MN 48 Kosambyia Sutta - Last Talk of Retreat! w/Delson Armstrong

Thank you. Today I'm going to be reading from Majjhima Nikaya 48. This is called the Kosambiya Sutta, the Kosambiyans. Thus have I heard: on one occasion the Blessed One was living at Kosambi in Gosita's Park. Now on that occasion, the bhikkhus at Kosambi had taken to quarreling and brawling and were deep in disputes, stabbing each other with verbal daggers.

They could neither convince each other nor be convinced by others. They could neither persuade each other nor be persuaded by others. Then a certain bhikkhu went to the Blessed One, and after paying homage to him, he sat down at one side and informed him of what was happening. So this was actually a big thing during the time of the Buddha, the Kosambian dispute.

This was some kind of misunderstanding that arose because there was a monk who was attached to the Vinaya and there was another monk who could care less, and there was a dispute about that, and people were taking sides and stabbing each other with verbal daggers. And it got so bad that the Buddha tried to stop it and said, "Enough, monks." And one of the monks said, "This is our problem. You don't have to get involved in this." They said that to the Buddha.

And so the Buddha just left. He left, but then when the townspeople of Kosambi found out that the Buddha had left, and that it was because of this, they stopped giving alms to the monks over there. It was a big thing. There's actually a novelization of this. You'll find it up in the library, that's, I think, above the dining hall. There's an interesting novel, I think it's called The Kasumbian, do you remember that? The Kasumbian something. Anyway, it's a very interesting novel because it shows what happened, and it really kind of humanizes the Buddha, right? He's somebody who gets exasperated, and somebody who's like, all right, enough of this, and all of that. So it's a very interesting perspective on that.

So if you want to check it out, you can check it out. Anyway. So the Blessed One addressed a certain bhikkhu thus: "Come, bhikkhu, tell those bhikkhus in my name that the Teacher calls them." "Yes, Venerable Sir," he replied, and he went to those bhikkhus and told them, "The Teacher calls the Venerable Ones." "Yes, friend," they replied, and they went to the Blessed One, and after paying homage to him, they sat down at one side. The Blessed One then asked them, "Bhikkhus, is it true that you have taken to quarreling and brawling and are deep in disputes, stabbing each other with verbal daggers, that you can neither convince each other nor be convinced by others, that you can neither persuade each other nor be persuaded by others?"

When you have compassion, your mind is liberated from cruelty. When you have empathetic joy, your mind is liberated from jealousy and envy. When your mind has equanimity, your mind is liberated from any kind of agitation and craving. So the perfection of loving-kindness, the fruit of loving-kindness, is the complete destruction of ill will. The perfection of compassion, the fruit of compassion, is the complete destruction of cruelty. The perfection of empathetic joy is the complete destruction of any kind of jealousy and envy in your mind. And the perfection of equanimity is the complete destruction of any kind of agitation and sensual craving.

So how do you use loving-kindness in your day-to-day affairs? It's as easy as sharing your smile with others. It's as easy as when you walk into a room having loving-kindness for all beings in that room. When you know that there is somebody suffering, when you see two people fighting, just invoke loving-kindness and imbue it in that space, and you will see things start to change. I can attest to this, because when I was in Cambodia my parents had a couple of hotels, and in the hotels there were about six or seven different restaurants, and they were all managed by different chefs. There were two head chefs there, and they always butted heads. If you actually saw what went on in kitchens between chefs, my goodness. So they would always... I would just hang around, had nothing to do. I was just walking up and down, and sometimes I'd go into the office, my dad's office, and we would just chat and talk about this or that.

And then these two chefs would come in and they would start arguing in front of my dad, and they would just be like, "He said this and he didn't pack this correctly and he didn't do that, but he did this and he..." So they were stabbing each other with verbal daggers, right, unable to convince each other one way or the other. So I was just sitting there pretending to watch the news or whatever was on TV, and just sending loving-kindness. And in a few minutes you start to see that their voices start to change, and they're like, in their minds, they're like, "What were we fighting about to begin?" It's like, oh.

And my dad would try to convince one or the other, try to... and then they would kind of resolve it on their own, they say, and they just get back to work and continue with whatever they were doing. So the power of loving-kindness: you see people quarreling, you become a peacemaker. You can become a peacemaker by stopping people from fighting, or just be there on the sidelines and send them loving-kindness. You will see things change in their minds, right? If you have total, complete perfection of loving-kindness, there is so much you could do with it. So much. The same with compassion. You see people in suffering. In that moment you see somebody suffering, you can help them with physical acts of compassion, with verbal acts of compassion, but just imbuing compassion in the situation, you see that person change.

