BF Vesak 2020: Challenges in the New Decade by Ajahn Brahmali

Ajahn Brahmali offers a Dhamma talk to the Buddhist Fellowship of Singapore for Vesak 2020 via Zoom

Okay, hello everyone at the
Buddhist Fellowship.

This is Ajahn Brahmali from Perth,
sitting at the Jhana Grove retreat center

and wishing you all a happy Vesak
in Singapore. And I hope things are not

too difficult in Singapore,
and thinking the whole world now things

are a bit difficult. But I hope we can
have an enjoyable Vesak despite all the

restrictions and the lockdowns and all
the problems that you have.

In one sense, if you are a Buddhist,
you are, in a sense I suppose,

a bit primed for the idea of solitude
and staying by yourself.

It's a good time to be a Buddhist,
because we are, I suppose, more used

to these ideas than many other people.
So hope you can enjoy the peace

and the quiet and make use of that.
It's a very good time at the monastery

right now because things are very quiet
and peaceful. So we are certainly having

a very happy Vesak period over here,
that's for sure. So I have been asked

by the BF to give a talk on the
challenges in the coming decade.

And it's a good time to give such a talk.

We have just started
the present decade. And you could argue

we haven't started it in a very good way.
It's been a pretty bad start to a decade,

not only for the entire world, basically
the whole world is kind of having

to bear the brunt of this coronavirus,
and the difficulties that come with that.

So, in some ways it looks like a
bad start.

But sometimes you wonder
perhaps that start

isn't as bad as sometimes
it is made out to be.

Yes, there is suffering, but maybe
there are also some positive things

that come out of these kinds of
situations.

So I want to talk about the challenges
of the coming decade,

and of course the first question
that often arises

when we talk about the challenges,
or we talk about the future.

Because this is really talking about
the future, is how useful is it to talk

about the future anyway. Is it something
that we really should be doing?

And it always reminds me when I talk
about the future. Reminds me of the

famous story with Ajahn Chah.
Ajahn Chah of course, was Ajahn Brahm’s

teacher in Thailand. Ajahn Chah was
one of the greatest saints in Thailand

in the 20th century, and an astonishing,
an amazing character he was.

And one of the stories was a day when he
was visited by one of the local villagers.

And the local villager was very concerned
about the future, he wanted to find out

about his future. And he realized that
Ajahn Chah had a tremendous reputation

for psychic powers and for all kinds
of things. And so he wanted to ask

Ajahn Chah whether he could say something
about his future. So he goes to Ajahn Chah

and he says “oh Luang Por, Luang Por,
please I'm worried about the future,

can you please foretell my future”.
And Ajahn Chah looks at him, and you know,

these very powerful people like monks,
or sometimes anyone really,

what they can be like when they look
at you. They can be very powerful look

as if they can see straight through
you or something like that.

And he looks at this man and he kind of
looks at him, stared at him and said

“Yes I can tell your future”.
“Please, please, please,

please tell my future,
I am really desperate to know my future”.

“Okay I'm now looking at you,
I'm reading your mind”.

And Ajahn Chah really kind of makes
this strong effort to pretend

that he's trying to understand
this man's future in a powerful way.

And this man gets more and more, kind of,
desperate to hear about his future.

And one of the kind of nice things,
about teachers like Ajahn Chah,

or any powerful person.
Often they can be quite theatrical,

they can make something out of
a very simple situation to make

the Dhamma sinks in a deeper way.

If you make a bit of theater
out of things,

if you make a bit of, you know,
if you know how to create

suspense in a sense, and a bit of
tension in that situation.

And very often the Dhamma message becomes
much more powerful because of that.

Yeah, you know what I mean,
how some people are very good

at creating that suspense. So Ajahn Chah
sort of looks at him, yeah

“Okay I'm trying to see your future”.
“Please, please, please tell me my future”.

And then Ajahn Chah says to him
“Your future is…”

“Yes, yes, what is it?”
“Your future is uncertain”

And that's all he says.
Your future is uncertain.

And the man, of course,
was probably a bit disappointed,

that's not exactly what he wanted
to hear. This man wanted to hear

something more profound,
he wanted to hear something about

his life, he wanted to hear
something about what he needed to do,

how he was gonna live his life
to avoid problems.

He wanted to understand more about the
happiness and suffering of his own life.

And all that Ajahn Chah says is
that the future is uncertain.

Why did Ajahn Chah do that?
And there are many reasons,

one of them is that, you know, you cannot
go around telling the future of everybody.

And I don't know if it is even possible
to tell the future in that way.

If you read the suttas and you see what
the Buddha has to say about these things.

The Buddha never talks about the future,
he never really says anything about,

people and where they're gonna
be, and what's going to happen to them,

and all that kind of stuff.
And so this is probably one reason,

it may not be possible really to predict
people's future, because the future

is so incredibly complex, with so many
cause and conditions going into it.

