benefit. Let him fulfill the precepts," and so on. This is a very interesting one. When you look at it from the context of the planes of existence, you have people, beings who are in the human realms and higher. But what about those beings who are in the lower realms, beings who are hungry ghosts, for example?

Actually, if somebody is in a hungry ghost realm, and they remember a bhikkhu who keeps the precepts, and they were relatives of that bhikkhu, or they know that bhikkhu because they're associated with that particular bhikkhu in some way, and if they remember them with confidence in their minds, confidence in the merit of that bhikkhu who has kept the precepts, the merit of that bhikkhu who practices meditation, the merit of that bhikkhu who cultivates insight, and one who actually devotes their life for the purpose of awakening, just by remembering them with confidence in their minds, they will have great benefit and fruit. It will help them in such a way that it can take them out of the hungry ghost realm.

So this is a great benefit for that, in the context of the 31 realms of existence. "If one should wish, may I become a conqueror of discontent and delight, and may discontent not conquer me, may I abide transcending discontent whenever it arises." What do we mean by discontent? Meaning, oh, this isn't good enough for me, or I don't like this, or I don't feel comfortable with this, I want more, right? This particular food item isn't the best, this particular robe isn't that great, this particular shelter is shoddy, you know, or this medicine doesn't really work, you know. So having a conquering mind, conquering discontent and delight, discontent in the case of having aversion towards things that aren't fulfilling what we think we need to be fulfilled, and delight in those things that are good food, good shelter, and so on, so the mind transcends that with equanimity. And for that equanimity to stabilize in the mind, we should fulfill the precepts and so on and so forth.

"If a bhikkhu should wish, may I become a conqueror of fear and dread, and may fear and dread not conquer me. May I abide transcending fear and dread whenever they arise. Let him fulfill the precepts." Fear and dread. What does that mean, fear and dread? We had a sutta called the Bhaya Bherava Sutta, if you recall, Majjhima Nikaya 4, in which the Buddha was talking about going into a dark forest, or somewhere where you're alone at night, you hear a sound or something, and the brain just goes into panic mode, and it's like, what's going on?

But if somebody's keeping the precepts, like in the case of the Buddha as a bodhisattva, he considered, yes, I have been somebody who has not caused harm. I've been somebody who has not taken what is not given. I'm somebody who has not had misconduct in sensual or sexual nature. I am someone who hasn't indulged in intoxicants or told lies. Just by realizing that no harm can come to me, having that faith in our virtue, in doing that, fear and dread get dissipated.

And the reason is because when our mind becomes uplifted in the realization that there is goodness in us, recognizing the goodness in us, and that becomes amplified, then whatever is happening with the fear mechanism of the amygdala softens, relaxes, and what takes over is these good feelings of understanding our own virtue, having loving kindness for ourselves, and so on. If a bhikkhu should wish, may I become one who obtains at will, without trouble or difficulty, the four jhanas that constitute the higher mind and provide a pleasant abiding here and now, let him fulfill the precepts. Here you go: direct connection to, how do you get to jhana? Fulfill the precepts. Dedicate your mind towards keeping the precepts.

Dedicate your mind towards samadhi, towards practice of meditation. Dedicate your mind for the purposes of cultivating insight and wisdom. And dedicate your time towards solitude and seclusion. Consistency is key. As you do this, it will become easier for you to navigate through the jhanas. And then more so, it will become easier for you over a period of time to be able to wish whichever jhana you want to be in, for however long you want to be in that jhana. So this is possible. If one should wish, may I contact with the body and abide in those liberations that are peaceful and immaterial, transcending forms, let him fulfill the precepts, and so on. So what are these liberations that the Buddha is talking about here that are peaceful and immaterial, transcending form?

The formless jhanas. So in reality, as we've seen before, there are only four jhanas, the first, second, third, and fourth jhanas. But from the fourth jhana, there are these four immaterial states. So the immaterial states are infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor non-perception. So these are the liberations that the Buddha talks about, because the jhanas are known as temporary liberations.