Now, when you have jealousy, when you have envy, when you have all kinds of irritation about somebody else's success, the antidote to that is empathetic joy. And what does it mean, empathetic joy? Being happy for another person's wholesome success, right? Instead of thinking, how come they got the promotion? How come they got the raise? How come they got the credit? How come they have this or that or whatever? Be happy for them. That's awesome. I'm so happy for you. I am genuinely happy for you. You have to have that kind of attitude. That's the perfection of empathetic joy. We have one meditator in our community who always... I mean, this is a great one, because we were at the gas station one time and he was talking about how every time he sees a wonderful car pass by. And that's what we saw. We saw a really cool sports car pass by. He says, in my mind I don't think, "Oh, that guy got that because he was, you know, getting money that was unbegotten or whatever."

He's not thinking about all those things. Instead he's saying, "That is so awesome that they have that," right? Genuinely thinking about it in those ways. He has perfected empathetic joy, genuinely happy for people's successes, whatever it might be. Wholesome successes. And then equanimity, right? We see the power of equanimity in your meditations. When there's restlessness and agitation, and you have tranquility, and you relax the mind, and you come back to equanimity, you have deep levels of clarity in your mind, and that leads to disenchantment and dispassion. If you perfect equanimity, if you have strong equanimity, then your mind will automatically be disenchanted by this or that, automatically have dispassion for this or that, and then incline towards cessation and experience liberation of the mind.

So these practices that you're doing with the four Brahmaviharas, they're not something you just come to when you sit down and you feel and you experience. They are tools. They are mindsets that you can inculcate throughout the day and use as very formidable, very effective tools against any kind of poison of the mind, whether it's in your mind or in the minds of others.

So, whenever you come into a room, where is your mind? When you leave the room, where is your mind? When you enter the car, where is your mind? When you enter the plane, where is your mind? When you go anywhere, where is your mind? What is it doing? Are you having loving-kindness? This is what you should see when you guys are going to leave tomorrow for the airport or the train station or wherever. Where is your mind? What is the quality of your mind? Are you able to share your loving-kindness? Are you able to share your smile with the person at the customer service booth, with the person taking your bags and putting them onto the plane, right?

With the service agent, whoever that might be. Are you smiling with them? Because they're doing this day in, day out, right, and they feel exhausted, and they try to smile as best as they can, but they're just trying to be as polite as they can, and they have so much to do. But if you can generally uplift them, you can see the magic that happens. I might be the only person who, when I go to the airport, the TSA agents always greet me with a smile. It's like they're happy to see me, suspiciously happy to see me. It's almost like maybe they're going to do something. But it's because I'm always imbuing everything with loving-kindness, sharing my smile, sharing my happiness, sharing my joy with them.

So see how it works. Now you're going to go out into the real world tomorrow, right? And your first foray into that is going to be at the restaurant where you're going to eat, and then going to the airport or the train station or whatever it is. See the quality of your mind. See how you feel. See how you react to situations, or how you respond to situations and people.

To hug them. To embrace them. That's a big one, right? When you're with your family members, how often do you actually hug them? How often do you actually smile at them? Right? Just, or even just, placing your hand on their shoulder. This is an act of loving kindness. You're saying, I'm supporting you. I'm here for you. Again, a Bhikkhu maintains verbal acts of loving-kindness both in public and in private towards his companions in the holy life. This too is a principle of cordiality that creates love and respect and conduces to cohesion, to non-dispute, to concord, and to unity. What are verbal acts of loving-kindness? The other person greeting them again with a smile, and saying hi, hello, how are you, what's going on, how was your day today? Right? Just being there as a support, expressing your loving kindness to them. Right? When was the last time you told your family member, I love you? Right? You mean something to me. I'm so glad that you are in my life.

That's a big one, sending it to your so-called enemies. You might think you don't have enemies, but people might feel like, you know, you're difficult, or they're difficult. In either case, send them loving kindness. Send them compassion. One of the things that the Buddha used to do: the first thing, after he got up, he would freshen up and go for a little walk, and then he would come back and sit. And he went into a state of mind, a state of meditation, called Maha Karuna Samapatti,

that is the attainment of great compassion. He would sit down and he would pervade the entire world with compassion for a good amount of time. That's a great way to start the day, right? You just pervade compassion to all beings in all directions, for 30 minutes, for one hour, for two hours, for as long as you can. And what does compassion do? Compassion generates gamma brainwaves. Gamma brainwaves allow the mind to experience cohesion.