It's very hard to really make it all gel,
and come out as a predictive thing

as one thing actually going to happen.
But I think the other thing,

the other reason why Ajahn Chah did this,
is that very often, thinking about

the future is a waste of time.
Yeah, the future is so unpredictable,

and so uncertain. We never actually
know where it's gonna go.

The number of cause and conditions
going into it are so complex

that even trying to find out about
the future actually very often

amounts to no more than guesswork.
Because it is guesswork,

and because it is problematic,
because it doesn't really work out.

Sometimes it is more powerful
just to remember some of those

profound teachings of the Buddha,
like impermanence, like uncertainty,

like unreliability. Much more important
to remember the overall framework,

rather than to try to specify
a specific future which is relevant

for you as a person. And I think this is
the main substance of Ajahn Chah teaching

in this particular case.
Remember the Dhamma, the Dhamma is

what is going to take you forward.
Forget about the specifics of life

because they are not,
they're not actually matter so much.

So very interesting the way
Ajahn Chah does this,

and I think it was a very
powerful lesson,

hopefully for that man.

And hopefully it showed him
something about how to live your life,

how to think about life, and how
to avoid the pitfalls of our existence.

And when we talk about the future
in the next decade.

The challenges that come for Buddhism,
or for ourselves personally

over the next few years.
It is important to remember this,

that we should be careful
how we think about the future.

It is not necessarily wrong to think
about the future all together.

Sometimes in the sutta, the Buddha
talks about the future,

not in a specific way,
which I just said before,

he never talks about the future
in a specific way.

But he talks about the future
in a more general sense.

And you may recall, perhaps, that in the
Mahaparinibbana Sutta, the Buddha gives

the monastics and everyone a teaching on
what will support Buddhism for the future.

He talks about the seven things that
will support Buddhism in the future.

So he does give guidance
about the future, but it's in terms

of very general teachings rather than
specifics about what's going to

happen to people. So there is a right way
of talking about the future, and there is

a wrong way of talking about the future.
And the wrong way of thinking

about the future is when we think
about the future based on fear.

And a large part of what people do
when they want to know about the future,

when they want to control the environment
around them, or control their lives.

And this is exactly what happened
to this man, when he came to Ajahn Chah,

coming to Ajahn Chah,
basically he was coming from fear.

He was concerned about his life,
something was perhaps not going right,

he was worried about who knows what.
But you know, there are so many things

that can go wrong in life,
so he was worrying

about some of those things.
And it was coming from fear.

And that is the wrong way
of thinking about the future.

So Ajahn Chah then, instead, gave him
this general Dhamma teaching instead.

So fear is the problem,
yeah and in these times,

when there is such a massive problem
in the world with a corona virus

going around, there is of course,
a lot of fear, that is to be expected

when things are going wrong
in the world,

or apparently going wrong,
you can expect people to be frightened.

And of course people are frightened,
and anxious for all sorts of reasons.

And people don't want to get sick,
people don't want to die,

even though their chances of dying
from this coronavirus is very small.

Still people are obviously
afraid of death,

especially if you are in one
of the vulnerable groups,

then there, you know,
maybe there is a little bit more chance

that you will die in those circumstances.
But there's all kinds

of other things as well. A lot of people
are feeling the psychological

challenges of staying by themselves
around the world, when you have a

complete lockdown with your family,
and you're forced to stay with people

all the time, and many people find it
very very challenging.

And hopefully some of you, if you have
a little bit of meditation practice.

Hopefully that will help you
to enjoy the solitude and the isolation

a little bit when you have
to stay back home. Hopefully you can

make better use of that time,
because of that little bit of training

in how to deal with the quiet,
deal with the, you know,

the staying by yourself.
For some of you, it may still be hard.

But hopefully for some of you
it will be useful.

But a lot of anxiety in the world
because of that. And then of course,

you have the economic situation.
And people are talking about the,

you know, problems for the economy,
the world economy,

also the private economies of people.
People’s saying all kinds of economic

consequences also coming
from the coronavirus.

So there's a lot to focus on, many things
that can potentially go wrong,

many things in life that,
you know, may turn out bad.

And all of that, when you look at
all of those things,

what does it come down to?
Well, it comes down to fear,

it comes about the uncertainty
of the future, it comes down to

being anxious about life,
and all the bad things

that can and may go wrong in the future.
So from a Buddhist point of view,

and this is what is so interesting
about Buddhism, is that our future

is not really determined
by things like the coronavirus.

The corona virus is just one more kind
of suffering that we have to go through,

it's a big suffering,
it affects a lot of people

and for that reason it's a,
you know, big things around the world.

But still it is only one of those things
that arises and then passes away again.

It's only a temporary problem and
eventually it will be gone.

So in Buddhism, there is something else
that is far more important for our future,

than whether there is
a coronavirus or not.

Whether there is some temporary
suffering happening in our lives.

And that bigger picture,
of course, is how we are as human beings.

Yeah, whether we live well or not,
whether we have kind hearts or not,

whether we are compassionate
and caring to the world around us.