Why? Because the hindrances are not present in the mind. The mind is temporarily liberated from the world. It goes into the other world. So in this case, if somebody is a stream enterer and they constantly practice for that particular jhana, fulfill the precepts, keep the precepts, do everything, and they are a stream enterer and attain to the jhana and continue their practice in that particular jhana, or in that particular immaterial jhana, then, as the Buddha has said on many an occasion, you'll see in the Anguttara Nikaya and Samyutta Nikaya, it's understood that that person will, as a stream enterer, as an ariya savaka, as they're known, attain to that particular loka associated with that particular jhana. And from there they will attain parinibbana, which means they won't return back to the sensual realms. They will attain parinibbana from wherever they attained that particular loka. So then it says: if a bhikkhu should wish, may I, with the destruction of three fetters, become a stream enterer

no longer subject to perdition, bound for deliverance, headed for enlightenment. Let him fulfill the precepts, let him keep to the meditation, let him cultivate insight. So what are the three fetters here? The first fetter is doubt in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. The second fetter is attachment to rites and rituals, and the third is the personality view, or you should say self-view in this case. So that means the 20 different kinds of self-view. On an intellectual level, you understand the emptiness of a permanent self. There is no abiding, permanent, unshakable, unchangeable self. The self, as we understand it, is an impersonal process that arises due to causes and conditions.

And one disengages from the me, mine, or myself in relation to one or more of the five aggregates. These are three fetters that are destroyed. So that means such a person has cultivated experiential faith in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. They have understood that the Buddha represents what is possible for all of us, and that the way leading to that is the Dhamma.

And that there are those who have experienced that, and there are people in the community who can help guide in that practice. And that's the Sangha. Having experiential confidence in that. And then the attachment to rites and rituals: you can still continue to chant if you want. You can still continue to light a candle if you want. You can still continue to do whatever it is you're doing. But you realize you do that for an uplifted mind. That it's not the thing that is going to take you to moksha

to take you to Nibbana. So these are the three fetters. The third one, as we just said, is the relief from these views regarding the self in relation to the aggregates. If one should wish, may I, with the destruction of three fetters and with the attenuation of lust, hate, and delusion, become a once-returner, returning once to this world, the world of sensuality, to make an end of suffering, let him fulfill the precepts, let him cultivate meditation practice, let him experience insight, let him be in solitude

and experience this. If one should wish, may I, with the destruction of the five lower fetters, become due to reappear spontaneously in the pure abodes and there attain final nibbana without ever returning from that world. Let him fulfill the precepts. So, on the way to becoming an anagami. If one should wish, may I wield the various kinds of supernormal power: having been one, may I become many; having been many, may I become one; may I appear and vanish. I think that's important, right? If you become, having been one, you become many. How do you go back to becoming one? That's going to be important to know as well. So, may I appear and vanish.

May I go unhindered through a wall, through an enclosure, through a mountain, as though through space. May I dive in and out of the earth as though it were water. May I walk on water without sinking as though it were earth, seated cross-legged. May I travel in space like a bird with my hand. May I touch and stroke the moon and sun, so powerful and mighty. May I wield bodily mastery even as far as the brahma lokas. Let him keep the precepts, fulfill the precepts, cultivate meditation and insight, and continue the practice. So, for those of you who want these siddhis, I come across a lot of students who come to me and say, how do you get the siddhis? How do you cultivate the siddhis?

And I know that person is not ripe, because if your only thing is, I want siddhis, I want to do this, I want to do that, okay, fine, you want to do this, but to what end? It's just parlor tricks at the end of the day. It's just like, okay, you can walk through a wall, great. You can save on airfare by disappearing from one place and going to the next, wonderful, that's great. For me, actually, if I could just do that and help everyone else save on airfare, or myself, that would be wonderful. But I have to work on it. The Buddha would always say, I want you to work on being at two different places at the same time, and I used to always say, I'm working on it, but we'll see if it ever happens. But I'm not really interested in that kind of stuff, because awakening is the best

siddhi there is. It's the best one, it's the one that we should all strive for. If we happen to get siddhis on the way, great, but don't let your ego get in the way, because that's going to cause great detriment to your progress. If one should wish, may I, with the divine ear which is purified and surpasses the human ear, hear both kinds of sounds, the divine and the human, those that are far as well as near. Let him fulfill the precepts, let him cultivate meditation and insight, let him develop the practice, right?