It allows the mind to absorb information very quickly. It creates energy, balanced energy, in the mind. In other words, you can replace your morning cup of coffee with an hour of radiating compassion. Some people might not like to hear that, though. But try it out. See for yourself. See how it works. It's a wonderful way to start the day: just sitting down and having loving kindness, having compassion for all beings, all throughout the world, and all throughout the solar system, all throughout the galaxy, all throughout the universe, as far as your loving kindness can reach.

Again, a Bhikkhu uses things in common with his virtuous companions in the holy life without making reservations. He shares with them any gain of a kind that accords with the Dhamma and has been obtained in a way that accords with the Dhamma, including even the mere contents of his bowl. This, too, is a principle of cordiality that creates love and respect and conduces to cohesion, to non-dispute, to concord, and to unity.

In other words, sharing with people, right? Obviously, sharing with your family members, that's a given. Hopefully you guys are doing that. Sharing with your friends, sharing with people, whatever it is, right? You have an extra piece of toast? Give it to somebody. See if they want it. Right? You have some sparkling water? Decide to share it with whoever's there at the table. Whatever it is, very small things, very small acts of these kinds of things. What does it do? It does two things. It uplifts the mind of the receiver, and it uplifts the mind of the giver, and it lets go of stinginess, because you are sharing. You're being generous.

and, as best as you can, helping others to keep their precepts. That doesn't mean you become like a precept Gestapo and say, "No, you broke that precept." You just say, "Hey, do you think that was wise?" Right? As parents, obviously you can be sterner with your kids and say, "Do you think that was wise?" Show them action and consequence. Show them how, by doing this, this leads to this consequence; by not doing this, this leads to this consequence. So, sharing the virtues, making it a point, if it makes sense within your group, within your friends circle, within whoever you're living with, whether it's your roommates, if they're open and conducive to it, whether it's your family members, if they're open and conducive to it.

Maybe you start a sort of morning ritual, right, where you come together and you say, let's take the precepts together. How uplifted would you be? How uplifted would your family be? How uplifted would your group of friends be? And what else does that do that makes you all accountable to each other? Again, a Bhikkhu dwells both in public and in private, possessing in common with his companions in the holy life that view that is noble and emancipating and leads one who practices in accordance with it to the complete destruction of suffering.

And how does this view that is noble and emancipating lead the one who practices in accordance with it to the complete destruction of suffering? So what are we talking about when we say this view? We're referring to right view, so that right view is established in one's mind, which is noble. When we say noble, what does that mean? A mind that is noble. The word noble comes from the Pali word Arya, or Aryan. It doesn't have to do anything with the Nazis, right? The original word Aryan meant one who is noble, one who is civilized, one who is civil.

So when we talk about being noble in this holy life, we're talking about somebody becoming an Arya Savaka, a noble disciple. And how do you become a noble disciple? You enter the stream. You establish in your mind right view. First and foremost, you have the mundane right view, which we talked about earlier, which is the view of understanding action and consequence, that there is meaning in giving and generosity. There is meaning in what is given and taken and offered, that there is mother and father, that there is this world and the other, that there are teachers who can profess this Dhamma, and so on. Once you go through this path and you walk it, right, you go through keeping the precepts.

That's the first part: keeping the precepts, maintaining and making the commitment to keep those precepts. And then you let go of all kinds of hindrances and experience the jhanas. Now what are you doing? You're walking the Eightfold Path that's going to lead to the cessation of suffering. And then you go through that process of experiencing faith and experiential conviction that takes you to gladness. That gladness takes you to the joy of the first and second jhana. Then from there you experience tranquility. From that tranquility comes the sukha, the happiness of the second and third jhana. From that tranquility the mind becomes collected. From that collectedness, the mind becomes equanimous, sees things as they actually are. From that equanimity, the mind becomes disenchanted, becomes uninterested in all the formations that are arising.

From that disenchantment comes dispassion, where the mind remains unaffected by anything that is coming into the mind's view. From that dispassion, the mind inclines to cessation, experiences liberation, and the knowledge of liberation. That first degree of liberation is entering the stream. And now what is established is super mundane right view. What is that super mundane right view? That super mundane right view is the view of the Four Noble Truths. You understand that there is suffering in this existence. There is dukkha. You understand that the causes and conditions for that dukkha are craving, aversion, ignorance, and wrong view.

You let go of that to experience the realization of nibbana, to experience the realization of the cessation of those causes and conditions for suffering and therefore the cessation of suffering. And you do that by having walked the path yourself. So you have established that super-mundane right view. And now that view is said to be emancipated, is said to be noble. You have become a noble disciple of the Buddha as a stream-enterer. Because you've let go of three things. You've let go of any belief in a personal self. You understand how things arise due to causes and conditions. You've let go of any kind of doubts in the path, in the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha.