That is what really matters,
and this is what we should be focusing on.

Because if we are kind, if we are caring,
if we are wise and how we live our lives,

that is what is going
to give rise to a good future.

So sometimes as human beings,
it is kind of astonishing how we focus

on things in the wrong way.
We fear the coronavirus.

A lot of people fear the coronavirus,
but they don't fear the idea of

living in a bad way.
A lot of people may live in a bad way,

they don't fear that,
but they fear the coronavirus.

Actually the Buddhist approach is
the other way around.

What we should really fear is
living our lives in a bad way,

not having the kindness and
the compassion and the care, not having

all these good qualities.
That is what we should fear,

whereas the coronavirus is just a blip,
it's just a small spike

on the graph of our life, going bad
for a while then it comes down again.

That is not really where the problem
lies. And when we think about life

in that way, then actually,
the surprising thing is that

the coronavirus has a massive
silver lining, yeah, the cloud of

the coronavirus actually has a very
large silver lining around it.

In fact, arguably, you could argue
that the entire cloud is silver,

the lining is what is gray, and the
main part of the cloud is actually silver.

Why is that?
Why is it that the coronavirus

actually is such a positive thing?
And one reason for that,

and this is something that you can read
in the news around the world,

is that sometimes these difficult times,
often brings out

the very best in people. Yeah, have you
noticed how people's kindness often

comes out in times of difficulty,
you see that around the world

with people supporting each other,
with people doing errands for the

old people, and helping the old
people out. Because they are often

the ones that are worst affected
by these big problems, these pandemics.

You see the goodness coming out
of people are clapping for the NHS,

the National Health Service in England.
You see the goodness coming out

when people are coming out on
the verandas in Italy and supporting

each other and having a laugh together.
And also, you see it right here at

Bodhinyana monastery in Perth.
One of the remarkable things is that

every day in our monastery here,
we are getting enormous amount of

support from the people in Perth.
Every day we have a large number

of people, driving all the way
from Perth, coming to our monastery.

And these days, when you come
to our monastery you can't

really stop, you can't chat to anyone,
you can't enter any building,

you can't listen to Ajahn Brahm’s
jokes or anything like that.

There's no time for any jokes.
I think many people come to the

monastery just to have a good time,
to listen to Ajahn Brahm tell some

of his stories, and just mess around
a little bit, and have a good time.

And then of course, when you
go back home, you feel much more

light and happy afterwards.
Because you've been in the presence of

someone with a light and
bright heart, and that lightens up

your life as well when you are
in the presence of people like that.

And, but there's nothing of that now.
When you come to the monastery now.

You come to the monastery,
you drop off your food yeah,

you can't even go inside the
buildings, you drop it off outside.

There will be a monk there,
usually Ajahn Brahm,

he will give you a quick blessing,
and then you go back into your car,

and you drive all the way back to Perth,
another hour, for some people

more than an hour back to Perth again.
And people do this, and people do this

in quite substantial numbers.
I think in some ways we're getting

more support now during the
coronavirus than we get outside,

when it is normal time, when you
can come and chat to your friends,

and you can come and listen to
Ajahn Brahm, and you can have a chat

to the monks if you want as well.
Yeah, in normal times when everything

is open, there's probably less people
coming to the monastery. And it's such

a wonderful thing the kind of
support we are getting.

Large amount of food coming in,
people are even donating more

online to support the monastery,
in case we haven't got enough to,

you know, being donated at least
we have some backup money, finances,

we can send maybe one of the anagarika
even go shopping if really required.

So lots of kindness coming out
of the coronavirus situation,

and what a marvelous thing that is.
And when I also look at the world

and I see all the people
suffering, it is very hard

not to feel compassion for the world.
Yeah people suffering so much,

not really understanding, not
understanding this is the nature

of existence, not knowing how to deal
with these things,

not having a spiritual path
that takes you out of these problems.

Being deluded, being in darkness.
How can you not have compassion

for the world in times like this.
So the beautiful thing about this

is that it tends to bring out
the best qualities in people.

And especially for us who are Buddhist
and practice in the Buddhist way.

It's a massive opportunity to allow
the good qualities to come out,

and for us to become better people
as a consequence. And of course,

the paradox is that if the coronavirus
does make us into better people,

then our future also becomes better,
our future becomes more bright,

and then there is even less reason
for being fearful and anxious

about the future. Because all
the things that really matter

for the future are built up,
and they are built up

in part because of the coronavirus.
So isn't that kind of astonishing,

from looking at the world in that way,
you're turning the coronavirus

from being something terrible and nasty,
and you're turning it into something

that has a very large component of
something positive going on with it.

The coronavirus can often have
very positive effect in our lives,

and what a marvelous thing that is.
And it is, I think this is

a general truth of our existence,
that when we have difficulties

and problems in life, very often
it brings out the best in people.

And this is something to think about,
yeah, we're always fearful about

the difficulties and problems,
but sometimes we should be

more fearful of the times when
there are no problems in the world.