If one should wish, may I understand the mind of other beings, of other persons, having encompassed them with my own mind. May I understand a mind affected by lust as affected by lust, and a mind unaffected by lust as unaffected by lust. May I understand a mind affected by hate as affected by hate, and a mind unaffected by hate as unaffected by hate. May I understand a mind affected by delusion as affected by delusion, and a mind unaffected by delusion as unaffected by delusion.

May I understand a contracted mind as contracted and a distracted mind as distracted. May I understand an exalted mind as exalted and an unexalted mind as unexalted. May I understand a surpassed mind as surpassed and an unsurpassed mind as unsurpassed. May I understand a concentrated or collected mind as collected and an uncollected mind as uncollected. May I understand a liberated mind as liberated and an unliberated mind as unliberated.

Let him keep the precepts. Let him fulfill the precepts. Let him cultivate practice of meditation and insight. So here he's talking about what's usually understood as telepathy, right? Being able to understand what's going on in another person's mind. But I would say our thoughts are enough to bother us. Why do we need to take on the thoughts of others? It's a neat trick, it's very cool, it's probably very useful as a teacher and a guide to know where a person's mind is. If you're guiding them, that's great. But if your own thoughts are going to torment you, you definitely don't want this as a supernormal power. If one should wish, may I recollect my manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births, and so on, thus with their aspects and their particulars. May I recollect my manifold past lives.

Let him fulfill the precepts. Let one keep to the meditation practice. Let one fulfill the development of insight. So all these things are possible. If one should wish, may I, with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, see beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate. May I understand how beings pass on according to their actions, thus. To understand the karma of other beings, seeing where they may go in their next life, where they have come from in their past life, understanding where their karma is in this life and where it can take them potentially. You'll be able to see the different karmic connections that are there.

They may come in the form of seeing these streams of light and things like that. But again, it's wonderful, it's great. But to what end? Only to the end of seeing that karma actually exists, that karma has consequences, that our actions have consequences, our intentions have consequences. If you want to have this particular siddhi, then one should fulfill the precepts. One should keep to the meditation practice. Be consistent with the meditation practice. Can you practice for more periods of time? Can you go and retreat more times in the year? Can you cultivate insight? Can you continue to see the emptiness of self? Can you continue to see the insight into the nature of dependent origination,

conditionality and causality, into the understanding of impermanence and inconstancy, into dukkha, that every intention ultimately leads to dukkha? Can you see the emptiness of self? If one should wish, may I by realizing for myself with direct knowledge, what is that direct knowledge? The knowledge of the destruction of the taints, which is dependent upon seeing in the here and now that such is form, such as the arising of form and such as its passing away, such as feeling, such as the arising of feeling, such is its passing away, such as the arising of perception. Such is the arising, such is the passing away, such is the arising of intentional formations, and such is its passing away, such is the arising and passing away of consciousness.

It's not like you're seeing the arising and passing away in that way, but it's important to understand: when you're seeing the five aggregates, you disengage from them. You become disenchanted from them. You become dispassionate regarding them, because you've seen that they are indeed impermanent and inconstant, that they are indeed arising due to causes and conditions. So it's seeing dependent origination that leads to the destruction of the taints. So when he says this, may I, by realizing for myself with direct knowledge, she's talking about this: enter now, here and now, enter upon and abide in the deliverance of mind and deliverance by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction of the taints. The deliverance of mind, ceto vimutti; the deliverance by wisdom, panna vimutti. Ceto vimutti is: you've gone through all the jhanas and the arupa jhanas and experienced the destruction of the taints, or you've gone through the first four jhanas, developed insight from their dependent origination, and destroyed the taints.