And you let go of any clinging to rites and rituals with the idea that they will take you to Nibbana. By dropping these fetters, you experience immense relief. And now you have entered the stream. And when you have that experience again, you have the fruition and you become a stream-enterer. Here a bhikkhu gone to the forest or to the root of a tree or to an empty hut considers thus: is there any obsession unabandoned in myself that might so obsess my mind that I cannot know or see things as they actually are? If a bhikkhu is obsessed by sensual lust, then his mind is obsessed. If he is obsessed by ill will, then his mind is obsessed.

If he is obsessed by sloth and torpor, then his mind is obsessed. If he is obsessed by restlessness and remorse, then his mind is obsessed. If he is obsessed by doubt, then his mind is obsessed. If a bhikkhu is absorbed in speculation about this world, then his mind is obsessed. If a bhikkhu is absorbed in speculation about the other world, then his mind is obsessed. If a bhikkhu takes to quarreling and brawling and is deep in dispute, stabbing others with verbal daggers, then his mind is obsessed.

So that's the first thing you see. Are there any hindrances present in my mind? Is there any sensual craving in my mind? Is there any aversion in my mind? Is there any doubt in my mind? Is there any sloth and torpor? Is there any restlessness? Are there too many speculations about this or that in my mind? And how do you let them go? If there are, the 6R's. That's what you've been doing these past nine days, the 6R's, letting go. Now you know, you have the tools, you have the toolkit to be able to see: is my mind obsessed with any of these hindrances?

And you can let them go. And when you let them go, you find relief, you experience relief. And your mind is replaced with wholesome conditions instead of unwholesome states. Your mind is replacing the ill will with loving kindness. It's replacing any agitation with equanimity. It's replacing all unwholesome states with any of the brahmaviharas, or just having a mind that is free from any of these hindrances, and knowing that it is free from any of these hindrances in itself, is a wholesome state of mind.

He understands thus: there is no obsession unabandoned in myself that might so obsess my mind that I cannot know and see things as they actually are. Very important to understand this. These hindrances are filters to reality. How you experience the world around you is conditioned by these hindrances. Conditioned by the fetters. Conditioned by the defilements in your consciousness.

And as you start to let go of them, and as you start to experience relief from them, then you see things as they actually are. Instead of immediately reacting to a person who says something to you that's untoward, right? And then your mind is defiled by that aggravation and you have ill will. Instead of that happening, instead of acting upon that or having reactivity to that, if you only take a pause, just a moment or two moments' pause, to recognize that, to release it, to relax, to re-smile, to come back.

Then your reactions will not be reactions. They will be responses. Responses that are rooted in wisdom and in compassion. And so instead of fighting hate with hate, you resolve hate with love. That is what the Buddha has said. Hatred cannot be conquered or overcome by hatred. Hatred is dissolved through love. This is the law of existence. So this is how you deal with situations.

When you find yourself in difficult situations, which start to invoke unwholesome states of mind, you know what their polar opposite is, which is a wholesome state. And you know by reacting to situations with that wholesome state of mind, all you're doing is digging deeper and deeper into those wholesome states of mind. So why do that? Why not just let that go and exercise the ability to replace it with wholesome states, and see how everything changes for you, see how the world changes around you. My mind is well disposed for awakening to the truths, the four noble truths. This is the first knowledge attained by him that is noble, super mundane, not shared by ordinary people, one who is a Shri mentor.

And a noble disciple considers thus: when I pursue, develop, and cultivate this view, do I personally obtain serenity? Do I personally obtain quenching? So in other words, when you have come to that experience, now where is your mind? Is your mind primarily feeling tranquility, or is there agitation? Is there restlessness? Is your mind experiencing what they call samatha? Is your mind experiencing serenity? Is your mind experiencing collectedness, or is your attention scattered?

Is your mind filled with craving, or is your mind free of craving? Is it quenched? He understands thus: when I pursue, develop and cultivate this view, I personally obtain serenity. I personally obtain quenching. This is the second knowledge attained by him that is noble, super mundane, not shared by ordinary people. Again, a noble disciple considers thus: is there any other recluse or brahmin outside the Buddha's dispensation possessed of a view such as I possess? You will notice that that's not the case, unless obviously you share that view with somebody who practices Buddhism. What is the unique feature of the Dhamma? What is the one thing about the Dhamma that separates itself from other philosophies or views?