Because that can make us complacent,
they can make us deluded when

there are no problems. We forget
about the nature of reality.

But when there are problems,
actually it can be very powerful.

And I will give you another example
of this. And this was many years ago,

I read a book. This must be now
probably thirty years ago.

Maybe more than thirty years ago,
I read a book about human happiness.

It was called
“human beings and happiness”

and this book was written
by a man in 1945. 1945 was just

after the Second World War had ended,
yeah, and this man, he was reflecting on

the Second World War and reflecting
on happiness in conjunction

with the Second World War.
So very interesting in many ways.

Of course, if you read about the
Second World War in the history books,

all you will really read about
in the history books, is about

all the negativity, all the tens of
millions of people who were killed.

I think the estimate is that almost
a hundred million people were killed

during the Second World War,
and of course the amount of destruction

around the world was just enormous.
So a lot, very very problematic,

and a lot of suffering, of course,
from the Second World War.

But what this man was saying,
which was very very interesting.

Yeah, this man, he had just lived
through the Second World War,

he had just felt the Second World War,
he knew exactly what it was like,

what it was like. And he was
saying that for many people,

the Second World War was
actually a time of great happiness.

And he called this the paradox
of happiness, when everyone thinks

that this is a time of suffering,
actually there was a very large

component of happiness
in people's lives.

Isn't that kind of astonishing?
So why? Why is it the case?

And he explained that the reason
why there was so much happiness

during the Second World War
was because at this time there was

a very powerful sense of companionship
among people. People were

coming together, people were caring
for each other, people were felt that

there was a common purpose in life,
a very strong sense of meaning,

yeah, the meaning was that we are,
we have been invaded as a country

and now we have to kind of make sure
that we make the most out of this

situation, that we tried to,
you know, live together,

that we cooperate so we can overcome
this problem of the second world war.

It didn't necessarily mean to fight,
it wasn't all that much fighting

going on in Norway. But it meant
coming together and working together

so we can overcome this problem
of the occupation.

There was the sense of comradeship,
there was a sense of common purpose,

there was a sense of caring
for each other.

That was very very tangible, he said,

during the Second World War, far more so
than outside of the Second World War.

Yes, sometimes when the externals
of our life are very difficult,

when people are getting killed,
when our material well-being

is being undermined, when our
infrastructure is being blown up,

when people are being sent to
concentration camps, and all of these

terrible things. There's something else
that comes out, and that is our

inner qualities
start to come out instead.

So despite or maybe precisely

because of all those external problems,
we find the internal, the psychological

resources inside of us. They become
built-up, they become much more powerful,

precisely because of the external
problems. And the amazing thing is that

it leads to a life of more quality,
a life which is far richer,

a life which is far more purposeful
and meaningful than the life

that we normally have. And that is
very very interesting, because it

shows us something about why
and how it is that Buddhism works.

Yeah, Buddhism is all about
developing our inner qualities.

It's all about developing
these inner things inside of us.

And these inner qualities through
this experience in the second world war,

it shows you that these inner qualities
are far more important for our happiness,

for our contentment, for our
satisfaction, for our meaning

in life than all the external things
that we have. So this is where we

should focus, this is what really
matters, and if we focus on those

inner qualities, then the
external world cannot touch us

anymore in quite the same way.
This is a lesson that came from that

observation from this man, who had
lived through the second world war,

and talking about human happiness
in times of adversity and difficulty.

And hopefully, we can use that lesson,
a little bit also in our own life,

to make sure, right now,
that during the difficult times

of Covid-19, we also can make something
positive out of this difficult time.

In the same way that people have done
probably since the beginning of time,

when things actually became difficult.
So that is a little bit

about the wrong way and also
little bit about the right way

of thinking about the future.
Yeah, the wrong way is thinking

about it from a sense of fear.
And the right way really is to think

about it in a sense of opportunity
within the problem. And the

opportunity is always there
if we look at it in the right way.

So what is the right way of looking
at the future, if we're going to talk

about the future in a slightly
broader sense, or we're going to

look at it from a more kind
of a complete point of view.

What is the right way of
thinking about the future?

If fear is the wrong way,
can we say something simple

about the right way of thinking
about the future? And I

would say that, one of the most
basic right ways of thinking

about the future is,
to think about the future

and incorporate right view into
the way we think about the future.

When we bring right view into it,
then we are thinking about the future

in the right way. Then we understand
the idea of the future in the right way.

This comes back to the way Ajahn Chah
was teaching that man again.

Yeah, the idea that your future
is uncertain, your future is

impermanent, your future is unreliable.
That is exactly what that is about.

It's about bringing the idea
of right view into how you think

about the future. So, before I go on
to talk a little bit more about

the right view and the future. Let us
very briefly dwell on wrong view

and see what it means to think
about the future in the wrong way.