That is what the Blessed One said. The Bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One's words. Any questions? Any comments? Well, let me tell you, I didn't realize that sutta existed. That everything is precepts, that's amazing. I'm gonna have to use that. Yeah, it's a powerful, powerful thing. Everything is dependent upon precepts, precepts. Saravi hi Delson, thank you so much for the talk. I just have a question, actually, that was inspired while listening. I really try hard to keep the precepts and meditate, but I find that I struggle a lot with, which sometimes originates from careful observation of the precepts, and it's not just in my practice, it's also in my life. What I struggle with the most is fear of breaking the precepts, of hurting someone with my words and my actions, and

It's weird, because I'm trying to do the right thing, but I'm causing myself a lot of suffering by approaching it the way I am. Yeah. So I was wondering, is there a certain meditation or a practice I can do to help let go of what I think is basically papanca linked with identity view? Yeah, yeah. Well, I think we should explore this, because what is it that you're, what is the fear that arises? Because if you're taking the five basic precepts and trusting that you will live by them for the day, you know, at least now in the morning you've taken the precepts, and you had to live by them for this day, right? Where is the fear coming from? Is it through an over-analysis of every action and speech that you make? For example, I'm currently applying for jobs and I'm dependent on my parents, you know, monetarily supporting me through this time, which is normal

but I put a lot of pressure on myself, then, thinking I must get a job, which then generates fear, because it's not my money, it's given to me. Yes, but it's also not responsible to just keep going without one. Should put the best. You're too hard on yourself. You're too hard on yourself. So how do I suffer? You need to have loving kindness for yourself, first and foremost. You have to have radical self-acceptance.

In other words, be like, you know what? I deserve this. It's my parents, for goodness' sake. They're there to support me. They're there to support me. I know, but they're good parents. Yeah, they're great parents. They're patient and kind and loving. So see that, have gratitude for that, change your perspective from 'Oh, I'm not doing well enough for them' to realizing, 'Oh, they are there to support me, and I am taking concrete steps towards getting a job, and hopefully, you know, giving back to them a little later on in my life, or as soon as I get a job, whatever it is you decide you want to do.' But there's no need to feel that kind of guilt. Absolutely. Enough. Okay, it's just loving kindness, radical acceptance of, yes, where I am now, and I'm doing my best. Yeah, exactly. You're actually doing something. You're not just, you know, sitting and not doing anything. You have the intention, and you're taking steps rooted in that intention. That says a lot. So realize that and rest in that understanding.

Okay, thank you. That was so beautiful. As a parent with three kids myself, I just have to say, if your parents had been on the call, you would have made their hearts very glad. And I think you can set your fear to rest, if I may presume to say so. But I did have some other questions. Yeah, please. With regard to verse 10, if a bhikkhu should wish, may I contact with the body and abide in those liberations, which are peaceful and immaterial, transcending forms.

The juxtaposition of the immaterial attainments with contact with the body, I don't understand that. Yeah, that's a good question. So I think here, and I might be mistaken, but this is how I'm looking at it. Here, when we talk about the body, it's referring to kaya from the Pali kaya, rather than rupa. The rupa is very much material and related with the physicality, whereas kaya can be interchangeable with rupa, as well as manomaya kaya in this case. So, may the mental body make contact with these immaterial realms. That's how I'm seeing it. Okay. Okay. The other one, which came from the reading, had to do with, I guess, my own excessively postmodern point of view. Verse 14, if a bhikkhu should wish, may I fly through the air and walk on water and dive into the ground like it was water.

I'm just going, okay, I don't believe in any of that stuff, you know, which in a sense calls into question the whole thing. I do believe in the jhanas, but it kind of calls into question the whole thing when there's, like, this, for me, very pre-modern way of thinking about the world. Yeah, and I'm definitely with you on that. I don't think it's necessary for us to believe that these things are important or needed in order for us to practice, right? So when we talk about faith in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, it's not like, oh, the Buddha was a miracle worker and things like that. It's that the Buddha was self-awakened and discovered for himself the path. It says nothing about all of that other stuff. So I think it's safe to say we don't need to really put too much thought into it. Fair enough. And my other question was one that I came to the talk with this morning, and it has to do with

So if the only wholesome aspiration is letting go, it seems that there's an element of fabrication, of proliferation. Yeah, the practice. Yeah, yeah, with the practice of letting go, right? There can be mental constructs about that, right, or even with the bringing up, you know, may I, may they all be happy. There's a fabrication there. Yes. This is why, this is how I kind of look at the path, which is: we're already mired with a lot of different fabrications, but we use the skillful fabrications to let go of the ones that don't serve us, and then let go of the skillful fabrications. That makes sense. Thank you.

thank you fully good morning delson um so i kind of looked at this sutta a little differently i know i don't no poly but it all of the paragraphs that bhikkhu bodhi translated were if you want to get to jhana if you want to walk on water it's like go sit down you know it i mean it's really don't be clinging to all that stuff and it is interesting because these things will arise and i i don't I've never really been one to seek cities, but if you practice lucid dreaming, you can have cities. And as I look, I'm at obviously an elder time of life.