Now, other views, other philosophies, other traditions share a lot with the Dhamma. They have an emphasis on being kind. They have an emphasis on being loving. They have an emphasis on being compassionate. They have an emphasis on being generous. They have an emphasis on being forgiving. They have an emphasis on letting go. But with the Dhamma, you let go completely, to the point that you don't identify with anything at all.

You don't even identify with any concepts of the Dhamma. In other words, you even in the Dhamma let go of the Dhamma itself. And that's what separates it, because there's no attachment to views. I was mentioning earlier about Majjhima Nikaya 74, the Dighanaka Sutta. Dighanaka was Sariputta's, either his cousin or his nephew, and in either case, he was of the eel wrigglers, he was of the skeptics, of which Sariputta and Moggallana used to be part of before they joined the Buddha's dispensation.

And he told the Buddha, "I hold no views. I am unattached to all views." And the Buddha said, "That's wonderful. That's great. But are you attached to the view that you hold no views?" See the subtlety of that. And in giving a discourse, Sariputta realized that the Buddha doesn't even have any attachment to his own dhamma. And that is what distinguishes the Buddha dhamma from other dhammas, from other teachings. That there's not even any attachment to the views of the teachings.

There's no attachment to the teachings themselves. They're seen as tools to get you to your goal, which is Nibbana. But you don't identify with those tools. You don't create a self around the Dhamma. You let go of that. He understands thus: there is no other recluse or brahmin outside the Buddha's dispensation possessed of a view such as I possess. This is the third knowledge attained by him that is noble, super mundane, not shared by ordinary people.

Again, a noble disciple considers thus: do I possess the character of a person who possesses right view? What is the character of a person who possesses right view? Although he may commit some kind of offense for which a means of rehabilitation has been laid down, still, he at once confesses, reveals, and discloses it to the teacher or to wise companions in the holy life. And having done that, he enters upon restraint for the future. Just as a young, tender infant lying prone at once draws back when he puts his hand or foot on a live coal, so too that is the character of a person who possesses right view. What does this mean exactly? It means that because you have right view, you have a strong moral compass.

And so if your mind inclines towards wanting to break a precept, the mind says, I should not be doing that. Or if you do break a precept, you feel terrible about it. So what do you do in those circumstances if you break a precept? Go to the statue of a Buddha and confess, and then retake the precepts. If that's not possible just in that moment, let go, the 6R's. Retake the precepts with the commitment that you will not break that precept again. The fact that that is there is indicative of good character. In other words, the fact that you are feeling terrible about breaking a precept and wanting to rehabilitate that shows that you possess right view, shows that you have a good moral compass.

That only happens through possessing right view. You will see, as you get out into the world, that once you've entered the stream, you are pretty nitpicky also about the precepts. And if a question arises in your mind, am I breaking this precept, or have I broken this precept, then the fact that that question arises means that that is a possibility that you are breaking that precept. So think, what are you doing, what have you done, or what is in the process of happening that might lead to you breaking a precept, and being able to let that go and commit to keeping those precepts. He understands thus: I possess the character of a person who possesses right view.

So what does this mean? It means that even if you are busy with doing things in your life, whether it's your job, chores, whatever is going on, your mind is still dedicated to the practice. You're noticing, is my mind free of hindrances? Am I radiating loving kindness? Is my mind filled with equanimity? The wonderful thing about what you've done now is that you can imbue loving-kindness wherever you go. And as you imbue loving-kindness, your mind gets into a jhanic state. There's a series of suttas called the finger-snap suttas. If one possesses even a finger-snap length of loving-kindness, that mind is not devoid of jhana. In other words, the factors of jhana start to come together because the mind starts to become collected and eventually, very quickly, starts to experience jhana.

That's why you can experience jhana even while walking. This is known as celestial walking. Your mind is in a jhanic state. You could be celestially driving. Your mind can be in a jhanic state while you're driving. You could be in a celestial shower. You could be in a jhana while you're in the shower. You could be celestially eating. Your mind can be in a jhana while eating. And the reason is because you are committed to continuing to maintain the practice, whatever it is that you're doing. Whatever chores, responsibilities, tasks that you have to do, you can do them imbued with loving-kindness, imbued with equanimity, imbued with joy, imbued with compassion. And so he goes into the training in the higher virtue, in the higher mind, in the higher wisdom.

What this is referring to when he talks about higher virtue is maintaining the precepts. What he talks about when he says the higher mind, keep going with practicing the jhanas. What does he mean when he talks about the higher wisdom? Start to see everything as an impersonal process so that you can start to notice everything arising due to causes and conditions and being dependently arisen so that you can let go of craving, of any clinging, of any becoming.