We've already been talking about fear,
but more generally or in addition

to the idea of fear,
there are other ways of having

wrong view about the future.
And you may have noticed, when you

look at the way people talk right now,
about the coronavirus,

very often they talk about the future,
and very often they will say things like

“once the coronavirus is over,
there will be a changed world,

the world won't be the same anymore”.
And sometimes they talk about the

negative consequences, and
other time they talk about the

positive consequences. Yeah, that
there will be some positive

outcomes of the coronavirus situation.
Maybe that we are more prepared

next time there is a pandemic.
Maybe that we understand more

how to look after the world
in the proper way. Maybe that they

will have positive effects on
climate change. All of these kinds

of things, people are talking about.
And to me, that actually is an example

of wrong view. Yeah, maybe that comes
as a surprise to you that this should

be an example of wrong view, because
it may not be obvious at all.

But I think it is an example
of wrong view, the idea that once

we come out of coronavirus,
there will be some positive thing

coming out of that.
Because in my experience, that is not

how the world works.
The way the world works is that

you stay with the coronavirus,
we have this problem for a while,

and then after the pandemic is over,
of course, that feeling, that

suffering, will be imprinted
in your mind for a while.

So, for a few months, a few years
after the pandemic, we will still

remember it. And because we still
remember it, it will still have

an impact on how we live.
And we may live in a more caring,

in a more wise fashion for a while.
But in my experience, what happens

with human beings is that we forget
so quickly. A few, maybe, years after

the pandemic is over, we will have
forgotten everything about it.

The lessons that we are supposed
to have learned through this pandemic

would completely be eliminated.
The lessons will no longer be there.

And the reason why this happens
is because once the pandemic is over,

once we come back
to our ordinary life again.

We start attaching, we start indulging
in the ordinary things of life.

We start enjoying ourselves with
the ordinary things of the world.

And, as we start to indulge,
as we start to crave for things,

as we start to attach to the things
of the world, we start to get deluded.

We get intoxicated, as the Buddha says.
And as we get intoxicated, one of the

consequences of intoxication
is precisely delusion.

This is one of those fascinating
things that the Buddha

talks about in the suttas.
Intoxication is not just about

alcohol or drugs, in the sutta
as especially alcohol.

Intoxication can come from so
many different kinds of sources.

The Buddha talks about being
intoxicated by life.

Yeah, I'm life, I can mess around,
I can enjoy myself,

I can do all kinds of things.
And when you get intoxicated,

intoxicated by life,
you get intoxicated by youth,

you get intoxicated
by being strong and powerful.

You can do whatever you want,
then of course, you start forgetting

about the reality of existence.
Because you only remember the upside

and you forget the downside.
And one of the intoxications

that the Buddha talks about is,
the intoxication of indulging in the

sensualities of the world.
And as we get intoxicated by that,

we forget the downside of our existence.
And, I can almost guarantee,

and we know from history that
this is exactly how people work.

When the coronavirus is over,
it won't be long, because we go back

to our ordinary intoxicated ways.
And we forget about the lessons

that we're supposed to have
learned from the coronavirus.

And then of course, next time
the coronavirus comes around,

and by coronavirus here,
I use coronavirus as a metaphor,

is a metaphor for all
the problems of life.

The next time another
coronavirus comes around,

another war, another tragedy
in our family, another illness,

whatever it is, we will not be prepared.
And we have to go through exactly

the same suffering again.
Because we haven't really learned

anything from the coronavirus
this time around. And if you look

at human history again, you know that
this is exactly how human beings work.

If you look for example,
at the example, again of the

Second World War. Yeah very
interesting, one of the things that

people said after the second world war.
Because the destruction was so massive.

Because the loss of human life
was so enormous. Because it affected

so many people in so many bad ways.
People said at the end of the

Second World War, never again.
Yeah, we want to ensure that we build up

a society with this kind of catastrophe,
this kind of massive suffering for all

of humanity can be avoided in
the future. And so, what did they do?

So, what they did was they set up
organizations like

the United Nations for example.

United Nations was specifically
set up to make us cooperate more.

Very hard to make humanity cooperate.
We always like to argue with each other.

And get into conflict with each other.
But the United Nations were set up to

make us cooperate more. And what a
wonderful idea that really is to do that.

And then you had in the Europe, Europe
was probably one of the places where

the Second World War was really,
really bad. One of the worst places

in the world. Tens of millions of people
dying just within Europe. And so, what

they did in Europe was, they established
the European Union, or before that,

it had a different name at that time.

And that was established
back in the 1950s.

And the very purpose of the
European Union was also to avoid,

avoid similar catastrophes in the future

such as the Second World War.
That was one of the main purposes of it,

and it has worked very well.

Yeah it has been quite peaceful
in Europe over the last seven or eight

decades. For seven decades
that's actually worked quite well.

It has sort of fulfilled its purpose,

the idea of the European Union.
But you can see how that memory

of the Second World War
now is fading away.

All the people who experienced
the Second World War

are pretty much dead now.
There's only a few people left that maybe

experienced the Second World War
in their childhood. But there's very few

people left who actually remember
the Second World War properly.