In my intense practices, midlife, it was more that these things would arise. Things arise, and you know that doesn't mean you have control of them, and you can manipulate them. There's levels of things. So I'm just noticing that as I'm getting older, that intense practice is not really available to me so much anymore, but really seeing how my practice is, and how those precepts are coming into daily life, like, am I really doing right speech? Am I really being kind to people and not harming anything? And the precepts kind of open up in a way that it doesn't... it's like, don't kill ants can develop into being kind to the ants, and, you know, creating an environment. And it's interesting to

I don't think the Buddha was saying here to do anything except for go sit down. So I don't know. I do have a question about all of the Pali Canon. There is the occasional mention of a bhikkhuni, but there were bhikkhunis at a certain point, and they're never addressed in the Sangha. It's always the bhikkhus. Is that Bhikkhu Bodhi ignoring that? No, no, no, no, that's not the case. In the Pali Canon, the general thing is it's mostly addressed to bhikkhus, or just because of the culture. But there are a few exceptions in the Majjhima Nikaya, where someone like Venerable Dhammadinna, who is seen as a very, very insightful, very particular one, but also there is the Therigatha.

And I think at some point we will want to explore that, the Therigatha, because the Therigatha basically means Theri is the female form of Thera. So it's just all the bhikkhunis, at least from that particular book, who have attained to full awakening, and they're giving their experience from that. So there are definitely mentions of that. But I think there is a majority more towards the bhikkhus than there is to the bhikkhunis.

It makes me question when it was all written. Yeah, rather, because I know that the Buddha, according to the Pali Canon, which is a funny reference for what I'm about to say, went through a transition around his engaging the bhikkhunis. And so it seems like he would be speaking, there would be a word for all of you. Yeah, yeah, that's true. But it's a reflection of when probably it was transmitted first and then written down, that there's that culture, and you still see it in Asia, especially South Asia, you know. So, but that's just how it was.

Yeah, okay, I was sort of hoping you were going to say oh yes, there is this word or something, but yeah, I know. I mean, bhikkhunis of course are mentioned, but in any case, yeah, yes. Uh, Tabish, hello. Sir, hello. So, I want to ask a question from a mind without craving. This question is a little confused with the paragraph. Some people seem to associate the relaxed step with a sharp intake of air and letting go of breath. It's a reactionary aspect of relaxed step, but not the relaxing step of stilling formation in and of itself. What is the meaning of their reactionary aspect? Yeah, so in other words, I have noticed through speaking with the different practitioners over my time in teaching and guiding that sometimes there is a habit of using the breath to inhale and exhale, and as an association with relax, relaxing of the body.

and that will create just a certain habit that's not in tandem with how we would do the 6R's. So reactionary here, in other words, is automatic or almost automatic, in reaction to the hindrance that's there or in reaction to the tightness that's there. So you see a tightness and tension, and then you recognize it, and then you breathe in, breathe, and with that you relax. Whereas if you just let go of the breath, because the moment we start using the breath more and more, we are continuing to activate the bodily formations. The idea is as we're deepening our practice, the formations are actually quietening down, and we're disengaging from them in the practice of meditation. So every time we bring up something, that's why even when we're in the formless jhanas, especially nothingness or neither perception, we have a smile, and sometimes

we bring up a smile and it causes too much physicality. It's just a bit too much at that point. I will give guidance and say, don't worry about the smile, just stay with relaxing and coming back to your object. Okay. Anyone else have anything to ask or comment or say? Yes, John. It's a bit of a silly question, but I really enjoyed David's point that, oh, look, this sutta is all about keep the vows if you want to wake up. Every step of the way, this is about vows.