This is the strength of a person who possesses right view. When the Dhamma and discipline proclaimed by the Tathagata is being taught, he heeds it, gives it attention, engages it with all his mind. Hears the Dhamma with eager ears. Now you've been introduced to the Dhamma in different ways. When you possess right view, your mind feels happy and elated and uplifted in listening to the Dhamma. You look forward to listening to Dhamma talks. You look forward to reading the Suttas. Before, maybe when you were reading the Suttas, they looked like hieroglyphs. There were all these encoded words in there. What does that mean when he says this?

It's always really funny. I was talking to Venerable Metananda last year about this. And it's so funny, the language we use amongst each other as meditators. If somebody, a bystander, an outsider, was listening and saying, and listening to somebody saying, Today I was in nothingness. And another person says, Yeah, and I got to neither perception nor non-perception.

What the heck are you talking about? But you enjoy that. You enjoy discussing the Dhamma with each other. You enjoy listening to the Dhamma. You enjoy going back to reading the Suttas and now your mind is engaged in a way that allows you to decode what the Buddha is talking about in the Suttas. He understands I possess the strength of a person who possesses right view. This is the sixth knowledge attained by him that is noble, super mundane, not shared by ordinary people. Again, a noble disciple considers thus, Do I possess the strength of a person who possesses right view? What is the strength of a person who possesses right view? This is the strength of a person who possesses right view.

When the Dhamma and discipline proclaimed by the Tathagata is being taught, he gains inspiration in the meaning, gains inspiration in the Dhamma, gains gladness connected with the Dhamma. Exactly what I've said. When you listen to a Dhamma talk, when you read the sutta, your mind becomes uplifted. Your mind feels happy. Your mind feels elated. Your mind is calm and collected. And from that, you experience a mind where you can go with and become even further collected using the links of transcendental dependent origination. From that gladness in the Dhamma, you experience joy. From that joy, you experience tranquility. From that tranquility, you experience comfort. From that comfort, you experience equanimity, collectedness. From that collectiveness, you experience equanimity.

And from that equanimity, you experience disenchantment, dispassion and then cessation. But it all starts with doing these things, maintaining what you've been doing all this time during the retreat. And it will be tough. It will be tough, because now you will be bombarded by all kinds of experiences. Here you are, here you have been at Dhamasuka on a silent retreat. For the most part, some of you chitter-chatter all the time, but for the most part you've been silent. And you haven't had your cell phones at all. And hopefully some of you don't have second cell phones that you're secretly keeping with them. Because I've seen that happen too. And you'll notice that now, in these 10 days where you've had silence and you've had peace, it's so easy for you to experience jhana.

It's so easy for you to experience all of the wonderful qualities that we've been discussing these eight or nine days. But as soon as you turn on your cell phone, what happens? All of these ding-ding-dings come up, right? All of these notifications and immediately your mind goes there and now you're getting into the world. What's your reaction to that? How do you respond to those things? That's just a little taste, a little preview of what the world has to offer. But now you have the tool set. Now you have the ability to use what you have learned here and notice your reactions and start reconditioning them from reactions rooted in ignorance, craving, and conceit to responses rooted in wisdom, compassion, and letting go.

So the real work begins tomorrow. The real work begins tomorrow, where you're going to be met with all kinds of situations. So be ready, guys. He understands thus, I possess the strength of a person who possesses right view. This is the seventh knowledge attained by him that is noble, super mundane, not shared by ordinary people. When a noble disciple is thus possessed of seven factors, he has well sought the character for realization of the fruit of stream-entry. When a noble disciple is thus possessed of seven factors, he possesses the fruit of stream-entry. That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One's words.

Any last questions? Yeah. So a lot of us are here because of the interviews you've done on podcasts, and you've shared just incredible stuff about Naroda and past lives and all kinds of things. What do you think about talking about payments? Is there, like, a danger in sharing these experiences, and does it depend on the person, or is it just an outdated thing that, because people do benefit from it, but I know in this tradition there's a lot of reservation about talking about certain things. Yeah, I mean, the interviews I've done, I've tried my best to be very,

very simple about what I talk about, very direct and very simple about it. Absolutely, if you feel like you want to share your experiences with people, when you come back. Maybe your family members will ask, how did the retreat go? What did you experience? Be happy and open to share what happened. Maybe their minds will be uplifted by that, and maybe they'll want to know more. And you have the tools. You know how to do it, so you can actually say, hey, would you be interested in doing a guided meditation together? Let's meditate together, see how that goes. So I think it's wonderful to talk about the Dhamma, talk about your experiences. So the intention is important.