And as the memory of these catastrophes
fade into the background.

You can see that we don't really value
the institutions that keep peace

in the world.You can see how the
United Nations is being undermined.

You see this all the time. By, you know,
the World Health Organization being

attacked by politicians around the world
sometimes. And as we undermine these

organizations that actually bring us
together. We're also undermining the peace

in the world. To me it is an anti
Buddhist approach to undermine this large

organization that creates harmony
in the world, that brings us together.

Undermining these things means that
it's much more difficult for us

to cooperate and create harmony
in the world. It's a kind of an

anti Buddhist approach,
as far as I can see.

And not just the United Nations.
We see the same problems in Europe,

we see the idea of the European Union
being undermined. We’ve just been through

the Brexit thing in the UK.
And that is a similar kind of thing,

is undermining of the institutions
that brings us together

and makes harmony possible.

And I think that this too,
goes really against Buddhist principles,

where we really need to work
together to create harmony in the world,

and to actually work problems
out together.

So again, we forget the lessons
from the past.

We forget these ideas, and we start to
become more aggressive and more harsh

towards each other. And eventually,
if we keep on being aggressive and harsh

with each other, eventually it leads back
to the same problems of the past.

It leads back to war, it leads back to
being belligerent, it leads back to

all of these things that actually
have been problematic throughout

human history, and this is where
eventually it all goes.

We don't really learn,
and this is the problem.

And in fact, I would go so far
as to say that we cannot really learn,

it is almost impossible.
Why? Because it is in our nature

that we are intoxicated by the
present moment. We are intoxicated by

the pleasure, of the pleasures
of the world. So we will always tend to

forget, it's impossible for us to fully
remember. And this idea that, you know,

we need to remember our past. This was
encapsulated by a European philosopher,

It was partly, was first spoken by a
Spanish philosopher.

And this idea that probably many of
you may have heard,

because it's quite a famous saying
around the world.

And the saying is that
“if those who don't remember their past,

they are bound to repeat their mistakes”.
Yeah, sometimes it is said that those who,

it's something like that anyway,
I think that's close enough.

If you forget your past
you're bound to repeat your mistakes.

And on the surface of it, it's a very,
it seems very wise. It seems to be one

of those things that philosophers
of the world have found out. That is very

wise and very useful. And something we
can use in our, kind of, world to make

sure the world is a better place.
So on the surface of it,

it is very wise.

But if you look at these things,
and this is one of the things

I often recommend people to do.
Is that when you hear this so-called

wise saying, the worldly sayings,
it is very important to look at them

in a deeper way.

Because very often, what you will find,
is that from a Buddhist point of view,

these so-called wise sayings
in the world, they are actually flawed.

There is some truth to that, of course,
and that is why we believe in these things.

If you don't learn from your past,
you are condemned to repeat the mistakes

of the past. Obviously there's some truth
to that. But there's also a fundamental

weakness to this idea. And the weakness
is that the purpose of that kind of saying

is to say, of course, to give people
a sense of hope.The idea of this saying

is to give people a sense of hope,
that what all we have to do is to

remember our past, so let us try as hard
as we possibly can, to remember our past

that we don't make the same mistakes
in the future. That is the underlying

kind of understanding, I think, of that
kind of philosophy.

It is based on the idea
that we can change things,

if only we think about the world
in the right way.

That is the purpose of these kinds of
philosophical statements. But I question

that very idea of whether we really
are capable of learning from our past.

If we are capable, then it is only in a
very limited way.

We remember things for a while,

but eventually the intoxications
of the world come back to us.

And they overpower us, and we forget
about the realities of the way things

actually are.

And this is the weakness in this
statement of learning about the past.

Because really, we cannot really do it.
And this is such, I think, a very

interesting idea, something that I have
learned from Ajahn Brahm, also very much,

the idea of always challenging some of
these worldly sayings. Understanding

their limitations. Because even a
philosopher, which comes up with that

kind of apparently profound saying,
they too, are bound by the ordinary human

limitations of attachments, of desires
for the things in the world. And because

they are bound by those things, they too,
will be deluded to some extent.

They will see the world through biases
and narrow way of looking at the world.

And they will not really be able to see
the world with the kind of clarity that

we are demanding on the Buddhist path.
So, this particular philosopher,

when it came up with his saying, he too,
would have had attachments to the world.

So he was trying to find a solution, and
that solution was to remember your past,

because then you will not make the same
mistakes in the future. But I think,

again, that doesn't really work from the
Buddhist point of view. We can only learn

so much from the past. And then actually,
it turns out that, eventually we have to

make the same mistakes again.

And this is true in part because
we get intoxicated,

it is also true because the Buddhist
worldview is a cyclical worldview.

We don't actually go forward all the time
towards a better future. Sometimes we

come back to where we started out.

The idea of cyclicality
is a very Buddhist idea,

you come back roughly to where you
started out,

and you go round and round
and round.