There's a set of vows that's always kind of the ones in the line of, like, don't hold your bowl upstream when you're chewing, don't move the food from one side of your mouth to the other. I just have had the hardest time connecting those with enlightenment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I hear you, and I totally understand what you're saying, because that gives me reason to say that this is probably why the Buddha said you can do away with the minor rules, but nobody had the foresight to ask which of the minor rules do we just let go of, you know. And me, I'm just speculating: he probably would have said the ones that don't cause you harm and don't cause others harm. Keep those, the ones that are in tandem with kindness

and practice. Keep those, the ones that are okay. Whatever it is, let that go. So I think when we talk about precepts here, or vows in this case, as you say, it is really keeping to those precepts that are for the purpose of liberation, the ones that lead you to liberation, and that's, you know, in tandem with kindness, in tandem with generosity, in tandem with compassion, and all the different paramis. Great answer, thank you. Thanks. Uh, Bill, you're on mute. Okay, there we go. Can you hear me now? Yeah. So, you said about not going to the breath, but sometimes I feel like I'm just a little bit untethered, or my mind is wandering, or I don't know where to look.

I don't know what to pay attention to. And then I sometimes do go to the breath for a few minutes. I mean, is that reasonable? Well, it's like this. If you decide you want to start with Anapanasati from the beginning, then you use the breath as an anchor. Use the breath as an object in this case, so yes, you return back to the breath. But if you're doing something like loving kindness, or any of the brahmaviharas, then the object is to come back to that particular brahmavihara that the mind's attention is being anchored in. So when you feel like you don't know where you should be going back to, go back to the brahmavihara that came before and just continue from there. Well, sometimes I've been doing kind of a meditation without a distinct object, kind of trying to do nothing. I think maybe it happens more when I'm doing that.

So when you do that, what is the object? The object there is the mind, right? It's coming back to the mind that's still, let's say. Okay, so all right. So the advice is not not to come back to the breath? Yeah, unless you started with the breath, unless you're starting with the breath as Anapanasati. Let me just add one thing here for everybody. As practitioners, if you are going to go into quiet mind or not do anything, you need to first engage with something, because this is to balance the energy in the mind. So bringing up some loving kindness, doing some kind of radiating practice, will help to bring some balance to the energy, as well as the other enlightenment factors. Otherwise it is easier

to get lost in the process of just staying with the so-called quiet mind. There's a tendency for the mind to either experience a bit too much restlessness or sloth and torpor. So this will help. Always do something, even if I feel like, yeah, sometimes I feel like it's too much work. Yeah, then just be with equanimity. Equanimity is quite, you know, light in comparison to the other brahmaviharas. I see David was raising his hand if he wants to put in something. No, just in total frustration, that's all. Too much work. See, that's the problem with quiet mind, though. It really is the problem. People think, well, it's all quiet, and I'll just relax and don't do anything, but as Delson just said, if you don't

bring up the samatha, bring up the loving kindness, bring up the jhanas, then your mind just goes right into sloth and torpor, and that's not going to work. A lot of people say, oh, my mind is calm. Well, what did you do before that? Nothing, I'm just already in the quiet mind. No, that quiet doesn't mean just quiet. It means it's very special, neither perception jhana. It's a very... it takes a while to get to that point. You just don't be quiet. That's why you need to yoke together the samatha and vipassana, you need both. Yeah, so this is why the Buddha also says, like, establishing mindfulness before you, which means you take some time to settle into the mind, settle into the body, and then with the mindfulness you will see which direction the mind wants to take in terms of an object. So any time we talk about an objectless meditation, which is happening much later on, it is happening in relation to having crossed through any of these jhanas, like for example in the suttas

Uh, Moggallana is going through the different jhanas and the Buddha is inspecting him mentally, and he says, no Moggallana, now you need to go to the next one, 90. Now you get to the object list. Now you get to the sign. So there it is. There is a reference for what David just said. Willie, you had another question or comment? - I had a little response to John's comments. I had an opportunity at some point where I started to do a Zen practice a little bit. And, you know, you have to step in with your right foot over the threshold and you have to sit. And it was like, what?