Why are you talking about your experiences? Is the intention to do a brag or is it to uplift others? It always starts from there. Yeah? At this time of the Buddha, were there people who, if there were pre-mentors or arahats, were there just fighting? A lot of people were like, "Nobits to be used." Anagamis and arahants would not be fighting. Sotapannas and sakadagamis could have been fighting. Because they still have aversion, they still have a craving to deal with. But anagamis and arahants would not be fighting.

Yeah, and kind of with, and kind of with. No, no, that's not the answer, but I'm just saying, just as culturally, some people are, so that, and then also, what about, so you choose not to drink or whatever, but you're with people who do, and you have a gathering, and part of offering your place, and your food, and your drinks, what do you have to say about offering alcohol as a choice? I've been getting a lot of questions today. I don't know what's up with you guys, but I've been getting a lot of questions about alcohol today. Wow, we're in America. I know, I know. It's even worse in Europe, I hear.

But what I would say about that is, yes, make a commitment to keep all five precepts. It's so funny, I was listening to Manu Obasa, and she was telling me, I think it was in Japan or somewhere. Oh, Sweden. Where the teacher there said, "Okay, we'll keep four precepts." But you have to understand the context behind what the fifth precept is all about. Now, look, you will slip up and you might want to have that glass of wine or whatever it is, but you will know the consequences of that for yourself. You'll notice how your meditation goes when you drink a glass of wine as opposed to when you don't drink a glass of wine. You'll know the quality of your practice, you'll know the quality of that. So it's not an attachment to precepts. The way I look at precepts, they're basically habits that you start to inculcate in your life.

So don't look at them as, you know, like the Ten Commandments or something. They're more like this. They are, they are non-negotiable if you want to go on the path to Nibbana. When there's no attachment to them, you start to imbibe these habits. You start to cultivate and condition these habits as best as you can, and you'll have slip-ups, and that's okay. The key is to say, all right, I'm going to make a commitment not to do that again. I'm going to make a commitment to try to do better next time. That's all. There's no need to let the mind go into a phase of guilt and beat yourself up about it. If that happens, then you need forgiveness practice, and let that go, and then come back.

So the precepts are not sort of these things that are supposed to make you feel guilty or feel obligated to do so. The precepts are supposed to be liberating. You are actually separating yourself from others by keeping the precepts. No judgment on others. That doesn't matter. I'm just saying that you've made a choice to have a certain kind of lifestyle that might not be the lifestyle of the majority of people around you. And that separates you in a certain way. And as I've said and as I've attested, when you keep the five precepts, there's a level of spiritual dynamism that you have.

There's a level of spiritual energy that you possess. In fact, I would say keeping these precepts has a direct effect on the development of psychic faculties as well. This is shared by ancient Indian practices as well. For example, by keeping the precept of not using false speech and always telling the truth, or refraining from saying anything that you know to be untrue, for an extended period of time, you know what happens?

When you say something, it comes out to be true. This is known as Vak Siddhi, the power of voice, where you maintain truth all the time that what you want manifests when you speak it. Again, I can attest to that as well. There's so many, so many examples of that, but these precepts have power within them in that sense. Maintaining these precepts will give you a certain level of spiritual energy, and ultimately can lead to the development of certain faculties.

So see it in that way, that it liberates the mind. I have an offering. Can I go ahead? Well, can I add to that? Because we have people who go off and they think precepts are really not that important, especially the drinking one. And they come back to their retreat and they don't live so well. There was a particular couple in California.

They would go to leave the retreat, go back to drinking more wine, maybe a little passing, just go back to the usual way. Go to the retreat again. Restlessness, sleepy until maybe the last day of the retreat, didn't really get anything done. Finally, it was like, okay, all right, we'll follow all the precepts, and next retreat, they went through. They were successful. And when I look at home and they say, "What happened to Spaghetti? Just have some wine." "No, it's okay. My health is a lot better, and I also just don't drink."

Now, are people that don't drink bad people or people that drink good people? No. No, actually people will respect you. They'll go, you're not drinking, you're not. Wow, I couldn't do that. It's the power of peer pressure. It's intense. You'll be ridiculed. But gradually around you, everybody will stop drinking and you'll find some new friends. Now here I am. And as for offering alcohol to others, because you're inducing others to break the precept of consuming alcohol or consuming intoxicants, so not only do you keep the precepts, but you try your best so that you don't induce others to break their precepts. For example, gossip, right? When you hear gossip, what do you do? Don't say anything. Let that gossip end right there and then, or

what's even more fun to do is, there's somebody gossiping about another person and they say, did you hear what he said, and did you hear this happened, and this happened, and then you just say, but I heard something great about this person. Just see how all the other people feel there. And just today, I think, or yesterday, one of the practitioners here told me a story about their grandfather.