And when you go round and round
and round, it means that you're not really

making any progress. You're not really
going anywhere. That is the problem, yeah,

and that is why these kinds of
philosophies don't work.

So I would recommend you,
when you hear wise,

kind of, philosophical
sayings in the world,

scrutinize them, look at them
from a Buddhist point of view.

Understand that very often,
they have limitations.

There is some truth to them,
but the truth only goes so far.

So, I hope you are not all getting
too depressed. Maybe my talk is getting

very dark, and very negative, and looking
at all the problems. But of course,

whenever there is a problem in the world,
the reality is, there's also a solution.

And this, of course, is kind of the
Buddhist point of view.

So, it's not all I've been doing now
is pointing out all the problems.

And I hope it doesn't drag you down

and make you even more depressed
on this Vesak day.

So to balance out,
looking at all the negative,

I will now look a little bit more
at the positive side of things.

So that is the wrong view,
yeah, the idea that the future somehow

will be better,
that it will somehow improve.

Actually it is not going to be like that.

And the right way of thinking
about the future,

The right view that we should bring
with us when we look at the challenges

of the next decade,
which is the topic of this talk,

is that we should remember what the
Buddha has to say about these things.

And one of those fundamental things
that the Buddha has to say,

which is part and parcel of the idea of
right view, found in the Four Noble Truths.

Yeah, first noble truth the noble truth
of suffering.

And within that noble truth you have
the idea that illness is suffering,

“ byādhipi dukkho”- Illness is suffering.

So the idea in Buddhism is that
- illness is suffering - is an aspect of

right view. And what that means,
yeah, this is such an important thing

to remember. Yes, we all know that
illness is suffering. What it means is

something much more profound than that.
What it means is that illness is part

and parcel of human existence.
It is something that you cannot

really get away from.
When there is health,

there's also going to be illness.
Illness and health always have to go

hand in hand. And this is really
what the idea of “illness is suffering”

actually means as part of the right view.
And when you remember that,

when you remember that illness always
have to come and be part of our life,

then you also know that in the future,
when you look down the track, you know

that after the coronavirus is finished,
it is not as if it is all going to be

happiness and health after that.

There will be another coronavirus
down the track.

There will be more problems in your life
after the corona virus is finished.

These things always return. In fact,
the right way of thinking about it is

to remember that the illness, the
problems of the world are always there,

right under the surface. They are
so close to us, yeah, it's almost as if

they are part and parcel of us already.
And just all you need is,

you need the right conditions
and the right circumstances,

and then they come back out again,
and then they resurface, and then

there are more problems in the future.

So the right way of thinking about the
future is to remember that

this is only one example right now,
the coronavirus that we have now,

and these things tend to recur at
regular intervals down the track.

Whether it is the corona virus or
the personal problems.

Whether it is the corona virus of the
loved ones being sick and dying,

it is the corona virus of the wars in
the world,

the corona virus of economic problems,
the corona virus of climate change.

All of these things are bound
to happen again in the future.

And that is the right way of
thinking about it. And that way

of thinking about the world
is actually very very powerful.

Because when you think about the world
in that way, you started to change

your attitude to things. You start to
live life in a different way.

You start to understand the limitations
of our human existence.

That is an insight,
that is right understanding,

that is right view.

And when you do that,

you start to emphasize the spiritual
qualities in your life far far more.

If the external world is always
problematic,

if you know you can never find that
happiness in the external world,

then it is gonna, it is always useful
to come back to the spiritual qualities.

Because you know that is where you
can actually make a difference.

It is a building up your mind,
building up the inner qualities.

Just like the story I said before,
with the second world war, even when

everything else is collapsing around you,
you can find that, much more, much more

important happiness within, by focusing
on the spiritual qualities instead.

That is what happens when you have
right view about the world. So don't

allow yourself, when the coronavirus
is over, don't allow yourself to become

oblivious of the reality of life.
Don't allow yourself to forget the

lessons of the past, the coronavirus
of the past, bring that with you into

the future. Don't do what everybody else
does, allowing yourself to be intoxicated.

Bring the right view with you into
the future. And this is why right view

matters so enormously on the
Buddhist path.

Because instead of just remembering,

instead of forgetting about the
suffering,

the reality of life will bring that with
us into the future,

and this is what enables us on
the spiritual path.

It allows us to practice in the right way,
and it makes our life worthwhile

in a far far more profound sense than
what life normally allows you to live.

And this becomes a beautiful
outcome of the coronavirus.

It can become, as a beautiful outcome
of all the problems in the world,

where we turn our life in a positive
direction. We become more caring

and kind, we become far better people
as a consequence. And this is the

beautiful thing, and this is the sort of
thing we should remember

on this Vesak day, when we need to remind
ourselves of the Buddha

and also the teachings of the Buddha.