And I saw how you create mindfulness in front and center, because otherwise you don't know which foot you walked over the threshold with or which side you're chewing on. So there is a value, and almost all of the Vinaya rules are about the manifest realm of the duality of, they're not those far-out states. They're about how to use the body and the mind in daily life, kind of stuff. And so, two ways of anchoring yourself in mindfulness. So I think there's a use for those crazy rules, like how high is my bed, you know, how high is my chair, who knows? But I've also had monastics over to my house, even to sleep, and they sleep on the floor because they aren't going to sleep in. Yeah, yeah, so wonderful. Yeah, that's helpful. It is also helpful to understand there are different ways in which we can anchor the mindfulness in the present moment, right. So yeah, good point. Anyone else have anything to

Say or comment or ask. If not, oh, there is a question: what are your thoughts on practicing relaxing, letting go, as a standalone practice to help jump into TWIM? Well, here's the thing. The whole sort of central pillar of the TWIM practice in terms of the six R's, and remember the six R's is just a mnemonic device.

Ultimately, it's all about having the right effort. So in the past, it was drops, don't resist or push, soften and smile. In this case it's the six R's, sometimes I'll say the four R's for people, which is just recognize, relax, re-smile and return. So the relaxing is the tranquilizing of bodily formations, the tranquilizing of mental formations. This is what's known as hasadi or pasam bhaiya, which means the tranquilizing, and the intention to tranquilize is the intention to let go. And so when we use something like the six R's, that's just giving us a nice container to be able to do that.

I think if there's no one else, we can share some memory. Oh, there is someone. Erica, before we continue. Hello, Delson. Hello. I was told by my mentor at one point of meditation to do one R, which is relax. And I haven't found any talk from Bhante who asked me to do one R at one point because it's just relax. But this person has been trained by Bhante directly.

And she said, yeah, Bhante said that. And there are some other people who also said, yeah, Bhante said that, to do one R at one point. But I still haven't found where it is. So could you give me explanation? Is it basically one R is eventually the six R's are all merged into one R? Or basically the teaching is one R, but to make it easy for beginners, he tried to detail it into six R's, but eventually we go to one R. Is that how you would explain this? Or is it maybe you heard about this before from Bhante?

So there is an important context to understand when somebody would instruct a practitioner to do this. Usually in the beginning we'll give the six R's. I'm more partial to the four R's because it simplifies things, but it doesn't matter. It's really important to understand when we're fulfilling the four right efforts. So what are the four right efforts? One is to see and recognize the arising of unwholesome states, so preventing the arising of unarisen unwholesome states by recognizing that. Then the second is to let go or abandon the unwholesome states that have already arisen in the mind. The third is to generate a wholesome state, and the fourth is to maintain or keep that wholesome state going. Now, in the context of why Bhante would probably say, and I would also probably say to a person, now you just have to relax, because when you're at that point in the practice of meditation where you're in either perception or non-perception

when you're in quiet mind, just seeing that there is a formation arising and just relaxing is enough, because your mind at that point, because you're so deep in the practice, is sensitive enough to see that. And so you could say that all of that is encapsulated in just a relaxed state. But as a way of understanding and as a way of practice, we always start with the six R's. Your teacher or your guide or whoever you are doing retreat with, under their guidance and at their discretion, wherever you are at that point, they may tell you, okay, now you just need to relax. This is why I said earlier in one of the questions, I said sometimes the smile becomes too heavy when you're in deeper immaterial states, so I'll say, okay, fine, just relax, let that go, and come back to the object, come back to the quiet mind. Thank you. So basically, once you do one R and you don't come back to six R's, it's always one R?

All the time, not always. It means that, and what I'm saying is that six R's is the standard, right? That's what you do all the time. When you're coming to a point that's very, very deep, if your teacher tells you, okay, now you can just relax, it's only for the purpose of that particular meditation sit. It doesn't mean that you graduated from six R's to one R and now you can just relax. Thank you for clarification. Okay, let's share some metta. May all beings be free from suffering, may the fear-struck be fearless, may the grieving shed all grief, and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas of mighty power, share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation. Thank you, everyone. I'll see you next week. Take care. Thank you.