And if I remember correctly, what he said was, when there would be gossip about a person, the grandfather would say to that person, "But they've always said nice things about you." So don't induce others to break their precepts. How do you define harsh language? So there's abusive language and there's harsh language. And abusive language, I would say, is very similar to harsh language, in that both, the intention is to harm someone. And some harsh language can be just language that is using certain words that are just grating to the ears. I mean, you have all of the different, as George Carlin would say, all the seven bad words.

And also the intention behind what it is you're saying, right? That's what I talk about. Think the intention. Is it wholesome or unwholesome? Can you speak in a way that doesn't cause fear in another person? Can you speak in a way that doesn't cause anger in another person? Can you speak in a way that doesn't cause discomfort in a person? Harsh language is basically anything that creates discomfort in a person's ears. Not to get too so popular in the weeds, but regarding the precept of not harming, is there some kind of complexity in the calculus of self-defense or certain instances where Yes, because it all starts with intention.

Self-defense doesn't mean that you're harming another person. What it means is, for example, think about it this way. Somebody tries to attack you, you try to defend yourself in whatever way you can. But the intention is not to harm the other person. The intention is to evade the attack. The intention is to defend yourself. Right? And plus, think of it this way, when you are defending yourself from somebody's attack, you're also, in some sense, helping them from breaking the precept of harming.

Any other questions? So... It was really just for me. But I'm a full-time musician. I'm often in very, very loud places of locked alcohol. Is there some kind of preparation or practice that helps to preserve a quiet mind on top of just regular meditation? Can you elaborate? I don't know. In some traditions I hear people talk about there are things that they will do to preserve their energy when they know they're going to be around people with bad words. I'm wondering if there is something similar to this kind of situation, or do I just have Well, not only quieting your mind, but those are opportunities to spread loving-kindness.

That's a big one. Actually what people don't realize is loving-kindness is actually a shield. When you have, when you radiate loving-kindness and you create a bubble of loving-kindness around you, there's actually a shield against anything that might affect your mindset, anything that might affect your energy. So that's a good defense, let's say. Maybe you can answer this fast, but what's the path to actually being mindful and aware all the time? Is that even possible? Yes.

It's the six hours. you six are until you don't have anything to six are six are until you don't have to six are that's really it because you think about it from the context of the eightfold path right even the eightfold path has dependencies in other words right intention is dependent upon right view Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood are dependent upon Right Intention. Having Right Effort is dependent upon the other four, the previous four. And Right Mindfulness is dependent upon Right Effort. So what is Right Effort? Six R's. And during the day, would you say that you have to calibrate how much energy or effort you're putting into the Mindfulness, depending on the situation?

So the way to look at it is when you notice any time that there's a certain level of craving, you six R's, and there will be a certain intensity to it. It might come back up again, and you just keep doing it. So it's not like you relax really hard, right? It's just you do it over and over until it goes away. And then you're just in the flow of the natural awareness. Yes. Yes.

And you have what's known as... So you have Sati, which is the mindfulness, and you have Sampajanna. So Sati is remembering to observe how your mind's attention moves from one place to the other, right? But Sampajanna is knowing what you're doing in that moment. So presence of mind, of knowing that you're six hour, knowing there is no longer present craving, knowing when you're walking, you're walking, knowing when you're sitting, you're sitting, and so on and so forth. So, abiding in voidness, this is an experience of seeing all conditioned things as being empty of self.

And so the mind experiences emptiness. So emptiness is the perception of anatta, the perception of not-self. And so what happens is when you're in that experience, whatever it is you're doing, there's no central focal point, there's no core essence that's doing it. So that's what is meant by in the Bahiya Sutta. In the seeing, there's only the seen. In the hearing, there's only the heard. In the sensing, there's only the sense. In the cognizing, there's only the cognized. Meaning whatever's happening is just happening. There's no doership there. It's just a series of causes and conditions that are occurring for that process to happen. And so that is the practical experience of abiding in voidness. Is that the most more experience of full awakening? Maybe. And that is that silence, silence awareness.

Delighted and satisfied. Let's share some air. 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. So was there anybody that got off or was done there yet? Okay. One, two, one. All right, I guess it's time for the pictures. - There's one more.