I like to very briefly bring up a couple
of more issues. The first issue,

I just want to bring up very briefly,
is another idea which is the right part

of the right view in Buddhism. And that
is because we're talking about the future,

and right view and the future,
and the lessons to be learned,

maybe for the decade ahead of us.
One of the things that Buddha says

in the sutta, which is very fascinating,
is how uncertain, and even the Dhamma,

even the teachings of the Buddha,
actually is.

How the Dhamma is always declining,

how it is always moving towards
and getting more and more corrupted, and

eventually disappearing from the world.
And of course, the reason why the Buddha

says this is because he wants us
to be inspired to do the practice now.

Now is the opportunity we have. We don't
know what's gonna happen in the future.

And because we're talking about the next
decade ahead of us, the challenge for the

next decade. I just wanted to remind you
very briefly, that the things that we can

expect in the next decade is,

for some of the most beloved
Dhamma teachers in the world,

very likely some of those people
will pass away over the next decade.

I always try to remind myself that some
of the teachers that I put the highest

in this world, and those teachers,
obviously include people like Ajahn Brahm,

they also include some of the teachers
that you find in Thailand, people like

Luang Por GunHah for example, people like
Luang Por Liam, the abbot of Wat Pah Pong.

Some of these people are
very very inspiring,

and very powerful to be in their presence.

But if you look at them, they are all
getting very old. Yeah, some of the people

that we hold onto, that we rely on for
our refuge, that we rely on to ensure

that we can practice
Dhamma in the future.

Their life is actually starting to look
quite shaky.

I won’t be very surprised
if all of these three monks,

Luang Por Liam also had lots of
health problems already,

Ajahn GunHah lots of health problems,

Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Brahm is in
a little bit better shape, yeah,

but still Ajahn Brahm also has
a certain disadvantages.

You know what I’m talking about,

you know, I'm not gonna go into details,
but you know things like gaining weight

and all of these kinds of things.
So very likely, yeah, these people,

at least one of these three people,
maybe two of them, maybe all three

will pass away during the next decade.
What does that mean? And what it means,

it shows you that some of the refuge that
we have in life will be taken away from us.

And for many of us, it will be a very
very powerful experience

when the closest teachers that we have
when they pass away.

It will be a little bit like when the
Buddha passed away.

And when you remember,
when the Buddha passed away,

it was an incredibly difficult time for
the Buddhist community. If you read the

wonderful Maha parinibbana sutta that
talks about the Buddha's passing away.

People are desperate, they are rolling
around on the ground, they are crying,

they are tearing out their hair, they are
grieving in a very massive way

at that particular time. It was only
the arahants that didn't actually

cry or despair at that time. And it's
going to be a little bit like that for us

when some of the great teachers of the
present day pass away. Will there be

new teachers taking their place?
Sure, there will always be new teachers

taking their place. But sometimes
we don't know who they are. We don't know

whether it will be equally great.
We don't know when they will come around,

whether it will be in our lifetime
or whatever. So regardless of

what happens, it is gonna be very hard.

So remember that,
remember the uncertainty,

again of the future. And when
you remember that, you understand

now is really the opportunity.
The future is uncertain.

All of these things
are bound to be impermanent.

And because
they are bound to be impermanent,

we take the opportunity right away to do
what is good, to do what is right.

And we make these perceptions
of the uncertainty of the future into

something positive in our life
that propels us forward on the path

and gives us an extra momentum to
practice in the right way.

So this is what it is all about.
And when we live life in this way.

When we live life to the best of our
ability. When we have that right view

about the problems of the world,
of the uncertainty of the future,

that we never know what's going
to happen around the corner,

we then emphasize the
spiritual life so much more.

And when we emphasize
the spiritual lives much more,

what we are doing
essentially by being kind, by being

beautiful people. We're shining up
that beautiful diamond inside of us.

It is as if we are carrying around
a diamond in our heart. This beautiful

brightness that is there, and we are
shining it up by being kind,

by being caring, by being compassionate,

by being wise, by doing a bit
of meditation practice.

And by shining it up,
we’re brightening up our mind inside.

Another beautiful metaphor or simile,
simile actually used by the Buddha.

It's a simile of gold,
the gold inside of us,

the gold inside of us, again, is our mind.
And as we live our life well,

we are brightening up that gold inside.
We are removing the defilements

of the mind. And as we do remove
the defilements from the gold inside,

the gold becomes more and more shiny,
more and more bright,

more and more beautiful.
In the same way, it is with our lives

and our minds, we become beautiful bright
and shiny people in the world

as we practice this path.
And what a wonderful thing that is

if that is the outcome of the
difficulties that we have in life.

Because we turn in a new direction,
and we become a powerful source of

happiness for ourselves and also
for the people around us as a consequence.

That is the right view, that is the
right way to think about life

on this Vesak day. So, I wish you all
a very happy Vesak. I wish you all

the happiness and contentment
that the Buddhist path can give you.

And I hope you can make a difficult
situation into a very beautiful one.

If you can do that, then you really
understand what Buddhism is all about.

Happy Vesak everyone and bye bye for now.